Wordless Wednesday - Chillin' Out

Holiday Shoppers are Here

If you're still working on listing items for the holidays, I encourage you to get them listed soon. Holiday shoppers are out there they are ready to buy! As a shop owner, I really appreciate these early birds :) I've already started selling several ornaments, so I decided to list a couple new options to my shop. Per usual, these both came from custom requests and I thought they were too great not to add for others.

 I'm loving this little Mason Jar Ornament. I've had several other mason jar items in my shop for a while now, but never thought to make an ornament until the custom request came in. I've been seeing lots of rustic Christmas decor this year, so I think these are spot on.

And I've made four IronMan Ornaments for the same buyer over the last two years and decided that this might be something that others would enjoy. Turns out I was right as I've already sold two more of these to other buyers since listing them last week!

Is your shop ready for the holidays?

Wordless Wednesday - Shipping Snoopervisor

Ashlyn & Addie

I recently got to make a couple of cute Name Albums. I haven't been making many of these lately. In fact, I don't currently have them listed in my shop. While they are fun to make, they are incredibly time-consuming. And this time of year, time isn't a commodity I have a lot of. But I have a handful of customers that I've made these for in the past who order every year. This family goes to Disney every year and likes to take custom autograph books with them.

Each year I have fun working with their new themes and characters.

Ashlyn is very into a character that I had honestly never heard of called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Because he's fairly obscure, I had to make a lot of the papers and embellishments myself for this book. I was really happy with how it turned out and I know Ashlyn will be super excited to have her own Oswald album!

 

Addie is more girly and likes pinks and purples. We went with a girly/princess theme for her book.

Now if I could just convince the family to take me along next year :)

After sharing so many great items on Wednesday and with the temperatures dropping quickly, I spent some time searching Etsy for all things warm and cozy. From hats and scarves to warm blankets to snuggle up under, I hope you'll enjoy the selection.

Warm & Cozy

With the temperatures starting to drop, I'm all about staying warm and cozy! Enjoy these items from the Blogging Business Artisans and other wonderful artists. https://www.etsy.com/teams/10615/blogging-business-artisans

Baby Boy Hat PUPPY LUV Newborn Baby Boy Crochet Doggy Hat and Paws Booties Dog Hat Slippers JerribeccaHats2 $12.99	Chunky Crochet Blanket / Purple Throw Blanket / Chunky Throw / Purple Blanket / Crochet Blanket ThePrairieBoutique $170.00	Boot cuff set with infinity scarf - Oatmeal GrindleHillFineGoods $29.00	CHRISTMAS, HOLIDAY GIFT, Cat Gloves, Cats, Birds, Pet Lovers, Grey Gloves, Xmas Gift Idea, Winter Gift, Gift For Her, Animals, Cat Lovers talkingloves $36.00
Ruby Red Crochet Fingerless Gloves with Flower, Red Texting Gloves, Cranberry Red Wristwarmers, GL114-01 JNOriginals $20.00	Autumn Potholder SET (2) - scarecrow and pumpkins PruittCreations $9.00	Greyhound/Galgo Santa Hat Crafting4Greyhounds £13.00	Reserved - Russian shawl, Russian scarf, autumn winter, babushka, white ponk blue, floral throw, lace print, tasselled challis, warm shawl MulberryWhisper $60.00
Coffee Cosy SavannaStitch $20.67	Fingerless Gloves, Handmade Wrist Warmers, Adjustable Length Arm Warmers, Mitts, Weave Hand Warmers in Fleece by Grey Matter GreyMatterCollection $28.00	Spring Flower Hat LoopinWithLove $25.00	Two Peas in a Pod Crochet Vegetable Amigurumi Play Pretend Food, Crochet Stuffed Food Play Kitchen Toy, Toddler Play Set with Storage Bag MagnoliaSurprise $12.00
EXTRA CHUNKY Infinity Scarf with leather cuff, high street fashion infinity scarf, cozy SNOOD Zojanka $30.90	Floral Pajama Pants. Size Small. Romantic Rose Print in red. pink. white PeriDotbyDuni $31.00	Personalized Baby Girl Blanket or Lovey - Custom Made - Fuchsia Chevron front you Choose back Minky Color - Gray, Pink ModernMommaHandmade $22.00	KNOTTED HAT for baby, Rainbow Tie Dye soft cotton jersey knit, hand dyed- infant and toddler sizes SplendidLittleStars $10.00

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Customer Appreciation

Today I'd like to take a moment to thank a few of my customers who have purchased buttons from my shop. One of the things I love most about selling custom buttons is that I get to see the fun creations they go on. From crocheted baby hats to cute coffee koozies, I love the array of ideas!

The3AndersonGirls sell lots of cute items to keep you warm in the up-coming chilly months. This Bunny Hood is just adorable!

ANodToMod sells lots of adorable baby items from blankets to cute little hats. These particular hats come with a custom button with their name on it!

 JudithsCrochet creates lots of little items for boys and girls whose mommy's suffered from HG (Kate Middleton suffered from this with her first child). I love how she turned the HG into TougHGirl and TougHGuy! These hats are so cute in all their fun colors!

 

LoopinWithLove has a shop full of fun items for kids big and small. I couldn't resist sharing this pink and purple hat! And the ear warmer will be much needed very soon I'm afraid.

SavannaStitch has a great collection of items to keep you warm this winter. Including slippers for your feet or a cosy for your hands. You can't beat a pink and gray cosy :)

Almost Wordless Wednesday - 2 and a Half Cats

Meet the newest kitty at our house :) He's still pretty skiddish, but I can pet him if he's eating. He's slowly coming around. For now, we call him "half a cat". As in, we don't officially have three cats, but we do have two and a half...lol.

Holding On

While I'm enjoying seeing everyone's beautiful fall photos, I'm also holding on to every last bit of the warm weather and colorful scenery while I can. I'm really having hard time this year with the end of summer. We had so much fun this year and I hate to see our days of boating and long weekends come to an end!

 

So I took a stroll around the yard the other day to document the last bits of summer color I could. Our miniature rose is still blooming in full force. It's right by the mailbox, so I see it every day :) Our knock out roses are still blooming as well, but they're fading fast.

I even caught a glimpse of a few dandelions trying to hold on. Nuisance or not, I still think they're pretty. The white ones AND the yellow ones (inside joke here)!

How about you? Are you ready for pumpkins and sweatshirts? Or are you yearning for a few more days of summer?

Wordless Wednesday - These Two (crack me up)

Mid America Center Craft Show

Over the weekend, I attended a new-to-me show. It was located at the Mid America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This is a larger show than I normally do and my first 2-day show. But I've come to the conclusion that if I'm going to spend my time at shows, I might as well go big. And it paid off.

While my booth was more expensive, I did get 2 days worth of shoppers. And the payout was well worth the extra booth fee. Luckily I had my mom there to not only help during the show, but take along extra inventory and setup and tear down. After 2 days, were were both beat!

And as always, you can never outguess your customers! My glassware and cutting boards have done really well at shows in the past. While these 2 items didn't sell as well as I had hoped, other items did sell really well. I had lots of new products like leather koozies and coasters, which did well. And recipe boxes continue to do well also. The nice thing is, now I don't have a ton of things to restock before my next show this coming weekend.

Have you had your first fall show yet?

Wordless Wednesday - Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

Trading Products for Photos

Once in a while I get asked to send one of my products in exchange for professional photos. Sometimes it's photographers wanting to build their portfolio and other times it's wedding photographers wanting gifts for the bride and groom. While I don't do this often, I do take these offers from time to time.

Sometimes the item gets returned and other times, it is "payment" for the photos.

Most recently I worked with Lauren Werkheiser Photography and couldn't be happier with the results.

I sent Lauren a pair of my Compass Cuff Links and in return got a handful of beautiful photos. The cuff links were a gift for the groom and I love how the photos turned out!

Have you ever sent a product in exchange for professional photos? Or something else?

New Guest Books

Tandem Bike Guest Book

As I mentioned in my last post, after making guest books, I always have paper left over. I've been trying to come up with ways to use this paper for new designs in my shop.

Peacock Guest Book

One new design I've come up with is a smaller guest book. Sometimes couples just want something small and simple to remember the day. These books measure about 5" x 5.5".

Floral Butterfly Guest Book

Another great thing about these books is that they are ready-to-ship. I don't know how many times I've had to rush a guest book because the couple simply forgot to buy one. After all the planning that goes into a wedding, sometimes things like this get put to the last minute. These can ship the same or next day they are purchased.

Love Birds Guest Book

 And they make a great option for the couple on a budget. At just $20.00, these won't break the bank and the couple still gets a beautiful and unique guest book :)

How do you use left over supplies from other projects?