Pirate Crafters. Just a Yaaardg, Please!

Pirates like crafts too. You have the bone carving and the knot tying. The scrimshaw and the tattoos. The throwing people overboard and the mutiny. You get the drift. So to speak.

We do not judge lifestyle choices here at the Craft Orchard.
AND, we take International Talk Like a Pirate Day very seriously. As I'm sure every good plunderer knows, September 19th - every year - is the magic day. I know you have your peg leg ready and your hook all shined up, but perhaps you wonder if there are any special craft-isms for the special day?
I may have come up with a few.

• Fabric must be sold by the YAAAARDG!
• Shopping for supplies must be referred to as PLUNDERING, me hearties.
• I'll meet you at the local Yaaarrrn store in an Aaaaarrrr.
  

Like I said, a few. Please share yours...

So pull up your Aaaargyle socks and get crafting, maties.

Shake Well, Craft Often.

My creative process goes something like this -
Throw everything I'm thinking about into the air and see where it falls. Take the best bits together and shake like a boggle cube.
Now, painstakingly refine.

If you think I mean this metaphorically, you haven't seen my workspace. Or my office. I seriously can't function if it's to tidy, I get edgy, can't focus. I realize most people feel the opposite, but what can you do? I know by now that this is true for me.

What it all comes down to is my lust for supplies.
It's positively indecent. Ric Rac, Vintage Books, Fabric, Ribbons, Rusty Metal, Beads, Threads of any kind, Buttons, Tiny Shelves, Glues, Photographs, Sticks, Yarn, Glass, Vintage Embroidery, Colored Duct Tape, Ceramic Tiles, Coloring Books, Costume Jewelry, I even have a beautiful old radiator in my flower garden. (My dream is to have a whole "picket" fence of them!)
You name it, I want it. I probably already have it. It's my Palette.

Busy.
This is the word most used to describe my work. By others. I work in a quilt shop and get asked every day if a selection looks "too Busy?". Never for me. No one ever asks if it's too boring. What is everyone so afraid of? That, horrors, it may be interesting?

So, can you guess my favorite place in the craft orchard?

That's right. The Compost Heap.

Go dig in the craft dirt!

Pink Sweetie on Kona Bay Fabric Blog!

O.K Here's a quiz for ya'll:

What do I have in common with Michelle Obama?

Hmmm? Well? Tall? No. Powerful and successful? Really not. Keep trying... Really, nothing?!!

I don't blame you. And trust me, this is the ONLY thing -

We were both featured on the Kona Bay Fabric Blog!

They kindly posted one of my pendants as an illustration of uses for their fabric besides quilting. Please check out their story about Etsy and using Kona Bay Fabric. It's not a lot of fame, but I'll take what I can get!

I've been a fan of their fabric for a long time and frequently buy it for the quilt shop I manage. I was very excited to see our First Lady in a dress so obviously made from their fabric. Score one for the quilters!

Well, I should probably go tend to my Kona Bay Fabric tree in the Orchard, maybe I'll find a dress of my very own?

What is the CRAFT ORCHARD?

Here is my vision:
The Craft Orchard is just on the other side of the croquet grounds at Girlie Ranger Ranch. You enter the orchard through the Gateway of Adhesives and first encounter the Glitter Spring. The spring is surrounded by beds (twin size with iron frames), of Glass Bead Flowers. To the right is the Fat Quarter Grove which stays in bloom all year, and to the left is the Great Miniature Oak. The tree is not miniature, but the leaves are, the acorns are, and more importantly, so are the wide variety of miniature props and toys it grows seasonally. Spring is the time for miniature housewares, summer brings tiny foods of all sorts. Fall and winter are always a surprise, each rain and snow bringing a new crop. Every morning new spools of thread pop up like mushrooms, because Fresh Thread is the best thread.

New saplings sprout up all the time, 'cause let's face it, you can never have enough supplies.
Please stop by for a visit, the gate is always open.