I'm migrating

So folks, I think this is going to be my last post on this site. I will be back from time to time, but just to borrow some content and post it on my bright new shiny blog. I now have http://thelittlegoat.com and it doesnt link back to a blogspot or another blog...it just is what it is. Please friend me over there. Google connect with me. RSS me. Do something to show me that you actually read my blog :). I think that this is going to be better. Its going to be more of everything, and the format is just more fun.


I'm still building it. It requires some images to make it feel like The Little Goat is home...but I couldn't help but post. Its fun having a real forum to write.

Check it out. Come say hi!

Etsy Tag Monday: Summer - THWARTED

I think Blogger knows I'm leaving. I had this beautiful summer-y post all set to be written, with Etsy Tag Monday being summer, and it wouldn't let me move any of my photos once I uploaded them. I couldn't format it the way I'd done in the past. I think that Blogger is pulling a 2001 thing and knows I'm talking behind its back. It knows I'm starting an affair, only to soon end our relationship. If he keeps behaving like this...I'll end the relationship sooner than anticipated.

Here is one of the images I was going to use. It's a rainbow fountain by Valentine Photography.

Reminds me of the summers I don't get anymore living in the bay area. I miss the heat, and the sun and the feel of summer. I miss pool parties, and pitchers of lemonade, and most of all...my tan. So this is the post for now...because anything else is just a hassle to post. Going to go home and work on prettying up the new love. This way I can leave this old, stale relationship behind.

man....

this is definitely going to be a learning experience. Mick got it up and running...but now its up to me to make it fun..

Gonna need a quick lesson on CSS, HTML, and gotta get my Photoshop goin on....

I'd keep reading this one for a while...the other one is going to be under construction for a while (too bad I cant figure out how to tell you its under construction!

its happening!

We are in the process of figuring out this Wordpress.org thing, and have currently taken down http://thelittlegoat.com so that we can work on it from behind the scenes, to give you a new, fancy blog! (Well, I dont want to hype it up, because it likely wont be THAT fancy), but it won't be blogger. In the mean time, I'll continue posting to http://the-little-goat.blogspot.com . Same site, older, more difficult domain to remember. All the more reason for you to RSS me.

I'll also do my best to transfer old posts from this blog, as well as Too Salty for my Taste. I want it to be content rich when it goes live. Stay tuned...I'm pretty excited for a new, cleaner, more functional site.

What I had for dinner : Goat Cheese Pizza

Until I get my other site up and running, I have decided to make this blog content rich, even if its not necessarily about kids or crafts. If the mood suits me, I will have new themed entries : What I had for dinner.

There will be a sense of DIY in these posts however, because they will all have to do with the meals that Mick and I had, all prepared by us.

This one, the goat cheese pizza with tomatoes, pesto and asparagus is likely my favorite home made pizza to date.

OK, so making your own crust is fun, and maybe you feel a sense of accomplishment when you do it...but don't knock the Boboli. Seriously. Its 2g fat, tasty, and browns perfectly.

I will preface this by saying that I got the recipe out of a Weight Watchers book. Each slice is 7 points, and it yields 6 servings. This may, no will become a regular part of our diet. (I will discuss the meal plan that Mick and I are on at a later date).

1 Boboli
3/4 cup goat cheese
2 plum tomatos -sliced
8 asparagus spears
pesto - Mick made this, though store bought pesto would work too.

we put some sliced garlic on it as well

Cook for 10 minutes at 450 degrees, and if you are using a crappy oven like we were, and the olive oil drips off the pizza, your oven will catch on fire.

However, that fire made for a perfectly crisp, delicious dinner, and what will be a re-heated delight for lunch.

Apologies for the crap photo for now. I took better ones, just haven't uploaded yet.

Flea Market Success!

Surrounded by old books, clothes out of a womans closet and kitchen supplies, I set up my first booth (table from target with a table cloth), at the Alamo Square Flea Market yesterday. This was my first attemt at selling the Wunzees outside of my Etsy shop, and I'll tell you it was WAY more enjoyable. Seeing people touch your stuff, and comment on how cute it was felt amazing. I handed out way more cards than sold items, but seriously, I consider that to be a success too!


Mick came out with me at 7:30 to start and set up, and by 8:30 the streets were already hopping. The early bird gets the deal I guess when it comes to flea markets. They are a way for people to sell shit you never knew you needed, and then there is a lone booth selling baby clothes. It actually couldn't have worked out better, because I think it was just unexpected. My table was a little breath of fresh air, and for all those people who knew that they had a baby to shop for, it was a perfect opportunity.

I went with my whole inventory. The weeks prior I had made some Wunzees that never made it into my Etsy shop, so I sold some of those, in addition to ones that had been in my shop for a while! All in all, I sold 4 bibs, a bib and Wunzee set, and 22 individual Wunzees! I did sell them for a discounted rate, (I took down the sign pretty early on) due to it being a flea market and my first time out in public, but I think I can get away with charging my normal prices at the craft fairs. I can't wait to go to my next one.


I think Mick had fun too, and it helped that the day turned out to be perfect weather. It also helped that at 9:00 am, he went strolling for goodies, and came back with a working Darth Vader mask. I mean..the voice box says stuff, and he can mic his own voice to sound just like him. Its pretty funny. He was selling Wunzees like that for a while.


At one point a few weeks ago, Mick even made his first Wunzee. He created the \m/ metal hands design, and it was one of the first ones sold! So far he is 1 for 1, with 100% of all his Wunzees sold!


Now it looks like the job I have ahead of me is alot more sewing so I have a solid inventory next time I go out. I have new bibs to work on, and even bought little beanies this time that I'm going to affix ears to. New fun stuff for my budding fair career. :) Hope I can find the time in the day....

Would you like to come to the pants party?

My dear friend Abby writes a great little blog. Bright Yellow World is her tale of nothing in particular, but just little tidbits from her life. Apparently the folks at Gap think that her blog is special (as do I), because they invited her to host a pants party (as we are referring to it).

Basically The Gap redid their jeans, and they want the world to see them, so they approached a few bloggers to host the parties to show off these jeans. Abby got sent boxes and boxes of jeans, and she got to invite a bunch of her closest friends to try them on. I'm fairly certain that she gets to give away the extras as well, so you should RSS her blog NOW.

A night of pulled pork, shrimp and avocado salad, Gap printed M&M's and pants jokes, and I ended up with a new pair of awesome jeans. A great idea from the marketing team at Gap, and I have a pair of jeans to prove it. Some poorly taken iPhone photos below. :)

The pants on the front door. Says "There's a party in here."

The awesomely adorable pants garland hanging in the living room.

The women selection in the closet. She had them all displayed with the images below.

I ended up with a pair of the Sexy Boot cut jeans. They are really nice. They are trying to do more of a couture jean thing now.

Abby smooching one of the male jean models.

side note. please put out positive thoughts as her cat Pierre decided to bail on the pants party, and still hasn't come home. Fingers crossed that he finds his way home.

Blog Roll additon: Design Sponge

How have I JUST found this site? With dreams and hopes of my future home having a backyard and a garage, I always get these DIY dreams. Perhaps you remember the photos I took of the file cabinet I got at a bargain price of $15? Guess what. It still looks like that. I have all these ideas that involve spray paint and color, and I am unable to do that in my current living environment.

This blog, Design Sponge has all of the DIY goodies that I crave. It has design trends, before and after shots, and all other sorts of design porn that I can only hope to achieve when I have a house of my very own. *fingers crossed its sooner than later*.

Just scanning the blog briefly, I came across this awesome DIY before and after, and it gives me hope that once I have the workspace and resources available, my crafty nature will help our place look pretty sweet. (Maybe I should start with the pillows I've been promising our couch for a while.)

This bench:

With a little love, spray paint and pillows, became this:

All sorts of other before and after stuff can be found on the site as well.

Hook a sister up with some space! Some outdoors! Some color!!!

a new look

So i am thinking about putting together a real blog. I know that I've discussed this before, but I want to actually have something that reads well, but can categorize things in the way that I want them to be. Blogger has been fun for now, but I want to add pages. I can't do that here. If something awesome happens to me, I want to chronicle it step by step, maybe on separate pages...and Blogger doesn't allow that.

I may not get more readers than you 3 who follow me now. But...at least I'll have the freedom to do what I want with my blog. You may see me here for a bit longer, as I need to create a Wordpress.org blog. I need to upload a template, and FTP stuff, or whatever that means....hopefully Mick will aid in that tutorial without killing me first. I would like to accomplish this by end of August.

Do any of you have favorite templates that you use? I recently started following an old friend's blog...and I love her template, but wouldn't that be poor form to just use that one? I mean with my original content and graphics, would it be weird if we had the same format? Our friends aren't the same, we don't live in the same city...but if she started following me, would it be tacky for her to see that I "borrowed" her template? Thoughts?

Do you have any favorite themes? This site creation is new to me...and I will definitely want to populate all of the current content before it "goes live". But stay tuned...I'm excited. And this will be my under construction image. :)

a start....

So i decided I'm Target bound this afternoon. It might just be a flea market that I'm working this Saturday, and I don't necessarily feel the need to have my display totally mastered so soon...but I do need something to put my stuff on. So, Target here I come. I think I'm in the market for one of these:

Not too pretty, not too fancy....but should do the trick. It will also act as a great bar/banquet table when we have guests! So practical....gotta love Target.

I also just ordered little kid hangers from eBay, and they should be arriving shortly....so, I also need one of these: (however I'm going to put my quest for one of those on hold for a minute...the reviews are awful!)

Alamo Square Flea Market

Has anyone local to the Bay Area ever participated in this?

The Alamo Square Flea Market is taking place this Saturday, and its local, and its only $25 to enter and there are still tables available. I just got one!!!

You can find me at booth F-14, on Fulton between Scott and Steiner. Come by! Bring me a beer! Buy a Wunzee!!!

I don't want to be surrounded by junk though. Im hoping that its a good way to get exposure, and even though I'm not all ready with labels, and a good table display....i figure its a good way to get out there, and maybe get some of my stuff sold! Lord knows I could use the money.

photo courtesy of nanio

Happy Belated Birthday

My sisters 30th birthday was yesterday. Welcome to the club. So..in honor of her August birthday, I found a few items labeled Peridot for my Belated Etsy Tag Monday. It has now become an Etsy Tag Tueday: Birthstone edition.


This large checkbook cover by Quiltish is using one of my favorite bird patterns on a polka dot peridot fabric. Hopefully with all the birthday money Jana raked in, the checkbook wont be necessary.













This cute purse with a hint of peridot is totally big enough to carry the previously mentioned checkbook cover. Looks are decieving, as if you look at the actual listing, items are larger than they appear. Good thing too, cuz it can hold all your stuff! Pesky Cat Designs has other bags sans peridot as well.






No idea why one would need a peridot felted acorn....however I kind of want one. Just for the sake of cuteness. Maybe decor on a table? Get that rustic feel? TruLuxe has a TON of felted acorns for whatever you need them for.




This unique pendant is the best shade of peridot I've seen. Kind of iridescent, and a little larger than a quarter, it would be worth buying an outfit just so you could wear the necklace. Absolutely beautiful. BM Jewlery has quite a few amazing pendants. I might find myself purchasing something soon.

Craft fair in my future?

I'll tell you what. I'm pretty excited about the possiblility of entering a craft fair. Im a little nervous, but I already have 50+ items in my shop so far, made three new ones last night, and have a few ideas of how to expand it to make it more craft fair friendly. More variety, yet more the same. Through my blog browsing, I came across a list of fairs that existed in the bay area, and Feria Urbana is happening in my hood on September 13! And I haven't missed the deadline!


For $100 I can apply and cross my fingers (they don't deposit the check till I get accepted). This one seems less intimidating to me then Renegade, but still exciting! What do I get my booth to look like? So many things to do!

I haven't even gotten in yet and the ideas are flowing! Do I sell cupcakes too? Does food get people to the booth, and then the Wunzees do the talking? Is that even legal? :P I gotta figure out all the rules and such, and come up with a cute display. Marketing materials, tags for the items, etc! So much to think about. It makes me happy to have to plan.

Running list of things to do:
1. Apply!
2. Figure out display details.
3. Determine which designs to reproduce for the show.
4. Sew, sew, sew!
5. Buy "The Little Goat" tags for the items.
6. Recruit help.
7. Figure out credit card logistics.
8. Think of things I'm missing.

I'm sure this list needs to expand, but I'm so pumped to start planning! Will you come?

Location
PIZZAIOLO
5008 Telegraph, Oakland

I'm going to send the application today. Cross your fingers for me!

lil gentleman

So random story. My friend in Austin tells me that her friend from HS has posted pictures of her baby and she thinks he is wearing one of my onesies. "Did you buy it for him?" She said no, and that she doesn't know where it came from. So I do some sleuthing, and figure out that we have a mutual friend in the Bay Area who DID in fact buy the onesie from me. The friend from HS currently resides in SF, so it makes sense. BUT....weird right?

The Facebook "friends in common" has led me to some other weird connections too. Love it. I love seeing my onesies on their owners. It makes me smile. Im going to find more of the photos that have been sent to me and upload them as well. At any rate, adorableness below.

new mission: The Socktopus

So a big fat fail on the Austin photo upload thus far. Actually it was kind of a bust as a whole (not the trip, the photo taking), but I do believe I have a few that I will share as soon as I gt them online.

However, I do have a new mission. I hope I have enough socks left. I have recently been reading my friend Abby's blog, Bright Yellow World, where I came upon this entry. So, this is my new project. Shouldn't take too long, right? How many socks do you think it will require? Only one heel. But...I think I can do it. With my limited machine skills, I will prevail. Wish me luck.

Etsy Tag Monday: Texas

Hooray! Vacation is near! I'm extremely excited this week because not only is tomorrow my Friday, but Wednesday we are heading to Austin! We went last April and had a blast, and I'm looking forward to some fun in the sun (and heat), getting a tan, tubing, eating some tacos, or whatever else our friends Heather and Andy have planned for us. With that being said, hopefully I will get some great shots this time and post some pictures of my trip. So....Etsy Tag Monday is Texas. Thought it appropriate.

Found these gorgeous prints from Futurowoman Fotographie and Bonnie Jones respectively. It gets me excited to go and see the landscape, and try to pull off shots like these.

Lucy Blue Studio based out of Austin has made this adorable Robot belt buckle. While it may not resemble Texas, it sure does represent the talent that comes out of it. This Robot is part of a new, cute series featuring cartoon skulls, robots and rabbits.You should check out the rest of their stuff!







CottonEye Josie has some of these great pin up belt buckles. A little more Texas at first glance, you gotta love the Texan flare. Yee Haw?




You wanna scream Texas pride, but at a more subtle level? You can rock these earrings that say "Don't mess with Texas." Made by Kalli has a nice array of jewelry, and though there arent any other cute state representations, you can bet there are others you might want to war.

a tribute to Michael Jackson

With this unexpected tragedy of Michael Jackson's death, apparently a lot of craftsters are jumping on the bandwagon, and paying tribute in their own way. Here are some I found.

the dapper man...(or woman)

Thought these were super cute, and I wanted to share. They are all hand whittled, hence the somewhat hefty price for a mustache on a stick, but I'm sure the quality is second to none.

I think I'm inspired to have my own arsenal of mustaches on a stick, and may just try to figure out how to pull it off on my own. Thoughts?

Also as of note...found this "mini mustache" on a stick too. So funny...Maybe I can afford this one for Gertie.

Etsy Tag Monday: Watermelon

Yesterday was the first day of summer! Hooray! With summer for me comes a trip to Austin, live music, walks in the park, pitchers of ice cold lemonade, and attempting to get some sort of tan in the Bay Area. (unlikely) Summer also makes me crave watermelon. It brings me back to the days when I had a swimming pool in my back yard, and every party ended up in bathing suits with huge slices. Thought I would bring back the memories with todays start to summer and Etsy Tag Monday.


This is probably not the best one to start off with, only since I'm not sure that the melon suitcase is still available, but the tomato colored one is pretty cute anyway. Nana Company has other adorable cases as well. Id imagine they would be great storage for other crafty stuff.





Check out these fun earrings that would go with a nice summery dress this season. This Cute and Fun shop sells these for a mere $8. A summer steal!






If you read my blog, you know I am a fan of the crocheted hat. I really should just suck it up, and take the time to learn how to crochet well, because I will end up spending a fortune on crocheted hats when I have kids. This "watermelon" hat is exactly what I want to learn. I love the bill. You should check out the rest of Cite' Fuzz's shop. Cute hats with ears as well...







This watermelon tote is on sale for %50 off! A cute beach or picnic accessory, you should grab it while the sale is still going on! Population One has a great selection of other bags as well; travellers, coin purses, wallets, etc.








Ugh...too cute for words. A custom made watermelon outfit from head to toe. Angel Fish Boutique has a ton of other adorable crocheted outfit they can make for you as well...but I want to know if the little girl comes with it. How adorable is she and her posing for the camera?

Happy Fathers Day!

This post is not going to be the complete one I want it to be...and thats because my dad is sitting in my living room, and we are getting ready to go to Napa to wine tasting. However I did find a few cool things on Etsy that would be good for any dad's kitchen. The shop Yava Glass has all sorts of awesome recycled glass items.


These recycled Rolling Rock glasses are pretty cool. They are old bottles, but now functional glasses.






An innovative spoon holder just proves further that this shop has a way with their glass.







They also do coasters to go along with your glass. I'm a fan of decorated glasses. I have a tendency to "borrow" cool beer glasses from local bars. This eliminates the "borrowing" all together. If my glass cabinet wasn't overflowing already, these coasters and glasses would definitely make my way into it

its a bib sale!

I thought I'd jump on the sale bandwagon, and put my newly designed tie bibs on sale this week. $5 will get you a little formal wear for your little one...or at least keep their formal wear clean while still lookin good. Check out my Etsy page for the items...hooray for new listings!