I had a great time last weekend at the Syracuse Arts & Crafts Show. In addition to selling a bunch of my dolls, I saw many good friends. Some were shoppers, some were other artists. My tent on Montgomery Street was sandwiched between Hilltop Pottery (run by Nancy & Mike from Maine, N.Y.) and GBD Studio, run by a glass artist named David who I had never met before. It turned out David lives only a few blocks from me in Syracuse. I also had a good time visiting with Alison, an artist who runs Silent Mylo Studio. She has a lot of paintings featuring cats, my favorite animal.

On Etsy, I put together a collection - called a treasury - to show you some of the great items that were for sale at the Syracuse show. I called it Artists Who I Spent The Weekend With. I hope you enjoy it! 

This weekend, Friday July 27 through Sunday July 29, I'll be exhibiting my dolls on Montgomery Street in Downtown Syracuse during the Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival. Joelle's Dolls will be somewhere on the block where the YMCA, Parisa restaurant, and the Onondaga Historical Association are located -  between Columbus Circle and West Fayette Street.

Most people do not realize it, but the artists and crafters on Montgomery Street - most of whom are from Central New York - are part of a separate show from the Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival. We are in the Montgomery Street Arts Cooperative show. The art is the same. Only the promoter is different.

There are a ton of things going on in downtown Syracuse this weekend. There's also the Northeast Jazz & Wine Festival in Clinton Square and the Stage of Nations Blue Rain Eco-Fest in Hanover Square. I hope to see you on Montgomery Street!   

My cat Nacho is hoping that I sell a lot of my new Momma Cat Dolls because he posed as a model in one of the photos of the cats dolls I put in my Etsy shop. Nacho figures that he's going to get a percentage of any sales. Please help Nacho become a famous feline millionaire by sharing a link to my Momma Cat Dolls on your Facebook page or Tweeting about these new dolls.

I made a special order of two large Momma Cat Dolls for a customer earlier this week. And I'm so pleased with how they turned out that I'm planning to make more of the big cats and sell them in my Etsy shop. They are about 6 inches tall, or three times the size of my mini kitty dolls. So they are the perfect size to be moms for the kittens. 

Speaking of cats, our Nacho spent two nights and three days in the vet's intensive care hospital for an infection of his pancreas that also attacked his kidney. I'm so glad that he got better. But the bill was $800. My husband says that Nacho better start looking for a job. Here's a photo of Nacho the day he came home from the vets. He has a bandage on his leg where they had him hooked up to an IV for three days.

One of the joys of being a crafter is that you meet so many other artists and crafters. There are many in the Syracuse area who are incredibly talented. I meet them at shows in the area and also see their work on Etsy.com. You can shop for handmade crafts by city or state on Etsy if you want to buy local. Today, because I was feeling sunny, I put together an Etsy collection of yellow arts & crafts made by crafters from the Syracuse area. I added in a few others from elsewhere in New York. Check it out!

I make a line of handmade dolls that are designed especially for kids who love to dress and undress their dolls. These cloth dolls come with four outfits each, including pants and blouse; dress; nightgown (with Teddy bear); and a winter coat. In my Etsy shop, my stock of dress up dolls includes a brunette, a redhead, an African American, an Asian and a blonde.