Etsy.

Orange and Olive Wristlet

Etsy is so much better than when I first opened my shop there in 2006.  They've made tons of changes, and the latest one I've been waiting on for a long time: the ability to change your shop name. 

Unicorn Satchel

Tweed Purple Wristlet

Five years ago, I didn't have a business name--was barely even a business--when I started making and selling things on Etsy.  So I named my shop after an old email account and have been stuck with it ever since.  No more.  Last night I changed my shop name to my business name (makes sense, right?), and you can now find me on Etsy under RecyclingisRad.  Whoo! 

Octopus Satchel

All the old links to my shop will continue to work, and the old URL will remain active for the next month or so.  But I promise you'll feel much more special using my new URL:  www.recyclingisrad.etsy.com.  Yay Etsy!

I Heart Canadian Thanksgiving + S'mores Whoopie Pies

I have been so busy lately!  Regrettably not taking and/or posting enough pictures of everything due to my ill-chosen love of procrastination.  Sigh.  But yay!  I was able to wrap up a few of the big orders before our annual Canadian Thanksgiving celebration last weekend and totally relax and enjoy the festivities.  And in honor of taking a break, and also Canadians everywhere, God love you, I decided to post a few highlights from the weekend.

I heart Canadian Thanksgiving.  I'm not Canadian or even related to anyone in Canada, so the only reason to celebrate is a pure-hearted love of Thanksgiving food.  That and getting all our friends over before it's too cold out to even huddle around the firepit in the backyard.  This year we planned ahead by brewing a batch of homemade hard cider.  The day of we made two turkeys (one smoked on the grill, compliments of my sis, and one deep fried in the turkey cooker in the backyard), and our friends truly outdid themselves with amazing side dishes.  So much fun.

What might be my favorite part of the event was the art project I started my kids on early in the day to keep them busy:  The Hall of Famous Canadians.  A couple of my favorites from the collection:

Bryan Adams: Canadian!

Neil Young: Canadian!

Another highlight: whoopie pies.  Who doesn't love them?  They're like cake-burgers!  I made two kinds (both recipes from one of my favorite food blogs in the whole world, comma, dessert category: Brown Eyed Baker), a pumpkin with maple cream cheese filling, and my personal favorite, s'mores.  Whoever thought of turning a s'more into a whoopie pie was straight genius.  They. Were. Delicious.  Follow the link below to get the recipe for yourself.  I recommend.  

S'mores Whoopie Pies

Forest Creature Friends.

Zip-Up Acorn Home with Bunny and Fox Friends.

Today I delivered a batch of creature-filled acorn houses to CorAzon on Lake Street.  The zip-open acorns each hold three little animals, a mixed bag of raccoons, foxes, squirrels, and/or bunnies.  The creatures I made from old sweaters, and wool and flannel shirts and skirts.  And I found some ridiculously plush velour-esque drapes for awesome acorn tops.

Grey Squirrel.

Zip-up Acorn House.

I love making tiny things, so I was excited to work on this project for CorAzon, as always, a fun easy-to-work-with client.  They should be up on the shelves in the store soon, at both the Lake Street and Washington Avenue locations.  Stop by one of them to check the animal sets out in person.

Sydelle Wristlet

Just wanted to share this super quick!  It was bright spot in my week when I got an email from a woman who currently owns one of my wristlets.  Her not-yet-two-year-old daughter apparently loves to carry it around, and this smart lady thought if she could give her daughter a kid-size wristlet, she'd get her own purse back.  Even though I'm in the middle of a project involving tiny toy creatures, making a kid version of something as grown up as a wristlet sounded like a lot of fun.  So I took a quick break, and here's what happened:

Sydelle Wristlet

Wristlet with sunglasses for reference...it's roughly 2/3 the size of a standard wristlet.

I hope Sydelle loves her new purse, and I can't really imagine anything cuter than a two-year-old with her own wristlet.