2011 family gift reveal

In addition to making part of my BBA Secret Santa gift this year, I also made several gifts for my family and purchased other handmade items for gifts.  Even when I'm not making all of the gifts myself, I still enjoy giving handmade gifts when I can.

I ordered several laser engraved wooden picture frames from Edi of memoriesforlifesb.  I got the idea to make a custom college frame for my little sister-in-law (who just started college this fall) a while back and then more recently decided to order a couple more frames, too.  I came up with the concept/wording for all of these, but Edi put everything together.  I knew that Edi was going to do an excellent job, but I was still wowed by how professional these are.  Thank you Edi!

As mentioned earlier this week, I ordered a bunch of tea from Tim of teaman.  I only took this picture of Karen's tea, but I ordered enough for four more people, too.

I traded with Yvonne of yjja123 way back in the summer for a couple of her pendants.  Yep, she was way ahead on her Christmas shopping!  I've traded with Yvonne the past couple years as well and have kept both of my pendants.  This year it was time to give them to others.  I put this first one on a simple chain for my little sister-in-law.

Whenever I think of colors that I want to use for my brother's girlfriend, my mind always goes to rainbow.  Do you remember my button necklace from last year?  I knew that I wanted to give her this second pendant and knew that I also wanted to make her a herringbone wrap bracelet/necklace.  It wasn't until I had my color palette ready that I decided they belonged together.  I included a chain with a jump ring on the end so she can wear the pendant or any of her other charms without the beaded rope.  You can check out a close up photo of this pendant from the transaction since I didn't take one myself.

I have been having fun with my new charms and pendants and wanted to include a couple more for her, too.  She's a singer so that the music note charm is pretty self-explanatory.  I could have easily left it at these two charms/pendants but I decided to make a Star Wars one, too, just for fun.  She's a huge Star Wars fan.  I knew that she'd get a kick out of this.  I also know that there is a huge amount of glare on that pendant.  My listing photos for these new charm sets will not look like that.  But you can get the idea here.

Remember my Chai mix from my final 2011 show?  I got some for my brother and his girlfriend, too.  Again, unfortunately this lovely business does not have a web site or I would share it with you.

I'm sure that it's not a surprise that one of my favorite gifts to get is crafting supplies.  I love to buy crafting supplies for other people, too.  I always enjoy picking out fabric for my mom.

Also on the supply end of my present giving, a lot of people were very intrigued about what was in the huge Amazon box that I received at the beginning of the month.  I ordered two cutting mats: one for me for my paper crafts and a new portable sized one for my mom for her quilting and other fabric projects.

Amazon carries Alvin brand mats, which are supposed to be some of the best on the market.

I used this post for Michelle's Delicately Constructed Friday 12/30/11.

trading for Christmas presents

Right before we moved to Milwaukee, Yvonne (yjja123) asked me if I'd be interested in trading with her.  Believe it or not, she's already thinking about her Christmas shopping!  I definitely did want to, but I also wanted to wait until we moved, so we just completed our trade this past week.

We have traded twice in the past.  Both times, I kept the pendants that I got.

Somewhere I have a picture of myself wearing the first pendant.  But it isn't saved on this computer or posted anywhere on Facebook, so it will stay in my archived picture CDs.  Anyway, this time I decided that I would give my pendants away.  I asked female family members if they had any favorites in her shop before I make my selections.  This is what I ended up getting.

The recipients of these lovely pieces may be reading this, but hopefully they will have forgotten all about it by the time Christmas comes around.  I wouldn't have picked either of these myself, but they are still really gorgeous.  Yvonne does wonderful work.  She's also great to work with for these trades.  I would trade with her again any time.

If anyone is curious, this what she got from me in the most recent trade.

I had never put these pieces side by side before I packed them up.  I couldn't believe how well the colors coordinate!

I don't trade a lot on Etsy, but I do enjoy it sometimes when someone has something that I really like or would give as a gift.  If you're ever interested, feel free to contact me.