Sparkles and Sticks

Introducing: The Sparkles and Sticks Ad Swap Program!

2012 is going to be a very exciting year:  I can feel it.  (And if you know anything about silly/awesome YA Fantasy TV Shows, then you will know that "I can feel it" is usually a perfectly acceptable explanation for embarking on any dramatic course of action).

One of the particularly exciting events that I have decided is going to happen in 2012 is this: I'm starting an ad swap program here at Sparkles and Sticks!  The swap begins January 1rst and is perfect for any blogger who has a crafty soul, a geektastic mind, wandering feet, or a colorful presence in the world.

Here's the deal:

-You give me a button that is 300x150.  I post it in the upper right hand corner of my blog.

-I give you a button in the dimensions you request.  You post it in your designated swap portion of your blog.

-We both keep them up for the month (or longer, depending on how the stars align).

-We promote each other through out the month in various ways- doing guest posts, introduction posts, giveaways, tweeting about each other... whatever we decide would work best for our pairing.

Interested?  Send an owl to sparklesandsticks (at) gmail (dot) com

FYI: I am currently under going a blog re-design, so my new buttons will not be avialable until the 29th.

Sparkles and Sticks Confetti

I love the little scraps of yarn, fabric, and sometimes paper that lay around my feet after a long "making marathon."  I have a theory that if the cast off pieces of a project look juicy together, then the finished masterpiece will too.

Confession: I don't clean these scraps up until my production goal is reached.  Sure, I gather them into little piles so it doesn't look like A New Years Eve Confetti Storm hit the house, but I still keep them.  Somehow the little pile of sparkly eye candy makes me feel victorious and productive.  "If I can make a pile of scraps that big and beauteous, what can't I do?!?!" I ask myself.  Then, I knit faster.

The real problem starts when the project is done and I have a giant pile of bits of yarn (or fabric, or paper, depending on the project) that I don't know what to do with.  And since I have kept it so far, I feel that I must do SOMETHING with it.  It would be so wasteful not to.

Solution: Confetti.  From now on I am going to cut up all the little bits I have left after projects into smaller little bits.  Then, when it comes time to celebrate something Sparkles and Sticks related, I am going to throw the confetti ALL OVER THE PLACE.

Then I will pick up all the little bits, and begin again.

Sparkles and Sticks is going to Homespun Craft Fair!

See you there?

Adventures in Crafterino!

On Sunday, Sparkles and Sticks was a vendor at Crafterino, an awesome show put on by the ladies of the Petaluma Downtown Craft Mart.  It was such a fun show!

All of the vendors were very talented and relevant.  I think there were about thirty vendors, and I could have bought something from each and every one, either for myself or for someone I am close to.  And when "Elfis" gets on stage and sings a set of Elvis songs while decked out in super sparkly elf gear every hour, you really can't go wrong!

(photo by Tatiana, Babushka Designs)

I tested out a new booth set up that involves the canopy and massive amounts of sparkly tulle that you can see in the picture above.  The new set up was well recieved, but there are still a few improvements and additions I would like to make to it.  One thing I learned about setting up, spending the entire day under, then taking down a canopy that is about 95% glitter is that I wind up being about 96% covered in glitter before the day is over. 

I do not consider this a problem.

While we were breaking down, one vendor asked me if my boots were supposed to be glittery, and I said "No, I just tend to get sparklier as the day goes on."  She smiled.

(photo by Tatiana, Babushka Designs)

Some friends came all the way from San Francisco to see us!  Kendra, Jane, Tatiana, Marissa, and Abbe are all craft enthusiasts, if not crafters themselves.

We debuted lots of new products at Crafterino, including pretty flower headbands...

(photo by Tatiana, Babushka Designs)

...and hats and blankets themed after the monsters!

These last two photos were taken by Crissi Dillon of The Press Democrat.  Check out all her pretty pictures from Crafterino.

I definitely want to do Crafterino again next year.

 

Sparkles and Sticks is in The Petaluma Downtown Craft Mart's Crafterino!

I am so happy to be a part of this super cool show!  While I spend the next 14 days crocheting my eyeballs out (ok.... ew.  a little too visual.  sorry) check out the profiles of all my amazing fellow vendors.  The Petaluma Downtown Craft Mart is adding new profiles every day.  Start with mine.

Not Boo.

It all started with a very unfortunate and accidental viewing of A Nightmare on Elm Street when I was about five. My BFF, Beth, and I were at a neighbor's house playing with their visiting niece.  The niece asked if we wanted to watch a movie about a guy who was "kind of weird."

"Like an alien?"  I asked, thinking of E.T.

"Sort of..."

I was feeling brave.  I went for it.  My bravery quickly translated into stupidity as I not only sat through the entire movie, but didn't even have the sense to cover my eyes like Beth did.

I couldn't sleep in my own bed for a week.  I couldn't eat pizza for days (Beth's big brother told me that Freddy's make-up was a pizza smashed all over his face).  I couldn't watch scary movies for at least a decade.  I was five years old, and I was officially afraid of everything.

Not only did Freddy temporarily put a wedge between me and the scrumptious cheese pizzas I was so fond of, but he kind of crushed my social life as well.  I was the girl who always went home sick with a "tummy-ache" at sleepovers.  My "tummy-aches" always had impeccable timing.  They came on right after the games, presents and cake, and right before the pajamas and threat of scary stories and rated "R" movies.

I didn't always go home.  If I was really, really, really good friends with a girl I would stay the night but hide the scary story book that another girl gave her for her present, thus beginning a evening long search for the book in which I was forced to lie when questioned about its whereabouts.  Yeah, I saved the deceit and lies for my really good friends.

Sometimes I wonder how the Sleep Over Ruin-er I was became the Monster Maker I am today.  But then I take a look at the monsters I make: they have goofy grins, pastel skins, and wobbly eyes.  And the new ghosts that are in the shop as a Halloween Special- they have BOWS in their hair for cryin' out loud!  In fact, I am pretty sure that if these ghosts could speak, they would shout "Bow!" instead of "Boo!" 

And if the word "Bow!" sends you home with a tummy-ache?  Sorry, not even I can help you.

PS- I tried to watch Freddy again when I was a mature 17 years old.  It was still terrifying.

Sparkles and Sticks at the Farmers Wife Barntique

Sparkles and Sticks is going to be in The Farmers Wife Barntique this Fall!

My very talented friend Lesley organizes this event every year.  The Barntique is part of a local pumpkin patch, and its a great place for makers to sell their goods in what I consider to be the most inspiring time of the year. 

I'm creating a new line of little goodies especially for this show.  They shall remain a secret until I am a bit further along in the project, but here is a wee hint for now.

How about a new hint each month until the new line's debut at the Farmers Wife Barntique in Spetember?  Sounds like a plan to me.

.a reminder.

Because I stayed up until 4 AM last night stressing about stuff I haven't done yet.  And, I sold the last stake in my first collection of plushy slayer stakes the other day!  Time for a new batch.

What's your favorite "Keep Calm" message?

.running with glitter.

Only ten more days!

Come see Sparkles and Sticks at this awesome crafty event!  We'll have some cute new stuff at our booth- (I hear rumors of hats and gloves floating among the lips of my secret helper elves.  Ok, so I'm not Santa, and I don't have elves.  But the part about hats and gloves is true!) 

You never know what other kinds of goodies might wind up in our booth as well.

See you there!

.coffee, movies, and music.

Some new pretties bounced into my etsy shop today...

I Love Actually You Coffee Sleeve

This sleeve is inspired by my one of my favorite movies: Love Actually!

I went to see Love Actually on an otherwise disastrous day in 2003.  There was major tension amongst my roommates.  As usual, it involved me somehow, but I had no idea what was going on.  But after the lights dimmed in the theatre and Love Actually started playing, I totally didn't care anymore.  I was sucked into all the juicy love stories on screen.  It was the one thing that all my roomates and I agreed on that year: Love Actualy was an awesome movie.

Half the World Away Coffee Sleeve

Inspired by the Oasis song that always makes my heart soar.

What songs/movies are you inspired by right now?