January Is Officially Coat Season

In the last few days, I've felt a new chill in the air that seems to crop up around Christmas time and stick around until the end of January. Baltimore is mild in terms of winter weather, but it always seems that January is guaranteed to be freezing. You know, the kind of freezing where your toes don't ever feel warm and the tip of your nose is a constant icicle. After nearly seven years in this city, I have realized that my body has finally acclimated. If I were to go back to Syracuse or Indiana, I'd struggle with the long, cold winters. 40 degrees is now the new 20 and I find myself longing for the 70s of spring more than I did other years.

I've also come to realize that along with hating the cold, I hate my coats. The long, black Michael Kors pea coat that I currently have makes me feel way too professional in a conservative way and not stylish enough. And for as cute as my bright teal Columbia ski jacket looks on the slopes, I'd rather not look like a ski bunny while I'm out and about in the city. So the search has begun, mid-season of course, which always seems to make things a little more difficult. I've been looking for something slim and fitting, with some interesting details to make it a little less plain and here is what I have found so far.

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I've pretty much narrowed my options down to these three coats, but am having the worst time deciding. I think I like the first one the most, but I'm not a huge fan of the faux leather on the sleeves and I love the hood option on the other other two. Originally the last one was my favorite and the one I was going to go with, but then I found the other two. The second coat has a great cut to it and the breast pocket details are a plus. However, I'm not a huge fan of the black pockets. What do you guys think?

What kind of coat have you been wearing this winter season?

No Photos Please!

Recently, the biggest issue that I face at handmade shows are the people that want to take photos of my cards. They see the cards, laugh, whip out an iPhone, and then state to their friend, "I'm totally taking a picture to text to so and so! This is so perfect for them!" This scenario is my biggest pet peeve of shows. To me, it's as if they are stealing my art rather than spending $4 for the actual thing. I tend to get a bit snarky with these people. I have no problem stopping them dead in their tracks with a "No photos please! This is my art and I'm sure your friend would actually really like to be surprised with the real card instead of a text message."

The offender usually puts away the phone and apologizes, but do they buy the card? No. Usually they don't because that wasn't their intention to begin with. This is something that has really bothered me a lot along with random people tagging their friends in my Instagram photos of my cards (ummm, no, I will delete your comment, you cheap jerkface with a face of a jerk!).

While preparing for Richmond, I decided that something needed to be done. I thought about signs that I could make or things that I could say to battle the issue, when I suddenly realized that I should just make a card, obviously! So make a card I did, and I placed it front and center of my display for all to see. Did anyone attempt the photo op this time? No. Was it completely related to the card that I made? That is up for debate. But either way, I was a happier card maker in the end.

And it is true. Wouldn't we all prefer a little surprise snail mail in our lives over a quick text message? Cards are more thoughtful and meaningful than the few seconds it takes to send a text.

Handmade Holiday in Richmond

I know I'm a few days late with this post, but I've been incredibly swamped trying to get orders out for the last day of shipping before Christmas. Now that I have, I'm taking a breather, remembering to eat lunch for once, and preparing to work on some design projects. However, nonetheless, I still wanted to give a big shout out to Richmond, Virginia and the Richmond Craft Mafia for their amazing hospitality, loads of laughs, and creative energy.

I spent this past Saturday at the Handmade Holiday show that the Richmond Craft Mafia puts on and it was easily the best show I've had to date. This was my audience for sure! I was so thankful to have people appreciate my work and LAUGH. I always have plenty of laughs at shows, but this one had quite a few less of those side eyed looks of disgust.  Aside from meeting many new people, I was also able to test out five new cards, four of which will be new for Valentine's Day. You can catch a sneak peek here.

These cards went over extremely well, so I can't wait to share them with you in the coming weeks. And last but not least, I was thrilled to get to meet my friend Ayla! We have gotten to know each other through our blogs and the handmade world, but had never met, and it was a real treat to be able to finally make that connection. She actually wrote a bit more about the Handmade Holiday (and took much better photos as I forgot my camera) on her blog.

As for now, I'm tying up some loose ends for the holidays, working on new designs, and breathing a sigh of relief that I'm done with my holiday shows and will (hopefully) have a little more down time for a few weeks.

Happy Holidays Giveaway

This past weekend, Andrew and I went to see The Book Thief in the theater in Harbor East. As we left the movie theater, we couldn't help but notice that people seemed a little more cheery, more willing to hold doors for others, and in general a bit happier across the board. We decided that it must have to do with the arrival of the holiday season. There is something about the holidays that just seems to make people slow down from their daily lives and really enjoy the here and now. And as we made our observations, we agreed that this sense of happiness is one of our favorite parts about the holiday season.

To spread that holiday cheer, I have teamed up with some fabulous handmade artists and friends for a fun Christmas themed giveaway.

The loot:

1. Felt ornament from My Hideaway 

2. Burlap Santa gift bag from Oh Nostalgia Designs 

3. Pencil set and 3 Christmas gift cards from Row House 14 

4. Your choice of woodcut ornament from Memories for Life 

5. 3" heart hoop/ornament from Milo and Molly 

6. Christmas keychain pouch from Eyelah

Simply enter through Rafflecopter- one winner takes all! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cyber Monday Sale!

Thank you all so much for your AMAZING support so far this holiday season! To be honest, I have been completely overwhelmed (in a good way) by the fantastic support I've had thus far in this self-employment journey of mine. For those of you that may have missed Friday and Saturday's sale, today's Cyber Monday deal is definitely one you don't want to miss. It's for one day only, so be sure to take full advantage of it! In addition, don't forget about the Instagram contest that is currently running. It is open until the end of the year, so be sure to enter! Again, happy shopping to you all!