Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A Handmade Christmas: Fostering Creativity

This small business is the perfect fit for so many of your holiday necessities- from gift giving to decorating and those little extras that make a gift feel special. Amy has a natural gift for decorating and an artist's eye for design. Her website http://www.fosteringcreativity.blogspot.com/ will give you more details on her products and pricing, but here is an overview of some of my favorites. (For the rest of the links I provide in this post, just scroll down through her announcements to see the photos and descriptions.)

Stationery
This was the original intent of her small business, but it's hard to put all that creativity into just one venue. She has since added so much more, but her stationery is where it all began. She offers a variety of styles of personalized stationery sold in packs of 10 or 12. Prices start at just $14 for unique personalized designs. These make excellent gifts for teachers, friends, co-workers, neighbors, you name it. Some of my favorite styles are:



Chocolate Cherry


She also offers traditional monogrammed designs, as well as some preppy pink and green designs. They come beautifully gift wrapped and ready for giving. I've already ordered 3 sets!



Christmas Cards and Invitations
In addition to stationery and notecard sets, Amy also designs custom invitations and this time of year, Christmas cards. She has some great designs that just need that perfect family picture to complete. Unlike some of those big name websites, you can order exactly the amount you need. She offers several styles of flat printed cards...



...as well as custom folded cards. Contact Amy for more pricing info on these.



Custom Floral Arrangements
Silk floral arrangments make great gifts for the "hard to buy for" women on your list. You can supply your own stems and containers or just choose a color palette or theme and let Amy take creative control. Either way, the end result will be an instant conversation piece in the house. Prices start around $25.


Don't forget her Christmas arrangements and decor items. She just recently did a home show, but lucky you, she has a few items left from the show. Check them out here.



Banners


These are too cool for words. Perfect for birthday parties or any holiday, order one of these banners to hang above your mantle or on any wall. I'm still looking for a reason to order one!Placecards
Finish the perfect Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner table with beautiful placecards. From simple printed cards to colorful and artistic designs, only $.50 - $1.00 each.





Bows


And don't forget, she makes custom bows for tree toppers, wreaths, windows, mantles, and will even make sets of smaller bows for all those baked goods I know you're making and packaging. A bow this size is about $15, but you can go as large as you need for tree toppers, etc.



Home Show



For those of you in the Winston area, Allison Oaks Vineyard asked Amy to set up a table at a Holiday Open House and Market in Yadkinville on Saturday, December 6th from 10am until 6pm. It will be in their Tasting Room. Go see her beautiful creations in person. More details here.