I'm going to be at one last Farmer's Market this Saturday, Aug 1 from 8am-1pm. Come say "hi" and "bye" and pick up those items you've been wanting!

Since all I'm doing is making piles of stuff to pack and give away, I thought I'd share some cool artwork people made with trash that I saw on the unconsumption blog.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster make art from "piles rubbish, with light projected against them to create a shadow image entirely different to that seen when looking directly at the deliberately disguised pile."

Interesting way to demonstrate that not everything is as it seems.

The other day I was at Anthology dropping off some wares and Sachi was showing me all the new Japanese papers and folders they just got in. It was hard for me to walk away without buying one of everything she had (except the smiling globs of poo, that one I didn't like), but I had just packed up all the Japanese stationary I bought when we were in Vancouver, so I know I have a lot, and not all that many etsy sales to use it up on. She suggested I buy a bunch of folders to organize my paperwork and I informed her that I have a very practical system of envelopes in a shoebox that works quite well for me (I'm actually on my third year of the shoebox system - this might be one of the factors that limits how large EKRA grows, the terrible methodology and lack of interest in taking care of paperwork). Anyways, I was packing up and noticed that I could use a folder! All my "submit this form with your work you send to our store" forms were just piled up on the printer and I photocopy one as I need it. Hello! Those need to go in a folder. And just look at how ridiculously cute it is!

You can get your very own cuteness at Anthology at 218 State St, Madison, Wi.

I skipped the market today to pack and did get some packing done, but somehow also went shopping at St. Vinnie's and a yard sale down the street. I picked up a total of 6 frames and a bunch of sheets and fabric and a new blanket for our new king size bed and three cones of cotton yarn. Only one of those things is for the house, all the rest is crafting supplies. I told myself I was only going to buy pink and yellow fabric for cupcake rugs and trivets, but St. Vinnie's had just filled up the $1/piece bin and the sheets at the yard sale were just too cheap to pass up. Oh well, I'm sure it will all fit on the trailer we rented.

Aaron and I finally have a house in Carbondale! And EKRA has a nice big craft room picked out with the laundry room right next to it for easy access for washing newly thrifted fabric. It is all very exciting. I know this picture doesn't show the house very well at all, but what it does show is the tiredness of us. This was a long drawn-out mess of a situation. This is the first house we've purchased and I sure hope the next time goes more smoothly. Here are some of the more interesting obstacles that got in our way:
*After we submitted an offer and it was accepted, we found out the person who listed it didn't actually own it. This resulted in a series of refiling paperwork, more appraisals of the house, and lots of confusion on how a relator would list a house for someone before making sure they actually own it.
*One of the biggest storms ever hit Carbondale after our offer was accepted. They called it an inland hurricane and there was tons of damage. Our realtor was without internet access for 9 days and the university shut down during finals week! That meant that the seller had to make repairs on the house before it could get appraised, but everyone in Carbondale needed to make repairs on their houses, so things were slow going. Not really anyones fault and lucky for us it happened before we owned the house.
*The big day finally arrived, we had an appointment to close at 3pm. We arrived in Carbondale the night before and were anxiously awaiting the appointment. At 1pm, we got a call from our realtor saying it wasn't going to happen, that the seller couldn't be located to sign paperwork. At that point, everything seemed completely hopeless. There we were, with a car so full of stuff we couldn't use the rearview mirror, no place to go, no work that could be done without having a real address, and 8 hours from Madison. I cried. After Aaron calmed me down, we both just sat in the car wondering what the hell was going on and what was going to happen. We got a hotel room at a hotel with a pool and decided to go to the mall to buy swimsuits so we could go swimming. I had just pulled about 10 suits off the rack to go try on when Aaron's phone rang. It was our realtor saying the closing was on for 3pm again, but we needed to do a walk through and it was already 2:30. We drove to the house, ran through the rooms of the house, and raced to the next town over to sign the paperwork. Turned out the seller wasn't going to sign anything until the money from our bank showed up which wasn't going to be until tomorrow. We headed back to the hotel, decompressed a bit, ate a nice dinner, and went furniture browsing. We got up early the next morning confident that we could use that address for setting up bank accounts and stuff. We thought that any minute that morning we would get a call saying we could have the keys to the house. Got a bank account, got Aaron's payroll and tax paperwork signed at the university, got the car registered in Illinois, still no call. More anxiey and much wondering and wandering around with no house, no where to go, and no more errands to run. Finally at 2pm we got a call from our realtor and got the keys. I joked earlier that trip that Aaron should carry me across the threshold. We got there, he opened the door, picked me up, and carried me inside. For about 5 minutes, there was an incredible sense of relief. Ahhh, we finally had a house! But no resting yet, we walked around, figured out which rooms were for which purpose, unloaded the car, called and ran around getting the utilities in our names and turned on, and started the drive back to Madison.

So, now it is now. The real moving begins now. Can you see why I look so horribly tired in that picture?

Okay kids. I think it is really going to happen now. Almost everything is in place for Aaron and I to close on our new house. Seriously, any second now the bank is going to call and tell us we can sign the papers here in Madison and then we are going to load up the car and make our first trip down to Carbondale to try and get some of our stuff set up. Get the car registered in IL, set up new bank accounts, set up internet, and on and on and on. So, how does this affect you, my wonderful EKRA supporters? Not much except that I closed my Etsy store today until things have settled down. I have a tough time keeping track of my inventory when it is all at one address. If it is split between here, Carbondale, and a moving trailer and I had to know where everything was, I'd go even crazier than I am!

Look for new store updates in early August!

These past few weeks I've been on the hunt for a piece of artwork that is very "Madison" to me to hang in our house. There are a lot of great artists in town that use Madison imagery in their work including the Union Terrace chairs, Bucky Badger, and the Capitol building. I'm not really a fan of those things in particular, but rather the city in general. At Art Fair on the Square this weekend, I wanted to go see if this artist Keith Grace was there again this year. He uses maps and typography in his paintings and I thought his work was just awesome. I was hoping he would have a print of a piece I saw last year. He didn't, he had this new painting of a kitty where he incorporatesd a Wisconsin map and typography. You can't see it here, but Madison is right on this beautiful kitty's back. I absolutely fell in love with it and now it is mine, all mine (and Aaron's)! My "Madison" art hunger has been satiated.

Time in Madison for EKRA is winding down. We don't officially have a new house to move into in Carbondale, but any day now we should be closing (keep your fingers crossed)! I'm really really sad to be leaving Madison. But here are some things that I'm happy about.

Even though almost all of our wall art is packed and ready to adorn the walls of our new house, I still have my latch hook rug owls hanging in my craft room. I have purged almost all of my thrift finds that decorated my house except the ones I really really love. This is one of them. I can't imagine all the hours that went into this project. I remember getting about 25% through a latch hook kit when I was a kid before I called it quits. I bought this for $1.50 at the Salvation Army that closed a few years ago.

I picked up a little bouquet of yellow daisies at the grocery store yesterday. They are by the kitchen sink and make dish washing much more bearable. Our new house has a dishwasher, so I'll be able to put flowers other places!

I've had a real run on magnets lately. They've been selling like hotcakes as usual and I just sold over 300 to Absolutely Art earlier this week. Even though I've been pouring resin almost every day, it never feels like I have enough, especially with Renegade Chicago coming up quickly (although my acceptance is still pending - I think notifications come out this week. Again with the finger crossing please.)

And mosaic frames. There are never enough of those either. I made another big mess in the kitchen this morning and I have to finish these up right after I finish this post. I've been working hard to use up the dishes I have and also the frames that I have. Sometimes I'll cut the glass for a frame and it will sit and sit and sit. Why? I don't know, I just don't feel like working on it anymore. Well, it is do or die time now. I don't want to pack and move half-finished projects. So, a lot of these were frames that have been waiting for a long time.

I've got some great fabric that I can't wait to get to. I've been packing things with fabric as packing material, so it feels like I don't have much fabric and then I buy more. Probably not the best idea, but I can't shake the feeling that there won't be any good thrift stores in Carbondale. It is totally irrational, right? It's just that my whole business relies on me being able to buy supplies at thrift stores. If nothing else, St. Louis is just 2 hours away and I'm sure that city has at least one good thrift store. I should look on the bright side, I get to go visit tons of new stores and find my new favorites.

Tick tock. We are scheduled to have all our stuff in a truck leaving town on August 5. Although, we don't have a house yet, so that might change....

All EKRA purses MUST GO! I'll be selling all remaining stock for just $5 at the Farmer's Market this Saturday. Come early for the best selection!

I spent the afternoon yesterday grouting a new pile of frames. Today I cleaned them all up and labelled them. This is what it looks like when I'm doing this. I get out my paper cutter, stamps, ink pad, Windex and other tools and spread them out. Then as each frame is labeled, I stand it up so I can admire them all before they get packed away. Most of these will be heading to Anthology.

These two little ones are my favorites of this batch.

These new cards came in the mail today from ebay. Soon there will be new bottlecap necklaces and rings!