New signs in my etsy shop

It’s been a very long time since I created any new designs for my etsy shop!  

This ‘Home Sweet Home’ wreath actually came to be because of a special request from one of the gals at my Post Office.  With as frequently as I am there shipping orders fro my etsy shop; they have asked ‘what I do’.  I gave them business cards so they could see my signs in my etsy shop.

One of the gals came across something on Pinterest that she wanted to replicate, and was asking for my advice on how to do so.  It was a wreath with ‘home sweet home’ in the middle (like this!) on some old wood slats.

As I was telling her how to do it, it occurred to me that it would be much easier to SHOW her how to do it.  I invited her to come over to my place where I can SHOW and tell her how to do it.  I already had a stencil very similar to the wreath she wanted, but I could NOT find a stencil anywhere that resembled what she wanted.

Sooooooo, I turned to my ‘go to’ stencil gal, Amie from ScrappinAlong and had her custom make the ‘Home Sweet Home’ stencil to my specifications.

By the way, through July 6th, she is offering a 30% discount on all stencil orders.  If you are in need of any stencils, NOW is the time to buy them!!

I had her size the ‘Home Sweet Home’ stencil to fit the center of a wreath stencil I already had, but of course it can be used alone too.  I was just using up whatever pre-painted scraps of wood I had on hand, and added the flourishes to fill the extra space.

She also designed this sign per my request; to go with the crowns I have in my booth at Stars.

The crown stencil for it is also available.  Since I’m talking about custom stencils, I may as well tell you about this one that Amie designed for me too!

It has a stencil of “… and God bless” then the entire alphabet in the same font so you can personalize the sign with any name.

What do you think about the ROUND ‘Home Sweet Home’ wreath sign??  It was a bit of an afterthought . .  . I’m kind of undecided on whether or not I like it round.  I was also thinking about a rounded one with a more scalloped edge around the leaves?? Just trying to come up with something new! I’m starting to get a little bored with making the same signs over and over again!

For the Portland area locals, Stars IS open this holiday weekend and on Monday, July 4th; 11am – 6pm.

As always, my booth is crammed full of goodies!!

Recent custom orders; your input please

I frequently get asked WHERE I get all my ideas from.  Sometimes things just “POP” into my head; usually in the middle of the night!  Sometimes it’s a process . .  .trial and error until I evolve to something that works.  And of course I get inspiration from all the other amazing artists and upcyclers from around the word via the wonderful WWW.  And sometimes ideas . . . some of my BEST ideas come to me via CUSTOM ORDER REQUESTS.

I make and sell quite a few basic ‘welcome’ signs in my etsy shop.  Had a customer ask to have the above one custom made.

Once I’ve figured out the proper spacing of the letters on a custom sign order, they are pretty fast and easy to RE-produce.  I’m thinking of having some like this ‘ready made’ to sell in my etsy shop.  But I’d probably change it to ‘Welcome to our home”.  Do you think such a sign has enough ‘general appeal’  to make more?  Do you like “my” or “our” better?

You already know that I am a little “crown crazy”.  Hard to believe that there was a crown that I hadn’t already made right?  Actually I HAVE already made crowns this big; just haven’t sold them on etsy!

And here’s why . . . SHIPPING!  They weigh practically NOTHING, but they do require a fair amount of ROOM to pack.  And they are very delicate.  I charged $12.95 per crown and it was $7.00 to ship them.  And it would have been MORE to ship if I hadn’t convinced the buyer to allow me to make the 2 crowns so that would ‘nest’; thereby making a smaller box suffice.

And I really worry about the box getting CRUSHED and them getting damaged in transit!  If I tightly pack them with wadded up newspaper shoved inside it will UP the shipping cost considerably.

So the gal who custom ordered these 2 crowns agreed to be my ‘guinea pig’ so to speak, on shipping these.  So I should soon find out how well they ‘traveled’.  I just padded them in one layer of bubble wrap and that made them fit securely in the box.  The other consideration is that if I have to go out and BUY more bubble wrap to ship these, I’d have to raise the price a bit.

So, what do YOU think?  Is $12.95 for a crown and $7.00 for shipping too much?  What if shipping was even MORE, like $9.95?  (can you believe that shipping costs are going up AGAIN the end of January?!?!)  I just HATE the thought of ‘setting myself up’ for more of ‘those emails’ from potential customers asking “WHY is shipping so much on this item?!?!”  sigh

10.27.2012 EDITED TO ADD:  I just heard back from the purchaser of the 2 crowns and they arrived in perfect shape.  So, that’s ONE worry I can cross off my list!

Custom monogram for a friend

LOVE how this turned out!  Been loving the ‘monogram thing’ for quite some time now, but this is the first BIG one we made from scratch.  Would love to make more to sell in my space at Stars.

It’s a glorious TWO feet tall!  Looks kind of plain here on my wall, all alone.  In it’s new home it will be surrounded by an entire collection of smaller “J”s

The hinge really MAKES it, don’t you think?  I’m really hoping to score a big bag full of hinges at Goodwill today.  I saw it a couple of weeks ago, but it was a tad too pricey for me.  But, it had a purple tag and this week is HALF PRICE week for purple tag items,  (yes, as a matter of fact, I DO keep track of the colors of the weeks sales on my calendar at home!)  AND today is senior discount day to boot! 

Purple tag weeks have always been my ‘best finds’ weeks for some reason.  Here’s hoping today follows suit and does not disappoint.