Countdown to craft show: Part IV

Craft Emergency is this Sunday, June 1, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Red Cross Park (818 North Fourth Street) in St. Petersburg, Fla. If you live in the Tampa/St. Pete area, please drop by and say hi!

Here’s another peek at what I’ve been working on for the show.

A black corduroy market tote with pink appliqued stars on the front and the strap.

The bag is lined in a very cool Alexander Henry fabric that I’ve had for months but could never figure out where/how to use it.

Light blue camel pillow bordered in black and white polka dots.

The camel is made out of a black and white fabric that has a little bit of a sheen to it. The sun picks it up in this photo.

The back opening is finished off with polka-dot binding.

And last but not least, a blue and green bib accented with ricrac. Have I mentioned how much I love ricrac? Well I DO.

If you come to the show, please look for my Fat Orange Cat sign at one of the indoor booths.  And be sure to say hello to me!

Betty rocks!

Just one more reason to love this wonderful crafty blog community of which I’m lucky enough to be a small part.

When I got home from work yesterday, a surprise package from Bettyninja was waiting in my mailbox. It was filled with tons of ricrac and lace and included a very sweet note from Betty.

What a lovely surprise. Betty, thank you so much! I’m hoping to use some of that lavender ricrac tonight!

Lucky number

I finished another number tote for Sunday’s craft show.

The numbers don’t mean anything. I chose them based solely on aesthetics. I like how the curve of the 2 looks next to the sharper angles of the 7. That’s it. No hidden meaning. I know Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix died when they were 27 years old, but it has nothing to do with that. I promise.

If I were going to choose a number based on meaning, I would have chosen 12. It’s my birthday (May 12), Alex’s birth month (December) and my favorite/lucky number.

So tell me….what’s your favorite or lucky number and why? (If it’s aesthetically pleasing, I might even put it on a tote!)

Countdown to craft show: Part III

Alex and I spent our Memorial Day at IKEA in Orlando. I hadn’t been to one since moving to Florida six years ago, and I had forgotten just how COOL everything in that place is. I wanted everything. Seriously. EVERYTHING.

We purchased the above red TV cabinet, and we love it. It takes the place of two ugly-yet-functional pieces of furniture — a rickety old wooden table that was in my old apartment when I moved in and a faux-wood cabinet that never quite closed right because the interior magnet fell out a long time ago. Now the one wall in our home that used to make me cringe has become my favorite.

Four days until the craft show! I’m actually right on schedule, my back is holding up (knock on wood), and I’m no longer panicking about whether or not I’m going to be able to get everything done by Sunday.

And I haven’t had any nightmares about showing up to the craft show and realizing I left all my purses and aprons at home or waking up at 3 p.m. the day of the show and realizing I completely forgot to go. When I don’t have those types of dreams, I know I’m in a good place mentally.

If you live in the Tampa/St. Pete area, please drop by my booth and say hello. I would love to meet some of my readers in person!

Countdown to craft show: Part II

The sun cooperated today, so here’s a peek at some more of the items I’ve been working on for the upcoming craft show.

A number tote bag made of light blue denim and lined in Amy Butler.

A pink cordory market bag with black polka-dot appliqued stars — one on the front and one on the strap.

I’m not sure if you can tell from the photo, but this bag is huge, and the strap is quite wide. It’s about six inches across at the bottom where it meets the body of the bag, and it narrows to about two inches at the top.

And finally, a Luna Satchel.

There’s something about that pinky-peachy-salmon corduroy combined with that golden yellow liner that reminds me of eating melon at a summer barbecue.

Back to work!