Whew!

It's been a busy couple of weeks, getting all the final holiday preparations done, and then, of course, getting through the holidays. I had a lovely time, despite the craziness. I did finally finish my shopping, wrapping and everything else - though just barely in time. I was thrilled to do a great deal of my shopping with some of the fabulous indie businesses I network with, so I didn't end up at the mall quite as often as in past years, which is a great relief. I also made some gifts myself (um, crazy, I know, given how little time I had).. I love to give handmade gifts, and my friends and family really appreciate it. Many of the gifts I made were a preview of some new products I'll be launching in the new year. (Sorry, not ready to show the world, just yet.)


I spent the holidays at my brother's house. My aunt Linda and uncle Pete hosted our Christmas Eve celebration. The whole family was there, and we celebrated with great food, a little wine and our traditional Secret Santa. (And to my Secret Santa, if you're reading, thank you very much. I love my gift, but I wish you'd reveal yourself to me!) Christmas dinner was at my brother and sister-in-law's house. We ate, drank and were very merry, all day long. Our dinner was wonderful (John and Dawn are great cooks) and we had a fun and relaxing day together.

Now I'm taking some time to relax a bit, and working on getting myself organized, in my studio, and beyond.

Hope you are enjoying the holidays, and wishing you a Happy New Year!

Speaking of deer....

Thought you'd enjoy a peek at a custom Christmas card I designed for my best friend. She has a sweet little lab, Bailey, and we dressed her up in "antlers" - like the Grinch's pup - tied on with a red ribbon.


Today I'm finally finishing up my cards, so I can get them in the mail before the holiday.... I can't believe it's just over a week away.


I'm also planning to put up my tree - it's the perfect day for it, since there's a nor'easter keeping me inside today. I love having snow in December - it's so much easier to get into the holiday spirit!


I still have some Christmas shopping to do, and am anxiously waiting for a few packages that I ordered from some fabulous indie businesses to arrive. Unfortunately, I think I'll have to make one trip to the mall this coming week, but up until now, I've managed to avoid it. And then there's wrapping, and cooking, and - YIKES - I've got a lot to do, better get back at it and away from the computer!

Swapping....

Earlier this week I finished my ornaments for the holiday ornament swap... of course, I had to use my fav penguin block - because, well, everyone loves penguins! I hand printed them on mini artist canvas, and added twill tape for hanging. They've been wrapped and boxed and are on their way to the rest of my swap group.

I've received two lovely ornaments already, and am looking forward to the rest of the goodies from my fellow swappers. I'll post a pic for you when they're all here and on the tree.

In the mean time, you can check out the holiday ornament swap flickr group and see all the wonderful ornaments. I'm in such awe of all the creativity!

Oh, deer!

Whew! 250 reindeer postcards completed and shipped. I'm finally (pretty much) caught up, and can now get started on my own Christmas cards...

Thankful...

I'm off to spend my favorite holiday with my family in Connecticut. We have Thanksgiving dinner at my cousin Patty's house every year with most of the gang - it's a wonderful day full of tradition, not to mention fabulous Thanksgiving foods. One of my family's Thanksgiving traditions is picking our Secret Santa names. We've been doing Secret Santa with all the cousins, aunts, uncles for about 20 years now, and it's always a great time! I love the excitement of opening the envelope with the name of my giftee, and then starting to plan the perfect gift.

On Friday, we have the (now) traditional second Thanksgiving at my brother John's house, usually featuring 2 turkeys (1 roasted, 1 deep fried) and all the trimmings, and my sister-in-law Dawn's homemade ice cream with the pie for dessert. We usually see my sister-in-law's family on Friday, as well as some friends, and a few cousins or aunts and uncles - who can resist a repeat of a perfect dinner!

And then there's the leftovers.....

I'm so thankful for these lovely traditions and for my family and friends...and this year there is an extra little something to be thankful for - my cousin Kristen and her husband Craig have a new baby girl, Lily Katherine (welcome sweet baby girl!).

Hope you all have as wonderful a holiday as I know I will!

Indie Fixx Shop!

Blogger extraordinaire and indie shopping guru Jen Wallace of Indie Fixx fame has recently opened a new online shop, featuring wonderful products from indie designers. You'll find fab jewelry, bags, artwork, b&b goodies, oh, and some lovely journals from me!

Holiday Ornament Swap!

I'm very excited to be participating in a holiday ornament swap, organized by Nicole of Freshly Blended and Kathleen of Cake and Pie. This is their second annual swap (I missed the first one) and they have over 600 participants worldwide! Today I received my swap group (there are 10 to a group) and had a lovely time checking out the blogs and websites of the talented peeps I'll be swapping with. Now to decide what I'm going to make (I have a few ideas...) and to anxiously wait for goodies to arrive from the others in my group!

More holiday goodness!

Yesterday I went Christmas shopping with my best friend at a huge outlet mall that's about an hour away from me.... I bought a couple of gifts, really enjoyed spending the time with Michelle, but all in all wasn't entirely satisfied with the choices. Today my feet are tired and I'm contemplating my shopping list, and a better way to shop.

Fabulous blogger Heather at Creature Comforts has assembled a wonderful holiday gift guide, full of goodies to please everyone on your list. So many of my favorite independent designers and boutiques are featured in the guide - I'm really enjoying browsing all the lovely items and choosing just the right gifts for my family and friends. Oh, and you'll find Artful Sentiments in the guide, too. Hope you enjoy discovering all the wonderful featured sites, and remember, buy handmade!

Artful Sentiments is moving to a new host... so if things look a bit wonky for the next few days, that is why! Please stop by again later in the week, and everything should be back to normal.

I took the pledge!

Will you?

Happy Shopping!

It's that time of year... time to start thinking about holiday shopping. Over the last couple of years, I've been shopping more and more at all of the wonderful small businesses out there - they have so much to offer, and it's not the same old stuff you find in the mall.

To shopping easier, some of the fabulous indie bloggers are providing gift guides to help us on our quest for the perfect gift. Modish is one of the first to come out - you can see great gift ideas from Artful Sentiments and many other indie businesses in the Modish Holiday Gift Guide. Happy Shopping!

Keep Calm

The Mantra. You can only imagine how excited I was when Victoria (sfgirlbybay) posted about the new color she was having printed for the Keep Calm and Carry On posters - chartreuse! Of course I immediately ordered one to put in my workspace. It arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I finally got it to the frame shop yesterday - can't wait to get it back and hang it.

These posters are reproductions of a British WWII poster, and they're popping up all over the Internet - you can find whole shops with Keep Calm merchandise. I guess lots of us need that little reminder - I know I do, especially through the crazy holiday season!

Lovely day

Yesterday I had a lovely day with my family at my cousin Kristen's baby shower. We haven't had a new baby to celebrate in our family in a few years, so we're all very excited! My aunt and Kristen's best friend (our hostesses for the day) threw a beautiful party complete with a delicious fall lunch and yummy cupcakes, and I was honored to make the invitations and favors.

Now we're all looking forward to the arrival of Kristen and Craig's little one!

New in the shop....

... the 2008 calendar! A customer favorite, this annual calendar is available with either a magnetic or desk frame, and features 12 delightful designs chosen to reflect the seasons.

Busy bee....

It's been a busy week - I'm getting ready for the upcoming Boston Gift Show, and it's the start of the holiday season as well. I'm shipping holiday cards galore to my lovely retailers!

The fall Boston Gift Show runs from September 15 - 18, and I'll be in the Handmade section again, booth 1309. At last fall's show, I was caught by surprise that there was such demand for coastal products - I wasn't really showing many since I had expected all the shops to be stocking up for the holidays. Fortunately I was able to adapt some of my standard coastal designs for the holiday season, and they've been a hit! I'll be showing those for sure this year, along with some new additions! (Stay tuned, you'll see them in the shop, too.)

I'm looking forward to seeing all the fabulous retailers from New England and beyond. Please stop by if you plan to be there! (Note that this show is open to the trade only.)

Birthday Boy! What can I say?

I'm a very visual person, and because of that, most of my cards are blank. In one respect, this is good - they can easily be used for multiple occasions. In another respect, this is not so good - so many people are intimidated by blank cards because they don't know what to write inside.

This is my first post of a series - I will offer you a little help in that department, by pairing some of my card designs with an example of what message would make them perfect for that special occasion. In honor of my brother's birthday, which is in just a couple of days, I'm going to start with some guy birthday card ideas!

I sell this card with the message printed inside. The concept was inspired by my clever friend Brian. What sporting guy isn't going to appreciate the bowling ball and pins? And inside: Another Birthday Strikes!

Who doesn't remember those summer days during childhood, when the dandelions went to seed and we made wishes on them? (Oh, yeah, we also spread all those pesky seeds all over dad's lawn in the process!) What about a dandelion card to celebrate a lawn-obsessed guy's birthday - and inside: May All Your Wishes Come True!

And last but not least, man's best friend... this card was inspired by my brother's sweet dog who loves cake and shares my name - Molly-dog's birthday. What would I write inside this one? Let them Eat Cake!

(oh, and Happy Birthday Johnny!)

Artful, Indie and Fresh

It's been a busy summer at Artful Sentiments! I've been printing lots of cards and journals and assembling the new 2008 calendars and magnets galore for my shop and many fabulous retailers across the U.S. that stock my goodies.

I've designed several new holiday cards, and of course last year's favs are also available... Last year I sent the "chill" card to everyone on my list, it was a bit of an affirmation for me!

I've also been working with some other wonderful business owners in two coops, IndieFinds, a group of over 100 talented peeps with delightful online shops, and A Fresh Bunch, a group of fabulous stationery business owners who have joined forces to help promote eachother. Please check out both of these great groups.