Customer Photos

One of my favorite parts about creating custom pieces is the fun pictures I get from my customers. I love that customers can leave a photo with their review now too! Here are some recent photos I've received from happy customers :)

This look is just priceless!!!

 This buyer made each daughter a special sweater. Handmade sweater paired with handmade buttons :)

And Amanda from Sorby Sweets makes the most beautiful wedding cakes and other sweet confections. She sends each wedding couple a thank you box and includes 2 of my wooden spoons :)

Fun Guest Book Designs

As most of you know, I'm always up for custom orders. I love making something extra special for my customers that is truly one-of-a-kind. I've had some fun requests lately that I thought I'd share with you today :)

 

This book traveled all the way to Croatia for a wedding. The image is Hagar the Horrible from the comic strip. I thought it was kind of a funny request for a wedding book, but loved that it was so personal :)

 

Another fun book I got to make was for a retirement. I was able to recreate the logo of the school the teacher is retiring from, making the book a special keepsake.

This last book was another wedding book request. The couple is getting married in an area where parry's agave trees are very common. They wanted their book to remind them of their wedding location and wanted that specific tree on the cover of their book. I was able to take a photo they sent and turn it into a vector file that I could engrave. Talk about one-of-a-kind!

I had a lot of fun creating these books and look forward to more fun requests :)

Custom Order Deadline

As I'm sure you can tell from my lack of blogging, things have started to get pretty crazy around here! The Christmas rush has officially hit my shop! To guarantee all my orders reach my buyers by Christmas, I will be closing my shop to custom orders next Sunday. 

I will still have my shop open for ready to ship items for Christmas delivery. But if you've had your eye on something special, please get your orders in before Monday.

Happy Holidays!

Last Day for Custom Orders

Today is the last day to place your Christmas orders for custom work in my shop. Orders placed after today will not start shipping until December 26th.

So take a look around and finish up your holiday shopping :)

Lots of gifts for guys including this Personalized Flask

Personalized Wine Bottle Stoppers in several styles

Ornaments for everyone in your family...including the Furbabies :)

You can still place orders for premade items through Monday December, 17th.

Christmas Deadlines

Just a quick announcement today for Christmas deadlines.

Photo Ornament

The last day to order Custom Items to arrive by Christmas is Monday, December 10th.

Holiday Recipe Book

The last day to order Ready-to-Ship items is Monday, December 17th.

I'd love to make you some special Christmas gifts, so get your orders in early :)

Scouts Honor

As many of my readers know, custom work is my absolute favorite! I love working closely with my customers to come up with an idea that is unique and special.

I had the pleasure of making two special albums recently for two very special Boy Scouts!

The Eagle Scout honor is the top honor for Boy Scouts and these two brothers both received this great honor!

Their aunt wanted to get them something special to remember their honor with. She loved the wood albums and together we came up with two different designs for the boys' books.

The wood and kraft cardstock worked perfectly for these outdoorsy, rustic books...perfect for Boy Scouts!

Belle's Bell

Have I mentioned how much I love custom requests! (oh, I did!) This is just one more reason why I love them :)

I was recently asked by the owner of the winery where I sell some of my items locally to engrave a special item for her parents. Their dog recently passed away and her name was Belle. She found a really neat handmade bell on the internet and wanted me to engrave the hanging wood pendant that came with the bell.

I was a little nervous because it was an unusual shape and I wasn't sure what type of wood it was or how the engraving would turn out. But the more items I engrave, the more confident I become in my work :) And this turned out great!

I love that the bell is handmade...and now it is personalized too :) She said this will hang in her parent's back yard where Belle loved to run and play :) How perfect!

Girl Scout Albums

On Tuesday I told you about my large coaster order...today I'm excited to tell you about my large order for Custom Girl Scout Albums!!!

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I was contacted by a troop leader in New York to make 12 albums for her Daisy Troop. She thought having a flower on the album would be a cute idea as well :) Here they are!

Each album has a personalized first page. They have the Girl Scout Promise, the Girl Scout Law and each girl's name and the years they were with the troop. What a fun idea!!!

They are decorated with fun Girl Scout themed embellishments too! I loved searching all the craft stores for these fun stickers!

I can't wait for the girls to get their books and fill them with photos!

Custom Coaster Order

A couple of weeks ago I told you about all the custom orders that I had in the works. I'm happy to report that I have my three BIG orders done and they're on their way to their new homes!!!

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So, what does 150 coasters look like anyway? Well...here they are!

And here they are all bagged up.

These coasters are going to a business in Colorado and will be given out at a conference in New York! Each member at the conference will get a coaster with the company's logo on it. And I made sure to include my Etsy Address on the back of each one as well :)

Look for two more posts this week about my Girl Scout Albums and my large Sorority Album order!!!

Ready to Start the Week

I'm not usually a "Monday person", but today I'm ready to start the week! I have so many projects I'm working on that have me so excited :) I had a great, productive weekend and I'm hoping this week is much of the same!

I currently have 38 Custom Name Albums on order...WHOA! They consist of *20 Sorority Albums (my first wholesale order)

*12 Girl Scout Albums

*And 6 separate albums that will be given as Christmas gifts

Over the weekend I got an order for 39 Wine Glasses and 8 Coaster Sets from one person! The wine glasses will go in sets of two along with a bottle of wine as a company gift. I'm etching the company's logo on the glasses for them :) And the owners sister ordered the coasters to give as wedding and Christmas gifts! I'll be sure to blog about this more as I get it completed!

And I got a sample Etched Pint Glass done to send to my mom's employer. They give pint glasses in sets of 4 for service award gifts with their company logo on them. If they like the sample, they'll be ordering 100 Glasses in February!!!

I've also been getting quite a few orders at work as well. I've sold 11 glasses in varying designs and 5 Engraved Wood Photos. I'm also going to make a box for a coworker that he'll give his dad with his brothers picture on it. His brother passed away a few years ago and he wanted something special to keep his ashes. I was so honored when he asked me to make the box for him :) I'll definitely be blogging more about this as well!

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How did your weekend go? Are you ready for the new week?

Wood Cards Are a Hit

I knew when I started making my Real Wood Greeting Cards that I loved them and thought they were such an original idea...but I didn't know how others would view them. I can never outguess my buyers and I never know what will sell and what won't...LOL :)

But I'm happy to report that my cards are a hit! I've taken custom orders for cards at both fall shows so far and over the weekend I sold two more on Etsy! They got a lot of attention at the last show and people loved how unique they were :) I was afraid people might not realize what they were, so I kept explaining them, but everyone seemed to know and really like them!

I want to ask my readers for your help! What new designs would you like to see? I have several birthday cards and one congrats card, but I need new ideas! I'd like to incorporate an owl in one since owls are so cute :) (Whoooo Loves You)

What occasions do you buy cards for the most? What images would you like to see? I'd like to add about 20 different options for cards, so I'm open to all your ideas :)

Second Fall Show Review

I had my second fall craft show of this season this past Saturday and I have to tell you...It Rocked!!! It was by far the best show I've ever done! There were people there non-stop from the time the doors opened to the time we shut down! And they were buying!!! My booth-mate and I both did wonderful :)

Here are a few of the things that I think helped this show be a success:

*It is well advertised

*It has been going on for several years

*It is in a high-income neighborhood

And here are the things I think helped it be a success for me personally:

*We had an awesome location!

*I have such a wide variety of items to offer

*Most of what I sell is given as gifts...and it's gift-giving season

*I take custom orders

I had someone ask how I do custom orders at shows, and it's easy :)

*Take payment as well as shipping Up Front

*Take down their shipping information as well as phone number

*Let them know when they should expect their item

*Take down any info pertaining to the order...colors, sizes, etc. and keep everything all in one place. I use a small notebook.

It's really that easy. Just think of all the info you would collect from someone on Etsy and write it all down. I took 7 custom orders and everything went smoothly :)

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Luckily I have three weeks until my next show so I have time to get all my custom orders done and get my inventory stocked back up!

Thoughts on Spring Craft Shows

I had my third Spring show on Saturday and I've noticed some similar outcomes and thoughts from each show.

*The weather is a big factor. If the weather is bad, people don't want to get out of the house. By Spring, we're so tired of bad weather, we don't want to endure it any longer. But if the weather is too nice, people want to get things done outside. It may be the first time they're able to work in their yards.

*There is no special reason to buy. Unless they need a graduation gift, Mother's Day gift, etc. they are only buying for themselves. People have a harder time buying for themselves.

*Most of my items are purchased for gifts. I notice this both on Etsy and at local shows. I heard on Saturday..."my sister would love this" or "this would be a great gift for so-and-so's wedding in a few months". Fall tends to be a better time of year for me because of this. Everyone (or mostly everyone) needs holiday gifts.

*Having a website is both a blessing and a curse. People love knowing that they can get ahold of you later when they do need a gift, but it keeps them from buying that day. If they only brought a certain amount of money with them and they know they can buy your item later, they might hold off.

I'm not totally discouraged from doing Spring shows, but I may reconsider how many or which ones I do next year. We have heard that a few shows require you to do the Spring show if you want a spot in to the Fall show. If the fall shows are good enough, I'll stick with the Spring show the next year. Time will tell. And if a lot of the custom orders that people were interested in come through, then it is worth it to be there to get my name out. Most of the time I don't know how successful a show really is until a few months later when orders start coming in.

How have your shows been going this Spring?

For The Boys

Yesterday was all about the girls and today is dedicated to the albums I've been working on for boys!

Alexander's album was made to match his nursery. I was given the name of the paint for the room and asked to match the papers. It's fun going on a hunt for the perfect paper and embellishments for each album!

Trysten's nursery is decorated in Tonka Trucks and I was asked to make his album to match this theme. What fun! The primary colors worked well with all the colors of the trucks!

Okay, this Grandma album obviously isn't for a boy, but it is for the Grandma of a little boy :) This grandma loves to play outside with her grandson and take him fishing. Together with my customer, we decided on a hunter green and brown color combo and lots of fishing embellishments. What a lucky grandma :)

And I can't wait to show you Samuel's album that I'm working on right now! Stay tuned for a post about it soon!

For The Girls

Holiday shopping is in full swing! And I have several custom orders in the works :) I love all the different ideas my customers come up with and I love hearing the back story behind each album :) I get to know who it's for, what they like, how they want their album decorated, etc. I love getting to know my customers during the custom order process!

Today's albums are all about Girls! I just have two for today, but I have two more really cute ones in the works as well!

Alison is a ballerina and asked for a scrapbook for Christmas :) Her mom says she is a very "girly-girl" so pink, pink and more pink would work best!

I just LOVE this album! I love the name more than anything! Zella is a new baby girl born to a friend's cousin. Having a unique name myself, I love when people give their babies special and unique names as well :) Zella's album is a month by month album, so her mom can fill it with photos all year long :)

And don't worry, I didn't leave the boys out! Stop by tomorrow to see the awesome boy albums I have finished!