Nicole's SPECTACULAR Baby Shower

This past weekend, I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Nicole. Our babies (& future cousins/ buddies) are due a month apart and like us, Nicole and her husband decided to opt for suprise in waiting to find out the gender.

Since I didn't have a pink or blue palatte to work with, I was inspired to keep it natural, neutral, and classy. Much like the Mama-to-be:)

 Our dessert selection included:
- Dark chocolate Neopolitan layer cake w/ Nutella, strawberry, & vanilla buttercream frosting
- Neopolitan spritz cookies with marshmallow buttercream frosting
- Rice Krispy treats made with sea salt and browned butter

All credit for the food & fanciful spread goes to this lady—Leslie Poyzer—one of the most talented homemakers I know. A self-taught baker & crafter, Leslie heads up wedding production & desserts for The Wedding Format in addition to being a regular contributor for Meredith publications like D.I.Y. Magazine.



Crackers served with Englishwhite Stilton cheese w/ peaches, Cotswold Double Gloucester w/ onions & chives, and Honey Gouda from Trader Joe's.

The Mama-to-be, Nicole!

No baby shower is complete without playing some corny shower games. I searched for some good ones and settled on Mad Libs, "What's in Mommy's Purse, Celeb Baby Names, Scattergories, & Wishes for Baby.

I'm pretty sure Nicole left Iowa feeling super blessed by all the goodies, gifts, & girlfriends in attendance. We are super excited to meet your little one!!

Renegade Chicago!

The Renegade Craft Fair hit Chicago this past weekend and I had an amazingly fun time assisting my dear friends from Urban Posture at their spectacular booth!

Our first night in the city was spent at an Etsy Success Panel live webcast (I'll try to tweet the link when it gets posted).

The panel consisted of Etsy employees, Renegade organizers, and local artisans. It was definitely an interesting perspective to get on selling handmade goods at both fairs & online.

The first day off Renegade kicked off with...rain. Set up was most certainly a challenge as we manuevered around puddles and worked to keep everything off the ground. Only a few pieces succombed to the wetness, but luckily the showers subsided as the shoppers trickled in.

The booth looked AMAZING. Leslie and Sarah have worked so hard to create a space that has a cohesive aesthetic and it showed. Their attention to detail did not go unnoticed!



It was a lot of fun to sell goods that were so well loved and sought after. To overhear customers saying that Urban Posture was their favorite booth was such a treat and I am so proud of my friends! Renegade = SUCCESS.

Our booth neighbors, and fellow Des Moinesians, Jen of Hey! Jen Renee and her assistant, Erin of Stella James.



A trip to Chicago isn't complete without brunch at Southport Grocery & Cafe. I got the Sweet & Savory French Toast this time around and it was CRAZY DELICIOUS.

Overall, I had a great time helping out at Renegade and meeting lots of crafty people. I'm definitely feeling inspired to keep making & selling my goods. Who knows...maybe even becoming an Renegade seller someday.

Market Day & A Music Show

Another Market Day Iowa down...always a great event to be part of and a privilege to be featured amongst so many local creatives.

Similar booth set-up as last month with lots of pretty new things! (P.S. There WILL be an Etsy shop update COMING SOON.)

Huge thanks to my darling hubby who helped me pack/ transport everything to the venue and so willingly toted around my pink suitcase. LOVE HIM.

I just had enough time for a nap between tearing down my booth and hitting the road to Omaha for SHE & HIM!

It was a gorgeous night for an outdoor concert and we actually got super close to the stage! Of course, Zooey was as adorable as you'd imagine her to be.

Our goal was meet Mrs. Gibbard in person, but alas, she disappeared from the venue immediately after the show.

M.Ward signed our vinyls instead, which [kind of] made up for it.

It does look a little lonely without Zooey's autograph...

Not a bad weekend at all though:)

Craft Saturday [Spring '09 Edition]

Here's a couple photos from yesterday's Craft Saturday at Java Joe's 4th Street Theatre.


I can't say this event was a raging success for me, but I got a few custom orders out of the day and my work cut out for me over the next few weeks!

There is also a deal in the works for some soZealous pieces to be sold at this coming Renegade Craft Fair in New York! Will post more on that as things progress. Exciting, indeed!


Here I am with my fellow booth sellers, Leslie of Urbanestics & Sarah of Good Posture (together under the moniker "Urban Posture").

1st D.I.Y. Night @ Mars Cafe

Despite blizzard-like conditions, the first ever DIY night at Mars was a nice little success! Leslie of Urbanestics organized some fun projects to get our creative juices flowing.

In addition to making wall pockets from album covers, there was an activity where we extracted interesting words from old books and jumbled them up to create unique phrases. We also assembled collages to tie in with our impromptu poetry.

This was my final project:


My favorite and innocent, extraordinary diamond lingered with virulent friz and it was astonishing.

The next DIY Night will be on Tuesday, January 27th. Same bat time. Same bat channel.

Urbanestics D.I.Y. Night @ Mars Cafe

Leslie (of Urbanestics) is teaming up with Mars Cafe to present "Urbanestics D.I.Y. Night"!

This will be a recurring Tuesday night event from 7-9pm. So come on down, meet fellow crafty people, and make some cool, handmade stuff for yourself!

1st Annual Urbanestics Underground

Here's some shots from Saturday night's basement boutique! Photos by Leslie.








The Collective: (Top, left to right) Leslie of Urbanestics, Sarah of Good Posture, Dave & Seth of Save Deth; (Bottom, left to right) Erin of soZealous, Dena & Maren of Heads Twogether, and Jessie of Jessie Made This.

Urbanestics Underground

Here's the official poster for our first ever "guerilla" craft fair!

Selling along with soZealous will be:

SaveDeth Yo-yo's, DVDs, Apparel
Good Posture Handmade items, Home Accessories
Urbanestics Vintage housewares, Handmade originals
Jessiemadethis Handcrafted jewelry, Metals
Heads Twogether Revamped vintage jewelry

Get your handmade in time for the holidays!

29TH NOVEMBER, 2008. 3810 SW BLUEGRASS DR, ANKENY, IA. 7-11pm.