Don't Miss Shop Austin This Weekend!

The Lone Star Ladies Present:

Shop Austin!

Saturday, 4/17

10am - 6pm

In addition to the AWESOME VENDORS, there will be:

Goodie Bags for the first 30 shoppers!

plus a Beauty Lounge, a Cafe, & a fun Photo Booth!

It's gonna be a blast, y'all, with some rootin'-tootin' good shoppin' from lots of talented artisans! Hope to see you there! You can get your tix online or at the door. They're $10 for adults (kids 12 & under are free), with $5 going to the Frontier arts scholarship. How cool is that?!

The silly pic above was taken at last year's show; the hubs & I had a lot of fun volunteering.

Holiday Fun!

Last night we put up our Christmas tree, hung the stockings & strung the lights around the house. It's looking quite festive! I always love decorating the house for Christmas, and I needed to get it done because it's going to be a busy, busy holiday season for me this year.

To start, I'll be out at the Lights of Love 5k with the other WonderCraft gals this Friday. It's a fundraising event for The Ronald McDonald House. We'll be making felt snowmen ornaments with the kiddos as part of our outreach program. Come by & see our Airstream, Stella, with the adorable handmade boutique we've just set up!

The very next day we'll be out at EtsyAustin's Craft Riot! If you're local, you'll want to come out to this fabulous holiday bazaar! It lasts the whole weekend, and in addition to all of the lovely, handmade items you'll find there that will make unique gifts for everyone on your list, you'll also enjoy wine tastings & photos with Santa! Head over to EtsyAustin's blog to "Meet Your Makers" (including yours truly)! We WonderCrafters will be there with Stella, with each of our own handmade items & nifty WonderCraft DIY kits inside, as well as the photo booth.

Then, the handmade holiday fun continues the following weekend at the Cherrywood Art Fair. Stella will be there as well, and we'll be selling all of our own handmade items & WonderCraft DIY kits again. Cherrywood is an amazing shopping paradise for those who love unique, handmade items & one-of-a-kind art - over 80 vendors! Here's a peek at a few. Plus lots of great live music, kids' activities, artist demos & a huge silent auction (bid on my Lion Family collage!). Over at The WonderCraft corner, we'll be demonstrating lots of cool upcycled gift-wrapping techniques throughout the weekend. Come on by!

Hope to see you out & about this month! Happy Holidaze to you & yours!

Pretty Pics: Portrait of a Pooky

We interrupt your regularly scheduled costume-making programming to bring you this special presentation. How can I possibly get any work done with this adorable beast lounging on my desk?!






Awww, I guess our little photo shoot wore him out. Naptime!

How I Spend My Days...

Yep, for real. I actually spent this afternoon making fabric-covered mustaches, then posing in one for these silly pictures. It was for my work, I swear! It was prep for the Beard Folks Art Show the other WonderCraft gals & I will be attending this Friday at Austin Handmade.


This party is gonna be fabulous! Beard-themed art by Corinne Loperfido, DIY mustache-making with The WonderCraft, music from Team Fabrication...


food from Sugar Mama's Bakeshop, drinks with Treaty Oak Rum, beer from Saint Arnold Brewery, wacky-fun people - and it's all FREE! What's not to like?!


Oh, there is one thing not to like. This will be the last bash at Austin Handmade. Sadly, they will be closing their doors on November 1. So come on out & help them go out with a bang!

Another reason to love Austin: Mandola's!

I love Mandola's Italian Market for it's imported novelties such as this who-could-ever-eat-that-much-Nutella-actually-i-probably-could giant jar of Nutella.



















It was bigger than Patrick's head!





















I love Mandola's for its delicious sandwiches & pasta & bread & gelato & THIS! This fabulous pastry case. I consider it sacrilege to leave without partaking of at least one of these magnificent beauties.





On our most recent visit, we grabbed one of their doughnut-shaped iced lemon cookies. They are divine, as is everything I have ever eaten at this wonderful Italian eatery.





Mandola's kinda reminds me of another divine Italian market & cafe: DeLaurenti's in the Pike Place Market. Ahhh... I remember it well. That one definitely has a leg up on Mandola's in terms of atmosphere. But it's no fault of the lovely Mandola's; you just can't compete with a turn-of-the-century, waterfront farmer's market in one of this country's most beautiful cities. If you ever find yourself in Seattle, the Market is definitely a must-see. And when in Austin, be sure to check out Mandola's!

Something New & Exciting in the Works!

Something a little different for Local Talent Tuesday today... This is another "in case you were wondering" post. In case you were wondering *why* I did the western shirt revamp, it was for this photo shoot. The photo shoot was for promotional materials for the new crafty venture I'm working on with some of my fabulously talented friends (pictured left to right): Kim of Broken Ear Productions, {me}, Jen of Lucy Blue Studio, & Beth of Paired Hearts. More info about what we're up to coming soon! Pictures taken at the delightfully quirky South Austin Museum of Popular Culture.

Weekend Goodness & Talented Friends

We went to Silhouette Saturday night for sushi & karaoke with 2 new friends & had a blast! It's a downtown hideaway with private karaoke rooms upstairs that are posh & comfortable, especially if you're used to the stinky, secondhand couch variety of karaoke rooms like we were.


I'll spare you most of the pictures of the karaoke madness, but just wanted to share a couple of faves. Patrick really enjoyed the light-up tambourine.



And I have to brag about our friend Kim. She's an amazing singer, shown here belting out some "Phantom of the Opera" like it's nothin.' And she's also a fabulous jewelry artist! Check out her website, Broken Ear Productions.

Goofy Easter Pic

Here's a silly pic of me & Patrick I from Easter at my parents' house. It was a fun day. My nephews showed up with these ears, and I think everyone in the family ended up wearing them at some point. Hopefully it was a nice bit of comic relief for you. Now back to work for me (or, more accurately: time to START some work)!!!