Marsbarn Designs...

I'm liking this bed I made

It has been a tired, scattered kind of day.  I finished a dozen necessary pouches, and have a little pile of fairy skirts ready to sew up tomorrow, but I don't feel like anything got done today.  I am in good shape for the sale on Friday and Saturday, and I plan to run specials and make deals and (hopefully) sell out my stock.  This is the first year, since I started doing these sales 4 years ago, that I'm just not super jazzed.  Yes, I'm excited. Yes, I'm looking forward to the sale. But, in the years past I've wished I had more sales lined up, and this year I'm so very thankful that I only planned two.  Next week, I'll be done with my abbreviated Holiday Market season.  (Whoop, whoop!)

This year is different in other ways, too.  In the past, I've sewn boatloads of brocade handbags.  Piles of them. Stacks.  This year I haven't sewn one.  I have a few from last year to brighten my stall, but... the whole assembly line effort.. the brocade fluff everywhere.. it just didn't sing to me this year.  I will pull out my collection of brocade to make a few bags as Christmas gifts, but there will be no mass production.  I'm feeling really good about this.

Most shocking, is that I've set a deadline for special orders for my Etsy store.  November 30th is my end date.  December 1st, I'll finish up any lingering special orders, and then the rest of the month is mine to play, sew, and create to my own little whim.*  I just can't wait.

*Okay, there is some significant volunteering going on in December, but I'm excited about that, so it doesn't count.

Food: check.

I have a tendency, this time of year, to forget about the little piddily things like meals and chores.  This year I have made a definite effort to remember to feed my family. They get particularly grumpy when I have a blank, glassy eyed look at dinner time.  (You would think feeding them was in my job description, or something.)  So, I've been cooking like a fiend on Sunday, so we have food to work with through the beginning of the week.  

This weekend, I roasted up some sweet potatoes on Saturday night (peeled, cut into slices, tossed with olive oil and salt, spread on a cookie sheet, roasted at 425 for 20-30 minutes).  We had half of them that night with sable fish, arugula, green salsa, and lime wrapped in tortillas.  The next day for lunch I made sweet potato pizza.  I patted out store bought pizza dough, sprinkled on the sweet potato, some olive oil and salt, and then cooked it at 400 until everything was sizzily and done.  We drizzled lime juice on the top and ate it all up.  (In fact Sweetheart G finished the last of the pizza before her dad could try it!)

Sunday, I made chicken pot pie with biscuit topping for dinner and left-overs.  In tandem with cooking the chicken, I slow cooked some pork for cassoulet.  This meant that last night, after spending the day shopping, I could pull the meat and bean base for cassoulet out of the fridge, dish it into oven proof bowls, sprinkle bread crumbs on top, cook it for an hour, and serve a fancy dancy dinner for the valiant shoppers (my Mom and Auntie O) and my long suffering family.  Slick, I tell you.  

We still have leftovers that we'll either eat this week, or freeze for later.  Very satisfying... I can almost ignore the mountain of dirty laundry that is mocking me.  

the planets aligned, the angels sang, and the money flowed like rain water

Today was one of those Pacific Northwest days that starts off bright, before going dark and wet until just before sunset when the sun pops out again to make its excuses.  I thought it was quite considerate of the sun to announce the beginning and the end of the day.

 

After dropping the girls off at school, I set off on my Search.   

 

Long story short,  I was amazingly, uncharacteristicly, unexplainably, successful.   Support was found without sacrificing shape. Nordstroms was conquered without encountering any overbearing sales help, and I am now the proud owner of new jeans (purchased on sale) that don't gap in the back.  I even found I'd gone down a pant size (two at the Gap).  Oh, it was a good day.  The heavy rain even held off until we were all home and safe.

more rare than hair on an egg

Tomorrow, I go out on a grand quest.  I go, not in search of hen's teeth, or flying pigs, or baby pigeons but something even more mythical and elusive.

 

Tomorrow, (after a bolstering trip to the art store) I will (bravely) shop for a sports bra that is both comfortable and supportive, and will fit my endowed self. (Ya, not exactly holding my breath here... but this place looks promising. )

And. If this mission is successful, I might even go and try on some jeans while I'm downtown. (Or, I might just run home and hide under my bed. Tough call, really.)

Sweetheart G's need for happy feet.

Sweetheart G:  "My feet were unhappy with my lack of dancing today.
Now my feet are warm and tingly, and can enjoy the cold floor."

I sold, it rained, and it poured.

One holiday market down, one to go.

Today's sale was alright.  I sold enough to make the day worthwhile, but will only have to replenish two or three of my products. We had monsoon like downpours most of the day which I think impacted the attendance (a few roads flooded for a bit), but still there was a fairly steady stream of people coming through.

This sale used a central cashier system, which I must say I don't care for.  I've know this previously, but had it reconfirmed today.  I like leaving a sale with cash in hand, darn it, and not waiting weeks for a check.  Oh well, I'm planning a bit of a blow out at the next Fair.  Since I'm only doing the two markets this holiday season, I've got deals, and trades, and stuff planned.  

Anyway, now I'm ready to put the girls to bed (yes, your new bedtime is 6:30, get used to it!), and watch some bad TV while I drink something warm.

Ready to go, if I can put on the breaks

Yesterday was a flurry of sorting, tagging, and pricing.  And now, thanks to my Mom and the Fabulous O, my stock is ready for my two holiday fairs.  Saturday the 7th, I have a sale at Lewis Elementary, and next week on the 13th and 14th I'll be at Llewellyn Elementary. 

I am, officially, ready to go. (If I don't make more things... )

felt flower barrettes, or what I did when I should have been washing pans.

This is another little project I've been working on.  It's one of those fun little things that feels self indulgent to work on.

 

The sweet little felt flower pieces are from FIX Designs, a small business in New Zealand.  They have the fastest international shipping, EVER.

Kirsty introduced me to them because she's a big trouble maker an amazing artist who tempts me with all kinds of projects.

How is it that handwork done for fun is delicious, but mending is tedious?

I would have made more of them, but when I returned to the store to buy more barrettes I found the grocery store had been completely reorganized, and all of the hair do-dads had been discontinued. Conspiracy?  Probably not.  But, I have now washed all the pots and pans.

Ladies Art Friday

Last Friday two friends came over and we had our first Art Day.

The idea is to play with a new medium or project, and see what happens.  There isn't a set project, per se.  It is more of a set out supplies and see what transpires kind of thing.  This meeting we played with needle felting.  

 

Now it is true that I've dabbled before, but honestly I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing and I don't seem to do this craft without company.  We ate homemade coffee cake, drank coffee, chatted, and worked out lots of aggression by stabbing wool with barbed needles.  It was pretty much a perfect morning.

 

By the end of the morning, there was an owl,

 

and angel,

and a wee little birdie.

We're meeting again on this Friday (November is crazy busy, so only two of us will meet.) and we're going to tackle some felt ornaments.  I'm braking out the ornament kit I bought last year, but never took out of the mailer. We'll use it as a starting point, and see what we end up with.  

Halloween day, the day after recap

Halloween was really pretty grand this year.  The weather was warm and dry.  The girls had not only Big E, but also his parents to take them Trick or Treating.  The yearly candy gathering hike ended at a friends house, where we lingered until 10 pm.  

This morning the Candy Fairy had replaced half of their candy with coloring books.  We got the Candy Fairy's contact info from some friends a couple of years ago, and she is quite the life saver.  The girls sort their loot, and decide how much they want to donate.  The more they give, the larger the gift they receive.  

I've spent a good portion of today working on Utility Belts for the upcoming Holiday Fairs.  I have less than a week now, and I think I'm in good shape.  (Or, more accurately, I have what I have and that's just going to have to be good enough.)