The last two weeks: Z made spanakopita a la lalalaini for his August vow dinner. Sen with Annie G. Greek Islands with Eliza & Mike. Rhymes with Twee factory time. Flew to Cleveland for Kate’s Lady Shenanigans. Z picked me up from the airport and we headed straight to Quesadilla for dinner. Lunch @ Yuzu with Judy. Jen’s Bday dinner @ Rangoli. Sold @ Renegade Craft Fair Chicago. Post-RCF Celebratory Dinner @ Bite.

The last two weeks were leading up to Rhymes with Twee splitting with di Palermo Body for Renegade Craft Fair Chicago. It was my best yet. Square tells me that there were no repeat credit cards, which is so surprising because it seemed like there were many repeat customers from last year. I made heaps of brand new things and most are up in the Etsy shop. I remade Picked You cards and made 3 brand new cards: Werner Herzog Love, Goat Love, and Mushroom Love. I also remade Artichoke, Garlic, Radish, and Carrot Veggie Vampire Tea Towels and made mushroom ones as well as making ‘I Quilly Love Writing’ stationery sets. Mushroom tea towel and stationery sets will be photographed soon and listed on Etsy.

Werner Herzog Love Greeting Card

Text inside:
I WERNER BE YOUR BOYFRIEND.
BEKLAUS I LOVE YOU.

(and of course Klaus Kinski is inside the card holding a heart)

Portobello Truffle Enoki Mushroom Love Greeting Card

Text inside:
My heart turns to mush when I think of you.
There’s room in there only for you.

Rhymes with Twee Booth Display @ Renegade Craft Fair Chicago

Films watched 34th & 35th week of the year:

The Fisher King
Bright Star
Dear Mr. Watterson *
Tiny *

* documentary

Somehow I had never seen The Fisher King. It was lovely. Bright Star could have been called Bright Snore. Gorgeous costumes and settings, but I didn’t feel empathy for any characters. Both documentaries were short and sweet to have on while prepping for Renegade. I am very much in love with the idea of tiny houses. We had already tackled books, but the film kicked Z and I to pare down our music.

Booth Setup @ Renegade Craft Fair Chicago Holiday

This week: Katniss follow-up appointment. Z and I picked out our Letter to Santa to answer for Be An Elf. Went to Quesadilla with Ian and dropped off stock for him to sell at Handmade Arcade. Went to OOAK Show at Merchandise Mart. Sold at Renegade Saturday & Sunday. Celebratory dinner @ Bite.

Renegade was great for me, but a bummer for my boothmate. Jessica of diPalermo Body shipped 4 boxes priority mail that were set to arrive earlier in the week, but not a one made it there. She only had what was in her suitcase, but at least she made the booth fee back with those items. She wasn’t going to come back on Sunday, so I sold her stuff for her. Seriously, what happened to her was every single maker’s nightmare. So, basically, if you want high quality soaps and sugar scrubs that smell fantastic, here is your gal: diPalermo Body.

Films watched 48th week of the year:

Project Nim *
Vanishing Waves ** [ Lithuania ]

* documentary
** foreign language

Project Nim was not what we thought it would be at all. Thought-provoking and heart-breaking. So hard to watch. At least he got a semi-happy ending after bouncing around from caretaker to caretaker.

The Wreath of Katniss – new postcard

I am thankful for my partner in love & life, Zachary. I am thankful for my family, which has now tripled in the last 10 years, with finding my birth mom Lauri and marrying Zachary. I am thankful for my absolutely spectacular friends who help to make my life even happier. I am thankful that I am in good health, have a day job I love, a roof over my head, food to eat, and some money left at the end of the day. I am thankful that I have a creative outlet that I am starting to learn how to do correctly (fun AND profit) with Rhymes with Twee. I cannot be more thankful for my wonderful customers who I think the world of. I am thankful for a lot of things always, but this year especially.

Week wrap: Baths for our furry babies. Dropped stock off with Eliza to take to White Rabbit (Iowa City, IA). Z and I dropped Amanda & Derek off in Toledo and then got a flat tire about 40 minutes outside of Cleveland. It was a comedy of errors, truly, but we made it into Berea, OH a bit after 1am. Thanksgiving lunch @ Don’s Pomeroy House. Melt! Dante with family! Thanksgiving Saturday dinner (Christmas, celebrated) with Hansens. Many amazing presents! Jess & Eli were so happy with their matching Megan Lee Designs shirt/onesie! Waffle Christmas @ Kate & Brian’s! Drove back to Chicago, dropped off our stuff, headed to Dimo’s, dropped off Amanda & Derek, bought a Christmas tree @ the fantastic Christy Webber Gardens, came home and decorated our tree and put up the rest of our decor. What a whirlwind of a weekend – it was one of the best homecomings we’ve had yet!

All kinds of awesome stuff going on in Rhymes with Twee land. Two brand new Katniss postcards up in the Etsy shop. Old version of the tea towels is back in stock. Love my supplier ACS Home and Work (formerly they went by only American Chair Store). They are based in Coopersville, MI and they are great to work with. Thankful for the amazing vendors I work with!

Films watched 47th week of the year:

What’s the Matter with Kansas? *
Escape from Tomorrow
Trances ** [ Morocco ]

* documentary
** foreign language

Kind of a MEH movie week. Can’t recommend any of the above, really. Trances was enjoyable for the music. Perhaps I’m becoming jaded after watching so many music documentaries? Escape from Tomorrow was an epic idea, but executed on a mediocre level. There were some pretty neat moments, but the cohesiveness was not there.

Rhymes with Twee Booth set-up @ Show of Hands

Z made me a monthly dinner, as he officially vowed to at our wedding. He made mouth-watering vegetarian lasagna and then we went to see Free Birds. I have not mentioned it here, but when we got back from our mini-moon, Z decided he would see a film in the theatre every day until Thanksgiving; a total of 35 days. He’s kept up with this goal, so it was nice to have a whole night together, rather than just half of one.

Remade two of the current four veggie vampire tea towels in preparation for Show of Hands @ Ravenswood Event Center. The show was the best curated fair I have been to yet. Emily Orange Beautiful pulled together a great venue with great energy and swell customers! I had some of the best booth neighbors yet; Beth (Four Eyes Handmade) to my left, Hanah & Nellie (SoapHappy!) to my right, and Jessie (CroquisKnits) directly behind me. I bought a number of gifts for family and friends, but my fave purchase was a necklace for me from Veronica Riley Martens, whose work is made with beads made from tagua nuts. My fave card maker a.favorite was there and she rarely does shows open to the public anymore, so that was neat and she has the coolest metal card display I have ever seen. Drool.

Speaking of shows…I am in a boat load of them this winter. Come say hi! I will not be attending my beloved Pittsburgh’s Handmade Arcade. Buddy Miss Alison’s wondrous boyfriend Ian will be working my booth. He is vegan and loves snacks, just FYI.

Rhymes with Twee 2013 Winter Shows:

Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale (Chicago, IL)
@ Pulaski Park Auditorium
December 7 + 8, 2013 (11am – 6pm)

Handmade Arcade (Pittsburgh, PA)
@ David L. Lawrence Convention Center
December 7, 2013 (11am – 7pm)

Rhymes with Twee TRUNK SHOW (Chicago, IL)
@ Local Goods
December 15, 2013 (2pm – 4pm)

The Hideout’s Last Chance Holiday Sale 2013 (Chicago, IL)
@ Hideout
1354 W. Wabansia Ave.
December 21, 2013 (11a – 6p)

Films watched 46th week of the year:

Last Days Here *
Free Birds
Celeste and Jesse Forever
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Lords of Salem
The Temptation of St. Tony ** [ Estonia ]

* documentary
** foreign language

Katniss Everdeen…say no more! What an amazing movie. I loved the first one, but this film was heart-stopping, lush, and so sharp. Last Days Here was like watching a train crashing and then reversing and then having a semi crash into it and push it off a bridge. I had never heard of Pentagram, but man, their manager Sean Pelletier is the glue that binds Bobby and his bandmates together. A really crushing look at a drug addict fighting his addiction to pull his band together for a reunion tour. While watching documentaries, I often do Wiki searches to get updates and this story goes on after the film ends and continues to go on today. Highly recommend even if you don’t like metal. Celeste & Jesse Forever was the first thing I’ve seen Andy Samberg in where I didn’t want to throw the remote at my tv. Breakups are hard, especially when you remain best friends with that S.O.

Wee Twee Rant: I am sick of movies saying “eating his/her feelings” or “eats his/her feelings” or putting the word eat and feelings in the same sentence. Just don’t do it. I watched two movies on Tuesday night and this phrase was in both freaking movies; Free Birds and Celeste and Jesse Forever. Truly un-funny. Putting it in a kid’s movie (even if it’s one that barely anyone will see because it is about the turkey Holocaust) is just inviting kids who watch it to think: “this is a funny thing I can say about someone who is fat”. Hollywood Fail, y’all.

Two new cards and a reprint for RCF Chicago

In a flurry of creativity, I made two new cards and reprinted an old favorite for Renegade. I present to you Malört Christmas Card, Chicago Dibs Love Card, and reprint of Meerkat in a Party Hat Birthday Card. Listings will go up on Etsy as soon as I have some free time to take some photos.

Katniss is just fine after her surgery. See a video here. Even with one less leg, she’s still getting around just GREAT. She was already so low to the ground, it seems she barely notices. The only bummer is that the amputation cost Z and I a bit over $800 total. We submitted the paperwork to VPI. Fingers crossed they pay a large chunk of this madness. Some think we are crazy to have pet insurance, but then things like this happen. This is where I warn again that if you are looking at getting a hedgehog, please know that the chance your hedgehog will end up having some form of cancer is EXTREMELY high. Please read the Common Ailments section of Hedgehog Central to see what you are very likely to face if you are considering adopting a hedgehog. Being a three-time hedge-mom, I can still say that I feel they are absolutely still worth it for me, but please think it through.

Also this week: biked to Neighborly and dropped off more Bean Baby onesies. On the way up there, my brakes were making a terrible screeching noise so I dropped my bike at Comrade Cycles for them to realign my wheel and decided to leave it for a complete tuneup. Love, love, love Comrade. Cannot say enough positive things about those dudes.

Renegade Craft Fair was this weekend and it kicked my butt. Lots of amazing old customers and new. My boothmate Jessica (di Palermo Body) and her friend helper Ashley were awesome and we traded, so now I have some Linger soap! Her soap and body goods are even more gorgeous in person. With all the stuff that has happened in the past week, it’s no wonder that my body gave out. I stayed home sick Monday and took two naps. I had to pull myself off the couch to go to my second fitting @ Mignonette, which luckily was a breeze. Stopped at Z and my new obsession Dimo’s and grabbed pizza. Nothing helps body aches like pizza, right?

Films watched 36th week of the year:

Rip! A Remix Manifesto *
Sinister
A Talking Cat!?!
Bamako [ Mali ] **

* documentary
** foreign language

If you are reading this post you likely have nothing better to do, right? Well, let me give you something better to do – fire up your Netflix Instant Queue and watch A Talking Cat!?!. Z and I were almost cry laughing throughout so much of it. I think it may be my runner up for Best Worst Movie of all time.