Halloween Swap

While looking at some of my favorite blogs today I happened upon a fantastic opportunity! I found that Deborah Schoch ,one of my favorite Halloween folk artists, from www.hophopjingleboo.com is hosting a pumpkin/black cat swap. I am so excited! As you know, I adore Halloween and was tickled to be included in the swap.
I have written to some artists one-on-one before and done swaps and it has always turned out great. I have gotten some amazing pieces, I highly recommend doing this! Anyhow this is the first time I have ever joined a group of artists that are swapping work. I will update you on my project...

Craft Show fun!

Medina Craftfest Pictures

I promised some pictures of my crafts and displays at the Medina Craftfest...and I finally have gotten around to posting them! This has been a crazy week, for my fellow Ohioans, you know, it has been raining non-stop! Unfortunately all this rain and a sump-pump on the fritz don't mix and we ended up with a basement full of water the other night. Thank goodness I had put most of our things in Rubbermaid tubs earlier this summer(a project I procrastinated from doing for about a year- but now am so thankful that I made myself leave my craft room one weekend and do!)So thankfully, not too much was ruined.
I am looking forward to spending some time tying up some loose craft ends this weekend. I plan on finishing some ornaments that I started a couple of weeks ago and working on some Halloween projects. i just love Halloween! I was lucky to find some amazing ribbons and trimmings at my craft store a few weeks ago. Can you believe they started putting out Halloween items right after the 4th of July- some people are appalled by this, not me, I secretly love it! I can start planning all of my Fall and Halloween projects early! If it was up to me Halloween would be something that we celebrated all year. I collect Halloween folk art and vintage Halloween decorations...my pulse picks up just thinking about them(I am obsessed!) Anyhow, please enjoy the pics of the Medina Craftfest and also I am going to put up some pics of the paper cone I made for my mom for her birthday. Also I picked up some delicious homemade jams at this farm stand I pass on my way home from work. Matthew and I are addicted to it! Well, I got some for both my mom and my in-laws to enjoy, and of course I had to cutesy them up, the pic on the tag is an adorable picture of my mom when she was a little girl.
One last thing, thank You again to all who visit my blog and leave such wonderful comments, it makes me so happy! Thank You!

Craft Show Success

Last Sunday we had a blast at the Medina Craftfest! Although it was hot, it was a great show. It was very crowded and we had a steady flow of craft enthusiasts at our booth. I was really excited because I sold many of my soldered necklaces and pins and I even sold a magic wand. Also, My mom's stuff went over really well, her felted purses are so beautiful.
I will post some pics of our booth this weekend.
I am unsure if I would do an outside craft show again though. It was a lot of work and the heat was not pleasant. I was really hoping that this show would have some different kinds of art, but literally, the guy in the booth next to us was selling decorated poles with footballs glued to the top with Christmas lights wrapped around them...and of course people were buying them by the carload. That was a bit frustrating. I put so much thought and time into each piece that I make, it isn't about selling bulk crafts for me it is about the process of making it. I like to do it, I guess that is what matters. I did get some lovely comments about my booth and was able to make some connections for two craft shows in the Cleveland area for the Fall. So all in all it was a success for The Sleepy Hollow Craft Company.

Medina Craftfest

I have been so busy this week getting ready for our show this Sunday. The show is An affair on the square Craftfest in Medina, Ohio. I am so excited! This is my first year doing this show and attending! It has been so humid and hot here this week but so far the weather is looking good for the weekend. As you can tell, this is my first outside show. I am looking forward to debuting some of my new crafts and seeing how they go over, also I have made some soldered necklaces and pins. This past weekend I started an inventory of all of my crafts, since I literally have tubs full! I found these unfinished "captured fairy" jars and I finished them, I am really pleased with how they came out. I remember when I started making them I wasn't really thrilled with what was happening with them so I stashed them away to finish later, I am so glad I did. That always makes me bummed out when that happens but I know that eventually I will pick whatever it is back up and make it amazing. Anyhow, wish me luck for my show this Sunday!

Pittsburgh Teasures and new crafts...

I wanted to post some pics of my finds from Watermelon Blues(the cute party girl stamp!)
Also I was reading Blissfull Elements, a wonderful craft blog by Kris Hurst the other weekend and became very inspired by some pics of crafts on her site.(Check out her blog listed in my favorite places) I recently was lucky enough to have found a tall white feather tree and have been having a ball coming up with ideas for decorating all throughout the year. I was looking over at Kris's etsy shop and fell in love with her ballerina nut cups! I just had to try and make some Halloween nut cups to hang on my tree! Check out the pics, be kind though, they are a first attempt...
I have been spending a lot of time looking at reproduction vintage fabrics over at the repro depot and have fallen in love with some of their kitschy cowgirl patterns, so I made a blue glittery star ornament entitled "happy trails." Believe it or not I got a hand full of those big blue and lime green glittery stars last year at an after-Christmas sale at JoAnn Fabrics for less than a dollar each! I have been staring at them on my craft table for 6 months waiting for them to find their way out of the basket and into my hand where I could make something with them. I do that a lot, I have just learned to get things like that and then I worry about what I will make with it later, I haven't not used anything yet! Well, enjoy the pics and Happy Crafting!

Pittsburgh Weekend...

Last Saturday we got up bright and early and headed up to Pittsburgh. It was a fun, relaxing drive. We spent the day going to Incredibly Strange Video, a great store for Horror and B-movie VHS tapes and DVDs and then went out to explore the city. We spent time over near the university and I happened upon the neatest little store called Watermelon Blues. In fact they were having a sidewalk sale and had a ton of great items for 50% off. I picked up some vintage reproduction Halloween decorations as well as a Wendy Addison shadow box. I was really excited when we found the sale...and I saw glitter! Inside the store is set up so cute and I found some stamps for crafting! The women that were hosting the sale were so kind and offered to put me on their email list. The store has a great selection of Christmas and holiday items and they assured me that their Christmas open house would be worth a drive back to Pittsburgh!
From there we drove downtown to the Strip District where we ate giant overstuffed pittsburg' style sandwiches, topped with coleslaw and fries, right on the sandwich! Oh, they were so good! We attempted to walk to some of the local wholesale food markets that are open to the public there but unfortunately most closed at 5:00PM and we missed out. But, it was alright because by then we were tired and full, ready to go home. It leaves something to look forward for next time!