« October 2007 | Main | December 2007 »
Last week while in Boston I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a quick 20 minutes in Jacobson's. Jacobson is a floral supply company that sells only to the trade (florists, designers, etc.). It's been quite a while since I've visited and wow, the place is amazing. I didn't purchase anything for myself but I was able to take a few pictures of the eye candy. Can't wait to go back with a project in mind!
Thank you Andrea ! I d0 BELIEVE in the power of swaps!
Today I received my garland from the Ga Ga for Garlands swap and lucky, lucky me! Andrea wrote that she'd never made a garland before, can you believe it? I love it and I love that it's so different than the banners/garlands that I've been making. And the letters--so cool. Love all the little details too, so much fun.
And the Believe garland is officially our first holiday decoration of the Christmas season. Yes, I have some work to do...
Finally finished and presented this morning.
Mom really seemed to like them.
We'll see if they're hanging in the girls' room by next week when I go to babysit again ; - )
Design notes: the font is Little Days, much smaller and harder to glue/glitter than the other fonts I've used but I thought it would be cute for these banners. They are bitty size, just 4 inches across the top.
Our next door neighbors had girl twins nearly 6 months ago. Tomorrow when I go over to babysit I will finally bring with me a 'Welcome Babies' gift. I made a bitty name banner for each of them (pics to follow), along with this card. I actually made the card over the summer and it's been patiently waiting on my wrapping table. I was inspired by a card I saw at Target. I drew the baby carriage and colored in the pink accents with colored pencils. I glittered the silk flower, it doesn't look nearly so strange in real life.
Happy Tuesday!
While in Massachusetts we did a bit of house hunting. We spent Sunday afternoon going to open houses in my hometown. While none of the homes fit our needs (save for the $895,000 one with the sauna but no master bathroom, yep open houses are fun...), there were some cool decorating finds. And fortunately, I had my trusty iPhone with me to snap pictures.
This trinket mirror was my favorite crafty find. I love how they took hundreds of this girl's childhood treasures and incorporated them into a project where she can enjoy looking at them everyday. In a couple of other rooms in the house there were large glass jars filled with more trinkets--perhaps some mirrors in waiting?? When I showed this to Ebby she thought it was very cool. Maybe now we can get some of her treasures out of hiding and on display!
We are visiting family in Massachusetts to celebrate Thanksgiving. Warm wishes to all!
I've finally emerged from my crafting cave. This time I have 2 pennant banners to share. I made them for 2 different women in the Ga Ga for Garlands swap.
I made one banner for my swap partner, Andrea, and one banner for my mom's swap partner, Karen. My mom is doing a fine job recovering from major surgery but I thought I'd take 'make holiday banner for swap' off of her to do list. Both banners have the word JOY in silver, in the same font. Both banners are the same size. I love how they have a totally different feel though. I really like the red/lime green/silver color combo. I was planning on making another one just like it. Then I got the scoop that Karen had a winter wonderland thing going on in her dining room so I switched gears. I love the contrast between the two projects. Just goes to show how color and mood go hand in hand.
Now to finish one more bitty baby banner.
And then perhaps some holiday stock for the etsy shoppe...
I made my first "full sized" banner in a while last night. This JOY banner is for my friend Candy. She is a preschool teacher and a photographer. Last month she had the daunting task of photographing our group of 9 for an extended family photo shoot. And the 9th person was our dog Jake. We worked out a bartering arrangement and I am paying her in handcrafted banners. I already gave her a USA banner back in September and still have to make a Welcome banner for her guest room. This JOY banner came together pretty quickly and I am pleased with the result--and I daresay that she was too.
All the paper is from Basic Grey, the Fruitcake line from last Christmas. I used another new font for the lettering and I think this one shows up pretty well. The bird on the top corner of the J pennant is from Michaels--had to slice off about 1/3 of him so he would sit flat on the paper.
It was a good project to get the creative juices flowing and get me warmed up for the Ga Ga for Garlands Holiday swap that's due next week...
Our next door neighbors recently had twin girls. And when I say recently, I mean they are going to be 5 months old this week. Yep, Jen is running a bit behind on her new baby gifts.
But things are underway now and oh, look. A new font! I thought I'd give 'Little Days' a spin and see how it looked all glittered up. Though it was very delicate and I had to re-do 2 of the letters, I think I like it.
Now I just have to finish this one and work on the 2nd one. I'll post more pictures as I progress...
Magic Cabin is one of my favorite children's toy catalogs. Of course I've never ordered anything from it and I don't even actually get it at my house (I lifted this one from my mom's). But, I think it's a great catalog, especially from a Preschool Educator point of view. And yes, once upon a time I was a preschool educator.
Maybe it's the full color hand drawn illustrations, but this catalog has a nice, wholesome feel to it. Not too commercial, subtle in a way that makes you feel you are totally making a sound decision when you purchase something for a child from this catalog. Yep, their marketing strategy has totally drawn me in. Except for the part where I haven't actually bought anything.
But if I was to buy anything, I would have quite a few nice choices. Beeswax crayons, cherry tree blocks, or a wooden ironing board might be just the thing. Or perhaps a marble run, a set of versatile play silks, or a set of wooden cars. The possibilities are 75 pages long and delightfully free of characters and logos.
Best of all, I love the Richard Scarry Christmas illustration on the cover :-)
