Birds for the shop update

Here are the Renegade 2009 birds that are going to be in my shop on Thursday. They've all got their little nametags on their legs from the craft fair. See you on Thursday!

Back from Italy

This was one of my favorite pictures that Joey took of the Spanish Steps in Rome. We just got back from a wonderful trip, but I'm super sick so I'm waiting until next week for the shop update so I can ship the birdies out quickly for everyone who purchases one. Most likely, the shop update will be Thursday, September 17th at 3pm EST. I'll send an email to the mailing list with the exact date and time.

I don't think I realized how hard it would be to keep updated with the birds with buying a new house and traveling a bunch this summer, so I'm sorry to disappoint those of you who have emailed and have been waiting for so long to buy a bird! The house feels like it's finally coming to a close, and our big travel for the summer is over, but I've still got a lot of toppers to make before I can get back to regular shop updates. For now, I've decided to wait on taking any 2010 orders for toppers because I have to figure out a way to not over-extend myself! I know I'll be back in action by the holidays since those are my favorite birdies to make. It's so nice to know that even though I am gone for long periods of time from the blog and from shop updates that the birds are still wanted! So I appreciate all the emails.

Keep an eye out for an update next week!

Italy (via Newark)

We're off to Italy for two weeks! I've got a lot of emails in my inbox and I'm sorry I haven't responded; instead I'm updating the blog with
the date of my next shop update. I will add some new owls on Thursday
September 10th!

See you when we return!
(Above is the view of NYC from the plane into Newark)

Wedding owls

Here are some photos Liz sent me of her wedding and her little owl caketopper. Her husband is a Yankees fan so I embroidered a little logo (only took three tries), and luckily they liked the results. Some photos are from a friend, and the other is from her photographer, Anna Kuperberg.

Crappy photos of the kitchen

We don't have internet at the house yet so we can't upload actual quality photos, but the kitchen counters are in and they look amazing! I'm excited we get to use my grandmother's stools that she had in her house when we were growing up. She used to cut up apples into small little pieces and we'd sit on the stools and eat them. My grandmother saved everything, so when she worked at a department store, she bought so much stuff and never opened it. I have an amazing collection of vintage dish towels and bath towels that still have the tags on them from two decades ago. They are flowery bright prints and I can't wait to use them one day. It's funny how similar our tastes are! She'd probably be super proud that I am using all her stuff to this day.

Bathroom progress

Before! (above)
As of right now: (below)


This weekend my parents came to town and spent every waking hour painting the entire interior of our new house with us. Joey rebuilt shelves for all of our closets and we painted every surface possible! Our tile guy Israel did a great job in our hall bathroom. I was so happy at the progress that I ate my dinner on the floor in front of the bathroom so I could stare at it.

I promise I'll have a shop update as soon as we're done moving! I've got to take some photos of the leftover Renegade birds!

More demo

Here is the house demo set on Flickr in case anyone is interested!

I need to take some photos of the remaining birdies from Renegade but I'll post them soon and send an email for a shop update probably by Friday.

Newsday

I'm back from the Renegade Craft Fair and it went great! I don't have any photos yet to share but Joey is getting the film developed as we speak so I should have them when we return from an out-of-town wedding this weekend. I just happened to get an email from Robin at Newsday on Sunday telling me I was in the paper for a cake topper in the bridal guide. She sent me a PDF today so I wanted to share it.

Thank you to everyone who has emailed requesting a topper. Unfortunately I am all booked for the rest of 2009! I am really behind on my emails so I'm very sorry if I haven't responded. I'm not yet taking any orders for 2010 toppers but I'll send an email out when the time comes.

I do have some owls left from the fair this weekend that I'll be posting next week. I'll send an email out to everyone letting you know the date and time of the shop update. I probably will have two updates at different dates and times to make sure everyone has a chance in their respective time zone!

Where I have been

For the last few months, Joey and I have been in the process of buying our first house. We finally closed on Friday, after making our initial offer on the house in February! We worked all weekend to demolish the kitchen and the bathrooms, and get started painting.

The Renegade Craft Fair is this weekend and I'm feverishly trying to finish all my little birdies to sell. I hope to meet some of you who are in town that weekend! I'll have some new postcards, and my notepads as well. I'm so excited to be sharing the booth with two super talented ladies as well, and I'll post pictures when we get back. I'll have a shop update with any of the remaining birds so keep an eye out for an email!

I'm hoping that since we've finally closed on the house, I'll have a few extra moments here and there to make birds later this summer and continue to have regular shop updates. I'll also post some renovation pictures for anyone who's interested! (I'm such a fan of Door Sixteen that I figure demo before and after photos are fun for most of us to look at!)

Spring birdies!

Here are four little birds that have been made for a while but I just haven't gotten around to updating the shop. I'll send out an email with the date and time that these guys will post. I'm thinking tomorrow or early next week.

There are these yellow trees here that only bloom once a year, and they're so pretty. I don't have a clue what they are called but they always create such a cheery scene around this time of year!

Spring wedding

Little lovebirds for a wedding this weekend!

We are taking a mini vacation to New York this weekend, but I think I'll have a shop update sometime soon after we get back. I have four little spring owls waiting for new homes!

Happy Valentine's Day!

My favorite holiday

Valentine's Day just happens to be my favorite holiday besides Christmas, mostly because it's my birthday :) I love to make these birds with the little hearts on their chests. They'll be in the shop tonight at 8pm EST.

The posts and shop updates have been more infrequent lately, mostly because my real job gets pretty busy at this time of year. I do plan on having regular updates this spring, and I'm so excited to apply for Renegade Craft Fair again this year with two very talented friends: Hayley Carmo and Anna Melcon Bond. The fair is June 6th and 7th so everyone should come! I think I'll have special small birds just for the fair, along with postcards and notepads.

Happy (late) New Year!

I'm finally back in action after a long vacation and some sick days. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Over the break I was lucky enough to create birds for two very special magazines, and here are a few. I'll post more updates when I get them! I've been working hard to get all of the birds finished and now that I'm done, I can start thinking about a shop update. I'll probably have birds finished sometime in February but I'm not sure when at this point. My real job gets very busy around this time so I'll be felting when possible!

Final holiday shop update

In the shop this afternoon around 5pm! If everyone doesn't mind, please limit just one bird per person. Thanks!

Friday Ornaments

Ornaments are in the shop!

More ornaments tomorrow hopefully

I worked on a few little owls last night and may have them finished for a small shop update tomorrow. I'm not going to email the mailing list this time, so check the blog for details tomorrow!

In the meantime, enjoy the Bradshaw's 2008 Christmas tree. :)

Ornaments...finally!

I feel like I've been wanting to do nothing but make ornaments for the shop and have just recently found the time to get the first batch finished. I did successfully complete a few gifts for my family so I can check that off my to-do list. So now I'll get to updating more frequently, I hope!

These five ornaments will be in the shop tomorrow at 12noon EST. They are all light grey with a little crocheted loop to hang on the tree.