Showing posts with label gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gifts. Show all posts

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Original Gifts for Mom, New Mothers and Mothers-to-be

I so enjoy giving my mom unique gifts I have created. One of the things we both like: She can ask for and get custom created pieces for her house, and I get to create them! Below are some of my favorites for Mom or Moms-to-be.

Cute Folk Butterflies and Flowers Blank Card
Cute Folk Butterflies and Flowers Blank Card
Cute Folk Butterflies and Flowers Blank Card by Visages
Create card designs on Zazzle

Western Cowboy Boots in Sepia Drink Coasters
Western Cowboy Boots in Sepia Drink Coasters
Western Cowboy Boots in Sepia Drink Coasters by Visages
More Cowboy Cork Coasters

Cute Country Folk Flowers Mushrooms and Bumble Bees Coaster 
Cute Country Folk Flowers Mushrooms and Butterfles Coaster
Cute Country Folk Flowers Mushrooms and Butterfles Coaster by Visages
Create a personalized coaster on Zazzle.

Monarch Butterfly on White Lilac Flower Bush Blank Greeting Cards
Monarch Butterfly on White Lilac Flower Bush Blank Greeting Cards
Monarch Butterfly on White Lilac Flower Bush Blank Greeting Cards by Visages
Look at Monarch Cards online at Zazzle.com

Bumble Bee Cherry Pink Heart Baby Supplies Canvas Bag 
Bumble Bee Cherry Pink Heart Baby Supplies Canvas Bag
Bumble Bee Cherry Pink Heart Baby Supplies Canvas Bag by Visages
Design a custom beach bag at Zazzle

Big Brother Bumble Bee Cherry Blue Heart T-shirt
Big Brother Bumble Bee Cherry Blue Heart T-shirt
Big Brother Bumble Bee Cherry Blue Heart T-shirt by Visages
See other Big brother T-Shirts at zazzle

Monarch Butterfly on White Lilac Flower Bush iPhone 4 Case  
Monarch Butterfly on White Lilac Flower Bush iPhone 4 Case
Monarch Butterfly on White Lilac Flower Bush iPhone 4 Case by Visages
Browse more cases for iPhone 5 at zazzle.com

Cute Bumble Bees Flower Country Thank You Greeting Card
Cute Bumble Bees Flower Country Thank You Greeting Card
Cute Bumble Bees Flower Country Thank You Greeting Card by Visages
Create unique personalized photo note cards from zazzle.com.

Country Bees and Flowers Nursery Rhyme Poster for Baby Girl
Country Bees and Flowers Nursery Rhyme Poster
Country Bees and Flowers Nursery Rhyme Poster by Visages
View more Bumblebee Posters at zazzle.com

Country Bees and Flowers Nursery Rhyme Poster for Baby Boy
Country Bees and Flowers Nursery Rhyme Poster
Country Bees and Flowers Nursery Rhyme Poster by Visages
Look for more office art at zazzle.com

Sage Green and Gold Leaves Place Mats
Sage Green and Gold Leaves Place Mats
Sage Green and Gold Leaves Place Mats by Visages
View more placemats.

Funny Vintage Retro Cartoon Comic Cook's Apron
Funny Vintage Retro Cartoon Comic Cook's
Funny Vintage Retro Cartoon Comic Cook's by Visages
Make your own personalized apron from Zazzle.

Mom, I Love You Pink Flowers Acrylic Award Block
Mom, I Love You Pink Flowers
Mom, I Love You Pink Flowers by Visages
Browse more Pink Awards

Best Mother Ever Pink Flower Background Acrylic Award Block 
Posted by debmiller at 9:06 AM 0 comments
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Saturday, April 14, 2012

The Crazy Aunt

The crazy aunt... Who is she? Does every family have one? What does she look like?

The crazy aunt is the odd sister or great aunt. Just a tad goofy and maybe laughs a little too much. She's the loud mouth, baby-talking nut who goes into a tirade of ootsie, cutsie, cootchie-cootchie-coo foolishness over the new baby and keeps it up until the baby is well into his or her thirties.

"Look at that adorable, itty bitty face. Aren't you just so cute?" she demands of the new baby.

Then it is here she pokes her husband or boyfriend - who is enduring the first viewing of the infant - in the ribs. "Just look at that eensie, weensie version of (sister's or brother's name)." she demands of the husband or boyfriend who rolls his eyes.

"Awwwww... did you see that? The baby yawned. How adorrrrrrable!"

"Ooodie, woodie, boodie, scootie, bee bee bee...," might be the gibberish dripping through the aunt's pursed lips as she wiggles and curls a finger in the baby's face. Again, the husband or boyfriend rolls his eyes while the crazy gal's sister or brother glows with pride.

Whether every family has one is anybody's guess. Probably not, is mine although I have an inkling they are more common than I could imagine. Or perhaps there's a crazy uncle, grandma or grandpa in the family rather than an aunt.

Pull Quote  

"Crazy aunts are no threat
to themselves,
the children
or parents..."

As for her looks, my imagination runs rampant here. Bouffant hair, ruby red lips and blazing blue eye-shadow come to mind but I'm from the fifties and that look is far outdated. Maybe she wears black and pink polka dots or zebra stripes, stiletto heels, has her hair cut short which she keeps in place with $20 hair spray, uses black fingernail polish and lip stick. In appearance, she's the opposite of her sister (or brother) who wears khaki pants or shorts and deck shoes or maybe flip-flops; someone I would pass on the sidewalk with but one glance and certainly not another.

Growing up, I had a crazy great aunt but hers was a sad story; driven to slight madness from tragedy in her life. She wasn't anything like the above description. Far from it, in fact. In Midwestern terms, I'd call her titched which I don't believe to be a word but we use it anyway as we squint an eye and tap our temple. Wink, wink... You know what I mean. Don't get me wrong. I'm not making fun of her, I'm only sayin'...

My best friend of nearly 32 years got a bit silly when around my kids when they were infants. Not much, just a little bit. The normal stuff, if you know what I mean. "Awwws" and "oooos" erupted from her mouth on occasion but she was more prone to helping them commit crimes (breaking household rules, that is) than she was to utter gibberish. Still, had I thought of it I would have given her a T-shirt with writing on it that said, "The Crazy God-mother". She'd have loved it.

But one has to have patience with them. Crazy aunts are no threat to themselves, the children or parents, and the memories the child or children will have of their crazy aunt (uncle, grandmother, or grandfather) will give them something to talk about for the rest of their lives. In fact, you might want to encourage the eccentric behavior just for that very reason because - face it - one day that kid is going to act a little loony once he or she is in their teens. Teen years give rise to the age old question: Are they clinically insane?

See The Crazy Aunt T-shirts at Visages Gift Store in cooperation with Zazzle.com.

The Crazy Aunt zazzle_shirt
The Crazy Aunt by Visages
Make t shirts on line at zazzle.com
The Crazy Aunt zazzle_shirt
The Crazy Aunt by Visages
Create unique custom printed t-shirts on zazzle.

Posted by debmiller at 11:47 AM 1 comments
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Friday, April 6, 2012

New Gift Items at Visages

April brings butterflies, tulips and a rag doll to Visages.

The butterfly - an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - was photographed right here in my own back yard where a lilac bush was in full blossom. Evening light softened the image allowing for a romantic feel.

The tulip photos were taken at a neighborhood house owned by an elderly couple who graciously allowed me on their property to shoot their flowers. The misses of the house lamented, however, "I wish you had come here a week ago when they were prettier. They're on their way out now." Ah, but they were still gorgeous.

The colorful primitive folk art rag doll I drew in pencil then scanned into the computer where I digitally gave it color and life. I originally called her Rag Doll with a Secret but is just as easily throwing a kiss. You'll find the art on a card. Very appropriate, I think.

You'll also find these three featured designs on coasters, necklaces, gel mouse pads and a whole lot more.


Red & Pink Tulips Pictures zazzle_mug
Red & Pink Tulips Pictures by Visages
Make a unique mug with picture from zazzle.com.
Posted by debmiller at 8:06 AM 0 comments
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Monday, March 19, 2012

Starting Business in Glasgow, MO

I've only been here three weeks. Fayette, MO, that is. Glasgow is about 12 miles from here (see map). How I came to be in Fayette is truly a long story; a love story gone bad.

"Don't know what happened but it snowballed into something ugly," I repeat.

Maybe one day I'll write it all down. Maybe. Not now though. Today I want to write about finding small privately owned gift shops where I rent a shelf to showcase gifts like my mini stick chairs, diaper baby, walking sticks and other such stuff while at the same time advertising Visages, my Zazzle gift shop. But before I do that I have to tell you about Glasgow.

Glasgow is historic and lies nestled along the Missouri river. It is unpretentious, is friendly and just plumb full of old homes and churches built in the 1800s. The streets are spread along rolling hills populated by small cottages and large mansions. Old brick buildings line the main street and gazing at them almost brings audible noise from their pasts as one imagines life in the hustle and bustle of steamboats, traders and growers of tobacco, hemp and cotton.

It is home of the very first steel bridge in the world. Yes, you read right: The first steel bridge ever built in the world. It was the home of many rich and important people none of whom you would recognize the name of if I were to repeat it. Still, influence of those who arrived, built their homes and prospered can be seen if one were to take the time to look.

New businesses are popping up and the proprietors are working to make Glasgow an attraction to anyone looking for a bit of Midwest history and scenic surroundings. You'll find both in Glasgow.

But enough about Glasgow. How I found Glasgow Trading Post gift shop at 609 1st St is unimportant. Suffice it to say that I did and before my next trip there the following week I packed up a large canvas bag of my crafts. The owner of the store, Donnie, and I sat in the middle of the store looking through my inventory. Mostly he was impressed with what I had brought to show but I was stuck by his willingness to take the time to look and talk. At one point, he jumped up from his cross-legged position on the floor to run to the counter and grab his price gun.


"What do you want for this?" he asked. After I told him what I thought was a fair but not at all unreasonable price, he twisted the gun's knobs, pulled the trigger and slapped the printed sticker onto the merchandise. It went like this until all the merchandise was priced.

Shelf rental is very reasonable and my merchandise is surrounded by awesome and unique gifts, many homemade.There are doll dresses with matching dresses for little girls, homemade boot protectors (you have to see them), hand painted gourds and last week I saw oodles of adorned flip-flops.

The following week I took in a few more items I had made then tagged with not only the price of the item but my Visages business card as well. I did the same the week after that. The outcome? Well, nothing has sold yet but I'm hopeful. It's only been two weeks since I placed items in his shop. Tourist and vacation season hasn't yet arrived so it'll be a bit before we find out if we make money.

Has Visages web site seen an increase in visits? I don't know for sure since I had no internet for nearly three weeks but it seems it has increased. I'm making a mental note to check Google tomorrow.

So, go visit Glasgow and be sure to visit Glasgow Trading Post (see their web site at www.glasgowtradingpost.com). You won't have a hard time finding it. Take in some history and have a good time doing it.


Posted by debmiller at 5:44 PM 0 comments
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