Hello!!!  Hope you are having a great weekend.  This weekend I have been coming up with the samples for some special orders that came in at the last two Farmer's Markets that I went to.  I don't know if you know it or not, but more than half of my business comes from special orders.  Here's how it works. Some one tells me they need help with a birthday party, or baby shower, or some other event.   I tell them I think I can make it for them and get their contact information.  I will go home and make up 1-2 samples (free of charge), and then I e-mail the sample picture back to the customer along with pricing information.  The customer decides whether or not they want the item made.  If they don't like it, the transaction is done.  If they do like it, then I will make the order.  When everything is made, I will send a picture of the completed project to the customer.  The payment will be due at that time and the payment will need to be received before I can ship it out.

I've made quite a few baby shower banners and favors using this special order method.  This week a couple wanted me to make some shirts for their annual family walk.  They needed the shirts by Saturday and they met me on Thursday.  I was able to get them ready the next day.  Another customer wanted some birthday invitations.  I made 2 different sample cards with her theme and e-mailed them to her in a couple of days.  Another customer wanted a welcome home banner for his friend that was coming back from Iraq.  I made up different options of what the letters on the banner could look like and the images that can separate the words.  I'm waiting to hear back as to whether or not I need to make the birthday invitations and the banner.  It seems like I'm starting to build my reputation through the farmer's markets and hopefully I'll be able to grow my business through satisified customers that purchase my products.

I've uploaded the sample pictures of what you can expect if you'd like to make a special order.  Just let me know what you are looking for, and I'll do my best to make something customized to make a lasting impression through crafts at your next special occassion.  Have a great weekend!!! 

There are so many baby showers that I'm doing.  I can't believe how many people are due at this time of year.  Maybe I should market specifically to that crowd----nah.....my ADHD would kick in and I would get bored.

So here's what I've done.  I needed a diaper cake for my sister-in-law's shower and I have no idea how to make them.  I have a friend that makes them, so I decided to barter services with her.  She's going to make me the diaper cake and I'm going to do all the invitations/favors/decorations for a baby shower that she is hosting.  I thought it was a fair trade and so did she, so she went for it.

So she saw the mint favors and the lolipop favors an decided to go with those.  I made a lollipop ring of favors.  I had a ring shaped piece of sterofoam that I had pinned some prima flowers to.  I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I used it to make a stand/centerpiece for all the favors.  I love the way it keeps everything together and it looks very cheerful.

 I came up with the idea of cutting out some large onsies and clothespinning them to a ribbon and then gluing out the letters to spell out the word Congratulations.  Eva loved the ideaand wanted to expand the idea.  I finished cutting all the onsies and glued on all the letters, but I need to get some clothespins and maybe a different ribbon to complete the project.   

For the invitations she just wanted a onsie on the front with the word Baby Shower.  So I made a couple different designs, took some pictures and let her decide which one she liked better.  She picked the most time consuming design.  But it is simply adorable.  I've been vegging out in front of the tv and assembling all of this while watching the Foodnet work challenge.  I don't know why I like that show, but it is great to do the repetitive  task of assembling everything.

So here are the concept pictures I've taken so far....I'll have to post the finished projects at a later date.  I'll post the others up as they become available.  Have a great week!!!

Hello there.  A few months ago I started selling stuff on Etsy.com.  My store is called christinaspot.etsy.com.  Someone already had Christina's Creations, so I chose a different name.  

Etsy is a site that sells handmade or vintage type items.  On this site, there is something called "Alchemy".  People will go to "Alchemy" and make a request for a handmade item (free to make request).  The sellers, like me, will search through all the requests.  For the items we think we can make, we make an offer price and describe exactly what we will do.  The person that made the request will either accept or reject our offer.  If they reject it, nothing happens.  If they accept it, then the seller will either agree to do the project or not.  Then the project is started.

All that was to explain that I put on offer on ETSY's Alchemy to make some baby shower cards.  The customer wanted a seashore type theme.  I told her I would make several samples and she could look through them and see if she wanted to order the invitations from me.  Below are the different samples that I just finished making. 

The long ones fit inside a legal sized envelope.  The others are made with blank note cards.  I used my computer and printed the sample invitations on white cardstock.  On the inside of the card with the silohuette of the 3 kids, I used a generic stamp that says You're invited, time, date, pace, RSVP and you would fill in the spots.  The one that says Baby Show with the umbrella has a diecut of the words For, date, time, place, RSVP.  The one that says new arrival is blank...because I feel like making anymore tonight.

I really enjoy the challenge of designing a card or a craft taylor made to meet my customers needs.  It stimulates my creative juices and there is a certain satisfaction in knowing I made my customers happy.  Often times they are pleasantly surprised by what I come up with.  I'm often surprised with what I come up with.  It seems like my hidden creative potential comes out when I take on these challenges and customer requests.

Thought I'd share this with you, in case you ever wanted to use ETSY or Alchemy or if you just wanted to see some more cards/crafts.  Hope you are having an incredible year so far.  Happy 2010!!! 

Happy New Year!!!  I hope you enjoyed spending time with family and friends.  I just got back from my cousin's house this morning.  It seems like I went from one house to another for over a week now.  It is so good to be home.

My Darling Husband got me a new Cricut Cartridge....Life's a Beach.  I think he is so wonderful.  But it couldn't have come at a better time.  When we visited my sister-in-law they were talking about making baby shower invitations for her in February.  I told them I might be able to help them out.  They wanted to do a pirate themed baby shower.  I never heard of that before, but I was up for the challenge.  I just finished designing 4 different pirate themed baby shower invitations earlier today.  My first 2 attempts screamed pirate theme party, but not baby shower.  My next two attempts were better.  You can't tell in the pictures, but the sails on the boats are actually copies of a picture of Leia's ultrasound that she had posted on Facebook awhile back.  I hope she like them.  It was fun trying to come up with all the details and the wording for these invitations. 

I decided not to make any new year's resolutions this year.  It seems like that would only take time away from my crafts, and I didn't really want to do that.  So I guess I will just try to be more organized so I can have more time to do what I like to do. 

I hope your coming new year is filled with good friends, family, laughter and crafts.  May God grant you the grace to be thankful for the good days and the strenght to get through the tough days.  Have a wonderful new year and I look forward to sharing my crafts with you.

Yesterday I got tired of dragging my craft stuff back and forth between the computer room and my craft room just to use the cricut design studio (CDS) software.  I was making a huge mess in both rooms and it started driving me crazy and I'm sure Ed didn't like it either.  So I decided to move my computer into the craft room and give Ed a space of his own.  It is so much better.  Now I can play with the CDS and keep my mess contained to one area.  I feel so much more productive.

Yesterday I also finished making a sample for a DIY project for my friend's son.  I think it turned out so cute.  She wanted a fire truck.  I looked through my cartridges, but I didn't have one.  I played around with the CDS and made my own fire truck using the George basic shapes, animal kingdon, paper dolls, and graphically speaking cartridges.  It turned out awesome.  I made a side view, a front view, and then decided to put them together to make a centerpiece.  I also made a fire man putting out a fire.  I really liked seeing this project coming together.  Check it out for yourselves.