Website Milestone!

Since its launch in September, my website, sweetstelladesigns.com, has had 900 unique visitors and 1056 visits!!
Big thanks to tinycanary.com, the site where most of my referrals come from. And another big thanks to I Love Treefort, who designed my site.
This "milestone" is so exciting, especially since I just assume that no one is paying attention to my adventures on the inter-web. (haha, inter-web.)

Thanks to Google, if you type in "Sweet Stella" my site and my Etsy page comes up first!! I have triumphed over the sweet-stella.net...the porn site! (Notice how I did not make that last web address a link.)

Remember that the holiday gifting season is upon us. Chanukkah is next week and Christmas is...well...the 25th, just like it always is.

Have you taken the Handmade Pledge yet? If not, go to http://www.buyhandmade.org/ and add your name to the petition.











Since we're buying handmade, now would be a great time to mention that I have many excellent, unique gift ideas available at the Sweet Stella Designs Etsy shop, like this adorable Carrot Cake Gift Set.

Love to shop, or know someone who does? How about this cool Credit Card Necklace!

Or the smaller, pinker version!

Have something special in mind, but don't see it in my Etsy shop? Just send me a quick note and let me know what you're looking for; I love custom orders!
Happy buying (handmade)!

This Weekend...

...you're going to this event at the North Market:

I won't be a vendor, but you will be able to find some Sweet Stella Designs loot (like the apple core necklaces below) at the Wholly Craft booth! Look for many members of the Columbus Crafty Cotillion selling their handmade goodies. This event should be a blast, and after you're finished with that, head a few blocks north to the Short North Holiday Hop.

I've Got Cattitude

Stella enjoyed her Thanksgiving as well! Her favorite part was the sunny patch and her "Thanksgiving feast" of Aristocat's wet cat food.

Thanksgiving Morning

My moment of solitude. I woke up at 9 am (which is very late compared to the time I usually get up) and made myself some cinnamon oatmeal, cooked apples with cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla, and a cup of tea with a cinnamon stick. Mmmm...cinnamon-licious. Then, I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and had a fabulous leisurely morning.

I bought some flowers to take to my parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner. They were the perfect combo of "fall colors".

It's Cold Out...

...and I am in love with these adorable scarflettes by Beaky. At just $18, they are a great value and a fun way to keep yourself warm in style. I am just having a hard time deciding which one I want!

Holiday Cards!

I ordered these so I can have a stash for my non-Jewish friends!

These are from Cricket Press:

These are from Fisk & Fern:

Now to go hunting for some visually yummy, non-cheesy Chanukah cards. Hmmm...

Excellent Sunday!

I could hardly sleep last night, I was so excited for Tiny Canary! I've never really been involved with a craft show that was slated to attract so many people, so I really had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that I was all ready to represent my designs and share my fun, colorful collection with holiday shoppers!

Aline and Anne, our awesome Tiny Canary organizers, were so amazing! Not only did they work their butts off to promote this event all over Columbus, but they were so sweet in providing the vendors with a yummy breakfast spread and giving us a very cute little book about crafting & business!

Here are some shots of my Sweet Stella Designs booth:

Here's Megan from Moogan Creations peeking out from her sea of plush! She also had totes and 2-D artworks for sale. I wanted to get a closer look at some of her lovable new characters, but I hardly had any time to escape from my booth. It was so busy!

AmyD and Olivia goofing around after our extensive conversation about boogers.

I got to sit next to Patrice and watch her make all kinds of funky jewelry throughout the day. My favorite part was exploring her recycled bead box. Mmm..vintage lucite flowers! Patrice was wearing a beautiful necklace with a reclaimed metal dogwood flower from an old candelabra. One customer loved it so much she bought it right off her neck!

At the end of my successful selling day, I raced around buying myself a few lovelies:
* Lip Balm from Disquieting Designs (I forgot my lip gloss and desperately needed some; I was very impressed with the quality and the subtle lemon/lime flavor)
* Little painting by OrangeWillow: it reminds me of San Francisco and will fit in nicely with my wall of original artworks, hung gallery-style.
* Hair band by Gazzu: too adorable! I need more of these!
* Porcelain squirrel pendant by Lusterbunny: I have been coveting one of these for so long.

And now, how I feel can only be summed up in one photo:

Holiday Sampler!

Yes, it's almost that special time again... Sampler time (December/January Holiday Sampler)! For this round, I decided to make 50 samples of colorful, iridescent glass bauble rings and hairpins. They are so bright and colorful and will add some whimsy to any holiday party outfit.

Be on the lookout for these goodies in the Holiday Sampler, which will most likely go on sale in late November at www.homeofthesampler.com.

Busy.

My favorite person in the world moved to San Francisco on Monday. We cooked some yummy dinner on Sunday night (amazing garlic pan-fried asparagus!!) and just enjoyed each other's company.

It's a good thing I am ridiculously busy, or else I would just mope around all day.
Upcoming projects include:
1) Finishing work for Tiny Canary *indie design market* and getting last-minute supplies for my table.
Here is a preview of some of the new goodies that will be for sale at the Sweet Stella Designs table at Tiny Canary (On Sunday, November 18th only!).



2) Labeling my December/January contributions for The Sampler and mailing those out
3) Working on my thesis
4) Helping with centerpieces for my school's Scholarship Dinner
5) Keeping up with my Etsy site

Here's a project that I am very excited about:
I will be collaborating with Lori of Midsummer Muse to make some adorable gift sets for the holidays. Pictured is the first set: Golden Autumn perfume oil and vintage Lucite and Swarovski crystal earrings.
We will be debuting the gift sets this Sunday at Tiny Canary in Columbus, Ohio!