2012 Week 49: Bazaar Bizarre CLE or Bust

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Leigh

Ornaments on our tree by SteffBomb and Chet and Dot.

Pre-weekend things: Ms. Mint’s Holiday Bazaar at Goose Island Clybourn was flipping amazing. Bought so many awesome gifts for others and a few for myself. Cookie Party.

Weekend: Bazaar Bizarre Cleveland. Had a great time getting to know more about my friend Beth on the road trip. Stayed with Kate & Brian. Saw Z’s mom and aunt. Saw Marikka. Ate at MELT!

Made friends with my awesome booth neighbors:

Wishbone Letterpress: thrilling letterpress. One of the cutest and craftiest couples ever.

Forest City Portage: utilitarian but stylish bags and accessories made from sails and other upcycled materials. Also, Michael recognized me and we couldn’t figure out why until I realized he worked at Melt (Lakewood location) and I’m guessing he recognized me from being a regular even though I live in Chicago. 🙂

I Heart Skeletons: Day of the Dead inspired art and jewelry.

Bumbly’s: Sweet soap for your skin. I traded for ginger lime!

Not a neighbor, but amazing stencil artist whose subject matter is Pez dispensers onto broken skateboards –> Richard Cihlar. Also happened to trade mead and ginger wine that he made for a RWT shirt for his daughter! 🙂

Films watched 49th week of the year:

Clifford
I’m Still Here
Buskers*
Love Actually [need to finish it next week]

*documentary

2012 Week 48: I would do anything for love, but I won’t do crafts…

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Leigh

Firstly, I should note here that I have the best boo. This week: made Downton Abbey themed goods [notebooks and cards] which are now (or will be soon) in the shop, though I need to make more Dowager Countess moleskine notebooks because they SOLD OUT. Bought a Christmas tree, but still haven’t decorated it. Fried foods party. Dinner at Bite.

I did my second to last craft fair of 2012 this year: Renegade Craft Fair Chicago Holiday and it was amazing. Jack (Ethically Engineered) is a great boothmate. Had an incredible time hanging out with THE BEST BOOTH NEIGHBORS: Circa Ceramics, Wonder Wheel, and Steff Bomb. Also did some excellent trades for my gift exchange buddy. An A+ excellent fair with super awesome customers.

Saturday night I had a sore throat and I thought I had kicked it with cayenne pepper/sea salt gargling, but at the end of the day Sunday, it is back with a vengeance. I have a super busy week at work and then I’m off to my last craft fair of the season, BAZAAR BIZARRE CLEVELAND. FB Event Link. So tired. Must sleep. Think I will be carving a block of Bates as my next Downton character. Have had a few requests for Thomas though, but we’ll see. For now…sleep.

Also should mention that there is an article in the Chicago Tribune about the sameness in crafting. I am quoted in it, but it doesn’t note that the girl who copied me said she was “inspired by” my work and then blatantly stole the greeting from my original card and then asked if we could set up a profit share because the card had been so profitable for her, which I declined because it was completely ridiculous. Just wanted to set the record straight!

Films watched 48th week of the year:

We Were Here*
Doctor Detroit
The Comedy
Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon*
Storefront Hitchcock*
Retreat

*documentary

Watched a couple fun movies this week. Makes up for the shite that was The Comedy. I went into it with zero expectations, but left feeling so icky. I do realize that was the point, but why make a movie like that when it is not even enjoyable like American Psycho?

2012 Week 47: Thanks for the giving.

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Leigh

Ceramic Christmas tree made by my Grandma. My parents bought a Christmas tree and set it up so we could see it since we’ll be in the Cleve for Christmas this year. It is my job to put the pegs in the ceramic Christmas tree every year. 🙂

Otherwise: Z and I had a great time with my folks in VA. Only got to see one friend while we were in town. Seeing others was not in the stars. Saw Jekyll & Hyde @ Kennedy Center, which was very mediocre. Took my parents out for dinner at Birch & Barley. Went to Crisp & Juicy. Went to DRP in Del Ray. Went to Galaxy Hut for one drink. Saw four films in the theatre. Ate at Aditi Indian buffet. These things happened. Sleep happens now.

Dear woman with the red suitcase:

Because you stood in a way we could not get past you on the down escalator, we missed the orange line, which in turn made us miss the last Damen bus of the night. You made what would have been a 45 minute commute into a 1.5 hour one. I hope you get food poisoning for a week and that your butt hurts the whole time. You are a jerk.

Films watched 47th week of the year:

Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2
Argo
Silver Linings Playbook
Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2
Lincoln
Sunshine*

*documentary

That was a fun short documentary that I finished in the nick of time.

2012 Week 46: One holiday craft fair down, two to go!

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Leigh

This week. Celebrated two friends getting engaged. Made brand new products. Had an amazing time at DIY Trunk Show. Went to a vegan bake sale @ Quesadilla. Monday was the 5 year anniversary of Laini’s passing. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of her. I have a lot of friends, but the bond that I had with Laini was a special one. She was full of boundless energy against all the odds. I am Agnostic, but there are moments when I feel like she is hanging around when there are very happy moments in my life. I feel like if she were around, she would definitely be making something crafty and selling it. She was so freakin’ crafty. OK, tearing up now. I feel like a jerk because I did not call her parents this week, but all the craziness of fair prep left me working late every single night this week.

DIY Trunk Show was a win! I love one day craft fairs because I get to take a day off on Sunday to relax after an exhausting day of selling before going back to work the next day. I met so many amazing new customers and got to see old customers. It warmed my heart that one customer bought two bean onesies and one of them was for her future baby who is not yet conceived! When it happens, she is going to use the onesie to show her husband that they are pregnant! How flipping rad is that?! Another thing that made DIY Trunk Show so wonderful was having one of my favorite booth neighbors yet: Christina Ward. Her Etsy shop is here. Coming up next, I have Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Chicago and then Bazaar Bizarre Cleveland. For DIY Trunk Show, I had two brand spanking new items: Chicago Stocking Christmas card and Corgi Ruled Moleskine Notebook (pictured above) and a tote bag featuring my bean design because people totes love totes.

More Rhymes with Twee news: one of my longtime loves, Paper Doll, is stocking select Rhymes with Twee cards now. I am super psyched to be selling at Paper Doll because it is my go-to for card buying. I’ve got to say that I am pretty excited that the next time I go in there, my cards will be out! Eek!

Films watched 46th week of the year:

The Band That Wouldn’t Die*
Wreck-It Ralph
!Women Art Revolution*
Twilight: New Moon
Twilight: Eclipse
Twilight: Breaking Dark, Part 1
Thirst

*documentary

In The Band That Wouldn’t Die, I kept thinking that the bandleader was super familiar and it turns out he had spoken about Kevin Clash in Being Elmo. I know that more of that story is still churning, but I feel like the whole picture may never come to light. From that documentary, Kevin seemed like a truly good person.

2012 Week 45: This cake is pleased to mead you…

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Leigh

This week FLEW by:

Tilda training

Thrilled that Obama is able to finish what he started

Spontaneous Amanda/Stacy hang at Division Ale House

Checked out a new neighborhood store called Paperish Mess

Pre-JV dinner at Native Foods with Steph, Z, and Mark

JV opening for Crooked Fingers @ Schubas [that moment where you hear David Bazan’s liony voice behind you while you are backstage and you get strangely nervous!]

Coworker’s baby showers

Cooking up Change

Brunch with Sarah vG and co. at Wishbone

CakeFork @ Beth’s

Post-CakeFork dinner at Bite

Sold my first bottle of LAK lacquer!

Re-made my two Chicago Christmas cards and brainstormed a new and awesome Chicago Christmas card that I still need an inside message for.

For DIY Trunk Show next Saturday, November 17th, Rhymes with Twee is Booth 140, on a corner because I am a vendor sponsor. Come say hello, friends & fans!

For CakeFork this year, I made this Apple Honey Bundt Cake with Fuji apples, subbing in pumpkin for vegetable oil, leaving out walnuts, and making up a mead glaze (recipe below). I ended up winning the write-in category. People wrote in these things for my cake: “autumnal,” “honey-licious,” “best use of alcohol/medieval beverage/creative ingredients,” and “deliciously medieval”. Color me PROUD!

Mead Glaze

1/2 cup mead
1 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for serving

Whisk together mead and powdered sugar. Drizzle over still warm cake and dust with additional powdered sugar.

Films watched 45th week of the year:

PressPausePlay*
The Girlfriend Experience
The American Scream*

*documentary

2012 Week 44: This week did not LAK adventure…

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Leigh

It’s go time, folks! LAK lacquer is alive! Skipped one more day at the gym and worked on the launch of all that is LAK lacquer today. Boy, it takes a long time to build a website and social media presence from nothing. My next step is to look for someone great with social media to swatch my polishes for me. Fingers crossed, y’all.

At work this week: the tradeshow and the Halloween party both went great! Also of note this week, went to Cindy’s show opening at Inkling. Had to restrain myself from buying more prints. Her work is *so* lovely. However, the stack of prints I need to buy frames for is probably .5 inches thick. Cindy’s work is a huge inspiration to me. Seriously: look at this stuff. I ate out three times this week [Bite, Yummy Yummy, Fat Willy’s]. Need to take it easy. At least I have all of my craft fairs coming up to prep for, so I think I’ll be able to keep myself busy to not go out too much. Famous last words?

Very exciting news: Z and I have a wedding venue! It’s one that friends used and we had really liked. We went to see it on Friday and wrote in requesting dates on Saturday. We dropped off a check today. The price was the opposite of jaw-dropping; jaw-lifting even. Don’t want to jinx anything until we hear back that we are 100% confirmed on the date, but we are nearly there. I also bought the domain and put a placeholder up on our wedding website.

Films watched 44th week of the year:

Frankenweenie
Rumba
Cloud Atlas
Punching the Clown
Hit So Hard*
Fados*

*documentary

This was a stellar week for movies. I enjoyed all of them to some degree, but my winner this week was Frankenweenie tied with Rumba. I cried more than I thought I would at Frankenweenie. When I first saw the preview for it, it was when Tilda was being an absolute terror and had bitten Zachary and we thought we would have to give her back to the rescue who might then, in turn, have to put her down since she had a bite record. I could not stop crying during that preview thinking about our tiny dog dying. So glad that our patience paid off because Tilda is an excellent dog 98% of the time now. The doggie drugs have really turned things around and set her brain straight. She is totally worth it. Frankenweenie broke my heart into millions of pieces in the first 15 minutes. I am one of those people who hadn’t heard of the short Tim Burton had done of this first thing in his career. The film delivered. Loved it, but I don’t know that I can see it again anytime soon. Have to build my tears back up!

2012 Week 43: Post-SF wrap & Halloween pre-game

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Leigh

So many things to say!

Z and I were so tuckered out post-SF that I didn’t even pull it together to write a blog post wrap. San Francisco was mindbogglingly awesome. This is most of what happened. Brianne was the best hostess ever. Here is a listing of all we did: Q/Tonga Room with Tim & Sarah. JV showed us Tiny Telephone. La Tacqueria. Mission Pie. Musee Mecanique. Sea Lions. Burma Superstar. Saw Frankenstein @ Paramount Theatre with Amy. Jolie’s. Pacific Pinball Museum. Ch & David’s wedding in Dublin, CA. Rosamunde’s with Sarah, Todd, Juli, & Dan. Indie Mart where we saw White Mystery and Cindy. Ferry Building. The Stinking Rose. Amoeba. Rare Device. Little Chihuahua with Tess. Saw Ultraista at The Independent [meh] with Gavin. Total insanity, dudes. I actually realize that we didn’t get a proper photo with Brianne, but we did get some great photobooth shots!

Z and I had our first Halloween party on Friday. Many friends came in costume, which was wonderful. I was Dog Shaming this year, keeping my streak of meme related costumes. I made this amazing buffalo chicken dip. You heard me. Totally gonna try to make a veggie version next time.

Also this week: we saw our first wedding venue and it was lovely and a great blank slate, but all the upcharges terrify me. We’ve written probably about 10 places and only 4 have written back. Have a good lead we will be checking out this week. Went to the Commercial Park Halloween Parade with Amy, Kevin, and Beth to hand out candy. Always amazing. Another great thing was that I hired my first TaskRabbit, Ross, to photograph my products. If you did not know, TaskRabbit is a great website where you can find people to bid on running errands/doing jobs for you. I think that other people like me who work a 9-5 job as well as run a craft company should hit up this website. It rules. Totally loved working with Ross and he did a great job. My Etsy is getting a much-needed re-vamp. ALSO of note this week: I got to see my MKE buddy Stephanie who I had not seen in ages upon ages and it was excellent. We went to Chicago Diner and chowed down before she headed off to Afghan Whigs. Totally amazing getting to see her.

Lastly, one of the best things I did this week was take an SEO class at ICNC hosted by Rod Holmes of Chicago Style SEO. I feel very lucky to have been able to attend this, as before I took the class, SEO was something I only kind of sort of knew about from my friend Sarah. Rod broke it down and answered everyone’s questions. The class taught me that I have A LOT of work to do with helping out Rhymes with Twee’s SEO. They offer you a free evaluation of your site’s SEO. A human being will evaluate your site. For free. Yep. Totally going to do this once I’ve worked through most of my re-vamp.

This week is gearing up to be a busy one. Heading out to outside of Indianapolis for my second work tradeshow tomorrow. On Wednesday, I am organizing a work Halloween party. And hopefully we will get to look at that wedding venue I mentioned above. Busy bee.

Films watched 42nd week of the year:

Frankenstein (1931)
I Think We’re Alone Now*

*documentary

Films watched 43rd week of the year:

Cool Hand Luke
Chronicle
William S. Burroughs: A Man within*
We Bought a Zoo
Indie Game: The Movie*

*documentary

Chronicle and We Bought a Zoo were both a lot of fun. Indie Game was GREAT. Shows that perseverance can pay off. I kept thinking that Edmund’s fiancee–>wife looked familiar and through some googling, I discovered we run in the same crafty lady circles and I remember looking at her livejournal way back in the day. The world is endlessly small. Huzzah! Her Tumblr is really great too. Body Positive + Funny.