Viva Portland

Ahhh...it's good to be home. Vegas was great. Not much more to say, really. I met awesome people, got to lay by the pool and gambled more than I thought I would. The wedding was emotional, as weddings tend to be for me and I'm glad to be home. For your enjoyment: A picture of the bride and groom shortly after their wedding, drinking margaritas.

I also updated my etsy shop (look at that, I promise made to this blog that I actually kept!) and there are a couple cute new things up there.
More to come soon. Of course, I need to return my focus to Christmas gifts now that Halloween is almost over. Before I get too Christmasy, however, I want to complete a few Fall craft projects that I've been thinking about lately.

Oregon in October

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from our afternoon on Sauvie Island last weekend. Most of them speak for themselves so I'll just mention that it was an incredibly warm and sunny day, unusual for October in the Pacific Northwest, and the lines to get off the island were insane. We decided to make the most of it while we were there. We went through a corn maze, took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, ate carmel apples and got a whole bag of loot to bring home. The boy also found some goodies that will aide in the recording of the new album, most noteably, a woven gourd shapped thing with bells inside. Perfect.





We are going to Las Vegas this week for a friend's wedding and no, like I told my mom, I'm not going to get married there. I will try try try to post a crafty-related post before then but no promises. However, I did find out today that I will be participating in the Super Collassal Holiday Sale in December put on by the lovely people who do Crafty Wonderland. I'll post the specifics as we get closer but for now, you can get some info at their website, www.craftywonderland.com.

New Items Up on Etsy

I have been neglecting my etsy shop for the last month or two and then all of a sudden, I got 2 sales in a row. Isn't that the way?
Well, for the holidays, I DO plan on posting often up at my shop. About once I week from now until Christmas. If you need to get some shopping done or just want to take a look, check it out here. I'll even gift wrap your items for free, so you don't have to!
I'm amazed at how many creative types I know, who still don't know about etsy, or people who live here in Portland that don't know about Crafty Wonderland. I forget sometimes that not everyone is a crafter or an artist.
I should also mention that this weekend went awesome. I sold the most that I've ever sold at Crafy Wonderland, apparently, it's my month of craft! We also went to the farms on sauvie island and got pumpkins and warty gourds and lots of produce. I promise to post pictures later this week.

Crafty Wonderland this Weekend

I just got an email asking me to participate last minute at Crafty Wonderland this weekend. If you're in Portland, stop by the Doug Fir between 11am and 4pm for some early holiday shopping or just some awesome accessories for Fall. I will have Unicorn onesies and maybe some other surprises if I can swing it. As always, my recycled card holders and other wallets and zip bags will be there too!

Shrug In Progress

The christmas presents have begun. This pattern is out of the Speed Knitting book I got from the library and it's for a shrug (like a half sweater in case you don't know). I'm using ggh Aspen Merino wool and Acrylic blend and I'm really happy with how it's turning out. The people at my neighborhood yarn shop, Close Knit really helped me out. Once you get going, these patterns are simple but they aren't specific about how much yarn you need. They use weight instead of yardage which is really annoying because this particular pattern called for cotton and I wanted to use something heavier. The awesome people at Close Knit stopped me from having a math breakdown and I got what I wanted to start this project. I'm actually really confused about how to add stitches in a row without creating a hole in my work, which is what this pattern seems to be asking of me. If anyone has any pointers, I'd love the help!
Oh, and I also got my swap partner assignment. I'll need to get started on that soon. I've finally come to terms with the weather change and now all I want to do is bake stuffed squash and drink hot toddy's with orange slices.

Christmas Swap

I'm doing a christmas swap over on Jane's blog. Here is my questionnaire for whoever gets my name! Swaps are so fun because you never know what you're going to get. Like birthdays or holidays but random. Plus, I love getting stuff in the mail!

1. What is your Christmas style? Contemporary, traditional, glam and glitter, primitive, cute or something else.
I always love glitter but nothing too gaudy, you know? Oh, and cute too. Always cute.

2. Do you collect something special? Santas, gingerbread people, angels, maybe snowmen, etc...
I don't really collect any particular Christmas objects but I love angels/fairies and more "folk" inspired or antique Christmas items.

3. Favorite holiday color. Fire engine red, lime green, burgundy, hunter green, pink and chartreuse or are you all about the metals, gold, silver or copper.
Gold, metal and copper are more my taste, although I also like wood ornaments that are handpainted.

4.Favorite things--Food, colors, pastimes or anything that you think we should know or that you just feel a need to share
Well, I sew and knit currently and I love listening to music, eating sushi and telling my cat to get off the furniture.

5. Least favorite things--scents that might bother you, allergies etc. If you don't tell us we won't know.
Hmmm... This one is hard because I like most things. I guess I don't like really overtly religious Christmas items. No offense to anyones beliefs, it's just not my personal style.

6. What so you prefer--candy or cookies--those special things that we only make at this time of the year. Like fudge, caramel popcorn or Mexican wedding cookies, yum yum.
Woah! I don't even know what Mexican wedding cookies are but I bet I'd like them. Fudge is always delicious in small doses but hot cocoa or a hot toddy is always the best.

7. How about--coffee or tea
I am insanely addicated to coffee and I love herbal teas of all kinds.

8. Do you wear knit or crocheted scarves? Yes or No
Yes! Although I make these myself and am a bit bogged down by them at the moment. Would definitely prefer mittens or socks that are knitted.

9. How about slippers? Yes or No, If yes what size.
Yes, slippers are awesome! Size 9.

10. Hats? Yes or No. Pin head or pumpkin head.
I love hats as well. I would say "medium sized" head.

Want to Take Advantage?

I'm on Joann Fabric's e-mail list. If you sew and don't get there emails, then you should consider signing up. I get tons of coupons for 40% off an item or just notification of their sales. Here's what's going on at joann.com now:

I also want to mention my love for locally owned fabric shops like this one and this one. I wish I made enough money to only shop local. Unfortunately, sometimes the reason that I need fabric is to make something that I can't afford to buy and in that case, I need the $2 a yard fabric. That's where Joann's comes in.