Niknod's Handmade Blog & Whatnot

Holiday Shopping for a Cause

2008-11-06T07:14:00.000-08:00

Get a jump on your holiday shopping and support breast cancer research and prevention.

This Saturday, November 8, join us from 6-9 pm at Salon deZen, 1008 King Street, in Alexandria, VA.

Enjoy champagne, snacks, and plenty of holiday cheer as you shop for custom jewelry by Trish Thackston, handcrafted baby items by Niknod (that's me!) , Pampered Chef products, custom stationary by Simple Terms, homemade honey by John Ferree of Ferree Bee Products, Tastefully Simple, custom stamping with Ruth Murphy, and so much more!

A percentage of sales will be donated to team F.W.I.K. and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. For more information, check out the team website. www.fwik.org.

Not local, or can't make it? 11/9-11/16 10% of all sales in my Etsy shop will be donated for breast cancer research and prevention!

Recovery is Slow and Boring

2008-10-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I'm back, recovering from last week's emergency appendectomy. I'm very glad to be home now, with family and friends and kitties to keep me company.

Betsy has offered to help make some hats. Just as soon as she learns how to crochet. She's very cute trying to do it, jabbing her hook into the ball of yarn. Watch, in six months she'll be crocheting circles around me (perhaps literally, given her fascination with all things "circle" lately)!

Come to Our Garden

2008-10-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

One thing our condo has, that our apartment didn't have, is a lovely patio perfect for gardening. Here are two of our favorites.

This geranium is gigantic, and the red flowers virtually vibrate in the bright patio sunshine. We bought this at a trip to the Leesburg Flower and Garden show with my brother and sister-in-law, on a cold and rainy April day. It has bloomed all summer long, and now fills an enormous pot.

Betsy likes to pick the flowers and sprinkle petals in puddles.

We've also had great success this summer with our edibles, herbs and peppers. For months and months, we've been making batches of searingly and deliciously hot jalapeno poppers, from just this one plant.

I'll be sad when first frost kills the more delicate herbs, but I'm also looking forward to the end of the mosquitos that keep us from dining on the patio!

Portrait of the Tattoo Artist as a Young Woman

2008-10-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

Oh NO! Now look what's happened. Someone got into the markers and pens.

But don't our arms look fabulous?

CMP Craft Show

2008-10-06T03:40:00.001-07:00

I was a vendor at my first craft show on 9/27, at lovely Claude Moore Park in Sterling, Virginia. It was so much fun meeting new people there, both customers and other vendors. I was happy with my sales, and took lots of custom orders that have been keeping me busy since (hence no blog posts recently).

I think the clotheslines worked well for displaying hats, although next year I'd like to have more rows of hats to display!

Likewise, I'd like to have a table full of toys next year. But I have to start someplace, right? Kids seemed to really like the fish and pumpkins.

Here are friends Isobel and Betsy, enjoying a lovely snack together. The tiny chairs were a big hit, as was the random blue ball (not shown). We had brought these purely for Betsy's entertainment, but other kids liked them too, and brought their parents into the booth as well when they came in to sit or play.

Here are Dodie, Betsy, and my mom, keeping an eye on things. Mom, Matthew, and Betsy were a huge help, and I certainly could not have done it without them!

Then You May Take Me to the Faire

2008-09-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. I had to make Betsy--ahem, Princess Elizabeth--a costume, because dressing up is the best part! That, and gawking at the things other people dress up in. And eating meat on a stick.

And blowing bubbles with fairies. And flinging hatchets. And twirling with Elizabeth to bagpipe music.

I made her outfit in (literally) the hour before we left, and it was ridiculously easy. A velvety tank over a onesie, and a satiny elastic-waist skirt, all fabrics from my stash. And some plastic pearls that she's been loving lately. As long as you didn't look too closely at the finishing details, it looked good!

We were surprised by how many people stopped us to take pictures and comment on her dress. Perhaps because she was one of the few little girls there NOT in a Disney Princess Polyester Party Pak outfit?

And now it's another fun addition to her dress-up box.

Stuff Happening Today

2008-09-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

The Artsy Danger Ladies Secret Mod Squad sale is on! Search for teamADL for lots of great stuff that's 20% off, today only!

Also, I'm in another treasury, this one of pretty blue and brown things for babies. I'll try to put up a screen shot later, but for now here's a link.

Still Pretty Cool

2008-09-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone who reads this reads the Storque. Or if anyone reads this blog at all! (If you are not here, please raise your hand.)

The results for the Etsy Handmade Kids Contest are in, and while I didn't win, I'm darn proud of how I did. Out of the 40 finalists, my hat was number 16, in an apparently close race with #15, the Turkey Leg Baby Rattle by MayaBella,

and #17, the Elvin Adventure Hood from FairyTaleFibers.

That's some good company!

Upcoming Events

2008-09-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

Two bits o' excitement here at Niknod:

The Artsy Danger Ladies Secret Mod Squad (an Etsy Team I'm a part of) is having a special, 20% off on the 20th of September! Buy anything in the shop on the 20th, but don't pay right away; I'll send you a revised invoice with the discount. Whee!

I'll have a booth at the Claude Moore Park Arts & Crafts show in Sterling, Virginia on Saturday, September 27. I'll have some new stuff there, as well as favorite items from my Etsy shop. I'll be there from 10-5, stop by if you're in town!

Chincoteague

2008-09-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our annual family trip to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. The seafood! The ice cream! The days on the beach!

Here's Betsy, making us a tasty lunch.

And here I am, paddling right up to the Assateague wild ponies.
Ah, the lovely, lovely days of vacation. Always an inspiration.

Voting Ends Tonight!

2008-09-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

There are just a few hours to vote in the Etsy Handmade Kids Contest! Go now, if you haven't already--you could win just for voting!

As a special treat for you, I offer some outtakes from our finalist photo shoot. I made the original hat in February, and we've had at least 4 different photo shoots since then. Taking pictures of toddlers is, um, slightly challenging. The more we take the better we get, but it's still not easy!

A typical scene:
Betsy, a book, a toy, and me, putting the hat back on her head. Did I mention Betsy isn't particularly fond of hats?

A typical photograph:
My girl, 18 months old, at full speed.

A typical photo shoot activity:
Chasing rabbits. There were a lot of them in the yard that night. In fact, most of the pictures (including the ones I used) were of her pointing at rabbits.

And finally:
The end of the shoot. Betsy and me, going for a post-shoot stroll around the neighborhood. Note that I am holding the hat.

Special thanks to Matthew for taking pictures of us!

Shop Goals

2008-09-04T05:22:00.000-07:00

There's a sticky note affixed to my computer with this list of shop goals:

Be in a treasury
Be in a front page treasury
100 hearts
100 sales
Be a featured artist

As of yesterday, I've accompished the first three!

Labor Day's Over, Now Back to Work!

2008-09-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

Bah, humbug. Let's revel in the fun and creative things we did this weekend, shall we?

As usual, we spent lots of time in the kitchen. Betsy really, really wants to be involved at all times, which makes baking more challenging and time consuming, but more fun, too.

This weekend she and Matthew made pretzels.

And then we went to a farm to pick peaches

and blackberries

and apples.

Yum! Nothing tastes better than warm, just-picked blackberries. Or so we hear.

All right, enough daydreaming about weekends. Time to get back to work!

Front Page!

2008-08-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

It turns out not all of the 550 new hits on Tuesday were from the blog mention... I was also featured on the Etsy front page for the very first time that day! Check it out:

See the my Buy a Pair-Peach and Blue balls? This has been a very exciting week for me!

Niknod in Barcelona

2008-08-27T02:35:00.000-07:00

My crochet balls have been included in a blog from Barcelona, called itsnice.wordpress.com. How cool is that?

The author has an Etsy shop called malisia, which includes this Mr. Moustache Tote I'm jonesing for:

Welcome!

2008-08-26T17:10:00.000-07:00

I keep meaning to send out a newsletter, but thought a blog might be more useful. Although I'd be happy to send you spam if you like, just for fun.

First of all, I'm delighted to share the happy news that I'm a finalist in the Etsy Handmade Kids Challenge and Sweepstakes!

My little Cherry Vanilla Beanie is one of the 40 finalists in the Accessories section. Please go here to vote for me!