Snowman of Wreaths

Source: pinterest.com via A. Nieman Design on Pinterest

Avant-Garde Art and Craft Show

This coming Sunday I will be participating in my first ever craft show. Also this will be the first time this craft show will be held in Akron. The Avant-Garde Art and Craft Shows have been held in other cities, such as Cleveland, year round. What is nice about these shows is that they showcase talented artists and crafters from around the state and part of the proceeds of the shows go to local charities. Below is the information for this sunday’s upcoming event.

DECEMBER 2012

2012 SUMMIT COUNTY AVANT-GARDE ART & CRAFT SHOW

The Tangier

532 West Market St., Akron, OH 44303

Sunday- December 2, 2012

11:00am-6:00pm

Perfect time to finish your holiday shopping! This large show will feature artists and crafters selling their original handmade items at this beautiful venue! The show will also feature a la carte lunch items from Tangier's and a full bar! Admission is free to the public. A portion of proceeds will benefit local animal rescue non-profit Jade's No Kill Rescue for animal rescue. The show is still currently accepting vendors.

Item of the day. 8.20.12

Signal Girl cooking timer

Invitations Done!

Thanks to our wonderful Bridal Party, we stuffed and addressed our invitations this past Saturday. They are now ready to be mailed out by this coming friday. As we were needing to save some money we went with something very simple in design, but it also matches the simplicity in our wedding.

We ordered out invitations from Michael's online design service MiDesign@MIchaels. It was very simple to use, very customizable and inexpensive. Of course you could get really creative and go with a more expensive design if you wanted. We would have liked to use a handmade artist for out invitations but the expensive was too much for our budget. If you have the room in your budget Go Handmade!

We also went inexpensive by not using a calligrapher for the addressing of our envelopes. We simply used the clear address labels available from Office Max. Very easy to use and we now have address labels we can use again in the future.

Along with printing out our own address labels, a couple months ago we ordered new return address labels from VistaPrint. Planning ahead (a very important thing to do!) we ordered them in our wedding colors, so that not only would we be able to use them on our current mail but we wouldn't have to order new ones for the wedding. It also saved us on the invitations since addressing the envelops on MiDesign cost a little bit extra.

I also learned today that we did not need to add extra postage to our envelopes because we took out the second envelop that usually is adding into the wedding invitations. Always check the weight of your invitations because anything that you add to your envelop adds weight and you don't want them to not get mailed!

Wedding 101: The New Way to Cake

New trends are always arriving in the world of weddings and I have to share the new trend that my fiance and I are working into our wedding. A friend of ours was at a wedding recently and told us about these cute little cake balls that were around at each table in lieu of having a large cake.

After reaching out to the bride who had these at her wedding only to find out that my fiance had gone to school with the new baker of the cake balls. Christina had changed her career path and was starting her adventure of starting her own business. As a huge supporter of small businesses, this was a no brainer.

These "cake balls" have a much better name: Cake Kisses! They come in a variety of different colors and flavors. We are selecting three flavors, with a plate made for each table in all three flavors. Not only will everyone get a chance to sample the cake but it is less likely for us to have wasted cake.

In putting together our wedding we are striving to keep on budget, be inventive and also to not be wasteful. These fit all three of these categories, plus they taste sooooooo good.

Here are Christina's Links:

Cake Kisses on Facebook
Cake Kisses Website

She also does small parties, events, and holiday themes!

Tower Press Markets – Cleveland Handmade

I have to give some press to my friends at Cleveland Handmade! They are hosting the Handmade Market at Tower Press on Dec 3rd!

Please click on the link to help support local artist this holiday season! Unfortunately this year i will not be able to participate but I am looking forward to being there next year.

Tower Press Markets – Cleveland Handmade

Cyber Monday!

Use coupon code "cybermonday" to receive 20% off everything in my shop!

Item of the Day 3/11/10 - Shop Local Akron

Large Pink Velvet Rose Brooch

New Products At LaZBoy!

LaZBoy introduced their new product line at the April 2009 Market. These products are now hitting the sales floors! Here are some of the frames that you can come sample at your local LaZBoy!

The New Skirted Sofa: Madeline

The New Recliners:

Ashton:

The Legend:

The Carlin:

Please come see me at the La-Z-Boy in Montrose for more information! Ask for Alison and mention my blog!

It has Been a Crazy Week

This week my blog has fallen to the wayside. I have not had a lot of time to myself or for much of anything besides work and family.

This monday my father had a heart attack that nearly killed him. I had to take some time off work to drive down from Akron to Columbus. My father is doing better and now has a dephibulator/ pacemaker.

After getting him home and getting both him and my mom relaxed, I returned to Akron and to work. I have been going no stop all week, making up my missed hours at work Friday. Friday is my usual day off and when I catch up on my blog.

Now that things are getting back to normal, I will resume my blogs and other projects. I just hope that nothing else comes up that sends my world spinning again.

I would just like to thank all of you who read my blog, I appreciate your time!

Thank you and Have a Wonderful Day!

The Larsen Room Design By Alison Nieman

The following La-Z-Boy products can be put together to make a wonderful room. The main sofa is called the Larsen. You can have style with reclining furniture.

Where’s The Green?! Why you need plants in your home.

House plants can be overwhelming to some people because of the amount of care that can go into taking care of them. House plants don’t have to be overwhelming and can be accessible to those that lake a green thumb. How you ask?

Not all house plants have to be real. Fake plants or a term I prefer: permanent botanicals, are a great way to add life to your space without having to devote a ton of time. There are a wide range of different plant species available in permanent form.

Individual pricks of flowers can be found at craft stores such as Michael's and Jo-Ann Fabrics. You can pick and choose for a personalized bouquet, that will last for a long long time. I have found that the best time to purchase these are at the end of the seasons when they are making room for new items. This gives you the best deal! I also find that when I pack it away with my season items I often forget that I bought it and it’s a wonderful surprise.

So what if your not even sure that you can put together a bouquet yourself. Don’t worry! Many places sell permanent botanicals pre-arranged. You can choose from flowered plants to evergreen evergreens.

I bet you may not have noticed that when you were last in a furniture store that there were permanent botanicals everywhere! Did you know that they were for sale too? At my La-z-Boy store I have tons of arrangements that are at some great prices. Not many people come in to La-Z-Boy just for plants but they may be missing on a great deal they never knew existed.

Come and see me at the La-Z-Boy in Montrose and I will help you add some green and life to your space!

Have a wonderful day!
Alison

La-Z-Boy and Ronald McDonald House

This week La-Z-Boy is partnering with Ronald McDonald House. When you purchase a promotional recliner La-Z-Boy Corporate will donate five dollars to Ronald McDonald charities. The La-Z-Boy North East Ohio franchise will add five dollars and donate five dollars for all non promotional recliners as well.

The Ronald McDonald charities are a wonderful part of the community. Help La-Z-Boy help your local Ronald McDonald House charity continue doing the great work they do.

Please come see me at the La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery in Fairlawn on the corner of Market and Cleveland Massolin road.

Have a wonderful day!
Your La-Z-Boy Sales/Design Consultant
Alison Nieman

Good Bye Gift Shoppe

I have been renting a booth at The River City Gift Shoppe in Copley, Ohio for the past 6 months and have found it less than profitable. I have decided that I cannot afford to pay rent for something that is not proving to be beneficial to my business. I thought that maybe I would have more luck if people could seem my items in person but that was not the case.

I think it doesn't help that the economy is not the greatest. Even at Dillard's I am seeing the affects. We are the slowest we have ever been during an extra 30% off sale. Usually we have quite a bit of traffic in the store during this sale but that has not been the case this time.

I hope that taking everything out of the gift shop and putting it online I will be able to make up for the loss in profit. I at least want to break even this summer. I have quite a bit of small items in the shop and will probably be adding a couple of pages to my Etsy shop. It's going to be a lot of work getting all of these things online but I think it will be better then having them sit in a booth.

I should be adding the pictures to my blog as I post them on the site. I'm doing a lot more advertising now and marketing. I am really putting some effort into this. Even more than before. I think not only is my business maturing but I am as well.

The River City Gift Shoppe!

This is the website of the gift shoppe that I sell my crochet items.

It is an adorable shop located in Copley Ohio a township of Akron. There are directions on the site so if you are ever in the area please stop by!

http://rivercitygiftshoppe.net/default.aspx

Also they are accepting crafters to sell at the shoppes.

I'm Back!!

I'm finally back to etsy and my crafting ways! I originally was going to try to keep up with all my etsy stuff part time while I finished school but that did not work. School went crazy and I was bogged down with work to do.

So now I am finally done with school and am a graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelors of Science in Textiles and Clothing with a concentration in Residential Design! It feels sooooo good to be done! Now I have to find a job!

I've already started looking but in the mean time I am working on my etsy like crazy. I totally fell off the face of the etsy earth and am now realizing how much of a mess I have created. But don't worry I am cleaning it up and getting back on track. Its soo much easier when you are not doing homework or papers or studying for tests every day!

Along with graduating I just moved! I'm still in Ohio just a little further north in Copley and small township of Akron! It is wonderful!

This past weekend I found a new gift shoppe that just opened and is accepting vendors. I emailed them and hopefully something comes of that. It would be an ideal part time job!

I also have applied to a couple of interior design firms but not many are hiring right now which is not a good thing for my career. I'm trying to be optimistic though.

I am currently working on some Halloween decor items and some projects that I need to finish for myself and my mom. I made my self this purse a while back from a pattern I designed myself. My mom is helping line it and so I decided to make her one too as a thank you. I should have pictures when they are done!

Well thats all for now. I have to finish laundry and get some crocheting done!

Its great to be back!!