What Your Mother Always Told You, or, A New Way To Wash Your Hands

I was a dirty child. I loved to make messes and drag them all over the house. If it wasn't a dirt/grim-filled mess, it was a whirlwind of toys, papers, and a hoard of craft projects. Not much has changed besides the acuteness of my motor skills, and even that is debatable sometimes.

My whole life, the one thing tying my down and keeping me from plummeting into the abyss of clutter-filled madness has been the other people guarding the order in my life. Who are these guardians of sanity and neatness? Hmm...

Mothers. My biological mother and all the additional mothers who pitched in to raise me right: Bubba, Grandma Beth, Grandma Kay, and Aunt Moo Moo, just to name a few key players. Without them, I would definitely be an untamed, unruly explosion of destructive creativity that is unable to do anything from start to finish. Through their years of dedicated persistence that I do wash my hands and don't keep bringing out more projects when I have a zillion going I have grown up to be a still-insane yet much more socially acceptable human being.

On Mother's Day I celebrated not only my mother, Bubba, but also these supportive mothers who kept all my fingers attached while I endeavored to explore art while under their watchful eyes. Thank you, ladies. I am quite glad that you put up with me and helped make me what I am today.

Grandma Beth taught me to crochet, to make apricot preserves, to sew on a machine without losing a finger, to read patterns, and to be a world-class bargain hunter.

Grandma Kay taught me how to sew by hand, to make my own patterns, to embroider, to bake a pie, to play hostess, and to tend a garden.

Aunt Moo Moo was my first crochet student. She taught me to be patient while teaching others, to get excited as they learn, and to be amazed when their skill surpasses my own.

And Bubba. I cannot even begin to list the things my mother has taught me through the years.

Thank you.


In other news: The Pec Thing is fast approaching! May 15-16, 8 am-5 pm. Propaganda Candy is lookin' good. Pics next time??

Also, I am proud to announce that this post is courtesy of me getting up on time via Wake-up Call de Caleb. Baby steps, baby steps. Maybe eventually I'll wake up on my own.

Hah.

-Carolyn Michelle

Sorry, I gotta go do that Thing...

At last, the weather here is warming up. You know what that means: the hunt is on. Garage sales, flea markets, and auction barns dance in my head. The prospect of finding that piece of "vintage awesome" is enough to drive me mad. I hear the calls from the beaten-down grass lawns, trodden over by all the hopefuls who came before me. They say, "Oh Carolyn, come and play!"

Well. Here I come.

For the first time ever, I will join the ranks of vintage and craft enthusiasts who line the booths at the Annual Pecatonica "Pec Thing" Flea Market and Craft Show. Together with my trusty partner Sammi-the-bee-Queen, we will craft our way into history with our new joint effort entitled: Propaganda Candy.

Featured items include: pin-on buttons, shrinky dink art, recycled jewelry, and plushies.

I'm so excited!!

Picture Above: Building II at the 2007 Pec Thing (Note: Funny enough, this is actually a picture from the official Pec Thing website of my Grandma Beth's booth)

In other news: spring break 2010 is here and the renovations to the Hay Mow/Art Barn are underway!

More on that later.

Have a wonderful day,

Carolyn

Image from: winnebagocountyfair.com

Yes, Crazy

I believe I have mentioned in the past that my life is crazy.

Yes, crazy.

I'm down to two weeks of school for this school year and let me tell you, the teachers are piling on the work like there's no tomorrow. Now, it's not difficult work, it's just tedious work. Final exams are May 29th, June 1st, and June 2nd. My last day is the 3rd. Can you say: PARTY?!! So many of my friends are graduating this year! Including my boyfriend. Did I mention him before? Heh. Like I said, crazy life lately.

So, as you can see from the hat picture above, I am.......behind on posting stuff to the shop. So, my loving Grandmother took my hats to the infamous "Pec Thing" and tried to sell them for me. I actually don't know how well it went, considering I hadn't even priced the darn things. Oh dear.

In other news:

The article in Rockford Woman's Magazine about my mother, sister, and I was a HUGE success. Sales have not been skyrocketing exactly, but tons of people have been coming up to me and asking me about my shop. The article is here if you are interested in reading it. I am still majorly excited about the nice little slice of publicity the shop is getting from the article. Very very exciting. Who'da thunk?

In other other news....my schedule for Summer 2009:

June 3rd: last day of school

June 14th-23rd: In Spain and France with the Durand Art Boosters

July 12th-26th: In Chicago at School of the Art Institute studying fashion construction

Other than that, I'm taking lots of naps outside, crocheting up a storm, hopefully reserving a booth for the Fall 2009 Pec Thing, playing hillarious pranks on my friends, breathing in and out....you know, the normal stuff we all do in the summer time.

Hope you all are enjoying this FANTASTIC weather today. 85 degrees and sunny, now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout. No more of the snow-cold-winter routine. I'm DONE!

Okay.

Lots of love,

Carolyn Michelle