Ho, ho, ho!!!

I have FINALLY delivered all my Christmas 2010 gifts!!  I am so relieved.  Everything is off my plate!  And, because I refused to get trapped in the same situation this year, I have already blown through about 1/3 of the Christmas gifts on my list for this year already.  Ok, so it's kind of cheating because most of them are simply adding a monogram to a ready-made product...but I LEARNED MY LESSON.

But - back to all the Christmas joy of 2010:

I have a sweet, beautiful friend who lives on an idyllic plot of land in Mississippi with her cute as a button husband and their cuter than a button toddler.  For me, she represents the epitome of fashion and style and I just wish I could be so effortlessly gorgeous as she is.  Her house is like a spread in Cottage Living and she always looks like she just stepped out of a J. Crew catalog.

In short, I am intimidated by shopping for her.

So I make fun things instead so at least if it is awful, she'll know it's from the heart!

This past year, I gifted her this fun apron!

The apron goes "MOO!"

Ok, so for a girl who is married to a cattleman, I thought an apron with a cow print was appropriate.  But not like, a steak marinating, grill-manning cow-print.  Something with a girly flair. 

Something like this super-scripty, hot pink monogram!  What a fun juxtaposition!

And it's reversible!  The back has a large pocket.

A large pocket that says "moo" :-D

This was a great pattern to use.  I know that this is not the type of apron that is in style right now, but this was just a first attempt, and I wanted to build up to the more Donna Reed type aprons that are all the rage.  And maybe if I fool around with them enough, I can end up creating my own patterns and having something fun to sell on the etsy shop!

For her sweet little boy, I decided to use a ready-made hoodie to make his little tractor-loving dreams come true.  

How precious is that gingham tractor???  And I was able to use a metallic silver thread for the exhaust pipe up top.  I heard from my friend that not only did Mattman love his "Tratur-jacket," but Dad thought he might like to have one, too.

Still looking for the perfect green hoodie that's daddy-sized.

Sheepish

Oh my...It's almost Easter and the last time I blogged was to post a Christmas card order.  You want to know why?  Because I got so caught up in the not-so-fun drama of my life that I got WAY behind on Christmas sewing - I mean WAY - and ended up not even finishing all my Christmas gifts until...I don't even know if I can say it.  I mean, it's really scandalous how long it took.  In fact, I'm still waiting to give one last gift.  Do you really want to know when I finished sewing?

Ok.

March 1.

*Hangs head in crafty shame*

This doesn't mean I wasn't working on "stuff."  "Stuff" just didn't happen to do much with pin or ink.

So where do I even start?

We'll just make this an "ink" issue and start in on all the sewn goods as I get photos uploaded.

 

Here is the assembly line of my Christmas cards this year.  Once again I used my daughter as a living stamp.  Last year I bought big packs of brown kraft paper cards on sale at Hobby Lobby and stamped her little foot on them in green, turning them into Christmas trees with stamped embossed stars.  The inside said, "The holidays are afoot."

I know, I'm hilarious!

Obviously, this year I knew I couldn't use her foot again (so soon) so I went for her hand.  She was a very willing participant and did a great job following my directions for not getting white latex pain everywhere.  What a little trooper.  These were actually sort of "found" cards...I just decided to make them all out of paper and materials I already had here in the house.  So they were single panels this year instead of folded and I had randomly bought these super stylish aqua blue envelopes that went perfectly with this sort of iridescent lime green linen look cardstock.

And so each hand became a tiny Santa, complete with googly eyes.

The back of the cards used all modern holiday colors:  Bright pinks, blues and greens turned into snowflakes with the sentiment:  "Here's hoping Santa hands you everything you want!"

Because remember:  I'm funny!

So the lesson for today is that I'm slow, but entertaining, and that makes it all even out!

Christmastime Is Here!

I had the opportunity to design a Christmas card for a fun couple before Thanksgiving.  Jennifer has ordered some invitations from me in the past and I was excited to design her these unique Christmas photo cards!

 

Aren't they precious?  And the Christmas cards are so fun, too!

If you'd like your own totally customized Christmas photo card (that means that you don't just personalize it, but I make everything designed to your requests!  From the design elements to the colors to the photo placement to the font!)

Same deal as for baby announcements - for $30.00, I work with you and create a card that we can totally redo one time.  After that we can tweak certain elements within reason.  I then finish up and send you a printing ready .jpg of your photo card!

I can design them to any size specifications you wish, but standard photo cards are 5x7 and fit A7 envelopes.  We can fit 2 - 4x8 cards on one 8x10 photo sheet, and these will fit in a standard number 10 envelope.

Don't forget - I can now take your credit card!  If you want to choose that option, please email me to find out how to safely give me your card information!

Don't be shy - step right up and get your Christmas cards here!

Don't be such a square

It's the Friday before Thanksgiving.  Six days until fried turkey and mashed potatoes and mac and cheese and a dessert per person (if you're at my house, that is).  It's also one week til Black Friday, and that makes me think of one thing:  CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!

So I am happy to announce this week before the onset of the official Christmas shopping season that I can now accept your credit cards thanks to a little company called "Square"!

This is going to come in *so* handy since I end up creating so much stuff that is very custom and never really makes it to the etsy site, and not everyone feels like writing a check or trying to get cash to give me.  Plus, so many people love how using a credit card helps them to keep an eye on their holiday spending and can also protect them in case of theft or damage!

So contact me today for your Christmas card or gift orders!!!  And although Hanukkah is December 1-9, I still have time to get you a gift in time for the 7th or 8th day if you order this week!! 

I am feeling the need to scratch my creative itch, so help me out by throwing me a fun project, ok?