Fun in the Sun

It's funny how something so simple
can be SO fun!

My local Etsy team, RNEST, has a ball monthly participating in team challenges. This month we are having fun in the sun with summertime or picnic themed crafts. I had a great time over the weekend making a summertime version of my tic tac toe sets and then Michele and I had a ball "testing" it out! I swear we played tic tac toe for about two hours! Check out all the talent and vote for your favorite here.

Bumblebee "Os" and Blossom "Xs"

I'm In!

I got the official "you've been approved" message from the coordinators of my first ever juried craft show! I am so excited! As I mentioned, it's the MayDay Underground Arts and Crafts, featuring live music from local bands. If you're in the Rochester area, please mark your calendars for May 1st! You can find more information here.

Also, I completed my contribution to my Etsy team's monthly challenge. I'm sure you remember that the theme is Alice in Wonderland and throughout the entire movie, I thought, "Oooo, what if I took a crack at making The Red Queen's hot pads?" And so that is just what I did! I actually had a ball at it and learned a new technique in the process. I wanted to make sure that the hearts were extra secure so that I could advise a customer that the hot pads will wash and dry nicely, but I'm always a little leery of the security of applique on items people will use. So, I did a little research and found Dale Fleming's pinless piecing method for curves and other shapes. It worked like a charm, is as secure as piecing because it IS pieced, and the hot pads turned out great, if I do say so myself!

An Oh So Gorgeous Scarf!

I am a particular lover of scarves. I must have about half a million of them made by my mother, step mother, and sister, or made from my own hands. Well, when my friend and fellow RNEST artist, Sarah (not football, sledding, snuggie, bad influence Sarah) offered to give away one of her hand woven scarves on my weekly post on the RNEST blog, I wept inside. My tears were 25% joy because it's absolutely gorgeous and 75% sadness because, as the hostess of the giveaway, I can't enter to win! But you can, and I hope you do. This is artisan-ship at its best! Check out the post here.

Fun, Pain, and Fun!!

Oh, I am having so much fun reading all the comments on the giveaway post! Keep those entries coming! I cannot wait to see who wins!

Now for the pain segment. I wanted to tell you what happened to me the night I was working on the fall wall hanging. It is something that has happened to many other sewers, but I never thought it would happen to me. I sewed through my finger! Surprisingly, it didn't hurt, but the needle made a very eldritch noise when it went through my finger and fingernail and broke into many tiny bits. I think this makes me a real sewer - I have been initiated into the club! Although there was no pain when it happened, my finger really smarts now, especially when I type (which I do all day at work and quite a bit when I get home!!)

OK, now on to something fun. As you all likely know, I have a shop in which I sell quilted items. Well, I am also a member of a group of others who also have shops in which they sell items (though mostly not quilted items) and we all live right here in Rochester, NY. We're called the Rochester, NY Etsy Street Team (RNEST) and we are really fabulous!! This team has a blog, which I hope you will check out because they are graciously allowing yours truly to author a weekly column. I call it Wednesday Wellspring and weekly will feature a wonderful seller who has "bubbled up" from the well, so to speak. Now if hearing more from me isn't reason enough, my fellow members will also be contributing really cool posts, like Buenahelena's recent tutorial on magnetic rings! Very cool! So, if you have space on your blogroll, definitely check it out!