Here we are on the last day of June 2015. I have been sneaking in sewing more Socktopus guys whenever I can: a few legs here, a mouth and eyes there. I am currently working on Socktopus number 13, which means I have achieved my goal of 12 new Socktopus guys by July 5! 😀 (Take a look at the giggleFritz Shop on Etsy.)
I will be sending in my registration tomorrow for Coffee Break Fest in Soughton, WI on August 15. I am excited! I have not been in a craft fair for almost 2 years. It will be wonderful once again to sell alongside fellow artists and meet new people interested in handmade art and products. And it will be heavenly to sample coffee all day too!
Little one is awake. I am off to do mommy things and sew some more Socktopus legs.
The newest addition to the Socktopus family in the giggleFritz Shop on Etsy! Â I am currently behind on my goal to have twelve done by July 5. Â I was supposed to have one done last Saturday and one is due tomorrow. Â I have all of the body parts sewn and stuffed for both guys, I just have to do all the hand stitching. Â So, I am off to go stitch my giggleFritz brains out. Â I just needed to share first.
Friday is the worst day of the week for me. I usually have mommy burn out from the previous four days. The best thing to do is keep moving, talking and singing with the little one. Today it was more difficult because it rained on and off the entire day. I am not always fond of outside time, but we really need that time to run, yell, and swing our arms! Some things got started (laundry, dishes), nothing got finished (Socktopus), and there was a whole lot of whiny child going on.
We have a wedding this weekend and it should be lovely.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Today was a lovely day. Â The weather was nearly perfect so we spent a good part of the day outside. Â Also, the carpet guy came and measured two of our bedrooms so we can order our new carpeting. Â I am that much closer to my new office/craft room!
I have been making more Socktopuses. Â Three are listed in my Etsy shop at the moment, take a look if you have a moment! Â (I need some time to get the shop on this site set up.) Â I have set a goal for myself: complete 2 Socktopuses a week (12 by July 5), and I will register for the Coffee Break Fest 2015 craft fair on August 15. Â I still have inventory left from before our little one was born, and I will keep sewing after July 15. If I can complete my goal, I think I will have enough inventory to fill a booth. Â I have my binder set up to keep me on track. Â Now, I just have to get the work done.
I am off to do some sewing.
Have a wonderful evening! (The frogs are incredibly LOUD this evening! Beautiful!)
As I said in my last post, I was going to have to dig out my binders and get planning. Â I found the binders, they weren’t really buried. Â I took a brief look and then got distracted with other mommy-type things. Â No problem, I don’t get too worked up about things these days. Â It just doesn’t pay. Â While my little one works on her little steps, I have to work on mine.
This week I made some progress. Â We have a spare room in our house that has this very loud green color. Â When we moved in last August my older daughter took that room and decided to keep the green. Â She is no longer living in the room so we have been waiting for some time to give it a makeover. We have been adding a sub-floor to the rest of our ranch-style home and this spare room needed the sub-floor and some new carpeting. Â Two weekends ago, my husband added the sub-floor, this last week I painted the room and today we went and picked out the new carpeting.
Loud Green Spare Room
I am so happy about getting this room done! I used to hate looking at the green when I looked into that room. Â (I could not capture the real hue of green in the picture above, but it is very GREEN!) My husband and I decided I will be using this room for an office/crafting room. I think it will help to have my own little space. Â No more digging for binders!
I am also very excited about our brand new vegetable garden! Â My husband worked up our new garden plot today. Â We are cutting it close, but our spring has been a chilly one this year with a few of the last nights having frost. Â My tomato, pepper, marigold and pumpkin plants are ready to be planted this weekend. Â With prayers and some good weather we should have some fresh veggies within the next few months.
It’s been a great start to summer so far. Â We have to keep it moving!
I fully own my procrastination, lack of focus, and right out laziness of not getting things done.  I want so much to fill my shop with beautiful things I create, but I am not getting it done at the moment.  Wait, I take that back.  I own 99.5% of this.  The other 0.5% is the fault of this little girl, who steals and snuggles with the Socktopus I am working on.  😉
I have had that itch for the past few months. Â The, “I want to be in a craft fair” itch. Â The other day I received an email for the 2015 Coffee Break Fest Craft Fair in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Â As I was reading I automatically felt both excited and defeated at the same time. Â I would LOVE to be a part of Coffee Break Fest again, but I just don’t have the time or inventory to get there this year. Â It’s time to devise a better plan for the future of giggleFritz. Â Not only for my business, but for other areas in life as well. Â I am so done “winging it”. Â I used to be a decent planner. Â I had a binder for the holidays so everything would run smoothly and get done. Â I have binders (plural) for my business, but I haven’t contributed to them for a long time. Â I think it is time to dust off the binders and start contributing again.
Creative update: I haven’t worked on my lighthouse cross-stitch for a while, but I have done SOME work since my last creative update (Feb 18, 2015). Â Here is my progress:
Our little one loves a good book.  She has a small library to choose from.  Roughly 90% of her bookshelf holds tough board books that can take a good beating from a 15 month old.  The other 10% are normal weighted paper that I monitor closely.  Regardless, if it is board book or paper, she shows no discrimination when it comes to pealing off a piece of a cover, a corner of a page or flap hiding a pink elephant.  Every few days I get out my packing tape and work my giggleFritz magic! 😉
I am not angry that I have to mend these books. Â I have always taken good care of the books in my possession. Â I have taught the same to my oldest daughter and will teach our new little one when she is old enough. Â I like working with the paper anyway, and I am not fond of throwing away any book. Â I am actually just glad that we are using these books and “loving” the crap out of them so much, that they need some maintenance once in a while.
In other news, my tomato plants I planted last week, are up! Â They peaked their heads out of the soil on Monday. Â Also, I planted some marigolds last Saturday and those popped up this morning. Â I was surprised by the marigolds. Â That is only 4-5 days they needed to sprout. Â I am very proud of the start of my little garden. Â I can’t wait to have a garden on the land that I live on. Â It has always been a plot on someone else’s land and I would have to drive over to maintain/water/weed/pick. Â For the first time I will be able to walk outside my back door and putz around in my garden!!
Tomatoes popped up!
So, I am off to do great things! Â I have a few things in the works I am hoping to finish up and share with you soon.
Hello, All! Â We are slowly thawing out here in Wisconsin. Â It will be a number of weeks until we can get outside and plant our gardens, but this is the time for starting seeds. Â That is just what I did on Monday. Â I dug out my soil-less soil and seed starting flats and planted 12 each of bell peppers, tomatoes and cherry tomatoes while the little one was taking her nap. Â When she woke up, I still had not finished my project, so she got all excited and started pointing and yelling at the weird “stuff” on the kitchen floor. Â I really wanted to be done before she woke up, but starting seeds is one of those jobs that I always thinks takes less time than it really does. Â I had considered letting my Helper help with this project, but I opted to wait another year.
I am hosting Easter brunch for my family this year. Â I am dead set on making a peep-themed Easter cake. Â I am perfectly fine with making a cake, frosting it and slapping on gobs of Peeps. Â But I thought maybe I would head over to Pinterest and see what other ideas are out there. Â Once again, Pinterest did not disappoint. Â Once again, I was overwhelmed with tons of colorful, beautiful (and some not so beautiful) photos of inspiration. Â I started a “Peep Cake” board and hope I will add my own cake soon. Â So, heads up for an out-of-this-world Easter Peep cake picture sometime after April 5!
Good luck with all of your own Easter/Garden/Spring plans! 😀
