Arlington County Fair

After much preparation and hardwork and well, worry, I survived my first year at the Arlington County Fair.

The weather was hot, but the air conditioning in the exhibitors hall was chilled. I’m sure that alone drew lots of people inside checking out the booths. Which, I’m so totally thankful for!

I can say that I had an overall positive experience, though my bladder might beg to differ. Mike did an excellent job though, taking care of Little Face and coming by a few times a day to allow me to run to the loo. When they came by, Matty was always drawn to the macaroni sculpture of Italy. And who could blame him? It’s Italy! In pasta!

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And here he is being completely bored by his mama’s booth:

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At one point, Mike made him into the super hero of the fair:

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Nice!


And here is my booth setup. I rotated and filled in when necessary and was so pleased with how everything looked.

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On the second day, I talked to Mike about making a small sign indicating what and who craftysassi is all about. I did this mainly in response to seeing a retail vendor around the corner from me that was hawking bags for 5 bucks. I thought it important to notify potential customers that my merchandise is entirely homemade, one of a kind, quality items produced lovingly by yours truly. Not mass-produced, sweatshop crapola. And then I let the bags speak for themselves.

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And I did well! I’m very thankful for all the folks who stopped by to browse and buy and to all those who paid me lovely compliments and took my business card. I met some very wonderful people and got lots of warm and fuzzies hearing nice people say nice things about my stuff. Aww.

And well, let’s hope I can do it again next year.

And done.

Well, as done as I’m going to get.
I’ve resigned myself that to stress myself into producing anything else in the next 24 hours is just nuts.
I completed the keyrings, 20 of ‘em, and I’m happy as pie about it.

A majority of them are prints with a solid back, with a few that are solid with a print back. No two are alike!

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materials used:

nickel end tip
nickel keyring
denim
twill
cotton

Um, I think this is a lot?

I did indeed have a Strawberry Shortcake doll when I was a kid.

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A bunch of new hairbands. I love that I have found a way to use scraps. I made 35 of them over like 2 days. Not too shabby.

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And finally, some wristlets and makeup bags.

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So now it’s on to keychains. I’m trying to do 20 before Thursday. We’ll see if I meet my goal, ’cause right now, I’m feeling the beginnings of the dreaded burn-out. Eeek.


materials used:

twill
interfacing
cotton
elastic
nickel components
wool felt
dmc thread
corduroy
zippers
canvas

Melissa’s bag.

For a fellow craftgrrl. She saw the one I made for Jodi’s co-worker and fell in love with the fabric. This one is just a bit bigger, per her request. And it looks so sweet with the pinkie lining.

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Copy cat.

I get inspired by so many things I see in stores, on tv, online, and in life.

Wee Wonderfuls is such a place. Hillary makes adorable things and it’s all I can do not squee uncontrollably when I’m browsing her blog. I came across her lily pad pin cushion and knew I had to make one for myself.

It’s rare that I’ll copy something exactly. But the colors and style of it just worked so well, that there wasn’t anything I could do to make it better. So to make it “mine” I changed the shank button from pearl to pink. Yay for individuality! Hah!

Here’s mine:

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With pins.

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materials used:

wool felt
plastic button
dmc thread
poly stuffing

Okay, so I’m slowing down a bit.

I think Mike is worried.
Eh.
I’m not.
I figure I’ll go to the fair with everything I have and not stress about things that I didn’t get to do.
It’s all supposed to be fun and enjoyable and I don’t need to pressure myself with thoughts of bringing 100 purses.

I think it’s just ’cause my energy is zapped.
I’m totally blaming the heat.
Even though we have the air conditioning.
Which, thank the good Lord.

So anyways, here is the weekend’s accomplishments.

Swirly!

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And a matching pouch.

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Stars and stripes, my way.

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This one I really like, it’s so autumnal from the outside, but springy and vibrant on the inside. The front picture is actually a functioning pocket.

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With a matching pouch also.

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The pink ladies.

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Probably my favorite of this bunch. It has that great brushed chocolate twill (feels like suede!) with a bright cheery flowered lining. The straps have nickel d-rings for added interest.

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And lastly, 2 more cute makeup bags.

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So now back to more cutting. My “favorite”. Uh, no.

materials used:

wood handles
wool felt
dmc thread
plastic buttons
poly zippers
twill
cotton
interfacing
nickel d-rings
nickel magnetic snaps
denim