Youtique: A Handmade Holiday Craft Show

My next craft show is Youtique: A Handmade Holiday--tomorrow at Wayne State University from 2 - 9 PM. (Not 3 - 9 PM as stated in the ad above.) Hope to see you there!

Free Shipping in My Etsy Shop

I decided to give out a code for free shipping at my next two craft shows in case for some reason, someone wants to order later. That way they can still get the price they would have gotten at the show. (I wish I'd thought of doing this at my last show.) And while I'm at it, I decided to extend the coupon to my blog readers and Facebook fans.

Here are the details:
Use coupon code FSGRWIN2011 for free domestic shipping in my Etsy shop until 1/1/12. (Contact me for international shipping and I'll give you a discount.) Feel free to share the code with whoever you like.

(Maybe use the code on one of my new cowls?)

Say Yes to Michigan!

Just made this Michigan-themed Treasury on Etsy.

Craft Show Season

I am currently in the process of getting ready for three craft shows which take place three weekends in a row starting November 26th. And I'm a little panicked, to tell you the truth. I have never done three craft shows in quick succession like this (and one of them is a two-day show.) I do think I'm doing pretty well getting ready, but I imagine I'll be a bit stressed until December 12th, when all of them are over.

The first show is the Flint Handmade Holiday Craft Market which will be on November 26th at the Flint Masonic Temple. The list of vendors has been posted on the Flint Handmade blog just in case you want to start making your shopping list. There is also a Facebook event page with all of the info in case you prefer that.

The second show is Youtique: A Handmade Holiday on December 3rd at the Old Main building on Wayne State's campus. It takes place during Noel night, which is a fabulous event you also might like to attend. Youtique also has a Facebook event page.

And my third and final show for the year is DIYpsi's winter show which will be December 10th and 11th at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti.

Nerd Wars

So I've been participating in Nerd Wars on Ravelry. I'm a member of Team Enterprise since I'm a big Next Generation nerd. (How many people have I just alienated, I wonder?) I thought I'd share my projects from the last round--which ended at the end of June.

This is my felted Ferengi Rules of Acquisition wallet. The style is very similar to something I have been working on for my Etsy shop.

The Boldly Go baby hat. I used a pattern (somewhat modified) that I've used several time before for the hat itself and a different pattern for the stars. It was made from seconds of my Intrinsic yarn.

These are my Silly Starfleet Kah-nigits--combining my love of Star Trek with my love of Monty Python. I can't help but giggle a bit whenever I look at them. They were made using the pattern I used for my regular knights a while back.

I charted this lightning bolt myself--after getting my husband to make me a chart that I accidentally faced in the wrong direction. Whoops.

And this is my Borg Kitty. The kitty was made using this pattern and the Borg additions were made up as I crocheted them. I wish the picture had come out better, but black yarn is so difficult to photograph well and I'm not a very good photographer.

More Canning--Strawberries

Last week, I went strawberry picking with my sister-in-law and my nephew. I hadn't been to pick strawberries since I was a kid, but I still managed to pick almost 17 pounds of berries pretty darn quickly. (pretty darn quickly = slightly longer than the amount of time a 5-year-old will happily pick strawberries) So all week I made things with strawberries.

In the above picture:

Spreadable Fieldberries from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving: This did not quite set up properly, but is definitely thicker than syrup.

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate (also from Ball): I used my juicer to juice the lemons and I think it made the concentrate a bit clumpy (for lack of a better word) but it's still good. (Delicious with sparkling water.)

Strawberry Vanilla Jam from Food in Jars: This is pretty much syrup. I haven't actually opened a jar, but I don't have high hopes for it being very jammy. I also found it to be a little too sweet for my tastes.

This was my first canning of strawberries in any form and my first jam. While I didn't get a good set on either kind of jam, I'm still happy with my first attempt and will definitely try again. Maybe raspberries.

Rhubarb!

We have a new rhubarb plant in our garden this year (a transplant from my parents), but, since we just planted it, my dad didn't think we should pick any this year. This advice was quite upsetting to me since I have about 10 different things I want to can with it. Luckily, our neighbors brought us a giant bundle of rhubarb last week.

While it wasn't enough for all of the things I was hoping to make, it was plenty for this Victorian Barbecue Sauce.

The recipe is in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving if anyone is interested in making it. I highly recommend it. Yum.