Rainy Days and Sunday

We are possibly expecting snow, but for now it is a heavy drizzle and the hillsides are shrouded in a misty fog, playing hob with aerial perspective as I was taught it in Art 101. I want to find my baggy pants and head out to Dow Lake and walk the path, but I don't own any hunter orange. I guess that outing will have to wait until after deer season is over. ;)

Yesterday we vended at the Logan (OH) Community Center, 8am-5pm was the original schedule, but everyone started tearing down at 3pm when the local holiday parade sucked all the shoppers away. I was in a separate room with a very nice gentleman who makes basketry birdhouses, and it was freezing. The thermostat didn't even hit the 68F standard of "fuel conservation" from when I was a kid. But it was well lit and we had a huge table.

I apologize for the blurry quality of the picture, I am not sure why the flash didn't go off and maybe the camera was set to take portfolio photos. You can see my rocket ornaments, some plush and older quilts in this photo. Two people thought the rockets were bats, which is kind of funny. I suppose when I list them on Etsy later this week I will have to call them Rocket Bat Ornaments.

I have already listed some of the pieces on my Etsy and will be listing more later this week.

Rockets and Cookies

It is time to change cookie cutters, at least for a little bit. These are some of the cookies I took over to Donkey last night, trees with frosting and non-pareil decors. Someone brought Grandpa cookies like this when we were visiting him one year at Christmas, every time I see these I think of him. :) I am not sure if I will do cookies all month or not, they bake a little different than the hearts, pumpkins, birds and butterflies. All the small tips seem to bake faster and are a little more brown than the inside of the tree. Even at that, they only had 4 left this morning when Aisha was in checking on baking inventory for me.



I also have been making rockets for the upcoming craft show November 29 at the Logan Hocking Community Center. I am working from beady stash here, size 6/0, and don't have a lot of traditional "holiday" colors. But I am really happy with how they are turning out even with the more unusual colors. And if you are like me, some ornaments stay up year round, so "seasonal" color isn't as much of an issue. I could see these strung across a doorway with jumbo planets hanging in between them. We'll see what happens.

What holiday preparations are you making?

Would You Hang This On Your Tree?

I wasn't so much Christmas deprived as Christmas denied as a kid. For a while we attended this really strict sect (some would call it a cult) which did not celebrate Christmas or Easter, and I was not allowed to sing in the Christmas pageant in 3rd grade or make tissue paper reindeer (and don't even ask about the time I convinced my kindergarten teacher that it was ok to draw the face on the construction paper pumpkin; I ended up having a very special talk with one of the ministers after that).

My grandmother and the rest of Mom's side still celebrated Christmas, and we did not isolate ourselves from them, so I did end up having some exposure (ahhh cookies and lights and the little elf ornament with felt hat that I was allowed to take home one time). So maybe not everyone would want a rocket ship or mermaid or fish on their tree. But hey, I'm not the average bear.

I am doing a craft show in Logan OH on the Friday after Thanksgiving, as their "featured artist", and while I am taking some quilts and plush and fancy beadwork, I needed to find something with a lower pricepoint that was also fun to make. While walking uptown this morning, I saw what I thought were rocket ships hanging in the display window of the local funky card/gift shop. Upon closer examination, I saw they were only long ovals that were two tone (silver and red).

"Hey," I thought. "I could make my rocket ship earrings with larger beads and they could be ornaments for the show. Cool!" So today after lunch that is what I did. This is my prototype. It took about two hours and I will probably be selling it for $20. Limited edition :) Over the weekend we are going to Columbus and I am going to see if I can procure some more seasonal colors as well as the little wire hanger things. Nothing earthshattering, but hey at least I am having fun.