I Missed You So Much

Hey! Long time no see. I wish I could say that is because I've been sooo busy the last week or so, but I really haven't. Actually, I'm proud to say that I let myself take a little break. No, I didn't need a break from you, but more a break from all the Etsy craziness that has been happening this November and December. The Etsy project went really well. I made 12 online sales, 6 custom orders, and one large retail sale.
On its own I'd consider the Etsy sales to be relatively modest. Had I pushed myself to make more visits to Tech Shop (where I cut the wooden ornaments) I might have made more online sales, but I wasn't overly motivated to keep the snowflakes stocked after I sold them all to a local boutique. The goal was to sell, and that's what I did!
A friend I've made in the last year owns a beautiful boutique in the vibrant business district of Sewickley, PA. Her store, Lex and Lynne, opened in 2011, and she now has a total of three stores in two buildings on the main drag in Sewickley. Anyway, she bought all my stock and I didn't try very hard to replenish the Etsy store. That was totally on me. I felt like I had done what I intended to do, and now I'm ready to move onto new projects.
The first new project is creating drawings that I plan to make digital copies of and sell as prints both locally and on Etsy. Here's a portrait of a fawn I'm currently working on.

THAT REMINDS ME. I've been wanting to share with you what I've been making on my "week off." Even though I've taken time away from making things for sale and blogging about projects, I'm still spending my downtime making. That's why I'm a hobbyist.
This is the gingerbread house I made over the weekend. I had made a big old batch of gingerbread cookie dough out of A BOXED MIX. I know. Anyway, I "sampled" the dough and it didn't taste very good for cookies, so I made a house. Bc that's how we do. This isn't a tutorial, obviously, but I will tell you if you want to make a house like this, double the cookie baking time so you have nice, crusty walls. Also, the royal icing is four egg whites and a lot of powdered sugar. I used this recipe and completely skipped the cream of tartar. My icing turned out great - very firm after drying. It could probably hold a coffee cup on the underside of a table.

So that's (some of) what I've been working on during my holiday downtime. I didn't want you to think I forgot about you! Happy Winter Solstice, and Happy New Year if I don't see you.