Stockings!

I've been rather busy:





Mostly they're for my shows this season, but some of them are in my shop right now.

Costumes

And now, I give you Halloween 2007:




Pam Beesly as a Cat (I had a tail, you just can't see it...)


Three Hole Punch Jim Halpert

Merchandise Exchange Fall 2007 -- Part IV

This was the last weekend until April! Let's see what goodies were gathered...

-- a three-drawer plastic chest full of greeting cards and craft stuff
-- a bag of gift bags, tissue paper, and wrapping paper
-- 4 textbooks, which are now listed on Half.com for a total of $245 (I swear, some people...)

But most exciting? A commode encounter! We found 3 more commodes, bring the grand total for the month up to 15! But when we stopped for one of them, a man and woman were standing out in the yard. Well, we couldn't just keep going -- we needed it for our collection! So I rolled down the window and explained it all to the nice old man. Trash hunting is a cheap date, commode collecting keeps in interesting...
"Oh yeah, heh heh, I think I saw another one around here somewhere."
"Down at the corner? Yep, we already got that one."
"Some people'll just put anything out in their yard!"

Turns out he didn't even live at that house; he was just a neighbor.

Workin' hard...

Or hardly working. Sometimes I can't tell. But besides those crewel embroidery pouches, here's what I have to show for this last week, craft-wise:




9 blank hardback book journals. To be featured at my home show and craft fairs throughout the season, not in my Etsy shop, so if you want one and you won't be at any of those events, speak up!

Merchandise Exchange Fall 2007 -- Part III

There's not really too much to show for this outing -- a few records, a few books of sheet music, a Martha Stewart Living from a few years ago, a few folding tomato cages. Good stuff, but not a great abundance of awesomeness. No, that came in the form of breaking our COMMODE record! Woohoo!

Yes, Norman and I are odd people, but collecting pictures of commodes breaks up the monotony of pile after pile of actual garbage (how dare they?). Anyway, you can see the complete commode collection here. We have 11 for the month, which is two more than last April, and we've still got another week to go!

I'm particularly proud of this one:

Wow. I mean, avocado green. How do you top that? I think maybe we should just give up and stop collecting. That's as good as it gets right there.

Life can be crewel...

Yes, it's a very bad pun, but I couldn't resist. I pretty much cleaned up at the First Pres thrift store today. Neckties, napkins (read: fabric), vintage Christmas cards, envelopes, and ...
Three framed crewel embroidery panels. Two of them have already magically turned into zipper pouches and been listed in my Etsy shop.


The other got a reprieve. I actually had it out of its frame and off its board before I decided to keep it and hang it on my wall. It's so cute! I don't know if you can tell, but it's very 3D -- the little macramé basket hanger and some of the branches are loose. Adorable! It's now hanging above our kitchen sink.

Merchandise Exchange Fall 2007 -- Part II

Alright, before we launch into Part II, a quick update to Part I: The sewing machine I found last week --
1.) It does have a power cord and pedal -- they were hiding up inside the cover. Silly me.
2.) It has a timing problem that will cost about $175 to fix. So, it's dead. I will be taking it apart because I think that sounds fun, and I think I should know more about how sewing machines are put together. Then I will put all the pieces in the dumpster. Oh well. I tried.

On the other hand, this forced me to visit the Singer Sewing Room for the first time. It's a lovely place, and the man there was kind enough to look at the machine and give me an estimate for free. He also sent me away with a promotional 2008 wall calendar that came with stickers!

Okay, on with the exchanging. Things we retrieved this last Friday:

--about 15 white 6"x6" tiles. I smell trivets.
--length of pegboard with some "pegs". I think I will cut it down into small 9"x12"-ish pieces and use them for craft show displays.
--textbooks -- some of which I'm keeping, some of which I'm selling, and some of which have already been given away.

--various and sundry craft supplies

--a Clue game, some Bingo cards, and a bunch of comic books

--stacking build-a-crate type shelving (unfortunately, only Norman and the passengers of two other cars saw the rather amusing sight of me running across Jenkins carrying this thing)

--some really pretty necklaces (the silver star is from 1928 [the company, not the year])

--a bunch of chess sets -- only one was complete. It's way cool -- glass chess/checkers board on top, backgammon inside, and room inside for all the glass pieces. The wood set is incomplete. I'll probably drill holes in the pieces or something -- they're just gorgeous.

--more tomato cages. That's right, I now own 11 tomato cages. Luckily, they stack.

And, as always, check out the COMMODE! count. We're up to 6 for this month. I'm gunning for 10 -- that would break our previous record.

Garden Update - Oct 13 (or "Nananabooboo, Minnesota!")

Yes, I'm still growing tomatoes. I got started kind of late. I didn't start the seedlings inside like the seed packet told me to. I just planted the seeds outside in April. Remember what the tomato plants looked like at the beginning of June? And at the end of June? Well, here is one of them now, in the middle of October:


That's the one I planted in the ground on a whim because there were too many plants in one pot. Yeah. At last count it had about 70 tomatoes growing on it.
Here's one now!:



It weighs 9.5 oz. Now I know that's not exactly breaking any records, but I'm pretty proud of it. I think I'm making spaghetti tonight.

Oh, and a new venture -- lettuce! Planted about 3 or 4 weeks ago:

Wintertime Craft Fairs

This morning, as I was running my errands, I stopped by the Cleveland County Fairgrounds (Fairground, really... It's pretty tiny) and signed up for two craft fairs. I'm all paid up and official. It's very exciting. I'm expecting much better crowds than last time. So come out and see me!

23-24 Nov, 2007 (Friday and Saturday)
9am-5pm

8 Dec, 2007 (Saturday)
9am-5pm

Cleveland County Fairgrounds


I'd better get to craftin'!

Blog Mentions!

Yours truly is being talked up on the Etsy Trashion Street Team blog:

Interview about me and my shop

Two of my items in the latest "Trashion Outfitter" outfit

Merchandise Exchange Fall 2007 -- Part I

That's right, it's that time again! Call it what you will (I've become partial to "curb shopping"), it's time to troll the streets of Norman in search of stuff that used to belong to crazy people (in my book, throwing away useful things = crazy). Two weekends ago was the first of the season. That resulted in:

--about 30 lbs of upholstery fabric (some of which is currently for sale in my Etsy shop)
--a desk chair (I'd been using a dining room chair -- ick)

--3 tomato cages

And nary a commode in sight. But I was not discouraged, because I know that the first weekend is never the best. Those people love their yards too much to set trash on them overnight.

This last weekend, however, was better. We got up early Saturday morning, and though the McIntyres had beaten us to everything good that went out Friday night, we prevailed. The haul:

--4 COMMODES!!!

--box of about 80 Cliff's Notes and other type study guides (soon to go on eBay in a lot)

--2 more tomato cages

--Singer sewing machine with case, without power cord or pedal. It's going to the Singer Shop in town tomorrow for a check-up to see if it can be fixed.
--random textbooks that are now for sale on half.com

--20 or so manila envelopes (score!)

--And last, but not least, George:


His is an exciting story, and very emotional.

We pulled up to him, and I fell in love. Norman said, "We don't have anywhere to put it." I said, "I know," as I stared longingly at him. We pulled away, and I saw the trash truck coming down the street towards us. We turned, making to leave the neighborhood, and all I could think was, "They're going to put it in the truck, smash it up, and take it to the dump." And, much like a little girl leaving the pound who has just learned what happens to the dogs who stay there too long, I started crying. I couldn't help it. It wasn't that I couldn't have him; it was that he wasn't trash. Someone could still use him.

Norman pulled over to ask what was wrong, and I told him what I was thinking. He paused for several seconds, then turned the car around and sped back to the curb where we'd seen him. The truck was already there. The workers has already loaded the other things into the truck. I jumped out of the car just before it stopped and said, "We'll take that one!" They were very happy to hear this. I soon realized why -- George is very heavy. Norman and I loaded him into the trunk and went home to unload him before continuing with the rest of our route.

We figured we'd have to give him to someone we know or sell him. But I was already attached and trying to figure out a way to keep him. I soon decided to trade him out for the shelf that was already in the office/craft room closet. He sat outside in the rain for a day before this could be accomplished (I have a lot of crap) .

Upon cleaning him and drying him off, I decided he was a George. He fits perfectly in the closet and looks right at home.



Anyone need a shelf?