Super Shopping Day!

Happy Weekend!!! Chee Hoo to everyone!

I only have a few minutes this morning. It's almost 11:00 and I haven't even started sewing yet. I have been to Menards to pick wood for the shelves for the craft show booth....which is turning out AWESOME. Irv has the walls done and now we are trying to design the placement of the shelves. I'll post pictures when we get some of them in.

After Menards I went to Hancock Fabric. They are having a big sale so I thought I would see what I could find. Got some awesome denim and corduroy fabric for two new totes and a great looking fall print for another.

Here is the denim I bought. It has embroidered flowers all over it. I bought a tiny floral print to line the bag. I think this one is going to be darling!

I loved this striped fabric. It's hard to see the colors in the picture, but they are very autumn looking. I think the gold paisley will look great as a lining. This bag will have wood handles.

I thought this 60's look floral corduroy was so neat. I would love this one for myself....but like I said before...that is against the rules. Then....get this....they had all of their Simplicity patterns on sale for ONE DOLLAR EACH!!!! No, I am not kidding. I could have sat there all day! I bought 2 great apron patterns....one is a wraparound and the other is vintage look aprons! So darn cute. Then I got one for some new pillows, a really cute tote bag one, one for make up bags and then one for kitchen accessories like place mats, napkins and stuff. I will use the apron and tote bag ones now and the rest will be for when I have time....but what a HUGE SCORE!!! I would not have bought ANY right now at the regular price, but I couldn't pass this up. Normally the six I bought would have been $85.00!!! That's how good of a deal this was! I paid $6.00!!!


So, I am off to get this house picked up. Irv is over at Michael and Bern's house hooking up new appliances today so I'm on my own for the day. Hopefully I will get a lot done. Make it a super day for yourselves and I'll chat with you tomorrow!!

Vacation Photos

Well, this is the end of my Colorado vacation pictures. I hope you aren't sick of them. I just find the mountains so awesome to look at. Most of these were taken either on our way to Telluride, or while we were out and about. Enjoy and have an awesome evening!

The first view of the mountains on our way in

How would you like to own that house and get to look at that every day?

I love the different formation of the rocks

I thought this was the funniest looking line of clouds. The one looks like an animal of some kind!

Clouds rolling in. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it doesn't.

In areas that don't get much sun, the snow never melts!

The town nestled in the valley

These are HUGE cliffs!

You can tell how tall these are by the size of the trees!

That big dark spot is the shadow of a cloud on the hillside. How cool is that?

Chee hoo! Chat with you soon!

Mascara Make Over

Okay, so I need a new brand of mascara. I've been buying the cheapie Great Lash stuff for ages and it just isn't cutting it for me anymore. I have light colored eyelashes so without mascara I look like I don't have any at all. Not only that, just like the hair on my head, my eyelashes seem to be thinning as I get older!!

Why is it that as we age our skin gets thinner and our hair gets thinner, but out bodies do just the opposite? Doesn't seem quite fair does it?

I use to buy Clinique, but I rarely get to the department store to buy it, but maybe I'm going to have to.

Ultimately, I would love a natural, non-chemical mascara that stayed on, didn't clump and didn't cost $30 a tube, but at this point I think I would slap the chemicals on my lashes if I could find a good one that didn't make me look like I had hairy spider legs attached to my eye lids.

Just a nice soft natural look.....

Mascara wearers.....whatcha got for me?

Introducing......

a few of my new tote bags!!! Tah Dah!!! Pardon the pictures. I just hung them wherever I could snap a picture of them and they need their final pressing. For the show, I will stuff some tissue in them so they display nicely.

I love fabric. I love the colors and the patterns. At times I struggle with certain aspects of sewing, but I am learning. I never took a sewing class, so I sometimes have to work really hard to perfect things that other people probably breeze right through. I had trouble with a couple of spots on two of the totes and I was ready to throw them in the garbage, but I stuck with it and finally got them to where I am comfortable taking them to the craft show.

I don't think I am going to put these in my etsy shop. I really want them for the show and I'm not sure how many I will be able to get done. I still have more aprons to make too!

The first one I made is a little zebra print with webbing straps. This one would be perfect for carrying my "junk" to work every day or for a trip to the grocery store. I'm working on another one like this one in an amazing green paisley print! I know I am going to want to keep that one, but that it against the rules.

This brown one is one of my favorite fabrics and this bag gave me such a hard time. It's huge and would be awesome for a trip to the beach or as an overnight bag. Although I do know people that carry around bags this size everyday.....I don't. I am a small bag or a no bag kind of girl.

The last one is so darn cute. I made a couple of pillows out of this fabric and loved it. It's a tan and maroon floral with wooden dowels for handles! I really like this bag a lot.

I was looking through a magazine last night and found some pillows that are just the most fabulous things. I am already gathering what I need to make some of those before the show.....maybe I should take a leave of absence from my full time job so I can get all of this stuff done for the show. Think they would go for that? HA!

OH HAPPY DAY!!!

Well, the dermatologist's office called late this afternoon to tell me that my biopsy was normal. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome I feel right now! Even a big CHEE HOO doesn't seem like enough. Thank you everyone for all of the positive thoughts and kind words. It was so appreciated. Now on to today's post.....

My 26 year old son, Matt, is on a six week road trip with his friend Chris. (They are both teachers) They are on the final leg of their adventure and will be back in Telluride later this week. They drove out to California, up the coast and are currently in Oregon. They took Matt's SUV and it was jam packed with camping equipment, climbing gear, bicycles, a surf board, kayaks, clothes, food and three large dogs. No, I am NOT kidding. Chris's sister even joined them last week for the rest of the trip!

They had no set schedule, just people they wanted to stop and visit and places they wanted to go. I will share pictures and videos with you as soon as I get some.

So, my question is this.....if you had six weeks and a car...where would you go? And no, you cannot say that you would drive to the airport and fly off to some exotic destination. You have to drive!

I know that I would head west. I would take the southern route through New Mexico and Arizona, drive up the California coast to Washington and then take the northern route home. I would stop wherever and whenever I wanted to. I would take side roads and just drive. How awesome would that be.....oh, and MY dogs would stay home.

Now it's your turn....six weeks and a car....where do you go?

Different as Night and Day

As most of you know, we have two dogs. Sparky is a 12 year old toy fox terrier and Wrigley is a 2 year old mixed breed. Our dogs are very, very different. Just like kids raised in the same house, the exact same way all turn out different, so do dogs. Let me explain.

Wrigley would walk all day if you had the time to take her. Sparky's idea of exercise is moving to wherever the sun is shining on the deck.

Sparky checking to see if the grass is wet. If it is, she will pee on the sidewalk.

Wrigley loves to be outside. She prefers the cooler weather, and rain and snow don't bother her in the least. Sparky will pee on the rug by the back door if it's colder than 60 degrees and if there is even a forecast of rain, because you never know, she might get out there and start to pee and a drop of rain might land on her precious little head! Winter....HA, that's a joke. If you force her to go out....by shoving her out the door, she will squat the second you put her down...right on the door mat, pee and then turn around and jump on the door to come back in.

Wrigley enjoying being outside

When you are fixing their food, Wrigley just sits over by her spot in the kitchen waiting patiently. Sparky on the other hand makes noises that you can't even believe are coming from a dog. She jumps up and down until you think she's going to collapse, but no, that's when she starts going in circles....and don't be late feeding her or you will pay....dearly!

Sparky waiting for her food. I caught her standing still for a moment. I should have taken a video of the dinner time dance she does

Wrigley lays on her little bed. Sparky has to be under an afghan on the couch...even in the summer.

Sparky checking to see if it's warm enough to come out from under her blankie

Both of the dogs sleep with us. Wrigley curls up at the foot of the bed. Sparky sleeps in the middle of the bed, under the covers. In the winter she has to be under the top sheet and blankets and in the summer she has to be under just the top blanket...and don't try to pull one over on her. It doesn't work. She'll scratch at the blankets until you do it right. And don't encroach on her space during the night either because you will get four feet full of little nails stabbing you in your back!

Wrigley just being happy outside

Ah, toys. We now buy them the exact same toys. Wrigley loves all of her little stuffed toys....at least the ones that Sparky doesn't destroy. Wrigley will take them to her bed with her and just chew on them lovingly and cuddle with them....Sparky dismantles them, limb by limb and pulls every bit of guts out of their cute little bodies.

Wrigely's "buddy" after Sparky got a hold of it. We caught her though so she only got one ear off and chewed up the other ear and one leg

Sparky's "buddy"....need I say more?

So, yes, even dogs raised in the same home the exact same way can turn out different....very different...just like kids!

The Cost of Crafting

Those of you that own arts and crafts businesses know the costs involved in running your business and it usually isn't cheap. If you do craft shows, you know that getting started in that arena isn't cheap either.

Irv and I are preparing for our first indoor craft show. We did two outdoor shows this summer where we made enough to pay our entry fees and paid off part of the nice 10 X 10 tent we purchased for the shows. We didn't do great, but we did okay. The tent and some white sheets to throw over the tables was really all we spent money on for those shows, but that was enough. $$$$$

Indoor shows are completely different. We won't be using our nice new tent of course, but we do need some type of booth. If Irv and I are going to do something, we have to do it right. So far, we have purchased wood....lots of wood....and white stain and lots of screws and other hardware. $$$$$

Irv working on the 10 foot back wall this morning

Once it's built and we know the structure is sturdy enough to support the shelving and product, then we have to buy boards to make all of the shelves. $$$$$ Then I want to make these cute wood "face" cut outs to use to hang my aprons on so we will need that wood too and paint for those. $$$$$

The back of one one the 8 foot wall sections Not completely painted yet.

The booth space is small...only 8 x 10, so we are trying not to use tables. We are going to display things on shelves instead, but then where do you shove all of your empty boxes and bins? Oh, you run to the fabric store and buy 12 yards of fabric to make skirting for the bottom shelves so you can hide your junk under those. $$$$$

I bought a paisley print to skirt all of the bottom shelves in the booth. If I have time, I might make a very small "ruffle" to attach to the fronts of the other shelves. The solid color fabric will be used to skirt the little white desk I use to check people out. They don't match exactly, but they won't be next to each other either, so I thought it would still work. The shelves will all be white. I thought it was a fun print.

The fabric I bought yesterday for the skirting

Meanwhile, I am still working on new items for the show. $$$$$ I am currently experimenting with some tote bags. So far, one is great and one is not so great. The not so great one won't be going to the show. :(

Yep, it does cost a lot of $$$$$ to get started in an arts and crafts business and in craft shows, but the way I look at it is this.....this is an expense of being in business. Sure I could have thrown a couple of tables in my booth and layed out my wares like a lot of people do and not had any expense but my entry fee....but that isn't me. I need awesome...really cool....wow....Chee Hoo when I do something, and that costs money.

The other thing is, once we have the booth done, we will be able to use it for as long as we do shows, and Irv has built it in a way that it can be assembled for different size areas. We can even use it with our tent for our outdoor shows. It's really a one-time expense.

I can't wait until we have it all done so I can show you how my "vision" turned out. Hopefully the booth will be a big hit and will attract lots of lookers who become buyers so we can pay it all off!!

Chee Hoo!!