There was alot going on in Mill Race Village today.   All the shops were getting ready for tomorrow’s festivities.   Santa Claus will be coming to town and the tree lighting at 5PM.   

In addition to fixing up the shop and putting items on display I thought it would be fun to spruce up the “Cupboard under the stairs”.   So I posted on my Facebook status to see if anyone had some Harry Potter items.   My neice said she would look around and let me know.   Jenn thinks that she has a Hermoine wand.   Shortly after that Allan stopped into Jersey Made.  He had seen my Facebook message and brought this awesome Gryffindor banner.  It is the perfect size for the cupboard..   I am going to gather some items to make a tassel type hanger for it and it will be hung up tommorrow.   I was thrilled with his gift and thoughtfulness!

I did lots of things around the store today in between chatting with customers.   I wrapped up empty boxes with Christmas paper to put outside in the little wagon under the tree.   The little wagon looks cute but as soon as I moved it another wheel fell off.   Perhaps in the spring it could be up-cycled.   I worked on my Leafpile display and made some signs for around the store.

The M A D E letters have been talking to me as I sat at the counter.   The wall behind the counter needed something to catch people’s attention when they come through the door.   So I hung them up and sketched out the Jersey from the logo.   The Jersey will need another coat of gray paint and an outline but I think it looks pretty close to the actual font.   The M A D E letters really like the flash and pop out in the photo.   This is the wall that I painted “Almost Aloe”.  I know it doesn’t look that way in the picture so you will just have to stop in and see it in person.

I have been enjoying my time at Jersey Made this week.   Although I worked just as hard it just didn’t seem that way.   I could play music while I worked or was busy creating something.   The shop is looking great.   Tomorrow will be a busy day in the village with lots of people coming to enjoy the festivities.

Mark your calendars for a few upcoming events at Jersey Made….

Wednesday, December 9th 6PM to ???     Christmas Card Creations.   Bring your own supplies or you may buy a kit for $10   (makes 10 cards)    Holly will have her Christmas scrapbook there with loads of ideas and treasured cards she has made and received over the years.  

Saturday, December 12th 1-4PM   Iron Works Hill Battle -  come see all the reenactors fighting through the Mill Race Village.    and then from 6-9PM is the Chocolate Walk – oh wow!   What a fun event that is going to be.   Plan to spend the day in Mill Race Village but make sure to stop at Jersey Made for some chocolate treats!

Wednesday, December 16th 7PM to 8:30PM    The 1st monthly artist trading card club.  Make 3 ATC’s – see the events page for pics.   Kelly Donovan brings her awesome talents to Jersey Made.  There are still a few openings available.     $15 plus $5 supply fee = $20

Saturday, December 19th  1PM to 2:30PM    Here is a great opportunity for parents and kids too.   Parent shop/Kids craft   Parents will have 1 1/2 hours to shop the Mill Race Village while the kids make holiday crafts.   There will be a few different crafts available depending on the age groups.   This class will be limited to 8.   Parents are asked to plan their shopping at Jersey Made after 2:30PM.    Class fee is $15.   If you are bringing 2 or more each additional kid is $10.   i.e.  3 kids = $35 total

  As always, thanks for reading!  

Jersey Made Hours

Wednesday 11AM to 6PM 

Thursday Noon to 6PM 

Friday   11AM to 6PM

Saturday 10AM to 6PM

Sunday Noon to 4PM

 It is the eve of the opening of Jersey Made.  

Is everything ready?  Nope, but every new store has to start somewhere and tomorrow is going to be it.   

Verizon will arrive tomorrow to install the internet and then by Thursday or Friday  Jersey Made will be able to take credit cards.   It was kind of dim in the store for a little bit but now the lights on the brand new ceiling fans have been fixed. The broken fixtures on the track lighting have been repaired.    There will be more New Jersey artists coming to bring their creations to Jersey Made in the next few days.    Hopefully the store will be in full swing for the weekend. 

Once the website is up and running the full class list will be posted and you will be able to register online   and see all that is going on at Jersey Made.  Contact me at Holly@leafpile.org to sign up in the meantime.  Any updates will be gathering here in the Leafpile until then.

Give the gift of art this Christmas.   Gift Certificates are available at Jersey Made and can be used for purchases and classes/clubs too!  

When doing the presentation for the Mill Race Village group  The Sweet Stop made these cute little New Jersey’s out of chocolate to be handed out to each of the merchants attending the meeting.   They were such a big hit and were quickly gobbled up.    It is very exciting to have The Sweet Stop as a New Jersey artist at Jersey Made.   Debbie Blyn is the owner of The Sweet Stop and creates beautiful and yummy treats out of chocolate.    Her lollipops would be great tied on to holiday packages or to eat when the wrapping gets the best of you.    She also makes the best pretzel rods and has some gift tins that will be available.

On December 12th the Mill Race Village will be hosting the Chocolate Walk.  As you stoll through the village stop at each of the participating shops (Jersey Made included) to enjoy chocolates for the tasting.  Some shops will have live music – I promise not to sing to you – LOL!    You can also purchase tickets for the special treats to take home.   $15 in advance at http://www.millraceshops.com/Events.htm  or $20 at the door.   The proceeds of the special treat chocolate will go to the South Jersey Food Bank.    Even if you don’t get the box for collecting treats it sure would be yummy to walk around the village that day.   Stop by and get some yummy New Jersey’s to add to your box!

….and they’re not made out of ticky  tac and they don’t all look quite the same – so stop singing!

So a few weeks ago I blogged about the little boxes that I made.  I will attach a link to that blog in case you want the pattern or more info. http://www.leafpile.org/blog/2008/11/11/little-boxes/ Well I took the little boxes one step further.  I made 25 boxes out of dark blue linen cardstock and stamped them with the mistletoe/berry stamp included in “Peaceful Wishes” copyrighted by Stampin’ Up!.   I used the fingertip dauber to put silver ink on the edges.  These boxes were then filled with 10 Hershey’s kisses and given out at my sterling silver open house.  My sister (Amy of course) was caught stuffing extra boxes into her purse on the way out the door.  Since I made way more than I needed I had extra and have been enjoying giving them to friends that I’ve seen since.   Everyone seemed excited to receive one.

The funniest story of my little silver boxes happened at church.  I had given a box to a few friends who couldn’t come to my open house.  Plus one to a lady who has been having a hard time of it lately.  It was nice to see her smile and kiss me on the cheek.  Well another lady sitting with that group leaped from her chair and came running over to the table where I was sitting.  She demanded to see the little silver boxes and informed me that she wanted 2 of them.  I had stuck a bunch in my bag so there was definitely 2 more and I couldn’t think of how to say ‘no’ to that one.  So I scooped out 2 and handed them to her.  She then quickly informed me that now she wanted 3 and she was going to give me 3 dollars.  Still not knowing how to say ‘no’ I told her to look in the bag and if there was 1 more she could have that as well.  The group at my table had been busy making cards for the shut-ins using my painted drawings from last Sunday’s bulletin (there’s a blog on that too) so I couldn’t stop again to help search at the bottom of the bag.   She oohed and aahed as she scurried from the table with her boxes chattering about them the whole way.   A few minutes later she was back to place 2 dollars (not 3) in my bag next to me and off she went.

So now all the women at my table, who had been busy making greeting cards for the shut-ins, were now at a standstill.  They had been watching all of this happen and the giggling was too much.  The progress of cutting, gluing, stamping and labeling had halted while we all pondered what I would do with the new found income.  I was busy calculating my hourly rate which I estimated at 30 cents per hour, not including the price of the chocolate.  The more we went on the more we laughed.  I figured that amount wouldn’t take me too far on a trip so I walked if over to the donation basket.

So create something today and see what kind of story you come up with in the process.  You just never know what will happen but when you give away something you’ve created.  It makes a difference to people (sometimes in odd ways but nevertheless it is a difference).

A silver box is in this for anyone from church who can guess the mysterious 2 dollar woman with 3 little silver boxes — just cause I do this blog for fun – hehehe!