Fun Times at the CRAFT/Naughty Secretary Club party

Oh good grief! I just realized that this post has been sitting in my drafts since *last* Saturday night. That's the kind of week it's been. Ah well, better late than never, right?

The CRAFT/Jennifer Perkins party was a total blast. There were loads of great folks - all ages, all styles, and all ready to get crafty. Jen's book did smashingly well, we sold some CRAFT subscriptions (and remember, when you get a CRAFT subscription, you can get a free adult day pass to Maker Faire Austin. That's a crazy good deal - those suckers are $25 a pop!) and we ate pink and aqua cupcakes. It doesn't get much better than that. Jen was a total dream boat, and I was so happy to finally meet her in person after emailing with her for months and months. She's as down home sweet and fun as you would expect.

On to the thank yous and other random bits from the party!

(iPhone pic, so it's kinda blurry)

First off, some fantastic volunteers. These gals helped greet folks, hand off raffle tickets, sell subscriptions, and helped guests make the fabric covered button ring projects. I can't thank them enough. They are (l to r) Misty, Jamie, Niku (of Lovely Letterbox fame) and Jennifer (of Textile Fetish - who also donated an adorable apron for the door prizes). Not pictured are also Sarah and Anne Marie.


Next is just a sampling of the cool folks who came to the event. I watched this mother/daughter pair throughout the party, and thought it was so cool to see them there together. I could tell the daughter was just a few years older than my daughter, and she just seemed .... so cool and fun. It made me a little excited for seeing my daughter at that age. She was so cute throughout the party - mingling, talking with Jennifer, making stuff - and when I'd do door prize drawings, she'd sit there, clutching her ticket, dying to win something. Toward the end, I could tell she was about to leave, and when I happened to draw her mom's ticket as a winner, I invited her over to the table to pick something out as well. I couldn't let her go home empty handed.

As I talked with her, I learned that she and her mom are actually from McKinney and live not to far from Jennifer's mom and dad. Avery, who is the ripe age of 11, is a self-proclaimed "devoted fan" of Jennifer Perkins, and they travelled to Austin primarily for this event. She even made the adorable Barbie shoe earrings that her mom is wearing! And she was adorned in all kinds of cool handmade jewlery of her own! (as well as little black Chucks - a girl after my own heart. I'd kill for my daughter to want to wear black Chucks!)

As you can tell, I was quite smitten with them. Avery's mom, D'Wanna, is also crafty and seeing the mother/daughter duo out on a crafty adventure just set my heart all aflutter. I mean, how adorable are these two?

If you missed the party, don't fret! You can catch Jennifer and her sister at Bazaar Bizarre at Maker Faire Austin in October. Go ahead and hop over to order your CRAFT subscription so you can score a free adult day pass - it's a deal you cannot pass up.