Marquee and the Moon Monday!!!

Hey, again, folks!!!

How about a GIVEAWAY???? Let's celebrate my reappearance to the blog world with a great one. First, let me introduce you to one of my bests, Emily! She is an EPIC person and an even better friend! Lynny refers to her as "Auntie Em" and loves her more than words. She loves calling her randomly to talk about her day. It's pretty adorable!

I met Em while working towards my Masters at Emory and Henry. She probably thought I was the weird ginger in the class, but talked to me anyway, and our friendship blossomed from there.

She is there anytime I need her (except today- she has yet to answer my text and I sent that two minutes ago- YOU'VE HAD TIME TO READ AND RESPOND, SISTER!!!!). She knows exactly what to say to make a bad day better, and a good day even greater! She really is one-in-a-million, you should be jealous that she's one of my bests and not yours... Mine... ;)

This lady is PHENOMENAL when it comes to crocheting. I'm talking AMAZING, y'all. Lynny can call her and ask for ANYTHING and Em makes it... She really doesn't help with making sure Lynny isn't a spoiled brat ;)

I would post pictures of everything she has made Lynny, but it would take three hours to get everything together! She made her blankets before she was born, which to this day Lynny still uses and lovingly refers to as her "Auntie Em Blankets"... when those get left behind at the sitter for the night, Lynny's world is crushed for a moment. Luckily we have a few extra Auntie Em blankets and I can usually quell the screaming by reminding her that we have another at home that she can use for the night until she can get her absolute favorite one back. Let's throw it back to 2014 when I was pregnant... look at that blanket!!! The colors went SO WELL with her nursery!!!!

Annnnnd that itty bitty beanie!!!! If you look in my lap in front of that HUGE belly, you can see the cutest cow!!! Em made that cow for me, too. It matched Lynny's room beautifully!!!

She made her the COMPLETE set of Paw Patrol for her second birthday. Lynny has beanies that are the CUTEST. I literally cannot believe how great Em's crocheting is. I have plenty of stuff from her as well, including a matching beanie of Lynny's, a BEAUTIFUL blanket for my bed, and also gloves. She also made me an ADORABLE apple and worm for my desk at work... the cutest!

Em has a flourishing crochet business, The Marquee and The Moon. She has a shop on Etsy that has some of the items she is selling, however, you can custom order just about anything your little heart desires, or in my case, anything Lynny's little heart desires ;) You'll also see a familiar red head modeling some hats.....

Make sure to check out her shop for more cute items- think CHRISTMAS!!! (Only 70 days away, y'all!!!!!)

I asked her some questions and here are her responses so that you can get to know her better! You get a bit of a feel for her humor in her answers, too! ;)

Get your popcorn ready... This interview is about to take off! Without further adieu...

1. Why did you start The Marquee and The Moon?

I think we all have a very specific idea of knitting and crochet in our brains. It's either poofy sweaters that are three sizes too big, or it's God-awful scratchy brown-and-orange blankets that someone's spinster aunt made in the 70s. Either way, I would venture to guess that many people don't have a very positive or optimistic outlook when someone says, "I'm crocheting something for you." Part of my goal with The Marquee & The Moon is to change that. I want to take the idea of a handmade gift and bring it into 2017, with modern colors; soft, comfy, farmhouse-chic, squishy patterns; hygge-esque warmth; and insanely cool and detailed stuffed toys for kids.

That's the mission statement, anyway. The real reason is that I crochet almost non-stop, and realized that, if I didn't start selling things, my entire house would be covered in yarn and my poor dog would melt to a puddle under the strain of a million crochet blankets.

2. How did you come up with the name?

I stole it from a song by the band Sloan, who stole it from an album by the band Television.

3. How did you get your start in crocheting? When did you start?

I was always a crafty kid, because my mom was always crafty (though not with yarn). I actually started knitting when I was 15 or so. My sister and I had driven to Atlanta for a hockey game, and while I was down there, I decided to teach myself to knit. I picked up a knitting pattern book, a skein of yarn, and a set of wrong-sized knitting needles, and had finished a scarf by the time we had driven home. For something like three years, I only made squares. If it was a small square, it was a dishcloth; if it was a big square, it was a baby blanket. Sometimes I made really long squares and called those scarves, or I sewed a bunch of squares together (poorly) and called it a blanket. By the time I started college, I decided that I wanted to learn to crochet, so I pretty much started out the same way. I would love to know how many granny squares I've made over the years!

4. What are your favorite things to make?

I will never get tired of the standard granny square. There's something really beautiful in its simplicity. I also love making stuffed animals and (weirdly) cotton dishcloths. I really enjoy anything that lets me see fairly instant results (because I tend to have the attention span of a goldfish).

5. What are your best sellers?

Statistically, probably cotton dishcloths, but only because I recently finished an order for around 100 of them. Messy bun hats sold really well last winter, so we'll see shortly if that trend continues!

6. What do you see for the future of The Marquee and The Moon?

Immediate future? I'm really loving vintage patterns right now. I'm working up some 70s patterns in a more modern color scheme at the moment, and I'm loving the way it's turning out.

Long term future? Think stuffed EVERYTHING. Custom dolls. World domination. The works.

7. Why does your bestie take so long to get anything accomplished?

Probably the same reason I do--trying to shove 36 hours worth of work into a 24 hour day!

So there you have it, folks!! She's literally the best. But she's mine, so find your own! :D

Em has made an ADORABLE running turtle for me to host a giveaway with! I cannot believe how cute he is!!

(This is not a picture of the ACTUAL one, as I forgot to take that picture this morning. I had previously taken really cute pictures of him, but lost them when I had to get a new phone-thanks, Apple... This is one from the internet, but it is the exact one I have for the giveaway so pretend I took this one!!! Mkay? Thanks! I even linked the website so that I can't be accused of not giving credit where credit is due- it's the teacher in me. Ha!)

Lynny saw him and immediately asked for one of her own... She had one within the week. SPOILED.

To win this giveaway, LIKE The Marquee and The Moon on Facebook and then comment on the giveaway post what you would order with a 50.00 gift certificate from the store! We'll have a Facebook Live video drawing for the winner on Monday, October 23rd!!! Get to liking and entering, people! You only have a week!!

Make sure you like her page- otherwise you won't be entered in the contest!! And comment on the giveaway post!! BOTH actions get you entered!!

Y'all have an awesome day!!

PS I have a few questions I'd like to hear from y'all about for my next post. If you could read them and send me an email at redsrunning@gmail.com with your answers, I'd truly appreciate the input!

1. What qualities do your best friends have?

2. What qualities do your enemies have?

3. How do you know when a friendship needs to end?

4. What's your favorite color? (That has nothing to do with the post, but getting to you all is fun, even if it's just your favorite color! ;) )