Showme Handmade and Artropy!

Last night was Showme Etsy Team meeting night. We had 20 attendees, which was nice. Last month we topped out at 30. So many new faces and I am just not good with names. Possibility that we may need name tags in the future. But these new faces have a lot of good ideas about doing sub committees and help get the word out about your street team.

I know that a lot of people from Etsy have applied to our team and have been rejected. I just want to say it is not the fact that they do bad work. Just the opposite! It is really quite nice! But the ones rejected are all jewelry people and as of right now, we have enough. So as our numbers rise in other catagories, so shall our jewelry catagory! So do not be sad (or mad), we are keeping all the applications.

They discussed the Artropy show at Swquires this coming April 25th and chose their booths. I am not in this show as I volunteered to work the ShowMe Handmade store in Crestwood Court, St. Louis, Missouri. As a street team, we are having two shows a year, one in the spring and one fall show. The fall show will also be held at Swquires, 1415 South 18th Street, St. Louis, Missouri, 63104. We are looking for a bigger place for next year since we are beginning to get a following and we are now accepting outside vendors to round out our shows

Crestwood Court is having an Easter party this Saturday! So bring the kiddies (or not) and have some fun! There will be stages set up close to Sears, bands, demos from the artists and more. Come check out the new stores and get to know the artists! See ya there!

So Where have I been?

I feel so bad! I have been so negligent! But I have just been crazy! So I will just try to update the last six months. It's like writing a book. If I had had time to keep a diary, then I could just cut and paste but I didn't even have time for that.

First thing we had to get thru was Cameron's installation as Jobe's Daughter's Honor Queen. It is like having a wedding! All the little details and planning. Then all the work of making corsages, flowers, gift bags for all the girls and Aunts. Then you have to have a reception afterwards. So of course there is covering the tables, getting centerpieces, buying all the plates, silverware, cups. That's just for starters. Then you have to have a menu, decide on food. If I had been smart, we would have catered it. I figured it up afterwards and spent just as much doing it myself. And of course we can't be simple, just because that is the way this family is. It was much like what we do at Christmas. Hmm, come to think of it, that is what she wanted! lol! So dinner was turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, dinner rolls, tea, and lots of desserts! So we got thru that.

Then they had their Christmas party (which we were in charge of). Then we had Christmas (which is always a big blowout here) and headed into the new year.

So January and February, we just passed the flu and colds from one to another. I just prayed John never got sick. He isn't all that strong to begin with. Having a house full of sick babies is no fun. Lylli and Cara just passed it back and forth. I didn't get much done around here.

The only thing I did, was finally make a decision to join some good women in a crafty endeavor!

I belong to the ShowMe Etsy Street team from Missouri. Really it is a combination of the metro area which includes Illinois. Since I live so close to St. Louis, it was the closest team around. We have been together awhile now. But to move on, some of the ladies decided to take it a step further.

To get past the boring steps, we now have a B & M shop in Crestwood Court called Showme Handmade. It is a combination of nine owners and I know at least 20 consigners. I would have to go count all the paperwork to get you an accurate number, but I am not at the shop right now.

But you can check us out at http://www.showmehandmade.com./

So now I need to update all my pages here and there and get myself into a routine.

Got lots to do today, so will try to do better this week!

Custom Order for Sally!

Ah, last weekend I was a vendor at a small quilt and fall festival. It was such fun talking to all the people walking by. One very nice lady by the name of Sally ordered one of my hooded scarfs. So today I am posting pictures of it just so you all can see what I do!

I am told they are Japanese Carp

Summer is almost over and I am so sad! I miss our two week trips to the lake. But hubby is just to sick to take them any more. So my boat sat in the driveway most of the summer. But Sunday Ray (daughter #3) wanted to take a few friends down to the river for the day and asked if I would take them. Daddy won't let her drive the boat cause she drinks too much! lol! So Saturday afternoon, we washed the boat off real quick, packed a few snacks and fixed a cooler. We were all ready to go! Sunday morning D & J who are sisters got lost coming to the house so we got out of here a little later than usual. Our third friend was our son's ex girlfriend and she went also.

So, they drank, swam, ate and partied all day. I was the only sober one in the bunch. But at least I got out and got some sun.

We told D & J that if we got going fast enough that the fish would start flying. I think they thought we were joking until one almost hit J! lol! I call them the flying fish, but I think they are really Japanese carp. I have been told that the vibrations from the boat get them jumping out of the water. We ducked all day but it was a hoot! At least I didn't get any in the pontoon and have to throw them back in. I still haven't checked the sides to see if I have any dents.

We stopped at Smitty's and ate lunch outside. D & J were done after that, so we took a quick swim and pulled the boat out and came home.

The End!

It wasn't free!

So my daughter is shopping in Walmart one day. Browsing around in the vitamins, she is approached by a tall thin man. She looks up into the face of this young man, who is clean shaven and dressed in a suit.

"Would you like up to ten free dinners? All you have to do, is listen to me talk for about 15 minutes."

Now the bells should have been going off in her head, but she is related to me, so I will forgive her.

"What?" She is the brightest of my bunch.

"You can bring your whole family and have dinner at (I will not mention the name of the restaurant). You do have kids? They can eat free."

Now daughter is really interested. She can feed all four of her kids and her stepson for free! So of course she says "Sure." She takes her ticket and he moves on.

So she calls me. "Hubby doesn't want to go with me tonight for a free dinner. You want to go?"

I told you, we are related! "Where we going?"

So she tells me her little story and I respond with what she wants to hear. I didn't really want to go listen to this guy but I like mexican food and IT IS free!

We get there and this place is small. Bells should have been going off, but now I'm curious instead of wary. We go in and they ask if we are here for the lecture. Oh Boy! So they escort us back to the little room in the back with about ten tables in there. At least we weren't alone, half the tables were already full. We had only three of the boys with us. The two girls were home and one was sleeping. She has a bad habit of taking a nap at 5 in the evening.

We take the big table in the back and this tiny lady comes around with a sheet of paper to be filled out. They want to know how much you hurt. Well, hello! I spent twenty five years working in a hospital. I hurt all over! lol! You try lifting 300 lb people up on an x-ray table!

I finish my little questionaire before daughter and look across the table to see what she has checked off. She hurts more than me and she is considerably younger. I laugh.

Thin man walks in and starts hustling around. Talks to tiny lady and starts setting up his chalk board and plugs in his light to show x-rays on. I am beginning to get the picture now.

The room magically fills up with lots more families and he decides to talk. I instantly can not stand him. He talks to us like we are all fifth graders and incredibly stupid.

" Hi, I am Dr. Baylard and I am here to talk to you about your health. Have any of you been in an accident or had a fall? Does your back hurt anywhere? Raise your hand?"

We all raised our hands. We raised them a lot during his little speech. He asked a lot of questions and we answered with our little hands. He even took my grandson and showed my daughter how to check for scoliosis. Of course, he was a little off. But so is the rest of my family! lol! Then he moved on to show us what a normal x-ray of the lower spine looked like. Then he showed one with scoliosis. It was more hand raising time and dumb looks.

Then tiny lady collected all of our papers and gave them to him. He started with me in the corner. I am sure he loved the fact that my left leg is shorter than the right.

"Were you ever in an accident?"

"When I was a kid." I wanted to tell him the time I got hit by a car. But I really wanted to get rid of him. I wasn't about to tell him about the motorcycle accident when I was sixteen and how I bounced across the road on my butt and didn't even tear my pants.

"How did you hurt your back?"

"Lifting people for twenty five years. Pushing wheelchairs and stretchers." I don't like to give too much away.

"Do you think you should have to live with this pain?"

Now I am looking at him like he is crazier than me. What does he want from me? I know my back is screwed up and will stay that way. "I have narrowing of the spine between L-4 L-5 and L-5 S-1 and it isn't going to change."

"But do you think you have to live with that pain?"

"I've lived with it for years and I don't pay much attention to it unless I can't move."

"Would you like to live without it?"

I'd like him to go away now because he is really irritating. But he is one of these guys that will sit there in your face until you give him the answers he wants.

I sigh. Okay, I'm stuck here. But I will have to tell you more later as I have to go take a shower and go to the chiropractors this morning. See ya later!

I'm so Bad!

Yes, I am! I have been procrastinating! My poor blog is suffering from lack of communications. But it has been a crazy month here. My Charlie was sick with cancer and we have been babying him. He's my first and probably my last cocker and we finally couldn't watch him suffer any more. I had to take him to the doggy doctor and put down. That was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I know it sounds strange when I worked in a hospital for twenty five years and have seen a lot of humans die. I just keep telling my self it was the humane thing to do. It still doesn't seem right around here and I just hope that he is happy running thru God's fields.

Well, I have been playing around with cotton piping and strips of material. Darling daughter has been making baskets to sell but I can't do what she does because it takes me too long and I get bored. I made one basket her way and it took me a week. I don't think anyone wants to pay $600. for a basket! lol! So I was at the fabric store one day and ran across a really cool book showing how to make baskets using your sewing machine. I thought, I can do that! So I bought it, and started making hot plates. Then I made the hubby a coaster. But dummy here couldn't figure out how much piping she was using, so I tried cutting 4 1/2 yards and sewing it up. It didn't quite reach the size I wanted for hot plates so I tried again. But this time after I hit my mark for a coaster I stopped and measured how much I had left and now I know what I need for those. I'm not too bright some days, well most days anyway! Now I have all these ideas.

After a week of hot plates (which I sold most of at the Peach Festival) I got brave and tried making a basket. Ohhhhhhhhh, was it pretty! And yes, I am proud of it! It was the only basket that sold at the Festival. And yes, now I am all fired up about making more. But I did run into a small problem, I ran out of cording. So I cleaned out the local places that were reasonable and I couldn't get anymore from them. Good thing hubby has a brain. He suggested I get online and look around. I found a good place to buy in bulk and am now waiting for my big order. Good thing these come on spools for easy storage. I am saving the empty spools. I am sure someone will come up with a good idea how to recycle these too! lol!

Well, dang! I am out of time today! I have to be at the chiropractors in an hour and have yet to take a shower. Oh, yeah, that's a good story. I gotta tell ya that one tomorrow! lol!