2013 – a hippie with a minivan

Second Craft Fair…

I had my second craft fair this weekend and wow, what a difference! This fair (Old Skool Crafts) was much bigger than the other though it was not that big according to some of the vendors that I talked to. I really do think that for the crowd, my needle felts stood out. I didn’t stop for a minute. There were always people at the table and they stayed and talked and many bought. I was so busy that I barely was able to stop and talk to friends that came to see me and it was impossible to get even a small conversation in.

Colin came and spend the day with me on Saturday. He was a great help to get things brought in and set up in the morning and then he found a friend and spent the day mostly with her. When he wasn’t with her he was at my side reading, snacking or just watching. When I went to the bathroom at one point I came back and saw that not only was he keeping an eye on the table but he was actually showing people at the table how needle felting works. It was a really good day for both of us and it was fun having a mom/son day like that.

On Sunday the whole family came and spent the day which was also great. The kids got used to being in the hall and found new friends, went out for lunch and tried the homemade treats at the little café. This was in a church basement and they were selling these large portions of baked goods for .75. The kids all got one in the morning and then in the afternoon, one by one they came and got a bit of money for another.

At one point I was talking with someone at my table and Willa came up to me and kept on asking me to look. She was holding a piece of cake in a plate with a napkin and looked so proud. I said “Oh Lucky you, go sit down and eat it”… so she did.

Then Simon came to see me. “Did you give her money for the cake?” he asked…
“um no?… I thought you did”…
then he said… “She had a bit of money in her pocket… I think some is missing and she said she paid for it”
He then took a dollar and went to the counter. She had indeed went to the counter on her own, gave .20 and got a piece of cake. The ladies refused for us to pay the difference…
When he got back to her… she said her catch phrase….. “I Told You” in her sing-song voice.

I think that moment was the highlight of my day 🙂

So here is a little tally….

The pieces most talked about and which brought people to the table.

Definitely my Cat, the Mushroom House and Cthulhu. I was on the corner of an isle and the Mushroom house was on the top of the display I had and it really brought people to my table. My cat was another that caught the eye, even though he was right in the middle of my table. There were even some that saw his bum from browsing the tables behind me and came to see him.

A Cthulhu fan can always be spotted when they saw Cthulhu first. He was also a hit among some of the vendors also and even starred in a few pics and travelled around the room a couple of times.

What I thought would sell better but didn’t at this fair…

My earrings and my cards. I really wish they would have done better but I think it was just not the right crowd for them.

What did really well… Ornaments were the biggest hit. Especially the 5-15$ range ones though a couple higher priced ones went also, especially the baby penguins.

A couple of my bigger pieces and animals have also made their way out. My brown bear, my first pig, one of my foxes, my hedgehogs, the polar bear I made recently and I think the hardest to let go of and the biggest piece that I have sold to date is my mushroom girl. It had a little twinge in my heart when she got picked but it was also a great feeling and I know that she will be loved.

In the last week or so my orders on Etsy have also picked up. With the craft fair and the Etsy orders it feels like this has really started. That my creations not only mean something to me but to others and with this I am contibulting not only to the family financially but I am also putting money towards our bus and future.

My first craft fair…

After weeks of getting ready and making an inventory, I had my first craft fair this weekend. Though I would have loved for it to be a lot better than it turned out to be, I am not too disappointed.

I was really happy with my display and I think that it was a great start. I might have a few things that I might tweak but I felt really good about the way my things were presented.

I set it up the night before on my kitchen table and then took pictures so that it would be easy to set up in the morning…

Once I got to the craft fair, it was easy to set up which was great because my mom was supposed to be with me but not only did she go to the wrong place, she also ran out of gas, so having everything well packed and easy to set up was great!
So what did I have?

The green three shelf box on the right was a Winners find, and though I paid a bit more than I would have liked to, I really like the box and it will be great for other uses. It has a chalk board on the side (or in my case the top as I have it standing up)

The little staircase/shelf is something I found a local Facebook selling group and it was only 3 houses away and 10$. I found some cheap paint in the error paints at Rona for 6$ and gave it a touch up of light blue instead of the dark brown that it used to be.

The three wooden boxes were Dollarama finds and cost 5$ for all three.

The little bench in the middle was my Mother-in-Law’s bench from when she was a little girl and was passed used by Simon and then my children.

The various baskets and bowls were items that I had around the house.

The table-cloth and curtains were cheap table cloths that I sewed and the sign is a Vinyl sign from Vistaprint.

Here is what it finally looked like once set up with my sign and everything…

That glass bowl in the middle was a last-minute addition. My grandmothers punch bowl which has now come to me. I used it to hold my wool so show people and to hold the wool I was using to needle felt on scene.

When there were people, I had really great comments and feedback about my creations and my display. Not only did people see my table when they walked in, but they came to my table, and listened while I explained the needle felting technique and I was able to engage them and get them interested. I loved every minute of that part. I gave out a lot of cards and people were even asking if I gave workshops (I am seriously considering it) and some came to my table 3-4 times during their stay.

The disappointing part though was the lack of people in general which of course meant a lack of sales and lots of time just talking with my mom, other vendors or needle felting. However, I was able to cover my table and make a bit more which was more than some over the weekend. I think it being black friday weekend, a small village, other fairs close by and a lack of advertising all had their factors.

Next weekend I am having another craft fair and this time it is in Montreal so hopefully there will be more people and more of “my people”.

http://www.oldskoolcrafts.webs.com/

If you are in or around Montreal, come check it out and stop in to say Hi! I would love to meet you!

Whisper and Misty

Losing our two cats so close together was very emotional and there was an emptiness to the house that could not be ignored. It felt like a very quick decision, and slightly like a betrayal to the memory of our two that were being missed, to bring two kittens in our home right away. But I do not regret it doing so in the least. They needed us, as much as we needed them. They were living about 15min away under a balcony in the country near a busy road and with the temperatures getting colder and the environment in which they were living , I am not sure if they would have survived.

They have now been with us for over a week and they have been a welcome distraction and we have been enjoying getting to know them for their own personalities, though it is hard at times to not compare them to the two that we have lost.

When they arrived, both kittens had runny noses and runny eyes. Now… they are healthy and happy.

Misty was very shy at first and stayed in the carrier but she was not scared of us and welcomed us picking her up and cuddling her. She is a real lap cat who will stay on your lap for hours. Whisper on the other hand was all too ready to play and explore. For being out in the wild, they were very social and had nothing to fear from us humans.

They were both very hungry… Whisper would eat quickly and just gulp all of his food down and then he would go to Misty’s bowl. We quickly understood why he was much bigger and stronger than she was. She was likely not getting enough to eat. It took a day or two of us needed to watch when they ate so that she got her fair share but after a few full bellies and meals that kept on coming, Whisper became less ravenous and started to leave his plate when he was full. The first times that he did that, Misty went to his bowl to finish his food as to make a point.

The great thing about sibling cats is that they always have a friend. I could not have imagined separating these two. They compliment each other perfectly…

Misty would sleep in her carrier and would stay there most of the day, but for a couple of days she would come out for an hour or two to sleep in the sun. She didn’t want to play but that didn’t stop her brother.

But all was forgiven…

I kept them in the bathroom with their litter and food in the night for about a week. For the last few days however, we have been letting them loose in the night and they quickly discovered the warmth of comfort of our beds and will come and cuddle us in the night. Whisper actually likes to be under the blankets.

Misty rarely goes in her carrier anymore and instead has been choosing to either sleep near us in little spots that keep her a bit hidden… like in Wilhelmina’s toy bin among the stuffed animals.
She has also started to play a bit more but I have a feeling that she will be a very laid back cat even as she grows. She has grown in the last week and has a full round tummy now but even though she is the same height standing up as her brother she much shorter in length and is smaller than her brother. She rarely purrs and when she does it is just a very slight sound. You can pick her up and put her down on your lap or move her to another spot and she will just fall asleep and stay there for hours.

Whisper feels like he has doubled in the last week and he loves to climb and explore. He is in a constant state of motion. He carries things around in his mouth and is always ready to play and attack his sister (who is now fighting back with more strength). He purrs before you even touch him and it rumbles through his body loudly. He loves to cuddle his sister though and looks for her when she is hiding. He makes a little sound in delight when he finds her and then starts to purr and then goes in to cuddle.

Misty and Whisper

It is truly a joy to have them in our lives now and though we miss our Sparky and Nala, we are enjoying knowing these two new little creatures.

Emotional days and saying goodbye…

Nearly two weeks age we had to make the hard decision to put our cat Sparky down. He was about 17 and until a few months ago he was doing great. But when we came back from a camping trip in June, and had someone feeding the cats, we noticed that he suddenly lost a lot of weight.

We got Sparky when he was about 6-7 years old and a friend needed to find a home for him. It was supposed to be temporary but 9 years later he was still with us.

Sparky was the perfect cat for kids. He was big and slow and loved the attention that kids gave him. They could lay on him and cuddle him and he would just soak it up. If he got annoyed, he would get up, walk two step and plop right back down. He would hang out in the backyard when we were out there but never went far out of the yard and would spend the summer on the deck of the pool sleeping in the sun.

With Xavier

Making Friends with Nala

With Wilhelmina…

Sleeping on the deck…

So over the last couple of months he lost more weight, was eating less and the starting having trouble walking. Then I saw that he was in pain and decided that it was time.

I brought him to the vet and very gently he left, with his head resting in my hands, the way he loved to be pet.

The kids were upset but we had time to prepare them and say goodbye. So though they were sad, they took the transition well. Xavier did want another cat but I explained that Nala could get all of the love and if ever the timing was right we would bring another cat in the house.

Then the unthinkable happened.

Two days ago, on Sunday, I was out with my friend (same friend who gave us Sparky) and then I was working at the elections. I got a call from Simon. He and the kids were outside raking and Xavier noticed something in the pool. It was Nala.. oh how my heart breaks while writing this. I had cuddled her that morning and Simon had seen her around lunch time but she was gone when I got the call around 3. I can’t imagine what it was like for Simon and the kids seeing her like that. My heart aches thinking about it. Simon asked me if I wanted to see her, but I could not bear it. So he and the kids buried her in the back yard, and said their goodbyes.

Nala was only 4 1/2 years old…
She was born in an old outhouse near my FIL’s cabin. We got her just around the time that she weaned from her mom.

She loved the kids, she was friendly and cuddly, mischievous and relaxed and just an all around cool cat.

Sleeping with Khéna

Something did not belong in the Christmas tree…

Looking in from outside…

Trying to crochet…

Her space on the couch…
She was always there…

I can’t stop crying, and I know that Simon is still haunted by the image of seeing her. The kids are heartbroken and there is a lot of healing to be done. Though it is very soon after this tragedy, we decided that having another feline presence in the house would do us some good. It could never replace our lost kitties but we have a lot of love to give and there are kitties in need. I looked on the local Facebook page for lost and found animals and two little kittens were there, in the country about 15 min away, living under a balcony. Though it feel a bit too soon, it also felt right to give them a home… so yesterday evening I picked them up… it is bittersweet.

We will always love you and we will miss you Sparky…

We will always cherish you and always remember you Nala…

Busy Crafting

I have been keeping quite busy crafting these last few weeks. I have a craft fair coming up and I might send in an application for another craft fair the week after.

I love doing big creations but with the time that is put into them, they are much more expensive than most people are willing to pay, and it seems to be a very niche market.

So I decided to make creations that would take less time to make and not be too expensive for gifts. So in the last few weeks I have made penguin, snowmen and gnome ornaments. Felted acorns and Sceneries in acorn tops that have been made into ornaments and earrings. Keychains, Dryer Balls and jingle balls for cats. I have also made a line of Greeting cards made from needle felted winter scenery paintings.

All of these things will be under 50$ and most under 30$ or even 20$.

I will of course also have big creations on hand, and hopefully I will be able to sell as much as I can to fund our bus project.