Joyful Abode

I can’t believe I’ve neglected my blog so much!

But then… given what’s been on my plate lately, I CAN believe it.

Let’s see… I think some of you know that I’m a preschool teaching assistant. For the past month, we’ve been getting ready for their graduation ceremony, and it was on Friday. The kids were all dressed up and SO CUTE. They all got stage fright simultaneously though, so the songs we had been practicing sounded like they were being sung by a chorus of semi-mute mice. It was really sweet.

The weekend before last weekend, my parents came to visit. We took them to the Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola, to the beach, had a cookout, and went to a few restaurants.  It was a pretty awesome visit.

Then last weekend (the one that just finished), I was an exhibitor at the Gulf Coast Women’s Expo! It was a huge thing to get ready for, and I was so nervous. Now that it’s over, I’m a little relieved, but I’m glad I did it. I handed out tons of business cards and free recipes, met some awesome people, and made some sales. But now I have a LOT of stock to add to my online store! It’s going to take me a whiiiiile.

In addition to prepping for the kids’ graduation, my parents’ visit, and the expo, I’ve also started two new writing jobs. I now am a co-blogger at Start Cooking which is quite awesome! I get to write about food-related stuff that’s very different from what I do here on Joyful Abode. They’re more professional, informative, primer-like articles, rather than the trial and error recipes and step-by-step how-tos I do here. I also landed a sweet position as a tea blogger for TippyLeaf, and I’ve been having a blast reading, researching, and learning about tea, and then sharing my knowledge (and awesome tea finds and events) with the world.

So… that’s where I’ve been.

I can guarantee you’ll see more of me in May than you did in April! It’s going to be a fantastic month.  To everyone who’s reading this: Thanks for sticking with me even through my little bit of down time. And to my BRAND NEW 90 subscribers (I’m up from 340 to 430 according to Feedburner), welcome! I hope you enjoy what I have in store for Joyful Abode in May!

Also… the Guy is almost finished with his primary flight training as a student Naval aviator. On May 8th, we’ll find out what track he’ll be on for Advanced, and if/where/when we’re moving!  It’s going to be so crazy. Wish him luck!

The Santa Rosa Riverwalk arts festival (in Milton, Florida) was really nice. It was so gorgeous to be right next to the water, and the days were clear and sunny, even if the wind and cold on Saturday almost froze us to death.

I went with my sweet friend Liz, who makes gorgeous custom hand-embroidered pillows.

Here’s some of her awesome work. Let me know if you’re interested in commissioning a piece, and I’ll get her in touch with you!

Unlike at the last craft show, there were lots of helping hands around. Liz and I each had husbands to help set up big things, and our dear friend Cye accompanied us and helped chat up the visitors. Everyone’s company made it an especially pleasant weekend.

I had my new card rack and stationery display set up, which I thought was pretty spiffy. I also figured out how to do a nice two-level effect with the bias tape, by propping up the back basket on an overturned bowl.

And I wrapped my baby blankets all prettily in a band of brown paper with coordinating satin ribbons.

On Sunday, I came a little more prepared for cold weather, wearing my giant blue sweater that unfortunately makes me look like a linebacker. I think I need to donate this sweater… not too flattering, though I love the color and how it feels.

We demonstrated our crafts…

And some happy customers went away with their new purchases. This girl was especially exuberant, and VERY excited about her new apron, which she plans to wear as an over-skirt as part of her normal daily outfits. You can’t tell in this picture, but she was bouncing around telling us how pumped she was about all of the aprons. How great is that?

See you in Enterprise, Alabama this weekend! After that, watch out, Pensacola! UWF Festival on the Green, here we come!

…but for good reason. You see, from the moment I got home from work today, I’ve been frantically getting ready for my show this weekend. My dear friend offered to come over and cook for me and my neighbor-friend (who is sharing a booth with me) since she knew we were so busy tonight. How sweet is that?

So I wrapped baby blankets in cute brown paper bands with satin ribbons adorning them, my sweet husband and friends (and friend’s husband) made price tags for me so that I could re-tag all of my aprons (WHY did I take the tags off after the last show???)

My neighbor-friend put together her portfolio for custom orders, and made cute stamped tags for her items.

I made more fabric tags to go on aprons and baby blankets, and ironed them on everything.

My husband printed up loads of stationery and I packaged it…

And now it’s midnight, and I’m going to BED.

I promise I’ll do an “extra” Friday Feature this week, though it won’t be on a Friday. Forgive me. hehe.

And wish me luck at my second-ever craft show! It’s going to rock.

Wel, maybe I didn’t totally rock it…

But really, the art show was very encouraging to me. I wasn’t sure how I would do “out there” but … they like me! They really like me!

(I was SO EXCITED in this picture)

I had so much fun meeting the craft-loving people, and my booth-neighbor Kathryn was really sweet… we chatted all day in between waves of visitors.

Check out the rainbow of vintage aprons here… soon, a bunch of them will be up on Joyful Abode @ Etsy.

This is my craft show booth… the person to the left called to say he/she couldn’t come, so I got to take up a bit more space. Very nice!

Thanks to my sweet husband for helping me set up…

And for making my sweet lattice display.

Next time, I’ll definitely have to get a full-length mirror to set up in my booth. So many people tried on aprons and wanted to see what they looked like! So I ended up taking pictures of them and then showing them the picture on my camera. This is “Charlotte” (her pseudonym) and the apron she ended up taking home with her. She was so awesome! And if she lived here I’d definitely hire her as a model.

The weather was weird all day… it was drizzling slightly in the morning and SO FOGGY… my sweet guy ran to Wal-Mart to get a tent in case it rained sometime during the day.

Then, it was still foggy until past noon, and hot, and humid. Then it got sunny for a while, still hot… and then it clouded over again and got pretty chilly for a few minutes. Strange day.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Belmont Arts Center yesterday. I think you’re all fabulous! Thank you for sharing your apron stories with me, too!

Technorati Tags: art show, craft, vintage aprons, craft show booth, lattice display, full-length mirror, aprons, Belmont Arts Center, apron stories

I finished up another batch of these zipper pouches. I love the way they look all together.

My bobbin box is one of my very favorite things…

And I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I finish off another spool of thread.

Does the little pile of threads and scraps that always piles up near the machine make anyone else strangely happy? I love it! If I were the type to spin yarn, I’d save it up to make a big sewing-scrap yarn.

If you’re in the Pensacola, Florida area, you should definitely come out to Belmont’s Bizzare this Saturday, from 10am ’till 4pm. See you there!

PS Sorry for my absence the last couple of days! I guess NaBloPoMo, combined with getting ready for Belmont, kind of wore me out! I’ll be back in full force soon, I’m sure.

A couple of craft shows I’m applying for require pictures (they’re juried), and one of the pictures has to be of the booth set-up. Since I haven’t done any shows yet, I set it up this morning in the driveway. My fantastic husband made the lattice thingies, which are great. They have horizontal poles on them, to act as racks for the hanging aprons. (Note the rainbow order arrangement… I’m insane.)

I think I’ll arrange things differently when I’m at Belmont’s Bizzare, to entice people to actually come “in” and look at things… but does anyone have specific suggestions? I’d like to get more height to the things on the table, but I’m not sure how to go about doing that without buying more stuff.

Cross your fingers for nice weather, too… I don’t have a tent!

Weird thing, too… I swear I had more aprons than this. I think I’m missing some, but maybe it’s my imagination.

I finished 4 more aprons today, plus 2 for a custom order from a coworker. Aaaand… Say goodbye to Rosaria. She’s going to a new (confidential, due to the holiday season) home! I’m sure she’ll be well-loved and very happy.

Check out Joyful Abode @ Etsy for more fantastic gift ideas (don’t forget yourself, too!).

Technorati Tags: craft shows, booth set-up, aprons, custom order, holiday season, gift ideas

Belmont Arts Center in Pensacola, FL is hosting a funky arts and crafts show December 8th, 2007.

And guess who will be there as a vendor… yours truly! So if you’re in the area, you definitely need to come check it out.

I’ve been crafting up a storm…

Making lots more bias tape, in the hopes that sewers and quilters will be in the mix.

And working up a new project.

Of course I’m making lots of aprons too… no pictures of those yet! But come out to the bizzare and bring a friend or 20.

(Look at my etsy after the show for some shop updates, probably.)