A Little Shop Update

Happily, I've been printing and crafting again for the first time in a long time. I'll be updating throughout the weekend. Use the code HOLIDAY25 for 25% off your order in the Etsy shop.

Holiday Cards Back in the Shop!

It's that time of year and holiday cards are back in the shop! There are only two sets of the reindeer design left, and only one chocolate "Frost" design available. Get them here before they're gone!

Updates, Personal and Otherwise

Hello, dears. I know I've been quiet the past few months! Thanks for being patient. The pregnancy is progressing beautifully and I can't believe I'm in the home stretch of the last trimester. For those of you that were following my baby blog, I made it private simply because I could not keep up with it! Everything is fine, really.

For those of you following the Etsy shop, I'll have a few updates before the holidays--- mostly buttons and magnets, which make great little stocking stuffers. I'm hoping to save up a bit for maternity leave before I put the shop in vacation mode for, well, as long as I need to! Billy has been sweet enough to help me with the button press and is even interested in learning how to Gocco if we get around to it. I'm a lucky girl to have a husband willing to get crafty with me (he also gets a little thrill each time a button set he made sells. Tee hee!).

In the meantime, here are two new sets for those who love the East Coast:

You can buy them here.

Busy Again

After I got pregnant this spring I was so exhausted from the first trimester that I didn't really make any new items for the shop. Then I found out that I had some restrictions on pushing/pulling motions (which are big with both the Gocco and the button press) in addition to already being a little wary of the chemicals that might be involved in Gocco'ing.

Enter my wonderful husband, who is willing to learn how to use both and do the push/pull motions while I nag. I'll be slowly updating the shop with new buttons and magnets (like the Woodland magnets above), and we also have plans to do some Gocco holiday cards together soon.

After the baby . . . finally the letterpress! (Ha. I think I'll have time to re-learn letterpress.)

I'm a very lucky girl.

Bird and Daisy Magnets

I like these; they remind me of some prints we had in our house when I was little. Newly listed in the shop.

I've Missed You!

If you're a regular reader I'm sure you noticed that I've taken a bit of a blog and Etsy break lately. Things in my work and personal life have really sped up, and something had to give.

The good news is that I am now on summer vacation, so I am hoping to finally organize my work space and get back down to business. Even if it is not technically business per se, there are a lot of projects that I've been playing around with in my head, and I'm looking forward to having the time to try them out. I'm hoping to take on some personal sewing and knitting projects and to do some things just for fun--- I feel like that always re-inspires me.

The Etsy shop, though, will be slowly brought back to life, too. I listed some new magnets today. I think the ones above are my favorites. More updates--- here and in the shop--- soon!

Twilight and Skyline.

New magnets in the shop today. These remind me of These remind me of New York at dusk, street lamps through fog, and old-time photos of city scenes.

Happy Kentucky Derby-Day

The former equestrienne of my girlhood loves these. Made from vintage books, listed in honor of the Kentucky Derby today, and available in the shop.

For Foodies

My posts have become more and more food-centric lately, so I thought I would share two sets of appropriately-themed kitchen magnets from the shop. Available here and here.

Also, don't forget to enter the giveaway!

A Change of Pace

So, I pretty much have craft ADD, and I've been looking for other ways to reuse vintage book illustrations besides the buttons and magnets I already have in the shop. I'd like to try soldered pendants, but I have to admit I'm a bit scared of burning my fingers.

I know that a lot of people make and sell glass and Scrabble tile pendants, so I'm a bit hesitant to post these here and was even hesitant to try them out. They were fun to make, though. I'm not sure if I am 100% happy with the end result (sealing the back did not come out as smoothly as I hoped and I dunno if I can deal with the smell of the bail adhesive), but it was fun to experiment with something new.

My two favorites are below, an American Lotus and a four-leaf clover.



And of course, I had to have some llamas in there:

I like how this last guy looks like he's laughing at something.

So anyway, new experiment. We'll see.

Why Hello, My Deer

Available in both blossom pink and an orange-y poppy in the shop.

And don't forget there is a sale going on until Sunday!

Places I Want to Be

More new buttons in the shop. Don't forget there's a sale going on through Sunday!

Peeper.

The perfect sign of spring, available as buttons or magnets in the shop.

Llove is in the Air.

While I wanted to photograph these in gentler light, I just could not wait.

I cannot tell you the fun I had with this project. Sometimes a client contacts you and reimagines your work in a new way, or tells you the personal significance it has for them. The llama llove card was reinvented here as save-the-date postcards for a easy, breezy seaside wedding in California (click to enlarge for more detail; some design details are blurred for privacy). I am so pleased with the result and glad the bride and groom are too. We have more in the works for this wedding, so stay tuned!

If you are interested in a similar project, please feel free to email me.

Llamas Now Back in the Shop

One of my dearest friends ends her letters "Love." Not as a way of signing off, but as a statement. I've been missing her a lot lately, and with this simple phrase in mind I simplified the pun on the ever-popular llama card.

They are available singly or in sets in the shop (and don't forget there's a sale going on until the end of the week).

I also have a fun custom project and some new items to show you in the next few weeks. I'm so excited to be making things again!

Spring Sale in the Etsy Shop

I've going to do some spring cleaning this week and I figured that ought to apply to the shop as well. This week only, all items in the Etsy shop are buy one, get one free! Higher price and shipping still apply.

The card above is are great for Easter, which is only a few short weeks away, so be sure to check it out (along with it's yellow counterpart here)!

The Luckiest

Wishing you and yours a happy Saint Patrick's Day! I am certainly missing the spirited celebrations in Boston today. I didn't have time to make soda bread, which I intend to do every year, but I am going to try my hand at a vegan Irish stew (with some Guinness stirred in). I'll let you know how it turns out.

P.S. If you like the note above, two versions are available here and here.

Cosa Verde

I just opened a brand-spanking-new shopfront on Cosa Verde. For those of you familiar with Poppytalk Handmade, it functions similarly in that it acts as a "shop window" that links to your Etsy shop or website.

I also love Cosa Verde's simple look and the fact that they emphasize environmentally friendly goods, donate a portion of their fees to the charity of your choice, and plant ten new trees for every new store!

The site is also very easy to use: you can drop and drag your items, reorder them, and have full descriptions.

If you are a fellow artist/crafter/small businessperson and interested in signing up, I'd be grateful if you'd use my referral link!

Succulent Love

We stopped at Lowe's today for potting soil so we could plant our spinach and Swiss chard in the Earth Boxes. While we were there I became enamored with these little succulents they were selling for $3 each. It's my goal to have more plants indoors as well as out, so I transplanted three into a pretty pot for our living room. I love the varying green tones and shapes.It may not be the terrarium I keep talking about, but this little arrangement is so pleasing and easy-peasy. Hopefully I won't kill these little sweeties!
I'm really just longing for live green things. Next up, I want to do an arrangement of ferns under a bell jar, or perhaps a spider plant. These might be harder in dry conditions, so again, I'm welcoming any tips you might have!

Growth

We are starting our first garden this year (along with the compost pile we started a few months ago that Chesney keeps launching himself into with gusto). Unfortunately our shiitake mushroom log has been a bust, but I'm hoping for good results with the more traditional plants. Can I just say how excited I am that we finally live in a place where drunken frat boys won't rip up the food we're attempting to grow?

Because we're renting and because we live in an arid climate, we decided to use Earth Boxes, which we're hoping will conserve some water and still yield good results. It's been very warm here and I think we're past danger of frost, so we've already started broccoli, peppers, basil, chives, and parsley indoors (see broccoli sprouts above). I'm thinking that I should start the dahlias indoors, too. I'm also considering sowing the Swiss chard and spinach outside this weekend. Supposedly these greens do well in colder weather, but is it too early to start these outdoors in the southwest? It's been in the high 60s here!

My grandmother, who is 96, continues to garden an impressive half acre at every summer. She eats from her harvest all year round, and while I've "helped" her (in the most childish sense of the word), I don't know much about actually getting plants to produce. I'd love to hear some gardening tips (I'm looking to you, Julia!) from more seasoned veterans. Anything I should know as we get started, readers?