Happy Halloween!

Ahhhh, Halloween! Only like one of my all time favorite holidays. I love dressing up or in this case dressing Fletch and his cousin up. I fully acknowledge that my son will one day need therapy and that this will no doubt be one of the suppressed memories that will eventually come up. It was totally worth whatever it will cost me in therapy bills because this kid is C-U-T-E!
And this kid is super cute! I just want to squeeze those little cheeks.

Weather they know it or not, they made my day. I think my husband would have preferred his son be dressed as a super hero or something a little more "manly". It nearly sent him over the edge when I added the make-up, but Fletch can dress that way when he is 10 and doesn't want his mama to make his costume anymore. And one day when he is 18 and brings home a girlfriend, I know he will enjoy having his mama show her these pictures. I'm sure of it.

Busy, Busy

Last weekend was the Flaunt! Handmade Show I have been telling you about. Everything went great. There was a nice turnout for the event and I feel pretty successful about the whole thing. My mind has been swimming with ideas of things to make for next time. There is talk about us having one again in the Spring.

Flaunt was on Saturday and on Sunday we relaxed a little bit and went to the Statesville Hot Air Balloon Festival. I had never been to it and I have to say that it was pretty cool. It was a little windy, so not all 50 balloons were able to launch, but just the ones that did made quite an impression.

We brought a blanket and sat there eating funnel cake and watching all the kids fly mini kites. The weather was perfect, too. It is definitely something we will do again. I was amazed at how close we were able to get to the action and actually see things up close and personal. We were all but in the basket. (which was fine with me, these little feetsies are staying on the ground!)

Now that Flaunt is over and Furniture Market is over, I am on to getting caught up on all of the other things on my never ending list. First up, Halloween costumes! I told my friend today that you know you are sick of sewing when you resort to putting Halloween costumes together with glue and a stapler. (hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!) I can't wait for you to see what Fletcher and his little cousin are going to be. It is so cute, I can't stand it. But you will have to wait until Sunday!

Finishing Touches

I have been spending the day in my sewing room putting the finishing touches on some things for the handmade event on Saturday. I need a nap!

Wondering What To Do This Saturday?

Come to Reynolda Village for FLAUNT! Karen Gray Design is going to be host to 20+ local artist and craftsmen flaunting all their fabulous wares. I'm really excited about it! I'll be there with some of my handmade purses and accessories, but I will probably spend more than I make on some of the things that will be sold there. I saw the list of the other vendors that will be there and I have already begun making a list of things I would love to own. It is going to hard to narrow it down. There is going to be quite a wide variety shown there. Hope to see you there!

Yeah! It's Over

Well, another furniture market bites the dust! I cannot tell you how tired I am and glad that setting up for furniture market is over. It is usually hard work, but being pregnant while doing it is exhausting. The showroom looks fabulous and I hope that Guildmaster has a successful market. I spent the morning doing laundry and I think that this afternoon you will find me working on putting booty prints in the sofa and catching up on my Netflix.

Yummy Fall!

One of my favorite things to do in the fall...bake a Fresh Apple Cake. It has kinda become my own personal tradition. Every fall, my in-laws go to the mountains of Virginia and get apples. Every fall, I make an apple cake.

Fresh Apple Cake

2 Cups Sugar

1 1/2 Cups Crisco Oil

3 Eggs

3 Cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Black Walnut Flavoring

1 Cup Coconut

1/2 Cup Nuts (Pecans or Walnuts)

3 Cups Chopped Apples (2 Large Apples)

Cream sugar and oil; add eggs, flour, soda, salt and flavoring. In separate bowl mix coconut, nuts and apples. Fold into creamed mixture. Bake in a greased and floured tube pan in a 300 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Glaze

1/2 stick Margarine

1 Cup Brown Sugar

3 Tablespoons Milk

Combine in saucepan and cook for 10 minutes. Brush on hot cake with a pastry brush.

Reversible Camera Strap Tutorial

I told you I have been in a little bit of a sewing frenzy lately! I need to be on a sewing frenzy, instead of what seems to be my pregnancy induced feeding frenzy. I went for my check up the other day and found out that at my 22nd week, I have gained 9 pounds. I know what you're thinking... 9 pounds is not bad at all. I agree, it's not bad. The only problem is that I gained 8 of those 9 pounds in the last month. Yikes! So to keep me from eating non-stop, I got to work putting this tutorial together. I hope you enjoy it. Who knows, there might be more tutorials to come. I have a bunch of ideas swimming around this head of mine.

Rally for the Cure

Yesterday was the Rally for the Cure put on by the Oak Valley Ladies Golf Association. I made the quilt that they raffled off to raise money to go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I'm happy to say that a sweet lady named Joann Marion won the quilt. I hope that she will enjoy it! I am also happy to report that the sale of raffle tickets raised about $820. I wanted to thank everyone who helped to sell the raffle tickets. We really could not have done it without you! Also, thanks to everyone who bought tickets. I am so pleased with the outcome!

New Tutorial!

I like it so much I thought I should do a little tutorial on it for you guys. You can find it on the side bar or here.

Let me know if I made any mistakes or if you have any problems or questions.

Enjoy!

In the Groove

Okay, I've gotten a few more things made for the Flaunt event. I feel like I have gotten into a groove and have been the most productive I have been in a long time. I'm actually getting into it and having fun. It is fun to just create.

Wait- stop the train! It is 10:00 pm on Tuesday night and I just realized that the new Real Housewives of Atlanta is on. "Who's gonna check me, Boo?" Love it! Gotta go!

Flaunting It

I have been very busy in the "sweat shop" for the last couple of weeks trying to get some things made for Flaunt, a handmade event sponsored by Karen Gray Design. It is from 10-4 on October 23rd at Reynolda Village. I start working at furniture market at the end of the week, so it looks like it is crunch time. I'm not much for pulling all nighters like I used to, so I have been trying to stay focused during the day to get things done. That means staying clear of the internet, phone, t.v. and anything else that could distract me, which trust me, is not hard to do. Hopefully, I'll sell a bunch of stuff, but if I don't, look for a long overdue update to my Etsy shop.