Halloween Wrap-Up

Did everyone have a nice Halloween last night?  We did!  My husband and I helped out at our church's kids party.  We dressed as Kermit and Miss Piggy.

The theme of the party was outer space.  Recognize those planet lanterns that are hanging up? 

I also helped paint an awesome mural on the windows.  I didn't sketch it out but I helped fill it in.  It's so cute!

What did you do for Halloween?  Did you dress up?

Girls Night Out and a New Carseat!

Last week I had the opportunity to attend an awesome bloggers night out.  The event was sponsored by Graco and hosted by Kat from Mama's Losin' It.   We all met up for Italian food and to learn about their new SnugRide® Click Connect™ 40 Car Seat.

I was really excited to meet some mom bloggers and hear their opinions on the car seat.  We have been looking at car seats and to be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing.  Seeing all the experienced moms get so excited about this new seat made me realize it's probably a great choice.  It fits the baby from 4 to 40 lbs and will last until she is two-years-old which is awesome.  The extra awesome part?  I was given a car seat of my very own.  We tried it out with our fake baby when I got home :)

"The Graco SnugRide® Click Connect™ 40 – the first and only newborn to two-year infant car seat that actually grows with your baby from four pounds all the way up to 40 pounds. The car seat is designed for a parent on the go. The infant car seat can be easily removed from the base and used as a carrier when the infant is small, providing portability and convenience so you can easily move your infant in and out of the car without disturbing them.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently made the recommendation to keep all children in rear-facing car seats until the age of 2. Graco set out to make this product so parents can keep infants rear facing longer while still keeping them comfortable."

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Graco. The opinions and text are all mine.

Craft Swap and Yarnbombing

This past Saturday, I attended a craft swap hosted by etsyRAIN.  It's a local meetup group and the swap was happening at a park by my apartment.  Awesome!

There were so many craft supplies, it was ridiculous.  I brought a bags worth and left with multiple armloads. 

It was also fun to explore the park a bit more.  There is an art exhibit going on now and all the trees are covered with yarn.  So cool!

Schoolhouse Craft Wrap-Up

My School Notebook/Schedule

  Well this weekend was very inspiring and exhausted.  I just spent three days at the Schoolhouse Craft conference.  I learned so much!  From the moment I walked in, I knew it was the place for me.  Vintage linens and mason jars full of pencils.  Craft supplies and arty people.  It was awesome.

Raffle Table

I attended lots of great sessions and heard from some famous crafters.  I left with many practical suggestions and have a lot of work ahead of me!

One of the Classrooms

My head is a little full right now to go into lots of details, but I'll try to share a bit more over the next few days.  If you want to see some more pictures of the event, go here.

Art Camp for Big Kids Table- I made felted flowers!

One Year Anniversary

A year ago today I married my best friend.  Here are some pictures to remember the day.  They are all taken by our AMAZING photographers from Red Box Pictures.

Anniversary Gift

Well as of tomorrow, my hubby and I will have been married for one year!!  Since we are out of town this weekend and I gave him his gift yesterday, I think it's safe to show it off here.

I had seen these photo canvases on display at Ben Franklin Crafts and I thought I would try it.  I took a picture from every month of our marriage and glued it onto a canvas.

At the bottom, I added the phrase "Night and Day, You are the One" because our first dance was to Night and Day.

I'm not sure I "love" the effect, but I think it still captures the message I wanted.

Auburn's Artrageous Wrap-Up

Yesterday was Auburn's Artrageous.  The weather behaved and while it was cloudy, there was no rain.  This was my first outdoor show and a larger space than normal.  I had a tent, but will probably tweak my display in the future for this big of a space; my table looked a bit small. 

As far as vending went, it was kind of a slow day.  I think it may have been because the crowd in attendance was coming more for the free events and not for the craft vendors.  I can't really blame them; there were lots of fun activities, especially for kids.  First, there were lots of craft activity booths.  I was impressed by the diversity: wood carving, painting, sculpting, etc.

Second, there was an Alice in Wonderland interactive show going on throughout the park.  I don't know how many bunnies I saw walking around, but there were a lot.

What did you all do this weekend?  Anything fun?

Wedding Season

After my wedding jewelry project this week, I started to think that there might be lots of couples out there gathering wedding inspiration.  I was doing that very thing last year about this time; my wedding was August of last year so all summer I was busy searching out inspiration.  If only I had pinterest at that time.  sigh...

Anyway, I thought I would share some of the pictures from our wedding to help give inspiration to all of you planning out there.  Our colors were orange and blue and we were not too formal about it all.  Enjoy!

First, the flowers.  I wanted something bright because that's just the kind of girl I am.  Lilies are my favorite flower and the first flowers Eugene ever gave me were orange lilies, so that was the starting point.  Other than that, we told the florist to just make a mix, almost like a fresh picked bouquet.  Our decor was a mix of vintage bottles filled with flowers.

Next is the cake.  I don't have a lot to say about this, but I was really pleased with the results.

Here are some pics of our style.  I chose simple dresses for the bridesmaids.  I won't lie and say they could wear them again (I've been a bridesmaid 7 times-you don't wear them again).  I made the necklaces for my bridesmaids and bought them each a different pair of earrings.  The necklaces had orange and blue glass beads with navy blue ribbon on either end to tie them closed.  Sadly, you can't see the jewelry all that well in this picture and I forgot to take close-ups.

For my hair piece, I got a beautiful feather piece off of etsy.  Loved it!  I debated between flowers and feathers, but feathers won out.  You can mainly see the white feathers in this photo, but there was one little peacock feather stuck in there as well.  I tried to link it to the shop but it looks like the shop is closed :( 

For wedding favors, we went with bubble gum.  I spit gum in Eugene's face on the night he asked me out so it seemed appropriate.  We used orange gum and printed up little story cards telling the tale.

Okay.  That's all for now.  I'm feeling lazy so I didn't look up all of the vendors info, but if you are in Seattle and loved something you saw, just ask and I will hook you up.  We were VERY happy with everyone we chose.


All photos by Red Box Pictures.  Amazing.  Hire these guys.  Totally worth the money.

etsyRAIN Show Wrap-Up

Hey! Thanks to everyone who came out to the show yesterday.  It went great.  Many thanks to the amazing etsyRAIN team for all the hard-work they did.  I felt so supported throughout the show; I could barely go a minute without a volunteer asking if I needed anything or bringing me a tasty cookie.  Great, great day.

My booth set-up was pretty much the same as last week, but I did change a few things up.  I felt like my jewelry was hiding a bit, so I added some boxes underneath my necklace racks to elevate them and also put some pieces out front just sitting on the table.  I'm also still tweaking the prices.  This craft show thing is a constant learning process.

I also bought a few things myself.  I got a pack of lollipops from This Charming Candy.  We got the breakfast tray pack.  So far, I've only had the grapefruit, but it was quite tasty.

Also, I got these cute tea towels from Sweetnature designs.  My husband and I had a tough time choosing because there were so many, but we settled on the fun bicycle and "life is pretty cool."

Show Tomorrow!

Be sure to come on by to the etsyRAIN spring show tomorrow at the Seattle Center.  Lots of great vendors (including me!).

EtsyRAIN 2011 Spring Craft Show

Saturday, May 7  11am to 5pm 

The Lobby and Fountain Courtyard of the Intiman Theatre  
Seattle Center

201 Mercer Street, Seattle, WA 98109 

Craft Show Goodies

I'm really proud of myself.  While at the craft show, I was able to make more money than I was spending.  I tend to have a doubly-hard time at craft shows.  I want to buy things that are really cute that I actually could use.  But I also am an empathy shopper and want to buy from the person who looks a little discouraged like maybe they aren't having such a great day.

I can be very dangerous at craft shows.

But, I was able to control myself this time and limited myself to a few cute items; one present for myself and one present for each of my nieces.

For myself, I got this cute apron from Drapes of Wrath.  This was a very hard choice but I went with a green one.  Look closely, do you recognize the pattern from some of the jewelry I have been making?  Matching!

Next, for my new little niece Adriana, I decided to get this sweet little bib from Stork and Me.  I was really torn because there were lots of cute things, but I just couldn't resist this elephant print.

Finally, for my 2 and a half year old niece Audrey, I went with these fun hair flowers.  I just know she will look adorable in them.  I got them from my booth neighbor, Mother Carey.

Maple Valley Bazaar Wrap-Up

Well, yesterday was the Maple Valley Bazaar and it went great.  The sun was shining and the crafts were flowing. Here are some pictures of my booth.

I'm very excited about the show.

Eugene kept me company the whole day.  He rocks.

A close up of this side.

The ring holder in action.

The necklace side.  Eugene build those two racks for me and the display in the middle is covered with the same pillowcase as the ring display.

I also bought a few things myself, but haven't taken pictures of them yet.  I'll post them tomorrow.  Now I just have to get ready for the etsy rain show this weekend!