I have a new monthly email newsletter. Once a month I'll send a quick email with shop update info, info on plush of the month club, and any other exciting things I want to share. Each email will come with a free printable paper download. My February newsletter will be sent out soon and include these paper toaster pastry boxes. Sign up here!

Here are a few photos from my phone all taken in December… Here is a big wrinkly quilt I made my sister for Christmas, it's not my finest work, there are a few areas I'd love to requilt…but I hope it will be used and once washed the things that bother me will hopefully be less noticeable. I spent a lot of time in the ceramic studio. This fancy photo was taken in the studio bathroom, and I probably looked like this most days..messy hair. I was very pleased to sell a lot in the ceramic studio shop this December. Selling online is great but it does mean photos and then packing up breakable items to ship. Selling in the studio shop is as easy as attaching a tag! The day I was working on the witches we had a bunch of carolers come in and sing. I'm sure they were thinking "what is this weirdo doing making ceramic witches days before Christmas!" I found this gingerbread doll at an antique shop a few years ago and have never been able to find anything about it online, not even any other photos. I tried searching old cut and sew printed fabrics too because it looks like it might possibly be one, but no luck. This year I drew the gingerbread and printed two sizes with Spoonflower. I made the tiny ones into bean bags but want to turn them into ginger scented sachets before next year. I also found this silly Santa at the thrift shop and brought him home with me. My husband bought me this rubber chicken coin purse for Christmas but gave it to me early, I use it to hold my meter change and whenever I get it out to feed the meter it makes me smile! I did so much baking in December. I made so many batches of these cinnamon scones, homemade bread followed by my first bread pudding later in the week with some of the leftover bread, and of course cookies galore. We've been having some bitter cold around our area the past few days so I've been making lots of soups and stews for meals. Tomorrow I have plans to bake banana bread, throw some mugs, and finish up some plush ice cream cones for a Valentine shop update I'm planning for the end of January. I hope everyone's year is off to a great start.

Nothing says Merry Christmas quite like goat cookies from a movie about witches, am I right? Last week while in Target I stumbled upon this goat cookie cutter. It's part of their new Hearth & Home line, and because of the color immediately brought to mind Black Phillip from the movie The VVitch. We have a friend who really loves this movie, and he has a black Christmas tree, so goat cookies from a movie about witches is actually a perfect Christmas gift for him, and maybe someone you know too? The cookies are simply a dark chocolate cut out cookie. Now you could add sprinkles or dip the tops into chocolate, but I found if you use a high quality chocolate power you won't need anything on top. I used the recipe found here. Only I used flour to cut them out and the flour wasn't noticeable after baking. I created Black Phillip gift toppers which you can print out below: Black Phillip Tags Package up some cookies in a clear bag with a topper, tie on a goat cookie cutter and there you go! **For personal use only. Personal use means non-commercial use of the labels/images including copies and print outs for yourself, your personal crafts/scrapbooking and to give to friends. The labels/images may not be used in any way whatsoever in which you charge money, collect fees, or receive any form of remuneration.***

My Cyber Monday sale starts Monday 11/27 at 8am EST. I will have all kinds of new ceramics, AND I am offering FREE domestic shipping all day long! Just use the code CYBERMONDAY….AND every order comes with a free gift! My shop has all kinds of goodies from handmade plush, product royalties from other companies I license to, and even some craft supplies. Shop Here!

Spoonflower is offering 10% off sitewide through Monday 11/27 at midnight SHOP HERE

11/23-11/24: 48 HR - Black Friday (starts Thursday) SHOP HERE 25% Off Everything + Free Shipping on Almost Everything with Promo Code BLACKFRIDAY *Free Shipping excludes Framed Prints, Canvas Prints, Metal Prints, and Floor Pillows

Spoonflower asked me to take part in their Handmade Holiday Blog Hop by creating a holiday project to share. Inspired by vintage holiday mail bags made of felt I created a cut and sew mail bag that you can use to either store all those holiday cards as they arrive, or to hold your own holiday mail writing tools (cards, stamps, envelopes etc) You can find my design here, and Spoonflower is offering 10% off with the code PAPERCRANE and is valid until December 31 for one order of fabric, wallpaper and gift wrap. It can not be applied with any other promotional offers. My project is designed to print up on a fat quarter of lightweight cotton twill. When your fat quarter arrives it will look like what you see above. While there are instructions printed on the fabric itself, I wanted to walk you through the process here so you can see just how easy it is. The first thing you will do is cut out all three pieces. Front, back, and pocket. I like to leave some of the pink around the front and pocket so you can sew right on the edge of the illustration. There is no need to leave any extra around the backing piece since its slightly larger then the design. Take pocket and iron the top of pocket down at the green line (green will be on inside of pocket) Then top stitch across top as shown. Now use a piece of ribbon, or cord and make a loop to hang your snowman mail bag. Stitch this in place at top of hat. I like to stitch this in the pink area so the stitching will be hidden once sewn. Then line your pocket up on front of bag using sides as a guide. Pin pocket in place and you'll notice a small line in center of pocket along the area you topstitched. Sew a few stitches to tack the bag in place, this way when you put in your cards and envelopes the pocket does not hang open. With right sides facing once another lay the front of the bag on top of the red backing. I like to use a pencil to trace any of the illustration edges that are not easy to see through the fabric. Mostly around the face. Pin in place and sew around entire thing on edge of illustration leaving a 3 inch opening in bottom for turning. I like to pay special attention to curves and do a little extra stitching so that when I trim and turn they lay flat. Trim around entire bag with pinking shears and turn right side out. Tuck in raw edges of fabric from turning, iron in place, and then top stitch along entire curved edge of pocket sewing the opening shut. Now you are ready to hang your holiday mail bag.

I've been working on a few lap quilts to use as gifts this Christmas. The first one I made using half square triangles and lots of my cotton & steel fabric stash. The second I used a bunch of blues from my stash and started a rising star quilt, I messed up the second star and decided to just go with it. Creating a quilt that has stars and + signs. Both quilt tops are done, now to just figure out the back fabric and quilt them up. My hope to is finish at least 4 quilts for gifts, so it will be nice to have 2 down. Do you have a favorite quilt pattern that is fast and easy? My go-to is foundation piecing but I do feel it is time consuming and since I need these done in time for Christmas I am looking for quilt patterns that are on the faster side.

Just the other night was my snowman napkin ring class at the Ceramic Guild. I taught eight students to each create a set of six napkin rings, and they all did such a great job. I baked up two different kinds of bars as treats and played classic Christmas music to get us all into the holiday mood. I know its early but when it comes to the long process of firing ceramics, you have to get a head start.

Come create a set of 4 vintage-style tea bag holders, drink tea, and enjoy homemade treats with me on Friday December 8th 6-8pm. You can register for the class here, but space is limited so don't delay! No previous pottery experience is needed.

First I'll start off with some things I saw at the thrift and antique shops but did not buy. First up this strange sign? It was a very heavy cardboard but it wasn't clear exactly what it might be selling. I loved the colors and thought it would make an unsual Thanksgiving decoration but it was around $25. I loved this little Ice Man tin, another great inanimate object with a face! This Mrs. Claus was cute but I already have one like it make from an old dishwashing liquid bottle. Along the same lines as the Ice Man tin, I loved this Annalee flower for its face & the fact that it was an Annalee doll (and one made in Meredith New Hampshire) but the price was a bit high so it stayed behind. Lastly this cute lemonade pitcher, which was really cheap (I think 25¢) but I don't need anymore pitchers so I took a photo instead. I did end up finding some fun Halloween ghost salt and pepper shakers, a embroidered panel, and some deer at one thrift shop each item priced under $1.

Today Society6 is offering 30% off anything when you make a free account and log in. The account is good to have if you are placing an order any way so you can log in and check on status at any time. They now even have dufflebags and backpacks (click each photo for a direct link) Or you can check out my entire account here.

I've still been making spooky ceramics even though Halloween is quickly approaching. Witch mugs are never out of season! My friend and I decorated the studio store for Halloween with some black contact paper cut outs, and some honeycomb paper decorations. Feels downright festive!

The first package that arrived most recently was one all the way from Scotland. Laura sent all kinds of fun candy, one little guy filled with smarties was damaged during transit, but still tasted just as good. Some spooky spider socks, light up jack o'lantern balloons, and two pouches that she made. One even contains glitter, but glitter sealed up inside a pouch (which is so fun!). The next package was from Keetha in Mississippi. She created the little Fall Daybook with recipes, some of her watercolor paintings, and essays on autumn. A cute little bracelet, some Jim Holtz Halloween ephemera, a little newspaper flag, and a wooden pumpkin sign. I am still expecting two more Halloween parcels in the mail so I'll have one more post when those arrive! I hope everyone who took part in the swap is having as much fun as I am.

Just some photos from the month…. October has been all about pumpkins, apples, baking baking baking! Discovered a good big double pie crust recipe that really makes enough for both crusts. You can find that here. Have made this cinnamon chip scone recipe twice this month, it takes extra time because you need to make homemade cinnamon chips but they are so worth it! Really amazing and got high reviews from everyone who had one. Did some Halloween thrift shopping, and trying to wear something festive every day! I hope you too are enjoying this wonderful time of year.

Today I wanted to share two more Halloween Swap packages that have arrived! Did I mention I swapped with 11 people? The first one is a box from Kjerste. Check out that amazing little Halloween mouse she sewed up? Isn't it a cutie? I am in love with the vintage cookie cutters, and can't wait to bake something so I can use these sprinkles! The treats from Daiso are also fun since we do not have any of those shops in my area. Next up is a box from Josie. I had to take two photos so you could see all the festive packaging she created, and then another so you can see all the treats. She handmade a bunch of little felted Halloween friends who I plan to add to my Halloween tree, sent some very yummy smelling soap. Her label said it was lemongrass, but it smells just like when you open up a box of fuity pebbles cereal. If you know me well you might know my favorite body spray of all time was a gummi bear scented spray, so fruity pebbles smelling soap is right up my alley. She also handpainted tiny Halloween masks on that bracelet and sent a big generous cut of Cotton & Steel Halloween fabric, can't wait to sew something fun with that. Opening these festive packages each day has been such a treat, and I can't believe how thoughtful and generous everyone is. Thank you so much to everyone who is taking part! More to come as surprise goodies arrive.

Crafterween (my annual Halloween crafternoon) was last weekend. We made spooky apothecary bottles for decorations using bottles, and all sorts of spooky labels. My friend Heather made a baked mummy brie, and my friend Lindsey made a pumpkin shaped cheeseball for the occasion. You can see our costumes from left to right…Brittany was Bee from Bee & Puppycat, Lindsey was cotton candy, Katie was Mary Poppins, I was Little My, Heather was a cereal killer, and Molly was Ash from Pokemon. That orange colored hair spray was a pain to wash out, but the stiffness helped hold my hair up in that kooky bun of hers. I'm still not sure what I'll dress up as for Trick Or Treating but I've got a few ideas!

The Halloween Swap is well under way, and I've been getting some fun Halloween mail the past two days. In order of arrival here is what has come my way so far. First to arrive was the package above with lots of cute vintage items. The ceramic witch is so fun, and the paper scarecrow bunting is just so darn adorable! I was excited to receive some treats from See's candy too as we don't have any nearby and I love how they have a vintage look to their items this year. This Halloween package was from Susie, and you can tell from her instagram that she loves Halloween too! Next to arrive was a Halloween box from Niku. She sewed me up some little Halloween ornaments and a Halloween fabric bunting from some of her favorite Halloween fabrics. She also made some drawstring bags out of fun Halloween fabric and filled those with the candy and little Halloween treats you see pictured. Today's box came all the way from Susi in Germany. Besides creating this beautiful mini quilt, she created these detailed little Halloween hexies pictured to the right along the edge. I've gotta find an extra special way to use them. My son is taking German in school so I can't wait to share the cookies & marzipan with him. I'm pretty sure he's going to want the witch sign for his room too. It's been so much fun opening all these packages and I can't thank my swap partners enough :) I'll post once again when I receive more boxes. You can also check the hashtag #heidihalloweenswap over on instagram to see what other people are sending and receiving.

My October ceramic class took place earlier this month on a Wednesday evening. We made witches whose hats can double as a ring holder, or my favorite a donut holder! The creativity of those who take the classes never ceases to amaze me. Since I teach teen and up my own 14 year old gets to attend and make an item too. He likes to kind of go off on his own creative adventure and made a medusa head instead. I love the little snakes. The night before the event he and I created some yummy treats for the students. Caramel apples, pumpkin spice shortbread witch finger cookies, and trick r' treat brownies. The brownies just involve baking up a pan of your favorite brownies and once you pull it out of oven immediately pressing a mixture of halloween candy into the top. We used a variety of fun size candy bars, mellow cream pumpkins, and marshmallow monster of Frankensteins.

Found some goodies at the thrift shops recently. I was out looking for Halloween, but came away mostly with Christmas goodies.

My next ceramic workshop will take place on Friday November 10th 6-8pm. We will be creating a set of 6 festive snowmen napkin rings. When I made the designs I wanted them to have a vintage feel, but the faces can of course be customized to match your own style. If you are interested in an evening with holiday music, festive sweet treats, and creating your own snowmen you can sign up here. Our classes our updated each month and we have 4 instructors in total. You can find all of our current classes at our website here.

Plush Of The Month Club for quarter three is the Halloween box. I really look forward to planning the Halloween items, and wanted to do something unexpected this year. I kept thinking about how much I love creating holiday themed playlists with vintage songs for my friends, and wondered if there was a way to share this kind of music through POM. I finally decided to create a plush Halloween record, in a paper and plastic sleeve just like a real 7 inch record. I even shipped them in cardboard record boxes which I imagines must of confused so many members when it arrived. Not only do the records come with a twin witch patch I had made just for the club (and candy of course!) but inside each record is a slip of paper to a secret 8track Halloween playlist, so they can "play" their record digitally. Don't worry if you're not part of the club, you can still listen to my previous Halloween playlists here.

I taught my second ceramic class in September. It was a big group of lovely ladies and we created doily bowls using either a doily they brought or ones that I provided. I baked up some maple sugar doily cookies that I then dipped the bottoms in melted chocolate and covered in sprinkles. My next class is Halloween themed and in just a few days. I'm very excited about the treats I am making for that one. You can see more info on there here. My November class was just added here, and the theme is all about tea! Tea for drinking and we are making some tea related.

On Saturday the 23rd of September I turned 40, and threw a witchy tea party to celebrate. We all wore black for the occasion, made beaded spiders, and ate way too much food. I got so many thoughtful gifts. That night Tom and I ordered take-out and rented A Ghost Story which I've been wanting to see but wasn't playing in our area. I loved it, sweet, sad, and a film that leaves you thinking about it long after the credits roll.

Do you love Halloween? Then consider signing up for my Halloween Swap. Limited to 50 people, I will pair you up with another person (I'll be swapping with 10 people from group, and need to keep things manageable!) You can fill out the form here

Chicago Friends please consider coming out to Great Lakes Tattoo to see my husband's book release show. Tom will also be in town a few days tattooing if you'd like to set up an appointment. Friday September 29th 7-10pm Thomas Kenney, tattooer, painter and everyone's friend will release his first book of paintings at Great State Gallery on September 29. His book is a collection of over 50 paintings juxtaposing darkness and light, themes of despair, mourning and sin contrasted with true lightheartedness. His book along with the original paintings from the book will be on display and for sale. Complimentary drinks from STOLEN Spirits , Virtue Cider and Revolution Brewing. This is not one to be missed!

Lately I've been into handbuilding forms, and more specifically playing around with various teapot shapes. They've become an army of pumpkin headed people and this week a lot of them have been bisqued and I am working on trying out some different ways to finish each so I can decide which I like best.

Just a little look at a few of the Halloween themed items in my last shop update. You can find my shop here.

A few weekends ago Molly and I decided to take a mini road trip to York PA. I kept seeing people post about Halloween items from a store called At Home, and neither of us had ever been. We decided to have a fun day trip hunting for Halloween items and getting some Maple donuts. I wore orange and black and my lucky little pumpkin necklace for the occasion. This stitch marker turned necklace is a tiny version of my gourd guys that Sweet Cherry Shop sent me a few years ago as a gift. I love it so much! While the At Home store was big, and did have lots of Halloween items in the end we each only bought one thing. I got a gourd fella who reminds me of something from Nightmare Before Christmas and Molly found a shower curtain. There was also lots of Christmas items we both liked, but the prices were a little more then we wanted to spend. Here is Molly with a swan we both loved, but it was $40. The deer were cute vintagey (though I wish they weren't covered in the glitter stuff) and they were a bit more affordable at $10 each. Still we resisted mostly due to the glitter. They also had some really cute pots! I loved all the little faces! Afterwards we headed to Maple donuts for pumpkin spice, maple cream, whoopie pie, fruity pebbles, and all kinds of other amazing flavors! Here are the items I came away with…the skeleton is from Home Goods, then the gourd with pointy teeth was my At Home find, the next little gourd was also from Home Goods, and the ceramic pumpkin witch I actually found at Walmart a few days beforehand!

For the month of October I am offering a ceramic class as the guild which is all about creating a Halloween themed ring/earbud holder. Really you could even use it to hold a donut! Of course during my class I plan to play some of my favorite vintage Halloween music, and offer some tasty Halloween themed treats for everyone to enjoy while we create. The studio is located in Waynesboro Pennsylvania, which is South Central PA, located very close to the Maryland border (not far from Hagerstown MD or Chambersburg PA) You can sign up for my Halloween class at the guild's website here.

Its that time of the year when the Summer is ending, and Halloween seems just around the corner. I start seeing the fall items appear in stores and immediately want to start making Halloween decorations. For the past two years I have made "gourd guys" with the faux pumpkins and gourds you can find at any craft stores. First I turned them into ornaments and a topper for my Halloween tree. Then last year year I used them to create a wreath. This year I still had the urge to paint their little faces but wanted to create something new. You'll need: -faux gourds and pumpkins, these come in all kinds of sizes and you just want to pick something that matches up with the size of your jars -floral picks with red berries for noses, these are found in the floral section of most craft shops and come in all sorts of sizes. Round balls or some times longer oval shaped berries. -acrylic paint and brushes -glue, I used a hot glue gun -glass jars and corks that fit into them -sharp x-acto knife for cutting into bottom of pumpkins Follow my tutorial for painting the pumpkins faces found here. Trace the top of the cork onto bottom of your pumpkin or gourd, and use x-acto blade to carefully cut away a space for the cork. Use hot glue and hold cork in place while it dries. Thats it! Its very easy! You can make tiny jars, or bigger jars which I think would make fun gifts filled with candy. You can fill your jars with sweets, colored water for potions, or even something like bobby pins, q-tips, etc and display them in the bathroom to bring some Halloween decor to other rooms in your home. If you choose to make some and post it on social media please consider using the hashtag #gourdguys so I can find it.

I love turning old Halloween decorations into new items I can use in my home. Recently I turned a piece of crepe paper from the 1920's, a cardboard cat die cut, and a vintage Halloween plate into fabric for 3 new double sided pillows. You can find the fabric to make 3 of your own over on Spoonflower here. I like the scan my ephemera in at atleast 300 DPI, then clean up and change colors/alter a few things in Photoshop.

On Friday I had my first Halloween ceramic update and I was so happy to see so many of you love Halloween just as much as I do! I still have a few magnet sets and necklaces available on my shop here, but plan to be finishing up another batch of Halloween goodies in just a few weeks time.

My 40th birthday is later this month and so I decided to have a Agatha & Desdemona inspired tea party. A great excuse for breaking out a bit of the Halloween goodies early, like my floating witch hats and black cat ceramics. Maybe you'd like to have a witch tea party of your own? You can download the invitations here for your personal use: Invitations

For this month's crafternoon we did gelli monoprinting. Some people made homemade. disposable gelatin plates and some of us bought a reusable Gelli Printing Plate . I thought the whole process was so much fun, but I didn't love my results. Since I have a reusable plate I am going to experiment with it a bit more before I throw in the towel. You can find a great video explaining the process I used with a reference image here. For food we did a "make your own grilled cheese" bar with 5 kinds of cheeses, 3 breads, and a myriad of toppings from dill mustard to pesto. My friend Lesley made a delicious tomato soup and blueberry scones, and my friend Heather (not to be confused with my sister Heather) made the peach pastries you can see above. So many yummy things to eat. Please note that the Amazon link above is an Amazon affiliate link and if you purchase something using it I will receive a small Amazon credit.

On Saturday we began our day with a Magical high tea at local tea room Tranquilatea. They had floating candles and little HP decorations on the walls. The teas were listed as Professor Snape's potions, and I went with Ravenclaw (my house blend) featuring chocolate as smooth and dark as a raven's wing with notes of coconut and macadamia nuts. The food included items like Professor Sprout's fruit salad, golden snitch scones, pumpkin pastie finger sandwiches, peanut butter chocolate frogs, treacle tarts, mini banoffie pies, and butterbeer bars. It was lots of fun and everything was very tasty! Afterwards we went walking around downtown. The mainstreet was closed off to cars and there were some fun vendors like brooms & wands. There was a map and free scavenger hunt where you could visit local businesses to pick up all your items for Hogwarts. Lots of local businesses decorated for the occasion. There was a free care of magical creatures demo, Gildroy Lockhart book signing, paint parties, a showing of Harry Potter And The Sorcerers Stone, quidditch, free wand making workshops, a free Nearly Headless Nick’s 524th Deathday Party, magic show, Wizarding Trivia Tournament, and Harry Potter-themed artwork in the downtown galleries. The website for the festival is here incase you'd like to come next year. I can't wait for the festival to grow even bigger and better each year.

On friday evening after my class we all walked downtown for a special Potter Party at a local restaurant called Christine's. There were so many great costumes! As we walked inside we were given a wrist band and a goodie bag which held Harry Potter glasses, a chocolate frog, movie ticket for Fantastic Beasts, and a golden snitch. Once inside there was all kinds of finger food and butterbeer. There was a costume contest, and door prizes, and afterwards we headed next door to the movie theater for the viewing of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find them. It was quite a full day with my class prep and after the movie we didn't get home until after midnight. Just one more day of HP goodness to report and then I have a little paper printable to share.

One of the exciting things about the Wizarding Festival was I was going to be teaching my first ceramics class. I'll be teaching one class each month ages 13 and up. Because of course I love any excuse to make things that follow a theme I had to make Harry Potter treat prop boxes to go with the snacks for my class. The students created cauldron mugs, and use alphabet noodles to create a one of a kind piece. I made butterbeer fudge using this recipe, boy oh boy was it sweet! I had candy from Honeydukes and butterbeer to drink (our drinking butterbeer was really vanilla ice cream and cream soda with butterscotch syrup) I can't wait to show you the mugs again once they are glazed and fired. You can find my upcoming classes on the Ceramic Guild's website here. My September class is doily bowls, and Oct a Halloween witch or pumpkin ring holder.

This past Friday and Saturday was my town's first annual Wizarding Festival. A celebration of all things related to the wonderful world of Harry Potter. Before the festival there was a lot of prep that went into getting the ceramic studio ready for the weekend. My friend Lesley printed out all the Harry Potter fliers and proclamations you see above and we spent one evening hanging them all. I created floating candles for the front window. You can find the tutorial I followed for those here. Lesley created a lightening bolt stencil and we used spray chalk to help the bolts lead up to our door since the studio is located about a block off of the main square downtown. This was my first time using spray chalk, and though it is messier then I imagined, it's really amazing. I can't wait to try it again for future events at the studio. When we first found out about the festival we reached out to guild members and asked them to create some magical ceramics to sell in the studio during the event. I cut out gold lightening bolts from paper to hang above the display table. We used some glittery tulle fabric to cover the table and displayed all the items in the center of the room. We had lots of fun pulling everything together, and I am already excited about the planning for next year's event. I'll have more photos soon from all the parts of the festival we attended.

I thought I would talk a little bit about the garden today and the things that I have been growing this year. Almost all of my seeds are from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. At the top are Goldman's Italian-American Tomato-these are growing well but I haven't been able to try any yet as they are all still green. Next up are the little Blue Cream Berries Tomato-these have been growing really well, and work out well in salads. They are a bit harder to tell when ripe but seem to be extra delicate (one of the things I think makes them great in a salad) I always end up with a few squished when I am out picking tomatoes. The last ones pictured have been the big star in my garden this year the Indigo Apple Tomato-The plants themselves are huge, a few are taller then me. They were the first to offer up ripe fruit, and every plant is just covered in tomatoes. Not only that but I love the flavor. From what I read this variety seems to be an early producer that keeps producing into Fall. I also have a 4th variety growing called Solar Flare-I grew these last year and they are beautiful tomatoes, great taste and easy to grow here in South Central PA. The only thing is this year when compared to the Indigo Apple the taste just isn't quite as delicious, so while I'll happily continue to harvest, I'll probably stick with the indigo apple as my standard and try a new variety instead of the solar flare next year. I've been growing quite a few varieties of squash. When it comes to pumpkins the only thing that has been a real success this year is the Jack Be Little Squash-these seem to be growing easily, while my larger squash have been struggling. I have two little varieties of watermelon. One vine called Sugar Baby Bush Watermelon-has several melons. I did get inpatient and cut one in half the other day and while it smelled so amazing there was just the tiniest bit of pink inside. So I am trying to be patient and let the others grow. The other vine is called Moon and Stars Watermelon-and is actually from seeds I bought about 4 years ago. Even though I keep my seeds in a dry cool place I am always shocked when something a few years old sprouts. This pretty melon has speckled leaves and the watermelon itself usually has one big "moon" spot and lots of tiny "star" dots all over. This vine only has one melon so far, and no moon or stars just yet.

Save the date, big Halloween update in my shop Friday September 1st 8pm EST. Halloween ceramics, plush, and a sewing pattern!

This time in things seen & not purchased at the antique mail…First up some beautiful papers that looked like book end pages, but each one had a different floral design and illustration of a girl in the center. They were really nice but the seller wanted $5 each, even the tag didn't explain what they came from. I always stop and check kid's records, mostly looking for funny holiday stuff for my mixed cds, but I have never seen this one about Katie Kangaroo. Lastly I saw this candy tin and it looked like it could be my friend Molly as a kid (she also happens to love goats and even has a cute tattoo of one) Of course I had to text hr a photo asking why she never told me about her younger life as a candy tin model. Without missing a beat she told me how it was a painful part of her past when ma and pa lost the farm and she had to sell off her beloved goats thus ending her career as candy tin model. This trip to a new to us antique mall was good for browsing, but nothing stood out enough to make any purchases.

Spoonflower is having a back-to-school blog hop, and I created a special fabric for the occasion. With this yard of fabric you can create a lined lunch bag & two snack bags. You'll find the fabric for sale here in my spoonflower shop. You can find printable instructions for assembly of the bags here: Lunch & Snack Bag PDF Spoonflower is also offering 10% off your order just use the code Crane10 which is valid until September 30 for orders of fabric, wallpaper and gift wrap. But hurry it is a one time use code, and can not be combined with any other promotional offers.

Starting this month I will begin to teach monthly classes at the ceramic studio. This month's project is part of our town's Wizard Festival..a celebration of Harry Potter fans. For my September class we will be making delicate doily trinket dishes from these amazing handmade doilies I found at the last Salvation Army Fabric Fair. Of course students are welcome to bring their own doily or other textured item to use to make their dishes one of a kind. You can find all my classes as they become available (usually about a month in advance) here at the studio's website. We have four different teachers at the studio, but each class lists who is teaching it and if its at the Waynesboro studio or Mont Alto campus. FYI all my classes will be held at the Waynesboro studio.

Just some cute things I saw at the antique mall during my last visit. I really loved the little wooden perky pot person, but he was quite pricey and I was there shopping for a gift (not myself) so he stayed behind. I love finding vintage candy boxes as they make a fun display around Halloween even if they are not Halloween related. This was a good one, but again just a little too pricey. I love vintage children's records, the images are just always so good!

A few weekends ago my son and I headed over to the historic round barn for their annual corn roast. If you are ever near Gettysburg PA the Round Barn is worth a stop. The have a farm store inside and welcome you to climb the steps and see inside the top floor where they hold events/weddings/etc. They had corn roasted in its husk, BBQ, and my favorite grilled peaches over vanilla ice cream! We checked out the animals, enjoyed the band, ate, and shopped. The store has all kinds of fun things like moonshine jelly :) The Round Barn is always our go-to spot in the fall for pumpkins and gourds as they always have such a great selection and their prices are fantastic!

I've been working on my Halloween quilts (this is one I started two Summers ago!) a bit this month. I wanted to finish both of them before the end of July, and now I'm pushing it a bit by saying before the end of August ;) The days just get away from me in the Summer with so many activities going on. In any case I am hoping they are both finished before Halloween this year, that is at least a goal that seems quite manageable. This quilt is a big hodgepodge, no set pattern and I'm adding sections of gray fabric wherever I need. I don't mind the randomness of it, and since technically speaking it was one of the first quilt I ever started, I'm okay with any weirdness.

In May of this year myself and fellow guild member/friend Lesley took on the task of revamping the guild's shop. In the front area of our working studio is a nice two room shop that is open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Filled with handmade pottery created right here in Waynesboro by guild members. In the photo posted in this article you can really see how it looked before. While it was a lot of work at times (a few late nights building Ikea furniture) it was made fun with help from guild friends, fried pickles, and many many cups of coffee, and I am still so excited about how it all came together and gave the shop a fresh new look. If you are ever in South Central PA stop in for some handmade pottery shopping.

Crafternoon for July was a craft we have tried to do two different crafternoons, and each time it has rained. Solar dyeing using Lumi's inkodye. It was starting to feel like a real cursed craft, even this time as over half of the attendees had to cancel right before the day. Then it was calling for rain! But the rain held off until after we got some items exposed, and I can't wait to try it again with the leftover dye packs I have. At first I tried making a pumpkin drawing with black marker on a transparency (I was ill prepared since I was expecting it to rain) that wasn't very successful since it didn't sit flat against my tote bag, so I tried again using cut paper and that one turned out really well. The Transparencies that my friend Stevi used also gave really great results, so I think I'll have some made for the next time I try it out. We did white elephant gift swap as always. I wrapped my gift in a tote bag I got off Zazzle. I like to pick up cute stuff for white elephant whenever I see things, and I got a few of these totes last Christmas when they had a huge sale.

In the middle of July we took a trip to Ocean City Maryland for a few days. My favorite parts of Ocean City are all the old nostalgic goodies like the Haunted House ride, the signage etc. We played Skee-ball in every arcade, went to see the wild ponies on Assateague Island, and ate Thrasher's fries. Tom found that perfect shell in the ocean within ten minutes of us walking down along the waves. The only other shells we found the rest of the trip were small or broken. Though OC is not known for having lots of shells, so it was to be expected. Im glad we were able to squeeze in a trip to the ocean this Summer, even if it is always so much colder then you think its going to be!