My Weekend and Strange Folk

Strange Folk is the first festival I've had the privilege to attend. Honestly, I had no idea anything so cool would come so close. When you grow up in the Midwest, you just get used to the interesting events happening elsewhere. I have to say, Strange Folk was great. It was busy, but not crazy, there were a lot of interesting things to see and people to meet... though, I'm not the best at socializing. I have a small voice and people make me very nervous, especially in those settings... but everyone was very friendly and just seemed happy to be there. I really hope to be a vendor there next year, and maybe, just maybe, if it doesn't seem too stressful to do both, my band could also be on the ticket. Then I could make Johnny shamelessly promote my table while I sit behind my Wurly and blush (hee, hee).

Anyway, highlights from the weekend:


A very cheap, clean (as one can be, really) hotel in Fairview Heights. What six year old doesn't love two bouncy beds side-by-side? For that matter, what 26 year old doesn't love that?



Hope totally dug shrinky-dink. She colored her picture, it went in the oven, and came out tiny. Hope loves everything small. This was a phenomenon.


Alpaca farms are fun. Though, I do have to say, catching this moment was a fluke. I thought I was snapping a happy picture of my girl petting one of these walking sweaters, but what I really caught was the exact moment one had kicked her. She was not pleased.



We did go back over. She was fairly resilient in this situation and
was pleased as long as she didn't get too close. She ensured this
by deeming herself the photographer and snapping pictures of the
other kids doing the petting.


The festival was decorated with cute little mushrooms and gnomes everywhere. It was so charming.


One of my favorite parts was recognizing sellers from Etsy. I got to meet Nichol Brinkman who makes Pillow Monsters. I was delighted after we exchanged our hellos and she said she actually knew who I was. I was in shock. As you can see, her stuff is amazing. I came home with the cutest Abby in a bear suit, which was my favorite purchase from the festival. Johnny keeps laughing at how childlike I am with this plush. Abby just makes me smile, so I choose to carry her everywhere with me right now. Nichol was a sweetie and I'm really happy to have met her.

I also saw the Sparrow Fist table. They had the infamous accordion necklace sitting out for me to touch, so I had to come home with it. You may remember this post.


Anyway, it was a fun weekend. We couldn't have asked for better weather, the people we came across were so friendly, we found some true treasures, and we all just had a great time. Hopefully you'll see me there next year... selling, playing, doing a jig (not really doing a jig)...

Eeeeeeeeeee!

I adore Blanco... he was my favorite for about two or three days. Then he happened. I'm in ostrich love.


I don't know his name or his story... I only know that he's my new friend.

Hilarity

Man, I love Flight of the Conchords!





I'm also so happy that new episodes of the Office have started. That show... what can I even say? I love it. Some favorite moments:

Meredith-- the car, the bat, the football
Dwight telling new HR girl Holly that Kevin is "special"
The cat in the freezer!!!
How much Michael openly hates Toby in most resent seasons
Did I Stutter?!

I don't know why I listed all of those... there's SOOOO much more. Seriously, though, Pam smacking Meredith in the face with that football... I thought I was going to pee my pants. And, the way Holly was treating Kevin when she thought he was slow... priceless. You know Angela's going to end up pregnant. I'm glad the show hasn't sabotaged Jim and Pam, yet. I'm a softie, I know, but I'm glad they're together. Listen to me... talking about all this like it's real life... hmmm... time to sew...

GIVEAWAY NEWS!

As I laid awake in bed last night, wishing I was sleeping, thoughts of what I should make for this giveaway streamed through my head. I was wanting to do a different kind of owl, maybe an owl with a costume or something... then sweet visions of owls in aprons with flowers on their heads appeared, and I knew that was it! So this giveaway will be a sweet owl, adorned with a flower and apron... ooohhhhh, I can't wait! She's going to be so sweet! The official drawing date for this giveaway is: (druuuuuuummmmmmmmm rooooooollllllllllll please!)

October 26

Mark your calendars, and be sure to sign up if you haven't already. This one's going to be fun!

When she's actually made, she'll be much prettier. Here, the flower and apron are superimposed... you get the general idea :)

Oh, yes... and if you are wanting to sign up, just comment on this post with your name and email address. Thank you, lovely friends.

Blanco

I've had Blanco in the works for some time now... I just couldn't figure out exactly how I wanted him to look. All of that changed last night... it hit me all at once, and I couldn't be stopped. He'll be up in my shop very soon.



He's actually been really hard to photograph... I can't get him to stop disappearing... maybe his super power is actually invisibility...

When the Well Runs Dry

I'm running out of quite a few of my vintage fabrics. I guess that's the trouble with buying scrap bags from flea markets. The problem is, I can't find anything comparable to replace them with.


I'm out of this brown heart fabric and no place seems to have it.



This green polka dotted fabric is my absolute favorite. I use it as an accent fabric quite a bit.



And I've used almost all of this brown polyester fabric. I also use it for tons of accents. I'll be so sad when it's gone!

If you have any suggestions for me, as far as fabric leads go, I'd love to hear them!

Etsy Favs for the Week

This little stamp can be found in Corrabelle's shop, along with lots of other goodies!




I just bought this from Sky Creation. Hope's going to love it!




Laura George does the cutest illustrations.




Who doesn't need a two headed kitty? Sideshow Kitties knows.




If you haven't seen how amazing Julia Pott is, go to her shop now!




I love this necklace from A Little Luster.

Strangefolk!

So, I was completely disappointed when we didn't make it to the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. All is not lost. We just found out about a festival in O'Fallon, IL called Strangefolk, and we are going! I'm very excited... not only to be getting out of town for a couple of days, but to go and meet awesome, creative people, take Hope to the petting zoo, and come home with the perfect souvenir. If any of you are going, we should meet up... in the fun way, not the creepy way... hope to see you there!

I think I'm up for a Halloween GIVEAWAY

Giveaways are fun. There's no denying that. I think a Halloween giveaway would be great. Maybe a cute little owl in costume or something. I'll mull this over and give more specifics when I figure out what I want to make. Yay!



If you'd like to start signing up now, go for it! Just post a comment with your name and email address... hee, hee...

Whew...

Wow, this week had been a whirlwind! I am trying to complete 15 (and growing) orders, and I feel like my fingers never stop sewing. This is when I wish I sewed these little guys with a machine. I can't even imagine what the Christmas season will be like...

Anyway, this is just a little post to let everyone know that I'm not neglecting purposefully, and hopefully next week I'll have lots and lots of interesting things to share. Thanks everyone... I love you.

xoxo
Katie



Oh, and this is my newest, CUTEST Camille ever. I wish I could keep her.

Ghost Kitty!

In the spirit of Halloween, Ghost Kitty is born.






She's in the shop now.

Tonight, tonight...

I'm sleepy and all I want is to watch Amelie.



This is a problem because I do not own this movie.

Curse you, sleepy-dreamy moodiness!!!

And the Winner is...

...Corey Valuck aka The Neverending Corey. Hope's fingers did have a hard time choosing the perfect piece of paper, but when they decided to stick, it was Corey's name that was pulled from the basket. So, congrats. You're the proud new owner of a sweet, little owl. I'd like to thank all of you for making my first giveaway so pleasant. Check my blog in the months to come... I'm definitely doing another one. I love you all.

Beauty...

First, let me just say that Laurel Hill is amazing. I ordered this necklace last week... with customizations, mind you... and received it in the mail today. She sawed, hammered, filed, tumbled, oxidized... I don't know what all that is, I just read it on her website... and stamped my request onto this beautiful pendant. It blows my mind. If you haven't checked out her Etsy shop, please do. She's a very talented girl.

This Week's Etsy Favorites

Horses and polka-dots? E. Soule, did you do this just for me?




Who could resist this sweet little owl from Stitch Face?





This skating bear necklace from Anomaly Jewelry is so wonderful.





I'm pretty sure I need one of these pins from Lupin's Etsy store.




This little monster from Plants and Animals is too cute.

Two Days Left...

We have two days left before the drawing, and I'm finding myself getting really excited... and nervous. I wish everyone could win... everyone has been so sweet and loving. I guess that just proves that I'll need to do another giveaway in the months to come. Maybe a bit closer to Christmas...

My New Kitty...

I received this little kitty made by Penguin and Fish in the mail today, and I adore her. She is soft and squishy and so huggable. If you haven't checked out Alyssa's stuff before, you definitely should! Also, you can read her blog here. It's one that I really enjoy.

A New Owl

I'm quite fond of this owl... I think it has mostly to do with her vintage polka-dotted belly fabric. I found this at a flea market and am in complete love with it. You can expect to see a lot more of it...

I'm having a hard time naming her (or him, I suppose). If you have any brilliant ideas, feel free to drop them.

Oh, this giveway...

I'm so thrilled at the response for the giveaway. It has me thinking of doing one every month or two...

I just wanted to let all of you know that I appreciate your compliments and I'm so grateful to have so many people signed up already. We still have another week before the drawing, so if you haven't signed up, you still have time. Thanks again, wonderful friends!

I love this moose!

I made this moose as a special request for someone, but he is so gangly and cute, I just want to keep him for my very own. Plus, his bandit mask is removable, which lends itself to hours of playtime fun (for me, anyway).



He looks a bit small in the picture, but he's a good 3 apples tall. He's my lanky beau.

A GIVEAWAY!

I'm new to the blogging community, and I'd like to show my appreciation for everyone who has been stopping by to read my thoughts and see my new animals. I love you all. SOOOOOOOO... post a comment to this thread, and on Friday, September 12, I will randomly pick a winner and they will receive one of my little owls! Exciting, right? Just post your name and how I can contact you, or if you'd prefer, email me @ skunkboycreatures@yahoo.com and give me your info. Good luck!

Another Newbie

This little guy is Orson. He's my Fall reading buddy.


He's made out of the softest stripey fabric. I found a bunch of it at the flea market and had to snatch it up. I don't know what it is, but I do love it. He's now available in my shop.

Labor Day

There's nothing better than when friends come into town and you have time for each other. It seems like every time I find a really great friend (or set of friends... which is rarer) they move away. I mean, maybe that should tell me something about my area.... hmmm... anyway, I usually hate Labor Day weekend, because living in a tourist town kind of confines you to your house... unless you want to be bumping elbows with every inbred mother and daughter scouting outlet store finds. But this one was nice, having awesome friends to hang out with... it makes me happy and sad. I'm too sentimental most of the time-- a character flaw, I suppose, so I really hate seeing them go.



We watched Once... I thought it was amazing. Getting everyone to agree on a movie can sometimes be difficult, but when two of you decide to pick while everyone else is busy, that can make it much easier. I would recommend it to anyone. It is considered a modern-day musical, which, when you call it that makes me want to loath it, but the music is incredible. The songs do tell a good portion of the story, but they are completely relevant and do a great job. And, I guess the difference for me is that the music seems real. It's organic and beautiful.




Of course, I loved the movie so much I bought The Swell Season. I adore it. I'm so impressed when two artists can come together and compliment each other so well.