Crafting at warp speed

Wow. This week has been filled with an overwhelming list of things to do to get ready for the holidays. Nobody will buy my awesome wrapping papers if they can't see what they look like. And it's one thing to see a single box wrapped up pretty, but it's another thing to see all sorts of fun (and I hope original and unique) ways to use it to decorate packages. That means I have to create all those examples of fun (and I hope original and unique) ways to use it to decorate packages. And when you have to do that for five different wrapping papers, it tends to require some really late nights.

Then I had to decorate for the photos, stage the photos, rush to take the photos during Lachlan's naps, and then edit the photos. I'm also rushing to set up a new website, and that of course has its own specifications for the photos. And I'm rushing to complete a set of photos for something special that is coming up the middle of this month. I'll tell you all about that next week, because it's a deal that you will. not. want. to. miss. Weee!  But I digress...

I'm still working on editing all of the photos, but here's a little peek at one of the collections, red birds and berries. I had this gift bag in the shop last season and it was really popular, so I added the wrapping paper this year and it is already the top seller.

This was the first paper I used for my crafting, and I had a ball thinking of different ways to use it. Every year when I'm wrapping presents, I try to save every tiny scrap because one day I might have a tiny present to wrap. In the end, all those scraps go into the recycle bin and I feel so wasteful. So the idea behind what I'm doing this year is that you can wrap a present or two with the paper, but then use the scraps of paper to decorate a whole host of different, very simple items. Of course, everything I'm using is available for sale in the shop (and the new website, details coming soon!), but people can also use these ideas with simple things they may already have in their own home. It's a nice way to come up with a beautifully coordinated set of gifts that each have something special about them.

Here's the complete set I came up with, in two photos.

Over the next few days I'll show you some closeups of each item, along with the details of how to get the other products in the photos so you can "get the look" for yourself. In the meantime, here are some pictures of my two favorites from this set.

 

 

I'd love to hear any other suggestions you have for fun ways to use leftover bits of wrapping paper to decorate packages.

Christmas decorations

I'm the person who walks into a store in October and becomes almost overwhelmed by my irritation with the number of Christmas decorations already in the stores. And yet, here I am today, decorating my house for a photo shoot I'm planning for my Christmas items. Crazy! And what's worse is that I'm waaaay behind on doing this. Ack.

The past few days have been spent in a major crafting frenzy as I decorate packages in (what I hope is) unique and creative ways using the wrapping papers and other items in the shop.

I hope to show people how to stretch their dollars this year by using regular old tissue and wrapping paper in fun and unexpected ways. I'm pretty delighted with some of the things we've come up with, and I can't wait to show them to you!

In the meantime, here's how things are starting to look.
Stage 1. Pinecone garland:
Stage 2. Berry garland addition:
Now it's back to work on the setup!

Projects in the works

I've been working on several new things lately that I hope to add to the shop soon.

One new item is a little gift basket set of a stained berry basket, a piece of jute twine, and a stained gift tag (in the same or coordinating color). They are the perfect size for homemade treats and small gifts, and I plan to offer them as a single basket so people don't have to buy a large set. I'm working on building up my inventory of several different colors, and hope to have them in the shop soon.


And I spent my time this weekend (and tonight!) working on several new stain colors and these new handmade tags to go in a special edition holiday packaging kit. And the reason this kit is a special edition is because it was created specifically in response to a request by a big (BIG!!) magazine for possible inclusion in their December feature on giftwrap and packaging.

I've made it through the first round of editors and then had to tweak a few of the colors and contents at the request of the photography department so that it would work better with the colors of the other items they're considering. I don't want to say too much right now in case I don't make the final cut, but let's just say that if I do make the final cut, this feature will be huge, huge, HUGE! Please keep your fingers crossed for me! :D

Quiet

Hello? Is anyone still there? It's me. I know I've been quiet for awhile. Again. I am back to just treading water, keeping up with the must-dos, and sadly that means that blogging is on the back burner.

Here's what I did last night and this morning. Only 18 orders (it was a slow day because of the holiday yesterday), but many of them were big. I can only pack orders when Lachlan sleeps and naps, so it takes up the majority of my free time. I am rushing to do this blog post before he wakes up from his morning nap!



I did finally get some time yesterday to work on some new product development: some new packaging kits in various color schemes. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out! Now if only I could find the time to photograph them and get them into the shop...

In other news, we are still on the hunt for a house. I found two I really liked. One can't be insured because it is built with a crawl space that you can't access. What? Who builds a crawl space and then doesn't provide access to it? And without insurance on the place, the bank would laugh in my face if I asked them for money. I also found an ADORABLE 1906 farmhouse in Palisade. Awesome views, a peach orchard in the back yard, and huge rooms and closets (a real surprise in a house that old), but the foundation of the house is going every which way but upright. Walking through the house was like one of those carnival houses with floors tilting in different directions. I know it can be fixed, but at a certain price and level of commitment that I just can't give it right now. It's sad, too. The house would be adorable all fixed up. So we keep looking...

Shop swap: Faye and Co.

I recently participated in a Shop Swap that was organized by Danni over at Oh, Hello Friend. I was paired with Diane from Faye and Co. The idea was to send each other goodies from our own shops. Diane's favorite colors are black and white with a bit of red, so I sent her an assortment of my packaging goodies in those colors.

In exchange, I received this lovely package from Diane. That little Faye and Co. pencil is the cutest little thing! I loved everything in my package--2 notebooks, 3 cards, an assortment of stickers, a little rubber stamp (that fits right on the tip of your pencil, clever!), paper lips and a moustache on sticks, and a lovely zipper bag lined in the prettiest fabric. What an awesome collection of goodies!

I of course loved how everything was packaged in layers with kraft paper and twine. A woman after my own heart! :)



Isn't that tiny pencil adorable? And the letterpress printed tag rocks, of course. :)



Although everything is lovely, this is probably my favorite thing of the package: A small green notebook with my name hand drawn by Diane. I love it!!



I love the phrase on Diane's card: Goods as Unique as You Are. If you need some unique goods (these would make awesome gifts!), please visit Diane at her online shop.

Another day

Today is like most days around here. Playing with Lachlan, trying to get Lachlan to eat something, and packing orders. Things are busy around here. I spend all of Lachlan's nap time and many hours every evening after he goes to bed packing orders and packaging items for sale. I keep thinking I'm getting ahead but then a whole new batch of goodies arrives on my doorstep (thank you, Mr. UPS!) and I'm back to square one. But I'm not complaining! I'm thrilled that there are people out there who enjoy nice stationery and pretty packaging supplies as much as I do. :D

Here are the last four packages that I sent out today. One to Virginia, one to California, one to Australia, and one to Denmark. Every day I do the packages in a different color, and today's color was blue.









The weekend is supposed to be amazing (63 degrees on Sunday!) so I think we might take Lachlan out for a weekend adventure somewhere. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Paper and Present

Well, I've been talking about it for long enough, so here it is: my other, other Etsy shop, Paper and Present.

For as long as I can remember I have loooved packaging supplies -- stickers, little bags, fancy doo-dads to dress up packages, pretty ribbons and strings, pretty tissue paper, etc. And I'm in love with the new trend of kraft paper and baker's twine!

After Lachlan was born I found it difficult to keep up with my letterpress printing. The presses are out in the workshop in an environment that isn't exactly practical for an infant, let alone a toddler. So I put a lot of my big plans for my letterpress shop (like wedding invitations) on hold for now and decided to limit my offerings to things that I could easily print in just an hour or two while the baby sitter or the husband is available.

But I'm the kind of person who is just itching to be doing something all the time, and my letterpress shop gave me the Etsy bug.

I wanted to do something at least a little creative but I needed to be able to do it while standing at my kitchen counter where I can keep an eye on Lachlan (and that I can easily put down to go play with him). I did a lot of soul searching and came up with the idea to try selling packaging and gift wrap supplies. I started small, just selling colored envelopes and stickers that I already stocked for my letterpress shop. I slowly added things a little at a time as more people discovered my shop. And as I mentioned in a previous post, this new shop is even busier than my letterpress shop!

Things are getting busy now as people gear up for holiday gift-giving. I have my shop almost completely stocked with items (even some letterpress goods!). I have just a few more things to add in the next few days. I have a Heartsy deal ($10 for $20 store credit) for the shop coming up very soon (I'll let you know when), but this deal will be limited to 50 vouchers and will be for VIPs only.

But all you lovely blog readers are VIPs to me! So I'd like to offer you the same deal, only better! Between now and November 26, you can purchase whatever you want from the shop for 50% off! And there is no $20 limit to hold you back, so feel free to go hog wild. Just use coupon code "Handwork" when you check out. I have plenty of almost everything (a few letterpress items are limited), so if something is sold out and you can't live without it, let me know and I'll get more into the shop for you.

Happy shopping! :D

Lovely package exchange

I've been following the blog Oh, hello friend: you are loved off and on for quite some time now. Danni is just such a sweet person. She's hosting a lovely package exchange for the first 125 people who sign up at her blog. You can go here to read more about it. But if you're interested you need to hurry. There are only about 30 spots left as I write this!

Extracurricular activities

I mentioned the other day that I'm working on another Etsy shop. Here's a tiny sneak peek at one of the things in the "new product development" department...

Custom card project

The last few days have been a little hectic. The husband asked for personalized cards for 12 women at his office in time for the first of two holiday parties last night. He asked for their name on the cards along with something else, perhaps a snowflake.

I had originally intended to print the snowflake without ink (just the impression) and then print the women's names in color over the top of the snowflake. But I tried printing the snowflake that way and it lost too much of the detail. So, we changed the plan and I printed the snowflakes in metallic silver and then printed their names at the top of the cards. I didn't have enough envelopes of one color (he originally asked for 25 cards for each person!), so I did half in red and half in a light blue.



I'm really happy with how some of the names turned out. Certain letters of this font are just so darn pretty. I love the k and the h.





Yesterday afternoon I finished trimming the cards and then realized I needed a good way to package them! I didn't have enough time to wrap them, so I found these kraft boxes I ordered for cards a long time ago. The cards printed in red were wrapped with a white ribbon inside the box, and I used red cotton string, a red reindeer tag, and some red and white berry decorations I had in my craft stash. For the blue cards, I wrapped them with a blue ribbon inside the box, and used cream colored cotton string, a silver reindeer tag, and some silver decorations from my craft stash. Thank goodness for the craft stash!



I think they turned out ok, all things considered, and they were a big hit at the party last night.



Now that I've finished that project, I can get back to printing some things today for my brother and some purple moose for that one blog reader who is so patiently waiting for her critter cards! :)

Great white gift wrap

I feel like I've been MIA from blogland for ages. I'm catching up on posts in my google reader, and I've saved so many pretty images to my inspiration folder.

What really caught my eye in today's posts are these ideas for some simple but gorgeous gift wrapping by Grey Likes Weddings featured on Style Me Pretty. Each year I pick a main color for my holiday gifts. This year is red, but I think next year I might just go with this white, cream, and beige palette. I love it, and I especially love that I can buy all the pieces in bulk and be able to use them for gifts throughout the year, with just some small tweaks to make them occasion-specific.

You can find the DIY tutorial for all these lovelies right here.

I love my letterpress = you can win free letterpress goodies

On Saturday, after five months of hard restoration work, we finally reassembled my letterpress. I am beyond ecstatic. Really. Waaay beyond ecstatic.



I'm in the process now of refinishing the wooden feed boards, but by mid-week she should be completely reassembled and ready for the process of fine tuning to get her back in tip-top shape for printing.

Even the husband is blown away by the engineering and design of it.




So I think this calls for a celebration! Therefore, I'll be giving away a letterpress printed item of some sort every single week from now until the week before Christmas! Now, I realize that a few weeks ago I promised a letterpress giveaway sometime soon, but then I got completely sidetracked with finishing the restoration of the press. So this week, I'll pick two winners. And if I count correctly, this means that you'll have up to nine chances to win some letterpress goodies.



This week, each of the two winners will receive a set of twelve letterpress printed gift tags. This tag features a reindeer and stars and is printed in silver. Each tag has a silver eyelet and a silvery-cream colored cord. The winners will have their choice of "Merry Christmas," "Peace on Earth," or "Season's Greetings" (or a combination of these). Each tag is about 2.5 x 3.5 inches.



To enter, just leave a comment on this post by this Friday (October 30) at noon EST. I'll announce the winners on Friday evening. For this week only, each person can enter up to two times!

Biggs & Featherbelle

I'm in Baltimore for a friend's wedding on Saturday. Today I went shopping with another friend in the area known as Hampden. We visited one of the neatest stores I've seen in a long time (it's the exact one I picture in my mind when I imagine opening my own brick-and-mortar shop!). I bet we spent 2 hours at Red Tree, browsing through their amazing collection of furnishings, bath and body products, and paper goods. If you're ever in Baltimore, be sure to stop in and see them at 921 W. 36th Street. You won't be disappointed!

My purchase today was a gift set of "Beach Bar" scented soap, bath salts and lip balm by Biggs & Featherbelle, a Baltimore company.

Pericarp oil packaging

I'm loving this beautiful packaging (for a serum made from the mangosteen fruit) I spotted over at the dieline. I'm a sucker for patterns and color combinations like these.

Box of seeds

I'm really liking the packaging on this box of seeds.



From Labour and Wait.

Lovely tea cups

I love this packaging created by Sarah Walsh for a tea company in the UK.

Via designworklife.