The Bizarre Bazaar

I just got home from the St. Luke's UMC Holiday Bazaar, a local church holiday arts and crafts fair, also known in my home as "The Bizarre Bazaar," not because of any characteristic of the bazaar itself, but rather because of the bizarre notion that I would enjoy going to such an event. I love crafts and doing artsy stuff at home- heck, I even have a craft room. However, I tend to eschew anything with a "country" vibe to it, and most arts and crafts fairs tend to promote that old Midwestern country thing.

The St. Luke's Holiday Bazaar, though, is a little different from other crafty fairs. First,  the organizers require that everyone who has a booth offers only items that they have handmade. Thus, the quality level of the stuff for sale at the bazaar is higher than anywhere else I've seen. Second, they have a wide variety- you might see a couple of booths with similar ideas, but for the most part, every booth is different. Third, they have the cinnamon rolls. The cinnamon rolls are huge, plate-sized monsters that apparently are so good that they generate lines with ten-minute wait times. I confess, I've never actually had one of the legendary St. Luke's Holiday Bazaar Cinnamon Rolls (a fact that, whenever I reveal it to someone at the bazaar, evokes a reaction of shock and horror) but the aroma alone is enough to add ten pounds. It's not uncommon to see clusters of three or four well-dressed, normally well-mannered "ladies who lunch" hovering around a single styrofoam box, scarfing down mouthfuls of cinnamon roll as if they haven't eaten in weeks. So the cinnamon rolls are good for aromatherapy and entertainment value.

Finally, the most important reason I go to the St. Luke's Holiday Bazaar every year is because attending this event was something my sister and I did with our mom. We used to alternate years. I'd come home from grad school one year so I could go with Mom, and the next year, my sister would go. My mom loved the Bazaar. She'd see her friends there every year, scarf down a bit of a cinnamon roll, and buy jewelry, holiday decorations, and Christmas presents. 

When my mom passed away almost eight years ago, I started going to the Bazaar myself, which always made me a little sad. But then, my sister and I started taking my niece and making it an annual traditional pilgrimage. This new tradition turned the Bazaar back into something special. Most years, we also run into my dad and stepmom and other family members, and that makes it even nicer to go. 

My mom had some very specific strategies when she attended the Bazaar. She always went early, right when the Bazaar opened, she had a favorite entrance to the church and a favorite area in the parking lot where she could get the closest parking, and she always insisted that we leave our coats in the car, whether it was freezing or not. She said that we would get hot inside and we'd be carrying purchases and wouldn't want to carry our coats. My mom was like a shopping sensei. And in fact, when my sister and my niece and I go to the Bazaar, we do it the same way as we did with my mom, speed-walking into the church sans coats, shivering the entire way, and talking about how glad we are that we got good parking. It's the same every year.

One of the highlights at the Bizarre Bazaar (also so dubbed, by the way, because it's just fun to say) is the fact that there are quite a few repeat exhibitors who come back year after year. And even though sometimes they'll tell you they're probably not coming back next year (it's just occurred to me that this just might be a sales tactic), they're always there, in the same booth space as the year before. In particular, here are some of my favorites:

Cat Stuff: Camille has cat playtime down to a science. She has The Best of everything cat-related- beds that you can throw in the washer and dryer, kick toys that seem really simple, but have catnip at one end, so the cats grab one side and chew and kick at the other end...I don't know why, I just know my cats have gotten two of these every year for their entire lives and they love them. In fact, I actually wait all year to buy my cat toys from Camille. I don't even bother buying cat toys anywhere else.

Thelma's Stampin' Up Booth: Thelma is a Stampin' Up distributor. Stampin' Up is a network marketing company that has the coolest stamping and scrapbooking supplies, and Thelma takes it all to a whole new level. She always has the most beautiful cards, notepads, gift packaging...it's just insane what she's capable of, and I always spend way too much on her stuff. 

Yawning Dog Designs: Denise used to just make knitting bags and in fact made a custom knitting bag for me last year (A million thank yous for the awesome pocket in my knitting bag, Denise!), but this year, Denise started making purses. Aaaaaah! They're gorgeous and simple and a really cool extension of what she was already doing.

Those are actually the only booths that I absolutely must visit each year, but there are tons of "regulars" that I look for whenever I go, and I've created dumb nicknames for them in my head. There are the "Raku Pottery Ladies," "The Soap With Stuff Inside It Lady," "The Christmas Tree People" (who didn't make it this year), and "That Amazing Lady Who Makes Such Happy Looking Ceramic Gingerbread Men and Stuff With Tiny Flowers." There's "The Carpet Hat Lady," "Honey Guy," "The Barbie Clothes Lady," "The Giant Booth That's In The Corner By The Bathrooms," "Wood Turning Guy," "Artsy Scarf Chick," "Knife Guy Who I Always Wonder If He Really Makes Those Knives Himself," and "The Church Ladies Baking Booth." Oh, and of course, "Cool Girly Girl Lady," who makes pretty little barrettes and purses that my niece raids every year (hey, I didn't say the names were particularly creative or impressive). Sadly, the hearing-impaired gentleman who always used to sell freshly-popped popcorn in the hallway, with a handwritten sign taped to his popcorn machine that read, "Deaf Popcorn," whose name  in my head was always "Deaf Popcorn Guy," hasn't been there for a couple of years. When a regular doesn't show up, I wonder what happened to them, but I wonder in particular about Deaf Popcorn Guy, because he seemed like a very nice man and because he made excellent popcorn.

This year, there were a couple of new booths and because I foolishly failed to get their cards, they've been given their own dumb nicknames. There was "Awesome Confused Jewelry Lady," who  told me she thinks her style is "all over the place and confusing" but who I bought a very cool bracelet from nevertheless, and "American Girl Doll Dress Lady" who supplied all of the gifts I'll be giving my niece for Christmas and birthday this year, and who said she is absolutely not coming back next year and will only be selling online (good job, me, for not getting her card- those clothes are usually crazy expensive, but her stuff was half the cost and twice the quality! Argh!). 

And then there was The Vintage Key, and that one I remember because I did get her card. She makes very cool Steampunk jewelry, and she made up a nifty vintage typewriter key necklace for me while I waited, and told me about how her stuff made it into the Emmy gift bags recently. 

The St. Luke's Holiday Bazaar is an Indianapolis institution and something I look forward to all year. It's more than an arts and crafts fair, it's a family tradition. And even though I just got home...I can't wait until next year.

Do People Really Enjoy Counted Cross Stitch?

Do people really enjoy counted cross stitch? I don't. It makes my head hurt. I have a problem with the grids and counting the stitches, and maybe that's ADD-related. I don't really know. But truthfully, I don't think my lack of love for cross stitch is because I'm impatient. Rather, it's that I love crafts of two different varieties: 1) the kind that allow me to flow with my creativity and 2) the kind that allow me to relax in front of the TV. And cross stitch doesn't really allow me either of these things.

For creative flow, I love spending time in my craft room, where I can get tangled up in ribbons, get my hands dirty with rubber stamping ink, heat up the room with a lampworking torch. I just love seeing where my creativity takes me. Now, counted cross stitch...it's just something that requires constant, vigilant attention...attention I simply don't have. I've done some pretty cool things in cross stitch, but I sure had to force myself to stick with it. It wasn't easy.

Now, having said all that, I do envy cross stitchers. I think their work is stunningly beautiful, and I confess to having more than my fair share of cross stitch kits that I was absolutely certain I was going to complete...but didn't even start.

My favorite pattern from
Subversive Cross Stitch

Of course, today, I have a fairly firm grasp on the fact that I quite simply don't enjoy cross stitch and shouldn't invest any more money into that craft. That said, if I was going to try again, I think I'd like to try the kits available from Subversive Cross Stitch. Julie's been in business for several years and now has a wide variety of hilarious patterns, including one that says, "Shut your piehole" in the style of an old Amish sampler. The irony is what makes me giggle most.

So that's my take on cross stitch. Maybe it's just me.

Follow Your T-shirt

Have you ever wished you knew exactly where your t-shirt came from? Here's the thing: we live a pretty disposable lifestyle. You go to Gap, buy a t-shirt, wear it until it's worn out or stained and toss it. Or we buy a pair of jeans, wear them till they develop a hole, and toss them. No thought of repurposing or fixing...we just...throw them away. That is, unless we're civic-minded, and then we donate. Still, it's all very disposable, isn't it?

In The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, an economist follows one t-shirt, from the creation of the raw materials to the production of the t-shirt. He talks of the people involved in the creation of his shirt and in doing so, somehow the t-shirt becomes more...real, more important. Less...disposable.

Here's the thing - you can make loads of stuff out of what you already have. When you feel the urge to go shopping for something new, whether it's clothes or home furnishings, start with what you already have. Look around. What needs a facelift? What could be re-purposed?

I recently found this site: http://www.giannyl.com There are several others in a similar vein, but this girl, GiannyL, is a 25 year-old Paraguayan who is awesome with recycling stuff like t-shirts, sheets, and pillowcases into really cute clothes, and she has tons of videos showing how she does it. Now, some of the clothes are a little young-ish for me, but this site gives you a really good idea of what's possible. I once spent an entire weekend watching Gianny make awesome clothes and looking over the projects at Instructables.com, Threadbanger.com, CraftStylish.com, and a few other sites, and I got dizzy at all the possibilities! It's pretty amazing what you can do.

In fact, there are ideas all over the place. If you watch HGTV, you'll find great ideas for re-purposing vintage treasures, flea market finds, and resale shop salvages. I've personally transformed many a coffee table with crafty paint and a creative eye, and even had some of the resulting "art work" commissioned for sale in a couple of shops in Broad Ripple. So, see? Sometimes re-purposing is great for freshening up your home, and sometimes it can even create a little side income.

The whole point is, what seems like trash can be transformed into treasure. In the coming months, I'll be sharing some of my own re-purposing ideas, complete with instructions for you to follow. In this economy, being able to look at stuff that you own and see those things in a new light will serve you very well. So stay tuned and look for cool projects to come!

The Life of A Bibliophile

I've had a longstanding love affair with books. I haven't stopped reading since I started as a tiny girl. Reading is the one thing I can do anywhere, anytime. I feel safest when I'm surrounded by books, and no matter what question I have, the answer can almost always be found in books.

Whenever I want to try a new hobby, I know I can find a book that will tell me what I need to know. When I want to improve a particular aspect of my life, I can find a dozen books with different strategies. If I need to study any topic in any field of interest...you guessed it. My preferred reference materials are books.

And when it comes to entertainment, well, there's nothing better than reading. As I wrote a few years ago...

I have...

...traveled the world several times over.

...fought in many wars.

...broke hearts and lost loves across the galaxy.

...jumped out of planes and been a spy.

...dined with kings and started with peasants.

...made and lost billions of dollars.

...traveled through time and space.

...lived dozens of fascinating lives.

...laughed with the gods.

Reading - the greatest adventure of all.

The Snappy Skirt I Made

Many, many years ago, back when I was in high school, my mom did something extraordinary for me - she paid a local tailor to teach me how to make clothes. I spent a year going to this tailor's storefront and working in the back, making summer dresses, flowing skirts, bustiers (hello, it was the late 80s, people), even a dress for a holiday dance. I even designed my own dress for my high school graduation - though I didn't quite trust myself to make it and we hired someone else to make it.

I had a love/hate relationship with sewing back then. I loved looking at patterns and fabric, and imagining what I could create if I paired a certain pattern with one fabric or another. I loved the idea of it all, the creativity of it. But in practice, I fought with my sewing machine, spent hours untangling the serger, sewed sleeves in backwards (if you know me, this is not unsurprising, as when I build IKEA furniture, I also have a penchant for putting one piece in backwards in virtually every item I build), couldn't get a seam sewed straight to save my life...and cutting on the bias...I still don't know what that means.

I both loved and hated sewing, and so it was understandably bittersweet when I went to college, where I had neither the space nor the time to continue making my own clothes.

It's been twenty years since I last picked up a pattern. And the only reason I did so was because I  was working on a birthday present for my sister that involved decoupage and in searching out ways to make the decoupage process less messy (in case you're wondering, you can forget about it - it can't be done), I happened upon some really interesting web sites. I found sites that showed you how to make "plarn" ("yarn" made from plastic grocery bags - I'm experimenting with this weirdo project so look for a future post on this topic), how to repurpose stuff in your home into something cool, and how to make clothes out of stuff you already own, like bedsheets, pillowcases, and other clothes. It was really interesting, and it sparked my dormant love for making clothes...or trying.

Cutest Skull Fabric Ever!

So I headed out to the craft store and bought an easy pattern and was standing in line to buy a fabric that was on sale (listen, if you mess up at sewing as much as I do, you want a cheap fabric to experiment with),  when I happened into a conversation with the girl in line behind me, who had the cutest little skull fabric. While she and I both agreed that we were not "skull people," the fabric was irresistible, so once she took her yardage, I added whatever was left to my bundle and headed home to start my big project.

I swear, the hem only LOOKS weird.
That's not the mistake I made. LOL

Several hours and only one major mistake later (for at least twenty minutes, I panicked over why I didn't have enough fabric, only to realize I'd cut out the wrong pattern pieces), I had a cute, snappy new skirt, which I wore to my birthday dinner. It's far from perfect (actually, though in the photo, the hem looks a little odd, it's really not - it's the ruffles that gave me a little trouble), but it's much better than I expected, given how long it's been since I made anything. I have a few more projects planned, including a pair of pants and an "infinity scarf," which I'm dying to include in my travel wardrobe, so look for more sewing-related posts in the future.

Why Rocks Rock

When I was a little girl, my dad was really into rocks and fossils. He tried caving and spelunking and would, on occasion (when we were traveling through rocky areas), stop our car on the side of the highway to hunt for fossils. I grew up knowing what a rock tumbler was, how it worked, and what it was for. I grew up knowing that rocks are just cool.

As an adult, I'm an avid collector of geodes, rocks, mineral specimens, and fossils. I'm also a lazy collector. Except for a few exceptions, I don't know what most of my rocks are, where they're from, or what constitutes a "good" specimen. For the most part, I just collect what I like and what appeals to me. But the ones I love most have great significance and meaning to me. For example, a small blue geode (above, at right) that was the very first rock in my collection - probably not the best specimen, but I was a student at the time and the $10 I spent was a big deal to me.

Other sentimental pieces in my collection include my mother's amethyst, a celestine specimen my sister gave me (above, left), and a small, mounted geode slice from Uruguay that Leo sent me in the very first care package he mailed to me (right). The rocks in Uruguay are really spectacular. My luggage is always heavier on the return home. :)

Another piece that I love is a small Indian Shiva Lingam stone (left). This stone is purported to have properties that increase fertility, which is why it stays safely ensconced in my display cabinet.

I have a friend and mentor who believes that rocks have energy and life. He loves nothing more than when friends bring him a special rock from a special place they've visited. I don't know that I think rocks, minerals, and crystals have all the properties they're alleged to have, though I have a Moldavite necklace that I think gives me nightmares and other strange dreams (Moldavite is said to have very strong and unique energy, as it's created when a meteor strikes earth and fuses with a terrestrial rock - both extra-terrestrial and terran, it's unlike any other rock). Whether rocks and minerals have all the properties that New Agers want to believe in, I just collect what I like and enjoy the view.