I’ll only be vending at one holiday show this season, and it will be in SEATTLE!!! Urban Craft Uprising! December 5&6 at the Seattle Exhibition Hall. I also crocheted some promo art for the show of Seattle’s skyline wearing their winter gear! This will be on a billboard in Seattle, so if you see it, send me pics!

I’m kinda in love with these little trees. They are super easy, and I’ll post the pattern here on my blog in a bit.

Here is the sketch that I used as a reference. His hat got all weird because I kept changing my mind about the colors!

This project really took a lot out of me, but it was super fun to watch it come to life. I really liked making tiny accessories, which is shocking, because generally I hate working small!  The total piece is 36 inches wide and 18 inches tall, bigger than I’d planned, but…. you know… IT HAPPENS. I almost ran out of that light blue yarn and had a heart attack because I was on such a tight deadline.

Normally I adhere my crochet paintings to actual canvases, but there wasn’t a canvas that was 36 x 18, so I ended up cutting down some thick foam core. I would NOT recommend this. While the crochet does stick to the paper facing, the paper facing also PEELS RIGHT OFF THE FOAM. Use canvases or wood, when you can!

So if you’re in Seattle and are planning to swing by the show, let me know if you want me to bring certain items in particular. My book won’t be out by then, but if I have time, I plan to make this mini-pattern-book with a funny theme that I’ve been wanting to write forever. More on that later!

If you’re looking for a new magazine to tuck into your book bag, might I suggest Caboodle?

Caboodle is a super cute, high-quality mag out of the UK.  Inside you’ll find fashion, beauty, art, vintage, how-to’s, recipes, and q&a’s with various artists (like me!). They are just on their 2nd issue now, and it’s gorgeous!

Danger: this will not help you if you are trying to be on a shopping hiatus (I sort of am… but am desperately failing…). This is not stopping me, however, from looking up all the designers and shops online. Just for a peek, right? Right!

You can purchase a copy here.  I don’t believe it is available digitally at this point, but it’s nice to have some good ol’ paper between your fingers.

I started seeing these cute little blush compacts pop up on my social media, and they are too cute to pass up!

My old blush is nearly tapped out, so I decided to check out Love Flush by Too Faced. Like the lazy non-makeup-guru that I am, I didn’t even see any of these in person. I just straight up picked one randomly, googled some swatches, and ordered it from Sephora. This shade is Justify My Love, and I’m actually really happy with it. I thought it might be too light for my skin, but it’s actually kind of perfect. I generally like my blush to be slightly on the cooler side, so I might check out some other shades in person at some point, but I’m super pleased with my blind purchase!

(Sorry this is a crappy phone cam pic… Non-Makeup-Guru strikes again!)

The other cool thing is that Too Faced is cruelty-free! I’m not sure that this blush is vegan, but they maintain a list of their products that are.

When I saw a photo of the Truly Dress by Wax Poetic Clothing on Instagram, I KNEW IT HAD TO BE MINE. It has all the components of the perfect dress: pinks, flowers, swiss dots, baby ruffles … even the adorable rose buttons.

I was absolutely floored when Johanna, the creator and designer of Wax Poetic, offered to send me a package. I immediately blew up my girlfriends’ phones with photos of the dress because I was so astounded, amazed, and grateful! When the dress arrived, it was just as perfect in person as it was online. It fit like a glove (I’m wearing a size small) and is extremely comfortable. The attention to detail is out of this world. Wax Poetic is made in the U.S.A., and Johanna is also the designer of another company (not sure if she wants me to reveal that!), but I’m so super duper extremely supportive of her personal passion project!

I paired it with some Betsey Johnson heels I wore to my brother’s wedding a million years ago, a sweet cookie necklace, and a cute milkshake bag that I believe I bought on ModCloth. I’m ready for a tea party with some girlfriends or a cute dinner date! Who’s taking me out?! She sent me another dress, too, which I will show you guys really soon!

*****

Dress: c/o Wax Poetic Clothing, Necklace: Fatally Feminine Designs, Shoes: Betsey Johnson from a million years ago, Bag: ModCloth (but I don’t think it’s available there anymore. The brand is Nila Anthony. ), Hair flower: Tarina Tarantino

How was your weekend? I worked/crocheted for the most part (on some new patterns for video tutorials that I will be shooting in a studio for a website… more details soon…) and I also went to Elysse’s house to do some Fall baking with her and her buddy Ashley. They have a blog and YouTube channel called The Vegan Sweet Beat about vegan candy if you want to check that out! Obvs, they are both vegan, and I am more of a guilty omnivore with veggie/vegan curiosity, so all the things we made were veganized.

I arrived late (I hate being late but am always late! Is there always-late rehab!?) and the ladies were cutting sugar cookies. The big project of the day was this Peanut, Caramel, and Chocolate Tart from Martha Stewart, aka, SNICKERS HEAVEN. Due to various reasons, Elysse “miniaturized, veganized, and Fall-ized” the recipe (Fall-ized = pumpkin-ized = we put pumpkin in the caramel).

We had a little issue with the caramel. You’re supposed to start with sugar and water and then heat it until it becomes melty and “medium amber.” BUT, the water just boiled out of our mixture, and we were left with DRY SUGAR AGAIN.  Which smelled like burnt hair!! Then the gals decided to just throw the rest of the caramel ingredients in there (coconut cream, pumpkin), and it took 20-30 minutes on the stove of stirring, but we eventually got something caramel-ish. While I think our mini-tarts (set in cupcake tins) ended up squishier than Martha’s, they still tasted really good!

The rest of our creative efforts went into decorating sugar cookies, which, for me, became an exercise in accepting that my cookies were going to look like a 5-year-old decorated them.

I was not making friends with the Ziplock-piping-bag, so I gave up on that real quick. R.I.P. indeed! Ashley and Elysse, on the other hand, were piping pros. Here are Ashley’s cookies:

And here are some of Elysse’s. I like all of our takes on decorating the kitty cookies.

Do you know where atoms come from? Cat butts. LE DOYYYY.

I will conclude this entry with some of my jack-o-lantern cookies. I told Gregg that the first one was him, because he’s always so cheery. The second one might eat you before you eat him.

Do you guys have Halloween/costume plans? I usually don’t, because I’m generally overwhelmed with work and creatively spent. HOWEVER, I promised one of my favorite websites that I’d create a Halloween-inspired crochet pattern and also submit a photo of me in costume…so… I’m gonna try to bust that out in the next few days, too!! So much to do!! OK BYE.