Nine more days to go!

Wow, time is flying!  Happy to say that yesterday's goals were met and after a "WigWam" shopping trip tomorrow, I hope to make 10-12 more greeting cards, finish another baby hat and  complete another dozen scrubbies. 

The "Thinking of You" note cards and some similar thank you notes will be available at our show in nine days.  We're hoping for better weather than we had today, which included a ton of rain and at least an inch of snow!

Until tomorrow! 

Ten More Days of Challenge

I'm happy to report that my goals for today have been met, even though it means some very sore fingers!  The scrubbies I made today are all the plain round ones, but here are a couple of wreath scrubbies that will be for sale at our sale next weekend and in my Etsy shop.  They make great stocking stuffers or package tie ons.  They're made of the same tough nylon net and just as good for cleaning up everything from dishes to car hoods once the decorative ribbon is removed.

So for tomorrow the new goals are:  12 more scrubbies, 20 greeting cards and finishing the baby Santa hat.  Unfortunately, as hard as I try, this will not be able to excuse me from doing some cleaning...there's never an end to that!

Eleven more days of challenge!

Here's the first update!

Today was busy, but things worked out well.  All goals were accomplished except for 2 jar openers.  In addition, the friend that will be adding her jewelery to the sale stopped over to show me the cute earrings that she and her daughters made.  She'll also help with publicity and make the outdoor signs we'll need.  That will be a big help!

So for tomorrow I'll aim to finish a dozen scrubbies while I'm baby sitting...above you'll see the little cutie modelling one of the baby hats that will be in the sale.  Also, I hope to pick up some last minute supplies and continue working on the Santa hat as well as finishing the last two jar openers.

See you tomorrow night with the progress report!

A Twelve Day Challenge

In just 12 days, my friend, Judy, and I are hosting a craft show here at our home and the challenges are looming!  We've begun to publicize, we are amassing our completed crafts, and are finishing many more.  So I'm setting goals for each day.  Let's see how I do!

First, to keep me more organized, I'll post about this time each evening until the big event, November 18 and 19.   My efforts became a little more complicated due to several Etsy sales.  I'm certainly not complaining, but now it means I'll have to make an extra amigurumi elephant and rhino as well as a baby Santa hat.

Today I had aimed to finish some quick shopping at Joann's for fabric, card stock and ribbon.  The latter were easy, but I had to order the fabric at a greater cost.  That was the only setback, however.  My goal of 24 scrubbies to complete sets such as shown above were accomplished thanks to many uninterrupted hours as we watched pro football (Go Packers).

Tomorrow, the following items are on the docket:

Make 10 more scrubbies.
Mail packages.
Edge six jar openers.
Design several greeting cards.
Start a new baby Santa hat.

Of course, all this is in and around our regular Monday schedule.
Wish me luck!  I'll update tomorrow!

Happy Haunting!

One of my favorite Halloween traditions is painting pumpkins.  This year I painted one for my darling little "pumpkin" next door and her mom and dad.  Here are all three completed designs at their back door.  The candy corn theme seemed appropriate and does not include a single calorie!

Inspired by Summer

The glorious summer garden flowers actually inspired me to add to my ever increasing scrubbie selections on Etsy and when Etsy Bloggers asked us to share a summer craft, I chose these flower scrubbie sets.  They come as a set of six as shown in these photos, and also in sets of two.

For those of you who crochet, here's a quick how-to for the flower scrubbies:
Cut 8 yards of nylon netting into 3" strips.  You'll get quite a few out of 8 yard pieces in two colors.

With a J or K hook, Ch 3, join with slip stitch.
Row 1:  Work 6 sc in loop.
Row 2:  Work 2 sc in each sc.
Row 3:  Work 2 sc in each sc.  Join with sl st.
Row 4:  Ch 3, skip next sc, sc in next sc around.  Finish off.

For anyone who crochets, it's super simple!  With a little expert help it's even a great beginner project.  Enjoy!!

Summer Time in Bookworm Gardens

The Magic School Bus welcomes young and old alike to fabulous (and free) Bookworm Gardens located just a couple of miles from us near the University of Sheboygan Campus in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  My dear neighbor and her darling daughter accompanied me on a sweet visit last week.  The school bus can be "driven" by the children.  They can also open and shut the doors, read a copy of the book inside and even look through a kaleidoscope at basket of flowers as the young man in the photo is doing.

Bookworm Gardens was conceived by a local landscape designer and master gardener and is constantly expanding due to a huge contingency of volunteers and community support.  More than 25 children's books are illustrated in individual garden settings and thanks to generous individuals, corporations and public service groups, more is being added.  Several stone pillars hold copies of laminated books that children can read or parents or volunteers can  read to them around the gardens.

They can read Is Your Mama a Llama? in both Spanish and English, and enjoy Jack and the Beanstalk near a metal and natural bean stalk in front of Hansel and Gretel's cottage.  The cottage also serves as a visitor's center.  My neighbor couldn't resist sitting in Papa Bear's chair. It was vacated by Papa Bear as he and Mama Bear try to coax Baby Bear out of a tree.

So many more books are illustrated that it will take several more visits to experience them all.  If you're ever in the area, don't miss Bookworm Gardens!

                                                                  Is Your Mama a Llama?

                                                             Jack and the Beanstalk

Goldilocks and the Three Bears