Winter Handmades & A Show!

It is officially spring and the first quarter of 2014 is just about over--a truth that makes me very, very happy. This winter has been just the worst, so moving into a new season feels even better than usual.

I haven't gotten much of anything done this week (though it seems like it's been three weeks long already) because the girl was sick. Poor thing, she rarely gets sick and this was her first experience with this particular brand of sick...so I guess I should consider myself lucky to have made it almost three years before dealing with it. Thankfully it was a short-lived bug and she bounced back pretty quickly. But between that and more cold and snow we haven't gone anywhere or done much of anything besides watch Toy Story and her favorite, "Cinderelly!"

So without being able to accomplish much, it was nice to take a look back at the past three months and see what I've made--this always motivates me when I'm in a slump.

Speaking of handmades, I'm participating in a vendor show on Saturday, April 5th. My friend Christine is hosting it--it's a small show, open to the public, with about a dozen local vendors (including yours truly) selling an array of items like jewelry, bags, accessories, cupcakes (yes!), adorable stuffed owls, and other lovely things. It's a great opportunity to do some shopping (Mother's Day!) and even get your portraits done if you wish--Christine will be doing mini portrait sessions on site. Appointments are not required but strongly encouraged. Light refreshments will also be available, and there is no charge for admission. If you are in the area please come, it will be a good time!

The Landings is located near the corner of Rte. 83 (Avon Belden) and Walker Rd. It is across the street from Wendy's--look for a wooden sign near the road that says "The Landings", since the building itself is not visible from the road. 

I hope to see you there!!

~Stacy

Portrait Party Open House!

I've been rifling through my fabric stashes and working like crazy to get enough bags and accessories ready for an event I'm really excited about. My good friend Christine is a photographer and runs her own business called Christine Seeholzer Photography. She is hosting a Mother's Day Portrait Party at her home (where she has a portrait studio) on Sunday, May 5th. This is really a one stop shop for all of your Mother's Day needs--she's planning quite the event! There will be mini portrait sessions available, along with a Mary Kay representative who will be hosting three spa-makeover treatments as well as a makeup artist. Want to get your hair done? You can do that too. Need to do a little shopping? Well, that's covered as well. Several vendors will be onsite offering goodies like Scentsy gifts and lotions, customizable jewelry courtesy of Origami Owl, lots of gifts and accessories from 31 Gifts, and me. I will be there with a table full of bags and maybe some other surprise items :) Oh, and if you're not sure what to do with your kids while you shop and get pampered, no worries. There will be a babysitter on site to take care of that. See, I told you she thought of everything!

 So here are the details:

Mother's Day Portrait Party hosted by Christine Seeholzer Photography

Where: 32550 Walker Rd. in Avon Lake, 44012

When: Sunday, May 5th from 11A-4P (Open House)

The portrait shoots will last about 10-15 minutes each. If you would like a makeover prior to the shoot there are three mini sessions (at 11AM, 1PM, and 2PM) for those. Please email Dawn at doindanews@sbcglobal.net with your preferred time and include a picture so she can create a customized color palette for you! 

Check out Christine's site for more detailed information and "like" her on Facebook to get more updates and info. 

And here's a little sneak peak at some of my inventory:

Obviously I'll have many more things for sale than that...but that gives you an idea of the colors to expect. Bright, cheerful, and very spring/summery looking. Perfect for mom (or you)!

~Stacy

Inspiration Boards

If you love DIY, sewing, and crafting blogs as much I do then you've probably heard of the blog I Heart Naptime.  The site is full of ideas and tutorials for everything creative, along with recipes and decor projects. Their goal is to make creativity and the DIY mentality a priority while paying close attention to costs and saving money. A couple weeks ago, the creators of I Heart Naptime came up with an amazing new site called The Inspiration Board. At first glance, you might wonder how that could be any different from another little site called Pinterest. Ah, allow me to explain.

Like Pinterest, The Inspiration Board is all about creating collections of images and ideas that fit into a similar category and can be used to get ideas or to find inspiration for something--anything: cooking, building your dream home, remodeling your kitchen, taking your dream vacation, etc. The Inspiration Board is a way to use those images you've collected from Pinterest, your own personal photo gallery, or literally anywhere else on the web and create one cohesive idea board. You can add text, frames, and other embellishments to prettify your board and then you have the ability to share it anywhere. I've been having a lot of fun using it because, for me, it brings my various ideas I've found on Pinterest together and lets me create a more complete picture of what I'm looking for.

So here's what happens when Pinterest and The Inspiration Board have a baby together:

Click on each number for image sources: #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5

This is a board I made based on ideas for Charlotte's birthday party (yeah yeah, I know it's not until June and it's only going to be a small gathering of people but still). I had pinned a bunch of ideas to a board with pictures I liked and ideas I thought were cute but they weren't all centered around the same theme. I had ideas for the milk & cookies party, a vintage-y fair/carnival theme, and another set of pins focused on a girly looking farm theme (I say girly looking because if I just looked for "farm themed party" I got mostly pictures of John Deere tractors and other farm equipment. Um, no).

Here's the board I came up with for the county fair/carnival theme:

Click each number for image sources: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, and #7

After doing the first two boards, I realized I'd included a lot of the pins that were related to the farm idea (there weren't many), so I didn't make a separate board for that one.

So I think I'll come up with a way to use the milk & cookies with the carnival idea. I love the colors in the carnival board--all the reds, aquas, and yellows. The colors in the first board are pretty, but a little too pastel/pink overload for my liking...my favorite idea from that board is the glass bottles of different milk flavors. I'd like to find mini Mason jars (or something similar) and serve those, since most people probably don't want a large glass of milk on a summer day (except Charlotte).

Thoughts?

~Stacy

Gingerbread Lane

If you live in the Northeast Ohio area and are looking for something Christmas-y to do before the day is here, you should check out Gingerbread Lane at Great Northern Mall! Gingerbread Lane is an annual event hosted by a wonderful organization called Welcome House. Welcome House is a non-profit agency that operates group homes for adults with developmental disabilities. They have been serving Cuyahoga County for the past 40 years, and every year a bunch of local bakeries donate a fabulous gingerbread creation to display on behalf of Welcome House for an entire month before Christmas.

These can hardly be called simply "gingerbread houses." To me, a gingerbread house is four walls and a roof with some gumdrops and frosting, something you can buy in a kit at a craft store. Cute and festive, but not really display-in-public worthy. These houses (and villages, movie replicas, ice skating rinks, etc.) are elaborately decorated down to the finest detail, large in scale and quite impressive.

Let's take a tour:

This house was created by The Grateful Dog Bakery, located in North Ridgeville, OH. This bakery is the most unique of the list because all of their baked goods are for cats and dogs! They specialize in all-natural, homemade treats for the furry friends in your life.

This next gingerbread village was actually made and decorated by some of the clients who attend the Welcome House Community Center. The WHCC is a day program for adults with developmental disabilities.

Next up is a scene from one of my favorite holiday movies, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  This was made by Great Scott's Bakery & Deli in Rocky River, OH. Great Scott's makes some of the most delicious cupcakes you can find: my mom gave us a box of them right after I had Charlotte and it was definitely one of the finest gifts a person can give to a new mom. Also, the cupcakes are huge and they have really unique flavors (like chocolate with maple bacon frosting).

This one comes from Gingerbread Homes by Jon Thibo and Nick Fumic. You can check out their Facebook page here! These skilled gingerbread men (har har) also have an award-winning house on display at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens for their grand gingerbread display that is part of a huge holiday event called "Glow."

The guys at Gingerbread Homes were very busy this season, since they also made this next A Christmas Story inspired house (they even included the leg lamp!):

Fligner's Market in Lorain, OH is behind this next creation. Fligner's is one of the largest locations on this list, with a full-service deli and bakery (along with any catering option you could wish for!):

And last but certainly not least, here's one from Colozza's Bakery in Parma, OH. Specializing in cakes and cannolis, you can't go wrong at Colozza's!

To check out all of these displays, along with several others that aren't included here, visit Great Northern Mall  now thru December 24th. Hours are Monday-Saturday 10AM to 9PM and Sundays from 11AM to 6PM.

~Stacy

A Fall Festival and an APL Success Story

This weekend we're taking Charlotte to a fall festival to pick out some pumpkins, see some animals, and (most importantly?) get some cupcakes. Gale's Garden Center  in Westlake (for those of you who are local) is having their annual Fall Event that benefits the Cleveland Animal Protective League. They have a huge indoor and outdoor space full of plants, pumpkins, fall & holiday decor, and activities for kids. The APL will be on site with some of their dogs and cats who need homes and a portion of the day's proceeds will go to them.

This event is especially near and dear to me because last year my parents ended up bringing home their dog, Isabel ("Izzy"). Their previous dog, Frances, had passed away about 6 weeks prior and a home without a dog is not something my family is used to. They were looking for a medium- to large-sized dog, preferably a mixed breed, preferably female and preferably a rescue. Oh, and most preferably NOT a puppy.

The APL had several adult dogs as well as a whole litter of young puppies that had just been brought into the shelter a few days before. The litter was adorable, as puppies are (they have to be cute, they cause too much trouble and mischief not to be). There were four of them, all black and all male, playing in a circle. I left the area to walk Charlotte around in her stroller and just as I was about to head back inside the store, I noticed a teenage boy holding a sleeping puppy in his arms. The puppy looked just like the rest of the litter, except it had a beautiful cinnamon color on its face, chest and feet. It was snuggled up to the boy like it had never been happier. I found out it was the 5th member of the litter and "it" was a "she." Uh oh.

I called my mom and told her to bring my dad over because there was something they had to see:

Goodness gracious. Puppies. Fuzzy eared, big eyed, clumsy cuddly puppies. They're irresistible. Within minutes she was in my dad's arms like she belonged there and, well, the rest is history.

Izzy on the porch of her new house

Izzy's first night home.

Izzy has turned out to be a wonderful addition to the family. She's sweet, mild mannered, not a barker, and likes pretty much every person and pet she meets. She also enjoys digging holes you could hide a small bear in, jumping up on things she doesn't belong on, eating anything except dog food, playing with her friends (Lila the mutt, Amani the beagle mix, Hawkeye the Westie and Doris the bassett hound) and going on car rides. She dislikes thunderstorms, fireworks, dog food, and having her schedule changed. Just last weekend she went camping for the first time, and other than a very unfortunate incident involving her discovery of a yellow jacket nest, she had a blast.

Just one example of the inappropriate things she jumps onto.

With eyes like that, you can't stay mad at her for long.

Izzy is an APL success story and I hope this year all the other dogs, cats, puppies and kittens can find their forever homes.

In addition to the APL, Alyssa's Cupcake Confections will be there from 12-3! She will have a bunch of delicious fall flavors, like Pumpkin Spice, Maple Leaf Donut, Apple Cider and Orange Honey Harvest. Needless to say, I am excited. Her cupcakes make my day.

If you are in the area, stop by! The event is Saturday, 9/22 from 10-5 at Gale's Garden Center in Westlake (24373 Center Ridge Rd.).

Come celebrate fall!!

~Stacy

First Fair

Charlotte has been to her very first County Fair.  We went earlier this week, on a day that was sunny and beautiful and wasn't so hot that it makes you sweat the instant you step outside.  We rode the merry-go-round, which she actually seemed sort of bored with and was starting to lull her to sleep by the end.  We went into all the barns to see the animals, where I was instantly reminded why I wouldn't last 5 minutes if I lived on a farm.  It was neat to be able to show her the real life version of all the animals she looks at in her farm animals book, though she seemed rather unimpressed by the cows and horses--she's apparently more of a rabbit and turkey kind of girl.  She whistled at the rabbits--whistling is a cute little trick she picked up about a week ago (where?  No idea.  I can't whistle.).

I think he was impressed:

While we had fun, she was much more in her element here:

The fair is always the first or second week of August and, to me, sort of signifies the beginning of the end of summer.  This week was the start of football, so all week the high school football team has been practicing for hours in the early morning.  The marching band has started practicing, too (during Charlotte's nap times.  It seems like right when she falls asleep is the exact moment that the drum line gets going).  Every ad in the Sunday paper is for "Back to School" items, and the air outside is just different--especially in the evening.  Even when it's still warm, even hot, the air is just...different, somehow.

I read yesterday that July was the hottest month since 1936.  Maybe it's that, or maybe since its been pretty warm since March, but I'm really looking forward to fall.  Fall is my favorite month; I love everything about it.  Winter is another story, but fall is fabulous.  I'm ready.

~Stacy