fresh from the Makery: Britney Spears ornaments

The Makery is back!  And how fitting that I should choose to use up some mysteriously acquired Britney Spears stickers for my comeback project, no?

As often happens lately, I'm not 100% satisfied with the final product.  I think in order for these to work as ornaments, they should perhaps be round.  As is they look more like bookmarks, which was my original idea but later decided Christmas tree ornaments made way more sense.  Rounder and shinier.  But as is, in addition to stickers of Brit on the front and back, they include a hand-embroiderd heart outline around her face:

...and a red gemstone used to dot the "i":

The stickers I discovered during our recent cross-country move (the primary reason for the Makery's several months long hiatus).  I can't recall if I bought these myself or if they were some sort of gag gift (I remember Neal sent me the CD of her second album while I was participating in a work exchange program one summer in France...I swore it was a gag gift but secretly listened to that CD all summer), but either way they seemed fitting material to use for the Makery's comeback project.  Britney is making a comeback, right?

I have enough stickers to make ten of these and may continue tweaking them.  But for the time being, I'll be giving one away here, and the rest will be available for purchase in my other Etsy shop.  Need to add a little Britney to your Christmas tree? Leave me a comment on this post and I'll add your name to the drawing at the end of the week.

C'mon, you know you want to.

Mother's Cookies are back!

See what happens when I create a separate blog for the only thing I've been blogging about lately? But I've been thinking about blogging about all sorts of stuff.  If only I could blog directly from my brain, you know? Like on the way home from Target today, I could have blogged about the Mother's Cookies frosted circus animal cookies I was sampling right there in the car.  I'd heard rumors that Kellogg's had indeed resumed making the tasty little critters but had yet to spy them in any stores.  Despite a ridiculous sweet tooth, I guess I don't actually wander down the cookie aisle all that frequently.  But lo and behold, there they were.  You can read more about how learning about the company's demise last year led me first to make these cards for the Makery, which I shortly thereafter redesigned for sale in my Etsy shop, which I eventually tweaked a third time and that's the version I offer now.

I forget how I landed on this blog, but I like her comparison, especially the response of her 3 year old daughter (she happened to have a bag of the Halloween version, produced by the Oakland-based company before they went out of business...seeing the Halloween version, which was not, sadly, for sale at Target today, inspired these cards...okay, no more plugs, promise!). 

I agree that the new cookie seems crunchier, but otherwise I enjoyed them as much as I remember enjoying the old version.  On the one hand, I don't have a bag of the original cookies to compare.  On the other hand, maybe I'm just not as picky as Mary Cooks and her crew and/or maybe they weren't addicted to these cookies in the first place.  That said, I probably shouldn't plan on buying/eating this new version too often.  But I'm happy to have the option!

not another blog!

That's right, folks. I was hesitant to compartmentalize my life on the Internet even further by creating a separate blog and Twitter account for my Etsy endeavors for fear of having little to write about here but that's just what I've gone and done. Some of you may be relieved; for the rest, you can keep up on all the latest products added to the shop, design back-stories, real weddings and events, and special deals here and here. And maybe this will motivate me to resume the Makery and watch more television in an effort to have something to blog about. Oh yeah, and make art and stuff.

Just one last thing - I'm offering an early bird Labor Day weekend deal on Halloween items in my shop. 20% off this:

and this:

and a couple more items that I'll add today or tomorrow - the sale lasts now through Monday, September 7th. Halloween is just around the corner, folks! Check the blog or Twitter for product updates over the next few days.