Happy Holidays!

I have really got to do a better job at posting during show season!  It has been like, what?, six weeks?????  Well, since my fall schedule began, I have done the following shows:
Unique Boutique, fall and holiday
Grandmother's House
Dakota Ridge High School
MomPreneur
Red Rocks Country Club
Conifer Newcomers
West Jeffco Elementary
Sugarplum Food and Gift Show
Christmas in the Country, Cheyenne
So, from Cheyenne to Colorado Springs, I have been been very busy and have had a very successful show season.  I have sold out of the Crescent Santas, Sleepytime Santas, Reinhold Reindeer, and my little snowmen on candle rings.  I sold about 50 of the melted snowmen, and hundreds of the wrapped candy canes, snowmen clothespins, and ping pong snowmen ornies.  I also sold a bunch of country candles, all of my raggedies are gone, and a boat load of pillows.  So the good thing is that my stock is very low.  Now its time to get ready for Spring shows!

Also we had a great holiday with all my siblings and their spouses in attendance.  It was fun seeing all of them and being together for the first time in 20 years.  

My Etsy shop has sold quite a few of my Westie ornies again this year.  I was asked to donate one to an online auction for a nonprofit benefitting Westie medical expenses.  I did and that generated purchases for several ornies.  I also sold a raggedy that I had listed but had already sold at a show.  Note to self:  Remove items sold!  The buyer was very patient and I made another.

I know the next couple of weeks will be busy with decorating, parties, shopping and baking, so in case I find myself slacking again on posts, I just want to wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season and new year.  Thanks to those of you that have been loyally following me, those who have pinned me, and those who have purchased from me.  Please check back because I have some fun new things planned for the New Year!  Merry Christmas!

New item!

Gotta share this new item that is so easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.  It is from a pattern from Country Friends, but as always, I have adapted it to my own taste.  I made six of these little guys, and plan to make a whole bunch more:

Cute, huh?  He is about seven inches tall and sits on a bed of greenery and pip berries.  I used some pre-made candle rings on some.  He has moss on his hat and a rust colored bell on the rim and has a dusting of mica flakes to give him a llittle bit of sparkle. 

I will be selling these on Saturday at my show at Conifer High School.  Hope you can stop by and see me!

Still here, still busy

Sorry its been so long since I have posted but boy, oh, boy, have I been slammed.  I did a show at Dakota Ridge High School and took inventory to north of Cheyenne  for the Christmas in the Country show.  I spent one Saturday with my daughter Heidi, where we celebrated Brandi's birthday and sent letters and baloons to Heaven.  We also got our hair done and spent a great deal of time reliving some very happy "Brandi memories."

One of my big sellers this year has been my Sleepytime Santa. I have made seven, sold four, have two in Cheyenne.  I want to make at least one more for my Conifer show that takes place a week from Saturday.

  Other top sellers this year are my salt shaker angels and my "flake" ornies.  So, if you want some ideas for your shows this year, check out some of my tutorials. 

Gardening is done for the season here in Colorado.  I canned some beets the other day and froze and dehydrated some onions.  My potatoes were particularly good this year too.  I also made pickles, salsa, relish, and rhubarb. 

My granddaughter, Addyson, turns two tomorrow.  We are going to celebrate with her this weekend.

She and big sister, Brooklynne will be spending the night here Saturday after we go to the pumpkin patch.  Guess I had better go to bed early.....maybe right now!

A Flake in Colorado

I purchased these wooden cutouts from Jean when I got the candles, etc.  This would be a cute craft for you to do with your kids.  You can get these cutouts on line, or from any craft store. 

 

Here's how to make your own!

 

Paint both sides and the edges with white.  Drill a hole to hang.  Coat each side with mod podge or white glue and sprinkle with glitter.  I use an ultrafine polyester glitter.  Be sure you apply them over a container or paper plate to catch all of the excess glitter so that you can reuse.  Do one side and let thoroughly dry before turning over and doing the other side.  While you are waiting for the glue to dry, print out the saying as shown above.  Of course, you will want to use your own state (if you are gifting as a couple you could say 'a couple of flakes in XXXXX loves you')  I used a tag punch, but you could cut out in any shape and then punch a hole in the end.  Use a ribbon, jute, or embroidery thread to string through the hole in the ornament and tag.  I used organza ribbon.  I will sell these at my craft shows and also give as gifts to my family who live out of state. 

 

Have fun with this craft!

New Grubby Candles

In the craft treasures that I purchased from Jean a couple of weeks ago, I bought two boxes of cinnamon scented grubby candles.  I wasn't sure what I would do with them, but this is what I came up with:

Each pair is connected by a common wick.  I simply printed a graphic that I had used on something else before, tied with jute an glued on a tiny rusty star.  I think they turned out great!

New ornies!

Well, my friends, I have been busy, busy the last couple of weeks.  I had a craft show in Highlands Ranch last weekend and it was a great sucess.  The great sellers were my ping pong ball snowmen and the salt shaker angels.  So, I have been making more.  Jean, the gal who runs the Unique Boutique, was selling some excess craft supplies, so, you know how I love to shop.....
I bought these ornies:

I know this is not a great pic, but these are just the cutest things....And they were already finished.

I also purchased a huge amount of wood cutouts, and some were prepped and ready to go.  I just had to assemble.  I have enough already painted to make about 20 of these angels.

 

I finished up a dozen of the salt shaker angels this morning, and I have 80 of the ping pong snomen in process.  Gonna be a busy week!

 

On Sunday I will be doing a show at University Hills Elementary in Denver.  A couple of my products will be featured on a segment for 9 news on Sunday morning.  Come by and check it out!

No.....I didn't fall off the planet.....

Just had a bunch of things going on.  I did finish up the witch's hats:

I also harvested my first potatoes:

 

And celebrated my son's birthday:

Now its getting down to cruch time since my first show is only a couple of weeks away.  So this week  I am working on my inventory, specifically ornaments and santas.  Gotta get busy!

Reindeer

As promised, here is my first shot at the reindeer  I have been working on.  His name is Reinhardt and he is a 27" beauty from a pattern from Sparkles 'N' Spirit. 

He is a real cutie.  I plan on making more.  Now, on to those witch's hats! 

I know its been awhile but.......

My seven year old granddaughter, Brooklynne spent the week with me last week, and well, frankly, I was just having too much fun to blog.....sorry!  We hiked, crafted, shopped, gardened and just enjoyed each other. 

She picked radishes from the garden and played on Grandpa's tractor.

We did our nails.

We went shopping....

And pulled weeds in the garden.

 

 Sugar and Smokey hated to see her go!

 

Cousin Skylar spent some time here too! 

 

Then this weekend, I split and stacked firewood.

On Monday and Tuesday I nursed a sore back.  So I am back up and running again.  I am going to go get veggies this weekend so I can do some canning.  And I have a couple of projects started that I can hardly wait to get finished:  witch's hats and reindeer.  Just wait till you see them!  So I had better get a move on and get my chores done and get back to the studio.  More to come.......

Rainy Sunday

It has been rainy and cloudy all day today.  I kinda like this weather.  What better way to spend Sunday afternoon than by finishing up some projects.  I got such a positive response to my Sleepytime Santa that I made three more.  By the way, these are from a pattern from Sparkles and Spirit.  I am selling the finished product for $20 each, so email me if you are interested.  I have four completed, but I have orders for two.  I added the glass of milk to these.

I also finished four of my Crescent Santas.  They are my very best seller and I have been making them for over ten years.  The pic isn't great, but I wanted you to get the idea. 

 I haven't sewn the hanger on the back yet, so I just leaned him up on the couch.    Well, another busy week ahead.  I hope to get all of these items packed away and started on some more items.  Have a great week!

Clothespin Snowmen

Happy Monday, y'all.  Been working on these little clothespin snowmen......They can either be clipped onto the tree, onto a package, or you could put magnets on the back and clip on those holiday pictures.  I think I will use some on a jute swag to hold Christmas cards.

I bought two packages of clothespins at the dollar store. (18 in each package x 2 =36 pins for $2)  I spray painted them white with paint that I had on hand but if you bought it, it would cost about $6, total cost $8 or about twenty two cents each. 

Make sure you get all sides painted.  Then pick out the best flat side and draw a face on it.  I used a sharpie for the eyes an buttons and orange paint for a nose.  Simply tie a scrap of fabric around the spring area.  I added a little blush as well.

Cute, huh?  Well, I am off to water the garden and get ready for a research study that I am going to go to tomorrow.  Last time, I got lost so I want to print out the directions, just in case my GPS misleads me again......

Christmas in July!

It is the middle of July and I am working on Christmas items.  This is a new item that I just finished.  This first one went a bit slow, but that is usually the way.  This is from a pattern from Sparkles and Spirit.  He is called Sleepytime Santa and is approximately 21 " tall.

His legs are wooden dowels and his feet are cut from plywood.  I changed him up a little and I love the way he turned out.  I cut out two of these but I am going to have to redo one of the feet.  Let me know what you think.

 

Its been a busy week.  Yesterday my grandson took me to lunch in his own car!  My best date ever!  Tomorrow I have errands to run, some shopping to do, and a minor medical test.  I guess I had better hit a couple of craft stores as well.  Running low on a few items........not really, but I had better check out what is new anyway.  Have a great weekend, my friends!

What 'cha workin' on Wednesday?

I just love Summer, don't you?  I love the warm days, the growing garden, the blooming flowers.  But I tend to get distracted and kind of leave my crafts behind.  But I have been working on some items, some old, some new.

This little teddy is so soft.  He is made from a remnant of polar fleece.  Any little one would love to cuddle with this little guy.

And these little guys were an experiment.  They turned out pretty cute, so I will probably be making more:

And I have been working on pillows.  These have been a great seller for me for over 15 years.  They are great to work on while I'm watching tv.

These haven't been pressed or stuffed, but you get the idea.  I press them and store them flat until show season begins and then I stuff them.  Saves space over the summer.

That's all for now, my friends.  I am working on some dolls, but still have quite a bit of hand work to finish on them.  More later.