Wrapping it up for the year....

There won't be as many to choose from this year but,
I just listed a few art journal covers...
and checkbook covers.
I really like the covers...but since it takes so long to do just one...
I opted to stop with what I've completed this far.

I'm feeling just a little overwhelmed already
so I decided to slow things down a bit...
and maybe just concentrate on creating gift items for Christmas instead.
There's not as much pressure to do those...unless I put it off until the
very last minute.

I've got a few ideas...especially since getting my new sewing machine...
and I haven't really gotten into the Christmas "spirit" the past few years..
because I've been too busy to really appreciate the season.

Thinking Christmas....

I'm thinking Christmas...purposefully so!

Jaime and I were talking a while back...she's my one child

who is ALWAYS soooo excited about Christmas way before any of the others.

This year...she got off to a bit of a shaky start.

I think it comes with having an online business that requires so

much work during the Holiday Season.

Even when one is completely caught up on shipping,

packages tend to get 'lost' somewhere in the deep Abyss of the USPS.

She had one International package that was returned twice...

(the buyer did not pick up the package either time)...

for some reason she had to pay $24.00 Customs Fee on it the last time

it was returned...

and still the buyer wanted it re-shipped (on Jaime)...

all this in the middle of the normally hectic Christmas Season work.

She also discovered...by a very compassionate postal worker...that her

post office was holding a batch of International packages

because she hadn't put the words...'from'  and 'to'  on them.

This after they had accepted them and received postage fees.

That's still being investigated.

So...you see...with all this 'drama'  it becomes very necessary

to make myself  'think' Christmas. 

I have to find that 'spirit' that lights the joy within...

so that I don't risk turning into some kind of 

'Grinch'.

Taking An Internet Break

I've been soooo busy with my Etsy Shop

holding 'Sales',

packing, shipping...

just trying to stay 'afloat'...

that I've totally neglected the Season...and the meaning

behind it.

Sooo....I'm taking an Internet break...for at least a week

maybe even until after Christmas.

I'll monitor my shop and emails a couple times every day...

but  since I tend to spend way too much time everyday on my computer

it leaves so little time for anything else.

Forget doing any decorating..baking...or gift making/shopping.

So, I need to pry myself away from my computer long enough

to do everything that needs to be done to have

a joyful Holiday Season.

 

I've run into similar problems the past few years...then...

before you know it, it's a day or two before Christmas and I'm scrambling around

trying to throw up some decorations...

doing my Shopping at the last minute...

baking a few goodies...

and it's not really that much fun or joyous.

So...I'm scheduling some blog posts...

some Etsy listings...

and taking a step back...

so that I don't run into the same last minute scramble.

This year I really do want to enjoy the Season.

It's a bit too easy to get a little too caught up with my online business...

and I want to take some time to reflect on how

I can spend more time with myself and my family

in the coming year...

I don't want my business to become so grueling that

I grow not to like it so much!

Real Egg Ornaments

I have the first of the eggs to be listed in my

Etsy Shop.

The top picture is one of my 'Hummingbird' Eggs...

over the years it was always one of those ornaments that sold

immediately.

The second picture...is one a little more 'close to my heart'

as it is an 'Abstract Nativity' painted by my husband.

This was his own design and one of his

most popular ornaments.

This egg was painted in 2004...initialed and dated by him...

but was never coated as we didn't usually coat the eggs until we

had 24 of them ready to 'pour'.

(It was a rather messy undertaking...so we always waited until

we had enough eggs before dragging out everything we needed to do the pour.)

The third and fourth eggs...

Candles and Black Holly

were also painted by him, and are pictured

to show what the eggs look like with a heavy coating of resin.

The ornaments are actually quite durable...about the same

as a glass ball ornament...in spite of the fact that they are

real eggs.

We began painting the eggs in 1993, while living in Wyoming.

My sister had some geese eggs that she didn't want

to throw away.

For some reason, my husband thought they'd look

good painted up and tried to talk me into painting them.

I put it off...so he painted them.

One thing led to another and he messed with them until

he came up with the idea to coat them with resin.

Then we bounced them off the floor...to test their durability...

some broke and some didn't.

For the most part...we were satisfied and took them to a local

craft show...and sold out!

Every year after...from '93 to '03 we did the shows...

in Wyoming and then in Nebraska...

folks came to the shows to see what new egg designs we

had, so they could add to their collections.

I don't even want to think about how many special orders we did

over the years....including a standing order for 100 eggs every year

for one collector.

It seemed like we never had enough eggs to get through a 

Season so we started early in 2004, to get a head

start on the Season...

but we ended up not doing the shows that season...

and then he got sick in 2005.

So....I have a few eggs left that were never finished...

except for the painting...

that I'm listing.

And a batch of new ornaments in various stages

of completion

that I will be listing over the next week or so.

Most will be uncoated...leaving the option of

personalizing them...until around the 10th of December.

Then I'll have to offer only those ornaments that are

ready to ship out...because of shipping times during

the Holiday Season.

Anyway...that is the 'story of the eggs'.

I wasn't going to do anymore of them...since it was something

my husband and I did together...

but I have several dozen eggs that he'd already prepared

for painting...

and it seemed such a shame to let those just go to waste.

Nothing but the Best....

'Can U Fix It?'

by

Mike Best

'Dream Come True'

by

Jaime Zatloukal Best

I do the shows with my youngest daughter, Jaime...and her husband Mike.

Here is a sampling of their art...

They've got an Etsy Shop...

'Best Art Studios 2'

and they recently did an interview

with the

'Handmade Gift Guru'.

Jaime gives me far too much credit for

the (1) art lesson I gave her a few years ago...

she is pretty much

completely self taught..

and

not to be 'bragging'..

I think she has taught herself

quite well.

You can read the interview

here.

I think it's Time!

It's getting to be that time of year

when I look through the listings in my

shop

and decide which pieces I want to 'retire'....

I still haven't done that...but I'll be doing it soon!

It's also that time that I MUST think about

the upcoming Holidays...

it's important for the upcoming shows...as well as my online shops...

so

in the coming weeks

I plan to have some brand new 'stuff'...

especially for the Holidays.