Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy Twenty-Ten to you all!
I'm going with Twenty-Ten this year instead of two thousand ten. It just rolls off the tongue better.
We've had a ton of snow here in Mid-Missouri. Not keep you inside for days type snow, just a steady 2 inches or so at a time. Yesterday Walter and I went out and played in the morning for a little while.
Carrie and I are spending the day doing 1canoe2 business. Now that the holiday shipping rush is done, we need to come up with another brilliant idea!
Have a great long weekend!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
'Twas a very Etsy Christmas
This Christmas, I was sort of stern with my family about my gifts. (I just accidentally typed "fits" maybe that says something? Nope, can't be that.) Anyway, I requested repeatedly that they purchase things for me off my Etsy favorites list. Mostly because the things I truly want that I won't buy for myself come from there. And they really came through!
First, here are a couple of things I bought for my sisters:
Two clutches from LittleEllie. Adorable! And so super well made. I never could have sewn them such lovely things myself. At least not without hours of ripping out seams.
And now for my loot!
This Regency screenprint from Alphabets (Thanks, Allison!)
This butterdish from CreativewithClay (Thanks, Al!)
This purse from asaborake (Thanks, Mom!)
These earrings from schlomitofir. Thanks mom!
These letterpress coasters from 12fifteen and also
these earrings from BenandOliver. (Thanks Larny!)
It was so lovely to get handmade gifts for Christmas. Having my own shop makes me realize how much work goes into each item. Even if it's just the shipping and packing, I know some little one-woman-outfit somewhere packed up this little gift which my family thought I would love. It's a win-win situation.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Christmas: Given and Received
Then my mom returned the favor and painted a picture of Walter! She got a ton of art supplies for Christmas this year, and that worked out well for us!
Mom, you can't tell me that you're not warming up to this little guy just a little. Come on, you know you love him. I know that he does love his Mee-maw! Hahahahaha!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Fun from Renegade
Just to show you that Renegade wasn't all work and no play:
And now to show you that we--I mean I have no shame or sense of pride:
This photo booth was so awesome! It's the one thing I really wished I had at my wedding. If I had an extra $1000 in my budget, which I didn't. I don't know how much this one cost, but they brought props, and you can really get some good laughs here on the page from the show.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
More press!
photo by ESTEN HURTLE
The University of Missouri has a world-class journalism program. It happens to be my alma mater, and even though I've been working in journalism (first tv, now magazine) since I was 18, I graduated with a BFA in graphic design. (and I'm so glad I did!)
A few weeks ago, right before we went to Chicago for Renegade, Carrie and I were interviewed and photographed by some students who work for the student run paper. It's not the student paper, but a real, grown-up, community oriented weekly paper. It used to be a daily until budget cuts, but alas, that's another story.
Here's a link to the final product
So the barn was really dark, I had spent 4 hours in below-freezing windy weather in a corn field that day, but the photos turned out great! And Christina did a wonderful job with the writing. The editor, Lauren is a tiny bit obsessed with letterpress :), and the photographer, Esten performed photographic miracles in terrible lighting conditions!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Just a few things
| Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade 1canoe2.etsy.com |
These here are a selection from my Etsy favorites. Hopefully I made enough of an ass of myself to my family this year that they got the hint and bought somethings off here.
A few of the items, like that yellow necklace from SofiaMasri, are from people I met at Renegade in Chicago. A few I've found browsing around Etsy.
I'm hooked on using Etsy's favorites and browsing my favorite shop's favorites too because it's yet another way to narrow in on the cool stuff and bypass everything else on there. Etsy is getting more and more popular, and therefore more crowded. I'm pretty sure if we had started our 1canoe2 shop back 4 years ago we would have blasted off. As it is, we're doing great! Almost 600 sales, and I'm not complaining at all! But I've had to work my butt off marketing, instead of it all coming to me. Just an observation. It's working for us either way.
This holiday season has been jam packed for me. Jason and I did stop to make several batches of cookies last weekend and put up the tree. I'm so thankful for a business that doesn't require me to be producing things right up to the last minute. All my prints are finished, signed, and in the "warehouse" ready to be shipped. I've been coming home and eating dinner and sitting on the couch with my 2 favorite guys for the last 2 weeks. I've even done a load or two of laundry and wrapped some presents. It's been great.
Enjoy the rest of the season! It only comes once a year!
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Renegade Chicago, our Letterpressed goods booth
It was a wonderful weekend. We met so many awesome people!
And I think our booth looks pretty darn good, too.
Well, we survived. And we succeeded. Thank you to everyone who came out and said "hello"!
Some of our neighbors: OrangyPorangy and Souldier
Tart Heart and Elisa Schere
It was a wonderful time. On our way out on Monday, we woke up to an inch of beautiful snow.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Scenes from days just before a show
No time to write! Must sign, cut, stack, assemble, tie, box, and oh, yeah, ship out holiday orders!
Life is good, if busy. Thank you to all of my sweet friends and family who have sent me messages and phone calls with encouragement! I'm sorry I haven't returned all those messages, but I promise I will after this weekend.
Please come see us this weekend! Renegade Chicago is going to rock your holiday socks off. There'll be great vendors there to buy gifts for everyone on your list, and probably a few for yourself as well. Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 7pm, Pulaski Park Fieldhouse, Chicago, IL. RENEGADE HANDMADE!
