Becka’s Project Journal

This ornament is a reproduction of a beloved one from mom & dad’s Christmas tree. Their dog and cat had a little tree-tipping-rodeo last year and the original purple cow got a little chewed. He was brought to me for rescue/reincarnation as he is a favorite of my youngest sister. Purple Cow was purchased at a church bazaar in the 1960/1970s and sent to my dad as a gift from my grandma. He has been on the tree for as long as I can remember. My new and improved version uses the rhinestone eyes from the original. Since I was making a new Purple Cow, I decided to make a pattern and share it with all of you. You can make your own Purple Cow for your tree with this purple cow pattern.

I am pretty happy with the sales at the show in Luck. A good year. I brought the “leftover” enamels to a friend today who requested some sets – pendant and earrings. She picked the ones she liked and I made the matches this evening. They need all of their earring wires etc, but I was pretty proud of myself for getting a match for each piece.

What have I been busy doing? Getting ready for my favorite holiday show at Cafe Wren in Luck, WI. This is my 6th year at the show and I think I finally have the display down to an art. This year was a little smaller than some, since I spent the fall busy with wedding activities.

Here’s my set up. This is a great show, where I just set up and there is a central check out, so I don’t have to table-sit. A huge plus! I brought 52 or so puppets up this year. Andy made me this great stand for them – so cute! – and the rest live under the table until it’s time for them to fill in the blanks.

I made a few little tiny needle felted ornaments this year. A bunch of birds plus a penguin and a lobster (and some turtles and sushi…)

And finally enamels! This is the first show I have brought them to. I really think I made some great ones and I hope they go home with lots of people. I took close up photos of all of them if you want a closer look – head over to my flickr.

And since it is a coffee shop where the show is held, I pulled out all of my coffee cup coasters from the etsy shop and brought those along.

I finally managed this year to get a little more organized and not make myself crazy making puppets the last 3 days before the sale. What a nice feeling. I was considering doing more enamels at 10 pm before I drove up to Luck the next morning, but that’s another story. The first year I did this show, my prices were too low and I had no idea how many puppets I would need. The organizer called me after the first day and said “you have to bring more!” I spent every day sewing like mad and then jumping in to the car and driving up there with whatever I had finished. It’s a nice problem to have, but wow, I never wanted to see a puppet again.

Off to knit a ***** for ***** – gotta get some Christmas presents done!

Our first real snow of the season and the squirrels were really interested in getting a good meal. I love how you can see the snow on their fluffy fur.