Holiday Rush

I will probably only be posting a couple of times a week until after the Holiday Season. It's been crazy busy around here between my day job, Etsy, Christmas parties, shopping, making gifts and cooking a lot of goodies. I haven't even had time to post anything new on Shophandmade.com, but hopefully after Christmas I'll be able to focus a bit more on my shop there.

EAST, the Etsy Street team that I'm a member of, all signed up on Elfster to do a Secret Santa Gift Exchange. I had never heard of this site, but it's the bomb! Once you've signed up, send the link to a group of friends, family or coworkers so they can sign up. Fill in your wishlist and all the other requirements like spending limit etc. Then it automatically matches people up. Everything is anonymous, so you can ask all the questions you want of the person that you drew and they don't have a clue who their Secret Santa is. We're doing all handmade items, and set a date where all of us will join in a chatroom and open our presents. Of course there may be some of us that might peek a little early....oohhh nooo...not me :) No really any packages that I get that I'm not expecting my son is going to hide from me until it's time to open them! Yes, I was one of those kids that shook the package with my name on it, and sometimes even tried to unwrap the gift to get a peek. I was such a bad girl! It should be fun, and it's definitely a site I'm going to recommend to others including my day job.

Well I'm off to get the last of my weekend purchases packaged and ready to be shipped out tomorrow. This last month on Etsy has been phenomenal for me! Love...love....love it!

New Packaging

Yay...I finally got my new gift boxes!! It was a really tough choice personally to change from handmade gift boxes to these kraft boxes because I loved that little extra personal touch. BUT...economically speaking this was a much better way to go. The handmade gift boxes cost $2 each to make not including ribbon, organza bag, plastic storage baggy, tags, etc. These boxes work out to be .17 cents per box again not including the extras but it works out to be more financially feasible. Plus...these can be sent in a bubble mailer first class. With my previous handmade boxes I shipped Priority Mail, but then again this is something that I can consistantly do during the year that won't hurt the bottom line.

For the holidays though, I will be doing a shipping special that will consist of free Priority Mail shipping. I will also be doing SNS's (Saturday Night Sales/Specials) for discounts during this time as well. Once I've got the details I will post it here!

My week so far....

It's been a couple of days since I've posted anything. The grove of trees in front of my house is no longer there, torn down to build houses. It has been horribly sad around here. I can't hardly stand to look out my window let alone walk outside. What once felt protected and secluded now feels exposed and unsafe.

Onto a brighter subject...It's been a busy week planning for the Thanksgiving get together. Two dinners this year because of everyones work schedule. I can feel a turkey burn-out coming on!

The pictures in this post are the newest items in my store. I've sold two more pieces and one of them was because a very nice fellow Etsian featured me in her blog. She is going to be my Decembers Featured Artist of the Month, so be sure and check back for that. Business has been good, and I'm definately looking forward to the upcoming holidays. Ohh and I've also been accepted into SRAJD (Self-Representing Artist Jewelry Designer), I can't wait until it's posted so I can start using the logo.

My mom is very excited about a gift she bought me...she wants to tell me, but I keep stopping her and that is sooo unlike me. I always want to know what my gifts are! I'm just excited to buy gifts for my niece, Abi. She'll be 6 months old and should be alittle more active....I love the baby stage!