New link in the shop

I've swapped links with yet another great shop online, Sick on Sin. They're a fellow Crafters for Critters donater. And that's where I first saw their really cute kitty tee shirt. I'm such a sucker for the cute.



And there's even more cute at the shop, including lots of pro-vegetarian and vegan stuff.

Quick weekend project: cake stand

I originally saw this idea in Budget Living. But over at Craftster someone posted that it had also appeared in some ladies magazine. So it's just one of those common projects. I wanted to make another cake stand as a little display/holder for my pins at the upcoming Spring Bada-Bing.
What you need:
A plate (glass or ceramic, heck plastic will do)
A base of some kind (a mug, candle holder, vase, glass or ceramic)
A strong adhesive, like E600

Last weekend while thrifting I found a plate and a mug to use:

Dollar stores are also a good place to find materials. My other cake stand was made from a big candle holder for a pillar candle and a color coordinated plate.

Make sure your plate and base are nice and clean. Then simply use your adhesive to stick the base to the bottom of the plate, centered, of course:


Ta-da. A cute little cake stand, good for pies, cookies, brownies, or displaying pins at a craft fair.

I'm, like, so almost famous

Today has been a good day for Bake Sale Designs publicity. Some of my getting in touch with people has panned out well. First there's Carpal Tunnel Magazine.

It's a cool little online magazine with its fourth issue out. I gave an interview under the DIY section. Ugh. Interviews in the electronic age are usually just answering questions over email or chat. And I am horrible at typos. So I end up sounding a little stupid at parts. Just pretend you know what I'm saying.

My Tulip bag also got a mention over at Goodnight Sweet Pea. Always a welcome surprise. I don't even harass her!

And over at Just My Cup of Tea my pins got their own little spread. The pins are going fast in the shop. But I do have some more to go up soon. There are just never ending variations with those little things.

Wait, where's spring? Spring Craft Shows

So Monday brought the first day of spring and Tuesday brings practically freezing temperatures. I know, whine whine. I once lived in Wisconsin and Michigan so I get it, I do. In college when it was 48 out everyone broke out the tank tops. But I'm older now and I want it to be warm out. I'm sitting in front of my computer with George's big wooly sweater on and a big fleece blanket wrapped around myself. Spring where are you?
In an effort to coax spring out of hiding and get in the mood, look at what the east coast has to look forward to: craft shows galore. Just imagine it's a warm sunny day out, you've got your sunglasses on and your toes and wiggling out in the open. Maybe you're sipping on some lemonade while perusing all the cool indie goods at these shows...

Southeastern Swag Market April 1st in Danville, VA. I'm not going to be able to make it to this one. But I did send some swag and some pins for a raffle.


Spring Bada-Bing April 22nd in Richmond VA. This one I will be attending as a vendor. I can't wait! It just better be warmer than it is now. Stop by and say "hi" if you're in the area. There are 50 other vendors as well, some seriously great goodies. I'm hoping to get some things for myself.


The Handmade Market May 6th in Raleigh, NC. Another one I won't be able to get to. I believe they are still taking applications for vendors. And who wouldn't want to go to an event with such a pretty logo, I ask you.


Those are all the shows I know about on the east coast in the spring. If you're looking for shows elsewhere, check out The Indie Craft Shows Directory.

Postcard

Yesterday my very first order of postcards for Bake Sale Designs arrived. I think they turned out really well. There's a scan below, which, of course, doesn't do justice to the actual card.

George was kind enough to create the design for me. Sometimes he gets sick of always working on things for me. So if you're looking for a graphic designer, let me know. He's still building his portfolio so he's tres cheap. I didn't scan the back of the card, but George set it up so my slogan goes all the way around the edge of the card.
Now I just need to use them.

Spring is Here! FREE SHIPPING at Bake Sale Designs

I'm so happy about spring being officially HERE, that I wanted to do a little something to celebrate. So over at the shop, I'm offering free shipping from March 20-25.

A new Tulip bag, the Aloha Tulip is now available. And if you're looking for a deal, check out all the new items added to the sale section.

Internet Rollcall

There's always so much going on out in the internet land, especially in crafty circles. Here are a few of the things that piqued my interest this week and wanted t pass along.
- Over at Whipup I found out about "use what you have" month. A challenge for crafters to only use the resources they have during the month of April. That means no runs to the craft store for supplies. I definitely like the idea. I've been cleaning out my stash of fabric and supplies again and it would certainly make sense for me to use what I have before getting more.

- While tooling around on the Venus website I found a review of Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt. My skills at clothing de and reconstruction aren't that great. So I'm tempted to take a look at this book and see if I can glean some tips and ideas. Bonus--at the bottom of the Venus review is a link for instruction on making a wrap tee. Now I just need a tee.

-Funky Utopia is having a massive clearance sale. Looks like the shop is closing up and coming back with something completely new.

Fabric Score!

I did some thrifting this weekend and even visited a store I had never been to before in the city. Too bad I also made the mistake of going into an antique store to look at their jewelry. I usually use vintage clip-on earrings as centerpieces in my fabric flower pins. There were these simple, yet striking orange bead cluster earrings that would go perfectly with some fabric I have for making flowers. But the price was just too steep. I did, however, find some fabric at said antique store so it wasn't all disappointment.

All the fabric above is very different, but I love it all! Those are teeny tiny strawberries on the middle fabric. I have definite plans for the pink flowers on the brown background. The others I may have to let sit awhile and hang out with my fabric stash.

About Self-Portrait Tuesday: My first week for the time challenge didn't work out. But I'm in the middle of my next idea and it's working out. I'll post it all at the end of the 29th to capture a nice big chunk of time passing.

Taking a Shower

I attended my first ever wedding shower this weekend. It was for a good friend of mine who I've been friends with since high school. It was fairly boring over all, as Beth warned me. But there are some fun photos anyway:

I scored one of the corner pieces of cake. Mmmm. Sugar. It also made my tongue turn blue.

That's Beth's belly after all the food we ate. She caught me aiming the camera at her belly and at that moment pushed it to expand and doing a little jump for me. I was very amused. But I'm easily amused.

This present also amused me. Cooking knives are great. I just found the ecstatic bride with the big knives to be funny.
Finally, there was some tradition with making a hat out of all the ribbons and bows from the presents. I took Chrissie's picture with her hat on, but she threaten that it better not end up on any blogs, so I won't post it. I think I like that tradition. I'm in to dressing up. In fact, when she put the ribbon hat on, it felt more like home in her living room. We've dressed up in our Christmas gifts and wrapping paper there many a time. I don't know why I do that. Blame it on the crafting instinct. "There must be something I can do with this ribbon!"
So instead of posting the ribbon hat photo, I have something even better. Chrissie randomly threw me the peace sign with a cookie in one hand and I've done up a nice little comparison below.

Who throws it better? Lohan or Chrisse? I vote for the woman with the cookie. It's always the woman with the cookie.

Don't forget about the Happily Handmade Giveaway!

If you haven't entered into the Happily Handmade Giveaway, you've still got time. And there are now photos of all the gift baskets to entice you! Check them out here. There's one photo with my one-of-a-kind Vintage Flowers Pouch. In the other one you can see my Blue Jumble Fabric Flower Pin.


The last day to enter is March 27th. Winners will be announced on March 31st. How cool would it be to win on of those baskets just in time for spring?

More Craftster Swap Goodies

I ended up going for the Craftster.org chocolate swap. I received my package from my partner on Friday, perfect timing because I was in need of some chocolate. The lovely Cakelady at Craftster made me two sweet pillowcases, one is below, the other has chocolate kisses on it. And I got some homemade chocolate lollipops. They have inspired me to try making some of my own once I get some molds and sticks at a craft store. Mmm, I'm thinking I can make some minty, kinda like making candy cane bark. All the chocolate is gone! I have no will power.

I also tried my hand at some chocolate crafting. I made a t-shirt with my partners signature line, lots of chocolate candy magnets (they're all scattered about in the photo below) and I compiled a chocolate cookbook. The chocolate I got isn't pictured because I had to get it at the last minute, as I'm not to be trusted. I sent some Berger cookies from Baltimore. They're ridiculous. The little cookie is only used as a vehicle for the mounds of sugary chocolate icing piled on top. Not that I'm complaining.

The best!

I caught part of the Oscar Awards last night. I never stay up for all of it, especially not when I can just find out the next morning who won everything and see what they wore, etc. But I'm glad I saw Steve Box and Nick Park win for best animated feature, the Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I'm ashamed to say I haven't seen it, but I've loved all the Wallace and Gromit I have seen. These two guys were just the cutest when they won. They overshadowed all the other people trying to be funny-Ben Stiller I don't even want to acknowledge you.
If you missed it, when they won, they cam up on stage in these ridiculous oversized bow ties and then promptly outfitted their little Oscar statues with matching bow ties!

It's so inspiring and refreshing to see people who are so creative and proud just to be recognized that they don't take it too seriously. Their good nature and innate humor just shines through. Kudos to them! I must go rent Curse of the Were-Rabbit now.

Speaking of online zines

The second issue of N.E.E.T. magazine is out! If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's a fun set up too. It's just like paging through a real magazine, but online. The magazine features independent designers from all over.

My first print ad

I've done advertising for my shop before, but it's all been on-line. With some of the proceeds from the BUST Craftacular show, I decided to pay some big bucks for a print ad in Venus magazine. My little ad is out today in the March issue. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm excited. George designed the ad for me using his new graphic design skills. I'm so proud!


I'll have to wait and see if the ad results in any sales. Sometimes ads are hit or miss. I've had luck getting sales with some good online zine/blog mentions.

**********Update*************
I had a horrible dream on Wednesday night that the ad got all messed up and there wasn't anything I could do. There wasn't even a web address listed. Ugh. What a nightmare. I still haven't gotten to see a hard copy. Tonight I need to go out and find one.
-Friday, March 3