After a bit of a hiatus, I'm back with an announcement!

This weekend Screamin Monkey Circus (operated by Q) opened it's doors on Etsy! While at the All Night Flea Market a few weeks ago, Q rolled out a few of his handmade / handcrafted items and had some success selling to the crowds. SMC already has 2 items listed and will be rolling out various bottle cap crafts, branding irons (for the BBQ fanatic in your life), hollow book safes, concrete light bulbs, and original screen printed designs. All in all, it is pretty much a store that totally encompasses all of Q's interests: beer, bbq, hiding stuff, tricking you, and art. Good luck on the new venture Q!

In Quintessential Quirk news, yesterday was a productive day as a new dragonfly prototype came into existance as a potential thank you gift for donors to my boss's new foundation. The foundation aims to encourage college students to become involved. Today I gifted the prototype to my boss who is retiring after about 30 years in "the business" of Student Activities along with some felt fortune cookies with best wishes inside. So fun to make! In the future, the dragonfly design may be an exclusive M.E.R.I. Foundation item.

The recent return of cool tempuratures to the Chicagoland area has brought a return of baked goods to the Quirk homestead. While Q is definitely the cook in our home, I enjoy upholding the baking standards. Yesterday evening (with Da Bears football game on in the background) I got to work on my most recent fascination: Apple Pie on a Stick. It combines two of my favorite things ever... apple pie and stuff on a stick (everything from ice cream to corn dogs to cookies and of course fudgecicles). Despite not having a recipe to work from, I had great success in this endeavor. I promise to post the recipe soon!

Until next time!

SQ

What a refreshing weekend! I hope everyone had a nice relaxing time :)

Since coming home Q and I have been going non-stop in the crafting department. Yesterday I came home from work to find plastic cups, light bulbs (some broken, some not), screws, nuts & bolts, quick set cement, bottle caps, glue sticks, magnets, and two extra large zucchinis in the kitchen. Not to mention the bag of lavender and photography equipment I left hanging around....

At any rate things are getting done! This weekend is the DuPage Co. All Night Flea Market and we are attending! Every year we go to staff the M.I.N.I. club table but this year we are gearing up to sell too! Exciting :)

In other exciting news... 3 of my items have made it onto CraftGawker.com! The pretty lavender sachets, my sunny side up flower, and my little teal poptop. It is juried website so I am happy to have been accepted. It is an absolutely beautiful website... another one of those where you can just get lost for hours.

Sooo it is getting quite late here in Chicagoland so I best be closing up shop. Before I go though, here is a kinda crummy photo of the recent additions to the Poptop family. The delicious photos to come soon ;) Good night and be well.

SQ

Well I thought I'd give a quick update tonight! It's been HOT here in Chicagoland the last few days but that hasn't stopped the QQ workshop!

I listed the lovely lavender sachets in my Etsy and ArtFire stores. Honestly, filling those sachets was heavenly. I have one in every drawer in the bedroom! There are literally millions of sachets on Etsy so hopefully my little flowers will give me the edge... and the fact that I fill my sachets with 1/2 cup of pure lavender buds. I was surprised to see that some only have 1/4 cup or add other things into the filling!

I also had fun making maple leaves yesterday and my craft table is taken over by pretty fall colors. Red, orange, gold!
This evening Q has completely taken over the downstairs in our little home making bottle cap magnets out of his extensive collection of bottle caps. I think my crafting is starting to wear off on him! He has always been very creative though so I can't take all the credit :)

Tomorrow I leave for an overnight retreat for work then we are going on vacation to Michigan for the weekend so I hope everyone has a good next few days and I'll probably catch you on the flip side!!

SQ

TA-DA! Introducing an original quirk: poptop pin cushions! They are made of the same eco felt I use in all my crafts and itty bitty buttons cradled in a upcycled pop (root beer) and beer bottle caps. Contemplating offering these as-is even though their original intent was to be attached to ring blanks and be pin cushion rings. I absolutely love how they turned out. One would be just as useful in a mini sewing kit as on a ring. They fit perfectly in an Altoids tin... I tested it out! More photos are on my Facebook Fan Page: http://tinyurl.com/mwsa6b


Next in line to be completed are these little sachets for lavender. I just need to fill them up and package them and they will be ready for their new home. The pound of lavender in my work space waiting to be scooped up is soooo lovely.

The long awaited red and orange fall leaf has FINALLY been listed. I was stalled so many times with this one but fingers crossed, the next few will not be such an ordeal!


SQ