Yee haw - we have a winner!

Thank you so much to all the lovely folks who entered the draw. I really appreciated all of the supportive comments too!

I enlisted the help of Cole, who turned 11 whole months old today and was more than happy to participate in something that gave him access to scraps of paper. We took his straw cowboy hat and filled it up with all the names (except you Jamie, because you do technically work for me!). Stirred it up and the first two that he took out (and promptly ate) were:

Gnome: Reina, of the Etsy shop Moon Parade - full of vintage delights
Mouse pad & coffee sleeve combo: Jas, my lovely sister-in-law

Congratulations to you both!

And of course, this is the perfect chance to remind everyone that the Etsy Spring Fling is tomorrow. I am just about ready - still have to finish tagging stuff and pack up.

Saturday, March 21 2009
11 am - 5 pm
Cambrian Welsh Hall
215 East 17th Ave, just off Main Street
Vancouver

I'll be there with my table of wares (including a really rad gnome tea cozy that I made just this morning) and my good friend Kim from Milkybeer. If you're in the area and like handmade & indie crafts, come by and say 'hey!' because it should be good. Not your grandma's church bazaar! ;-) If you're curious, check out this great list of who's selling, complete with links, over on the lovely Smeeta's blog.

Free stuff (and a sneak peek!)

I thought it would be fun to have a little giveaway for you, my dear readers, to celebrate this frenzy of craftiness that's been going on around here lately. I've been inspired by giveaways on other blogs lately and couldn't resist. Two prizes up for grabs: a jumbo gnome softie and a cork mousepad/felt coffee sleeve combo. Two prizes, two winners.

Just post a comment if you're interested. Newbies and lurkers, you are welcome too! Contest closes Friday, March 20 at 5pm PST. I'll announce the winners after the draw that evening.

And here's a sneak-peak of a few of the brand-new things I'll be bringing to stock the hudsonny table on Saturday:

Barrettes
Wool felt and vintage button hair barrettes. No two are alike!

Coffee cozies
Again, wool felt and vintage buttons. Sustainable, insulating, fun and unique. The perfect answer to that guilty feeling I got every time another "disposable" cardboard sleeve was wrapped around my cup.

Gnome softies
Seriously, I drew one little sketch of these guys and had to make them. There are over-sized versions that make great friends or toss cushions and mini versions that are just perfect for a little cuddle.

Pincushions
I can't resist a pincushion. Maybe it's the voodoo-esque element of sticking pins in something? These little gems are made with scraps of my favourite Japanese cotton/linen blend fabrics, vintage buttons and neon rickrack. I love neon, providing it's not in stripe format on the side of bicycle shorts. Oh, early '90s - I remember you well.

Felt brooches
Owls and birds, raindrops and whales and a little peach too.

Matroyshka dolls
Super soft and a generous pillowy size. I'm trying to remember not to call them 'babushkas' (grandma) or 'mamuskas' (a dance from the Addams Family apparently), which is what I thought they were called until recently...

Patchwork scarves
Springtime scarves - cotton, patchwork, light enough for warming weather but perfect for keeping the chills away. Tons of variations using gems from my fabric stash, including wood grain, lots of mod prints, some Japanese cotton/linen and a few bits here and there salvaged from our favourite retired clothing.

And of course, there will also some of my other creations: stuffed bunnies and hot bottle cozies, cork mouse pads, bibs, drooling kerchiefs and the like...

Baby quilt contest!

All you crafty Mama's out there who've made something special for your wee one - take note: there's a baby quilt contest on! Not competing for competition's sake, mind you, but for free fabric! Ahh - I do love the sound of those words... $100, $50 or $25 in fabric from Superbuzzy, source of always-inspiring Japanese import fabrics.

I've entered Cole's baby quilt in the hopes of scoring some free fabric - check out the entry, entitled Something old/new/blue.

If you like, leave a comment and a good rating! I don't know if it's judged by the public or whatnot, but can't hurt, I guess.

Get 'yer scissors & cameras out!

Making your own hand-made Halloween costume this year? Check out the Etsy costume-a-thon competition. With 18 prizes totalling $2000 worth of Etsy gift certificates, donations, goodies and more, you can enter in the following six categories: Pet, Kid & Baby, T-Shirt Costume, Sci-Fi, Green, and General Awesomeness!

I hadn't been planning to make a costume (and honestly probably won't anyway, what with lack of time and all) but if you are feeling ghoulishly crafty, try your luck! At the least you'll end up with an original handmade costume and hopefully scads of sweet, sweet candy.

An aside... Just remember - despite what low-rent online costume catalogs will have you believe, adding "sexy" in front of anything else isn't really a good costume (see: sexy firefighter, sexy pirate, sexy bee). Dressing like a tramp really isn't much of a costume! Unless by tramp you mean hobo, and even still, it's been done. ;-)