Happy Halloween!

Well, this post will not actually have anything to do with Halloween, but it IS Halloween, so a happy one to all!  Yes, it has been awhile...I have only recently begun to get motivated to craft again after taking the summer off.  Life is busy, yadda yadda, you've heard it all before.  My Etsy shop has not seen a lot of action for quite awhile, but lately for some reason has picked up a bit- I actually had a few sales in the last month!  This is somewhat surprising, given that I have not listed anything new in quite a long time.  Recently, I sold this washi card:

Love this washi paper, in a nice cherry blossom pattern, in shades of peach.  Anyway, I was pleased to sell this card, and when I messaged the buyer with the information about when I would ship, etc. and thanked her for supporting handmade, she responded with a very nice note thanking me for my prompt response and wishing me continued success.  When she received the order in the mail, I got the NICEST message from her!  It really made my day: "I received your package. The card is lovely, and I appreciate the beautiful brown paper wrapping job you did. I also appreciate the 15% off coupon for the next order! I like the way you run your business, and I will certainly order from you again. Continued success!"  How awesome is that?!

Not long after that, I received a message from a repeat buyer, who was interested in a custom exploding box.  Very nice guy- I think this is the 4th order I've had from him now.  I love that!  The fact that someone would come back to my shop even twice means so much to me- that they like my work enough to buy again is such an honor.  Anyway, this customer liked one of the exploding boxes in my shop:

but he wanted it in different colors.  It was for his girlfriend's birthday, and she likes red and pink.  He asked if I could do something with that.  Well...I love a challenge!

My first thought about red and pink was...Roses!  I had some lovely rose-patterned paper to start with, and that was my jumping-off point. I had in mind to do a rose bouquet in the center, similar to the daisy one I did awhile back.  Remember this?

I loved the compact daisy bouquet in this box, and had a mind to do something similar with roses.  Well, here it is:

The roses are a bit harder to do, because they are smaller and more compact, therefore they don't form a nice cohesive bouquet like the daisies.  I did a mixture of red and pink roses here, courtesy of my Sizzix rose die, which I love!  I lost count of how many I put in this centerpiece.  I didn't really care- I just wanted it to look full enough.  Here are some more shots:

The rose on the lid was made with a Spellbinder die, and I really love how the petals are irregular, more like a real rose.  It is easy to make a large rose by cutting out two from the die, rolling one, and then cutting sections of the other one and gluing on the outside to make it more full.  The leaves are punched from the MS rose leaf punch, which has to be the most used punch I own.

I loved this project, because it challenged me. The colors I was asked to use are not colors that I would usually choose to use on my own, but I really love the result, so I feel like I was pushed to do something beyond my usual box, pardon the pun.  I am really hoping that my customer will love this, as well as his lucky girlfriend who will be the recipient for her birthday

I am doing two holiday sales this year- the one at the church that I did last year, and our local Salem Etsy Team sale, both in December.  I am helping to organize our SET sale, and am hoping it will be the best one yet!  It is on December 14th, and although we have lots of time, it will be here before we know it, so I'm trying to get lots of things done early so we are prepared.  I'll be working on some new holiday items in the very near future, which means that hopefully I will have new things to share soon!