Some thoughts and tips where to shop!

My last mannequin and I contemplate our futures while we wait for her new partners to show up to take her away. Both she and Sasha have found employment at Community Centers as decorative participants in Halloween and other celebrations.  It is a bittersweet thing to say good bye to them! The third is now showing off historical costumes near here.

The tent left yesterday to now house welded sculptures of a local artist, John Pahlas who I think has a very bright future ahead. He will be doing a number of shows this year, and will be on the Mt Horeb artist tour in a couple of weeks. I wish him the best!

The machine will soon be headed to Baraboo, WI to make the beautiful purses created in Helen's Daughters' studio. Her things are amazing and, after having been through several shows together, I can attest to her creativeness and just plain nice person-hood as well! I hope it serves her as well as it has me.

These shelves may be empty, but I can assure you neither my head or heart are! I am full of enough good memories of each and every one of my customers, shows, fellow Etsy sellers, and followers to last me a lifetime! The projects we have worked on together have been just beyond fun.

My head is about to explode with new ideas for me to work on. Obviously the photography is right up there... I keep thinking of a combination of my photo and quilting, but haven't quite formulated it yet! I found a myriad of wonderful fabrics I have purchased to make garments for myself, but never have had the time to do so! So that is on my agenda. Exploring a whole new part of the country and living the city life instead of our rural existence will take time and be fun!

And of course... there will be grandkid time! We will now be two hours instead of two days from them, so I am thinking we have some lost time to make up for this summer!

For those of you looking for garments, may I suggest a friend and great designer, Secret Lentil. I am sure many of you have already found her, but if you haven't be sure to check her out! She used to be on Etsy, but now sells direct from her site - tell her I said "hi"!

Another great source for knit goods is "The Devil Made me Do It". She is located in DC, but sells on-line also.

The maker at "The Painted Daisy" bought all my unused cashmere, so I am sure there will be some wonderful winter things offered in her Etsy shop. Herr summer things also look fabulously fun!

Another Etsy friend who is also a great maker, a bit different style, but always good service and work; Gail at Savoy Faire, has a couple of shops, and does a lot of the the 'shabby but chic' type clothing for all sizes and occasions.

Of course those are just a few of the great makers out there. I hope you all find someone to make your life and garments more fun. Be sure to keep purchasing from the handmade community at your local art fairs, and on-line. We appreciate it very much.
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