Annie and I are both back from our respective journeys for Thanksgiving; hers to the south, mine to the north. The orders that were placed between 11/23 and 11/27 are on the way to your door now! Thanks for … giving?

Sorry, couldn’t resist the bad joke.

We just got in a new order of Farm Life calendars from Jill Bliss. These are just too cool. Great idea, super bright/clean/playful illustration, environmentally friendly and good for 13 months of birthdays, holidays and dentist appointments.

Our friendly UPS man also just dropped off Nikki McClure’s beautiful new calendar, The Time is Now. I don’t think he knew what was in the box, or else he probably would have kept it for himself.

I am very excited about these, largely because they’ve simply arrived. Our block is very odd, in that both the 700 and 800 series street addresses are on the same physical block. 720 Gorsuch Ave and 800 Gorsuch Ave are attached to each other. This means that the UPS guy drives up and down our block about 4 time every time we get a shipment. I like to sit on the porch in the summer months and watch him go by. It’s very soothing.

i’m taking off tomorrow morning (QUITE early, might i add). melissa (of bird and branch necklace fame) and i will be in the caribbean, mexico, and florida for the next week. steve will be in charge while i’m gone. ha! probably not the best season to take a week long vacation! in the next few days we will be gearing up for the bust holiday craftacular and other going ons. **don’t forget to pick up a new bust magazine (coming out at the end of the month) for a special coupon from us.
new today: restock of the good on paper calendar and sticky notes.
bye everyone! happy thanksgiving. be nice to steve while i’m away!

xoxo,

annie

p.s. i’ll leave you with a shot from my studio:

holy cow!

this is what handmade arcade looked like for a good part of the day. needless to say, i didn’t even get a chance to take a good shot of our table, say hi to other artists, or even to shop! i did get to play with my camera this morning. here are some of my favorite pictures from pittsburgh. thank you pittsburgh!! hope to see you again soon. . .

we’re hitting the road tonight so that we will be fresh-faced for all of you tomorrow in pittsburgh. ANDDDDD last night i replaced our old out-of-date digital camera with a brand-spankin’ new one. you can be sure that there will be lots of photos to show upon our return.

and of course last but CERTAINLY not least. . . imogene’s next stop on our holiday tour is:

THE BUST HOLIDAY CRAFTACULAR! YEAAAA!

i’ve finally decided to take a little break from the crafting madness to recharge and do one of my favorite things: check up on all of my favorite blogs.

i spend my 9-5 in front of a computer and after 5, i conduct all imogene happenings in front of the computer. i’ve tried to exercise some electronic discipline by staying away from the monitor as much as possible. however, in doing so, i’ve neglected all of the blogs that i usually visit. this evening, after finally clicking through some of my bookmarks, i realized oh how much i’ve missed! how can one keep up without becoming completely overwhelmed?

here are just a few of my bookmarks:

designsponge designspongeguestblog abirdinthehand wardroberemix camillaengman ohjoy! lenacorwin facehunter
enjoy!

so what have i been up to when i’m not at the computer you ask?  the answer is knitting!  i finally met up with the knitting group again after a very extended summer hiatus.  i actually picked up a project that i started back in february.  YES!  february!  has anyone seen the pattern for the polka dot tankini in stitch n’ bitch nation?  yep.  that’s the baby i’m working on.  the front and back of the top are done (not sewn together) and i’m working on the bottoms right now.  i’m sorry my camera is broken, but trust me- i will be showing off pictures of the finished product as SOON as i have a finished project.  i’d like to be done by the 18th because i plan on working on a new project while at sea.  that’s right- melissa and i will be at sea for one week!  destination: western caribbean!  sooo i plan to make these while poolside:

you can find the pattern for these socks at another one of my favorite sites, knitty.   i go absolutely giddy over fair isle!

and the countdown begins! only 4 more days until handmade arcade. have you seen the list of vendors??- HUGE!

i have three very exciting bits of information about this saturday:

1. we will be featuring our entire inventory (except for work from artists who are able to make it to pittsburgh themselves such as the lovely Miss Alison and mogo goods).

2. brand new items (not yet seen in the online store) will be unveiled!

and

3. drumroll please. . . . . . we will be able to accept credit cards!!
and if all that isn’t enough reason to stop by construction junction on saturday, i’ll give you one more:

come take a look at our brand new handmade sign and gorgeous display!

see you all in pittsburgh!