more random photos!

it's hard work, being cute! Prescott relaxes on the couch after dinner. It's hard to believe, but he'll be 6 months old next week, already. Where does the time go?

I've been spending time at one of the local thrift stores, Savers, lately, and managed to find some new additions to my spring/summer wardrobe... I got four tee-shirts, two sleeveless shirts, a short-sleeved silk sweater, a pair of sandals and a scarf, all for about $20. The most expensive item was only $4.99, and most of the items were on sale for half off, including the silk sweater, which I snagged for only $2.00! It was a fun couple hours, and I definitely plan on doing it again.

(lucky) 7

Seven years ago, I received a very intriguing e-mail from a man who shared my love of science fiction movies, and whose favorite actor was Hugh Grant. We started corresponding via e-mail, had some very long phone conversations, then decided to meet over lunch before going to the movies. During lunch we did lots of talking: among other things, we debated the merits of The Matrix vs. Star Wars as the best science-fiction movie series ever (...clearly, it's Star Wars!! LOL!) Approximately four hours later, we finally decided we'd better get to the movie theater before we missed the last showtime.

Now here we are, seven years later; we're still having lively debates about all manner of topics, and enjoying it just as much as we did during that first four-hour lunch. That e-mail was the start to an amazing journey... I'm very much looking forward to the next seven years with you, my Thomas!!

with much love, your Jenn

another random photo post

I always have these grand plans for writing themed blog posts, but never get around to writing them... So, in order to get the photos out there and posted, I'm doing another "sort-of-random" photo post, starting with leftovers from my Christmas crafting-- a couple commissioned items. (it sounds so grandiose when I write it, but technically they were commissioned; I'm just not comfortable with the word.)

This is a comissioned stocking for a coworker's dog-- I love that he wanted a stocking for his dog!! Since the dog's name is Capone, Mike wanted the design to be sort of "gangsterish" to reflect that, and he's the one who actually gave me the fedora-hanging-on-the-cuff design idea.

I love how this little hat turned out; it totally reminds me of Frank Sinatra!! The only thing I didn't have is something to decorate the hatband with, unfortunately. I am keeping my eye out for a button with a pawprint design on it, and once I find one, I'll add it. Mike said Capone wasn't too excited about the stocking (he was more interested in the rawhide bone inside it!), but he liked it, which is important, since he's the buyer.

These finger puppets were for another co-worker. (well, not for him, but for his daughters.) I was a little leery about making such well-known characters- they're so recognizeable that I was concerned about getting them just "right." After futzing around with them for a looong time, I think there's something a little "off" about Spongebob's face, but then again, I'm my own worst critic. And I love how his friend Patrick turned out!! More importantly, the little girls loved them!

In other news, Prescott has been quite a troublemaker, getting into everything down at his level. Warning-- the following may be Too Much Information, but if you have dogs, you'll understand... He had a couple weeks of "digestive issues" that started with vomiting every time he ate, and moved down his digestive system to become bouts of diarrhea. I was very concerned, took him to the vet, and got him a round of antibiotics. Turns out, what he had a tough time digesting was a pair of my socks! The picture above is an example-- we were just flabbergasted when he vomited up the sock on the left (shown next to an intact one to illustrate that it's NOT all there!), then over the course of the next week or so, the rest of the sock made its way thru his system. We thought we were in the clear when we started seeing signs of the SECOND sock! I still don't understand how he could do it; it would have been soooo dry, sort of like eating a biscotti cookie without any coffee to moisten it! Anyway, he's all over it now, and I don't leave my socks on the floor anymore- LOL!

These are a couple photos from a fleeting moment of doggie togetherness in the kitchen this afternoon. Bisbee still doesn't know quite what to think of him, especially when he wants to snuggle up with her, but she lets him do it.

It doesn't last long, though-- these quick snaps were it, then just a couple minutes later they were off again, tearing around the kitchen and living room. Now if only Prescott would put some weight on... apparently socks are a good weight loss method, although I'm not trying it anytime soon- LOL!

craft show catch-up (lots of pictures)

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! And that Santa brought you whatever you wanted!! For the last month or so, I was a busy elf myself, working on inventory for two craft shows, and thought I'd show you some of what I made. This was pre-craft show chaos-- trying to sort out what I had already, and what I had to make more of. I set up my display out in the garage, to test it out, which was helpful!

This is my display at the first show, Superstition Farms, a working dairy farm. The event was "Moo-ey Christmas" and featured Santa, hayrides, smores, and a vendor fair on a Friday and Saturday evening. Unfortunately, I did horrible at this show, but it was good practice setting up my booth display. (I don't think any of the vendors did too good; the hayride, petting zoo, and Santa were the main attraction, not us vendors.) The next week, I did a show in downtown Phoenix, the first annual "Phoestivus Market" on a Wednesday evening from about 5 pm to 8:30 pm, and did tons better. This event had a lot of great sponsors to bring people to downtown Phoenix, and it was a beautiful evening for shopping.

Decoupage votive candleholders, made using some of my vintage and found papers-- these look great when they're lit! (they're all sold- yay!- except the Asian newspaper one, second from left).

more decoupage candleholders. The polka-dots on the left were punched from colorwashed vintage sheet music, and the tan paper on the right is actually vintage sewing pattern tissue paper.

I've gotten into sewing felt this holiday season, and I love the way this log cabin stocking turned out!! I'm not sure why no one bought it; don't people hang stockings anymore?? If not, I don't know why- the stocking stuffer presents were always the most fun part of Christmas morning at our house, and it didn't even matter that we didn't have a fireplace. Mom hung the stockings from a bookcase.

another cute decoupage candleholder... I love the way this little guy turned out! Snowmen seem "wrong" to me now that I live in Arizona, but I still love them!

I went kinda overboard making Christmas tree ornaments. I made a number of paper and glitter ornaments, and made a huge mess in the kitchen while I did it. But they do look good hanging on the tree when they sparkle in the tree lights, and thank goodness the Dyson does a good job of cleaning up glitter, among other things!

I've also been making some altered bottle vases; I found a stash of bottles (and other junk) out in the desert, and love the already "aged" finish on them. I can't put out flowers (the cats love to mess with things!), so I like the idea of a vase that can hang on the wall. This one I decorated with vintage music, heat embossing in copper, and a paper vintage-look butterfly, along with some vintage novel text. I love selling things in person, because that way, I can talk to the person looking at things- the woman who bought this said her husband had recently passed away, and ever since, she's been having visions of butterflies, so this piece was "speaking to her" and she had to buy it. I love stories like this, when I get to hear the personal reason behind the purchase!

I also made a number of collages using the 3/4 inch birch plywood I have stashed away. These two pics are horrible lighting (sorry about that!), but I love the way they turned out! They're both 6x6 inch collages with vintage sheet music as the base. The one above features a paper-cut swan, so the "Seven Swans a Swimming" theme was a no brainer to me. I set off the blue shades with some gold accents.

This one is a hand-cut papercut tree, decorated with sparkle glaze, sequins, and glitter candle flames. Again, the focal image was set off with gold acrylic stamping, and I found the perfect quote on the internet. I love Christmas (although it definitely snuck up on us quick this year) and I love crafting, so thanks for peeking at my Christmas crafting!