Holiday Craft Show Prep

I am knee deep in holiday prep - working my way thru holiday craft shows. Prep involves many things, like stamping bags....I tried to take a few pictures today so I could share here...
I've been making more terrariums... these pictures are fun because people keep asking me how I make the tiny little arrangements - look see! - I use my old dissection kit!
The q-tips are for cleaning the glass if I get a bunch of dirt stuck to the inside of the terrariums...
I also made a bunch more "care cards" and stickers... more packaging details... the care cards are for the terrariums to tell people how to care for them...

I've been strategizing on how to fit a lot of stuff into a small vending space... this weekend I am working with 5ft by 10ft. Last weekend it was 6ft by 4ft. So I made up this piece of graph paper and cut little pieces of paper to represent my display stuff... put a little sticky glue on the back of the cutouts and this way I can play around with display ideas...

Last week I sorta set some stuff up in my living room to see what I had to work with...

and I bought this cake plate from Ikea to display my tiny terrariums underneath. I LOVE it.

Box Cutting Machine

Check out these amazing boxes I made today! (big Thanks to my friend Maggie) She owns an Accu Cut System and oh my goodness it is this fun die cutting machine! I really like playing with crafting machines - and this one impressed the socks off me!

This is the machine. The first picture shows the types of boxes I cut (and yes, I stamped a bunch all ready!) Below is a picture of the die cutting pad for the small square box... you put a piece of paper on top of the foam pad and turn the crank, roll it thru and bam - you have a box cut out (complete with fold creases)

Here it is in action!

These little purse boxes made me swoon. And don't they look cute with my stamp! I am going to use these for packaging necklaces at the Portland Saturday market.

These little flat boxes are also perfect for jewelry... I stamped the bottoms of the larger box.

These little rectangular boxes are perfect for earrings or small figurines... a little bit of ribbon thru the top. Oh my goodness, I love my new packaging!!

Stand out Stampin'

I love when new shipments of boxes arrive at my doorstep. Mostly because it means I get to stamp them!

my Etsy packaging for shipping

This little video shows how I package my little mobiles for Etsy orders. I like to include some little freebies, much including an orange LeahGlass pencil and a glass ladybug, oh an Etsy sticker and a little story about how I make the little mobiles.

I wrap all this up in a piece of paper (the paper comes from the packaging my glass materials come in) and slide it all in a USPS Priority mail box. I order the boxes in bulk and then I stamp them with my LeahGlass rubber stamp.

Buy one for yourself and you can see all the freebies and whatnot in person :)

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Standout Stampin' II

Standout Stampin' was such a hit, so here's another great stamp tip!

Years ago I bought this jewelers stamp (ordered it from Rio Grande) with my name on the tip. My original thought was making my own tags for necklaces, I like the not-so-perfect handmade look (I also like that the necklace is signed - I think its important to always sign artwork, even if its just a necklace).
However - what I realized is that I can literally sign my glasswork with this stamp!

As long as you keep the stamp out of the flame (and if it gets hot from contact with the glass, dip the metal stamp in water to cool it down), this metal stamp can be used to imprint your name, business logo, or some other simple signature into glass.

This picture is hard to read, but its the bottom of a drinking glass that I made, and I stamped the glass "LEAH". I love this. I only made these drinking glass for a couple of years and at first they were not signed, but the later batches were all signed LEAH, so it kind of dates them and adds value to their story. I think :)
Now I have used this glass to stamp all sorts of glass creations. One neat use that I don't have a picture of: I stamped small red puddles of glass with LEAH and then used these on a fused glass panel... the look was kind of like a wax stamp that people used to seal a letter shut. Sorry I don't have a picture. You'll have to use your imagination :)

Standout Stampin'!

I just received my new stamp from OfficialInitial on Etsy.com and I am stamping all my boxes. No more wasted stickers - now I am stamp-tastic!

The idea of a custom stamp with my business logo is just sheer potential in this crafti-maddness revolution. There are so many things I plan on stamping: boxes, tissue, sticker paper, thank you cards, letters, jeez I am eager to find things to stamp. I can stamp people's hands so they go home and want to check out my website :)

Gorilla marketing with a rubber stamp. Make your business stand out by stamping the world with your logo and website - I love it!