Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Thought I would post a word before I get started on my pumpkin pies. I have had a glorious week so far just doing nothing but crocheting. I am on vacation from my job and decided to get Book 3 finished and I hope to have it out in the next few days. I am looking for today to be nice enough to get out and take some photos. Wish me luck and have a wonderful day. I'll post a photo of one of my new ornaments by this weekend so stop back by.

Craft Show In Reelfoot

A couple of weeks ago my sister, Mary and I took off on a Friday for an adventure. Since my husband retired from the Navy a few years ago I miss all the traveling. Anyway, we had planned a trip to Tiptonville, TN to the annual Reelfoot Lake Craft Show. This happens every year, the first weekend of October. I had heard nothing but praise for this show. I kinda wanted to scout it out to see if I might want to sell there next year. First photo is my sister Mary.

We arrived at 9:00 and found a great parking spot at the beginning of the show. We were delighted and excited to see how big it was! For the most part it was outside but there were a few buildings with vendors. We walked and walked and walked and walked some more. Three hours later we sat on a bale of hay and shared a plate of curly chips.

Should have taken a picture before we started eating, it was piled high!

I was amazed at how much crocheting was being sold at the show. Usually you see one booth, but I saw no less than 8. One booth was a woman 90 years old in a wheelchair making baby afghans. Her daughter was the salesman and said her Mother just loved to crochet. She had so many beautiful afghans to show for it. My only concern was that she was all but giving them away. The daughter said she tried to get her Mother to sell them for more, but she just did them for the love of crochet.

Here I go on my soapbox, the reason crafters do not make much is because most are willing to give it away for the love of the craft. I am not speaking of doing your craft for chairty. I am speaking of not selling yourself short, you are worth at least minimum wage for your labor. If it takes you 1 hour to make an ornament cover to sell, you have to charge at least $5.00 for labor and then the cost of material. Why would you sell it for less? If someone wants your product they will pay the price because they obviously know the value of you time and effort. Period!

The day was a blast, I bought some candles, and a "Papillion Crossing" sign. The day was beautiful and the crowds were starting to get thick when we left right at 1:00. Here I am hiding in some flowers.

Wow! What a stormy past few weeks we have had. We had a huge storm Tuesday night that put on quite a show. My husband and I stood in our garage and watched "War of the World" type thunder and lightning. As the lightning hit I would say "Look for the pod!" We heard one so very loud thunder , it was like the sound started the same time the flash and went on for what seemed like minutes, but was most likely seconds. When I woke the next morning and walked through my living room I saw that we had lost a tree. It is funny that the night before I had told my husaband that if that tree was not there we could see the lighning better, be careful what you wish for! When I drove to work I found out I was not the only one that lost tress, they had fallen everywhere. Memphis is just known for their storms and Cordova has had it's share this year.

Where am I?

It has been a while since my last post. What have I been doing? Living life, crocheting a little less this year but trying new things. I took a jewelry class to make lanyards to wear to work. Love it! Here is one of my favorites. I'll post a few more when I take some photos.

I took the class at Ami's in Germantown. It was a fun filled Saturday afternoon. Would recommend to anyone.

Last week I took a Polymer Clay class at Memphis College of Art. I took it because in making the lanyards I wanted to try my hand at making my own beads. I don't think this will be my calling, but I so enjoyed the class and hands right in there style of Lisa Tribo, artist extraordinaire. I think I will try some of the larger beads to use on the end of the lanyard.

Placed a new order for Twilley's. They have come out with the 50 gram ball. I always seem to order in the summer when they are doing inventory. I vow to put my order in by February next year so I can receive by September. They have discontinued the 250 large cones. I did place an order for the 1000 gram ?cone?. I don't know how it will come. A lot of my customers make snowflakes out of the white and it is a must have.

I just love the fall. My husband and I were out last weekend running errands and the city was alive with the most incredible colors. All I can think about is how these colors would look in something I crocheted.
I got up this morning and found my trusty online "Michaels" email newsletter in my mailbox. Maybe I did not notice it before, but they have a place where you can create a printable shopping list, which I did, and I have it when I go to the store. This week in particular they are having sales on Red Heart yarn, Lion Brand yarn and Patons Yarn. A winter yarn extravaganza! This is a sale that can't be beat. You do have to sign up for the service but when they have a yarn sale this good I am right there. I have 4 Michaels in my area so I can usually find what I need for any project. I love red heart to make my favorite afghan pattern. It is verigated with solid borders. Very easy pattern. It is one of those patterns you look at once and just keep crocheting until you decide it is big enough. I made one for my husband, becuase he is so tall, and it stays on his chair especially in the winter.

My Etsy Store

I took the plunge and have started an ETSY store to put my finished projects in. It is loads of fun, but a lot of work as well. I just don't know what to make next.

I am trying to finish my designs for more ornaments so I better get that finished first.

Back at Last!

I have been very busy since getting home form our "Rowdy Girls" weekend. We did have a blast, had fun and did a little shopping. My Mom had a few problems and stayed in the hotel most of the time but we all came back in the afternoon. Saturday we went to see the movie "The Women". We loved it.

We did not get a picture this time, (this picture is from a previous trip) we always do and this time when we were leaving we had concerns of remanents of Hurricane Ike to look forward to on our ride home. It was so cool that as we prepared to leave, we had a view of mountains from our room, we watched the rain come at us. We always wait until the last minute to check out and when we did it was pouring. Our timing was a little off that day. The drive home was uneventful. We had had the worst of the rain at the hotel. Our next trip is march 27, 2009. We already can't wait!