Market Update and a Card

What a GLORIOUS day today has been. It threatened rain, but decided against it and it was sunny and in the 70s. However, it was FREAKIN' WINDY! Still is. At the market, people with tents were holding their tents down (yes, even with weights) with one hand while making change with the other. BIG wind. It is still blowing pretty hard out there, and I have all the windows and doors open to let the air flow through. Just lovely.

Before I get to my market update, I need to tell you I MADE A CARD, I MADE A CARD! I've had this idea for a while, and in nail-biting desperation to make up card 4 of 4 for my stamp camps (which are tomorrow), I made this card today in like 4 minutes:

Okay, I made the flower last night and made the rest of it in like 4 minutes. There is NO stamping. The flower is 8 Scallop Circles punched from a Land's End catalog. This is my Junk Mail card. I even asked The Ladies to bring a piece of junk mail with them if they could, since I am a rabid recycler and everything was whisked away Wednesday and I didn't make this flower until Friday. Bad timing.

The paper from the catalog is shiny and a little thin, so punching it was challenging. I think we'll put a piece of printer paper behind it to make it easier to punch. I like the catalog because you can punch clothing or furniture or rugs or anything, really, to get the color you want. I punched 5 of my scallops from words and three from colored pics. Here's a close-up:

Step-by-step to make this flower:

1. Punch 8 scallops (you can do more or less, but I used 8.)
2. Crumple them up one by one.
3. Flatten them back out again and pile them up. They don't need to be lined up scallop-to-scallop, but they do need to be pretty centered.
4. Poke a hole in the center with your paper piercer. I pushed mine in a bit to make the hole a little bigger.
5. Put in a plain old brad and open it in the back to secure the layers.
6. Starting with the top layer, scrunch it up towards the center. Then move to the next layer. Do them all. It will get tougher as you get towards the bottom.
7. When you're done, "fluff" out the petals from the center outwards to open it a little to where you like it.

A great video is here on YouTube.

I also did a version using a junk mail letter:

The paper is a little thicker and easier to punch than the catalog. You can also use DSP, but this is a little lighter weight, plus it is free. I like free. AND, it's very green, as in "recycled".

This card cannot be easily mailed in a standard envelope. In fact, it probably wouldn't fit in one unless you skipped the "scrunch them up towards the center" step. It would be great as a hand-it-to-someone card, or if included in a box you are shipping.

Okay, on to today's market update. As I said, it was GLOR-EEE-US!

How pretty is this street:

On to some fruits and veggies. Here is one of Farmer Mike's tables:

These berries smelled soooooooo good. You can almost smell them in this pic:

He also had dill:

... and basil:


... and ... do you know what this is?

It is tobacco! Really! He said not only does it grow really tall, they grow a tubular flower on the top that attracts hummingbirds. AND, the deer won't eat the plants! Who knew?!

Next we have baby eggplant:

... and last we have aloe:

Also, the Rock Lady had this cute little raccoon:

We all know raccoons are varmints, but this guy is still cute. She also had a ruby slipper:


Then two people showed up on these bikes:

See those saddle bags? They were shopping! Headed to the store, actually. Way to make the rest of us look bad. While the wife shopped the market, I got a tour of the bikes. I have always been intrigued by recumbent bikes, as you push the pedals out in front of you rather than up and down. His bike is in the back, and he held it so I could sit on it and try it out. Niiiice. He said hills are a little tougher, though, than with a standard bike.

Also notice he has a box strapped to the top of his saddle bags. They hit a yard sale on the way over. Um-hm.

His wife's bike in front is a semi-recumbent, and I'd not seen one before. I got to sit on it, too. It's a nice blend between the recumbent and a hybrid, which is what I generally ride. He said it's recumbent enough that you sit up straight instead of bending over, which is a bonus if you ride any distance, and we never used to ride less than 25 miles. I might need to look into this semi-recumbent model. Looks comfy!

Next up is our T-shirt du jour:

heh heh

And now for the Doggie Parade! Man, oh man, were the dogs out in force today. I did not even get all of them. Let's go!

This is Mooshie:


OMG, what a fluff-ball this next guy was:


Love the white legs on this one:


GOR-JUS animal:

This guy is also a cutie:


Our regular Shar Pei:


An American Bull Dog:

I was surprised how big he was. So friendly, too! (Notice my water-filled cat litter bottle attached to that tent leg at the back of the photo. It was so windy she needed extra weights, and it still didn't help.)

This next bunch of dogs contains two who were being dog-sat:

They all got along so well!

Now isn't THIS one handsome:

Like I said, dogs EVERYwhere today. And everyone is so happy to have their dog's photo taken, some of them even thanked me!

The market went well. I sold a bunch of Mother's Day cards, which means I have only a few left to put away for next year. I actually sold a few of my City Card packs, too (yay!), one to a repeat customer - he'd used up all of last year's purchase! I love repeat customers!

As for the rest of today, I need to cut and assemble the kits for Sunday's and Monday's Stamp Camps, then set up the stations. I also have 2/3 of a ribbon share to measure, cut and package before tomorrow. Yeah, I'll be busy for a while.

I hope you are enjoying your day, especially if you got a taste of Spring like we did today. Thanks for stopping by!