Hi Everyone!

This blog post is brought to you by the letter M!  M–makers, masterminds, markets and Melinda!!  Yep, that’s right, its me, Melinda, the newest half of CFS.

I’ll be sure to slap a bio up in a little bit but I wanted to fill you all in on the fun (and exhausting) weekend that Ashley and I had peddling our wares at Handmade Nashville this past weekend.

It’s mid-September here in middle Tennessee and that means that autumn is quickly upon us.  School zones are jamming up traffic in the morning, pumpkin spice everything is back in stores, leaves are changing colors, and in Pleasant View (the tiny town where we live) the crisp air smells of tobacco being smoked and prepped.  All these things mean my favorite season is finally here!  Autumn in Tennessee really is just about as comfy and cozy as anything else I could ever think of.  The changing season also meant an awesome weather day for us at Handmade Nashville.  Sweaters and scarves and crafts–oh my!

Ashley took CFS to Handmade Nashville at Curvy Yoga in July, but this was the first opportunity we’ve had to bring our collective works together and set up for an event.  The foot traffic was a little underwhelming, possibly because there was more than one cultural/heritage festival going on in town the same day, but we had enough customers to keep us entertained and we also had a chance to mix and mingle with the other vendors.  Of particular note were two tiny tot bowtie sales men that were there helping out their mom.  I’m a sucker for little boys dressed in cardigans with elbow patches and loafers–especially when they also dance to “Billie Jean.”  Here are some pictures from our booth:

Despite the small trickle of people through the venue, we did well at the fair and got some positive responses back later in the week with information on other fairs that we may decide to jump in on later in the year.  One big one that we’re SUPER excited about is hosted by the Nashville Scene at the Farmer’s Market on Rosa Parks Blvd near downtown.  Crafts and Drafts is scheduled to be held on November 7th and will showcase tons of local talent both in the handmade crafting community and the adult beverage community.  Anyone who is local to us should definitely put it on their calendars!  It will be a great place for you to support small businesses, shop for the holidays, day drink or just come say hi to us–no negatives there =^)

So that’s what’s been up with us this week.  Coming down from our craft fair high only to be accepted for Crafts and Drafts, so planning will kick into HIGH gear for that immediately.  On a personal note, I did a little exploring today as I am taking advantage of my last couple days of freedom.  This coming Monday, I have to have a spinal fusion surgery (I KNOW! I’m not even that old!).  I’ll be very restricted for my first 3 weeks post-op, so I took a small adventure today to check out a local quilt shop and an estate sale that I had a hunch might have old-lady sewing paraphernalia.  My hunch proved right on the estate sale.  I scored some really dope vintage fabrics and notions.  Most of the notions are from the 50’s and 60’s and are still in the original cellophane!!!  I hoarded them all, of course.  Now I must make some kind of shadow box to feature these amazing baubles because they are FAR too cool to sit in a box for another 50 years.

The quilt shop was adorable.  The Fabric Shop in Springfield, TN is located right downtown in their historic square across from the old courthouse building.  The selection isn’t huge, but the prices are reasonable and I was surprised by some of the novelty prints that they had in stock.  It looked as though they might even offer classes in the back of the space.  It was definitely worth the trip up, and I got some cute prints for some hoops for Crafts and Drafts and also some fabric I need for the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap that I’ve signed up for.  I’ll definitely go back to have another look the next time I’m in Springfield, especially if they keep those novelty prints in fun rotations!  Plus, Ashley didn’t get to go with me–gots to take care of my girl!!

Well that’s about it for now.  Tomorrow is guild meeting.  Ashley is going (my crippled state can’t handle that much excitement) and then we have time set aside to plan our little hearts out.  You’ll be seeing more from me, especially as I recover from surgery.  I may just pop in with a funny picture or joke–I’m just that kind of gal.

TTFN!  Go make something fun!