As seen in Parents Magazine...

I've known about this little secret for a while now but since the issue is FINALLY out on the stands, it's time to share.

The Lemon Cadet baby line is featured on page 28 of the December 2007 issue of Parents Magazine. They did a little story on Etsy.com and chose one of my onesies as the main photo. What's even better is that they put the onesie on the world's cutest child for the shoot.

I subscribed to the magazine and while ago and got the November issue in the mail but I'm still waiting for December. Hmmm... Waiting for December. That'd make a good band name.

Handmade Arcade

It's been over a week since Handmade Arcade but I've been sick. I wish I could have posted a review sooner but it just wasn't happening. The show itself was amazing. It was very well organized and we got great communication involving setup and directions. I was impressed. They even had volunteers lined up to help us unload our cars the first morning. Wow.



The crowd was super enthusiastic and really there to shop and support us makers. They had to be! It was freezing in there. I was layered up like I was off to seek out yetis in the frozen tundra. For me, it was nice to be so close to home. It takes just over an hour to get there from here and I was able to stay with a good friend where I felt comfortable.

I'll definitely apply to do the show again next year and I hope to get accepted. But I do hope they find a venue that's a little cleaner or at least provides some heat.

I had my friend Dorsey make up a new batch of yeti tees, I got busy making a whole bunch of bean dolls and a nice stack of the Lemon Cadet baby and toddler line including some furry yetis. The table was about 8 feet wide, a whole 2 feet wider than my little tables. The space was great but my tablecloths (designed to fit a variety of table sizes) were too small! Oops! So I took my decorative linens and layered them on the sides where my cloth was too short. I like the way it looks but you can bet I'll be sewing up a couple more for BUST.

I made the Etsy homepage!

One of my Etsy friends, iSew, and I made the Etsy homepage yesterday. The people over at EtsyLabs have been making all these Christmas gift buying guides for The Storque. This one was for boys ages 3 - 7. There was some pretty great stuff on the list and it was the first time I got a product featured there.

Ginny, the mastermind behind iSew, does these amazing sock monkey gadget cozies. Since our future baby's room will be all sock monkeys, we might be talking to her about a little something something someday soon.

Rare Bird Finds Holiday Gift Guide is back

I posted about this last year when they did this and they're at it again. Rare Bird Finds is a cool blog featuring interesting products. They've got a very thorough holiday gift guide again with all sorts of suggestions for those people in your life who are really hard to buy for.

Check it out here or click the blinking icon over there on the left. I really like that this blog has a subscribing service. I get an email every day with all their latest picks so I don't forget to look.

Handmade Arcade!

Please come visit me this weekend at Pittsburgh's own amazing indie craft fair, Handmade Arcade. It's held every year at Construction Junction. This year there will be over 100 vendors including a few people selling food and snacks.

Here's a list of the demos:

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10

11:15am - 12:00pm “Beaded Beads” Carrie Nardini, I Made It!

12:00pm - 1:00pm Book Binding Ian Short, Artists Image Resource

1:30pm - 2:30pm Yarn Dying Stacey Wettstein, Knit One

3:00pm - 4:30pm Illustrated Storytelling and Drawing Workshop For Children Joe Wos, sponsored by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh

4:45pm - 7:00pm Copper Bracelets & Olive Oil Soap Adina DeRoy & Adriane Pacella, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11

11:15am - 12:00pm “Beaded Beads” Carrie Nardini, I Made It!

12:00pm - 1:00pm Book Binding Ian Short, Artists Image Resource

1:15pm- 2:15pm Glass Bead Blowing Kim Hergert, Sweetgrass Beads

2:30pm – 5:00pm Copper Bracelets & Olive Oil Soap Adina DeRoy & Adriane Pacella, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

**Plus screenprinting make 'n take with Artists Image Resource AND create**

**Zipper pull with Pat Catan's.**

And get this: A free crafty swag bag to the first 100 visitors each day.

I've got a great spot right in the middle across from my friend Emily of DisCARDS. I'm really looking forward to this. It's so nice to go to an event that's pretty close to home in a town I know like the back of my hand. I get to stay with a good friend, take care of errands on Friday evening, and head home with an easy drive on Sunday. Yay!

There are directions on the website. Hours are from 11 - 7 on Saturday and from 11 - 5 on Sunday AND, it's about a mile from Trader Joe's so you can stock up on your Double Dark coffee beans on your way home.

Good news and bad news...

I was cleaning up my blog links earlier today and accidentally deleted the whole page element! Terrible news.

So luckily I had a window open with my blog that had the original list so I quickly cut and pasted the column into Word which (hooray!!) pasted the imbedded links as well.

It's going to take me hours to get the thing formatted again so I will not be doing that today. Blog links: Coming Soon.

That's Koko signing frown from this website.

Softies Central -- Go Vote!

Obviously, I'm not a finalist in the Let it Snow! Category but that bunny up there by my new friend over at Etsy is! Astulbee is going to be at the Bust Craftacular in Dec. with me.

Check out the finalists and do some voting over at the Softies Central blog.

Buy Handmade!

I took the Handmade Pledge this year and so should you! It doesn't mean that you have to buy ONLY handmade items but it means that you're making an effort. I'm about halfway finished with my holiday shopping and most of it has been off Etsy. I'm so glad these guys got together and organized this online event. It's really cool.

I'll be selling my stuff at two major shows in the upcoming weeks (Handmade Arcade and the Bust Craftacular, links to left). I always buy stuff at these types of events, even though I'm always rushing to see all the stuff from the other vendors. I love Etsy but it's really cool to meet the makers in person sometimes too.

Softies Central Holiday Softie Awards

I mustered up the courage to enter this year's Holiday Softie Awards sponsored by the amazing folks over at Softies Central. I've mentioned this blog before. They feature plush -- all day, almost everyday, on their blog.

I don't remember how I found out about them -- just clicking links, I think. Every year they have cool contest categories so I entered this bean into the Let It Snow category.

You can view all the entries in the flickr pool and more pics of my bean here. There's some really really really great stuff so I'm not expecting to win but it sure would be cool to get a mention, huh?

The front of the bean is the same amazingly soft faux fur that makes my yetis. The back is some super soft fleece that I picked up just for this. As always, he has a little Lemon Cadet label on the back. The rules for the category specify that the item had to be mostly white but you could use some color for accent. My favorite holiday colors are white and silver and metallic blue so when I saw the category, this is what came to mind. You know I gotta sport my Jewish heritage every now and then.

In a week, they will be announcing the top 5 in each category and I'll let you know when you can vote.

I'll post the winners as soon as I hear. And I'm sure you'll hear my shouts of joy if I'm one of them!