Can't Stop Creating!

Here's my latest custom creation - made for my friend Karen's three-year-old daughter.  I chose the yarn to coordinate with this jacket, but also it can go with just about any coat this season.  I think she looks just darling in it!

Custom Crochet Chin-Tie Flower Hat with Pique Edge

in Wild Berry Acrylic Tweed



I finished a ruffled cowl in claret red merino wool blend with vintage buttons on Saturday while at my last craft show.  I'll be listing that for sale in my shop this week.  I'm working on a grey cloche in merino wool blend.  I'm also dreaming up a few new flowers to cut and stitch in the coming weeks.  I'm getting inspiration from the beautiful mums that are in bloom all around, as well as the last of the black-eyed Susans in my garden.  I love fall colors and creativity they spur!

Saturday, November 19 - Handstamped Card & Gift Tag Class 1:30-4pm at Zuzu Studio Gallery, 577 Haddon Avenue, Collingswood, NJ - I'll be teaching how to make three Christmas/Holiday cards and a set of four gift tags.  Cost is $25 per person or $20 per person when you register with a friend.  Contact Allison at Zuzu to register.

Saturday, December 3 - Holiday Craft Fair 9-3pm Eastern High School, Laurel Oak Road, Voorhees, NJ - this is a juried craft fair that crafters have to apply for and are chosen to be included.

Custom Orders
I love to create new items, but it's even more fun when I'm asked to create something special for someone - either for the person or as a gift.  If you're thinking about placing a custom order for something to give this Christmas or Holiday season, please contact me soon.  I have started a waiting list at this time because I've already received orders.  I've filled three custom orders in the past few weeks - two on Etsy and one for a friend.  If you're local, please email me and we can set up a time to design your custom item(s).  If you're not so close, then please visit me at WoodstreamDream and send a convo describing the item you'd like me to create for you.  I gladly give quotes and timelines. 

Thanks for stopping in to read and have a blessed day!

Goings On

Up Coming Local Events

Saturday, October 22 - Fall Craft Fair 9am-3pm at Resurrection Parish Hall (at The Church of the Holy Name site), 260 Conrow Road, Delran, NJ

Saturday, November 19 - Handstamped Card & Gift Tag Class 1:30-4pm at Zuzu Studio Gallery, 577 Haddon Avenue, Collingswood, NJ - I'll be teaching how to make three Christmas/Holiday cards and a set of four gift tags.  Cost is $25 per person or $20 per person when you register with a friend.  Contact Allison at Zuzu to register.

Saturday, December 3 - Holiday Craft Fair 9-3pm Eastern High School, Laurel Oak Road, Voorhees, NJ

Custom Orders
I love to create new items, but it's even more fun when I'm asked to create something special for someone - either for the person or as a gift.  If you're thinking about placing a custom order for something to give this Christmas or Holiday season, please contact me soon.  I have started a waiting list at this time because I've already received orders.  I've filled three custom orders in the past few weeks - two on Etsy and one for a friend.  If you're local, please email me and we can set up a time to design your custom item(s).  If you're not so close, then please visit me at WoodstreamDream and send a convo describing the item you'd like me to create for you.  I gladly give quotes and timelines. 

Custom Order on Etsy for Handstamped Cello Bags

-these are now available as a made-to-order item in my etsy shop-

Custom Crochet Chin Adjustable Strap Hat with Vintage Anchor Button

in Sunset Orange Bamboo Blend



Isn't he too delicious?  I created this hat for my friend Jennifer's son.  He's a growing boy, so I made the chin strap adjustable with three holes to button through as he grows this winter.  The chin strap is so nice for the little ones because it helps the hat stay put when they're wiggling in the car seat or stroller on those cold winter days!  The anchor button is from my vintage collection that I have from my grandparents' mending kit.  It will go so nicely with the jackets that she has for him - a brown corduroy jacket and a navy fleece peacoat with anchor buttons! 

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!

Balancing Act

It's getting to be that time of year - the time between my birthday (October 15) and Christmas when everything seems to get into a chaotic cycle and balance leaves the act.

My focus this year is to try to maintain some sense of balance.

In my readings this past week I came across this verse:

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)

I've read this before, but it called out to me last week.  I need this verse.  I'm in the process of looking through the frames around my home to find the perfect one to display this verse.  I think it needs to be in the kitchen or by the front door - or both!  All too often in the rush of everyday I can become upset over the littlest things.  Add holiday chaos and increased activity in our schedules and the whole situation can meltdown - over the simplest, non-important thing.  It's Mama Drama.  Proverbs 31 Ministries used the above scripture in yesterday's message - you can read it by clicking the link.  It was all about that Mama Drama and how to redirect our attention to the important things.

I am using this piece of scripture to help redirect my focus for the next several months.  Habits take time to form and time to break and time to form healthier habits.  I pray for overnight success, but I realize that it won't happen unless I put the time into changing how I respond to situational stress.

Being the wife to a wonderful, caring, providing husband is fantastic!  Being the mother of two young boys is the best job ever.  Being the owner of my own small business is fulfilling.  Being an active member in our church is rewarding.  Having a supportive group of Christian friends is such a blessing!  Belonging to a loving family is such a good thing!

There are so many wonderful things to be grateful for in this life!  There are lots of other things that end up on my plate of life that challenge the balance in life.  God has drawn my attention to this area that needs improvement and has given me a tool to use in my path toward a more peaceful and blanced life.  I hope that if you're reading this and need more balance in your life, that you can start to focus on the Lord's word and move toward that peace you seek!

Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!

Custom Sampling

I am in the midst of filling a custom order for a candy bar - how fun!  These are a sample of the bags I'm creating:

I thought I'd share a few other custom items I've created over the past few years for friends and family:

Christmas Card 2007

2nd Birthday Invitation

3rd Birthday Invitation

Thank You Note 3rd Birthday



Bridal Shower Invitation & Coordinating Thank You Note

3rd Birthday Invitation and Thank You Note

This is just a sampling of the items I've designed and created.  I hope you enjoy!


Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!

1 Year Anniversary of WoodstreamDream on Etsy!!!

Here it is - WoodstreamDream has been open for a year!!!

Happy shopping - remember to grab something special for yourself and think about Christmas and other holiday/birthdays you have coming up!

Coupon Code:  DREAMANNIVERSARY worth 30% off your in-stock purchase - not including shipping.  Coupon is valid October 5-15, 2011
http://www.woodstreamdream.etsy.com/

Also if you haven't already - please LIKE WoodstreamDream's Facebook Fanpage.  Currently at 76 Likes, once it hits 100 Likes a giveaway will be posted from my shop - both items currently listed and a few items I'm making specifically for the giveaway!  https://www.facebook.com/pages/WoodstreamDream/131330936956305
Thanks for checking in and have a blessed day!

Monday

Pumpkin Pie from October 2010

I love to have fun with my food!  We eat with our eyes first - it has to look good, then smell good - and of course taste good!!!  I'm very much in a baking mood since the weather has finally gotten a chill!

I want to appologize about the lack of response to comments.  For some reason blogspot keeps bumping me out when I go to respond in the comments section.  So I'm going to respond here:
Hello Thistle Bee!
Here's the recipe, it's from Bon Appetit September 2010. We used a blow torch used for plumbing because we couldn't find the fuel for my kitchen torch... of course it showed up a few weeks later!  Chocolate-Malt Cake Vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream is a must to cut the denisty of this delicious delight!
I agree - the hat matches his coat beautifully, but he's such a purist... much like my husband!
Have a lovely birthday!  Thanks for commenting!

On to business - Stop by a BNR/S (Buy and Replace/Stay - for Etsians) that I'm featured in this week:  Sunshine Farm Girls Co-op Team Fall Treasury - Win a Meal
Win a Restaurant.com Gift Card @ this Online Craft Show! Browse, shop, & play - action starts @ 2pmET!  There are coupon codes available for every shop featured!  Etsians who shop can buy in to the board.  Anyone who purchases can win.  There's a prize from my shop, too!  Prizes will be awarded at random hours today (October 3rd) and Thursday (October 6th).

Next, there's a give away @ Go Ahead and Snicker - just click and follow the directions.  The winner will be chosen on October 10th, so hurry up and enter!  I've donated a coupon code to the prize!

Last - but definitely not least, I want to let my blog readers know that on October 5th I will be activating a coupon code worth 30% off your total purchase in my shop.  Just visit here Wednesday morning after 9:30am ET for the coupon code and you can shop!  The coupon code will be active for 10 days only - October 5th to 15th.

I'm off to photograph a new hat that I designed and crochet this weekend - I am absolutely tickled by the outcome!  I also have a new felted pink cashmere flower to photograph.

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day!

Ohhhh...October!

I love October!  It probably has something to do with it being the month that I was born, so I automatically associate it with good stuff - like homemade cakes for every birthday that I can remember and gifts and celebrations.  The weather turns crisp, but not too cold just yet!  The colors of nature explode each day with a new layer of beauty.  There is so much to love about October!

Chocolate Malt Cake - October 2010

It was even better than it looks!
It took two days to make, but the effort was so worth it!!!

There are several of us with birthdays in October in my family... my brother's is the 8th (3 years and 51 weeks younger than me).  My mom's is the 11th, her mother's was the 12th.  My birthday is the 15th.  My father-in-law's is the 20th.  My mother-in-law's is the 26th as was my paternal grandfather's.  It was just a month of parties and fun.  Now we've all grown and had children of our own and family members have passed.  There's just a small group of us with birthdays who live close enough to celebrate together.  So many people shrug off birthdays as a reminder of getting older.  I embrace them - I look forward to aging because I feel like I gain more wisdom and appreciation and enjoyment as each year passes.  The time we're gifted with by God on this earth is to be celebrated.  As each year passes, I try not to focus on the number of candles [there would be if I let my husband put that many into the cake], but the number of lives I've touched and those who have influenced me over the past year.

October is the anniversary of starting WoodstreamDream.  I took a leap on October 5, 2010.  I feel that I have been given this creative gift from God.  I hope that I will eventually form a niche market for the handmade items that I create.  I am given great joy as I create these items for people unknown as well as for friends and family.

My newest item listed is a hat that I crochet with the intent of my 6.5 year old son wearing it this winter.  He wanted a green hat.  I thought I'd stretch the yarn that I had on hand by adding the orange stripes.  Well, he's a purist and was unhappy with the orange additions.  So I will buy more green yarn and this one is up for sale.  I had a great time taking his picture for the listing yesterday afternoon.  These are some of the photos that didn't make the cut.  I love his dimples, but he kept making goofy faces and sending fish kisses into the air.  We spent a lot of the time just laughing.  I ended up with a dozen new mosquito bites and some great memories!  The memories will definitely outlast these itchy welts!

Crochet Hat in Green with Orange Stripes in Bamboo Blend Yarn - Super Soft!  Sized 5-8 year old

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82753688/crochet-hat-in-green-with-orange-stripes

Thanks for reading and have a blessed weekend!