We're Back

Nick & I just got back from our little weekend away. I made some progress on the wedding and got a new monkey made. This is what things are looking like right now where the wedding will take place. Julie & I went out for a walk this morning and I took this shot in front of the house. It's very brown, but you can still see a bit of Autumn in there. Just beautiful. It's been raining off & on, there's even water in the creek!


We checked out a few places as possibilities for our wedding night stay while we were in town. The Hounds Tooth Inn is only about a 10-15 minute drive from the house, and is just what we had in mind. There are 12 rooms and a summer house. I think Nick & I will get the summer house and have some of our family and friends in the main inn. It was a lovely place. They let us walk through and check out all the rooms. It was kinda fun. I'll be calling them this week to see what I can reserve.
I tend to spend a fair amount of my time crocheting when we're at Jim & Julie's, and this weekend was no exception. I'm thinking about opening a second Etsy shop just for my monkeys, so I've been trying to think of some more monkey things to make. Here's the little pin cushion monkey I made, I'd love to hear what you think. I know, he looks a little like a fire hydrant, but I wanted him to be flat on the bottom and have some dimension to his hat. If I make the hat go straight up, he'll look like a can of beans.

That's about all I have to report right now. I'm so tired from driving and I still have to unpack. Hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for Halloween.

Halloween Weekend

Nick & I are off to Oakhurst today for our friends' annual Halloween party. I think I've got our costumes sorted out enough, I hope so anyway. I'll be Ginny and Nick will be Harry Potter. Our neckties are being FedEx'd to the house this afternoon (fingers crossed). If I don't look too hideous in the wig, I'll post a picture next week, lol.
I've been so busy lately that I'm really looking forward to a few days off. We always have such a nice time at Jim & Julie's, it's the only time I fully relax. Of course, I'll work on monkeys while I'm away, I always do. Oh! And while I'm on the subject of monkeys, I'm reminded of an indieview I just did for The Indie Path. The girls over there were nice enough to feature me, and my monkeys, on their blog yesterday. Thanks ladies.
I also wanted to show you another corner of my sewing room. That's my handmade shelf I purchased at the Harvest Festival a couple years ago. I have an old dresser I keep under it with my shipping supplies and some fabric bits. My laptop sits on the dresser so I can check emails & post in the forums throughout the day. So far, that's working out really well. Don't you love that hangin' monkey? He holds tea lights in his tummy.
Right, so I need to pack and get on the road. Just couldn't leave without saying goodbye. Stop in at my Flickr account if you want to see something I made yesterday. Have a great weekend. And say hi to Jenn while you're there, she's Flickring now too.

Shout Out

Wanna see the coolest zipper pouch ever?

This "dork" pouch is my latest Etsy acquisition, and do I ever love it. The shop is FriedOkra and she makes the most unique pouches I've seen. Hand embroidered lettering, rick rack, monkeys...what more could you ask for? Please do yourself a favor and check her out. (The sock monkeys are great too.)

And, while I'm in a shout out kind of mood, I'll let you in on a surprising find. Actually, Nick spotted this at the grocery store. I'm a huge fan of all things pumpkin flavored so I was definitely intrigued. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan of instant coffee, but this stuff is pretty good.

Sometimes I just don't feel like brewing coffee, but I want a tasty hot drink. It takes 4 teaspoons of powder to make this, but it's got a lovely smell and it really does taste good for instant fake coffee. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

Wow!

Well, last night I made my 150th sale on Etsy, a monkey of course. I'm so excited about hitting this milestone. I feel very blessed to have come across Etsy and been able to sell my little creations there. I've made so many great friends and learned a lot. What a treat it is to do what I love every day as well. It's a lot more work than a "regular" job, but a lot more fulfilling. Thanks for all the support on my blog and in my shop too. Thank goodness I came up with those Gadget Monkeys, lol.

And to celebrate my good fortune, I want to tell you about Pledge Handmade. I can't really put it into words well enough, but basically, it's a pledge to buy handmade for the holidays. Etsy and 8 of their friends have started a consortium to encourage people to buy handmade this Christmas. I think it's a great idea! You can go to the website and make the pledge yourself, then get a cool badge for your blog to encourage others. Support your fellow crafter this holiday season and buy handmade.