Sunday, June 27, 2010

Market Update, A Card, and Some Clean!

Time for my weekly market update, where I show you lots of pictures of the same things, week after week, and it only goes to prove how I have no life, and that I cannot sit still for very long. Again, instead of grouping things logically, I thought I'd be illogical and just show them in the order they were taken. It will be scatterbrained, much like my attention span.

Let us begin.

Maters. I love this shot down this table, and I take it every week:

One of the customers asked what "Maters" were. They thought they were something special, not just Farmer Mike saving a few letters on his signage. ;)

Peppers:
Farmer Mike actually pulled out that pretty purple one to show us today. By "us" I mean me (the crazy lady with a camera who doesn't know when to quit) and our resident photographer, who probably took a really nice shot of this same bin.

Taters:

I love that this stuff is still dirty. Fresh from the fields, people. Well, in the case of taters, I'm not sure if they are a Fall crop or not. These could be new. I dunno. I'll ask next week.

Basil:

I get to sit next to this all day, and as people touch it and go, "Ooooooh, basil ..." I get to smell it. ;)

Blackberries and blueberries:

I got some of each, and had the blackberries to balance out the butter-laden spinach empanada I had for lunch. Ahem.

Shrooms:

For the record, I see absolutely nothing wrong with Farmer Mike's signage.

Farmer Mike tried to sell me these "sweet jalapenos":

If you'll recall, last summer these same jalapenos almost killed me when I used them to make my poppers. My hands burned for days, and I was unable to consume the poppers, so I donated them to Farmer Mike and his digestive system. He laughed at me. I laughed right back at him this year. "Sweet jalapenos", my a... oh, let's keep this G-rated.

Sour cherries:

... and early peaches:

... and these beans:

I think Farmer Margie called them Cranberry Beans, but I'm not sure. She said they're known by many names depending on where you're from. I'll write it down next week. ;)

And she also had some corn:

Then we had a minor crisis. This guy came through to shop, then he came back because he'd lost his cane. He was certain no one would have taken it. He found it - check it out:

He said he got the "girlie" cane on purpose, and when people make fun of it, he wiggles his butt "like a girl". What a hoot!

Farmer Ryan (actually his wife ... I need to remember her name...) had the winning display for berries this week:

LOVE that checker-board thing she had going!

And more sour cherries:

She also had apricots:

... picked from their own trees. SO good!

Flower assortments at the floral tent:

And because I asked, these orange flowers are Asclepia:

I had to look it up for a more common name, and I think (I THINK) it is orange silkweed. Whatever it is, it's darned pretty! I asked what that white flower was, and he blew it off. Hitchhiker from anther plant. ;)

PUPPY ALERT! This guy was SOOOOOOO cute:

He's a Pit Bull & Lab mix. A rescue. They've only had him for two days. What a sweetie!

Here is my next inspiration source:

Her scarf was so pretty I asked to take a photo. These are NOT my colors! Hot pink and bright orange! Ack!

This young lady just got back from riding:

She stopped by my table to buy a card, and she told me Yes, they were quite hot! I was intrigued by the fact that they were not full boots.

Then these two young ladies stopped at the table across from me and I couldn't help but notice their clothing choices:


I see green and blue here, don't you? Perhaps another color inspiration? Though these are such classics ... think back to Izod and the Kelly Green + Navy Blue years. Mmm-hmmm. Okay, that green is more subtle, so Celery + Navy? Maybe Celery + Not Quite Navy? I'll work on it.

That's it for the market pics. Now I have a minor reveal for you. Over the past few days I've been working on the UFO pile on the right side of the Captain's Table. I took a Before pic the other night for posterity:

Yeah, I didn't measure it or anything, but it was pretty deep. I first pulled out all the printed sketches I'd planned to do over the past few weeks:

I still have these ... they're in a neat little pile. Then I pulled out this mostly-finished card:

Well, okay, here it is finished, but it was missing a sentiment before. I made four of them, but only printed three Get Well sentiments, so it landed in the UFO pile. I pulled out an old and as-yet-unmounted set (Really Retro) and mounted only the one stamp I wanted to use. I'm lazy like that.

Then, this morning, I tackled the whole thing, and I ended up with this:

Yes, this IS a major improvement. Sigh. (leave me alone) Let's do the numbers.

On the right side we have:

(front to back) patterned paper pieces, true UFOs, and in the back, a pile of ribbon pieces I cannot yet bear to toss.

Center section:

A full (FULL) stampin' space! Be still my heart!!! Yes, I cleaned and put away a ton of stamps. Behind that big open space is a stack of pre-cut pieces of card stock that I didn't want to put into the Scrap Heap, even by color. They are left over from, ahem, Christmas (ahem) when I made a bazillion Tea Bag Holders. They could be post-it note holders. Or more Tea Bag holders. Maybe. We'll see.

Then there's that left side:

The most notable thing here is the fact you can actually see the lamp base. And the Stampin' Scrub is not littered with stamps. Baby steps, people.

Then, OMG, I stamped! I wanted to CASE this card for my July Stamp Camps, but mine ended up like this:

... and I'm not really happy with it. First, I had a miserable time getting that image to stamp clean(ly). I ended up stamping it on Whisper White and then adding texture by running the piece through the Big Shot with one of the SU texture plates. I LOVE how that came out! I think I'll lose that tab thing and just leave it a plain rectangle. And I'll punch that bottom scallop better, too. Or maybe I'll leave it as an example to The Ladies of how NOT to do theirs. ;)

Also, that ribbon is no longer available, and neither is the button. Sigh. My work here is not yet finished.

In other news, you know I say I never go out once I'm home? Well that also holds true for if I'm still in my jammies at 3 pm, like I am now, and I don't go OUT, period. HOWEVER, my cousin is in town for a conference, and she is free this evening, so I'm going to shower and get dressed and leave the house. I am! I'm going to metro into DC to meet her at a restaurant near Dupont Circle and do some catching-up. YAY! As I type this, there's laundry being dried so I have something to wear. ;)

So carry on, and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

7 comments:

  1. Looking at your market blog is like a little vacation, every time. LOVE that scarf, btw! And your flower card. :)

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  2. Just gotta tell you that I love reading your narratives!

    I too love being in jammies all day - although I change out of my "night jammies" and put on my "day jammies" or my lounging clothes!

    When I know I'm not going out, there's no make-up and the hair is left to dry on its own (meaning, it is flat, flat, flat)

    Enjoy the evening with your cousin.

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  3. Let me say, of course you have a life. It's me who doesn't... on Sundays when I'm blurfing and I click on your blog, I always look forward to market update. Seriously!
    I love the pic of the flower assortment. When someone asks what my favorite flower is I always answer blue ones! So I love that one in there.
    I totally think you should use that gorgeous green and purple pepper shot for card inspiration.
    Thanks for the blog; I always enjoy it.
    Oh and I know what you mean about jammies... husband and I are having our 20th anniversary party be a pajama party!

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  4. Leslie, I love the bottom card! (Except, I'd lose the tab too.)

    And those orange flowers - wow!

    Nice tour - thanks!

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  5. I also love reading your blog. It's one that I actually take the time to read instead of skim (yeah I know I'm bad.)

    TheMarciFactor

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  6. i was thinking of you "marketing" on saturday...cause it was BLOOMIN' HOT (onna farmer mike's jalapeno scale!) here!!!

    what an ACHIEVEMENT on the cleaning up there missus!!! honestly, if i did not live with the loveliest man alive AND work in my living room which needs to be accessible...i would rival (& perhaps BEAT!) you in the realm of un-put-away piles, so your accomplishments cheer me no end!!! :)

    lovely card, also. i actually think i love yours more than the (VERY LOVELY) "cased" card...and i agree that the un-tabbed version would also be wonderful! ♥

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  7. Oh! my!!! I've been shamed. You have tidied.....faints in shock!!!! I am mortified I am now the only person left alive with 4sq in. of crafting space....and I can't find anything I need. Anyone seen my tiny Fiskars scissors?
    It would take me days, so I leave it.

    Loving your tour of the market as always, my taste buds go into overdrive. I also made some 'popper's' some time ago, but mine were sweet, sweet, sweet. Thanks for the recipe. xxxx

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I'd love to hear what you really think! :-)

PS: I've had to disable Anonymous comments, because the spammers were killing me. If you are unable to comment, please email me your comment and I'll get it posted for you. Sorry. (stoopid spammers)