Etsy & A Coupon Code

I don't talk about it too much, but I still maintain an Etsy shop.  First and foremost, I LOVE to knit!  It gives me a creative outlet.  :-)

I recently did a local craft show and have just started adding 15-20 new times.  Seems like a good time to show off a few fun things...and share a coupon code!

Please come on by my shop to see if there's anything you like.  Custom orders welcome!  Coupon code: HOWLIDAYS2012 will give you 10% off now through Sunday at midnight EST.

A Jumbled Mess...

I could pretend that I had a cohesive, well thought out post ready for you.  But you all know me... and that I'm more "whatever pops into my mind" than that.  :-)  I save eloquent for the other blog!

So, sit tight!  I'm hauling out the bullet points!

• Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the comments and support after my post last week about my grandma!  I love you all so much for not skipping one of the harder posts I've had to write.  Grandma is now settled into a very nice nursing home.  Alzheimers/dementia is a nasty bi-atch and while it was a difficult decision to make, it was the one best for her safety and overall health.
• I'm gearing up for a craft fair during Thanksgiving weekend.  Wish me luck!  Anyone interested in a coupon code for my Etsy shop?!
• I'm making Meadow and Paisley tu-tus for round two of our Christmas card photos.  Stay tuned...I have money on them being hysterical.
• For the first time in years, I'm not excited about Thanksgiving.  Someone find my holiday spirit - STAT!
• Breaking Dawn Part II comes out Friday (as if you've been living under a rock!) and I'm so excited that some of my favorite ladies and I are going to see it opening night.  We need a girls night!

So...what's going on with you?!

Well, THAT Was Interesting...

So, I participated in my first craft fair on Friday night.  I happily talked and talked...and talked to all the lovely folks who came to the fair.  Handed out my card.  Politely thanked people when they exclaimed how adorable my items were. 

But I only made THREE sales.   And two of them were to family!  {Whom I love, adore and am eternally thankful for their support!}  Disappointed doesn't begin to describe the feeling as I packed everything back up for the night. I don't even want to know how the lady did it - but she got 4 dozen {at least} Angry Birds hats from a manufacturer!  I had the dumb luck of being two tables down from this lady and didn't stand a chance against the cosmic pull of those darn birds. {FYI...I do actually like Angry Bird.}

Luckily...the night wasn't a loss!  I learned a few things:

• Make an early request to be close to the front door.  That way, people need to walk past you coming and going.
• This place could have made a killing if they charged the kids each time they participated in the cake walk. {For those of you not "in the know", a cake walk is like musical chairs...but slower and the child in the chosen space when the music stops wins a cake.}
• Sometimes, you end up next to REALLY "interesting" people.

My vendor space was directly next to a woman selling Lia Sophia.  Great jewelry, and the woman seemed nice enough. And then she started talking...  In the first 90 seconds of our introduction, she tells me that she works as a social worker and asks if I'd like to adopt.  SERIOUSLY!!!!  Five minutes later, she taps my on the shoulder and shares that her undies are too tight!

The vendor on my other side?  Tells me that she'll be at another craft fair tomorrow.  But one where she think she can sell her homemade bongs!

If nothing else... my evening was entertaining!

Oh, and just because I love you all {seriously, I do!}, you get 10% off my Etsy site through Monday night.  Just enter: SANTAPAWS2011 as your coupon code.  :-) 




I love this song!  It's one of my favorite Christmas "silly songs".

Craft Fair!

Girls, I'm doing my first craft fair tonight!! I'm excited. And nervous! I have no clue why I'm nervous. I mean, I like everything I've made! I just hope they do too!

Oh...and rumor has it that I *may* share with you all a coupon code this weekend for my Etsy store. Details coming over the weekend!

Also, one my favorite ladies will be guest posting on Monday! Anyone want to guess who it is?!



I fuzzy pink heart Glee!  Blaine and Kurt's performance of Baby, It's Cold Outside is so adorable and innocent.  :-)

Bloggy Updates

I'm going to be doing some bloggy housekeeping over the weekend/early next week.  If you could do me a quick favor - I'd appreciate it!!

Just let me know if your button should be in my "favorite blogs" section!!  That's all.  :-)  Oh, if you feel so inclined - I've put my first poll up too.  A vote on what I should knit and list on Etsy next would be awesome.

A more substantive post tomorrow.  Or not.  Maybe Beckett will continue his "notes from the crate" series. :-)

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

As everyone is aware - October is breast cancer awareness month. 

Most of you know that my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2009 (even though I didn't tell you all about until January).  Well, two years have passed.  She's lost a breast.  Had a port put in...and subsequently taken back out.  Gone through chemo, HER2 treatments, nausea, exhaustion and a week long hospital stay for a pulmonary embolism.  But, SHE'S HEALTHY!!!!

Breast cancer runs in my family.  Mom had it, grandma had it, multiple great aunts, my second cousin and based on geneological research - a whole crap-load (yep, technical term) of other women in my family have had it.  Most beat it.  Some didn't. 

That makes me and other women that I love a whole lot high risk.  But here's the good news...I go to all my mom's check ups with her at the Dana Farber Cancer Center. Heck, I even tweeted how much I want to steal one of the love seats in the radiology waiting room!!  I have a great relationship with the doctor who I'd choose to be my oncologist.  Hopefully, I'll never need to use that info!  But it's a comfort to know that I have it.

In the meantime, I'm adamant that people try to find a better cure.  Something that doesn't involve the over a year and a half of active medical treatment that my mom went through.  But that takes money.  I'll never have the millions that it takes to fund research.  But I can do my part to support the cause.

I'm happy to announce that anything in the "THINK PINK" section of my Etsy store has an associated donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  It's not a lot...but it helps!! And every woman needs a little pink in her life.  Right?! :-)

Shameless Self-Promotion (aka I Opened My Etsy Store!!)

You've all heard me say that I'm going to open an Etsy store.  Guess what?!?!  I did!!

Lots of stuff will be going up in the next few weeks.  You can also expect an announcement in the next week or so on how my Etsy site will contribute during Breast Cancer Awareness month.

In the meantime... you can find a few cute things like this!

Come visit!

2 on Tuesday - Shows I Miss

Happy Tuesday!!!  I'm linking up with Andrea for 2 on Tuesday again.  You know I must love her if I willingly break my rule against posting twice in one day!




This week, Andrea is asking What two shows that have gone off the air do you miss the most?

Such an easy one!!

1. West Wing!  My favorite show ever.  I love politics - so the witty banter, policy issues and current events were right up my alley.  Plus, Aaron Sorkin does the whole "walk and talk" banter better than any show I've ever seen.  I wish they'd do a reunion show or movie.  I really want to know if Josh ended up in politics after being Chief of Staff, if Josh and Donna had kids, how Toby is doing, and if President Bartlett succumbs to MS.  Don't you?!?!

2. The Muppet Show.  The old school, singing, dancing, guest stars MUPPET SHOW!  I'll always be a child at heart and have the Muppet versions of The Banana Boat Song, Lime In The Coconut and 12 Days of Christmas on my iPod.

I'd also like to mention that the super sweet Andrea will be giving away a hat from my *NEW ETSY STORE*!!  Go visit her and enter.  :-) *NOTE: The giveaway hasn't started yet, so I'm directing you to Andrea's main site instead of a specific post.*

Slip, Slip, Knit

A while back I started on my first pair of socks.  Well...the sock got lost and I gave up on socks for a while in favor of baby blankets.  (Can I even tell you how many people I know that are currently pregnant?!?!)

I'm back at it.  Here's my first sock production.  :-)

{Photos taken by Kristin, with my humble thanks!}

In other news...I'm thinking of opening an Etsy shop for all my knitting and quilting.  I'm open to any feedback.  Good idea/bad idea?  Would you be interested?