Etsy Treasury Poster Challenge

I get really excited about contests. I love to enter and I love seeing who wins. So Jared (the guy at Etsy who invents all the amazing graphics stuff like the Treasury, the Time Machine and the Color Picker) and the other Etsy Admins came up with this idea to have a poster contest via the Treasury. They are going to pick a few of the best and make limited edition posters out of them to give away at events (like Strange Folk in St. Louis where I'll be in September).

I love my entry. I chose most of these from my favorites, starting with KnittyDirtyGirl's hedgehog piece. I love her work and can't believe I didn't see her amazing little felted pieces at the Eastern Market last weekend. I based the color theme around the red of the polka dot fabric and then built from there. Here's a list of the sellers that I included: theblackapple, aorta, supastarr, heatherjeany, cornflakegirl, thegarbagegoose, miniblisscakes, oktak, AuntyCookie, askey, douajeevang, lagreen, fifilapin, huddle, and yumiyumi. I just bought a felted cat from lagreen to go next to thegarbagegoose's Poppy Kitty.

It's gotten some great feedback so I'll keep you posted.

Lancaster, PA and the Eastern Market

It was a beautiful drive to Lancaster. We hardly had any traffic and it was a little overcast so I didn't have to wear sunglasses all day. Mom and I ate lunch at a crazy diner and then got to our hotel room with the evening to spare.


The Eastern Market was really cool. I got to hang out with some amazing Etsy sellers. Actually most of the vendors there are Etsy sellers. But seriously, how much better can it get than to drive up, get out of the car, and get a hug from someone you've been "talking" to online for months? That's one of the reasons why I love Etsy. It is such an amazing community. I have made so many friends and the network has allowed me to meet a lot of them in person.



One of those sellers is Steph of Stephanie Gibson Designs (above). Her jewelry is really exquisite. I was so impressed by the quality of her craftsmanship. My mom got a very nice necklace and some matching earrings. I bought a lot of soap and a lip balm from The Professor's Wife. She's not on Etsy yet but we're trying to talk her into it. I can't even list all of the other artisans who were selling their work that day because there are just too many of them. I was pretty happy with the way my table turned out. I've been adding new types of products (like the bean dolls) and it was a struggle to figure out where to put everything. I'll keep working on that one.


Lancaster and its surrounding towns are incredible. Mom and I had a great time doing some touristy stuff like visiting the emergency room (seriously), shopping for crafts and antiques, checking out the outlet mall, eating at gargantuan country buffets, and buying miniature pies. It's a wonderful place for a family vacation (as long as you check out the Eastern Market!). That's a cool llama that I met.

For more pictures of the Eastern Market, check out Frost Imaging's flickr site. Alissa of DivaDea also wrote this nice blog post about the market.

Saturday at the Market

This weekend, Saturday, July 14, Lemon Cadet is heading to Lancaster, PA for the Historic East Side "Eastern Market." At the corner of East King and Shippen Streets in downtown Lancaster.

As always, there's going to be something new that's not in the Etsy shop yet. This time it's really big striped bean dolls. They're all finished and ready to go.


For this event, I'll only have room for one table. That's a big switch from being able to use the space of the whole tent like the last couple of shows. So I spent some time figuring out how I want it to look since I have a wider variety of items now. I left all the baskets and bowls empty and took a quick picture for reference. I'm going to print it out and bring it with me.

Find directions here. Photos of the event here. The weather is going to be amazing: sunny and warm without any rain. I'll be in the big building, just inside the doors next to StephanieGibson and her beautiful jewelry. You'll also get a chance to meet my talented mom.

There's no entry fee and it goes from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Plushie Softie Stuffie Pillow Bean Love

So finally I added my brand new bean dolls to the Etsy shop! I've had a couple finished for a while now but I wasn't ready to part with them.

Yesterday I shot a bunch of photos and got the images all ready to go. These beans are really big. They're about 14" tall and super stuffed. I'll start making some smaller ones after the Eastern Market.


I also made two striped bean dolls but with new stuffing. The new stuffing is all lumpy and I don't like it so I'm going to pull it all out and fill them up with the same kind of stuffing as the first two guys.

Soon, I'll have a listing for a matching set (onesie or tee). I think that will be really awesome -- a bean doll to match your kid! I'll be able to make the bean dolls in almost all of the fabrics that I have (and I got some great new prints last weekend). In the meantime, if you want a matching set -- or if you have a onesie and you want a bean to match, just send me an email and I'll get started.

A little note: Since these beans have no removable parts (i.e. no button eyes or other loose appendages), I would let my baby play with one if I had one (a baby, that is -- I have beans). That said, these bean dolls aren't designed to be used with babies or as children's toys. And never, ever, ever put your baby down next to a pillow or in a crib with a pillow because babies can get suffocated. So be careful.

Huskystar, I have missed you!

So I went on vacation and then mom had a bit of surgery and then it was the first week of summer classes...

Excuses, excuses! But until just now, I've been so busy playing catch-up that I haven't had one free moment to make stuff.

I got so excited after stitching up that striped bean doll (inside-out and there to the left of my baby, Mr. Huskystar), I decided to take a picture and write up this little post.

The bean dolls will be in the shop by Monday. I had taken photos of the two corduroy number beans before I left. I thought I had locked them before deleting everything else from the Nikon but alas, I had not. So into the abyss that is the digital recycling bin they went.

Tomorrow promises to be sunny enough for new pics.

I really love sewing. I really love doing the applique. And I really really love drawing up new little guys.

Lemon Cadet's the Craftiest Bastard

As many of you know, I've been on vacation this week. While I was away, I was selected by the Washington City Paper as the Craftiest Bastard of the Week. What an honor! The deal is that they choose one of their classified ads to be featured at the top of the page and they write about them to their email list.

They have a lot of ads so it's a big deal to be chosen.

In other news...
Lemon Cadet has finally hunted down a sasquatch. Soon there'll be little Big Foots (Big Feet?) running all over the Etsy shop. These are going to look great on onesies and even better on the white boy shorts style panties I just got in (just a couple of sizes).

Thanks to everyone for their patience while I was away and a special thanks to Char for taking care of the shipping (and the cats!). Wholesale orders are a bit behind but I should have all custom orders out in Tuesday's mail.

Screenshot and heads up provided by TinaSeamonster. Thanks.

Small Magazine

The latest issue of Small magazine has finally hit inboxes worldwide -- and Lemon Cadet is inside!

Small magazine is one of the best venues of independent and contemporary design for children. And because it's online, it's accessible to everyone with an internet connection. Their photography is brilliant and their styling is impeccable. I really feel honored to be in such great company.

So I have to say that this pretty much is the best news ever.