Random Thoughts

 Last Weekend was girls weekend in Omaha with my good buddies Sue and Cathie!.  While we ran around shopping and laughing and eating, I found the above cart.  it looks sooo kewl and it's all metal and I can't wait to organize it!  Now if I could get my Hubby to put it together.....

Now that we don't have cable, I'm watching my fav's via streaming.  Lots of stuff is free, but you have to watch the commercials.  They tend to play the same 3-4 over and over.  Normally I just blow off commercials but I've developed a real hate for a couple that I get to see over and over.

One of these is for a dish washer that dries dishes faster.  You have Mom, Dad and kid in the kitchen.  The kid wants her sippy cup, the Dad is like I just put it in! It can't be ready yet.  The mom disdainfully plucks the (GASP!) dry cup out and hands it to the kid, and says why do you think we got a new one ? and flitters' away.

I hate this commercial.  It's partly the wife's demeanor... she seems so smugly superior to her hubby.  And way? because they wasted hundreds of dollars on a new dish washer that dries faster????

What about using a hand towel?

I mean really, this dish washer is sooo special cause it dries 3 times faster than normal? What a useless fact.  It only means something if you tell me how many minutes it normally takes to dry. 
Course it's probably just subconscious envy cause that is the 1 thing the new house doesn't have that the old house did......

 I do love my new kitchen.  The best part is as we settle in, I get to add my personal touches.  One of these is Nightmare before Christmas pulls.  I bought these years ago, and I've had them in storage against the right time to use them.

That time is now.  I only have 8 of them, so not all the cabinets and drawers get the special Jack treatment, and I periodically look for more on etsy or ebay.  My hope is to someday have all the pulls in the kitchen nightmare!!

I couldn't find a Nightmare canister set for the kitchen, so I made my own!  I used clings on a clear set and I think they turned out great!

I didn't get much done tonight, because it was the rare night that all 3 of us were home in the evening together.

So we all sat on the couch together and watched a movie.  I really meant to try to finish up a necklace tonight, but I'll do it tomorrow.  Family time is important!

In the old house we had a love seat and a recliner.  I so much prefer my fluffy oversize couch were all of us can cuddle together for a family movie night!

My first show of the year is now only 4ish weeks away!   Farmer's Market here I come!

Working on American dreams again…

What do you think?

Farmer's Market 2019

 Just a quick post.... Des Moines Downtown Farmer's Market will open May 5th, and as always I'm pleased as punch that I get to participate one of the best in the NATION  farmer's Market!!!

My first spot is May 25th, and I'm so excited  -- I haven't had much time til now to work on inventory due to the move and such but I'm gearing up now.

It's a joy to be able to create in my new studio!!

Here is a link to all my dates. on my website. 

I will see all of you at 4th St , across from Hy-vee on the 25th!  (same spot as last year!!)

Presenting my new studio space!

I know it's April, and we Moved in January, but damn, moving takes forever!!!

Here is moving day... actually more like moving month.  We were fortunate  to be able to buy this house, then sell our old house separately so we could move more gradually.  Then of course old house sold faster than planned, ( not a complaint!!! ) and the last week or so of moving was much more hurried.  Part of the problem?  Iowa had more snow and ice the month of Jan and Feb than it's had in probably 5 years, all condensed in the 2 month period.

I know I know, that's what I get for buying a house in January.   It wasn't planned of course.  When I started to house hunt in November, we thought it would take months to find the right space.  Instead it took 13 open houses. 

Another moving shot... the loft area is not part of my studio, it's our family library area.

This photo is about giving you some idea of how large my new space is... yummy! That's approximately where my main table ended up as well.

One thing the old studio had in spades -- built in shelving.  However I really like the shelf units we found for the workroom.

Unpacking, Unpacking, Unpacking !

This is a great picture, taken from the library loft.  what a mess!

and finally, the finished studio!!!!  I love and adore my new creative space!!!!!

This is my etsy space.  Mostly the destash stuff.   It makes mailing etsy or jewelry a snap, because  I now have my scale, packing and mailing supplies all in one place!

The 3 main new shelves house most of my Plano boxes full of components, beads and mechanical parts.

This front shelf has most of my metal/clay/glass books, and behind it is my metal bench. 

This is the panorama view of the studio from my desk.  Here you can see my plano shelves, then more storage under the library loft, my metal bench ( the purple are dust covers on my rolling mill and hydraulic press).  The tall shelf by the doorway is the rest of my personal jewelry making library, the daybed and then the etsy shelf and my desk.

So welcome to the new Midnight Kat Studio!!!!

New Items at Five Monkeys!

 I'm soooo please, I'm finally back on my feet after my move.  Next blog I'll give a quick tour of my new studio, but I need to tell you first about new jewelry ready to buy at Five Monkeys, Inc Gallery.

 Lots of exciting changes at the gallery in the last few months.... you can now exercise your own creativity by painting pottery.  You can shop vintage clothing and select items through Rumors Vtg  You can listen, spin and buy vintage vinyl records at Rogue Planet Music .  And you can still buy fantastic local Iowa Art, all under the same roof!

 So if you haven't stopped by the gallery recently, put it on your list!