get your art on

Last Friday and Saturday, we went downtown to check out the Des Moines Arts Festival in Western Gateway Park. This event is something we cannot miss each summer. Music, tons of art, food ... and to me it always makes things feel like summer is finally in full force.
The permanent sculpture garden is a spot we visit often, and it's such an awesome addition to the downtown area.
This new (untitled) Keith Haring sculpture is the latest piece that has been added.Lo is a HUGE fan of all the sculptures there and wants to visit all of the time, so we find ourselves hanging out there quite a bit. She likes to make faces like the statues. ;)
And here's some of the artwork we got to see at the festival. There were so many outstanding artists; some local but most from out-of-state.

Tim Hooper (one of our favorites.)
Anthony Pack.
Ginny Herzog.

Jerry Brem.So much fun. (How was your weekend?)

summatime ... out of control

It's hot. Hello summer! What have you been up to? We've been meeting up with pals at the wading pool. I am lucky to have a bunch of rad fellow mom-friends who all have kids around the same age. So when we kick it poolside, we all feel pretty lucky and try not to take these awesome summer days for granted. (Because really ... these could be the best days of our lives.)
We've been making lots of pancakes again. This girl has had so much practice that she can almost do all of the ingredient pouring and mixing by herself.
Bo surprised me last weekend with this amazingly cool beach cruiser. The colors are perfect. I'm in love. (If only we had a beach!)
And I've been running. I've totally been afraid to even say that until I felt like I was going to stick with it, but a few girlfriends and I started a program way back in April (and I reluctantly agreed to commit for eight weeks.) Somehow, eight weeks has come and gone and now we're going to be working up to a 10k. Which is something I honestly thought would be impossible. (If you knew me in high school, you know I was never a runner.) Together, we get up at o-dark-thirty, encounter all sorts of wildlife on our route, chat about the day ahead ... and for me, it's really all about my friends. I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for them. There's no better motivator than a bunch of chicks waiting for you on the trails who will totally hunt you down if you decide to skip out! Or make fun of you if you oversleep. ;)

Renegade!

Last month, I applied to get into the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago. I was quite certain I wouldn't get chosen (especially after I heard that they were going to accept 1/3 of the people who applied this year.) I thought about it for weeks ... if I really went for it with my hand-knits, could I make enough things to sell? Will people be ready to buy fall/winter accessories in September? Would I have time to knit over the summer? And most importantly, would it still be fun? Renegade felt like a big leap from the craft fairs I've done in the past so I was nervous, but felt it was worth a shot. So I told myself that I'd freak out after I got in ... if I got in.
So, over the weekend I found out that I got in. And I was thrilled. I'm super stoked to embark on this adventure with my pal Erin, who has so kindly agreed to go with me ... and now, yeah, I'm kind of freaking out. But in a good way. I'm already hoarding gorgeous yarn that I can't resist sinking my fingers into. (Above is my pile of Blue Sky Alpaca and Cascade Magnum.) I'm brainstorming ideas for my display area, getting advice from vendors with Renegade experience, and ... knitting.
I really hope that if you're in the Chicagoland area, you'll mark your calendars and come out to say hi and check everything out this September – it's truly handmade heaven (and it's free to get in.) I spent a day shopping at Renegade last year with a bunch of girlfriends and we had the best time. Until then ... I'll be here, needles clicking away. ;)

Etsy Craft Party!

Last weekend, crafters all around the world celebrated Etsy's 5th birthday. My pals Leslie and Erin, who I had met through the local craft fairs and such, were kind enough to host a fantastic party for us Des Moines girls. I got to hang out with the lovely Sarah and Stacey and meet lots of other awesome girls who were just as stoked as I was to just hang out, chat and make stuff for an evening.
Carefree Patisserie made this amazing cake for the party (and it was seriously so tasty.) Check out that fondant glue gun with a cord and glue dripping out! (photo by David Poyzer)Our hostesses did such a fine job making delicious beverages and all kinds of summery treats to snack on.
After we had indulged in some snackiness, we all managed to make a few things! There was lots of knitting and sewing going on.
These two made adorable corsages for a prom/party event that they were attending.
A Design Sponge tutorial was in the works with felt, embroidery and buttons.
And Erin provided lots of really cool scraps of paper and photos to make cards or word art. (I totally stole one of her collages at the end of the night!)
We honestly had such a great evening. We gabbed right through our viewing of Handmade Nation, shared our favorite blogs and talked about craft fairs. (Sarah and Leslie of Urban Posture – both of the girls in red above – just returned from Renegade in Brooklyn and will be on their way to Chicago in September.) It was so rad to hang with so many creative local girls and I'm pretty sure we'll getting together again soon. Thanks to everyone for the great time!

yikes!

I almost forgot to pick a winner from this post! (So sorry!)

The winner is ... nico!
Email your mailing address to jgeigley [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll get a little package mailed off to you this week.

A big thanks to all who commented! (And if you still wanted to grab one of these, I've temporarily reduced the prices on everything in my Etsy shop to clear out some stuff before I go to Renegade. You can find everything here!)

i heart you, roller derby

Do you love roller derby? I love roller derby. I was obsessed with Rollergirls, a derby show that aired on A&E a few years ago. I loved the real-life stories of each of the girls and my favorite players were Lux, Punky Bruiser, Miss Conduct, Chola and Venis Envy. I dreamed of getting a pair of skates and striped legwarmers and getting knocked around (even though I knew realistically I couldn't take the hits.) But I fell in love with the sport and the sisterhood.
Anyway, my pal Shana (that's her on the bike!) told me that Bo and I should come out to see the undefeated Mid Iowa Rollers in their bout against the Iowa City Roller Girls over the weekend. So we did, and what a RAD time we had.
Here's the Mid Iowa Rollers in blue.And the opponent (OCCRG) in red.
And now I have some new favorite roller girls. Like Anna Killakova.
cTAL faTAL.
Wonton Hammer.
Mizz LolliPopYa.
Fanny Firestarter ... and so many more. (She's so fast, she's a blur!)
They were up, they were down ... knocking each other around. These girls are majorly tough!
The home team was trailing by about 20-ish points until the very end and had us on the edge of our seats. They were literally flying past us ... too fast for my camera.
Such a thrill!The final 15 minutes were intense as we all cheered on our jammers and time and time again, they fought and powered their way through the pack ... go, go, go!
And in the absolute final seconds of the bout, the home team pulled ahead by three points for the win!! Such an amazing and well-deserved victory; such a hard fight to the finish. We had a blast watching you battle it out, girls ... and you can bet we'll be back to see you soon!
(xo, your new biggest fan.)