www.themedievalnun.etsy.com

I am running a sale of all my products now until Christmas (12/25/08).  Buy $20 or more and receive 20% off. 

Terms and conditions: S&H charges don't count towards the $20 minimum.  20% discount does not apply to S&H charges.  Your PayPal account will be charged the full amount when you purchase, and then I will manually refund the discount before your item ships.  Sale applies to all products in both my Etsy and eCrater stores.

Because I use the US Postal System, I would place Christmas orders no later than 12/15/08 if you want them to arrive by Christmas.

http://www.squidoo.com/handmade_christmas_gifts

Here is a Squidoo article I've written on having a handmade Christmas, which many of you will probably enjoy.  It's a collection of ideas I've been gathering from various places over the last few years, plus a few of my own. 

It includes general instructions on making your own cards, wrapping paper and decorations, plus ideas for homemade Christmas presents and gift basket assortments, not to mention recipes for some drinks and candies. 

Have a very crafty Christmas!

http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/TheMedievalNun

This is my Squidoo hub.  Right now, in my craft and business themes, I only have an introduction to medieval bead embroidery, a how-to on making hand-stitched eyelets, and some information about making a professional-looking website, but I plan on adding more bead embroidery info/how-tos.  I also plan on talking about some of the products I sell a little more in-depth, and I plan on making an article of all the tips I've learned about marketing an online craft business.

If you find my articles interesting, join my fan club and I'll send out updates when I add new articles. 

It's the first of November, and time to start thinking about Christmas.  Being laid off, Christmas needs to be cheap this year.  I prefer making Christmas presents anyways (I think that's more Christmasy and there's something about exploiting sweatshop/child labor in developing countries for cheap Christmas presents that doesn't feel right), but I need some help coming up with some ideas. 

I can knit, and a number of family members are getting hand warmers (fingerless mittens) because they're supposed to be good for people for people with arthritis--keeps their hands warm and flexible while still allowing them the use of their fingers--plus I'm doing at least one toboggan.  I can do jewelry, and at least one person will be getting that--although I've done jewelry the last two Christmases and I'm looking for something different from most.  There's also a knitted fox I want to do for a couple of people. 

So, as usual, there are some people that are very hard to create/shop for.  What are some good gifts for men?  I have one that likes to cook, and I thought about making him an apron with humorus cooking phrases on it, such as "This isn't an apron, it's kitchen armor" and put a few utensils in the pockets.  I've got someone else who is even harder to shop for.  He likes computers, planes, and his mother informed me last week, he's taken an interest in military history, namely WWII.  If all else fails, we can hit his Amazon wishlist for books. 

I have a couple of people who like flowers/gardening and birds, plus one that likes Americana, eagles, and the Civil War. 

In addition to beaded jewelry and knitting, I also sew.  I'm making my grandfather one of those reader's wraps that seem to be so popular in catalogs this year.  I might do another one or two for some other people.  I have a couple of cousins that we always seem to exchange coffee with every year.  Any ideas of something coffee-ish that might not involve actual coffee?  Oh, and last of all, a 15 year old boy.  Come up with something to make him!