some of our ornaments, including an owl from sweetestpea.
check out the Shop Local Baltimore article in the Storque today! i'm proud to be featured among the other talented baltimore etsians... thanks etsy! (that's me!)
alright, it has gotten bitter cold around here. i'm not used to having snow/frost on leaves as we're raking them up. rick and i thought it would be fun to have the bean out there with us, and it was, although if we were looking to speed up the process we were definitely mistaken. because what's more fun then jumping in the big pile of leaves you just raked and throwing them up in the air? 
my dear friend, and one of the most talented artists i know, just opened her etsy shop! it's called chidra stitch, and she's going to be featuring really beautiful hand-embroidered leather cuffs. i love the one she gave me, and i wear it all the time. so stop by and show her some love!
holiday heap was great! and thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello...
so tomorrow is holiday heap... i can't wait, because it's a really fun show, and a chance to say hello to my baltimore friends who have lost out to the ginormous pile of felt that has been demanding my attention lately. i have been cutting like crazy, and i'm seriously considering trading in my hands for scissors (think edward scissorhands.) 
handmade arcade was awesome! just the nicest people, nicest organizers, great customers, adorable city. now on to holiday heap on saturday, this time no traveling!
we voted. we waited in line about 45 minutes, and the whole time the bean kept asking what ride we were going to go on... or when we were going to see the "boat" (instead of "vote.")
because i am even more like an adolescent girl than you will ever know, i've spent the last 2 weeks devouring not one, but four large volumes of teen goth romance novel. everyone was reading it at the beach this summer, and something just called to me to pick up the book last week. (i mean, it is halloween season.) two weeks later, lacking sleep and avoiding the ever- growing need for inventory for handmade arcade (two weeks away!), i finished it. all of them. and because i am more of a geek than you will ever know, now i am obsessing about the movie. where were the teen vampire love movies when i was a teen?
i never, ever expected to even get 100 hearts when i opened up my shop, and in just a year... 2500! i feel like i'm constantly shaking my head in amazement. thanks.
i love this time of year. it seems like there is color everywhere, the days are cooler, and we get to go to the pumpkin farm. it's always a struggle for me not to end up with a car full of pumpkins.
the last few years we have gone to Baugher's Farm. i like it there because they really have enough to do to keep us busy for half a day, at least. we get to take a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, pick our pumpkin (from the vine), and cart it back. this year, the added bonus was a giant hay mountain for the kids to play on.
there is also a small petting zoo, with animals walking around, a great market (mmm, apple dumplings), playgrounds, moon bounce, make-your-own scarecrow, and lots of other little activities. the bean did not want to leave.
My friends over at the Baltimore Etsy Street team are having a new giveaway - $10 gift certificates from each of the following Street Team Members shops!
i can't believe it's fall. it's my favorite time of year, but i just don't know where the summer went... we spent the weekend at the beach, and it was definitely not summer there. we spent the cooler day on the boardwalk, eating french fries and going to the kite loft. they were having a kite festival of some sort and the kites were amazing.
the bean spent most of saturday looking longingly at the beach, and so the next day, which was a bit warmer, was spent playing in the sand and splashing in very cold water. but she was happy. and her dad got some quick surfing in, but wow, the ocean was rough. summer's over.
the bean is very bright. i say this, because, while i try to not to push her to learn anything too quickly, she just does. i have never sat down with her and attempted to get her to write her name - i mean, she's only just turned 3!
we had great weather (we totally lucked out!) and i had so much fun hanging out with the BEST ladies (and one very helpful BEST s.o.)
this is what i got to look at all day, from my booth :)
i'll be at hampdenfest this saturday with members of BEST... we'll be selling our work and collecting any unused craft (or office) supplies or gift card to our booth, and receive a coupon for 10% off any one purchase from a BEST member at the show!
a card rick made from a few years back... yes, he is that awesome. and we have lots of anniversaries, still.
we had such a great time at the bean's birthday party yesterday... it was at clark's elioak farm, which, aside from being a working farm, has recovered many of the rides and buildings from the old enchanted forest. i grew up going to enchanted forest, and loved it in all of it's kitschy wonderful-ness, so i probably had even more fun than the kids!
Inspired by hardware, haute couture, and salvaged materials, emiko oye creates one-of-a-kind urban jewelry and sculptures from recycled materials and precious metals. Her works strive to subtly transform the identity of everyday mundane objects to inspire new dialogs about our relationship with the environment. emiko-o was launched to raise public awareness that jewelry IS Art.
“The mistake everyone makes is in thinking that jewelry is art and it ISN’T.” buyer, NYC showroom, 8/99since my personal preference is for art over jewelry, and non-traditional materials over traditional (plain gold and diamonds - yuck!), you can see why i really love emiko's work. from her serious pieces that make statements about the world we live in, to the lego jewelry that makes me feel like a child again, i love what she's done, and i can't wait to see where she's going.
Our culture blindly compartmentalizes jewelry by its price tag: higher prices=Art; lower prices=Fashion Trend. Mind-expanding objects (i.e. art) are not immediately profitable, and are therefore not as accessible to the public. Rather, profit margin and mass appeal validates “quality” design as do brand names, Hollywood, and © or patent marks. Individualist thinking is discouraged—we are programmed to only buy into what is “hot this season”.
