Just a Trickle...

I am so excited, I simply cannot wait any longer to share a little more about my upcoming project!  I know  they say, "haste makes waste," but who the hell are "they" anyway?  As I mentioned the other day I am planning a fashion show for next month, so here is a peek at the front of the postcards, I know it isn't much, but it will give you the event number for tickets early (they won't actually go on sale until tomorrow!  Now don't you feel like a VIP?

I am moments (and a few key bits of info) away from finalizing the flyers, postcards, and online presence for our show, so tomorrow should be a busy day!  Regardless of these trifling details tickets will go on sale tomorrow afternoon, wish us luck!

The Last Minute Show

Well I am officially loco.  What?  You already knew that, oh well... I guess this is like my first step.  I am admitting I have a problem.  I am a Last Minute Lucy.  You know, the girl who waits until the last possible moment to do stuff.  Yeah, that is me.  Yesterday, while I was moving my inventory into the boutique I decided to plan a fashion show... for Valentine's Day.

I am still working out the details, but as of now I have three designers on board (okay, one of them is me), a DJ to MC the evening, two belly dancers, four models (okay, again one of them is me), a man to pour the champagne, a poster with a couple of blanks for more names, and a venue willing to allow my madness to continue unchecked.  Not bad for an idea I hatched about 18 hours ago. 

Sneak Peek- this image is the beginning of my poster...

And I found the perfect fabric on clearance to make the kirtle that will go under my houpellande, now I just have to sew those in the next two weeks, while I plan a fashion show...  Yeah, loco.

All Hallow's Eve

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!  Yep, I am yelling at you, but I must to emphasize my love...
It is a well known fact (if you know me) that Halloween is my favorite holiday.  I do enjoy Thanksgiving, and Christmas gifting is cool, but I friggin' LOVE Halloween!

I love costumes, scary movies, and spooky decor.  Oh, and did I mention my husband and I met on Halloween?  We vaguely know when we got married and make an attempt to mark that anniversary, but in reality we celebrate the day that we met, and this All Hallow's Eve marks our 14th anniversary! We will be decorating, dressing up, and trick-or-treating with our son, 'cause that is how we roll.  So, I thought I would share a sneak peek at our preparations this year.

I've been working on my embalming techniques...

and doing a little tinkering...

now to hide the body, in plain sight!

P.S. to make that wonderfully spooky mummy head I started with the instructions given by everybody's gal pal, Martha (watch the video, she is funnier than I thought).  I made a few changes, first off, I used cheesecloth strips instead of paper towels because I had about a yard in my stash.  Secondly, I didn't glue it, my mummy can be completely unwrapped if I want to save the head (since I use my mannequin for displaying my crafts).  And, finally, I sewed up the eyes and mouth with black yarn and added some plastic flies. 

This is a great centerpiece and I like it so much I think I will sacrifice the mannequin head and spray the entire thing with adhesive to keep it for years to come.  What do you think? 

I will share more pictures of our scary decor and maybe even some costume shots next week.

Big Sigh of Completion...

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
I love throwing parties, but I tend to go a little over board.  I make it stressful, I know that.  But the results are so worth it!  My sons birthday party was a perfect example of this.

My boy is an avid reader, and he has been devouring the Redwall series written by the late Brian Jacques.  He decided he wanted a Redwall inspired feast for his birthday this year.  In the novels the small woodland creatures act like medieval people, and Jacques made up some pretty elaborate celebrations for them.  The feasts are one of my son's reasons for reading these books, he loves to talk about all their special foods.  He also loves the epic battles they fight for freedom, and goodness.  I wanted to integrate both those things into a medieval themed party for him.

So we picked up the Redwall Cookbook, sent out invitations sealed in wax, and planned some great activities.  I downloaded and printed the beautiful free masks available from Jan Brett, the kids only wore them for a short time, but they were super cute so we tried them out after the guests left.

A Mouse Family Portrait

I made a map of our yard and some clues to help the kids find the lost armor, shield, and sword of Martin.  This was funny to watch as the kids were all so full of energy they forgot they had a map for half the quest and just ran around searching.  I can also say from experience, make sure they will not find the clues in the wrong order, this makes it extra crazy!  But they did manage to find all the pieces.

Next we let each of them have a turn shooting paint balls at Cluny the Scourge with a slingshot.  I got these items from slingshotworld.com, they were great, inexpensive, shipped right on time, and everything was just what I wanted.  The paintballs in particular are awesome, they were easy for the kids to use and washed up with warm soapy water.  I made the target with a bed sheet, see this post for more details if you like.  Here is what he looked like when we were done.

We had amazing weather, the gods smile on me sometimes, I asked for better than the forecasted 80% chance of snow, and we got sun!  Unbelievable, sunny, sun on and off, all afternoon.  But it was still cold, so after these outdoor activities it was time to head in for the feast and hot drinks.  The kids came in to see hotroot shrimp soup, squirrel bakes, stuffed springtide mushrooms, a roast chicken, and potato chips arranged on the table.  We gave them our best china to eat on and I played the serving wench bringing mint tea, mulled cider, and ginger ale.  The dessert table had a raspberry trifle, nunny molers, and huge fresh strawberries with powdered sugar for dipping.

 But all of this fun stuff just doesn't compare to the entertainment!  I tracked down a local SCA member to come over and put on a demo of armored combat for us.  These guys were AMAZING, I can't say enough about how great they were and how happy they made the kids (young and old).  They showed off wonderful homemade armor and weapons used in Full Armored Combat games, and had a few bouts with each other.  Then they let all the kids hit them a few times to see what that was like.  They brought along the kid-safe stuff and let our guests whack away at each other (and the guys in armor played too).  Seeing my husband crawling around our yard like his legs had been chopped off was wonderful!  These guys even stuck around for photos with every single guest, and they are smiling in every one. 

So why would I work so hard on a party for a 9-year-old, look at this face!  Worth it.

Cluny the Scourge!

I am in the final count down to my son's birthday party, seven days to make magic.  I woke up excited and a tiny bit overwhelmed this morning.  Yoga helped settle my nerves, and a list of things to do daily until Sunday has given me back the control I needed.  I have a lot to do, but it is very manageable.  Heck, most of it is pretty fun stuff.  Today's big goal was getting the paintball target made before my guy got home from school.

Check! and with plenty of time to spare.   I will be putting this in the washer to clean up stray pencil marks and then it is complete.  This villainous rat is Cluny the Scourge.  He turned out great (if I do say so myself).  I will get some better pictures when he is mounted on Sunday, but in this quick pic you get the idea.  The drawing was done on a twin sized flat sheet, so Cluny is about 6' 8" tall.  My son and his friends will be using this guy for paintball slingshot target on Sunday.  I think he turned out right scary!

This project is an adaptation of something I did for my daughter many years ago (she is almost 17 now!).  I made a giant coloring sheet for her and a friend by drawing a scene with black sharpie onto a white sheet.  I set it up on the lawn and let her and a friend paint it.  Then we hung it on the clothes line to dry (and it quickly became a fort).  I assumed the "washable" paint we had would wash out and we could re-use it.  Silly me!  If you want to do this for your kids test the paint first, make sure it really is washable and you will get more than one use out of the sheet.

Now on to the next item on my list...

Been So Busy...

Sometimes it feels like you just can't keep up with everything life throws at ya!  I have been having one of those weeks, but I wanted to take a minute to write it all down and let it all go...

I have actually been really busy planning my son's birthday party as of late.  He is turning 9 on the 9th, so it is kind of a big deal, golden birthday and all.  He requested a Redwall theme (based on the book series).  So I have been planning a feast!  His invitations were sealed with wax,  I'm making medieval banners for the dining hall, and printed paper animal masks for his guests.  We will be having a quest, defeating Cluny the Scourge with paintballs, and watching an armored combat demo!  It should be a whole lot of fun.  I may be more excited than he is, I love party planning.

March is upon us!  As you may already know I have let my February Sweater rest and begun my March Sweater early.  I have almost completed the first prototype, and it is simple and very cute.  I went with a preppy unisex v-neck sweater vest, ooohhhh, that is a mouthful!  The first sample is bright red, but I want to go with a more muted color for the next one.  I used moss stitch for the front, and stockinette for the back, this is all about texture, so I am thinking a subtle green would be really nice.  Here is a funky picture to give you an idea what it is looking like so far.

I am also working on my loving, supportive wife role.  This is not something that comes easily to me.  It is in my nature to be very self-centered, so I need to consciously look at what my partner is doing, acknowledge the importance of it, and thank him for his efforts.  I remind myself that I am not entitled to be taken care of, I am lucky that he chooses to care for me.  Anyway, I try to come up with nice ways to say "thank you" in the rare moments my hubby is home to enjoy them.  Sunday I got to make him crepes filled with yummy, gooey, goodness.

I have been good about making it to water aerobics and Yoga this week, and I am enjoying the work.  It feels good to move my body, even if it still hurts most of the time.  I know it will get better, and I will hurt less once my body is stronger.  So on that note, back to reality, I need to do the dishes.