First Birthday Cake

My baby turns 1 today. This really has nothing to do with Nadia's Place, except for the fact that this little business would not exist if it were not for her and the 10 weeks I spent in bed while I was pregnant with her. This cake is the creation that I made t0 celebrate her birthday. I wish I had taken better pictures of it before it got mangled.

Nadia was happy with her cake. I have never claimed to be a cake decorator. I have never taken a class or been taught the finer arts of cake decorating, so I was pretty impressed with myself when I managed to throw this little masterpiece together. (I'm not above bragging!)
The bottom layer was a marble cake with a banana cream filling. The top layer was a strawberry 7-up cake with a chocolate chip buttercream filling. The cake was big enough to serve about 70 people, but the 40 people at the birthday party devoured every last crumb of it, so I guess it tasted OK. Or maybe I just didn't serve enough food. Hmmm....

This little bear on the top was my favorite part. She was reserved for the birthday girl, much to the dismay of all of the children at the party. I had a hard time making her face turn out right, but I think she turned out OK in the end. I didn't notice that the 1 was backwards until I looked at the pictures of it. Ooops!

This is Nadia, enjoying, or rather destroying, the fruits of my labor!

May Day Festival and My Latest Work

Yesterday was the May Day Festival at Wheeler Farm. It was my first outdoor festival and it was tons of fun. I always love seeing people's reactions to my stuff. It really feeds my ego when their eyes light up and they drag other people over to show them my stuff.This is my table in my booth. I was really proud of my display this time. I found some really great display pieces at antique shops and thrift stores. I was going for the look of an old fashioned bakery.

These shelves were wooden crates that I found at a thrift store for $1 each. I thought they would be perfect for displaying my toys, so I threw a coat of paint on them and decoupaged patterned paper on the shelves. TAA-DAA!

This is a quilt rack that I found at a thrift store. I just strung ribbon across it and hung hats with cute clothespins that I decoupaged with patterned papers. It worked out really well!

My tea cups and cupcakes were the hit of the show. I love this tea cup holder. I wish this picture showed the frou-frou top. I found it in an antique shop. When I brought it home, Raymond asked me how much I spent on it with great trepidation. He was very relieved when I told him that I bought it for my booth at craft fairs. He thought that I bought it to display tea cups in our house. I think he was afraid that I was going to make our house look like that of a 90 year old woman.

This is me. Amy made this awesome eyelet apron for me. Isn't it cute? She is so amazing!

Moving on to another topic, these little ladybugs are my latest original creations. Raymond and Katie were both very concerned about the lack of a face, but I think that is part of the charm. They are rattles. I love the look on babies faces when they see that they rattle.

These little guys are just a variation of the octopus that I sell in my Etsy shop. They are such popular baby gifts that I thought that I would try variations that would go well with gift baskets. I think they are cute.

Cute Baby Pictures

I have a friend who has mad talent as a photographer. She is just starting out, so she is working on building her portfolio. She offered to take pictures of Nadia wearing some of my stuff that I could use for business purposes. These are some of the pictures she took. My favorite one is this one with the hat.

It was a bad time of day to do an outdoor photo shoot, but I wanted to get a picture of Nadia in her watermelon sun hat. The picture does show off how well the floppy brim protects her little eyes from the sun.

I found this little apple cart at a thrift store for $3.00. All it needed was a new wheel and a fresh coat of paint. I thought it would be perfect for displaying my happy little crochet fruits and veggies at the farmer's market this summer.

Thank you, Melinda, for taking the awesome pictures. If you want to see more of her work or book a photo shoot of your own, you can go to her blog at www.urforevermybaby.blogspot.com.

Leo the Lion and My First Craft Fair!

I had my very first booth this weekend at the Earth Fair at the Salt Lake Center for Spiritual Living. The date kind of snuck up on me and I found myself very unprepared two days before the event. I rushed to get ready and just threw out what I had made. The turnout wasn't so great because of the rain, but it was a good dry run to prepare me for the big farmer's markets this summer.

This is Leo the Lion! I made him last night for a lady who said she is interested in a lion rattle for her baby. He is my prototype, so I will need to make adjustments before selling him in my shop, but I think he turned out cute. Katie is in love with him!

Patrick had some fun fur that I "borrowed" from him to make the mane. I like how it turned out so much that I think I will keep the rest of the skein for more lions. Sorry Patrick. IOU. The fun fur wouldn't have been as cute on a hat anyway.

My favorite part of Leo is his braided tail with the little poof of fur on the end. Let me know what you think of him!

When Pigs Fly!

Raymond tells me that I should rename my business "The Pig Shop" because I sell so many of these little guys. I have probably sold about 20 of him; I have made four of him in just the past two days.
My inspiration for my little flying pig is the major changes that have happened in my life over the past couple of years. I finally had another baby after 2 1/2 years of infertility, I quit my day job and I started my own business. So this little guy is a reminder to me that the impossible does happen. I hope your impossible dreams come true too!

Do you like green eggs and ham?

"Say!

I like green eggs and ham!

I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!

And I would eat them in a boat.

And I would eat them with a goat...

And I will eat them in the rain.

And in the dark. And on a train.

And in a car. And in a tree.

They are so good, so good, you see!"

"I do so like

green eggs and ham!

Thank you!

Thank you,

Sam-I-am!"

And thank you to one of my all-time favorite authors, Dr. Suess.

Introducing Uni the Unicorn!

This is the project that I made last night. She is just my prototype. I made too many mistakes while I was making her to sell her in my Etsy shop, but I think she turned out cute.

It was my first time making an animal with movable joints, but I liked how they turned out, so I will totally be doing it again.
Since I won't be selling her, I bribed Katie into babysitting for a little bit this morning so that I could sleep in. I told her that I would give her a unicorn for watching the baby. I can't believe that she agreed to it because she is such a tomboy and not a fan of unicorns at all! I guess that is not as amazing as last week when her and Patrick cleaned out the entire refridgerator for a pack of gum. Not a pack of gum each, one pack of gum to share. And I got the gum free with a coupon. Listen up parents: If you deprive your kids of gum through their entire childhood, it makes a great bribery tool when they are in their early teens.