It may be the dead of winter, but Shelley Straughan has crafty creations for every season, such as these layered paper shadowboxes she showed Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022, at a bazaar at the Hurricane Creek Grange.

JOSEPH — Want a really unique gift custom-made for the holiday or the season? Then check out Custom Crafty Creations by Shelley, which have been available around Wallowa County since May.

Shelley Straughan, who lives near Joseph, described her wares.

“I specialize in layered, paper shadowboxes,” she said, that can be themed for holidays such as Christmas, or any of the four seasons.

She said they can come with a Santa Claus, a boy jumping in leaves for fall, a unicorn — for whenever — and can also be lighted.

“There are multiple layers of paper and each layer has an area that’s cut out of it and when you stack them up, they create a (three-dimensional) theme,” she said.

The shadowboxes, Straughan said, can be pretty much whatever the customer wants.

“I can pretty much do any theme,” she said.

She also does customized mugs, coasters, ornaments, puzzles, shirts, bags and other items.

“I can put any image that can be printed on any of those items,” she said.

Her customization doesn’t stop with knick-knacks, either. She also creates custom wooden signs.

High-tech memorialSrraughan uses a Cricut, a paper-cutting machine she got from a late friend.

“I tell my computer to tell it what to cut and then I assemble it all,” she said.

Straughan got the Cricut from her longtime best friend, Michele Young, who worked as Enterprise city administrator for 31½ years before retiring in 2018. Young died in September 2020 and Straughan bought the machine from her widower, David Young.

“Michele set me up for my new venture,” she said. “I feel like I do it in her honor and in her memory.”

Straughan took a year and a half to learn how to use the Cricut and during that time had people asking her to cut things with it. When she retired after 42 years in social services, the shadowboxes went from being a hobby to her main venture.

Personal marketingStraughan has no storefront and does her marketing at farmers markets and bazaars, such as those held during the holidays in Joseph and Enterprise and at the second-Saturday bazaars at the Hurricane Creek Grange.

“Every month I’ll vary my offerings, depending on the holidays and the seasons,” she said.

Straughan suggests customers check out her Facebook page for ideas and then call or email her.

“If people see something online, like on my Facebook page … or have some special idea of something I don’t usually make, I’ll make it,” she said.

Often, when the project is customized, she likes to meet face-to-face to ensure she knows what the customer wants.

“I like to do the sales one-on-one to make sure people get the customized item that they’re after,” she said.

Then she goes to her home near Joseph and gets to work.

Straughan said she has no plans for expansion of her one-person business, and enjoys it just the way it is.

“I’m liking keeping it doable,” she said. “It’s my retirement fun so I don’t want it to become something that’s not fun.”

But she’s always willing to try something new.

“The sky’s the limit,” she said. “If people have ideas … I’m happy to customize — as long as it doesn’t violate copyrights or the law.”

Who: Shelley Straughan

What: Variety of custom gifts and home décor

Phone: 541-263-0522

Email: customcraftycreationsbyshelley@gmail.com

Online: Facebook

Delivery: Throughout Wallowa County.