Kid's Card Class

Sunday February 17th starting at 12:30 to about 3:30. Lets get together to create 12 cards especially for kids birthdays! We will make 4 each of three different styles. The cost is $25 and includes evelopes. This class will take longer then regular card club, (end time is approximate) so please plan accordingly. No need to bring any special supplies, I will provide the designs as well as the supplies! RSVPs are a MUST due to the amount of materials which need to be prepped. Light refreshments will be served.

***I only had jimmies to put in the bubble gum card, but I will have other candy choices here on the day we make the cards.**

Today is my birthday!

Yup it's official....today is my birthday! Now if you were Cameron you'd say I was only 26 (I love that boy!) Cheyenne thinks I am 29 (love her too!) but....my birth certificate does't lie! That's right today I am 25! Okay stop laughing...it wasn't that funny! I am officially four decades old today. Whoo hoo! (insert unexcited face here). And what do you ask is planned for today?? Work first of all, and then my loving husband has something extra special planned for me....a visit to the dentist to have 4 fillings replaced. ISN'T THAT SWEET??? Yay me!

Marines of the Year 2012

I know this isnt craft related, but I had to share with you! Both my mom and her twin brother served in the United States Marine Corps when they were young. This year they were both surprised to find out that they both were awarded the Marine of the Year award at the Marine Corps ball.(that's them at the ball in the top picture) The funny thing was that I knew about it at least 2 months ahead of time. My aunt called me to ask if I was able to go to the ball. I wasn't (St Sophia's sale was that night) but I called my brother Duane, who also served in the Marine Corps. He and his wife came to the ball. The whole time my mom kept saying "I think Gene is getting the Marine of the Year award" and I was bursting not to tell her 'SO ARE YOU!' She was absolutely shocked when they called her name! I wish I was there to see her reaction! So there you have it twin Marines of the Year Valley Forge Detatchment 2012. Oh and they each were awarded with an engraved Marine Corps sword. I believe that is mom's in the photo. They also went to have their photos taken together in their Marine Corps uniforms.

Items for a craft fair - Framed Art

Visitation BVM Craft Fair November 16th and 17th 2012

Here is my set up at Visitation this year! I love this event! The folks who put it all together are fabulous, and I was happy to be invited back for my second year. They put me right in front of the stage again this year, and it was fun to have a good view of everything Tis year they had a Zep war between two local resturants. When you ordered a Zep you got two halves, one from one returant, one from the other. Each one had a color coded fork, and you chose your favorite and then deposited the correct fork into a bin marked with that color. At the end of the event they figured out the winner. Cheyenne loves this event and this year she volunteered to help out a friend's daughter at some of the game booths. Cameron also had fun riding on the carts they used to push around tables and chairs. :-) This is a friend of mine's parish, and they just love both Judy and her husband John. :-) Cheyenne also enjoyed helping set up and take down the tree that is on the stage behind my table. Santa comes to that stage on Saturday. :-)

Items for a Craft Sale - Christmas Framed Art

I got this idea from Jan Tink from her blog. It was a wonderful idea and I just switched it up and used items I had on hand. These are three of the versions I had available. I also did a green in the sparkly green snowflake paper (like the red one shown above) but I guess I didnt get a picture of that one. As an added bonus, I kept the mats in the frame so that when Christmas was over, if they wanted to, they could just flip the mat to the front, and wouldn't have to worry about storing the frames all year.

Quest Diagnostics Vendor Show November 29th, 2012

This was the first time I ever did a show at Quest. It was really cool! They invite vendors in to sell items to their employees during the day. I had met one of the gals who helps organize it all at the St Sophia's event. She got me the contact info I needed and I was able to get in! David came out to help me out (on his Birthday!) despite being sick. I was a little late getting there though as I got lost (stupid GPS..dont they know South Collegeville Road and Collegeville Road are TWO differnet roads..and clear on opposite cities!!) So I was rushing to get all set up. I think that hurt me as I was still trying to get everything together and people were already shopping. And I didnt have my usual helpers since the kids were in school, and David had to get them there while I was setting up. It wasnt that bad once it was all done, and I hope to be able to go back there again!

Items for a Craft Fair - Christmas Whisks

Cheyenne is always asking me to help with my craft fair items, so I am often looking for cute ideas which she can make on her own. We came up with these Christmas Whisks! She filled the whisk with kisses and we wrapped them up, bagged them, added a cute sentiment and I made the bows. These sold remarkably fast, and it was all I could do to get a picture of them!

Items For a Craft Fair - Travel Coloring Cases

Here are some of the many versions of the Travel Coloring Cases I made for my events. This picture was actually taken at the Vendor night we had in October at the school where I work. I ended up making more versions, and I could have used many more beyond that. Everyone loved these!

Items For a Craft Sale - Hershey Kiss Trees

Here is another new item for this years sales. These feature 9 Heshey Kisses in the top part of the tree and either Hershey Nuggets or Hershey miniatures in the trunk of the tree. The original design had the Nuggets, but I redesigned the trunk to fit the miniatures. These were a big hit as well. But why wouldnt they be? Everyone loves Chocolate!

St Sophia's Craft Fair - November 9th and 10th 2012

This was my first time at St Sophia's craft fair. It was a tough week since a lot of people were still suffereing the after effects of hurricane Sandy. I heard many people say they were either still waiting for power, or just got their power back on. So I think that hurt the event a little. But all in all it was still a great event! The ladies who put it all together were very nice, and the food...all Greek specialties...was fabulous! I had to borrow a table for this event. It was a 8 foot space, so I was able to add a stack of crates on the end of the table. My table was only 6 foot long. I since bought my own table so I will be ready for future events! Oh, I forgot to mention...most of the pictures taken at my events were on my phone. In hurrying to get stuff packed, I often forgot my camera. :-(

Items for a Craft Fair - Glass Magnets

These are also a new item this year for me. Glass Magnets. I love how these turned out, but I do have to say they were very time consuming to make! I actually only ended up making three styles, dogs, flwers and some cute plaid circles. I packaged them together on Cardstock with little washers glued on. However they didnt hold real well (the washers on the cardstock) and it took a while to get all those washers glued down. But they sold pretty well. I had some requests for other styles as well, so I will get on that for next year. But I think I will find a better way to package them.

Items For a Craft Fair - Hershey Nugget holders

This was another new item for me this year. This is not my original design, I have seen them lots of sites out on the web. I covered the little Hershey Nuggets bars with pretty papers and added them to a lttle cardstock holder. Then I added that to a baggie and added a cute sentiment with ribbon. I completely sold out of these as well as got special orders for more.

Items for a Craft Fair - K Cup Gift Certificate Holders

This is one of the new items I came up with this year. I didn't have these available until St Sophia's sale. These little holders hold one little K Cup for the Keurig coffee makers, but it is also a Gift Card Holder! I saw a similar item on the web, and re-did the template so I could make it into a gift card holder. These were a great hit (I guess I am the only one in the world who doesnt have one of these machines..but I dont drink coffee).

Oaks Fire Hall Craft Show Nov 3 2012

Here is another one of the Craft Shows I participated in this past year. This was the third year I was a vendor at the Oaks Fire Hall Craft show. It is put on by the Oaks Ladies Auxillary. They do a wonderful job each year! I was a little closer to the stage this year, but I am not sure that really mattered. I had a LOT of different items for sale this year. Some were things I made previously, while others were new ideas. I really enjoy this Craft Show, and I hope to be back in 2013!

Craft Fair - St Paul's Lutheran Church

This was the first event I had this year. It was held in September. I have to say I wasn't very happy with this event. First off,Originally I was supposed to be inside. But they had way too many vendors shoved into one room, and they had space which they didnt utilize. There was NO moving room at all in this room! Every time someone had to get by, you had to lean across your table just so they could squeeze by! After about the 50th time I complained. I ended up going outside instead, where it was so much nicer. Although, we were totally not prepared to be outdoors, and it was a bit chilly. But we tried to make do, and keep warm. I also met a new friend who this was her first event. Anyway, it was just an all around BAD day. There was a Fireman's parade in town that day, as well as they were moving Hospital patients from the old hospital which was closing, to the new hospital. Traffic was HORRIBLE and there were barely any shoppers. We just barely made the money back for our table. Barely. I dont know if I will be back at this event in 2013.....We'll see.

Items For A Craft Sale - Spa Sock Cupcakes

Oh my gosh these were fun! These are Spa socks (think like fuzzy slipper socks) wrapped up to look like cupcakes. The solid colored ones are for adult soicks, and the striped ones (which kind of got cut out of the photo-but are on the right of the adult ones) are for kids. The kids cupcakes featured toe socks in some cute and crazy color combos, along with a Dum Dum lollipop. I completely sold out of these numerous times. I am currently on the search for more of the socks at a reasonable price.

Pencils with Erasers sets

I made a BUNCH of these cuties! These are little holders with 4 pencils and little erasers. I made them in reds, greens, and I believe 3 shades of blue. These were a huge hit! They are perfect for stcking stuffers! I had one person buy some for a group of carolers she sang with. One of the images was of a little cat singing, and she thought they were perfect. I had planned on making more non-Holiday ones, but I just didnt get around to getting it done. But I have been collecting different pencils along the way, and it is on my list to do for next year. I sold out of these completely.

Items for a Craft Fair - Key Fobs

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I had a few people request that make smaller key fobs, that would be more masculine. So I went ahead and made these. It isn't easy to find masculine ribbons thhough. :-( I guess Masuline and Ribbon aren't really two things that normally go together. I know that you can make Key Fobs with fabric, but my sewing skills aren't quite that advanced yet.

Items for a Craft Fair - Key Fob Wristlets

Here are more of the key Fobs I made for my craft fair. These are with the 1 1/4" webbing so they are a little wider. These were a lot of fun to make, and people loved them! I love that there are so many different colors of webbing available! And of course I REALLY LOVE buying ribbon, and there are, I guess, millions of colors of ribbon to choose from! I had to add 3 more dowels to hold my new ribbons!!! (Have I mentioned that I have a **Slight** addiction to ribbon????)

Vendor Fair at Malvern School

One of the events I had this past year was a Vendor Fair at the school I work at. This was mostly for the parents that children go to my school, so it was a small event, but it was worth the time. I got to see just how much stuff I had completed. :-)

Items For a Craft sale - altered notebooks

One of my big sellers are notebooks, either spiral or the mini comp. books with matching pens. I kept meaning to get more done, but never really got around to it. But here are a few of the ones that I had. I packaged them to keep them neat and eep little shoppers from flipping through (or writting in) them. Kids love these little gifts, and parents dont mind getting them for the kids since they arent too pricey. I have to work on getting more of these done for next year. I had more done, but not finding the pictures at the moment....

Helllloooo!

Happy New Year!!!  It has been a CrAzY few months here at the Thornton household!! The kids are back to school, Cameron is now in Boy Scouts, Cheyenne is still in Girl Scouts and is taking her second year of Hip Hop class at our local Arts Center. I have participated in NUMEROUS craft shows most of which were in November and December. And just prepping for them takes forever....and I had special orders for Christmas gifts that I was still getting and working on up until December 24th! But anyway, here it is January 4, and I am finally trying to get settled back into a more calm routine. I also decided to take just a little time off of crafting...but don't worry, not long! I am missing it already! :-)
I am off today since I havent been feeling well...so I thought while it was quiet I would try to take some time to get some posts scheduled out so that you could see what I have been up to. But....now I have to figure out how the heck I upload pictures since Blogger has changed how they do things!
So bare with me, and hopefully I can get some pictures uploaded!