Spring Events

Hello all! It's been awhile since I've updated things. It's been a relatively slow month; just crafting and waiting for spring to arrive. In Wisconsin, that's really hit-or-miss. We had some beautiful summer style weather mixed in with snowstorms and hail. Things seem to be evening out though; it's raining but the kind of wonderful spring rain that you don't mind getting caught in; the thunderstorms that help you sleep at night because they're so gentle, the lightning that my dad used to tell me turns the grass green in the spring.

It has been a wonderful time for treasuries on Etsy. I made a few of my own and got featured in several as well. Links here: A Nightmare Before Mother's Day, Spring has Sprung, I'm in a Purple Funk, Hair Do's, Member Treasury, and made by me, Earth Day Natural Beauty, Mardi Gras Magic, Cure for a Snowy Day, and A Few of my Favorite Things. Treasuries are really a fun way to get noticed and find many other beautiful crafters.

As spring quickly becomes summer, the craft fair season begins! I'm excited to tell you about a few craft fairs I'll be in this year. For now, I'm only telling you about the ones I've been confirmed to be in. I'm sure more will follow quickly. The first confirmed date is May 21st, where I will be at the Festival of Spring at The Paine Art Center and Gardens in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. For more details, visit my Facebook events. If you don't have Facebook, check out my Webpage events. The next confirmed fair isn't until July, so I'll wait and update you about that one when the rest of my events for the coming months are confirmed. Looks to be a lot of fun though!

The wedding season is also starting! I'm thrilled to be working on several bridal party accessories. I'm hoping to get lots of pics to share the finished projects with you. I'm honored to contribute my work to someone's special day!

So with all the exciting things on the horizons, things are definitely looking up. I really needed this spring breeze to shake the winter doldrums away. Now I'd better quit typing and get to work...

Listening to: Beats Antique, Sunday Driver, and Niyaz
Pics: Latest projects!

Spring is in the Air

The last couple posts were a bit depressing. Let's brighten up a little bit.

Before brightening up though, let me just urge you, if you haven't done so, to donate even just a small amount to the Red Cross for helping Japan: Red Cross Japan

Mardi Gras was March 8th, and I had a party. Because half the guests canceled on me, I turned out to be the only one in a mask. Lol. I didn't mind, it was fun with or without a mask, and I had fun creating a mask to match my corset for the night. I can always wear it next time there's a masquerade at one of the goth clubs nearby. Then, of course, there was St. Patrick's day, which is another of my favorite holidays. I didn't have the day off, so there was no baking and cooking traditional Irish food while listening to my extensive Celtic music collection, but I did at least find some time to go out that night. I was really hoping to find a place with a live band, preferably playing Irish music, but my small town had no options for that, and we went out too late to make it to the big cities. Oh well, maybe next year!

The past couple weeks have been beautiful for weather. It really got me in the mood for spring, so I created a lot of spring-inspired accessories. There are so many new listings on my Etsy site, it's crazy! Today is the vernal equinox, the start of spring. It thunderstormed all day, and I sat inside listening to the rain and the thunder and my favorite Celtic music while I listed everything on my site and sipped at tea. It was a very good day. Unfortunately... it's going to snow later this week. Boo.

I bought a sewing machine, and I'm slowly figuring out how to use it without breaking the thread every five minutes. So far all I've made is armwarmers that used to be knee-high socks, but I'm hoping to expand that after I get a little more practice. The sewing machine is actually the biggest investment I've made in the business so far, other than the booth fees for craft fairs, where I usually make back the money and then some. I'm hoping to make graceful fingerless gloves to match my fabric masks, and eventually even some larger clothing items. Of course I'm still crafting and knitting, so let's just add that to the growing list of things to keep me very busy!

I suppose at some point I need sleep to stay sane, so that's all for now.

Music: Clannad, Blackmore's Night, and Gaelic Storm
Pics: Me in my Mardi Gras mask, and some of my newest spring products!