Wordless Wednesday - Love is Everywhere ♥

Postcard Invitation - Styled Photo Shoot

Over the summer I was invited to participate in a styled photo shoot for a woodland wedding theme. Seventh Heaven Vintage Rentals was in charge of the logistics and I created a Postcard Invitation Suite for the event.

It is so great to see all the amazing photos of my invitations! Makes me realize how boring my own photos really are!

 The photo shoot session was then submitted for publication to several wedding blogs and sites.

Styled and Wed

and

Love & Lavender

both picked up the shoot.

Stop by the links to see all the beautiful photos from the whole shoot.

Photo credits also go to:

 Elizabeth Arin

Katie White Photography
Heather Scharf
Gala Kuziakova Photography

Wordless Wednesday - Double Rainbow

 

Always Up For a Challenge

One of the things I love most about my laser is the variety of items I am able to engrave.. While I mostly engrave wood and etch glass, this amazing machine will do so much more.

 

I was recently contacted by a local deer antler collector. He does some hand carving of his own, but wanted some smaller pieces engraved and wanted to know if I could use my laser to engrave them. I really had no idea if the laser would do it or not, but I was up for the challenge. He gave me a few sample pieces to practice on and this weekend I did just that.

I was so happy with how they turned out! They were a little tricky to load in the laser as they are fairly curved and won't stand upright on their own. Nothing a few glue dots and some magnets couldn't fix :)

Two of these pieces are antler points and the other is the base of the antler. Both were fun to practice on and I love the results!

Just a small side note...

For those of you who aren't familiar with deer, they shed their antlers every year and grow a new set. So many of these pieces will be made from antler sheds.

So please, no animal cruelty comments.

Friday Features - Druzy Beauty

One section on Etsy I could spend hours browsing is the jewelry section. I love all the unique designs and beautiful colors! And druzies are always one to catch my eye. Today I've put together some of my favorite druzy beauties. Enjoy :)

Clockwise from top left:

Silver Druzy Quartz in Rose Gold Ring - 18k Rose Gold Vermeil - Bezel Set

Raw Stone Jewelry - Pink Druzy Necklace

 Druzy Earrings, Silver Druzy Earrings

 Moon rocks silver plated post faux druzy stud earrings, fake plugs

Which is your favorite?

Wordless Wednesday - Junior Says Hello :)

Life Lately

I feel like my blog has been a little quiet lately. I've had so much going on and not very many blog ideas to share. Today I thought I'd just give you a run down of life lately :)

Check this girl out! I brushed AND blow dried my hair...all in the same day! lol Since I've started working from home, I have to admit that this doesn't happen often. While I wash my hair everyday, I normally just pull it back in a clip while it's still wet. And on days when I "do" my hair. I just let it air dry a bit and throw in some gel. Since I needed a hair cut, I thought the hair dresser might appreciate not having to deal with all those tangles :)

I also got sick last week. I'm just glad to get it out of the way early and hope I don't get it again during the holiday rush! I actually relaxed on the couch for 2 days...that's unheard of around here! Luckily I'm feeling much better.

We also had another funeral last Wednesday. My parents were home all last week as well because of this. I didn't have any posts preplanned and family time always comes first :) So I feel like the blog has been pretty quiet.

On Saturday I had my second fall show for this year. Another great show too! I didn't get any photos of my booth this time as I had a very similar set up. While I didn't have a 3 sided booth, I used all the same displays and such.

On Sunday my mom and I took my grandparents to the airport. Lucky ducks get to spend 6 months in Arizona and avoid all this cold weather that's sneaking up on us. Mom and I spent the day in the city shopping. We also watched the movie The Best of Me...great movie! And went to a theater with recliners...so great! I tried to get a selfie of us in the recliners, but the theater was already too dark. 

That night we enjoyed dinner with my dad's family.

So things have been busy and hectic around here, but good all at the same time. And as you can see...I took hardly any photos!

How has your life been lately?

Friday Features - Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! I hope that those of you who will be celebrating or having little ones celebrating will have a great time tonight. And if you're in the Midwest...stay warm!

For today's finds, I searched for items that are Halloween themed, but will also carry well into the rest of fall. Enjoy!

Clockwise from top left:

Blown Glass Pumpkin, Metallic Rustic Gold

 Pumpkin Smocked Bishop Dress ~ Yellow Polka Dot

 Scented Velvet Pumpkin, Harvest Orange

 Fall Pumpkin Wreath - Burlap and Felt Flower Wreath with Leaves and Mini Pumpkins

Tell me about your Halloween plans!

October BBA Challenge - Orange

This month's challenge is brought to us by Linda from AbigailJayneART ( www.etsy.com/shop/AbigailJayneArt ). And here is what Linda has to say about her challenge:

"It's the Orange month! Create something using orange or a pumpkin shape. Do something different, not just a Halloween holiday item, but get creative with the basic color tone of orange or a shade of orange. Or you could use a color combination incorporating orange. Either way let orange inspire you!"

 I have to admit that this challenge really had me thinking. I realized that orange was a color that I don't use very often at all. But to my surprise, I found everything for this project in my home! I had purchased some mini pumpkins a while back (read, 3-4 years ago!) and was finally able to put them to good use.
 

The little pumpkin kit came with some leaves, gourds and berries as well. And the whole box was tied up in orange ribbon. I had a white acrylic ring left from when I made my clock which worked perfectly for a wreath base.

 

While I'll admit, I'm no home decor diva, I was pretty happy with my little piece. And while Halloween is almost here, I like that this can hang all through Fall.

Is orange a color you use often? Been working on any challenges at your house? 

 

Interested in joining the Blogging Business Artisans? Stop by and visit our team page.

Promote Your Upcoming Shows with Etsy

Did you know that Etsy now allows you to advertise your upcoming events! I'll admit, this might not be a new feature, but I just found it the other day and I haven't heard much talk about it, so I thought I'd share my finding with you today.

If you go to Etsy's new Home Page (boy do I miss the old home page), about half way down the page you will see Shop In-Person.

From there, you will see all the events for the area you select. And you will see a blue box that says Create an Event.

From there you just enter your information and click Submit at the bottom.

Etsy creates the event for you and anyone in your area (I'm unsure of the mileage radius) will see your event. Just one more way to spread the word!

Have you used the Shop In-Person link before?

Friday Features - Coffee Time

Mmmmm.....Coffee! I love the smell. I love the taste. And I love the morning pick me up. I'll take mine straight-up black, thank you :)

And in cute coffee mugs like these, what's not to love!

Clockwise from top left:

Bossy Ceramic Mug
 You are my sunshine coffee mugs (set of 2)
 Shhhhh There's Wine In Here 11 oz Ceramic Metallic Pink Mug
 CUSTOM TEXT - Cute Cat Mug - White / Black - Personalize with your custom text -12 oz - Adorable Cat Mug

Are you a coffee drinker? Which mug is your favorite?

Wordless Wednesday - My Favorite View

Craft Show Displays

I did a lot of work this year to prepare for my fall shows. One thing I worked on was new displays. I've always felt my booth was rather cluttered because I sell so many different products. But I'm afraid people don't always see everything I have to offer when it's a jumbled mess.

 I was very happy with how my booth looked this year. Everything was organized and easily seen. Take a look.

 It was sure nice having a 3-sided booth too! I was able to spread out my products so everything had plenty of space.

I've had this necklace display for a while, but made some improvements. I had my dad add a piece of plywood to the back (previously just cardstock). Then he added some pushpins on the back as well. This allowed me to display the necklaces better and add more to the display.

This next display is new. I found it at Hobby Lobby and had my dad add chicken wire for the magnets to stick to. Before I just laid the magnets on my table where there was space. This is where the jumbled mess came in. They were hard to see, always stuck together and were never arranged nicely. This display really helped show everything I had available and brought them up to eye level.

This last display was such a time-saver. Well, not if you ask my mom. She got the job of cutting all the cotton and putting all the earrings in the display...lol. But the day of the show, it was a huge time-saver. We opened the box, propped it up...and DONE! Tear down was just as quick!

The first picture shown above is my old display. While it worked okay, it was SO time-consuming! I had to take all of the earrings out of individual baggies and hang them up. Then at the end of the day, I had to take each pair of earrings off the rack and put them back in their baggies! This new display rocks!

Have you been working on show prep? Any new displays or new items this year?

Craft Show Review

This past weekend I had my first fall show of the year. And I have to say...it went great. In fact, my best show EVER! I think the nice weather had everyone wanting to get out. We had a steady flow of traffic from 8am to 4pm! And boy was it nice having my mom there to help! This year I got a prime spot...on a corner and back to back. So I had a 3-sided booth. I manned one side while mom manned the other. I wish I would have gotten some pictures of mom in action, but it was so busy, it never even crossed my mind. We brought two chairs with us and never got a chance to use them. I call that a good problem :)

And the highlight of the day was getting to meet Judy from JN Originals as well as her husband John. I had recommended this show to her and she came as a vendor as well. And since I personally recommended the show, I was really hoping Judy would have a good day. Turns out...this was her best show ever too!!!

After the show, the 4 of us went out to eat and had a great meal and great conversation. There wasn't a moment of silence during the whole meal. We all really hit it off :)

Then Judy and John got to come by and see my new studio. While it's kind of a crazy mess right now, it was fun to get to show it off. Since Judy and I were both so busy, we totally forgot to get pictures at the show together. I'm glad Judy remembered while they were at my studio and we got a picture before they left. (John also got a video, but I'll let Judy post that...lol!)

Tomorrow I'll have a picture heavy post with my new displays and my whole booth layout!

Friday Features - Craft Show Displays

Tomorrow is my first fall show of 2014. There has been a lot of prep to get ready! I've made a couple new displays for my booth and I'm lucky my mom and dad have been here to help me get everything ready! But I think all of the work will make for an easier show and setup/tear down will be much quicker with these new displays.

If you will be in the Clarinda, Iowa area on Saturday, the 18th, stop by the Cow Palace at the fairgrounds and check out my booth.

Also, stop by Wibholm Hall and see Judy of JN Originals.

Okay, so onto today's features. Since I've spent a lot of time this week working on the perfect displays, I went searching on Etsy for some cute, clever and creative displays as well. Enjoy :)

Clockwise from top left:

Cherry Stained Craft Fair Jewelry Display Case Organizer

Corner Display Set

 Handmade Wooden Necklace Display. Craft Show Display. Jewelry Display.

 Display stand for craft show Craft Show Riser perfect for soap, candles, crystals and bagged items

Do you have any shows coming up? Working on any new displays?

I'll be sure to take photos of my new displays!

Tribal Feather Tshirt from Etsy

About a month ago in my Friday Features post, I mentioned that I had ordered one of my finds from that day. I ordered a Tribal Feather Tshirt from AmericanJunkieSoc. I've worn it several times, but always forget to take photos! But the other day I did a little mini photo shoot so I can finally show you my new shirt!

I have to say...I love this shirt! It is so soft and comfy and I love the design. And I'm happy with the printing as well. Not only is the design crisp and clean, after a few washes already, I'm seeing no signs of fading. The print appears to be very dark and permanent, which will have me buying more tees from this shop.

As the months get colder, I like that I can still wear it even though it has short sleeves. I just threw on a long sleeved tshirt underneath and viola!

If you're looking for a new piece to add to your wardrobe, I would suggest looking at the fun selection of tank tops and tshirts at AmericanJunkieSoc. I already have my next shirt picked out :)

Wordless Wednesday - Last Bits of Color

Craft Show Friends and Finds

This past Saturday my mom and I headed Lincoln, Nebraska to go to a craft show. A blogging friend, LeAnn of Pasque Flower, was vending there and I thought it would be fun to surprise her. Lincoln is only 1 1/2 - 2 hours from my town, so it was a fun little day trip. And boy was LeAnn surprised to see me :)

LeAnn's booth looked great and my mom and I both had to take home some of her work!

I purchase a baby bib for a friend and a key fob for myself. And LeAnn was so sweet to gift me with a cord keeper.

The bib is so soft and perfect for a friend's baby whose room is decorated in cars and trucks.

And you know me and my pink...my key fob had to be pink :)

 

And I've already put my cord keeper to good use.

It was so fun to get to meet a virtual friend in real life! And this weekend I will be vending at a show in Clarinda, Iowa where I will get to meet Judy of Mister PenQuin as well!

Photo Log Plaque

A couple weeks ago I blogged about some wooden medallions I had made for a marathon. When I ordered these log slices, I also ordered larger ones for plaques as well. And before I could even get them listed, I had 2 requests for photo plaques with these larger logs!

Both photos were of outdoors men which I thought was very fitting for these rustic plaques. The first was of a fisherman with a nice catch.

The second was a young boy with his first deer. How exciting!

I just love how rustic and natural these plaques are. As these are real tree slices, each one is unique and truly one-of-a-kind. My favorite kind of work :)