New Holiday Goodies

Slowly but surely things are starting to get finished, photographed, tagged and in the shops! One of the first things is a new design for the holiday season. When wrapping a Christmas present, I usually tie one of my ornaments on for added cheer - I came up with the idea this year of making the ornaments look like actual gift tags, so it's a tag/ornament/present-topper combo. Perfect! They are in the shops here and here.

There is so much to do and finish but the BIG news is something that I have been working on for a couple of weeks and that is hosting my very own art and craft show for Christmas. The idea came to me late one night a couple of weeks ago and it has sorta "snowballed" (get it!?) ever since. So, for anyone out in Blog Land that happens to live in or around this little town in Western PA, you are cordially invited to . . .

HANDMADE HOLIDAY

ART & CRAFT SHOW

Saturday, December 6th

10 am to 5 pm

@ the Greater Latrobe High School's

Center for Student Creativity

So far, I have 20 lovely vendors selling everything from gorgeous jewelry to photographs to felted goodies to handbags to soaps to sauces and jams and even some fudge. I am very excited very nervous and all around wondering what I have gotten myself into! Okay, back to the to do list. Hope to see some of you at the show!!!

Two Months Later . . .

Well, I am fairly certain that I have indeed been nesting under a rock for the past couple of months. Yes, it really has been two months. I am not sure what happened from then until now. Just lots of to-dos to do. It had been so long since I uploaded pictures onto my computer, that for a split second, I almost forgot how!!! Anyway, even though the computer-y, blogging type work has been at a very minimum, the sewing, crafting work has been very much happening - can you tell from this crummy tinted photo what I have been busy with?

Let's see . . . we have green felt, red french knots, tiny candy canes and red pom poms! That's right, lots of Christmas sewing! In fact, I have posted my first couple of Christmas items in the shops. To start with - a little snowman, and these guys.

I hope you all have been having a wonderful fall and I will leave you with a picture from my parent's farm - beautiful!

Everybody Needs A Hug.

Wee-ooo, busy, busy, busy . . . It is a whirlwind of stitching over here, and my studio reflects my mad-scientist vibe I have been feeling lately. One of my projects is still under wraps, but Man, it is great and I am super excited about it! (I hope that you will be too!)

I had done some Halloween stitching back in August and it is getting to be that time that I can show and tell such things. In fact, I have added a new section to my etsy shop that is dedicated to Halloween - there you will find little ghosties, spiders, cats, witches and candy corn haunting about. I will be adding more everyday and over on DaWanda as well. I will leave you with another pic of some of the up coming spooky items that will be available at Pea Soup!

He's Waiting Patiently

Is it too early to post Halloween stuff? I am just saying, I have been sewing spiders, ghosts and jacks all week . . . too early? It's hard to gauge when you are the maker of holiday things, there are snowmen on my table right now and Santas to follow!

My Dog Mose

So many things have been going on that I haven't had a chance to tell you about my new dog. Here is the story: About 2 months ago, I was driving along a winding country road, it was a beautiful morning, I was headed to the farmers market. All of a sudden, as I am cruising up a little hill, I come across a very confused looking and incredible skinny golden retriever. He wouldn't get off of the road, he just kept pacing back and forth and cringing from the sounds of the cars in the other lane zooming past him and laying on their horns. He couldn't understand what was going on. I could not just keep driving, but I had no idea what kind of dog this was - mean dog perhaps? And so I pulled off, cars kept honking and zooming by and this poor dog just kept moving on and off of the road, it was a matter of time before someone hit the dog or an accident occurred. I went from door to door inquiring about this dog, no one knew him, but said he had been wandering around for days. I had no idea how I was going to help this poor thing, he was FILTHY and I was afraid he would bite (though he wouldn't come close to me at all.)

Just then, a wonderful man named Steve pulled off the road behind me. Steve had passed me once and saw that I was trying to call the dog off of the road and stopped to help!!! What an angel! Steve and his equally sweet Mother in law and I managed to get this poor dog into the back of my jeep (thanks to Steve who had blankets in his truck!) So, 15 minutes after finding this dog, here I am headed back home with a very stinky, really skinny, totally confused and absolutely adorable golden retriever in the back of my jeep.

After trying to find his owner, I realized that we had found perhaps the sweetest most lovable little animal that I had ever met. He is nothing but kindness, hasn't barked once and just wants nothing more than to be laying at your feet. Ed has spent hours cleaning him and combing out his knots and Ed's Mom and sister have taken him in and made them a part of the family. I can't believe what a sweetheart I have found! Here he is:

Welcome home Mose! (And yes, he got his name because for the first week, he did nothing but mosey around.)

My Trusty Stamp Set

Here's something that I have never done a show and tell of and that is amazing because of how much I use it! This is my print set. It is from my Great Aunt Lyna Hoone. She was a school teacher back in the time when teachers rarely married and you presided over a whole school house full of students. This was the stamp set that she used in her one room school house and it is the one that I use today to do all of my stamping for my tags and cards. I actually had the thought that I should retire this beautiful artifact when I was out antique shopping with my sister and saw a set of just 6 of these stamps going for almost $30.00!!! But it is one of my very favorite items and it means so much to me. It is actually a little box with three tray drawers, the top one has a tray full of picture stamps and this is the second one full of words and letters and numbers. The bottom tray is empty (I suppose for your school papers!) You can see that I still have the old ink bottles and brushes in there!!!

The reason why my trusty little print set is out is this:

It's show time,! And the first for me of the season this weekend. I am gearing up, lots of stamping, inventory checking and pricing. I enjoy all parts of this, but it is amazing the amount of time it takes me to get my pins ready for their big debut!!!

Have a fantastic Labor Day weekend everyone! Enjoy the summer days, eat lots of good food, and spend your moments with the ones that make you smile!!!!

Back To School

Man! I can't believe it!!! Don't get me started on my "Where has the summer gone?" rant. I simply cannot believe that it is time to go back to school. While, I have been out of school for some time, tonight really feels like the night before the first day. I remember that it would be a hot and sticky night and I could not even comprehend going to bed at a decent hour. My new outfit and new back pack (with a new notebook inside) and (the best part) a brand new and shiny pencil box with an assortment of pencils and little erasers in the shapes of fruits or cars or something of the like would be all laid out and ready go. Ah, now looking back on it, what wonderful memories (even though I was probably not happy at all about going back to school.)

Anyway, I made these guys way back in June, when the thought of books and pencils were just too ridiculous to even think about. Well, it goes without saying that unlike many little tykes getting ready for their first day, these little guys are ECSTATIC about it!

So Everyone, here's to a wonderful school year filled with lots of fun things to learn and neat activities to do!