Gittin' Fancy wit it

I am so excited about the overwhelming response to my holiday ornaments!  I have been a busy little elf, working day and night to fill the oodles of orders for ornaments.  Whenever will I find the time to build etch-a-sketches or test the jack-in-the-boxes for Santa?  Much like the toddler plate and bowl sets (which we'll discuss later), it seems my favorite ornament is the one I did last.  I appreciate my customers' faith in me to use creative license to come up with something that suits their loved ones, and I hope the orders keep rolling in!  Below are a few of my latest...taking pictures of clear ornaments with details on both front and back has proven quite tricky, so bear with the sub-par photography!

Cute little ladybug for an even cuter little lady (I think the halo you're seeing is a reflection of the sweater I was wearing that day...sorry!)

 Dapper little dude

For the football fanatic - I ended up outlining the football and laces in black, but forgot to take a picture before handing them over.

For the baseball buff

Move over, Jr. 

 Frosty all tangled up in Christmas lights

 A happy Christmas crab

 A familiar looking kitty - I also outlined Kitty's bow and head in black and forgot to take a picture...argh!

Don't worry, Blueshirts, I'm just trying to pay the bills! 

A family of starfish 

 A whimsical family tree

 Not bad, considering it was done by someone from the colonies!  Perhaps I can make one to commemorate William and Kate's first Christmas together in 2011?  Rumor has it they're choosing Fancy Fonts for all of their wedding calligraphy needs anyway!

Waiting for babies...this couple is expecting twin boys, hence the blue belly and two Santa hats.  For someone expecting a girl, I'd make the belly pink or purple (I know some women just don't do pink!).  For one of each or flavor unknown, I'd stay neutral and Christmas-y with either silver, gold, red, or green.

Front

I was told this family was a bunch of Ohio State fanatics.  Lucky for them, there was an O in Hamilton and I was able to incorporate the Buckeyes' symbol right into it.

Back

I stuck with the Ohio State colors for the family's names around the back of the ornament.

I'm finding inspiration for new designs every day, and I'm always open to suggestions.  Give me just a color, theme, or sports team, and I'll do my best to come up with something clever.  Ornaments range in price from $3 to around $10.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place an order.

For my next order of business, I regretfully announce that it seems as though my plate and bowl sets are no longer available through the manufacturer.  I am incredibly disappointed, and I'll keep searching to see if maybe, just maybe, there are any out there for me to snatch up.  I really enjoyed making those, and a huge thank you to everyone who purchased them from me.   Might want to hang on to them...looks like they're collectors' items now!  Additional inserts will still be available for purchase. 

Last, but not least, the ice cream bowls I personalized for Brynn's party were a big hit with the kids and parents alike.  Even if they didn't like them, I got the stamp of approval from the one person whose opinion mattered most...the birthday girl.  She was sitting at her little table with all of her little friends and cousins and said, "Mommy?"  Yes, Brynn?  "I love this party."  Words I'll never forget!

The wheels on the bus

Let's face it, if it weren't for your kid's bus driver, YOU'D be the one shuttling them back and forth to school every day.  Let's not forget him or her this holiday season!  

 Front

Back

This is a large ornament with the bus driver's name, the year, a school bus, and a string of Christmas lights going all the way around - $7.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place an order.

Fancy Fonts Festival of Lights

Finally, something for those who relate to Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song" a little more than they do "Dominic the Donkey." 

 Introducing Menorah the Moose!  

Call me mashugana, but she was so much fun to make!  I've personalized this one with the names of my friend's kids on each antler, along with the year on the center candle.  If you want this to be a grandparents' gift, I'd suggest leaving Miss Menorah as is and write the kids' names around the sides and back.  I think she's so cute, I just might get a little verclempt!  I'll give you a topic...fruit snacks - they're neither a fruit nor a snack.  Discuss.

Done?  Menorah the Moose can be purchased for $7.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place an order.

Oodles of ornaments

I've been hard at work on more ornament samples, trying to convince myself I have enough of a variety of stuff to sell at a local holiday craft show.  Here's a peek:

This one is for a grandma...it includes all of her grandkids' names with a string of Christmas lights going around it.  These can be purchased for $7. 

 

Flattened round ornament with name, year, and bumble bee - $3

Flattened round ornament with name, year, and red car - $3

Flattened round ornament with name, year, and tiara - $3 

Flattened round ornament with name, year, and blue car - $3

Colors on the tiara and cars can be customized to your liking.  Getting a little more confident in my doodling abilities, so hopefully I can pull through on the dinosaur my friend would like me to do!  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place an order.

The next day...not bad for my first attempt at a dinosaur!

Flattened round ornament with name, year, and dinosaur - $3

Fancy Fonts for the whole family!

I just finished work on some ornaments for my sister-in-law (still strange, yet awesome that the term "sister-in-law" now applies to Meghan!).  The first furry friend ornament I made was for Kevin and Meghan's dog, Maddy, and Meghan felt she had to complete the set by ordering one for everyone else in the house.  I can't wait to see them together on display!  Don't worry...the captions will explain the bizarre names on the ornaments!  Each of the styles shown can be purchased for $5...email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place your order.

No, she's not a horrible person.  It's just her maiden name.

Maddy...she calls Raf "Tater"

You've seen this one before, but I couldn't separate Maddy from the rest of her family.

J.P. is a really cool cat.  And J.P. stands for J. Peterman, which is also pretty cool.

Oh, Green.  If only I remembered why your name is Green.  I think perhaps you once had a green collar to distinguish you from the crazy cat lady's other cats.

I'm working on my doodling skills to come up with some more options for embellishments.  I've got a cool swirly flower thing, a whimsical Christmas tree (or perhaps it can be turned into a Hanukkah bush if I replace the traditional star on top with a star of David?), a dapper penguin, and an adorable angel.  We'll see how they translate onto glass ornaments.

I also made the ornaments for Brynn's teachers today.  I put the teachers' names in gold and the kids' names in a variety of colors.   I added a little Christmas light embellishment to make it a little more Christmas-y and fun.  Brynn only has 10 kids in her pre-school class, so it wasn't hard to fit all of the names on the ornament using a "fancy" font.  A bigger class size is still doable, but will probably require something a little less fancy.

Don't forget about my Christmas card special!  Give me your envelopes and I'll do the dirty work for only $0.50 per envelope.  I've gotten the majority of my Christmas shopping done already (yeah, it's November 12th...jealous much?), and my husband will be demanding more productivity from me if he catches wind that I sat with my feet up for 8 minutes yesterday afternoon!  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to get started.

I scream, you scream

Invitations for Brynn's 4th birthday party went out a few days ago, and the responses are rolling in.  Time to start working on party favors!  If your kids are coming and you don't want to ruin the surprise, don't scroll down!  As I mentioned in a previous post, the theme of the party is ice cream.  As a refresher, here are the invitations:

Pretty amazing that by pure coinkydink, the ice cream dishes and spoons I found  for the kids to use at the party and take home as favors match the invitations PERFECTLY!  Add a little personalization a la Fancy Fonts, and voila!  

I wrote "brynn's 4th birthday party" and the date on the bottom of each dish, but my camera batteries died and I didn't have a single AA left in the house to squeak out another picture.  Note to self...buy batteries!

Still thinking of ways to decorate my personalized ornaments, and would love some suggestions, especially for boys.  I was able to draw a cute little car, but with my limited artistic capabilities, I'm not sure what else I can do for the little guys.  I came up with a cute little tiara for a girl's ornament, and as soon as I get my Michael's coupon, I'll buy more ornaments and get some samples up.  I also have a really cute ornament I can't post, as it is a Christmas gift for a die hard Fancy Fonts enthusiast.  Please email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook with questions, comments, suggestions, and pictures.

Trim your tree

The creative juices have been flowing lately, which means the laundry has been piling up around here.  Well worth it though...these ornaments are so much fun to make!  Below are a few more samples of the flattened clear round ornaments, which are being sold for $3 each.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place your order.  While on Facebook, don't forget to "like" Fancy Fonts by Karen Psimas, and check out my photo albums for samples of all of my products and services.

Finally...Fancy Fonts for Furry Friends!

Don't forget your loyal pals this holiday season!  Fancy Fonts is now offering a personalized ornament for kitties and canines for $3.  Ornaments are a flattened clear ball, and personalization includes your pet's name, a paw print, and the year.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to place your order.

Earning my degree

Here's a thought...Brynn will be 4 this month, which means I'll have spent as much time being a mom as I did getting my college degree.  My top salary with that college degree was $37,000 a year, or about $5,000 more than what it cost to go to said college for one year.  Salary.com determined that the time mothers spend performing 10 typical job functions would equate to an annual salary of $122,732 for a stay-at-home mom.  Although I have yet to see a penny of that figure, being at home with my girls has been the best job I've ever had and ever will have.  

But why is it the longer I work this job, the faster the years zoom right by?  It doesn't seem like an entire year has gone by since I was making sunflower cupcakes with red M&M ladybugs for Brynn's 3rd birthday party, but here we are planning her 4th.  The birthday girl didn't give me much to go on...when asked what kind of party she wanted, Brynn simply replied "A birthday party."  My birthday wish for her is that she will always be this easy to please!  We decided on an ice cream theme because let's face it, who doesn't love ice cream?!  I found some really cute invitations at vistaprint.com, and addressed the envelopes in none other than Brynn's favorite color, blue.  

Spread the word...Fancy Fonts is offering 33% off services for addressing Christmas cards!  Why 33%, you ask?  To be honest, it just makes the math easier for me!  Hand over your Christmas card envelopes and I'll address them to your near and dear for only $0.50 per envelope.  Submit paper goods at least 1 week before you  need them completed to avoid the rush service fee.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook to get the ball rolling.  Looking forward to doing my own this year...we've set the bar pretty high for ourselves in regards to the entertainment value of our Christmas cards.  See Exhibit A below:

Helloooooo November!

October sure had its tricks and treats this year, but after a great Halloween with my little pskeletons, it ended on a good note.  Fancy Fonts played a role in our Halloween decor, as seen in the picture below with Brynn and Camryn's own posh pumpkins making an appearance with our jack o'lanterns on the front steps.  Looks like I'll be leaving Fancy Fonts in capable hands once carpal tunnel syndrome forces me to retire...Brynn decorated her own little pumpkin with Mommy's "special markers" and left me beaming with pride.

 I'm still keeping quite busy with incoming orders for the personalized plate and bowl sets, and each one I make turns into my new favorite.  Of course these sets make great gifts for kids, but imagine how excited Grandma (or Nana or Mimi or whoever!) would be to have one to keep at her house for her favorite grandbaby?!  Sets are $15 each, and include one plate, one bowl, and one personalized insert for each.  Additional inserts can be purchased for $1 each.  Email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com to place an order for your favorite little piggy today!

Need just a little something to give a neighbor, teacher, pastor, etc this holiday season?  Below is a sample of a personalized Christmas ornament I am currently offering.  I will be making one for Brynn's pre-school teachers (shhhh...don't tell them!) with all of the kids' names on it.  The same can be done for grandparents by putting all of their grandchildren's names on the ornament.  Prices vary by size and detail, so email me at karen.psimas@yahoo.com for info.

Don't forget to visit Fancy Fonts by Karen Psimas on Facebook for updates and product samples.  Share the page with friends and get them to "like" Fancy Fonts as well!