Judy is a BAD ASS.

CANCER SUCKS.

My surrogate mamma, Judy, is on round with two cancer. She's my favorite fiesty old bird.

Judy's journey in the last week:

12 hours of surgery to remove her vocal chords, part of her esophagus and a bunch of reconstructive stuff to make a new esophagus using skin from her leg and arm. Followed by several days of heavy sedation. She's the toughest broad I know.

I got to visit her for the first time today. She's writing notes and asked me to arrange a sponge bath with her dreamy Russian doctor, so I'm confident she's doing as well as she can. They have her on the good dope - that never hurts :-)

During our visit I crocheted her a colorful cozy for her big 'ol ugly bandage so she'd have some cheerful color in the drab beige room and a little love from me close by. We also decided since she has a row of staples (very hardcore) that when she's better we should get her a bitchin' tattoo. Maybe a skull and crossbones? She's promised me a round of dirty word Scrabble on our next visit. I'm pretty excited about that.

Before I left, at her request, I took pics of her staples. She was bummed she didn't have pics from the first surgery a few years back. Judy is a BAD ASS.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers - there's much more on her agenda over the coming months.

Good Times Were Had By All!

Artropy was a blast! Check out me and my pal, Bobbi, of Down Zipper. We shared a booth and a bunch of laughs. The show was a huge success! It was great to meet some new folks and have an excuse to hang out with my favorite arty girls from Show Me Etsy.

SqWires was a great host and a big shout out and thanks to Rick who saved me early in the day with a much needed and tasty cup of coffee.

Next up...the Farmer's Market and Big Ass Indie.

I've Been Iced!

I'm the featured artist on Indie Icing today. WEEEE!!!!!!! Check it out :)
http://indieicing.com/

Artropy is this weekend! YAY!!!!!!!

Come play with me and my arty pals this Saturday at SqWires Annex in Lafayette Square. We got a little write up in the RFT - 'cuz we're totally awesome! :-) Check it out...

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/events/artropy-721400/

Mrs. Pin Cushion Pillow is famous!

My pal and fellow Jack-in-the-Box lover, Bobbi, wrote a little blog about the pin cushion I made for her. Isn't she sweet!

http://americancraftguide.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mrs-lady-pin-pillow

She's the best. Go see her kick ass Etsy shop at www.downzipper.etsy.com and buy a bunch 'o her stuff!!!!

Shout out from Cranky Yellow!

My pals David and Angelo from Cranky Yellow gave me a shout out and posted a picture of them with my kiddo that I took on our last visit.

Check it out! www.crankyyellow.com/blog/

Studio Mascot # 2 Misbehaves. Shocking.

For those of you who don't know, a while back I acquired Bad Cat on a camping trip. Some redneck chap decided that a campground was a really great place to unload the litter of kittens his barn cat had birthed a few weeks prior. Kittens that were not old enough to be away from thier mama.

Of course my daughter found the kittens, brought me a black ball of fuzz and commenced to beg. He was so small he fit in her hand and so pitiful I couldn't dream of returning him to Jimmy Crack Corn.

Officially kitty was named Sebastian. He was sweet and snuggly and had the tiniest meow ever. Here's a picture of him a couple weeks after he came home.














Here's a picture of Gram Pam petting the little cutie














He was so small he was restricted to the bathroom for his own safety when he wasn't being held. Mr. Wobbles played Daddy several times a day and spent the night with Sebastian so he wouldn't get scared. All was well for a time.

Then kitty got big. Then he got bigger. Now he's almost as big as Mr. Wobbles. This annoyed Mr. Wobbles so the dog was recruited to take over parental duties. Sebastian LOVES the dog. Sebastian THINKS he's a dog. They nap together, they play in the yard together and they wrestle under my feet as often as possible.

Here's the problem with a cat raised by a dog. They're a little fiestier than a regular cat, add to that the fact that he's a hair away from feral since he comes from a long line of barn cats. Enter BAD CAT. He's not bad in a pee on the carpet kind of way, but he's constantly in to everything. His hunter instincts are top notch (proven regularly by a grip of dead critters dragged through the doggie door) and he thinks feet are prey. I have the gouges to prove it.



Yesterday I needed to photograph some stuff for my Etsy site (shameless plug: www.southcitystudio.etsy.com) so I set up my light box and gathered my goodies. I should probably mention that Bad Cat already attacked my light box once and installed a drive-thru window on one side and a kitty door on the other so I have some improvising going on until I get it fixed up.

Let me show you how he continues to earn his name...

Before:




















He looks so innocent, doesn't he?

After:

Turned my back for two seconds....

"Oh hai. U needed sum remodleng on dis side. Kthxbai"













"Dis side need bettr view. I xpand for u."














"Much gooder. I lax now after hard werk. Kthxbai."















I finally manage to shoo him out without totally destroying the light box, get back to work re-shooting some jewelry and then....

"Oh hai. What r u dewing? Lemme get closer look."














"That's boring. I leave now. Kthxbai. Oh first I make dis hole jus a little biggr."




























Case closed!

Hit and Nap. Car accident # oh hell, I've lost count.

He was drunk.
Decided to take a nap.
Didn't put his big 'ol Suburban in park.
Smashed in to my pretty silver Jeep.
Pushed her several yards and smooshed her tire well.

:(

Guest Blogger - Anita Cupcake

Since I've already mentioned Anita Cupcake and her mad skillz twice, I figured I'd have her drop in and do a guest spot and share a tasty recipe with my peeps. Welcome Anita!

Hello -

Anita Cupcake here, Holly's co worker. So what is the Cupcake girl doing giving cookie recipes? Holly asked me!

The following recipe won me fame. Let us first define fame - a blurb in the St Louis Post Dispatch. A girl can dream can't she? The story is I made the cookies, took them to work and a man proposed to me. He was totally serious, down on one knee the whole thing. Looking back on the situation maybe I should have taken him up on the offer, best deal I have had in a while! Nah! Life is good as it is!

This cookie is a crowd favorite, oatmeal, chocolate and caramel - always a winning combination:

Caramel Oatmeal Squares

1 3/4 cup rolled oats (quick cooking or old fashioned- uncooked)

1 1/2 cup all purposed flour

3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) margarine - melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts - optional

1 - 12 oz bag semi sweet chocolate chips

1 12 oz jar caramel sauce or butterscotch ice cream topping

Combine rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda in a bowl - add margarine and vanilla mix until crumbly. Reserve one cup for topping.

Press remaining mixture into bottom if greased 9 by 13 inch baking pan, Bake in preheated oven 350 degree oven 10 mins. Sprinkle nuts and chocolate chips in top. Drizzle caramel topping over chocolate pieces and nuts to within 1/4 inch pan edges. Bake in preheated oven 350 degrees 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely. Chill until chocolate is set, Cut into bars. Store tightly covered, in cool dry place. Make approx 32 bars.

I would like to thank Holly for the honor of being a guest blogger (my first time as a guest blogger ever!)

Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake,

Anita Cupcake

What is funny if you say my name fast, Anita Cupcake...I Need A Cupcake. Get it? I guess not that funny if you have to explain it, but it makes me smile every time they call me that at work. It is the small things in life you know!

Cheers!

Hey! It's Friday!

Today is a bonus day, because it's one of my other favorites...PAY DAY. Yay!

It's a bit gloomy 'round these parts, very grey today. Boo! If I start singing Here Comes the Sun do you think it would work? I'm sure my coworkers would LOVE that.

This weekend the studio will be bustling with activity. I have all sorts of fun projects lined up. There are plushies and pillows to stuff, bags to make, tile necklaces to assemble and aprons to stitch. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it!

I had grand plans for getting all sorts of stuff accomplished last night but I fell asleep on the couch instead. Ooops.

For lunch today I had a tasty portabella sandwich and an Anita treat for dessert. MMMMM. Now I'm a bit stuffed and considering a nap under my desk. Here in university land there are always kids sacked out in weird places, no one would probably even notice. In fact, sometimes it looks like we're collecting homeless teenagers. My favorite place to nap is the library. The dehumidifiers make a lovely hum that will lull you right to sleep!

Alrighty, I better get a cup 'o jo if I'm going to stay awake the rest of the day. I'm clearly under-caffeniated. Toodles!

Ode to Anita Cupcake

To all you greedy baked good coveters...

They are for me,
Anita's cookies, bars and pies.

Touch my goodies,
and I'll poke you in the eyes.

MMMMMMmmmm. Good!

*********************************************

Thanks for the treats Anita! :)

Mr. Wobbles Fan

One of Mr. Wobble's fans would like me to share a little tidbit of info. Mr. Wobbles IS wobbly. Like a drunk. He had distemper as a kitten and has permanent neurological challenges. Don't tell him though, he doesn't have a clue he's handicapped!

Studio Mascot Stages Sit-in. Day Two.

This morning as I shuffled my way to the kitchen I was stopped in my tracks by two very angry kitties. It seems the kitten food that was purchased yesterday was NOT to their liking.

I grabbed my camera in hopes of capturing the kitty protest on film, but the bad cat is camera shy and took off. However, Mr. Wobbles was so peeved he stuck around to cuss me six ways to Sunday.

This picture is of Mr. Wobbles pointing out the lack of edible food in his big food box. I'm pretty sure I heard him mutter something about disgusting crap from Sav-A-Lot.


















We chatted briefly and I tried to explain to him that I really needed to get ready for work and didn't have time to go get new food until later.

It was at this point that negotiations began - he promised not to shred the upholstery while I was at work if I would go get him food, right this *&@#(*&(* minute.




















You know, it really didn't feel like negotiation at all. Felt a little threatening. Especially when he said he had, "connections".

Fortunately for me the kitty's grandma lives with us and volunteered to fetch some food while I got dressed.
















This pleased Mr. Wobbles immensely.

Order was restored and Bad Cat made an appearance. I'm thinking maybe I should keep one eye open when I sleep...just in case.

Not Wacky at All

Turns out nothing wacky happened today.

On my way home I stopped by Knitorious and chatted with the owner Sandy. I hadn't been in the shop since they moved to thier new location - it's AWESOME. I'm going to take a private crochet lesson there in a couple weeks, only $15!! So cool.

I did get some work done though - the studio is busting at the seams with projects and things to be photographed. I got a handful of vintage items photographed and up in the shop www.southcitystudio.etsy.com . My favorite is the Art Deco pin.

I also took a photo of my pal the abominable snow girl. She's nameless. Can you help?

Wacky Wednesday

There's really nothing particularly wacky about today, but it sounds like it's a lot more fun if we refer to it as WACKY Wednesday, don't you think? All sorts of wacky things could happen at any moment! So far it's been status quo, but alas, there are still almost 4 hours left for potential wackiness.

The three-eyed stomach monster has been safely delivered to her new home. It was insta-love for both the monster and the proud new monster momma.




















Tonight at the studio (a.k.a. my dining room) I'll be crafting up some more goodies from THE PILE. Yesterday was jewelry/Monk night. While watching re-runs with the kid I whipped up some new charm necklaces and a nifty hematite donut necklace. I'll snap some photos later taters.


This morning, my kitty, Mr. Wobbles was staging a sit-in because he was unhappy with the state of his food bowl. Apparently only peasants eat the crap they knock on the floor or what's at the bottom of the bowl. There was much meowing and complaining followed by pouting.




















Anita Cupcake brought cookies to the office today. I was pretty excited about that. I think I'm going to go fetch one now to wash down my soup.

XOXO

It's Tuesday - YAY!

It's Tuesday and I'm doing a little lunch time blogging. Don't mind the crumbs and crunching noises.

Last night proved to be a busy one - had my monthly meeting with the ShowMe Etsy ladies www.showmeetsy.org and got some business stuff done. I tell ya, these are some talented women! I'm so excited about our upcoming show!

After the meeting Bobbi and I hit Jack-in-the-Box for 2/.99 tacos. We were suffering from a faux meat and grease deficiency. We probably would have died without them. Thank God we were able to scrounge up enough change in the black hole that is my purse.

Upon returning to my casa I downed some Pepto to offset the taco grease and surveyed my giant pile of incomplete projects, which made me wonder...can I sew and sleep at the same time?

Apparently I can type and sleep at the same time, I did it last night on my laptop. This morning I remembered that I had completed my survey for the upcycling booth while simultaneously nodding on my laptop.

snooze
type, type, type
snooze
type, type, type
snooze

This initially made me a little nervous, but luckily I got a copy of the application in my email this morning and other than one typo it was surprisingly coherent for a sleeping girl.

I'm telling you, I don't know how, but I will parlay my sleep disorder in to something positive if it kills me. Falling asleep in seconds is a skill, right? Perhaps I should join a circus.

Ladies and gents, I present *doot-doo-doo* SLEEPING GIRL!!!!!!!

And then I could demonstrate my amazing powers of spontaneous nap!

Welp, time to get back to my office girl duties. Toodle-loo!

Artropy - April 25th

Come visit me and my arty pals at
SqWires - the Annex,
1415 South 18th Street.
Saturday, April 25th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Hope to see you there!

Brand Spankin' New Blog

This is my shiny new blog. Thanks for stopping by!

What's new at the studio...

Lots of projects in queue:

Aprons
Monster pin cushions
Antique key charm necklaces
Cool t-shirts
blind mice cat toys
pin cushions galore

Today I wrapped up a custom apron order for Mike of Mother B's, maker of killer cheesecakes. I sewed up a 3-eyed pin cushion monster for my pal, Bobbi of Down Zipper (www.downzipper.etsy.com) and made a custom tote for her sporting her logo. If I wasn't so dang tired I go snap a photo, but since I'm in bed - it's not happening. xoxo I also made some cool totes with Buddha heads on the front and some custom ordered snarky t-shirts for my co-worker pals. I can't wait until tomorrow when everybody sees their new stuff! Yay!!!

Tomorrow I play the role of office girl all day, then in the evening I have a meeting with my crafty chics to pick booth spaces for our next show, Artropy. www.showmeetsy.org

It's going to be a busy day tomorrow, so I better get some shut eye. The dog and the bad cat already have a head start, I think I hear snoring.

My Esty shop