ETSY art and craft show in PORTLAND!

a little over a week until the GINORMOUS etsy affair, here in portland, or. if you are anywhere even remotely near the area you want to come on down. you can hit up both the farmer's market AND this 40+ vendor event in gorgeous downtown portland. pass along the info to friends and family and don't miss this for the world!

of course i will be there vending ma heart out! :)

pdxetsy.com for more info!

skulls!

just a few pictures of my WIP newest plaster skull and also the buttons from the great thrifted material i scored! the skull is a neutral NFB version, with browns, creams and the prettiest vintage poly scarf appliques :) not the best lighting, and it is only a sneaky-peek with the final product picture to be posted soon.

happy memorial day weekend!

sunny days sweepin up clouds away!

the week was gorgeous and sunny, but the weather was pretty gray over the weekend. it rained and drove us indoors. however, we got so much done around the house it was ridiculous. sales were good, the house is shaping up and i found a stained glass supply store not one mile from my house, right down the street from the fabric depot. *sigh* there goes my money ha ha :) at the fabric store i picked up some paint and button shanks to see how i like making them, and it turns out....I LOVE IT! pin back or shanks...i love me some buttons!

i made some hairpins to start with the most tiny ones i could find. yay!

some new necklaces and earrings

i am just getting around to listing these earrings from last week! and i found the cutest little metal tools i made into necklaces, too. lets hope some sales happen over the weekend! :)

i hope to spend some quality time with mr. nfb...he clocked in over 20 hours of overtime on this check and i miss him! so we are going to check out a new-to-us place to eat tonight and try and have some quality time!

then, hopefully since it may be a little stormy this weekend, i can get caught up on stuff around the house and some projects i have on the burners. i still am hoping to get some stained glass materials: but it just may have to wait a week or two. mreh :( but i do have a *few* unfinished projects going on that i could do first...that will keep me more than busy for a while!

plaster, pasta and gardens.

today: i am curing a plaster skull, and cutting some fabric for coffee cup/pint cozies. i just might meet the old man for lunch since i know he forgot his. :) it's ok, it will get me out into the world this afternoon. i love how the weather is getting slightly cooler, just down to around 70 from 80. that is perfect for me-i am not quite ready for summer weather yet. i love spring! last night i made a huge vat of pasta salad and i think i will put the recipe in our cookzine (keeps getting put on the back burner, but it is still on the stove ha ha!), it was *that good*. and day before last i made the "cheezy crackers" from the new farm cookbook and they came out pretty damn yummy, too. i would definitely recommend it if you have a hankering for cheese nips but don't want to eat "cheese nips" heh heh!

also, my garden is growing like a weed! my cilantro is HUGE and i have made three batches of salsa already from it. everything is doing really well and i am a proud mama. please see above picture. it doesn't look like much, but having a garden is making me happier than i could have ever imagined.

morning essential

i will be making some more coffee/pint glass cozies this week. i am using one right now that i made for my favorite pint glass (i drink coffee out of it so the cozy was very much needed! ouchy hot glass is no fun!). this one was made from a vintage towel, so it can sop up any glass sweat, spills and comfortably protect your hands from cold or heat. it is kind of like a sweatband for your glass. ha!

ALSO: i am trying to drum up some sales on neverfeltbetterbyjen.com, so i can buy some stained glass supplies. i have two promos running right now on livejournal and myspace (you could use either one of those codes for 10% your total). i have pretty much everything i need, minus some glass pieces and some copper foil. i would like to make some mini mobiles for the window in stained glass free form. ones that suction cup to the glass or hang from a pretty chain. but yeah, i need some supplies for all that and since stained glass is on the list of things to do before i die, it actually has meaning behind it! :)

fun at craft shows :)

i did the grannypanties craft bazaar yesterday and had a really great time! sales were good, plus i sold the big day of the dead skull from a few posts back and got a lot of great feedback about it. i think i will have to have at least three more for the big ETSY craft show on june 9th. i will have a flyer up for that as soon as i get one to post the info. if you are here in portland or, you ought to free up your saturday, as the location is right next to the farmers market downtown!

i took a few pictures of the fun, before it got too crowded...

mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy...

a kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?

just finished a little mixed media piece, with felt, fabric, plastic and vintage cabs, acrylic and love. all mixed up and ready to go :)

everyday is halloween

i am really loving this so far. still a WIP, but i had to take pictures to see what it looked like. it is a day of the dead wall hanging! big, like 9x6"! needs the felt backing still, its rose crown and also it's final coat of glaze. but i am digging it! i used fabric bits for the flowers and it is hand-painted :)

one can never have too many buttons, or hairpins!

i am actually cleaning up my workspace today and took time out to make a few more things: pinback button and hairpin sets in matching vintage fabric. only have two so far, but i have to get back to cleaning more than i need to be pressing buttons! i found a secret stash of button parts i did not know i had so i can make a few for give-aways and for the upcoming shows. i felt like a dork not having much to slip into packages as a 'thankyou' and buttons always fit the bill! :)
i poured some plaster of paris into the new mold i got and it is drying--it is pretty chilly in here and humid so i suspect it will be days for it to be bone dry and ready for painting. i am really excited, i like the idea of making an wall-art piece and being able to interpret day of the dead in the never felt better style is very cool!

hairpins for the masses

not feeling too well today, but last night i did eek out a few new hairpins. behold!

on to the next big thing, whatever that is!

i delivered the good in the classiest brown paper bag eva'. :) now on the the next projects....

eat yer veggies!

my orange hairpins sold last night so i should get on getting more supplies! and i re-listed the infamous "eat yer veggies" buttons! carrots are good for you too.

oranges are good for you

i think i will get a few more styles of these cute fruit buttons to make into hairpins. i have had good luck with them because, well, they are cute as heck! :)

*finished!*

finally i can say barring a few last minute tweaks: I AM DONE! and now thinking about the next big thing. custom orders are both satifying and nerve-wracking at the same time.

*whew!*

shown are hand-crochet pouches, fabric-backed marble magnets and fabric covered mouse pads. all with vintage fabrics! :)

almost finished!

here are a few pics of two of six finished bags, and some of the magnets. i should be completely done by this weekend and moving onto other projects. (i just got a beautiful mold for day of the dead skulls- i am too excited to make a few of those!)

WIPs!

these pictures may not make much sense...they are my work-in-progress pouches and if my toddler would just take it easy on me for 5 minutes i just maybe able to finish up someday soon. before i grow old :) i did manage to tack in some linings and actually sew one in!

where to be on mothers day?

why, here of course! click the pic to go get more info on vendors!!

snail clutch!

just finished this little guy...a boxy crochet clutch with a snail applique! the inside fabric was sewn by hand and is a vintage print of horoscope signs...

working for the weekend!

it was really stormy last night and it rains today much to my chagrin. apparently that is going to be the scene for at least a week. i hope they are wrong as they so often are! but, lets look on the bright side. i will have a LOT of time on my hands to finish this crochet custom order!!! i have two plus done and am working on number three. i can even list one of them since it wasn't in the style she ended up going with for the order by tomorrow, hopefully.

i am flooding myspace, livejournal and pretty much everywhere else with this ad hoping to drum up some weekend sales. etsy has been SLOW and there is a lot of drama on there so i am not holding my breath for any breakout sales there anytime soon! please tell a friend about never felt better!!!! :))