This and That...

I am not sure this image has anything to do with this post, I just like it! :)

It has been a very busy and hectic few months for me. Between all of the craft faires that Mom and I have been in and replenishing the inventory, we also flew to Austin, TX for our nephew’s wedding. Did I say I also have a full time job? Of course I have...I tend to have my whiney moments. I am a Litigation Analyst and this job has become increasingly demanding over the last 12 months but I so love this job and would not trade it for anything. I prepare my Department’s defense regarding certain matters for our State’s Attorney General’s Office. It really isn’t as complicated as it sounds. Needless to say when I do finally get home I find the quiet of my sewing/craft room just what I need after a long day. It is therapy!

I half-heartedly entered the craft faire holiday season in September not expecting to sell a lot of my totes so my inventory was miniscule at best. I only had about 20 totes on hand when I started. This year I would have been happy to just make my table fee. I do the shows mostly for Mom. She makes the cutest felt ornaments and she always does well and being on a fixed income any extra money is most welcomed. Much to my amazement it seemed everyone wanted one of my totes. Fast forward… I was buried in my sewing room since September using any spare moment I had replenishing the inventory. My totes take about 6 hours to make. I painstakingly do a lot of hand work that cannot be seen. This mostly involves tacking down stabilizers. Yesterday was my last show for this season. I had 10 totes and came home with only two! That may not sound like a lot of sales but it really is because my items could be considered on the pricier side for a craft faire. Almost all of my totes were bought by people who were going to give them as a Christmas gift. Every time I heard that I just wanted to cry from joy. Not that they were buying one of my totes but the fact that they were buying something hand-made for someone special. My shelves are almost bare and knowing all of my totes that I lovingly constructed will be enjoyed by someone on Christmas makes my heart happy. O.K. enough about all of that, I wanted to finally share some pictures with you!

This is just a very small sampling of Mom's felt items. She has at least 25 different designs. Everything is lovingly stitched by hand.

A lady once asked her where she got the die cuts to make her ornaments. Imagine the look on her face when Mom told her that she cuts everything out with scissors. I swear the woman looked at my Mom like she had lost her mind. She could not get over the work and the detail. When Mom use to make her clothes all of her buttonholes were done by hand. They were the most perfect buttonholes you ever saw. To this day I have never seen a buttonhole done by a machine that can compare to hers.


Mom has been making these little guys for at least 25 years.


My humble offerings







I use fabrics that I like. This year I went with the "how cute is that!" fabrics. Last year I went mostly with elegant and traditional fabrics. I guess this year people were looking for cute!

Have a blessed week.

xxoo, Sue

P.S. I will be posting some of my favorite recipes soon!

Hard-Core Crafters

I went to the always much anticipated Indie Sacramento Trunk and Craft Show on Saturday. This time the event was held in one of our local downtown parks. As I was driving there I kept thinking about all the rain that was coming down. I was feeling really bad for the crafters. I didn’t know what to expect but as I approached the park lo and behold I saw all the canopies. Crafters are such troopers. As one of shoppers put it, they are hard-core! You would never know it was raining because everyone was having such a good time.

I am going to apologize right now for not remembering hardly anyone’s names. I am soooo bad with names but that doesn’t mean I still don’t love you ; ). That is one area of my brain that went on vacation many years ago.

I stopped by Jim Dandy’s and became enthralled with all the feathers. I purchased a beautiful pink (of course) and black feathered hair piece. She named it “Put Me on a Pedestal”. Indeed. This would turn a bad hair day into a good hair day. Her hair pieces are beautiful. She has a shop on Etsy. Her banner is a feast for the eyes. http://www.writinghecate.etsy.com/

I discovered Roxycraft. The lovely creator is Tamie Snow. You need to visit her blog. You won’t be disappointed. This is one fun lady. http://tamiesnow.typepad.com/roxycraft/

All things cuteness can be found at http://www.chicbabyrose.etsy.com/ . She has things for the little ones.

Katie Trott, from Katie Jean was there. http://katiejean.wordpress.com/. She loves vintage fabrics (who doesn't?). She turns her finds into the cutest childrens clothes. A couple of her projects were featured in the newly released book “Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase". She had a few books on hand and she graciously signed my book for me.

This is such a lovely book.

These two ladies have an animal rescue organization in Sacramento. It is called H.A.R.T. This is Helens' Animal Rescue Team. They are working very hard with our feral cat population. At the moment they don't have a website. When they do I will certainly put their link on my blog. As a matter fact I intend to put several animal resuce links on my blog. That is on my "to-do" list.

And this lovely lady was also at the show. Her picture is posted below. I know she was not a vendor and I don't think she was a shopper but I certainly enjoyed my time with her. Her name is Trixie. I would like to introduce you to Trixie.

I think Trixie was ready for a nap

I had fun. It is always fun meeting up with fellow crafters. Our common pledge is "BUY HANDMADE".

My husband and I are going on vacation this week (Saturday). We are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. It is a special vacation. It is a vacation we have taken before but we love it . I guess what I am trying to say is that I may not post anything this week. If I have access to a computer at our destination I will put up a quick post. I am not going to say where we will be but I promise you the Title post will say it all. O.K. I am sure some of you may have already figured it out. In the meantime I wish everyone a beautiful week.

xxoo, Susan