Embroider Everything!

For most of the girls in the family I decided to try my hand at some pendants. I embroidered some designs on my trusty felt and then attached them to some pendant trays with a glass glaze. I'm writing this before I gifted these so hopefully they went over well. I'm thinking of making some more for the shop since I can never get enough of embroidery tiny things.

 

Pre-Christmas Squid

An insane amount of Christmas cookies have been baked, spicy nuts have been mixed and jarred and presents have been wrapped. Not much to write or photograph about that so hey, enjoy some squid pictures and enjoy whatever holiday or non-holiday you're celebrating this month. See you soon!

Ordering Deadlines for the Holidays

I just added some new stuff to the shop. Also, here are the ordering deadlines for Christmas: 

Last day for custom or made to order items is December 16th.

Last day for ready to ship items is 10am eastern on December 19th.
If you order after this your package will not arrive before Christmas.

Bazaar Bizarre Cleveland 2011 This Weekend!

Saturday 10th 10a-9p
Sunday 10a-6p

78th Street Studios 
1300-1301 West 78th St. 
Cleveland 44102

This weekend, as you may have gathered is Baz Biz Cleveland. Since I didn't get to do many shows this season Clevelanders (Clevelandites? Clevies?) are going to have a feast at my table. Some new Tadly designs will be making their debut along with my aprons (although I only have a few of those left to bring). Plus a good amount of new squid that aren't in the shop. Also, I have found some items while cleaning out my inventory area. These haven't been seen in quite some time and will never be made again so get 'em while you can.

Squid skirts:

A mini skirt and a pencil skirt. Both size 13. Obviously both black.

I have 4 packs of card sets. They include 1 of each of the designs seen above. Parcel wrapped.

Hope to see you and yours this weekend!

Squidtivity

 

This is the fifth year that I've been making the squidtivity so I figured why not make a moving tribute? Since I'm married to an animator I just turned around from my desk and we hatched a plan. Basically that meant I took some pictures and he stayed up late for a couple nights and banged this out. He is also the man behind the signs at my table, my tags and my flyers and we share a lot of similar design sensibilities so he pretty much knew what I would like. He was right. My favorite part is the wisemen teetering down the hill. 

The video showcases the original squidtivity but over the years I have added more. 3 more in fact.They now make up what is called the complete squidtivity. I like to be offical and descriptive.

The squidtivity is a tribute to the nativity plays in the church I grew up in. It was a very small Methodist church with an organist that would fall asleep during hymns and at least one choir singer who was always off-key. Our nativity plays consisted of a fake baby snagged from the nursery and swaddled in a towel. It hung out in a manger built years ago by one of the church members. Everyone in the nativity was also in the choir since it was a musical. We had a narrator that would move the story along and at key points there were Christmas hymns. The wisemen (the only 3 men in the choir) had the grandest entrance. They would come in from the back and sing "We Three Kings" until they arrived at the front of the church. They walked very slowly so they could at least get 2 verses in. A few years I ended up as the angel. They knew I was too shy to ever sing a solo so they thought the better route was to convince me to play the flute, which I had only been playing for 2 years. One year they made my younger cousin play with me. We came in on the side in our white acolyte gowns and tinsel halos, mumbled to the shepherds and then butchered "Angels We Have Heard on High". 

All of the squids are handmade by me. They are made out of felt (35% wool) and are hand embroidered. They're only available during the holiday season, and it's one of the rare things that appeals to both devout believers and atheists. Through the years we have gotten every possible reaction from this. From cries of "Blasphemy!" to fits of giggles. Grab one today!

Thursday's Accessory

Family

 I got a consignment request from a lovely squid a month club member earlier this month. A few years back she had purchased a mom and baby squid from me for a friend who was expecting. That little girl has come to love the squid and parents and friend decided squid would be a way to further explain the awesomeness of having a baby brother. The deadline for this was pretty tight and it took me a few days of staring at 4 bolts of citrus colored felt to figure out how to go about this one. Here is the result:

Each squid and accessory have magnets placed securely and strategically inside of them to enhance the fun of what you can do with these guys. This includes magnets on the backs so you can slap them onto large chunks of metal. For some reason this was always important for me to do with my own magnetic toys as a child. I based the accessories on the descriptions of the family so the neuroscientist Dad is holding a brain, the chorale member Mom has her music book. The daughter has butterfly wings while the baby got a moon and stars themed blanket.

The wings of course are also magnetic so I needed to make sure they looked good from either side. I sketched up a pattern and then cut all of the little shapes out by hand. They were cleaned up a bit after this photo and another set was made then green felt sandwiched in between.

Also, choir book!

 I then went to town making it look like the squid family went to a department store photo studio to celebrate their new family.

I'm hoping the daughter enjoys her squid and her new brother.

New Squids, Super Holiday Sales and Small Businesses

The shop is now stocked with loads of items for the season including some one of a kind items like the tattooed lady squid and the knife throwing act. Hopefully I have all of your squid needs covered for the season. Please make sure to check my shop announcement page for order by dates. Each order over $20 until December 31st will come with a free gift (hint: free mini squid!) and if you order now through Monday November 28th you will get 15% off each order! Just enter the code "cephalopod" and you'll be set.

And if you're into printed goods you can check out my husband's shop. He'll be selling some pretty awesome prints based on themes such as the smartness of reading and holiday cards based on characters like the Krampus or the Catalonia poop log. He will also have 5 extra and unnumbered star charts for sale. If you get a chance, mosey on by his shop. You will not be disappointed.

This year has been rough for a ton of people and running small businesses can be trying in the best of times. But all of this wouldn't be possible for any of us running shops out of our homes, studios or storefronts without your support, whether that's by purchasing our creations or passing along our names to your friends.You guys are awesome. You are what keeps us going.

Thank You.

Correcting the dirth of Thanksgiving tunes

Here's a little Tadly and Abigail to get you into the Thanksgiving spirit this week.

I'm doing sewing and I'm still alive

Hello,
Except for some Thursday Accessories post I have been away from this blog. So enjoy this scene of my desk from late last night. I've been working away on some super fun custom pieces along with getting ready for Baz Biz Cleveland. Due to some unexpected issues this will be the only show I'll be doing this holiday season so Cleveland will have loads of squid to choose from.
That also means that my etsy shop will be stocked for the holidays as it has never been stocked before. Everything will be up for the Monday after Thanksgiving and every order until the new year will include a gift of a free mini squid. So if you missed me in your city this year please check out my shop and grab something if it tickles your fancy.

Thanks friends,

Bethany

PS

Thursday's Accessory

the cosmos

Thursday's Accessory

Thursday's Accessory

matrimonial doughnut

Happy Halloween!

We're hoping our new neighborhood is full of trick or treaters tonight. There is much candy to pass out.

This seemed like the perfect day to post one of the squid from the latest Squid a Month Club:

Thursday's Accessory

Fall Walk (photo dump)

I spent the morning finally exploring more of the neighborhood while listening to the new Tom Waits album. Both did not disappoint.

Frick Park from the bridge

Makes me feel like I'm in New Jersey

New neighborhood. Wide streets, ample parking! No drunks!!

The squirrel is winning

New Things

I spent my sick days photographing new items for the shop. All but the squid pins are up (need to wait for a sunny day) but hopefully there's something there that will strike your fancy.
(also, free shipping until Oct. 31 if you enter the code FREESHIPPING during checkout)

Thanks guys

Thursday's Accessory

manatee

The Wedding Couple

I received a custom request for a wedding present earlier this month. Actually the requester was the girl who we "gave" our old apartment to (our landlady asked us if we knew anyone who would want it). I dropped these off so I could pick up some things that got left behind. It was fun seeing an old place you lived in, especially since you rarely get to do that. I also got to see some adorable guinea pigs hanging out in our old living room in their super crazy fancy pen. Those pigs have it made. Anyway, the squid were for a couple who had recently wed in a doughnut shop. Since they also weren't wearing traditional wedding attire I changed up the colors of the squid to match the outfits worn. I made the squid groom match the human groom's shirt color and embroidered a similar pattern onto his tie. The human bride had an adorable bat dress that I wanted to represent somehow so I gave the squid bride a little bat necklace. And since they were wed surrounded by doughnuts I figured it was only natural to have them each holding a doughnut half, ready to be united.

Also, to make this extra cheesy and lovey dovey, the bride is holding the doughnut with the groom's initial and vice versa for a nod to the whole exchanging rings thing.

Thank you, Columbus!

 

This weekend was Craftin' Outlaws and it was lovely.  I haven't done this show in a few years and it was nice to be back in Columbus. I also adore the folks who put it on. We had a lovely breakfast (giant baking sheets with freshly made cinnamon buns) plus a lovely little vendor gift bag. It just made the day that much nicer. 

My neighbor was the ever delightful umbrella girl productions so I stocked up on greeting cards and a fancy little scarf. I was hoping to grab a cape from Amy D but sadly she was sold out by the time I walked over there. I totally wish I did more shows with her. That lady is hilarious.  

After the show was hopped back into the car and headed to our old neighborhood to catch World Inferno play. We had about an hour and a half to kill before which killed my energy so sadly the show was not as enjoyable for me as it could have been. I was almost falling asleep but the band was fantastic and the crowd was hilarious. I forgot that the success of crowd surfing is inherently tied to alcohol consumption. I didn't make it to bed until 2:30 Sunday morning which meant I had been up for 23 hours straight, but it was worth it.

See you Saturday at Craftin' Outlaws Columbus!

There will be a smattering of new items for Craftin' Outlaws including loads of new felt colors and since I haven't been there since their launch, Tadly and Abigail will be making their debut.

Columbus, OH
Gateway Film Center
11am-5pm

Hope to see you there!

Thursday's Accessory

library books

Squid A Month Club (October Cosmos)

And another Squid a Month Club squid. The description for this was "second career astronaut" and was the conclusion of this squid story.

Tina Kova is back from space and ready to share the marvels of the universe. All of her photographs are being posted via NASA's twitter feed but she has a whole new way to showcase her experience. She is at the opening exhibit of her space embroideries and is having a delightful time going into the specifics of space walking and needlepoint.

Ico is doing a crap job at protecting our pumpkins