12 Crafts of Christmas is here!!!

Every other Christmas my husband and I travel to Chicago to spend the holiday with my Grandmother. There is nothing like experiencing Christmas in Chicago (ok maybe Paris may win out, but I've only been to Paris in April). I sort of know what I'm talking about living in South Florida where just two days ago it was 92! Yes 92 yuk!!! We do have a very nice annual Winterfest boat parade, but it's not the Festival of Trees at the MOSI in Chi-town...

For these travel holidays, I have my Holiday Tree to bring the holiday cheer to my house, without dragging out all the trimmings. Fashioned from wood dowels, and square of wooden fence post is lavishly embellished just like a regular tree - adorned with keepsakes, family photos, paper snowflakes, Scrapbooking embellishments, ribbon and garland. This is just the one side, and there is more to be added yet, but I snapped this photo before I junked it up too much - less is more...

This makes a beautiful centerpiece on the table and keeps the family busy reminiscing on all the photos I cherish on this tree. Best of all, I can change it for any season.

This tree is approx 26" tall and longest limb is 14". If you are interested in a naked tree form, base, various size hooks & star for the top ready to assemble and decorate - I'm happy to produce as custom orders for $15 each plus shipping. Please E-mail me at mail { at } sbartist dot com.

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of my 12 Crafts of Christmas ; )

Ornaments are a passion...

I've been researching origami and kusudama via google and I have found so many cool blogs and info out there in cyberspace - I am so happy to be living in the 21st century - I don't know how people learned anything before the internet...anyway...

I found the coolest thing!

*** 2009 Bloggers Ornament Exchange ***

I thought I was a little nutty, but this is crazy in a cool crafty way. I love christmas ornaments and I have a small collection of treasures I've found here and there. My grandmother and I exchange an ornament each Christmas as our gift. It is a special tradition that is just between us and we have been doing for many years now.

I just signed up to participate and if you want to join in, please visit PamperingBeki's Pampering You Blog here. Here's the rules: Be willing to send an ornament of aprox. $10 value to your partner. They can be handmade, store bought, Etsy bought, whatever. They should all be handmade, but not everybody is crafty, but a passion for ornaments is shared by many. Can't wait to see what I get...I hope it's handmade ; ) Sb

GREAT NEWS!!! Shop Grand Opening....

For the past 6 months, I have been getting my feet wet with Etsy and Ebay - I have learned that with low cost items like mine, after the listing fees and then percentage cut to them and then one to paypal, too - it doesn't seem worth it for the pennies that may remain at the end of a sale. Etsy is good with the advertising of artists, so it's worth it, but nothing is wrong with a little diversity. After just completing my first wholesale order of ornaments, I decided to add another outlet - it can't hurt, right? By being semi-active on twitter, I found out about a NEW marketplace for artisans that is FEE Free & very user friendly. YAY!!! Now I have my own shop at http://www.zibbet.com/sbartist. If you would like info on opening your own shop, click here. It is a handmade only marketplace, free for listing up to 25 items and they offer a premium membership for unlimited listings.

So announcing...

sbartist - painting in the dark...and other whims...

sbartist's Shop @zibbet.com

Inside my galleries, you will find a diverse grouping of items from my sister shops SalonD'Arte and SMBdesign as well as original art & reproductions, handcrafted paper items & cards, & whatever strikes my creative muse...photography, found object collage even artist supplies. I'm always adding new and different things so please check back often...

Don't fight the crowds at the mall - consider giving the gift of a handmade original...

Think GREEN! Sb