Holiday Gifts

I sold another item! Yay. :) I'm so excited. This item always had a lot of hearts and compliments. I really like how the cover turned out and I think I might make another one like it.



I thought for this entry, I'd share what I gave everyone in my family for the holiday season (it was all journals). Some I made and others were already made and either in my shop or I hadn't listed yet.

*I gave my sister a coptic bound music book with blank music sheet paper. The cover used a pretty silver, music note decorative paper and the inside used a glitter, blue decorative paper.





*I wanted to give my dad a little address book I made with music notes since he plays piano (the same paper as my sister's book), but I couldn't find where I put that book, so I gave him this little silver, crinkled address book.



*I gave my mom a gift certificate to pick out anything from my shop, but ended up giving her a cookbook I was working on. The cover uses a decorative Italian paper with different pastas on it and it has dividers on the inside to help organize the recipes.





*I gave my brother the "Little Duck" recycled children's book I already had in my shop:




I got an etsy item as one of my Christmas presents. It came a little after Christmas, but it was this shirt that I had in my favorites for a long time. It's really cute in real life and very comfy. She also gave me free heart earrings which match the shirt. The owner of the shop also runs the EtsyU team I'm in.



I'm working on a bunch of new journals and boxes right now. I checked out some new bookbinding books from the library which have a lot of new stitches and projects for me to try. I made a journal tonight I really like, I might have to make one like it for mysefl. I can't wait to post new items in the new year.

Pink Flower Sympathy Card

I was asked to make a sympathy card for my mom and I thought I'd share the steps on how I made it.

I started with a blank A6 sized, white greeting card. I also had these plastic, pink flowers lying around in my room. I thought they would make a great decoration on the card, so I cut a few off.



I used these shimmer watercolor paints I really like. I've been using a combination of blue and pink/fuschia color a lot lately because I like how they look together. I poked holes where I wanted the flowers to go and stuck a little bit of the stem of each flower through it. I also glued it down to make sure it stays.



Lastly, I added "Sorry about your loss" text, printed out on computer paper. The watercolor bled through to the inside, but I think it looks nice. The type of card I used isn't really meant to hold watercolor, but hopefully it will last.



Here's how it came out:



If you want a sympathy card like this (or any of my cards in my sales section), you can always custom order. I also made a similar blog entry with another sympathy card here. One of my other cards also got featured in an EtsyVeg treasury on their blog. I still have a few holiday cards left, which I'll put half off pretty soon. There's free shipping my shop all this month so it's a good time to buy. :)

CPSIA - Handmade Toys

I've been hearing about the CPSIA, a new law that will require all toys need to be tested for lead. This will make many shops who sell handmade children's items on etsy out of business because the costs of testing for each toy will be about $4000. I'm sure a lot of people on etsy know about this already, I see a lot of threads about it on the forums. I think the law is ridiculous. Even though it doesn't effect my shop, I can see how this will hurt other crafters and laws like this could hurt other small businesses in the future. I'd hate to see these go away:


Laughing Giraffe Wooden Toy


Stuffed Salad With Carrots and Tomatoes


Jungle Growth Chart


Arlene Stuffed Hippo

I already sent a letter to my congressman and I'm trying to help out in whatever way I can.To help or learn more go to, you can go to this website or join this facebook group.

In other news, I'm working on new items and should have new items listed soon. I should give myself a break with it being the holidays, but I just ordered new paper and I'm feeling inspired.

Holiday Photos

Yay, it's Christmas! :) I got some books and a CD I wanted for Christmas. I think I have a handmade item from etsy coming in the mail too (not sure what it is yet). I made journals for all my family members for Christmas. Some were already made and I made a music notebook with blank music pages for my sister.

I also started making some new journals to sell and I'm trying to work on new stitches. I'm still learning the coptic stitch. I can do it when reading instructions, but I haven't memorized how to do it. I'm not sure if I like an open stitch (like the coptic stitch) better or a closed stitch (where the stitch and thread is hidden). Closed stitch is easier for me to do because it can hide any imperfections. It seems like a lot of bookbinders like open stitches though.

My Tree of Life journal got featured in this treasury. That green swirl fabric seems to be popular, it's definitely one of my favorites I've used. :)

I wanted to post some holiday photos today.


Our Christmas tree.


Christmas lights. When I set my camera on the "night landscape" function and move it or shake it after taking a photo, it has some interesting effects. I tried to do shapes, like hearts, or write words with the lights, but I couldn't figure out how to do that.


Shooting star, from lights of the Christmas tree after moving the camera.


I celebrate Hanukkah too. Here's our Hanukkah menorah from last night.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas day! Did you get anything good this holiday season?

Holiday Cards

My parents asked me if I could make some holiday cards for them so I made a bunch of holiday themed greeting cards. It got me in the holiday mood and they were fun to make, even though they took a lot longer than I thought. I used the new decorative paper and stamps I got from Paper Source. Even though I made it for people I know, I thought I'd post it on etsy anyway just to show them off and so it boosts my number of sales. I won't post every card on ehre, but you can see the description and all the cardson my sales page or flickr. There's still some cards left for sale if you need some last minute/late holiday cards.

I'm working on a sympathy card for my mom. I will post a photo and probably some in the process photos in another entry. I used some plastic flowers I had lying around and I think it came out nice.

I also wanted to mention I got featured in this green treasury on the EtsyVeg team blog.

Happy Holidays! :)

Blue Marbled Sketchbook 15% Off

My journal is featured as the sale item in the BEST blog today. You can read the entry over there. You can also see a bunch of other journals on sale too. The poster wrote a cute little post and she mentioned this blog. :)

Blue Marbled Coptic Bound Sketchbook

It's 15% off today only. There's no code to enter, I'll just refund you the 15% back off the sale (there's also free shipping this month, so you'll get that too). If you need a last minute gift for somebody who's an artist or likes to journal, this is a perfect gift.



The holidays are almost here, I have to start making some of my gifts for my family. I went shopping today at Paper Source to restock on cards and PVA glue. I haven't been to Paper Source in store in a while and the girl at the cash register gave me a bunch of free scrap paper. I can't believe I spent $60 there so easily. I'm excited to make some last minute holiday cards. I'm selling them for my family so I haven't decided if I'm going to photograph them and list them on etsy too. Hopefully, I'll have time to do that this weekend.

Music Notebook & Consignment

I gave 8 of my items for consignment for a new shop opening in downtown Chicago today. I went down today to give them my items. The shop's not opening until next week, but it's a cute little shop and I think it'll be good to get my items out there. I'm excited about it. I gave away some of my best journals so it's kind of sad to see them go, but just gives me an opportunity to make more journals and get my name out there. It was also my first time doing consignment, so I can feel more prepared if I go around to more shops in my neighborhood. The store is called Light Speed if you ever want to check it out when you're in Chicago and buy one of my journals or cards.

I also got another order for my Music Composer's Notebook. I'm excited that I got a bunch of sales this week (well, not a bunch, but 3 feels like a lot for me right now). I really like this journal. When I first made it, I saw a custom order wanting a journal just like it, but they didn't end up buying it so I'm glad someone else wants it.



It's nice people are still buying for the holidays (I'm assuming it's going to be a gift for someone). I think having free shipping in my shop might have helped me get some sales. If you're thinking of buying from my shop for Christmas, remember you have to get your order in by December 20th (Saturday) to guarantee it will get to you in time.

Getting a sale was a nice way to start my first full day of winter break. I think I'm also selling a bunch of Christmas cards to my family. Even though it's selling to people I know, it's still nice.

Also, one of my journals is having a 15% off sale as part of the Bookbinding team. I forget what day I signed up for my sale to be on, but it's going to be on their blog so I will post about it the day of the sale.

Holiday Wishlist

So I'm done with my finals now. :) I just have to submit my poetry portfolio and I'm done. It's nice to get a break and I can't believe Christmas is so soon. I think we need some snow.I don't have any updates on my shop, since I've been busy with school, but I thought I'd share my wishlist for the holiday season:

I first saw this design from a shirt from Boy Girl Party on a Postal Service logo/shirt (they're one of my favorite bands). I thought it was creative and cute and I love the combination of animals/music. I think I read somewhere she got the idea for the image from a dream, which I think is really cool. I've used this shirt in a treasury before and it's been on my favorites forever, so it'd be nice to actually own it.



This 2009 Calendar is so cute. I have an organizer, but it'd be nice to have a pretty calendar to put on my wall and I haven't figured out how to make one yet. I love the animal designs on this one.



This is one of my favorite artists on etsy. I bought a print from her before and I really like it. I also love this print and the whole idea of painting stars (click the link to see the full picture).



This Bob Dylan record pillow is so cute. It's pretty expensive for me to actually buy and there's not a lot of music I really listen to that's from the time of records, but I love the idea behind it.



I also really need a bag/purse. I haven't looked at lot yet, but I like this simple tote from Crack the Sky.

Not really something on my wishlist, but I thought I'd share this adorable (but sad) gingerbread man:



I'm also going to be done using my current journal soon and it'd be nice to start a fresh journal for next year. Obviously, I guess I could make one for myself or use one of mine I've already made. I'd still buy a journal by someone else though if I found one I really liked. I also have to think of some items to make for my family for Christmas. Share your favorite items you want to get for the holidays. And if you find an item you'd think I'd like, please share. :)

More Sales!

I got another sale. :) I sold my mini brown, butterfly journal. The person who bought it is a second time buyer, which is exciting (I made a custom box for her before). I think this was one of the first journals I ever made. I actually think the very first journal I made looked exactly like this, but I kept it for myself and this was my second version of it with a better quality.



Yay, I love holiday sales. Speaking of, I also got a new holiday card up. I love the decorative paper I used for it of cardinals against a green background. I don't know if people are still buying holiday cards online, but I can always save them for next year or use them myself:



I have finals this week so I've been busy studying for that. Luckily, I only have one final though, so I had time to post business cards of my shop when I went shopping downtown. The town my college is in is really small and they have bulletin boards outside of their grocery stores and some of their other stores. I don't know if anybody will pick one up, but it couldn't hurt to put them up. I also put little discounts on the back.

The day after I get home for winter break, I'm going to bring 10 of my items to a guy opening a new shop. I've never sold my items offline yet (in craft shows or stores, since my shop is fairly new), so I don't know exactly how it works. I'm excited about it though and that I'll have more time to focus on my shop.

Playing Cards & Photos

I just sold my playing cards! :) I'm so excited because I haven't sold an item since October and this is my first sale for the holiday season. Also, it's the most expensive item in my shop. I talked about the playing cards a few entries back, but I originally made them for a challenge on craftster. I wasn't even going to list them, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to put them up in case somebody wanted them (and I'm really glad I did). I think the cards are probably a holiday present for someone, which I think is really nice to see my items used as gifts.

Speaking of craftster, I made a post here with a bunch of my cards if you want to comment.

I was featured on two EtsyVeg blog treasuries. My snowflake card was featured here and my Faces in Card journal is featured here:



I actually use that journal above as my personal journal (I have the listing set as made to order so I'll make one like it if somebody orders). I love the fabric. My camera case for my digital camera also uses the same fabric.

Once finals are over, I'll have more time to craft and focus on my shop. I still have one Christmas card I'm going to try to get up soon. I wanted to get some Hanukkah and other holiday items up, but I don't know if I'll have time.

I feel like this post doesn't have enough photos, so here's just some random photos from my flickr. The first one is part of a project in my Art and the Environment class and others are photos I took around my college campus. The second to last one is a photo I took of an address I thought was a unique/funny number (while I was canvassing for Obama and walking door to door). The last photo is from a museum, I'm not sure what painting it is, but I thought it was pretty.

Postcards from Italy

So I guess my last entry wasn't my 50th post. I thought it was because it said "50" on my blogger thing, but I had two drafts of entries I never posted, so this is really my 49th post. :)

This isn't related to etsy, but I thought I'd share. There's these month long trips my college offers that goes to a variety of places overseas in May. I've always wanted to go to Italy so I applied for the Italy trip when I saw a sign for it. I had to submit an application and write an essay and I just found out today I got in! :) It's really exciting. They only accept 20 students and it seems like there were a lot of people that applied. I'll have to start practicing my Italian again. And use my Postcards from Italy box:





I haven't been able to list with my slow modem (and also being really busy with finals, this is my last week of classes), but there's still a couple holiday cards I want to put up. I hope it's not too late. I haven't experienced any holiday buyers yet, which is kind of disappointing because I keep making holiday items and they aren't selling. :( I've been doing some advertising on Project Wonderful and I was in the Little Black Box this month, so hopefully people are at least seeing my shop more.

I'm also selling some of my items in a new shop opening up in Chicago. I'm supposed to bring my items to the guy who's running the shop the week I get home for winter break so. This is my first time selling my items in a real shop and I'm really excited about trying to get my items out in a new way.

50th Entry

It's my 50th entry in my blog. :) Also, my shop on etsy was exactly 6 months old a couple days ago which is exciting.

What's also exciting is that I won a giveaway here the other day. I'm so excited I won! I don't even usually enter giveaways, but I'm happy I won these magnets because they remind me of my cat:



Here some photos of my cat, Luna, playing with a turkey stuffed animal on Thanksgiving day:




I also got featured in some treasuries. I got a screen cap of 2 of them. My cards are the christmas tree swirl one in the first one and the orange flower one in the second.





Remember, there is free shipping in my shop all this month. I hope I get at least one sale during the holiday season. It seemed like I was going to get a custom order a couple times, but they didn't respond back or maybe they changed their mind. At least I can use the Christmas and holiday themed cards myself if they don't sell though.

Free Shipping During December

There will be free shipping all this month in my shop as a promotion for the holiday season. It doesn't seem like I'm selling a lot this month, but you never know when things might pick up? If you are thinking of buying from my shop for the holiday season, here's the dates to buy your items buy:

*For custom orders, please have your orders in by December 12th to make sure I have enough time to create the item and mail it you by Christmas. How long it takes to get to you will also depend on what type of item you want.
*For all other orders, I'll need your orders in by December 20th to guarantee it will get to you by Christmas. (This is priority mail according to the USPS website)

Also, this month, one of my coptic bound journals will be 15% off as part of a promotion for the bookbinding team I'm in. I forget what day it exactly (I think it's December 18th...), but it will be posted on the BEST Team Blog (and I'll post it here too).

Speaking of promotions, I'm in the Little Black Box this month and noticed my matchbook notepad got mentioned in this blog. Also, there's this group on youtube that makes videos about etsy and crafting called Indie5. This one girl usually does a video where she shows what's inside her Little Black Box. I'm hoping one of my matchbook notepads went in to hers and I can see a video of her opening it.

I haven't had a lot of time to create new items with finals coming up and trying to finish final projects for classes. I did get some older items listed today though:

Swirl Green Christmas Tree Card



This is sort of like my other Christmas cards, except I used a mix of decorative paper and fabric (for the tree). It comes blank on the inside.

Set of Decorative Handmade Playing Cards



This is a set of handmade playing cards I made for a craftster challenge on Craftster (I posted about it in July). I decided to put them up for sale because you never know who might buy them. I couldn't really figure out how to price them because it's sort of a mix between fine art and paper work, but I estimated a price from the materials and amount of time I spent on them.

I'm also thinking of making a calendar for 2009. I love the calendars I see on etsy and other craft sites. I want to list one if I can make one on time, but otherwise, I could just keep it for myself.

Winter Items

I've been really busy with final projects/studying in my classes at college so I haven't really had time to make new items. I thought I'd share some of my favorite items that have winter/holiday themes:

Snowflake Soap


Chocolate Dipped Oreos with Peppermint


Fawn MiniReindeer Stocking Stuffer


Mr. Penguin - I Kind of Like You A Lot


Brown and Pink Polka-Dot Armwarmers


What are some of your favorite winter items you've seen around etsy?

I haven't had a sale since October so I'm hoping I'll get some more sales during the holiday rush. I did get a convo about making a journal with the same paper as my Music Lover's Address Book, but the person hasn't contacted me back yet if she wants a custom order for sure.

One of my Thanksgiving cards got featured in EtsyVeg's harvest treasury on their blog. :) I also ordered a cookbook from the EtsyVeg and a couple other teams that features vegetarian/vegan recipes. I submitted a marinara sauce recipe and if you're looking for a cookbook for vegan dishes, I'd recommend it.