Martha Stewart Show and Etsy

  I had a one great and memorable adventure day yesterday. I went to Martha Stewart Show ! Yey, that was truly exciting. They were filming episode about Etsy and Etsy sellers, crafters, makers, artists etc. I have never been to any TV show, so on the top of hanging out with awesome, creative and colorful crowd of talented people, I had a opportunity to check out behind the scenes of famous Martha Stewart Show.

  I must say, the whole show was run super smooth and flawless. Highest level of professionalism, very impressive work. It was absolutely great to see Martha Stewart in action ! These lady really knows her work, very calm and self-confident, there is a lot to learn from her.  And I love her openness to trying new crafts! During this episode there was  a little workshop about how to make whimsical jewelry using polymer clay with seller Jessica Partain from 'Inedible Jewelry'. Martha did her best putting this craft together. And believe me, you need to have some skills to make it happen. Also Also Matt Stinchcomb, Etsy’s vice president of marketing, was giving  helpful tips for starting your own shop on Etsy.  Beautiful, unique creations from Etsy sellers where all over the studio, many of them  that I have seen on Etsy site, so it was truly amazing to see it in person. I was really blown away by beauty of all handmade creations.  The audience was filled with  Etsy seller and everyone  was asked to bring one item to show off, so I brought  with me my new addition to crown collection : Fancy Schmancy Birthday Crown.

 Unfortunately, I TOTALLY forgot to take my camera to take some photos ! From all the possible days, trips etc. yesterday I totally forgot to carry with me my very special extension of my body- my precious camera.  I couldn't believe myself that it happened, but well I guess that will be a sweet unforgettable memory kept in my head just for myself. But  hopefully I will be able to see it my creation on TV. The show will be on air  Thursday April 26th, at 10 am and 2pm. After that you can watch it on internet on Hallmark website http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/themarthastewartshow/home . Every Etsy seller that came to the show was photographed with their items, so maybe I will get a glimpse of fame :)...and here is the glimpse on Etsy audience from show filmed that day, I got my personal photo! yey :)  http://www.marthastewart.com/902171/etsy-show-audience#/902157
 Now, back to studio prepping for Maya's Birthday Party and TWO craft shows coming up in two weeks , I don't think I will sleep for about two weeks.

My growing projects

Spring time - season to grow any thing : seeds, dreams, ideas etc. My Etsy shop Stitchinnetka is already 1 year old. I can't believe how fast this year went by. I have never thought that actually my creativeness would really rule my life. Evey morning I wake up to make and create, I go to sleep thinking of next projects, dream about it and wake up to repeat  the cycle of things coming to life. My kids, my truly wholesome creations,  intertwine through the whole process giving me the inspirations for the next projects and ideas for creative adventures.   Every moment of the day new ideas spring to life. This year,  I have decided to join few craft shows... of course that was warmly applauded  by crowd of my little fans :). So here I am ,brainstorming for new ideas and designs ... I feel like changing my studio into Santa's  workshop, and it's not even close to Christmas Season.

  Few days ago Mada from  Polesty, blog that features Polish artists, designers and crafters from all over the world , published my interview in 'Crafting Space' section. I'm so proud to be included in this amazing group of talented people :). My funky studio got some publicity :) YEY !

  Some of my photos were taking by my oldest daughter Amelie :) She is super proud of her first baby steps into photography. Seeing her photos of a blog was really moving. I'm so proud of her, she really captured some great moments.

  And speaking about photography.... one more big project that have started to sprout many years ago finally is starting to bloom ! My passion for photography  is turning  into true work of mine  that I absolutely adore. And yes, no surprises here,kids and families are my main clients. I just had a first photo shoot today, exciting, challenging and very fulfilling. I can't wait to play with editing now.

  I love seeing my new projects grow .... Thank you my dear family and friends for all wonderful support  :)

   

Easter Time - new beginnings

 My family loves Spring time- new beginnings, lots of new plans, tons of digging in the garden, creativeness sprouts from every corner. I'm pretty much sure that during this time of the year all living creatures feel the need to grow, stay outdoor and smile to the expanding green life that surrounds us.

 

 My kids are moving to the backyard for next 2 or 3 seasons ! They have already done traditional  ritual to open the outdoor season - art session with wet chalk  all over the patio :).

 
 ...and then to make everything more official comes Easter with all colorful projects, yummy spring food and lots of fresh air .

   

 Once a year  my husband becomes Master Easter Bunny for a day. He loves organizing Easter egg hunt. To me,it is a pretty new tradition. In Poland where I grew up, we didn't have amazing Easter Bunnies that bring eggs filled with treats.It must be a specific species for USA habitat :). I do love watching and taking photos of that phenomenal activity...kids totally go bonkers for that!

 
                    And of course, traditionally, any celebration needs to have some good bake off, so we had to bake and decorate some cookies....

  Finally I have a great reason to hang out my spring banner :) This is one of my favorites and really goes well with hues in my house .Yey- to all the bright and cheerful colors :)

 

  

  Happy Spring and Easter to all :). To all new beginnings !

 

Fantastic Robot Extravaganza

 I can't believe it has been almost a whole month without a new post!!  I got super busy with too many things at the same time...but after all  I have managed to put together a birthday party for my sweet 5 year old Oliver. This time he ordered Fantastic Robot Extravaganza . I was very pleased with this choice, because we got super fun craft for that occasion ! Building robots out of recycling boxes, egg cartoons, plastic containers etc. It took me a long time to collect all the necessary supplies and crafty goods to accommodate creative needs of 30 guests. My garage looked like one big trash can, but after all it was totally worth the fun of creative adventure.

 
  Weather that day was my big asset :). The rain stopped , the sun came out , and we decided to move  party to my backyard. Best decision of the day that set the great energy for the party to unfold itself into a great fun. I have been having parties last 10 years, but this was my first midday party, it started at 11:30am, and I must say it worked out just perfect. Kids were in fabulous moods, happy to play, make and create. As usual, I mad a mini feast for parents, all my favorite party 'cheer up' food- mushroom tart, bean loaf, cabbage/ walnut salad, beet/ spinach/ goat cheese salad, barley dish, succotash, lots of cheese and fruit for kiddos, million pretzels and crackers. Principal to having a good time, is a good and nutritious  food.

  
     Sun and food created a really relaxing and laidback atmosphere. Kids happily  got into  building amazing structures with dads and coloring robot pages. I must stay that the architectural part was 100% dominated by boys ...building and destroying structures

   
   Girls were totally immersed in coloring robot pages with watercolors  ...very whimsical moment ...

 
 Natural stereotypical gender  tendencies totally shined through this activities. But when it came down to building robots, girls and boys came together and they all did really fantastic job creating unique and funky robot creatures.

Some of them even transformed themselves into robots :)

  I was really stunned how happy kids were doing this project , and for a big finale we had a robot parade with a funky robot dance party...and that's when kids went a bit wild :)

  And of course the party had to end with a robot cake :). This time I made hummingbird cake by Paula Deen, recipe borrowed form Martha Stewart website. It's  a perfect cake for a sunny weather. And as usual I had to accessories it with chocolate chips and cream cheese frosting.

 Oliver  had a super fantastic time surrounded by love, laughs and tons of great friends.I love to seeing my boy to grow in a happy man.