Happy, Merry

I completely forgot to write yesterday morning as I got occupied with other holiday related matters. Mostly I was getting things ready for this morning, but I'm back today. So Happy Friday, or Merry Christmas, whichever you're most happy to have today. I have a house already full of sleeping relatives and come afternoon, there will be many more. In fact I think this year we might be stretching capacity at our house, but there's nothing for it.

There will definitely be cleaning, cooking, eating, and more cleaning and it will be loud. I'm all but certain that I will have no time for creativity today, but hopefully I'll find something interesting enough to share for Monday. I do plan on having a small giveaway here and on my Facebook page to close out the year next week. Not sure what going to be given, but something. Opinions on what you'd like to see would be appreciated. In meantime have a lovely weekend and thank you for everything.

Current & Final Etsy Shop Sale: 10% off with the code HOLIDAY10. Code is good through Dec. 27

Aftermath

Happy aftermath all. Yesterday went about as I expected. After the first round of gifts, it was finish
cleaning the house and start cooking. That was followed by a rather enormous gathering of family, loud raucous children, eating, running about, and wrapping paper flying. When they finally departed there were countless dishes and counters to clean, but then I was left with just my immediate family and my brother, who is staying with us, my new Tardis blanket and the Doctor Who special on television.

There was no tatting, nor knitting, but I ended the day completely exhausted. Today we're braving the shops again, then there are Lego kits to put together and new video games for the kids to play. I do have one custom order that came in on Christmas Eve that I need to get made. This is the reason I post a nice long lead time for orders, so I don't have to rush at a time like this. I'm certain to find something else to distract me from work again, but I really do love structure, so I'm going to at least start that custom order.

I hope everyone who celebrates had a lovely time and honestly, I'm just glad all the madness is almost over. This was a really bad holiday season for the shop and I'm glad to see the backside of it. Here's hoping it'll turn around next year.

Of Birthdays & Easter

I remember as a child, how fun holiday weekends were. Sleeping in, lots of food and candy, television and playing hard. Flash forward to adulthood and they are full of the same things...for my kids. For me, there is cleaning and decorating, more cleaning and making sure all the normal tasks get completed at the same time. There are children hopped on on candy not taking naps and whining. Add to all that the child's birthday the day before the holiday and you've got a double take of all of the above. Ooh, ooh and don't forget that that I'm still bloody sick. Ah, adulthood, everything I though it would be.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am tired, epically tired. Sure, the kids had fun and I do enjoy the time between all the tasks when I get to run and play a bit too, but man...the tasks. Anyway, my older child has this coming week off from homeschooling, though that only means I'll have a bit more time to catch up on all those pendants that didn't get made this weekend. I am really glad that I told the customers to not expect them to ship until early this week. By my fuzzy math, that gives me until Wednesday to get them in the mail, so barring any unforeseen circumstances I will not become a liar.

I come to you this morning with nothing of significance to share. I probably tatted all of an hour over the weekend and that was on a rush ordered mask. I had two other inquiries into custom masks, but I think my responded wait time might have frightened them away. Sure, I could have told them I'd have them done faster, but then I would have to give up food or sleep to get it all done and even though I love the lace, I love my sleep more. I know I am a bucket of sunshine today and you're wondering why you wasted five minutes of your life to read this. I'm sorry, really. I'll try better tomorrow.

The Great Gift Reveal - Part 4

Oh my how the end of the year has snuck up on me this year. So very much has happened for me in the past year, but all that can wait. I have more handmade gifts to share with you today.

Originally I had purchased a Dalmatian print by johnwgolden for my mother, but her birthday present was running late in the mail so I gave it to her then. As a result I had to rush to find another handmade gift for the holiday. This one is from TheSofterSide. It was really too simple to make a great gift, but it worked well as a compliment to existing items. She has a great love for the Dalmatian and she almost always has a Dr. Pepper can in her hand, so if nothing else she has plenty of opportunity to use it.

My brother in law is also hard to shop for, but after he expressed great desire for brass statues to place atop his mantle. The vintage sellers on etsy had plenty of pieces for me to choose from. I settled on this family of ducks from theSaturdayShoppe and a unicorn from stephieD . The unicorn was especially interesting as it is identical to one his parents bought decades ago.

For my mother in law and my sister I added these cute little yarn shaped soaps from aBreathofFrenchair and I bought a few soaps from dennisanderson as well to add to gifts to others. They smell wonderful and make a great finishing touch to a box full of gifts, especially for people with yarn stashes the size of my mother in laws.

The last set of gifts I bought were from RedMarionette. From her I bought a whole bunch of finger puppets for stocking stuffers. They are so very cute and well made. Though I think I picked up a few more things throughout the last few months I shall stop the sharing here. I was certainly happy with all of my purchases and I got the impression that they were well received as well. Tomorrow starts a whole new year and I wish the best for all of you and yours!

The Great Gift Reveal - Part 3

So you might be wondering how many of these posts I'm gonna do...well I don't know. There is at least one more after this. Honestly, these have allowed me to keep blogging though my life is not back on schedule yet. Since we have one more week of holiday strangeness and our annual trip to Macworld next week, it will be a while before normality is reached again.

Today, I shall drag out the jewelery gifts I picked out. First off is a return order to zozo. Her garden is full of really unique pieces that I wish I had occasion to wear. Lucky for me, my brothers girlfriend Mary has just the right look to pull off these great pieces. They come gift wrapped in the cutest boxes and I'm certain to buy more from her in the future.

For my sister, I visited two extremely different jewelry artisans. The first is an old etsy friend ahna. She make the most wonderful silver hammered jewelry and handcrafted stone cabochons. I own some earrings and a gorgeous ring that she made. This was one piece that I honestly almost kept for myself mostly because I adore the amazing purples in the piece, but I let it go reluctantly. I hope my sister appreciates the sacrifice.

For something completely different and much more casual, I visited azurine. I picked up both this set of earrings and a pendant. They are hand painted glass pieces. They have a very simple yet striking design that is perfect for an everyday look. I'm sure I could have kept these too, but as a stay at home type, I tend to pick one pair of silver earrings and wear them constantly.

The last thing I'd like to show off today was a gift I received from my husband. He selected this ring from CatherinetteRings that he found in my favorites. The really interesting thing about this rings is that I generally do not like wire wrapped rings. Usually they give off the vibe of not just handmade, but too easy to make. This is not that kind of ring. It is made in such a distinctive style, is comfortable and, well awesome. It has this great steampunk vibe even in silver which is great for me since I only do silver jewelry.

Tomorrow, I have some more handcrafted goodness to share and who knows maybe the next day too. Sure I could have done one long post, but this way the artisans that created my Christmas get a little more attention.

The Great Gift Reveal - Part 2

I had a hard time deciding whether to do jewelry or manly gifts today. I have settled on showing off the gifts to the men in my life. I don't know about you, but buying on etsy for the males in my life is, well, challenging. They are not a bunch of hipsters or even classic man types so I have to look long and hard. First up is a gift for my brother who is in his first year as a high school teacher. He also has an obsession with the ocean and sharks. This tie from simplyneckties seemed like s good place to start.

Both of my brothers are also into photography and I thought that these key chains from TimothyAdamDesigns would be a perfect addition to their gifts too. They are small and interesting, though I have to admit that one of my brothers had to be told that it was a camera...oh well, I tried.

My youngest brothers obsessions include not only photography, art and his cats, but also bikes. I really thought I was done shopping when I saw this clock by 1byliz. Not only is this piece made from salvaged materials, but unlike a lot of recycled things, it is very chic looking. I was really excited to find this one for him.

One last handmade thing today. This one was for my father-in-law who is notoriously hard to shop for. It's not because he is very picky, but he simply buys himself what he actually wants. We usually give him a plethora of gift cards and that appears to make him happy, but I was determined to get him something handmade. I settled on this wood puzzle by sopsop88 , though I won't be really surprised if he never puts it together. It's still a neat little piece to add to all those gift cards.

The Great Gift Reveal - Part 1

For my first great handmade gift reveal, I shall start with the stuffed. I have been so lucky to find so many wonderful sellers that will make exactly what you imagine. The first pieces I had made were by weirdbuglady. My daughter has an obsession with praying mantids and thankfully I knew exactly where to get one made. This pieces was made to very realistic specs and it is huge and cuddly to boot. While I was at it, I had her make a small rat for my husband. Even though we are currently without rat friends mostly for fear that the one year old would not be gentle, we love the ratties so much.



For my next piece of stuffed goodness, I asked the sweetestpea to make me a special penguin for my mother in law. She loves the color green and she loves the penguins, so a fat penguin seemed the ideal gift for her. Not only was the stuffie made quickly and in the perfect shade, but a personal touch of a mask was added. It always shocks me to find out that the sellers I admire so much know who I am and what I make. I was very impressed with the quality of this little guy. It would have been at home in a very high end toy store.

My last stuffie was a ready made piece that was perfect for my youngest daughter, who for some reason loves apples. Maybe she just loves saying apple, I'm not sure, but either way this was the handmade piece of goodness for her. Made by PterodactylPants, it's a huge rainbow apple that also reveals a household affection for apple computers that goes way back. It like the other pieces, is soft, well made and exactly what I wanted for a gift.

I have barely scratched the surface of the handmade gift reveal today, so stay tuned for more wonderful pieces next week. It was a pleasure shopping with these sellers and I do recommend them wholeheartedly for all your stuffed needs.

Down By The Sea

Well folks, I'm off the the coast for a couple of days. We're going to Monterey and then we'll be back for the Holiday so posting shall be at best sporadic for the next week or so. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday season. We did not do a Solstice party this year due to my daughters ear infections, but I hope you had a good one of those as well.

I'm taking a break from the tatting for a while as well because when I get back to it, I will be remaking all of my favorite pieces that sold out during holiday shopping and that is a daunting task. So see you all later!

Handmade Holiday Part 2

Yesterday I got my very last etsy ordered gift. I was really excited that I managed to get so many handmade presents that my family will actually like. I was really worried going into the holidays that I would have a hard time finding things they would actually appreciate and enjoy and there were a couple of people I gave up on trying for. For the most part it was a success and now is the hard part...waiting. You see, I really want to show off all these great things I got, but I can't. I have to wait until after the holidays because some of my family reads the blog.

This annoyance gave birth to a great idea I'm calling Gifts Exposed. Right after Christmas I shall begin posting all the etsy gifts I gave away and give each of their creators a little shout out as a thank you. I bought enough that it should take up at least the better part of the week. It should also provide a break from all my tatting talk. Of course I am now reminded that though all my shopping is well done, I still need to pull out all those hidden gifts and get wrapping. I really dislike wrapping gifts mostly because I have cats and kids that like to "help". Their efforts extend the wrapping time considerably.

I've got a couple of pieces I'd like to remake for the store today, but I'm officially caught up with mask orders. I did make a slave bracelet in black that I plan on getting listed today, but that depends on whether the kids let me take pictures later or not. It will only fit someone with a tiny hand such as myself, but there are plenty of us out there...I think. I also have to finish tatting my gifts for the SteamTeam members. I'm really glad to be able to give so much this year and I hope next year is even better.

Happy 232nd

I bet you find it odd that I know how old the country is, well I was born in '76 so it would be really sad if I didn't know. This really isn't a big holiday for me, as much as I enjoy blowing things up and eating lots of nearly burnt meat, I just can't get into it. So I thought I'd bring up my Tatting challenge this morning instead.

The deadline for the contest was set at July 31st, so there's still a few weeks left for creation of the pieces and are still a few medallions left if anyone still wants to join in. The entries are already starting to roll in and a few are already listed at etsy and in our flickr group. I am so pleased at what these wonderful artisans are going with my little pieces of tatting. You can see the entries that have already come in at our flickr group. I truly hope that this contest and the future ones that are secretly swirling around in my head give tatting the mainstream attention that I think it deserves.

Well if you live here in the states, have a great holiday, if you don't, feel free to ignore all this 4th of July business ans have a nice weekend!