FEA Craft Sale and stocking Etsy for Santa

I spent this past Saturday at the 28th annual FEA Craft Sale in Fairport, NY and had a wonderful day all around! The puppets and critter bags were very well received, and it was a delight to watch young faces (and a few not so young) light up when meeting a Snarf or a Gwak or a Bink Fairy face to face. It reassures you that you've made something that makes people happy, and really, that is all that I ever set out to do. :0)

I also learned something new about the Critter Bags' appeal. Not only are they perfect for Webkinz, Barbies, Zhu Zhus or other small pretend creatures, but for some small actual creatures as well! Three bags that were purchased were going to be cozy beds for real critters -- one guinea pig, one rabbit, and one hedgehog!

Encouraged by the sale and in preparation for Santa's sleigh to fill, I've added the remaining Critter Bags to the etsy store along with the puppets.

Ho ho ho!!

Apricus website is updated and open for business!

The Apricus Designs website has gone through a face lift! Things have been nipped and tucked, plumped and lifted. The menu has changed a bit, as have several pages, and Miep's door still welcomes you but will now also change for the seasons and from time to time. At the moment, she has her doorstep decked out to celebrate fall.

The biggest news is that the gift shop is finally OPEN!! Just in time for holiday shopping season. :0) Links to the Sunny Spot Puppets, Critter Bags, and various T-Shirt designs are all there! (Designs are also available on other various other items...each link will take you to the shops where you can browse).

One t-shirt design is shown in the shop, but isn't actually for sale...just yet.

It's a shirt that I'm very proud to have been asked to make by my friend Cathy of Cathy's Creations (gorgeous and addictive beaded bracelets) for diabetes awareness. It reads "diabetics are naturally sweet".

Cathy is currently giving folks the chance to win the shirts when they donate to the American Diabetes Association. Once her give away has ended (at the end of the month), the shirts (in children's and adult sizes) will be for sale via my website. Proceeds will be donated to juvenile diabetes research.

Here's a link to Cathy's Creations' blog in case you'd like a chance to make a donation and take a chance at winning a shirt!

2010 Rochester Children's Book Festival

I was very happy to once again volunteer at the Rochester Children's Book Festival this year, this time assisting in the volunteer central department and learning how the festival runs. Thank goodness for the many, many enthusiastic people that give their time (some start working on it the day the last one ends) to make this event happen! What started as a small book signing and sale has grown to become a nationally recognized event with turnout in the thousands! This year's festival was a booming success, and we even got coverage and praise from Publisher's Weekly! Check out the article here.

We can thank author extraordinaire, Vivian Vande Velde, for once again documenting and sharing with us! Take a gander at her site to view the pictures. (I'm in there a couple of times. ;0) )

Thanks to all who participated in the drawing!

Frike will be taking a luxury cruise (or short ride in a padded mailer) to his new home this week.

In response to requests, a small number of the Sunny Spot Puppets have been put back up at Etsy today. http://www.etsy.com/shop/apricusdesigns The rest are getting psyched for a holiday sale coming up in a few weeks. Critter Bags will likely make an appearance at both locations as well. :0)

Thanks again! Anything we can do to raise breast cancer awareness helps! And be sure to take a gander at my pal Cathy's gorgeous bracelets, watches, and rings...all hand beaded and highly addictive. Take my word on that last part! She's a true angel...an artist with a huge heart. She has many cause bracelets and passes some of those proceeds on to funds and organizations. You can find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Cathys-Creations/333061195652 (always a laugh or two to be found on that wall) or directly to her Etsy site at http://www.etsy.com/shop/cathycreations?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=App_Seller&utm_content=shops&utm_campaign=fb_seller_shop2

Who wants to win a puppet for breast cancer awareness?

My awesome pal over at Cathy's Creations has been doing lots of giveaways of her gorgeous bracelets, as well as plenty of items donated by her frikes (that means friends in Cathy speak) in honor of raising Breast Cancer Awareness. This is an issue close to my heart, so I've gladly jumped in with offering a pink Gwak puppet (now officially named Frike!) to be raffled off today! In order to be eligible to win him, post a reply under this message! Winner will be picked at random tonight. Good luck!

Channel your Muppets and say it with me....Produuuuuuuce Innnnnn Spaaaaace!

Okay, so not really, but this is my produce collection that I came up with for tshirts designs...and an alien friend snuck in there. It could happen, right?

The cast:

The Grumpy Eggplant

The Crazed Banana

The Distraught Pickle

The Coy Tomato

The Groovy Alien

All designs on various items at http://www.cafepress.com/ApricusProduce

Artmash at Fairport Canal Days 2010

This past June I had a booth at Canal Days with my gals Lori and Sheila from the FLiEs, and Lori's mom Carol. Fairport Canal Days is a huge annual arts festival (averages close to 200,000 attendees most years) and we decided to give it a go! Unfortunately, we chose the year that was hit with a monsoon, and we learned the joys of holding a tent down as it threatened to fly away, taking us with it. It was a great learning experience, though, and lots of fun (despite soggy clothes and frozen toes).
Sheila had her Marco Flamingo books and art prints, Carol had prints and paintings, Lori had prints, art "garbage" plaques, and dog bowls (custom painted on site), and I had the Critter Bags and my newest creations...Sunny Spot Puppets.



The puppets can be seen at the Apricus Designs site. The Etsy store page is temporarily down for inventory and renovations.