Scribble Nation

My Favorite Handmade Item

Whenever I read the featured seller interviews on Etsy.com I think of how I would answer any of the questions. Particularly worrisome has always been the Favorite Handmade Item question.  For some reason I could never put my finger on it.  I don't have a whole lot of favorite objects to begin with, as I've tried hard over the years to break my attachments to material possessions.  But then, at Christmas, my Dad picked up a small clay jar, which my sister roughly modeled after the planet Earth.  As he was asking about it I realized - this was my favorite handmade object.

I think Heather made it in a High School art class. It bopped around my parents house while we lived in Bethel. When my parents were moving to Florida I snatched it up and stashed it with my own belongings.  I think it lived in a box for a good long while, then on a desk, then in my various kitchens.

Note the molten core thoughtfully painted inside.  These days this little guy holds stubs of ginger or cloves of garlic on my kitchen counter.

I have always love all of Heather's art, from doodles to crafts. She thinks the lack of technical ability makes her work crumby, but I actually think it makes it better! It's always funny, and has a really organic, kind of care-free look to it that I envy.

Who's on Martha?

What!? We are! Well, we aren't going to be ON the show, just in the audience, but it's a lot closer than we usually are to television stardom.   The Hat City Scissor Squad has been invited to the taping of an upcoming episode of The Martha Stewart Show.   They graciously offered us ten tickets, and I've spent the last week rounding up some lucky ladies to make the trip.  We are crazy excited since we are all big Martha fans.  For me in particular, I see Martha as an example of how much you can get done if you are willing to work your ass off. It amazes me how someone could have their business grow in so many directions while still keeping such personal involvement in each project.  Her staff must be incredible! I imagine Martha as not being the easiest person to work for, but hey, where did anything easy ever get anyone?

I'm told that the episode we are seeing in person features some crafting, and possibly a guest crafter. I am dying to find out exactly what the episode will entail. I'm still trying to figure out exactly when the episode will air.  At first, I thought it would be live that day, but now I'm not so sure. I'll definitely post an update as soon as I find out. 

I can't tell you how excited I am to get a chance to share The Hat City Scissor Squad with more people, even if it's just a quick wave from the crowd.  When Sarah, Michelle, and I started this club in 2004, I couldn't have imagined what an important role it would play in our lives all these years later.  Many of the ladies we have met through this group have become some of our best friends.  I can't imagine never knowing them, but chances are we would not have met or had the chance to get to know each other so well without this group.  We chat, craft, and knit away each Tuesday night together, and over the years we've been there for each other through all of our struggles and success.  It's amazing to me that four years have gone by so quickly, especially when I think of all that has happened in our lives since we began meeting in 2004.

Good friends are rare gifts, and The Hat City Scissor Squad has blessed me with more than my fair share.  I often encourage people to start craft clubs because my experience has been so great.  There is NOTHING like having a weekly ritual that gets you out of the house, and into the company of great people.  Add a tasty beverage to the mix and you've got heaven!  

Speaking of Allergies

I finished up my preliminary allergy testing this week and found out something wonderful!! I am NOT allergic to any of my favorite delicious things such as:

• Cinnamon
• Clove
• Nutmeg
• Chocolate

Even better, I am NOT allergic to my favorite little creatures such as:

• Kitties
• Dogs
• Mice
• Horses

Oatmeal cookies, I have NOT forsaken thee!!! Oh glorious day!

So what AM I allergic too?  Turns out that I have a pretty nasty dust mite allergy, which is making me generally miserable, sensitized, and prone to viral infections.  Because this allergy has gone uncontrolled, it makes me sensitive to all kinds of things that I wouldn't normally be allergic to, like Cinnamon, or the Orange Kitty.  The good news is that my awesome doc, Doctor Lee, (who is actually quite a pleasure to talk to because he gets all scientific on me, and my geeky ass just loves that stuff) gave me a game plan to get myself back to normal.  According to Dr. Lee, all I really need to do is get my bedroom to be inhospitable to dust mites and my over-all health and sensitivity should improve drastically.  I am psyched! Here's to my current sinus infection being my last for a while!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Busiest. Week. Ever.

Oh my gosh! These last two weeks have been bananas, and next week will follow suit. First of all, my hard drive decided to go and croak on me, which lead to a week of switching out computer parts, rebooting operating systems, and other such fun stuff. Luckily, S. Bobleo's Dad, Bob Bobleo came to my rescue and helped me get everything up and running again. To say a word for external hard rives, they rock! I had most of my important stuff backed up on an external drive, so I didn't lose everything.

Here's a funny snippet from Bob's last visit. As some of you know, we have two kitties. I usually just talk about the naughty orange kitty who looks a lot like Anderson Cooper, but we also have a sweet chubby kitty whose name is Ziggy.  He is not big on strangers, and often stakes out in a hidey hole until visitors leave. It's kind of a shame because Ziggy is actually one of the cutest little kitties ever, but he refuses to be photographed, and won't come out for visitors, so noone gets to see his cuteness but S. Bobleo and I.  Anyway, while Bob was here, Ziggy followed him everywhere he went!! It was the weirdest thing ever.  He followed Bob from room to room, and sat next to him... staring.  The strangest thing is that Bob is not a big fan of kitties.  In fact, you could say he is decidedly anti-kitty.

No fooling, the cat sat about 1 or 2 feet from Bob the entire evening, and gazed at him lovingly.  Apparently Ziggy saw something special in Bob, because he seemed pretty heartbroken after he left. It's OK, Ziggy, you'll see him again!

There was one pretty serious casualty of the Hard Drive crash though, my money file, where I keep all records of money coming in and out of Scribble Nation, is gone! A year's worth of sorting, noting, and keeping track has flown right out the window. So... I spent last night pouring over every receipt I have for every expense, sorting and noting them by hand into lists of: Shipping, Supplies, Materials, Equipment, and Rent. And I'm not done by a long shot! Next I have to go through my Paypal and Bank accounts, and download and sort my Etsy logs. Ugh. The moral of this story?  If something matters to you BACK IT UP, people!! When it all crashed I knew SOMETHING important would be lost.  When I realized this file hadn't made it I was like "Oh mannnnnnnnn...." I think the neighbors in the condo next door could hear me groaning over it.

So, taxes are the number one priority on my weekend's list. Here is the rest:

• Get taxes prepped and sent to book keeper!
• Finish swap gifts for the Scissor Squad Holiday Swap
• View a cute house in Bethel, CT
• Finish Cooking Enchiladas (Ever make this from scratch? Who knew it would be a multiple day process.)
• Dust Mite-proof my bedroom in light of newly diagnosed dust mite allergy
• Cross fingers for a sunny Saturday so that I can take care of an important photo shoot for work
• Get our mortgage pre-qualification checklist done
• Teach a Bath & Body 101 Class in Brooklyn on Sunday
• Get travel plans set for the Squad's trip to the Martha Show on Tuesday

Ahh, lists. Where would I be without you? Wish me luck, everybody! Hopefully I won't wear the rubber off my sneakers. (A trip to the shoe store won't fit in the schedule).

Creative Goals for 2009

Goals, goals, goals.

• Focus Scribble Nation craftiness into a more clear cut set of products. AKA Pick my favorites and FOCUS!
• Make fine art a priority again, and something I do on a regular basis.
• Write for the sake of writing.
• Finish or chuck all WIPs.
• Pre-wash, bolt, and organize ALL of my fabric.
• Invest in some matching storage and organize my art/craft supplies once and for all.
• Get at least one bath and body book published by 2010.
• Publish monthly tutorials on ScribbleNation.com.
• This seems to be a popular one: Dedicate way more effort to blogging by posting on a schedule, just like it was work.
• Purchase and remodel a house!
• Teach more classes, at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn and locally.
• Throw 4 craft shows in the Danbury area, one each season.
• Take advantage of the awesomeness of The Hat City Scissor Squad by throwing more parties, craft nights, and special events.

I should be pretty busy in 2009, yes?

Candy Architecture

A rather wacky take on the traditional Gingerbread House, this Toadstool Cottage that Michelle and I whipped up a few days before Christmas was really something to see.  We kept asking ourselves as we glued more and more little shrooms on the platter with royal icing, "Is this going too far? Is this one mushroom too many?" But then we decided that going too far was impossible when it came to Gingerbread Toadstool Cottages. 

Did I ever mention my deep and everlasting love for building things out of other things? Oh, and my love for candy?

Michelle baked the house and the roof from scratch out of actual gingerbread.  The roof, a solid piece of gingerbread was baked inside a pyrex bowl to achieve its perfectly round shape.  Since it was solid, it was pretty heavy, so we reinforced the inside with some cardboard tubing.

Scott Bobleo foolishly scoffed at our Gingerbread House making skills by challenging us to create a mailbox.  I laughed at him for doubting me, then whipped up this little yellow beauty out of Lifesavers, Candy Cane, and a Vanilla Tootsie Roll.  Suck on that, Doubty McDoubterson.

We made little mushrooms a number of ways.  The little colored ones are made from gumdrops.  Just squish one gumdrop and then stick it (with icing, of course) on top of an un-squished gumdrop.  There are also teeny mushrooms made with regular gumdrops and bell shaped gumdrops.  The larger mushrooms were made with bell shaped gumdrops, and topped with either lumps of Gingerbread or Nilla Wafers.

I am really happy that Michelle acted on this idea.  I was bummed out because I thought I wouldn't have time to make a Gingerbread House(particulalry a Toadstool Cottage Gingerbread House), and I had had my heart set on it since Thanksgiving.  When I was at Macys a few days earlier, I saw the Martha Stewart Gingerbread House kit on Clearance for six bucks and thought, "What the hey! I can make time for a kit."  Kit in hand I popped over to Michelles, only to find her baking Gingerbread for  this little wonder you see above.  I finished my Martha Kit in no time flat, and then felt compelled to help Michelle embellish the Toadstool Cottage.  We must have been at it for a couple of hours, and I don't think we stopped giggling for more than a few minutes alltogether.

By the way, here is the result of my Martha Kit.  Not so exciting as the Toadstool Cottage, but very pretty anyway.  I added my own touch by making it into a sort of candy chapel.  Don't ask why, I just felt the urge!  Seeing my sis snap off the peppermint crucifix for a sacrificial sucking session later on was good for a laugh.  My only complaint about the kit was that the icing was more tasty than tacky.  I suppose you can't ask much more from icing in a kit, but if I did it again I would take the time to whip up a batch of real Royal Icing to go along with the kit contents.  Getting that sucker to stay together with slow drying icing was a real pain in the tookus.

Handmade Stuffies & Books

This season I decided to make all of the kids on my list handmade goodies for Christmas. This was quite an undertaking, but after many yards of felt, and many hours stitching and snipping, the results were well worth the effort. Let's hope the kids thought so too!

The first project I made was a set of fuzzy, rattling crocodiles for my buddy, Pooks. These little guys were birthday presents that I whipped up in the beginning of December. I sewed a rattler inside of each croc to give them some extra spunk.  This is a picture of the big guy. I also made a little one to match.

Next, I decided to tackle all three Leonard-side nephews.  First, I made R.J. an over sized Doubtful Guest from the Edward Gorey book. This guy took a lot of work, but he was my favorite of all the stuffies I made this year. 

Here is a shot of me hand stitching his tiny red sneakers.

And here is a shot of R.J. with his "weird penguin guy" in hand. Hope he likes the book!!

After making R.J.'s stuffies I got the idea to make the rest of the stuffies into characters from kid's books. Scott Bobleo and I took a trip to Borders and I picked up a copy of The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats for Lucas.  Keats was one of my favorite authors as a kid. I think I was a little extra fond of these books because they reminded me of my time in Yonkers and the friends I'd had there as a kid. Of course, I am daft and forgot to take a picture of little Peter after he was finished. I'll have to see if I can snap a pic of him with little Lucas next time I visit.

Last, but not least, I picked out the book 365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental. I picked this book primarily because of the adorable artwork. I thought that it would translate into a stuffy rather nicely. I was pleasantly surprised when I read the book to find that it was seriously cute and funny, AND had a great eco-concious message. I definitely would buy this book for a kid again.

Here's my Mom with, Chilly, the blue footed penguin a few nights before I gave it to Andrew.