Well, except that I am actually blogging! Oh, the good intention I have..

The Craftacular consumed me entirely for the past few weeks so I guess I have that excuse! I do have to take a minute to pat myself on the back. A lot of times we (me particular) downplay all that we do. We tell our friends, spouses, family, ‘Oh, it was no big deal, I just planned a huge dinner party, or gave birth, or cleaned my whole house.. etc. etc.’ and make it sound like it was all effortless. Well you know what? The Craftacular was a HELL of a lot of work and I am proud of myself. I can absolutely say that I feel at the end of the day that I did the best I could and that is definately saying something. Of course I did have an immense amount of help from Jerome, vendors, volunteers..

I didn’t really get any great pictures either because in true Naomi fashion I was running around like a mad woman, and we had Darby and Zoe there, but the lovely Rosalie Gale from Unanimous Craft wrote a superb review of the show HERE.

Again, thank you to everyone for your support!

Moving on with my life… I think today shall be full of sweetness.

a piece of pie.. or perhaps a wee cocoa?

Yes, I am busy updating my Etsy and Lollishop and getting ready for the Creative Connection Event. My mom and I leave in less than a month and for such a huge event and I am no where near prepared. I need to book a hotel soon also and with NOOOOO money… *sigh sigh sigh*… did I mention I just updated my online shops? hint hint hint.

But, today is a Wednesday, and Wednesday’s are fabulous, just because so I shall make the most of it. There are a few errands which must be run, an Etsy order to ship, a wholesale order to hopefully finish and sheets to wash, (thought it was a good idea to try to ‘cuddle’ with Luna when she woke up at 4… first time in months her diaper leaked. ugh.) the holiday show to start planning… nah. That can wait a few more days.

Here’s to wishing you a fabulous Wednesday as well!

Oh how busy busy busy I have been getting ready for Henri’s birthday last week and the Craftacular!

It has been the good kind of busy though where at the end of the day you can honestly look back at what you accomplished and be proud.

Henri’s party was great. The weather cooperated, the birthday boy was in a pretty good mood and I had even gotten most of the food prepared the day before so we weren’t going too crazy that morning.

Henri is definately at the ‘I do NOT want my picture taken age, but I did my best. Here are a few from the party day.

First is ‘Mom, I will not look at the camera’

Next is the prince being pulled in his wagon by some lovely ladies.

Here is a shot of our ‘cooler’ which is obviously a green turtle sandbox. Yep, we are a little on the trashy side!

Then we have the cake, which I stayed up all night making (umm, not)

Underneath the six inches of frosting were 30 cupcakes. Cupcake cakes are definately the way to go, especially for little kids who have very little patience.

Here is Luna being dipped in the pool by our friend Meg. Again, a wee bit of our trashiness comes out in the big blow up pool on our patio. Oh well… the kids love it!

With the party behind me I am moving full force to the Craftacular. I am incredibly nervous since this is the largest show I have ever planned but I also feel very confident that I am doing my best. I have been trying to get some creations done but my studio has been taken over by goodie bag donations! We will be giving away bags to the first 50 shoppers of the day as well as all the vendors. Here’s a little peek at just a taste of what may be in your bag…

The canvas bags were a splurge but I think it will be great for shoppers to have them at the show and hopefully save on some bag expense for the vendors.

I have gotten a little work done this week on my inventory including some new critters. Here’s a glance at a few new friends that will be escorting me to the Craftacular.

That is about five days of crocheting and yes, I do have a blister from my crochet hook. Ouch. My goal is to have twice that many by next Sunday as well as some coasters and the regular barrettes, magnets, etc..

Time to get to work! Did I mention the Craftacular is in eight days??? YIKES. I keep thinking I have a couple of months…… send me some energy, crafting speed and maybe a good dose of relaxing, please!

So, I was hoping for a Thrifty Tuesday post, but somehow this week has just totally gotten away from me!

I haven’t had much time to go thrifting or antiquing lately but I have scored a few goodies, all of which are now up on my Etsy page.

Check out these fun finds!

In Craftacular news, the banner, yard signs and day of show cards all came in the past few days and I am starting to feel like I may actually be prepared for the show. Well, at least on the organizer side of things! I certainly may not have anything to sell though. Phew… these days are just going by toooooo fast!

I am really excited about the large postcards I ordered for the day of the show. There is a map on the front with the corresponding booth numbers and then a complete list of vendors and their websites on the back so customers can mark their favorites and visit their work anytime!

It is also exciting to get the mail these days. Every day I am getting more and more wonderful donations for the goodie bags. Here is just a tiny sampling of what may be in your reusable canvas tote if you are one of the first shoppers on August 15th.

Speaking of goodie bags, I have to go make up the bags for Henri’s party tomorrow and get started on some food prep. We have had a ton of house showings lately so at least the house if cleaned, but there is still a ton of work to do. And, of course, as Zoe reminded me yesterday ‘Henri won’t even know it’s his birthday’, but I will so lets have a party!

xxoo

I have about 10,000 other things I ’should’ be doing, but instead I am sipping my yummy cheap wine and blogging. Well, and trying to block out the sound of the World Series of Poker. I don’t understand how someone can watch poker non-stop. BORING…

Anyway, getting on with this.

Last weekend Jerome and I headed to Mt. Horeb for the annual Art Fair and it was fabulous! There was a decent turn out of shoppers despite the insane heat and for not feeling I had very much made, I sold a lot. The Star Wars coasters were a big hit as were the new storybook necklaces.

Here is a booth shot. While I was downloading this picture I noticed how many banners I had out. It’s pretty humorous that people were still asking the name of my business!

I also made some great purchases. I always set my sales goal in my head and when I surpass that (well, if I surpass it, although luckily I usually do!) I allow myself to roam around and buy goodies from other artists.

I can’t find the cards to either of these artists but here are some pics. The first one is a handmade paper arm with la luna on it as well as a butterfly which signifies release and also has a very deep meaning to me since the loss of our twins. The second is a Giclee print I bought that made me dream of the land we hope to own and the third is a framed print I bought for my mother as a pre-thank you gift for coming out to work with me at the Creative Connections event in Minneapolis. The print is called ‘Fox in Violets’. Well, her business is named La Zorra (the fox) glass works, and Violet was her mother’s name as well as her oldest granddaughter.

Speaking of violets, Ms. Violet helped me at the zoo a few weeks ago with the little ones and it amazing to see her holding Henri when I remember taking her to Art Fair on the Square when she was his size! Time moves waaaay too fast, regardless of how long the days can seem.

Now I have moved into the whole crazy let’s plan a a birthday party mode. Yikes!! Last year my mom was here and did all the work (I had been in the ER all night the previous night..) but this year it’s all me. Also, almost no one has RSVP’d so I truly have no idea if I have like fifteen coming (those who have RSVP’d) or about 40 coming! hmmmm.. Well, either way I’m confident it will be fun.

Then, it is full speed ahead for the Craftacular. I am soo excited. I feel really good about all the time, money and energy I have put into this show and I can honestly say when the day comes that I did all I could. I do need more volunteers though so please, if you know someone who can help out, even for an hour or two, let me know!

My wine is empty and it’s time to maybe work a little (or not) but Luna has some big news to share with you all :

Yep, it took her nine months, but she finally has a teeny tiny little tooth coming in!!! Yeah!! She is so ready for real food.

I also couldn’t remember if I shared this with you all yet, but sometimes things just seem to align in odd ways. For instance, in my studio I have a license plate from NM that my mom had laying around and gave to me years ago. Well, after Luna was born I was sitting in my studio and happened to look up where I have it propped and noticed that not only does the plate my birth year 1975 on it, but it has the name ‘Luna’ on the top. I’m not sure if that is a town, or why that is there but isn’t that something? Some how the world knew she was coming to us.

Now, for anyone reading who is not a mom, you may be really bored with this next part but I am having this total internal struggle with trying to do everything and feeling like I am not doing anything really well. I mean, I want to have a business (preferably a store again some day), organize shows, vend at shows, raise four perfect kids, feed them all homemade natural foods, have a nice clean house, perfectly manicured yard … I could go on and on, but at the end of the day I am exhausted with a to do list that just moves on to the next day. I know, I know, no one can do everything, but how do YOU do it?? Are you a stay at home mom who works at home? Are you a mom who has a full time or part time job or do you just take care of your kids?? Just looking for different suggestions at how you may have found a way to do this. Any suggestions or comment would help!

Oh, that’s right… my wine is empty!

Hope to be back Tuesday for some thrifty Tuesday finds…

xxoo

Lisa! Email me with your info…. I did it the ol’fashioned way and drew your name from a bowl (couldn’t find a hat that would work!)

Thanks for checking in everyone. It does help me to want to post things when I know you are out there reading.

I will get more of a post out later, but just wanted to stop by quick..