Long Overdue Update

We have been in the process of selling our home and moving into temporary housing. Things have been extremely grueling and I had to back out of two shows. I am thrilled to hear that people were asking about me! We are still working on finding a permanent home and hope to be fully moved by Thanksgiving.
I will be at the last Tower Grove Farmer's Market on October 24th and the Rock n Roll Craft Show Thanksgiving weekend. I hope to be back full force after the New Year.

In Limbo

I'd truly hoped to begin updating this blog on a regular basis.
We are trying desperately to get our house ready to put on the market as soon as possible so everything else has fallen to the wayside.
I hope that by September things will be up and running on a more regular basis!

To Market to market...

I will be at the Tower Grove Farmer's market this Saturday (June the 13th) along with my husband James of Fatt Daddy Leather and Alecia of Senora Muertos. My kiddos will also be there selling their wares as well. Hope to see you there!

Abba Dabba Art

Abby brought her handmade greeting cards under the name Abba Dabba Art. This kids draws non-stop, all over everything including her workbooks. She has always dreamed of making some money like the kids do in the old TV shows delivering papers, walking dogs, or selling lemonaide, but times are different and our neighborhood is a little scary. With that said I told her that she could use her art talents to try to make a little money so she purchased an American Girl craft business kit and got down to some serious work.

I'm really proud of her. She worked hard and it paid off. She sold 14 cards and was on cloud nine for days afterwards. She will be bringing more to our next market date on June 13th.

Funkey Monkey Designs

Sam brought her shrinky dink charms to the market under the name Funkey Monkey Designs. She is right up there with her big sis in wanting to not only create (constantly), but also to make money. I have to say that I am quite proud of them for striving to make their own money by WORKING for it not expecting it to be handed to them. She was a little disappointed at her sales, but she got a lot of good feedback on her work. We are using this as a learning experience and she is already coming up with great ideas such as making earrings and necklaces instead of charms. I'm really proud of her and can't wait to see what she comes up with. I'll also be asking her to make me a sew of sprinkle donut earrings!

To Market!

Saturday May 9th is the opener for the Tower Grove Farmer's Market!
I will be vending with my husband www.fattdaddyleather.blogspot.com
and best friend www.senoramuertos.blogspot.com.
Come on down for locally grown produce, music food and of course artisan vendors!
You can check out www.tgmarket.org for more information.

More Barrettes.....

Cinco De Mayo

I'll be vending at the St. Louis Cinco de Mayo festival this Saturday, May 2nd.
Come on down and check out the St. Louis Craft Mafia tent in front of Cranky Yellow on Cherokee street. We will be there from 11am-10pm.
Check out http://www.cincodemayostl.com/ for more information. You just can't beat Mexican music, food and margaritas!

Here's a sampling of what I will be bringing.

New Rock n Roll wristlet for the etsy shop.

New Love.......

My new love....amigurumi!

(I think it's Japanese for little crocheted things)

My grandma taught me how to crochet some basic stitches, a granny square and a zigzag afgan. I never did much with it and never learned how to read patterns. My sister taught herself how to crochet the cutest little critters and in turn taught me. They are surprisingly easy to make. I'm thinking there will be many more of these goofy little things appearing in the near future!

New beginnings

I've been putting a lot of thought to what direction I want to take with House Shoe Mama. I loved making things for kids, but due to those pesky cspia laws I think it's time to switch gears. I'm going back to my first love....purses...mmmm. The creative juices are flowing again and I've got lots of ideas that I want to try. It's warm outside, the birds are chirping, everything is blooming and I finally have craft ideas.....things are looking up.

CSPIA laws

The whole craft world is abuzz with discussions of the new cspia laws that have been passed and will take affect February 10th. In short, a law has been passed saying that all manufactures of items for children under the age of 12 must have all of their products tested for lead by a third party. It does not matter what you make because the law covers EVERYTHING, not just toys. I will be one of the first ones to say that I am all for strict safety standards for our children's toys! However, instead of focusing on the foreign imports and supply companies as it should, it is now saying that we will have to test every one of our products that we put out, regardless of whether our suppliers have documented proof that they are free from lead. This means that in my case that I would have to have every color of the vinyl I use for my baby bibs tested. So far I have heard that $70 is the absolute rock bottom price for this service, but it sounds like many are encountering prices running in the thousands. I use about 12 different colors so thats about $840. That may not sound too bad to some, but then you need to think about the fact that every time I buy a new piece of vinyl I have to have it retested all over again. I will have to stop selling children's items. This law should be overturned and rewritten so that it will target those who were the offenders in the first place. Or maybe we should just stop allowing things to be imported from countries who's governments don't even give a crap about the safety of their own people and environment let along ours. The last I heard, craft supplies and fabrics, with the exception of those made for stained glass, aren't even available in this country.
As a whole, that handmade market place is full of items that came about because of a need for more safe, wholesome children's items. Many of us were sick of hearing the reports of lead in the toys. However, the handmade world exploded not only because of the fear of unsafe toys, but because we are sick of the lame choices that companies offer us! How many more screetching, battery-power-sucking, supposed brain enriching toys do our babies really need? Do I really want my kids playing with lead laden baby hooker dolls? How many more of us were sick of having our kids clothing and shoe choices be limited to the latest Nick Jr, Disney or PBS characters?
Crafters you rock! I am amazed at how creative and resourceful you are. You offer alternatives to the mundane, unsafe and just plain stupid choices that are offered to us. I am really PROUD to say that I am a part of this movement. Keep fighting this! We may be down, but we're not out!

Hello! I'm a stay-at-home mama with four kiddos whom I homeschool. I love to craft. Crafting keeps me sane amidst the mountains of laundry, school papers, dirty diapers and other chaos.