Merry Christmas, Handmade Style

Its Christmas Eve, and as I sit here contemplating just how lucky I am, I just want to wish everyone else a happy holiday, too. I can't wait for tomorrow, when I will go to my in-laws house. There, the spirit of Handmade Holidays lives on, and has for many years. We went over there yesterday (as we do every Sunday for dinner) and my mother-in-law was still finishing up the last few gifts. I can't wait to see what was made for me and for everyone else. It is always so exciting to open up the gifts from Ma and find the treasures inside.

Here are just a few of the gifts that I made this year:

• Wobblebob Keychains
• Wobblebob Ornaments
• The Pink Flower bracelet in the photo above
• Wobblebob pendants for the girls in my family (I promise to take pictures on Wednesday when we exchange gifts, I forgot before I wrapped them)
• Jens Pind necklaces
• Lego magnets
• Celtic Star Earrings
• Double Spiral Bracelet

I could have made more, and that is my goal for next year. I also bought quite a few handmade gifts, including ones from boulderglassmonkey, hairbowdepot, jengee, ThePrincessBowtique and SeeJayneKnitYarns

May you and yours be blessed with all the best this holiday season, and may the New Year bring only the challenges you are able to meet.

I snagged a Treasury!

Hey, everyone, I got a Treasury. I chose to feature EtsyRain artists that I know personally. It was a blast to put together, and I'd love it if you would check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=19987

Color Trends Challenge

About once a month Kayce from EtsyRain issues a challenge to all of us to create something centered around a theme. So far, we have had Calendar related themes -- "Halloween", "Autumn", and "Winter. This time, the theme was different. We were given this link to the projected Color Trends for Spring 2008, and the task of making something that was inspired by that palette of colors. I am not a color person, so it was hard for me to even begin thinking about this task.

Finally I was able to find beads in the fucshia, turquoise-y blue, and bright yellow, and I made one of my favorite bracelets. I had intended to add Swarovski crystals for added sparkle, but after I finished with the beads, I decided it was sparkly enough.

What do you think?

It Pays to Have Friends...

...At the Post Office.

Right now, everyone knows the Post Office is a crazy place. Everyone is trying to get their Holiday packages delivered on time and, as is human nature, many have waited until too late. When I walked into the Post Office this afternoon, one of the tellers actually told the woman in front of me, "I don't want to help you, I want to help that lady (pointing at me), she is really nice." It felt really good to be acknowledged for being nice while doing something that is always a chore, and I usually do begrudgingly, as well as several times a week. I guess I'll keep on smiling, and chatting and making friends in the most unlikely places.

Ornaments, reprise

I finally got a chance to take some pictures of the ornaments that I made for the EtsyRain Christmas Party and Ornament Exchange (what a mouthful) and I wanted to show them off...So, here they are!

I got this set of questions from the Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog, where I indulge one of my other loves (fabric and sewing) in a very vicarious way, because I unfortunately don’t sew anymore. I thought it would be just as meaningful here, though.

1. Do you have a favorite gift that you love to give?
I love giving gifts that I have spent time and effort either making or planning for someone special. I absolutely hate giving generic gifts. I actually start collecting gifts early in the year and hide them away. (And I hope that the temptation to give them away early doesn’t get too strong)

2. If you’re making gifts this year, what are you making?
I am making lots of stuff. I’m making necklaces and pendants for my sister, my niece, and my step-mom; I’m making wobblebob keychains for tons of different people, I’m making a really cool pink bracelet for my sister-in-law, and I’m making lego magnets for my brother-in-law. (I hope none of them read my blog!)

3. Do you have any good stories about handcrafted gifts you’ve given or received?
I have received some of my best hand-made gifts from my mother-in-law, who is one of the most special people in my whole life. One of the first and most important handcrafted gifts that she ever gave me was my Christmas stocking. I remember that morning (I must have been about 17 years old) and I had felt very left out the year before when I didn’t have a stocking to open on Christmas morning, as that is a huge tradition at my Husbands house (yes, I have been with him FOREVER). When she handed me my beautiful, hand-knit stocking, filled with all the treats, it brought tears to my eyes.

Another gift that meant the world to me from my mother-in-law was my “grown-up” purse, which she made for me specifically to take on interviews when I was looking for a new job.

I can’t believe I almost forgot about the Advent Calendar, made by…you guessed it… my mother-in-law. She made 4 calendars, one for each of us girls (myself and my husbands two sisters – they are twins) and one for herself. The calendar itself is about 3 feet by 4 feet and it is a log cabin pattern quilt wall hanging. Mine is made of all batik fabrics (I love batiks), and then there are 25 little tiny ornaments that get tied on each day in December. It is so much fun.

4. Do you have any great gift compilation ideas?
Not really… This isn’t my forte!

5. Name one thing on your personal wish list.
A happy 2008

6. Do you make and sell things that would make fantastic gifts?
Absolutely! Not only do I make and sell chainmaille jewelry, I make fabric origami boxes, and I make and teach classes in hand-made lotions.

7. What is your favorite family holiday tradition?
Christmas morning, definitely! First, we have to get to mom and dad’s house (his, not mine) and open presents – so many presents – and then there is the wonderful eggs benedict breakfast with our Aunt and Uncle and cousins. It is such a wonderful time.

8. Have you started any new traditions with your family that you didn’t practice growing up?
We used to try to cram all of our holiday visits into Christmas day, but the year I was pregnant, I put my foot down and said, no more. So we have made a tradition of spending Boxing Day (December 26th) with my Dad, my step-mom and my step-brother.

I would like to start some new traditions with my family moving forward. It is something that is becoming more important to me. I just don’t know exactly what yet. I’ll get there.

9. What do you love most about the holiday season?
I love the sense of family. I love that my sister comes home from California with my niece and I get to see them. I like knowing that I have people around me to love and who love me back. And for the last several years, I have loved watching my little girl get into the holiday spirit, all full of Santa and Rudolph and the magic of the season.

10. What do you like least about the holiday season?
Too much Christmas Music, shopping at the mall, and no parking anywhere!!!

11. Anyone close to your heart that you’ll be missing this year?
I miss My Grammy. Last Christmas was hard because she got sick right at Thanksgiving, and was in the last stages of dying right around Christmas. This Christmas, she just won’t be here at all. I love her so much.

I’m also going to miss my mom. We have had a falling out, and aren’t talking right now, and it is hard to know that for the first time ever, I won’t get to spend Christmas with my mom.

12. What is your favorite holiday food?
I’m not sure it is really a holiday food, but I always look forward to eggs benedict on Christmas morning. The Stalin (German Christmas bread) is pretty good too!

13. Do you have a great recipe to share?
I’ll look and get back to you soon!

Thanks for reading along with me, and here's wishing you a Happy Handmade Holiday.

Angel Ornament from the Ornament Exchange

As promised, here is the ornament from Meghan at Baubles by hand. We love it around here! We are really getting in the holiday spirit with help from our friends at EtsyRain.

EtsyRain Ornament Exchange

I got to party with a hugely talented bunch of ladies last Sunday at the EtsyRain (the Seattle Etsy Street Team) Christmas Party. We had a great time, with fabulous company, excellent food, and much laughing and joking around. But the highlight of the evening was definately the Ornament Exchange. All of the ornaments were hand-made by the represented artists, and the actual exchange was run as a White Elephant Gift Exchange, complete with stealing of gifts. The only catch was that all of the choosing and stealing was done soley on the wrapping of the ornament. We had no idea what was inside.

Not that it would have mattered. All of the ornaments were spectacular! I got a crown from KC at World of Whimm, two different cacti from Marlo at imakecutestuff, and a beautiful angel from Meghan at Baubles by Hand (check back tomorrow for a picture). I was so happy! (But truth be told, I would have gladly gone home with any of the great ornaments from the party).

Happy Holidays

The ways others touch our lives...

I was really touched by a comment that a returning customer made the other day. She had bought a bracelet from me this summer at Kent Saturday Market, and she made an order for a couple more for some friends. As a part of the conversation that we had over e-mail, she made the comment that the bracelet that I had made this summer had a lot of meaning for her, and that she couldn't wait to share with this with her friends. It was amazing to me that something that I had made with my hands and my heart could have that kind of an affect on someone.

I also had the chance to work with the mother of a business acquaintance of mine just recently, and it was so nice to get to know her a bit better by meeting her family and finding out a little more about her than I would have otherwise known.

I like what I do for many reasons, but one of the main ones is because of the ways that I am touched by and that I have a chance to touch others' lives. I hope that continues.

Wobblebob Keychains

These are too much fun! The mystery of the wobblebob, transformed into a practical keychain. I love them because you can keep it close at hand and manipulate the rings. They act as a perfect stress ball. I hope they sell well as stocking stuffers this Christmas!

Cyber Monday?

Unfortunately, Cyber Monday wasn't the big rush of orders I was hoping for. Maybe by this time next year, I will have gotten the hang of promoting and I will hve a much larger customer base to pull from and I will have a monster Cyber Monday 2008. This year, I will just have to content myself with all of the shopping that I managed to do!

Some orders you have to love to hate...

Around Seattle, one of our favorite pastimes is the old University of Washington Husky vs. Washington State Cougar debates. Alums delight in sporting team colors and team gear and arguing over who has the better team for whatever sport hapens to be in season. Around Thanksgiving, the debate always rages around the Apple Cup. My husband says that you can have a great 1 and 11 season, as long as you win the Apple Cup.

I am a died in the wool Husky. Two degrees and 6 years later, I had better be. One of my work-mates is just as big of a Cougar nut. That work mate just commissioned me to make one of my favorite pieces, a Jelly Bean bracelet, in Cougar colors. ACK! Luckily, it turned out absolutely beautiful. Now the Huskies have to win tomorrow so that I can rub it in just a little with my friend!

Go Huskies!

EtsyRain Sampler Bags

I had a great opportunity this weekend. I was a part of 10 great artists who all contributed items for a sampler bag that we are all posting in our Etsy shops. You get a chance to get 5 items from 5 different, extremely talented, Seattle-area artists. The shops include:

• livewire.etsy.com
• emmakat.etsy.com
• sweetpeacardsgifts.etsy.com
• kimberlyatstir.etsy.com
• scarywhitegirl.etsy.com
• kneek.etsy.com
• wovenchains.etsy.com
• imakecutestuff.etsy.com
• baublesbyhand.etsy.com
• wiretree.etsy.com

Each shop gets to break up the 10 items however they want, so each Sampler Bag has the potential to be different. Also, we all decided to post them as Mystery Samplers, so I'm not going to post any pictures and spoil the surprise.

Enjoy!

Whatever you do...

Don't pack up early at a craft show!

It is really tempting sometimes, but I don't think it is ever a good idea. My hubby and I went to a craft show today, and it was extremely slow all day long. The show opened at 9 a.m., and by 3:30, we had sold $10 worth of goods. Many vendors, including the show coordinator, were starting to pack up. Travis, my husband, gave me this look, with his eyebrows raised, that I knew meant, "You want to throw in the towel, too?".

That was when I said, "I don't ever like to pack up early. I have made too many of my best sales in the last 10 minutes of a show." Those words came back to haunt us in a very good way. Right before the end of the show, a lady came by and ended up buying two of the most expensive bracelets on my table. It is my best single sale to date! What a great end to the day.

So...the moral to the story is, the early bird may get the worm, but it is the patient bird who makes the sales.

I Love Custom Orders

I just finished making and packaging up an order for another Etsy sller, and I have a bracelet in the tumbler for one of my colleagues. I wish that I could get enough custom orders going that I could do that exclusively, and give up the production work!

I like all of the parts of a custom order, but I think my favorite part is working with the customer to figure out exactly what they want, to make something that is going to suit the recipient to a "T." Then I get to bring that vision to life. What a rush. I like working that way better than making something for some person out there who may or may not like what I have made. I guess I will have to work harder at imagining the perfect person for the jewelery that I make every day.

Here's to many more custom orders!

Photography Class

I had another good day, professionally speaking. Marlo M has been giving Photography Workshops at her studio to fellow ETSYRain members, and I was finally able to make one of the classes today. Cheryl was also in the class with me.

We learned all about great things like depth of focus, F-stops, white balance, the "macro" setting, reflected light, and so much more that I'm sure I'm forgetting all about right now. I can't wait to set up my little tiny light box and use what I learned today to take photos that show off my jewelry in a much better light.

My pictures certainly need more work at this point, and I have a lot to learn with GIMP, but I'm sure excited about the progress I have made.

Woot, I'm official!

I made my first wholesale sale (boy, that sounds funny) to a brick and mortar shop in my hometown. I got a tip from a customer who stopped by my booth at a holiday show last weekend and when we stopped into this cute little store, she snapped up three pairs of earrings, I have an order for several more, and she wants to meet with me to look at all of my work to pick out lots more. I am so excited. It is the first real interest I have had from someone here locally. It makes me feel very good about everything I have been doing and extremely optomistic for the future.

Wish me luck!

Flowers are Blooming

I have just finished making these earrings, and I really like them. They are really out of character for me, much larger and more dramatic than I am used to making. The people who saw them at my last show (where they "debuted") really seemed to like them. Maybe I will have to start working on a whole line of bigger, more dramatic, over the top earrings to go along with my itty-bitty, teeny-tiny earrings that I like so much.

Oh, well, I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go 'round.

ETSYRain -- Buy Handmade, Buy Seattle-Made

Fairly Recently, I went to the Etsy Teams home page, actually looking for a Jewelry Street Team of some sort to join, and I noticed that there was a Seattle Street Team -- ETSYRain. I immediately joined, and haven't looked back since.

The opportunities have been many, varied, and wonderful. I have been to an Art Show at Stir, a gallery in Pioneer Square in Downtown Seattle as part of First Thursday Art Walk; I am going to participate in a gift bag exchange (two of the gift bags will be available for sale on my Etsy site with 5 different talented artists work inside at a discounted price); I am going to be donating some earrings to "The Sampler" (I'm not quite sure how that works, but I hear it is great); and today was the deadline for the 2nd ETSYRain Challenge, with a theme of "Autumn." I made a pair of great earrings, inspired by my favorite part of fall, the changing leaves. Enjoy!

Oh, No, Christmas is Coming

I sold at my first Holiday Craft Fair of the season today, and it went better than I was expecting. I had a good day for sales, and so many people took cards and wanted to talk later about custom work. Hopefully some of those will pan out into orders. Several things really made the day special, though. First, I got to see Ken and Karen (who make beautiful beaded jewelery) and Ellie and Ellen (who make fantastic necklaces and bracelets from semi-precious stones). They were my selling buddies all summer at Farmer's Market in Kent, and I have missed them a lot since we closed up shop for the summer. Second, I got the offer to be in two more holiday shows, right there at the Craft Fair. And Third, Kimberly, another ETSYRain team member showed up, totally out of the blue to visit the Craft Fair.

I find I enjoy selling to real people who I can visit with much more than I enjoy on-line selling. I hope these opportunities continue to be plentiful and profitable for me.

Addicted to Love...Knots, that is

I'm not quite sure what the attraction is for me, if it is the simplicity of the shape, or the size, or the fact that I can put them together quickly, but my favorite earrings to make are most definitely my "Love Knots." Currently I have 7 different styles: one in bright, vibrant colors; two different sizes of sterling silver; one in gold-fill; one in copper; one in sterling and gold-fill ; one in sterling, gold-fill and copper; and I am working on a special version for the holidays that is sterling mixed with color.

Not only are they my favorite to make, they are also my best sellers -- which is a good thing for me. I just hope I get to keep sharing the Love...Knots, that is.