Monday, January 28, 2013

My Postal Worker Doubles As A Snowy White Owl

I finished up some more Harry Potter Gryffindor quilts!

This one is 34" x 44"...


.... this one is 28" x 35"... 


... and this one is also 34" x 44".


A lovely customer already bought one that is not pictured;
now, how did I get that wrapped up and sent?

Well, when I was first joined Etsy, I bought this funky little pin
from the seller foundthings.



When the pin came in the mail, the lovely Emmy T. had wrapped it in cool tissue paper,
and used a handmade envelope from a recycled map.

It wasn't just like getting an impersonal item in the mail,
it was like getting a present!


So when I started selling through Etsy, I also decided to make getting an item
from BadBabyQuilts feel like a special gift.

The bulk of the items I sell from my shop are fabric tissue holders...


... which are small enough to send in an envelope with a first class stamp.

Scott over at BucketOBolts tipped me off that Hallmark
has scads of colorful leftover envelopes that they sell dirt cheap.
Every few months I swing by and refill my stash.

For the envelopes, I commissioned a special sticker
from the delightful Russ at WaddlinOnion...


 ... because I wanted the recipients to open their mailboxes and be all, 
"Cool! My Etsy goody is here!"

Over the years, I've also received little nifty gifties with my Etsy items.
So I decided to slip a few stickers in with the tissue holders;
I also got these from WaddlinOnion 's shop.


When I first was selling my tissue holders, I would either wrap them in tissue paper
or put them in a little Ziploc bag.
I soon realized that Target, Joann Fabrics, and Michaels
often had inexpensive cello treat bags
that are just the right size for the tissue holders.
I stock up on them; sometimes they're even cheaper post-holidays.


But what about larger items, like my quilts and banners?
Well, I found something handy at Home Depot: masking paper!
This stuff is dirt cheap; at Lowe's, it's only $4.00 for 60 yards!
I just tie it with some pretty sale yarn or some vintage bias tape I bought off of Etsy.

But back to my Harry Potter quilts.

I wanted to wrap them especially nice,
so when my customer bought a baby quilt, I downloaded an "owl post" image...


... and made a cool sticker to put on the package.

I used the masking paper, some brown bias tape, and...

Accio, mail carrier!



As an extra little gift, I included a Gryffindor tissue holder,
which I placed in a super-cute owl cello bag I found on sale at Cost Plus.

How perfect is this?

I think even Dudley would approve.






Saturday, January 19, 2013

Cupcake Countdown!

'Member when you were a kid,
and waiting for Christmas took for-ev-er?


So a teacher or parent would help you make an advent chain, 
to help you count down the days?


Well, those chains aren't just for antsy kids!

I'm about a third into thirty-five days of medical treatment,
that while it isn't the least bit painful, unpleasant, or even time-consuming,

IT IS...

about seven weeks' worth of five-day-a-week doctor visits.


So I figured I'd do my own chain!


I just borrowed some nice paper from the crafty Sweet Man,
and made a link for every visit.

It was daunting to see how many links I needed to make it,
but it's been shortening up pretty quickly.

I told myself when I clipped off a brown one,
I'd do something nice for myself:
buy a cupcake, or a new book, or a cup of chai latte.


When I get to that last link?

It will be a par-tay!


Or at least an extra cupcake.
















Thursday, January 3, 2013

I Would Walk... er...Drive 500 Miles!

Happy 2013!!!

How did I finish off the old year?

I experienced a strange white substance...


... and listened to a couple hours worth of  the filthy and funny ravings of this guy:

(Patton Oswalt, you made a crazy-long car trip bearable.)

I saw DEAD BODIES that were hundreds of years old...


.... courtesy of this museum exhibition:


 and my ticket-procuring sister-in-law for making a long-held dream a reality!)

I received a potentially LETHAL gift...


... but safely neutralized it:


(A mirror will keep a Weeping Angel immobilized, doncha know.)

Along with Pompeii, I thought I had a sighting of another one of my obsessions:
a trio of SISTER WIVES!


But based on their hair, head coverings, and accompanying adults,
I soon figured out they were only modestly dressed Mennonite siblings.


(No, these aren't the actual sisters.  
Although The Girl and I were so thrilled at the prospect of a polygamy sighting
that we were practically vibrating with excitement,
I managed to stop myself from snapping a photo of three complete strangers
when The Girl hissed, "Be cool, Mom!  Be cool!")

I did all this by logging an ungodly amount of car miles travelling from 
California to Colorado and back again...


...and now would like nothing better than sitting for an hour or six in a Jacuzzi,
with a jet aimed at my travel-weary booty.


How about the rest of you?

How did YOU ring out 2012?