Greetings!! Yesterday was the final day of the Quintessential Quirks Creativity Kits donation drive to benefit the Humanitarian Service Project. My goal at the beginning of this drive was to raise awareness about HSP and put together 5 creativity kits to give local kids the opportunity to grow their creativity. I'm very happy to say that the QQ Etsy store sold 48 items from November 1st through December 6th so I will be donating 48 arts & craft items... enough to put together 5 kits (plus a little bit more)!

Here are photos of the stash so far! My friend Chris is going to be adding a few things from her scrapbooking stock too so there's a bit more to come. Next weekend we are going to volunteer at HSP and will deliver the boxes. I hope the kids enjoy them!


In other exciting news, Q and I officially booked our first craft show. It will be at the Handmade Market Chicago on April 10th, 2010. We are sharing a 4 foot booth and I can honestly say we have zero experience with craft shows! Regardless, we are excited!

That is about it for now. Q had a great feature recently on Unplggd.com in an article all about gifts made from old recycled tech. You can check it out here: Unplggd.com

... and we are ready for Christmas

... and ready for a bit of a crafting break. Both shops will be going on vacation next week until after the new year. We've had a wonderful year creating and have so many ideas for 2010. Thanks for reading and I'll be checking in once again before Christmas.

SQ

I opened my inbox earlier this week to discover the latest newsletter from the Humanitarian Service Project (HSP), a wonderful non-for-profit in our area dedicated to serving the less fortunate in Kane and DuPage Counties. For several years Q and I have participated in HSP activities such as buying presents for giving trees and helping with gift sorting around the holidays. Well... as I was reading through the newsletter at the verrrry bottom there was a note about a new spin-off of the popular birthday box project HSP does. Instead of birthday party supplies, they will be collecting arts & crafts supplies in kits for children ages 8 - 12 and up to 15 for the holidays. I got so excited! This is a great opportunity to give to the community in a new way... and not only that.... but in a way that supports and fosters creativity in young people!

I immediately set to work trying to figure out how to raise awareness while also gathering supplies and I decided to incorporate the Quintessential Quirks Etsy store. So for every item sold from November 1st through December 6th, 2009 I am going to donate an arts & crafts supply. The supplies will be assembled into creativity kits to be delivered to HSP on December 13th when Q and I participate in the annual present sort.

I've already put a notice up on my Etsy store and I sent a preliminary tweet out. My goal is to be able to provide 5 creativity boxes to HSP by December 13th. I can't wait to get started!

SQ

... and just a quick note about another exciting development... today my Red Tomato Poptop was featured in this Etsy "Do-It-Yourselfer" Gift Guide!

Where do I even begin?! It's been an absolutely crazy week at QQ/SMC. After Q's amazing Etsy front page appearance... Screamin Monkey Circus had a Hollow Book Safe included in The Storque (Etsy's Handmade Blog) in an article titled "Etsy Finds: Libra vs. Scorpio" that was e-mailed to about a million subscribers. We were both shocked to find the book included as the store is relatively new and although we do advertise on Facebook and Twitter, we certainly don't have a budget to pay for advertising to get noticed like that... and boy did it open the flood gate! Q has been absolutely inundated with orders! Shop visits were over 1,000 views yesterday and hearts are through the roof. Even Quintessential Quirks has tipped 70 + hearts now!

After rolling out the most recent Poptop Pincushion Rings, I've had several requests for custom orders that I have been happy to fulfill. I am most proud of the orange Crush design I created for a customer. I ended up making a second Crush Poptop because I loved how it turned out. I haven't snapped a photo yet, but I will. It's on the list with the Apple Pie on a Stick recipie I HAVEN'T forgotten about.

Speaking of food... I embarked on another food-related adventure recently and created bite sized pumpkin pies for the lovely people at my work. Here is a cell phone photo of the pies in progress and completed:



They were easy to make and I used a technique I read on Bakerella! I just used 2 boxes of Jiffy Pie Crust Mix and one regular can of pumpkin pie filling. Just make the pie filling according to the instructions on the can. I did the crust one box at a time. The beauty of Jiffy is that you only need to add water and it comes out really well every time. Seriously. Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Then I used a cookie cutter to make the bitty crusts. It was probably about 3 inches in diameter... work with whatever you got. Stick them in a mini cupcake pan and add a tablespoon of pie filling to each crust. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Each box will make 24 mini crusts and the pie filling will fill all 48 perfectly. (There will be left over dough for Monkey Tails should you wish to make them! Just roll out the dough, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar and roll them up. Bake for about 10 minutes or til done.)

YUM!

In other interesting personal news, as many know I am in grad school right now working towards a Masters in Leadership Studies. Well, it turns out I might be closer to the finish line than I originally thought. The faculty in my program have revised the curriculum restructuring the requirements and according to my transcript, I have completed the necessary requirements after this quarter! Amazing news! I do still have a thesis to complete but knowing that I am almost finished with courses is a great relief.

Until next time!

SQ

Hellloooo from Chicagoland! We are on the other side of Labor Day and fall feels official.

Our weekend getaway to Springfield was exactly what the doctor ordered and we are back and in full swing.

Today I have some great news! Yesterday I was featured in my first Etsy treasury by user PersonalOasis! She chose to include my love bird lavender sachet trio which sold earlier in the day. The same customer also picked up my cedar sachet set and my eco flower lavender set. Needless to say, yesterday was busy with wrapping everything up in tissue with ribbons and thank you tags.

Speaking of packing and shipping, Screamin Monkey Circus is beginning to really live up to its name. The past week has been an absolute circus at home. Shortly after selling the beautiful green hollow book safe, Q had a request from a groom for 5 hollow book safes for his groomsmen!! I thought, what a GREAT idea! Fortunately we had made a few visits to the resale shops and a lovely antique book store in Springfield so there was plenty of book stock at home. Honestly though, all this book-safe-making equates to giant-mess-in-the-living-room-making. In an attempt to acknowledge the seemingly infinite scraps of paper everywhere, Q did pull out the vacuum earlier in the week. It has stood in silence like an island in a sea of paper chaos. All in the name of beautiful handmade crafts though, right?! Right! Thank god we are both in this together :p

So anyway! Keep a look out for amazing new hollow book safes from Screamin Monkey Circus coming soon. Q finished one last night that really takes the cake. He's also listed some great acrylic paintings he's done. People who are weenies about having bright colors in their home need not apply.


Quintessential Quirks has Owl and "C"edar sachets relisted along with the eco flower lavender set and designs on the horizon for the Christmas rush. I'm also toying with the idea of including cloves in my cedar sachets. Beta testing will be taking place in the upcoming week. I will be sure to report back.... And I promise I haven't forgotten about the Apple Pie Pop recipe! I am aiming to type that up very soon!

So that is about it from us. This weekend is going to be crazy. Renegade Craft Fair - Chicago is taking place tomorrow and we are very excited to be going to check it out. We also have the annual British Car Festival on Sunday.

So until next time... take care and have a great Friday!

SQ

Sure I'm a little excited about that! :)