Joe and I are heading upstate this weekend for some much needed R & R. Have a great weekend everyone!

I also bought a few things at Crafty Bastards last weekend, but I can’t share them here because they’re Christmas gifts. Normally, I’m a bit of a scrooge when it comes to the holidays, but this year I’m trying to embrace them. One of my big goals for this year is to have a handmade holiday. Meaning, I’ll only be gifting handmade items from indie designers.

Also for the holidays this year I’ll be bringing back my line of pressed metal ornaments, this time in steel. (I will be making a few copper and aluminum ones as well.) Ever since I started using props for my Etsy photos, I’ve been obsessed with spray painting things white and decided that would look great on steel ornaments. I’m still experimenting to get the surface the way I want, but expect to see them in the shop soon.

Speaking of Second Storie}, I realized that I have yet to share all the goodies I came home with. So here they are:
Some lovely stationary and other goodies from Pistachio Press.

A collection of notebooks from Freshly Blended.

North American endangered animal prints by Marlene Heuer.

A collection of paper goods from Paperoot.

Plus some lovely ceramics from Dulcie Miller and Marie Verlinde of Crocus Clay Works. And my little splurge, a lovely painting by Collette Watts Quaglia. (This isn’t the exact painting I bought, but I wanted to include an image of Collette’s lovely work. I’ll share the painting I bought when I have a chance to hang it.)

I’ll be having my first ever trunk show at Craft Company No. 6 in Rochester from October 24 to 28! (I met many of the lovely ladies from the Craft Company at Second Storie, and I’m so excited to put work in the gallery.) If you’re in the area, stop by and check it out.

I’m a sucker for things made from wire (shocking, I know) and lately I’ve been loving things painted white (more on that later), so I’m totally loving this chandelier by Abigail Ahern.
via design*sponge. (I’m also loving the design*sponge re-design.)

Just a quick post to say that I’m still adding more sale items to the shop – including the very last of my sterling leaf line and some steel flower brooches. Get ’em before they’re gone.

I’m clearing out some of my older items to make room for new work. All week long, I’ll be adding items to the sale. This means 25% off a variety of designs, and your last chance to pick them up before they’re gone. You can view sale items right here in my shop.

Crafty Bastards was awesome! Thanks to everyone who stopped by, said hello, and shopped! It was great to meet a few people I only know through blog-land, like Jen from IndieFixx and Margaux Lange. (Not only did I get to meet Margaux, but we traded. You can see the lovely necklace I got below.)

Thanks to the folks at Washington City Paper for putting on such a great event!

Poppytalk Handmade is finally live. Jan’s assembled a great collection of artists – including some of my personal favorites – Julie Lake, Diana Fayt, Ink and Wit, Pistachio Press, and Swallowfield. Its nice to be in such good company. (You can view my “table” right here.)

If you’re in the DC area tomorrow, be sure to stop by Crafty Bastards! With work by artists like imogene, the broken plate, margaux lange (oh, and me!), its sure to be a lot of fun. (And its never too early to start your holiday shopping – I mean, if Target can sell Christmas cards already, you can pick up some great handmade gifts at CB.)