Preparing for a new year...

Even as I contuinually work on organization of my craft room, I have added more to my collection of stamping-related supplies, and with the crazy schedule I've had for nearly two years now, the room is well, not quite out of control, but heading there! I really think I need a few days of purely working on organizing. With five students (and a dh) wanting to work on their laptops in this same room (our wireless is really flawed, so most of them cannot work without cables to the computer here), this is a challenging time for stamping anyway. So, I am signing off until after New Year's Day.

Have a great holiday, and see you on January 2nd, 2009!!!

Perfect Gift!

My husband, Bruce, and I invited a college student, Benjamin, to our home for Christmas break, as it looked like he'd spend most of his break without family. Benjamin is from Taiwan, and got these stamps for us - how perfect! Bruce is definitely not a Chinese name, so his stamp (seal) is the symbol for forest, as Bruce means "out of the thicket." (I'm sure the Christian market has invented a spiritual meaning for the name, but we're really not into that...). My name, Sarah, means princess, so that is the symbol on mine. (The first symbol means king, the second means daughter). What an absolutely perfect gift! They are carved out of Agate, which means a very time-consuming effort went into these. They're very beautiful.

Merry Christmas ... to YOU!

I made this card specifically for those of you who visit here. Years ago, when I used to cross-stitch, I would pray for the one for whom I was stitching. Likewise, as I made this card, I prayed for you, knowing that while I might not know who is visiting me, the Lord does!

Blessings to all of you this Christmas, may those of you who have not yet found Jesus as Lord of your life, find Him this year, and may those of you who know Him grow closer than ever before...

With love,
Sarah

Note: I forgot the brads, but when I went to rescan the card, the scanner refused to do it! Bah, humbug! I'll try again tomorrow...

Simple gift: wallpaper journal

I did not have time before the last craft fair to design any journals, so I decided to just to use wallpaper, and label them "use as is, or embellish with ...." I made ten all together, though I forgot to photograph them before selling, so I don't have all of them.

As you can see, I have a problem with the "wood" look: I evidently did not spread the glue evenly, so even though I weight the covers down heavily overnight, proper glueing matters!!!

I wish the spacecraft journal had photographed better; the wallpaper is simply amazing!

If you've never used wallpaper before, try going to your local wallpaper store; chances are they have retired wallpaper catalogues needing a good home! The wallpaper works great for mitered corners, and unlike paper, can be cleaned.

EDIT: I generally use PVA glue, which is meant for bookbinding. However, I do recall that I accidently used my Aleene's tacky glue for a couple of journals. It's possible that that was part of the problem with my wood-look journal. However, I know I did several journals before realizing my error, and only one other journal has a minor bit of wrinkling.

Christmas quilt

I had hoped to make a set of quilt cards for my mother for Christmas, but I have a feeling it is not going to happen. So, I decided I'd at least make a quilt card for her Christmas card. We have company coming tomorrow, and my house is far from ready, so this was a card made in a hurry. I was delighted to find an already stamped text: all I needed to do was attach it to a scrap of cardstock and trim. Oh, happy day! The saying is a bit trite, but oh well, my mom will just be delighted I have made a "quilt." I'm hoping she can't tell that I accidently embossed the snowflake pattern backwards.... :-/

Now, off to pack up our handmade chocolates...

It always amazes me...

...how the simplest of cards can be the most popular. I made this card two years ago, and was asked to make a set of them for a friend. The next year, I sold a couple, and since I had made several extra the previous year, I still had one for this year. The craft fair was poorly attended, and I did not sell a lot, but I sold that! It does look nicer than the scan shows, but not significantly.

I was very happy this evening when looking through my "Christmas box" of miscellaneous shapes, panels, etc, from the previous years to find a panel with the embossed vellum already completed so I can make a quick card as I realize my Christmas card list has grown... If only all my cards could be done so quickly! :-)

Christmas mailbox

Last year cute little metal mailboxes from Target were really popular for decorating. I made a bunch for the gift shoppe in which I sold items, and they went over really well. There were some left over, so I decided to sell them at the Houghton craft fair. I had just enough time to throw together a Christmas themed mailbox. I was not really creative that night (is there an artist/crafter's term for "writer's block??), so I might redo this for next year...

Snowy day

It's been snowing off and on since yesterday, and looks beautiful! I had asked my daughter, Susie, to bring the camera to Houghton College with her if there was a really nice snowfall, so that she could take some pictures for me. Then when I prepare for next year's craft fair at Houghton, I can have some campus photo cards. This is one of the pictures she took.

Mistletoad

I've never sold one of these cards (I made more than one), but it's one of my favorites. The toad on this card is just one of six. It might be my favorite one!

I did another craft fair this evening. I knew it would probably not go really well, as Wellsville has already had a major craft fair this season, and last week was the town's big Christmas event on Main Street. But since I heard about it during the Houghton craft fair I just did, I left everything packed up, so it was no extra work to do it. I did sell a few things, but the current economy is really hitting events like this hard. Glad I'm not dependent on crafts for income, lol!

Seeking Him

I was excited when I got the idea for this card, and I already had the map from extras made for a graduation card. :-) I want to redo it with a different background; my first choice was rust, but it looked too bland. I'm not sure the green looks quite right, though...

Silent Night

This is the card I mentioned in the blog below that my friend, who orders a set of Christmas cards from me each year, chose for me to make for her this time. I actually bought this stamp from smARTworks knowing that it would be the one!

I embossed the text in gold, then sponged opalite inks over the background, sponging the golden mist only where I wanted to place the star, which was also embossed in gold, then trimmed.

As simple as it gets!

This is a scan of one of the first Christmas cards I ever made. I have a friend for whom I make a set of Christmas cards each year; I bring her the cards I've made, and she selects a design. We live almost an hour apart, and I didn't think I'd have a chance to see her in person, but since she has recently gotten online, I sent her the link to my Christmas gallery. I was absolutely shocked she chose this card - especially since it (wrongly) looks like the backing of the text is white, instead of the same cream that the poinsetties are made with. I almost wanted to refuse to do it! (How ridiculous is that? Such a quick card to put together!) But the next week I had the chance to send up some cards up to her, so to be sure she wanted it, I remade it. I don't have the same beautiful cream that I used to have, but this one still had the elegance of it, although it's shading is much lighter. I also slightly altered the design, it really needed at least a little improvement made.

She didn't actually end up choosing that card after all, but one that I had designed with her in mind, which I'll post tomorrow.

Tonight, I'm going to curl up with a good book; our college children and two friends just left after coming home for the evening for our annual tree decorating party. I put on (with the help of dh and youngest dd) a huge spread of homemade hors-d'oevres, soup, and cookies), and we play Christmas music while decorating our huge tree, and just have a great time. Our oldest graduates in May, and our son leaves for a five year stint in the Navy in March, so who knows when we'll get to do this all together again... a lovely, though slightly bittersweet evening!

Craft Fair

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at Houghton College at their annual craft fair. From a financial standpoint, it was not a great success for any of us; I sold significantly less than any of the three previous years. It was the same for everyone.

In every other way, it was great! All four of my children (three full time on campus) helped at different times loading, unloading, and just hanging out with me! We host college students for lunch about 3 times a month, and it was great to see several of them. I've also gotten to know other vendors, and as a former student myself, a number of professors and employees are known to me. I look forward to next year!

I actually had two tables, one primarily with items I had made, the rest of it and the other table with items to create with (stamps, papers, ink pads, etc).