2011 is Closing..... Welcome 2012!

With 2011 quickly coming to an end I can't quick help to reminisce and think of what I have been through, what I have accomplished and what I just didn't have time for.

On a personal level it has been a big year for growth, and I don't mean the negative kind. LOL I have made huge leaps in to creating a better self, someone I am actually very happy being, and someone I am actually proud of. There were a lot of ups and many downs to get to where I am, but in the end it was all worth it. I've learned to love me, and respect me, I've learned that heartache doesn't last forever, and that by allowing myself to love anything is possible. I've learned to enjoy being me and to take better care of me. I had spent a lot of time thinking and evaluating my life and I have even figured out what it is I want out of it, now 2012 is the year to figure out how to get it. :)

Now on to what's relevent for this blog.... my crafty side. Well, I must start by saying it has been an great year for the Cherry Pit, it seems I was always busy creating and making Decor items for myself and for others and I've had a lot of fun! There may have been times when I may have taken on more than I could hanlde at one time but I made it through and got the jobs done. I'd like to thank everyone for they support, whether it was in buying something or sharing words of encouragement, it was all very important to me and I greatly appreciate each and every one of you. THANK YOU!

As far as my personal crafts (aka my scrapbooking) I am pretty dissappointed in how little I've actually accomplished this year. My goal was to catch up on the pages I was behind and to hopefully not get too far behind in my 2011 pages. Well, I just updated my Excel sheet of what it is I have to do to become up to date and well, I did NOTHING with my 2011 year of photos :( I have a list of 250 pages that need to be completed to have 2011 in the books and that's close to 1000 photos to work with! YIKES!!! I did manage to get some pages does from 2010 this year, and even a few complete for the 2009 year, but I still have a long way to go to get those years complete... 115 Layouts for 2009 and 190 left for 2010.... yea if I ever what to get caught up I NEED to get to work, find my groove and NEVER lose it! LOL So with these winter months being the slow time of year, not many events or outings, not many photo opportunities I need to take advantage of this time, and crank out some pages while I'm not building up too much 'NEW' work for myself. It would be so nice to use my stuff again, and even more nice to get creative and sharpen up my scrappy skills. :)

So there's my 2011 in condensed form and my crafty goals for 2012. I wish you all the best in 2012 and hope to see and hear form you in the new year.

Scrap on! :)

~Jenn

*~*~ CRAFT SALE ~*~*

I am going to be apart of a craft sale in early December, and I am quite excited! This will be the first 'real' sale I've done, and even though it is going to be small it's gonna be a great opportunity to figure out how it works, what things people are most interested in and will hopefully better prepare myself for any future shows I may decide to be a part of.

Since it's a good idea to let others know the types of things I will be offering ahead of time, I have made a document that can be printed so they can see, and I am also making this Blog entry for anyone who would like to take a look and better see some things.

So first a little background on what it is I do. I am a paper crafter. I love to scrapbook, make cards, and I use paper with other materials (such as wood) to create some really nice and unique Home Decor items. This is my hobby, this is my passion. I have a lot of fun being creative, not only is it a way for me to be artistic but I also find it theoraputic. Along with my personal reasons, I also enjoy sharing what I do with others.

The following are some of the items I have to offer:

Block Signs

( These range in price from $15 to $25 (depending on the length of word))

This Family Sign is one of my most popular creations. It is solid wood, and stands close to 7 inches tall, is 3.5 inches wide and is 21 inches long.

I also make other words and use other phrases. I have done, "Home is where the heart is", "Baby a Gift from above", and "Dance like no one is watching". Also my newest one will be "Faith makes all things possible". I do take custom orders of these so if you'd like A certain Phrase, or certain color scheme I can make one up for you and have it ready in a day or two (depending on how many orders I am working on).

Phrase Pyramids
($15 Each set)

These Pyramids are solid wood and stand approx. 11 inches tall and is 10 inches at its widest point. Again these can be custom ordered with words and colors of your choice. Word Groups I've previously done are "Faith, Family, Friends", "Dream, Imagine, Believe" and "Live, Laugh, Love".

Memorial Block Set

($10 each)

10 inches long x 6 inches tall x 3.5 inches wide. This photo memorial decor piece is a special way to display and remember your lost loved ones. Solid wood, paint and seal for easy cleaning, and a candle (Candle may vary depending on supplier). These are custom made for you, all I need is for you to send me the photo that you would like to use and I can attach it to the piece.

Pine Signs

($10 (2 feet x 6 inches)) ($15 (2 feet x 10 inches)

Signs shown are NOT for sale, however, if you have an idea for a sign and phrase that you would like I can custom make one for you in the colors of your choice. Generally I use 2 foot lengths and can use 6 inch or 10 inch wide boards (prices shown above), if you are looking for something bigger I can still make it, but the prices will vary depending on what you are looking for.

Christmas Trees
($15 each)

Solid wood, with twig and berry decorations. Stands approx. 12 inches tall (plus star height) and is 8.5 inches at its widest point. Painted then sanded for an aged look.

*PICTURE SOON TO BE POSTED*


Snowmen

($10 each)

Solid wood, painted with a brown wash for an aged look. Stands approx 11 inches tall and is 6 inches at his widest point.

Santa Coat Blocks

($5 each)

Solid wood, embellished with ribbon and buttons. These are 5.5 inches tall and 3.5 inches wide.

*PICTURE SOON TO BE POSTED*

Handmade Cards

($2.50 each or 4 for $8)

A lot goes in to each card with the high quality products used and attention to detail in each one.... at $2.50 a piece they really are a steal!

Cupcake Socks

($3 each or 2 for $5)

These little cupcake socks and sure to keep you warm and cozy during the holidays. Each cupcake is made up of a pair of Ultra Soft socks and wrapped in a custom cut cupcake wrapper. They are the perfect idea to have as party favors or they would make great stocking stuffers.

Snowman Soup

($2 each)

A warm and thoughtful gift that's sure to please. Would make an excellent stocking stuffer or Office / Teacher's Gift. Poem Reads as follows:

*PICTURE SOON TO BE POSTED*

Snowman Poop

($1 each)

For that someone in your life with a sense of humor, a bag of "snowman poop". Poem reads as follows:

*PICTURE SOON TO BE POSTED*

Misc Items

The following are just some misc items that I have done up. Each item started as something I wanted to make for myself, and I happened to pick up a few extra things to make multiples of each.

Clay Pots

($2 to $5 depending on size)

Prim Boxes

($5 each)

Prim Christmas Greenery Box

($5 each)

Framed Items

($6 to 10 each)

*SAMPLES SOON TO BE POSTED*

As I've mentioned a few times in the item descriptions all items you see here you may custom order to suit your needs. It will take a day or two to complete orders and this may vary depending on how many orders I have to make.

I am currently working on building a stock of things to have available at the sale but If you'd like to order anything in advance you may email me at CherryPitCreations@gmail.com or you can find my group on facebook (Cherry Pit Creations) and contact me that way.

Thank you very much for your time in coming to see my creations, that alone means a lot.

~Jenn

Junk Attack!!

As all my facebook friends have already found out (or at least the ones who read my status updates lol), I hit the mother load of items today to refinish. I got ALL of this at a thrift store (the locals will know it as Frenchies :)), for less than $17!! I though it was a pretty good deal.

Everything here I plan to alter in some way (well besides the mugs, I just got those cause they were awesome LOL). I already have so many ideas in my head for these items, I just hope I can do something and get the ideas out of my head and in motion before I lose them! So I have 6 new projects to attack (I really didn't need more, but man how could I pass this stuff up??), I am so looking forward to it though.

So stay tuned, I will be posting each item as I give it a make over and hopefully turn this 'junk' of someone elses in to my treasures. :)

Happy Crafting, Scrapping or whatever else you decide to do today!
~Jenn

Salem Signs

Well here I am back with more... (see I told ya!) LOL I've been thinking about some signs for my home since days before LAST Halloween. I knew I wasn't going to make any in time for last year, and I also knew that if I didn't get on it now, I wouldn't make it this year either.

My favorite thing or maybe better to say my theme for my Halloween Decor is mostly Witches. I like the hats, I like the black cats, the cauldron's, the green, the brooms, the spell books, pretty much anything to do with Witches. Then there is also the fact that I was born in Salem Massachusetts, I love history (especially local things), so the decision to go with Witches and references to Salem was an easy one to make.

Now, there are LOADS of great Sign ideas on the web for this theme, different styles, different sayings, here are a few that I have come up with.

This first sign I thought was a cute idea, I do have to admit that I am TERRIBLE at freehand painting! I did write the words (with pencil) first, then attempted to paint them. It turned out 'OK' but definitely could've been better, I still like the sign though.

This next one is my favorite of the three signs by far! The font I picked out looks great, and I am in LOVE with the little broom!!! I made it myself, used raffia for the bristles and I asked one of the boys to go outside to find a broken branch for me.... I didn't do anything to 'clean up' the branch, it was perfect just the way it was with all its little imperfections. My one and only complaint is that I am reminded why I NEVER put straight titles on my scrappy pages! It's because I'm not that great at it....LOL Now the 'm' is purposely on a slant to follow the line of 'Co.', but I don't know what the heck is up with the 'roo'....oh well, it was my 1st attempt, and it's for my house, so it's not like I am trying to please a customer (I'd never sell this with the letters looking the way they do), it's just a reminder to take more time to get it just right with the next one :)

With this sign I got a lil smart with the lettering.... I used welded words, so I didn't have to line up every letter, and as you can see, "Salem" goes every which way, (which is how I normally mask my poor lining up skills). I think even though this is a very simple sign, it has interest, with the two colors for words, different fonts and placement, and I even sanded and scuffed up this piece letting the orange that I painted under the black show in some places.

One thing I did that I am proud to admit is that I reduced the amount of materials I used. I actually painted the two pine signs, on the back sides of my Christmas decor signs I painted last year. So as soon as I'm ready to say good bye to Halloween all I need to do is flip the signs and say hello to Christmas! :)

I still have more ideas, but this will do for this year.... I'll leave something for me to do next year. haha

Happy Crafting!

~Jenn

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

So Halloween is coming, (YAY! my favorite holiday of the year!!!) and I had a terrible discovery with my box of Halloween decorations this year. My basement is quite damp year round, and unfortunately for my decorations they were the only ones that were still in a big cardboard box (thank goodness I take better care of my Christmas stuff and have it all in plastic totes!!). Anyway, I had to throw away a lot of my things and start new this year.

I started the season off by making these lil Pumpkin Shelf Sitters. I saw some of these online, so I take no credit for the idea, but I did make them my own by adding the moss and "dirtied" up the bright orange with a coat of watered down brown paint. These are really cute, and can be used from beginning of fall straight through the season. I was thinking it might be cute to paint the back sides with Jack-o-lantern faces so at Halloween they can be turned around and serve a double purpose.... I dunno, I'll wait until next year and maybe I'll do it then if I still think it's a good idea. lol

Next, another Shelf (or sill) sitter set. Now I had these painted and sitting on my table and left blank for a long time! I just wasn't sure what I wanted to put on them. I finally decided on what you see below. I liked the idea of a rough Jack-o-lantern face (because when I'm not carving fancy designs pumpkins, mine traditional ones are never uniform), so to keep with the "messy" look, I opted to hand paint (and purposely squiggle) the word "Boo" on the next block. When I look at it it makes me think of a ghost, waving in the wind with his long shakey 'oooooooooo' sound so I think I got the look I was going for. Sometimes imperfections can look good too :)

Lastly, this cat. No, I did NOT make this cat, I am by no means that handy with a saw (YET), but I did find him at a thrift store for $1. He was very beat up, and his paint was scratched badly, but I brought him home, gave him a fresh coat of black paint, and here he sits on top of my refrigerator. A great (and inexpensive) addition to my Halloween Decor. :)

So thanks for stopping by today to read along. I've been having fun with these little projects and there will be more to follow soon I hope!

Have a great day, and happy crafting!!

~Jenn

Candy Corn Pots

I saw some painted clay pots one day while I was surfing the web for ideas and I thought of a great idea to paint mine up for Halloween.

I decided to paint the pots to look like Candy Corn. Little did I know someone had already come up with that idea (doesn't surprise me, it's a really cute idea!), and luckily for me I even found some tips on how to paint them and get clean straight lines (which if you look closely, you can see I was having trouble with when I painted my first one.

The trick was to use a thick rubber band to mark the lines ( I had used tape at first, but that was pretty hard to keep straight going round the curves of the pot).

So this ended up being a super easy, super cheap, and super FUN little craft to do, and now I have great new little additions to my Holiday Decor, not to mention ideas now for more in the future.... maybe even for Christmas. :)

Happy Crafting!

~Jenn

For A Good Cause....

When I opened a Page on Facebook for the Cherry Pit, I immediately got a lot of positive feedback on my creations, and a few orders for items rolled in and I was even approached by a lady asking if I would be willing to make a few items as donations for her Fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness that will be happening in October. I agreed to do something because it's for a really great cause, and I was honored to be asked and able to help in any way that I could.

So, after talking with Karen, I decided to make one of my phrase pyramid signs, as well as a set of cards for the Silent Auction. So here is what I came up with:

A Phrase Pyramid done in neutral tones, with the Words, Faith, Family and Friends. I added some extras to this one, like the raffia and flower, just to make it a lil more special and give it a little more dimension.
Next, I made up a set of 4 cards specific to Breast Cancer Awareness. I kept them simple in design, but a bit busy and I could even say pretty with the pattern of paper I chose to use. This was my first time using my ribbon embossing folder (which I've had for years), and I really like how things turned out. I did use chalk and rubbed it over the ribbon shape just to make it stand out a little more.

And Rather than just putting the cards in a ziplock bag, I got a little fancier than that to make them appear that much more special. I really hope these help at the Bust A Move support for Breast Health in Nova Scotia fundraiser. If you are in the area and would like to check things out, it is being held on October 1st, at the New Beginnings Center in Greenwood until 2PM. There will also be a second show on October 8th at the Top Hat Lounge in Greenwood, same time. :)

Until Next Time..... Happy Scrappin'
~Jenn