Welcome to Fall!

Funny how it seems like time flies these days... The wedding is coming up in just a couple of months, and plans are finally falling into place. Sales are picking up a little, with the advent of the fall wedding season and of course, the approach of Halloween.

However, with fall also comes hurricane season, and the US was graced with one particularly big one so far - Ike - which left some residents of Galveston, TX homeless, and many others only now receiving power again, while the lights slowly go back on across parts of the state. As with so many others, repairs are costly, and one storm story that came to my ears came from a fellow member of the FAE team (Fantasy Artists of Etsy), Valorie, of Battlemaiden Studios. At some point during the storm, half of the roof on her family's home gave way, leaving her brother and sister's room to an open-sky ceiling. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but the 4 family members are now taking shelter with her in Valorie's apartment until repairs are made.

To that end, I decided to immediately propose a small fundraiser, called Winds of Hope. Under the tag windsofhope, some of us are selling at least one item with the proceeds to go directly to Valorie and her family, for roof repairs and any other necessities as they push through this hard time together. Above is my contribution, purchased by Upfromtheashes (thank you!). Other members are setting up their items for this, too... It's great being part of a team. :)

Last of all, I am happy to say that in addition to both of my current teams being very active these days (I wish I could go to the Shake and Bake show my friends in the CT Etsy team are having on October 4th!), I am also happy to announce the gradual formation of the SCAEtsy team. Interested? Curious? The thread is here:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5021491

End of Summer, and Upcoming Price increases

Summer is nearly officially over, and what started with a bang, then lulled, is starting to pick up again. You know what that means.... Halloween shopping season is here again, and thankfully, my wedding envelopes are finally finished! Production on custom orders has already resumed, with two back-to-back custom orders (Thank you, Christine - I hope your daughter's wedding is wonderful, and that the circlets arrive in time!). Thank you as well, to all of you that have allowed me to lend a little extra something special to your special occasions - and I hope to have photos up here soon from some previous functions featuring jewelry from my shop. (Please keep those photos coming, everyone!).

As the air turns cooler, and as the leaves already start illuminating the New England landscape with their best and brightest colors, I am still drawn to the weather reports from outside of Connecticut. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who are in the path of Hurricane Gustav, and it is my hope that all who are affected by severe weather alerts this season can evacuate or find safety swiftly. Currently, I am witholding my annual fall clothing donation, as I await news of where it will be needed the most after Hurricane Gustav is done. Odds are that I will also be doing another line of charity-based jewelry this fall specifically aimed at the purpose of raising funds for such emergencies.

Last of all, it IS the Halloween shopping season, and come the end of this week, prices on some items in my shop will be increasing. If you are planning on purchasing something from my shop, custom or ready-made, you may wish to get orders in before Friday September 5th.

Currenty, there are 3 custom orders in the queue, one almost finished.

At this time, I am taking custom orders until about mid-October, so please keep this in mind too, for your costume accessory needs!

Thank you, and stay tuned for further developments about the shop!