Black Friday, Small Business Saturday & Cyber Monday

Did you survive Thanksgiving and Black Friday? We only made one shopping excursion to Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee so my husband could buy their limited edition Black Friday beer, which is only sold today.  If you are trying to do the buy local - buy handmade - support small businesses - thing, here are some suggestions for both in-person shopping in SE Wisconsin and some on-line gift guides in the form of Etsy treasuries for those of you in the rest of the world.

If you live in southeast Wisconsin and are looking for some local, handmade holiday gifts, here are some upcoming craft shows & one workshop:

Saturday, November 30, 2013
Art Vs Craft (their last year) - Milwaukee WI at the Harley Davidson Museum 

Holly Craft Fair - DePere WI

Sat & Sun December 7-8, 2013
Crafter's Marketplace (presented by the ABK Weaving Center)
at the Jazz Gallery, 926 E Center ST, Milwaukee  (I'm participating in this one.)

Sat. December 7, 2013
Holiday card making workshop at Redline Milwaukee

MKE UP Market Holiday Bazaar and Fundraiser for the Philippines at SPIN Milwaukee

Sun. December 8, 2013
Hovercraft 2013 at Turner Hall

Buy Local Gift Fair - Lakefront Brewery

There are probably plenty of others that I am missing!

If you don't live in Wisconsin, you can still shop on-line. (My Etsy shop is here)  I've also been putting together some holiday Etsy gift guides ranging from the kooky & creepy to the fun & colorful.  I've tried to keep the focus on handmade, as well as feature some folks I know both in person and on-line, though there are also strangers included along with members of the Etsy Wisconsin Street Team (WIST).  Enjoy!

Home for the Holidays (little colorful houses)
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTIxNzIyOHwyNzI1MzM3NzY0/home-for-the-holidays

Spoiled Cats & Spoiled Dogs (gift ideas for pets & pet lovers)
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTIxNzIyOHwyNzI1MzE0OTM2/spoiled-cats
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTIxNzIyOHwyNzI1Mjg3OTU0/spoiled-dogs

Krampus (a mythical creature who accompanies St. Nicholas and punishes the naughty children)
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTIxNzIyOHwyNzIyNjY4MzM5/krampus

Zombie Holidaze (and there's a lot of holiday themed zombie stuff out there)
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTIxNzIyOHwyNzI1MjQ0MDI4/zombie-holidaze 

Kooky & Creepy Holidaze (if you prefer your holiday a little off-kilter)
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTIxNzIyOHwyNzIyNzE4ODgz/kooky-creepy-holidaze

Now time for leftover pumpkin pie and a nap.... 

Milwaukee ARTibles Holiday Bazaar - extra hours!

Still looking for unique holiday gifts? The Milwaukee Artist Resource Network's ARTibles Holiday Bazaar will be open extra hours Dec. 19-24, 2011:
Mon-Wed 12 to 7
Thur-Fri 11 to 7
Sat. 10 to 5
(for those of you who like waiting to the last minute)
You can find all sorts of cool stuff made by local artists including clothing, jewelry, purses, ornaments, art magnets, bird houses, quilts, soaps, greeting cards, and more!

Christmas is NEXT WEEK?!?

Not that I'm panicking or anything! I have been working on little art projects here and there, but can't post photos until after the holidays. This coming weekend is our local ATC group's end of year party, so I made a few Christmas-ish ATCs such as this Zentangle tree & wreath inspired by Sandy Steen Bartholomew's article in Cloth Paper Scissors and the Tangles of the Week on her blog.

I did a bunch of holiday crafting in November because Lisa Vollrath gave the Ten Two Studios Design Team a challenge to come up with projects for the December front page eye candy, so check out what we've all been working on! And don't forget, the holiday printables countdown is still going on through Dec. 25!

If I don't manage to get another post written before 2010, have a safe & creative holiday season and a Happy New Year!