Greetings from PA!

Yep, I'm way up here in the frosty north. It's snowing. I have used, to varying degrees of success, 4-wheel drive several times today. And I'm wearing a tank top, because I live in Florida, dammit, and this is what we Floridians do. We dress inappropriately for cold weather.


I have all manner of photos of my hometown, from the snow falling outside my bedroom window to the pickup truck with two extraneous yet functional smokestacks installed behind the cab. But I'm totally reliant on the free wireless access at the little campus cafe, and I think I will not be the jerk who uses up all the bandwidth uploading stuff to Flickr.

I am, however, working on three different yarn-related projects at once: a blue version of the shrugs I've been making lately, and last-minute scarves for the holidays. I also have photos of those, and will be showing off at Ravelry shortly ... but again, Internet. D'oh.

But how's this for holiday cheer: Ciara Loves You earned its 100th Etsy heart this week! And it was from a satisfied customer, too, which makes it all the sweeter. Happy holidays indeed!

NYT: Crafts are awesome

We already knew this, of course. But a little validation is nice.

(Be sure to note Etsy, Craft Mafia and BuyHandmade.org mentions!)

New workout mix

Now, if only I actually worked out. :) But I just found Mixtape Vol. 2 from The Hood Internet, and it works equally well for strutting down the street on the way to a cafe with free wi-fi. Some of the tracks are a little forced--Montell Jordan & Arcade Fire? Ew--but others are totally inspired. Rick Ross + Wilco just made my whole day.

10 Rick Ross vs Ghosthustler - Everyday I'm Ghosthustlin'

The Hood Internet

It's a gorgeous day here on the beach -- time to take my crafting out of the house and into some fresh air!

On disappearing

Ciara Loves Atomic!

Long time, no blog. It's not my fault, I swear. There was Thanksgiving, and directly afterwards a death in the boyfriend's family which kept me far from home for an extra week. Then a press trip, then a craft fair (yes, that one up there), then home again to try to catch up... Seriously, I'm a treasure trove of valid excuses.

The good news is that I'm about to head back to Pennsylvania for the holidays on Sunday, meaning that I'll have next to nothing to do for a solid week except reading, writing, and crafting. I'm almost all caught up on day job deadlines, and I'm really looking forward to setting time aside for non-commercial crafting -- just making things for friends, family and myself without considering all the details of trying to sell them. I love sharing my creations with the Etsy world, but at the end of the day, I'm in it for creativity's sake, and a little business holiday will do both me and the store some good. :)

That's not to say I'm closing down the store, though! All the goodies in my shop will be coming with me to Pennsylvania (and then to Tucson, AZ, for a week with my dad and his family after Christmas), so keep those orders coming! The holidays have really picked up for me in terms of sales, which I fully attribute to the great karma I received for sending my Etsy favorites to anyone who asked me for gift ideas this year.

As for me, I fulfilled my Buy Handmade pledge by finding something independently designed and crafted for everyone on my list this year. Some of my gifts are from the town of Fes in Morocco, where 52 percent of the population is a professional craftsperson (I know!). And the rest were found last weekend at the Atomic Holiday Bazaar in Sarasota, FL, which I was lucky enough to be a part of. From Lollibomb to Dragonfly Crafts to Beanblossom, all my favorite crafters were there, and I found some new favorites too, like Lucas Bags. How can you resist an upholstered hippo?

Customer Appreciation: Lucas Bags

I pretty much get that look on my face every time I look at my new hippo.