be back soon!

happy father's day

this chickadee loves you

pile of chickadee

see you in baltimore, hon!

one more day until pile of craft means a day full of last-minutes and loose-ends here. it also means that the little shop of chickadee will be temporarily closed to accommodate the craft show AND will remain closed all of next week. this chickadee is going over the river and through the woods and very far away from the internet. we'll be shutting the doors at midnight tonight, so get your last minute purchases in now or simply show up tomorrow!

please chickadee, don't hurt 'em!

relax, its just a staple gun...and a brand new project set to make a debut at this saturday's pile of craft!

oh ye of little faith

not all of ye, just some of ye. we have sprouts!

reach the beach

here's a chickadee first! a custom order for a blushing bride-to-be who is getting married on the beach and wanted to outfit her bridesmaids with a little more than taffeta and bows. now the merry maids can wade down to the water with a tote full of summer essentials like sunscreen, trashy novels and towels...this tote can handle the lot. in linen and cotton that corresponds to her colors, the ladies will have a lasting (and reversible) reminder of the joyful day that they can use all around town. they can take their pick of a field of blue and yellow flowers or pretty polka dots and then tie it up at the top. there's also a little zip pouch to match.

oh me! oh my! oh meaghan!

here's a detail of the crafty vendor apron whipped up for the wonderful meaghan of oh ginger. her fantastic felted creations (and more!) were on (totally cute as always) display at pride this weekend along with the other talented makers of dc's own queer crafter collective. if you missed out on the celebration, you can still catch up with the qcc on their blog which has links to all of their etsy shops as well.

a chia grows in arlington

people! it is a chia tree. and thanks to the positive vibrations received from a select few, it is actually sprouting. and yes, the design is a bit seasonally displaced but who couldn't use a tiding of comfort and joy or two as temperatures start to soar. come on little chia, grow your lustrous coat of greens and prove that sometimes those made-for-teevee consumer fantasies can come true!

one week from today!

cha-cha-cha-chia

who thinks it will work? show of hands...

melonball

the world of lace knitting is completely new and completely captivating this chickadee right now. the book scarf style has been sitting on the shelves for a while. one of the patterns, ene's scarf, (ravelry link) immediately caught my eye but i never thought that i'd even attempt it...much less finish it!

knit with one and a half skeins of the lovely knit picks gloss lace and size 6 needles. it took several attempts to get started, but finally something clicked and from there it flew right on by. it is super lightweight and soft and feels sublime around the shoulders. i'd make another one right away if there weren't so many other intriguing patterns out there.

phew, it has been tough goings as of late. thankfully there is the mindful meditation of knitting to help keep the calm. sewing has been at a standstill but the needle work is never-ending. here's a taste of some tension taming tonic:


this is the ishbel by ysolda teague, made famous on the blog by christy's generous act of giving. her beautiful stitching inspired me to make one of my own. the pattern was lovely, just enough stockinette stitching to be mindless and just enough vine lace to be entertaining. this is the large size, made with size four (us) needles and one zauberball in the cranberries colorway. picked up that little gem at the yarn lounge in richmond and it was perfect for this project.

i scream, we scream

ice cream cake!!!

happy month of etsy posts to me!

as you might recall, way back on may 1st this chickadee started the item-a-day-for-the-month-of-may challenge. it didn't seem likely at the time, but i managed to stay the course and update the little shop of chickadee every single day (all 31 of them). so to the victor of this self-imposed challenge goes the spoils. yummy spoils. here's to more fun and more good times on etsy!

craftnado

here is a photo of the chickadee/dandelion mobile boutique in happier times...in the calm before the serious windstorm that kicked up toward the end of sunday's handmade mart. before racks of aprons came crashing down and enamel pendants were blown off of their display. before our tent that, even though tethered to the ground, decided that it wanted to make like a kite and fly off into the beautiful blue skied day. many thanks to some heaven-sent helpers how ran down our airborne items and righted our tipsy ship.

karida of neighborhood fiber co arrived on the scene at just the right time and stuck around to help us secure the scene. our neighbors pitched in and helped us un-pitch our tent. and one shopper hung around for quite a while, happy to baby sit one corner of our canopy. a heaping handbasket of thanks to everyone who lent a hand.

just one little nature-made blemish on an otherwise amazingly well organized woman-run day. many thanks to debbie and kim for all of their hard work putting the show together!

treasure trove

oh ginger has put together an etsy treasury made up of her favorite handmade mart items. this chickadee made the cut! our very first treasury appearance. thank you ginger!

click on the photo for more information about specific items or crafters!