We're Still Here, We Promise!

It's just been, well... December.  I'm impressed with how many bloggers have been able to post so regularly during such a hectic month.  I've taken to a more reflective process and have been busy making gifts.  Hannah, her husband, and her son have been passing around every flu bug known to mankind and she has still found time to make several custom orders this month!

But I thought I would show you a little bit of what we've been busy making- mostly stuff that won't give away any Christmas surprises like tags and wrapping.  We'll show you more after there is no chance of spoiling any surprises. 

It's going to be a very homemade Christmas this year:

I found so much wrapping inspiration on the web this year- love the yarn!

I dyed a bunch of coffee filters, cut them into snowflakes, and added them as an embellishment.

Here, I carved a stamp and used red ink and silver paint pen to spruce up a plain brown gift bag.

On this one, I just used an eraser tip and some white paint to stamp on polka-dots.

I also used an exacto knife to cut out a triangle shape from an eraser to make mini-bunting stamps.

I used all sorts of scrap paper, card stock, stamps, and my sewing machine to make my tags.

Hannah made her son, Jack, a crayon roll- so cute!

Don't worry, he's only 2, so he won't be reading this blog tonight;)

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  Don't forget to look for our new website coming soon, in the new year.

New Items in Shop and "About Us"

After a somewhat stressful week of photo-editing and mini-meltdowns, new items are now in our shop.  Some of these items have made an appearance on the blog before, and some may be brand new to you.  Also, there are three that I couldn't upload pictures for because, well, I'm really not sure why, but Hannah is going to get those three up and running in the next few days.  So check now, and check back in a few days if you like.

 There's a pretty big gift giving holiday coming up if you haven't noticed; we're running a FREE SHIPPING special through the end of December for all those who may need some last minute gift ideas. 

Also, we had a close, long-time friend and very talented gal write our About Us page.  Check that out, too, if you want to know more about FlyChicks and the girls behind it!  She put that together as part of the Press Kit we will be sending out in the new year.

We're also working with an extremely talented web-designer who is crafting up a brand spankin' new website for us.  We're really excited for the launch of that (look for it at the beginning of the next year) and can't wait to become a real business.  Hannah has been busy catching up on custom orders and designing new laptop covers.  I don't know how we're ever going to focus; there are always so many great ideas running around in our heads!

Hope your Holiday season is going well! 

Winter Projects

While Hannah's been busy making some pretty great winter clutches (she almost can't keep up with the orders!)...

... I've picked up my knitting again and am working on a couple of different projects:

hmmm- this one is black- any guesses on who this might be for???

(Oh yeah, and I used the self-timer thingy on my camera for the first time!)

What sort of winter projects are you guys working on?

Thanks!

I totally forgot that I had promised some Thanksgiving pics of all the decorations I made (okay, so I didn't really make a lot, but I'm pretty proud of the ones I did make)!  It was a great day and felt wonderful to celebrate amongst family:

The beautiful table (my momma brought dishes, napkins, and some other table decorations, too)

I made the place cards from printable tags that I printed onto adhesive paper and stuck onto folded cardstock.

We placed the tree in a few different areas before dinner so that people could just jot down things they were thankful for as they passed by.  I supplied pens, pencils, and paint pens for those who wanted to get real fancy!  I wrapped twine around an old container I had and used some Mod Podge to seal it.  I brought everything over in a little basket and used pine cones I found in my neighborhood to fill in the blank spaces and also to use as decoration for the final centerpiece.

another view of the tree

For those of you that know our momma, you know this is one of her tags!

 

We put the tree as the centerpiece right before dinner; it was really funny because we decided to read, out loud, the different "tags" randomly during the dinner conversation.

This is the banner/garland I made using more printables, cardstock, mod podge, and twine.

My mom and my son:)  Yes, she is wearing a moose hat- she's got a thing for crazy hats.

just a little watercolor thing I made

yet another printable- just punched some holes in it and strung it with twine

I loved this little printable when I came across it online; there's a lot of variations out there on the "Keep Calm and Carry On" and I really thought this one was cute.

I couldn't have done it without all of the printables I got online.  If you are interested in where to get them, see this post.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are enjoying the season!

Rock N Roll Craft Show, Reviewed

If you are local, I hope you made it to last weekend's Rock N Roll Craft Show at the Third Degree Glass Factory in St. Louis.  Oh my goodness- there was so much great local talent- I was floored.  It was a show to remember and I can't wait to go again next year; I just hope Hannah and I can get it together in time for FlyChicks to be represented!

Hannah is moving this month and was busy the day we went, so I, along with my mom, her husband, and my son Quentin (who guest posted here!) piled in the car and drove less than a mile (I guess we could have walked, but I'm still recovering from surgery) to the show.  First of all, the building is amazeballs and if you all have a chance to go, the third Friday of the month is a sort of Open House and you can see all the cool people blowing glass!

The sun was inTENSE on Saturday, so please forgive some of the pics I took.  But here are just some of the great finds you can come to expect at a fun, alternative event like this one:

(disclaimer: I didn't intend on doing a review, just happened to have my camera; I didn't get the names of each vendor, so please go to the RRCS website for more info OR if you know the names of the talented crafters and want them mentioned here, please email me and I will put the info up asap.  I tried to link to either their etsy sites or their blogs.  Thanks!)

My son loved these kitschy little necklaces!

The Red Anvil

I loved the display- especially how the prices were marked on playing cards and other repurposed cards.

These plush guys were amusing, offbeat, and just plain cool.

Cranky David 

various artwork by

Hosey and Pod, Sarah Wyman, Anchovy, and more

Um... I LOVE.

Hosey and Pod

there were tons of little notebooks all around the place

mostly from All Along Press

(my new step-cousin, Serena Perrone, just did an artist in residency here in September; she is a fantastic printmaker!  If interested, go to her blog, Print Me Pull You, for some serious inspiration)

Quentin and I loved these handmade journals!  He's like his momma when it comes to journals, sketchbooks, school/office supplies- you can never have too many.

Janice Wallace

photo album or large, square, blank sketchbook made out of an old record album- genius!

These journals were probably my favorite- made from vintage hardback books, with blank pages inside for jotting down notes, sketches, ideas- oooo, I covet!

The Fancy Lamb

cute bibs for babies...

and crayon rolls for the older kids!

Owlette Collective

(the crayon rolls remind me of our blog friend, Sam, who makes crayon aprons- so cute!)

Quentin and I took a load off for a few minutes to watch this guy work on a glass blowing project- didn't get his name, he was workin' hard.

We also strolled around the glass blowing studio area and took a look at some of the artisans' products that were also for sale.

Quent and I got a big kick out of this "flattened" bottle!

Beautiful vase- enchanting design!

The colors in these pillows really caught my eye; they'd be great on my couch.

Bruk Longbottom

Thought these were fun!

Wonderful Handmade

Duct tape clutch

Eleven Peacocks

Clutches- I love the one with the doily.

Fancy Lamb

Little coin purses/wallets

Tyrone's Toys

I really dig the tweed and the braided leather- perfect fall/winter purse!

Daughter Designs

All sorts of fun stuff here!

Katatomic Labs, Thrift Store Junkie, Ebba Handmade, Tyrone's Toys

Those green, turquoise and blue felt brooches remind me of another blog friend of ours, Katie of Blue Eyed Freckle.

Felted bracelets

Hypercraftive

Glass blown ornaments by artisans at the Third Degree Glass Factory

Loved this display with the knobs on the frame!

Lala Lori

I also really liked the display of The Foundrie's jewelry.

Sweet roll-up tote

Squaresville

Screen printed apron

Ebba Handmade

I pretty much love this...

Par-tees

and these- anything with elephants, really.

If anyone knows who made the plethora of plaque mounted animal heads that were everywhere, please inform me- I got such a kick out of all of them!

And, there you have it- I hope a lot of you can make it to next year's show.  It will be in its eighth season by then.  I didn't even mention the wonderful line-up of live music, the coffee, wine, and beer that accompanied this fabulous craft show!  So, now I have.  Go. Eat. Drink. Listen. Buy handmade. Support your local craft community.  My mom and her husband actually got a lot of their Holiday shopping done- yea!