Spring Fling is coming!

Get out your formal wear... it's time for Handmaiden Minneapolis/I Like You's Spring Fling! 

Come visit us this Sunday at the Indie Craft Formal, at the Uptown VFW!

We will be right next to our good friends from Silver Pear Designs/The Cozy Corset Cuff, and it promises to be smaaashing, dahling!

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

Hello, friends.

Today's theme is a thumbs-up, thumbs-down feature. 

Let's get the negative stuff out first: 

Thumbs down: 

*Gas prices... $3.45/gallon here in Minnesota. We know the oil isn't legitimately costing the oil companies more money... you can't fool us! (Although you can, and will, raise gas prices all you want, because you have a monopoly.) Hopefully, what goes around, comes around; karma, and all that.

*Overcast April: Come on! We're loyal Minnesotans. We've weathered the winter. Give us some sun! Please, please!

*Building crack/near-collapse? in White Bear Lake, MN. What happened? I hope everyone stays safe.

Now for the good stuff!

Thumbs up: 

*Robins in the yard today! Also some chickadees. And a super-brilliant-red cardinal. I was never into bird-watching before, but I'm not sure why. I'm still not hard-core, like with a binoculars or something. But that's certainly a good idea. You can see all their cute little features so much better.

*Cozy Corset Cuff and Silver Pear Designs at Craftstravaganza, in St. Paul at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds, Saturday, April 26, 9-6. I can't wait!

*Yours truly, CreativeSundries and CuriousSundries, and CozyCorsetCuff/SilverPear Designs, and the Handmaidens of Minneapolis' Spring Fling, May 4 at the Uptown VFW. More info to come! 

Go see this play!

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of seeing Stitch, Bitch n' Die! in Minneapolis with Artistic Edition, Danger Kitty, and Corbie. Fun!!! It was an amazingly original idea--a knitting murder-mystery-- and a fantastic performance! Written by Joseph Scrimshaw and directed by Craig Johnson, this play had us laughing non-stop! My favorite part was its "craft-literate" writing (like the agony of "frogging" your knitting project), which was right on!!!

The show starred Kevin McLaughlin, Valerie Rigsbee, Laura Salveson, Jen Scott and Joseph Scrimshaw (in a double role). Ingenious writing and a wonderful cast with great energy. It's showing for two more weeks at the The Bryant-Lake Bowl Cabaret Theater in Minneapolis.

The advertisement said it was "B.Y.O.K."--"Bring Your Own Knitting"--so I did bring some needlefelting to work on, but it was pretty dark in the theatre. No problem, though: concentrating on a project would have detracted from my enjoyment of the performance--and possibly dangerous (think sharp, barbed needles) besides! I'd recommend bringing actual knitting that you can do without looking at it too much. Now I just have to learn how to really knit! 

Now I want to see Scrimshaw's Adventures in Mating!

Winter Storm Warning... and Buds on the Trees?

Yes, you've got to love Minnesota (and I do!)!

Tonight we have seen: 

snow...with thunder roaring in the distance! ... and fat little red buds on the maple tree!

It's crazy!

And it's home. 

Random Facts

Hello, friends. I've been having fun with the free labelmaker the kind folks at Acme Labelmaker have created. The mini-banner above is Dot Matrix with an orange background. 

Today's post is all about random facts! In random order, too!

1. I saw someone riding a unicycle today. Fun! How do they get on and off those things, anyway?

2. Jenna, Chelsey, and I, along with three other friends, are working on a very fun project--more details to come! That's all I can say at this time! Ooooh, mysterious!

3. In my always-random Netflix queue: 

Gnomemobile (vintage Disneyana, yes!)

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price

The Fugitive

Notorious (although, I just can't seem to get into that movie!)

Bewitched, Season 4, Disc 2...

and many more! Have a great day! Netflix recommendations welcome, as always. 

My mouse door arrived!

Awww! So cute! The mouse door I ordered from Cedarwool arrived today! Isn't it so sweet? It's an original design by Cedarwool.etsy.com, and I absolutely love it. I always used to love how in cartoons, mice had their own little door leading to their little mouse abode. Now I have one! 

I also ordered some wool roving from Cedarwool. They have their very own farm in Maryland and so the wool I received came right from the sheep! Isn't that cool? In her Etsy profile, Leslie explains, "Our farm is located in northern Maryland. We raise mostly Romney and Border Leicester, some crosses with Australian Bond and a Merino (he's blue !)." Lesli sent me an extremely generous amount of wool for the price I paid! They are gorgeous colors, too: pink, brown, and white--Neopolitan! I'm definitely inspired to do some needlefelting. Be sure to check out Cedarwool's Etsy shop--she offers knitting needles, gorgeous knit felt hats, and homespun yarn in addition to the so-sweet mouse doors. Thanks, Leslie! 

Etsy in the Minneapolis Star Tribune!

Etsy was featured in an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune today! 

The article, Old Meets New at Etsy, gives much-deserved press to our beloved 

"place for all things handmade." Hooray! 

Now, why didn't they feature any local Etsy shops? 

Etsy Minnesota has many talented crafters! 

Thanks to Jenna of Artistic Edition for the heads-up! 

Above, Volcano Special Effects Swarovski Hair Snaps by Artistic Edition