Putting Myself Out There.

Well, since I've gone and fallen out of my box o' comfort by applying for a design team, I decided I might as well go all the way and submit some works for publication. So I did. Eeeek! I figure if I'm gonna be out there, I might as well go all the way. I might be setting myself up for serious disappointment when nothing happens, but if I don't try, then it never will.

So here goes.....

(...J...U...M...P...)

*splash!!*

The plunge has been taken.

*GASP!* and a deep breath...

... I just submitted my application to a design team. I've been meaning to for a while, and wanted to make sure I got it done before the deadline crept in. Now it's finished, which brings a sigh of relief. But now I'm nervous and vulnerable and can feel myself gasping in shock that I just put myself out there like that. I like the safe comfort of my usual not-going-out-on-a-limb world. But I did. And now I have to wait...

Fun Magnets!

I've seen lots of people making cute glass gem magnets on etsy. So I started making some too, just for fun. But then my magnets weren't cooperating with the not-perfectly-circular gems, so I went back to making my ribbon flowers and came up with a whole new idea - Flower Magnets!! So I've been having fun making these cute magnets and packaging them up for etsy and my upcoming craft fair.

And I promise... one of these days I will post something without talking about etsy. I promise.

It's like an addiction.

I.
Love.
Etsy.

First Sale.... and more!

Last night, sometime during craft night, someone decided to buy one of my ribbon flowers on etsy!! I was SO excited!! So I was going to post on MIM about how excited I was to have sold something so quickly after posting items. But, I was tired and decided I'd post my excitement today. But with today came another email saying... someone else had bought 3 more things!!! SO I hurried up and peeled myself off the ceiling, then ran down to the craft room to collect the items, personalize the tins, print out receipts, bundle everything together and head off to the post office.

So now I'm posting to say that I've officially sold and mailed 4 items! Yipppeeee!

Bwaaaa-ha-ha!

Sick, wrong, and completely hilarious.

Updated my ETSY!!

Well, I've been crafting like a madwoman for this craft fair in October, but I decided to put some of the things up on my Etsy, too, in hopes that I might get a little more ambitious about my store. I've just got a few things in there now, but will be adding more over the next few days. Right now I've got some card sets and accordion album tins up. Take a look - what do you think?

ETA: I also added more paper bag albums, accordion album tins, and some ribbon flowers! I've got 25 items in the gallery right now and will be putting more in there once I figure out what will interest people. Let me know if you have ideas!

PaperTrey Ink Cards

Okay... I've been playing with my new stamps and here's what I've come up with....




I've just been having fun. I've done a couple other cards, too, but haven't scanned them in yet.

Oh Yeah...

Have I mentioned how cool it is that out of the 200 (and only 200) scrapbooking stores across the US that were chosen to offer Creative Cafe , ours is one of them? I think that's pretty cool. Now... what to do with Ellie during Happy Hour...

Birthday Stamps!!

My birthday gift from Leif this year is a couple stamp sets from PaperTrey Ink. They arrived today, so I opened them up and played with them, even though my birthday isn't until tomorrow. Yes, I got scolded for playing with my present before my birthday. But really, could YOU resist? My first thought when I opened the box was just how beautifully packaged these stamps sets are. Clean and crisp and clear, just like the stamps. I've never ordered from them before, but have seen them used several times in Debbie Olson's projects. The sets I got are Text Boxed (I made a few cards from this set tonight - I'll have to scan and post those later) and Holiday Treats. The Holiday Treats set is very cool and puts me in the baking mood just so I'll have baked goodies to give away and an excuse to stamp cute gift packaging, LOL! My Inner Martha is clapping her hands in delight already. I can't wait to scraplift cards off the PaperTrey idea gallery, too. This one (of course by Debbie Olson) I want to do right now. Unfortunately, I'm not going to, but I will soon. This one I want to do, too. But it's late, so I'll just be happy knowing that these lovely stamps are in my craft room waiting for me to have another free moment to play.

CRAFT NIGHT!!!

It has been FOREVER (seriously... since June, maybe even earlier?) since I've been to craft night. And tonight it is!! Craft night is here at my house this week and next, so I've got my craft room all spiffied up and even vacuumed. Let the crafting begin!!

I. LOVE. FALL.

Seriously. Isn't this the cutest mini bundt cake ever??? I've seen these mini bundt pans at Fancy Flours before and not known what to do with them. Now, I almost have to have them.

Ack!!

I just noticed that 2ps redesigned their website (again!!) and now the pictures of my SPS cards and layouts don't show up on MIM since I linked to the 2ps photos. Ack!

But you can still see them up on my gallery there if you'd like.

Craft Fair Mania

Well, I said I was going to sell paper bag albums, cards, gift albums, and a couple premade scrapbook pages at the craft fair, since I already had them done. And I am. But.... add to the list a few more things:

• Accordion albums in a tin
• Circle mini albums

You see, I made an altoid tin accordion album before I left for TX and I love how it turned out. But we just don't have that big an Altoid addiction. So when I got back last week I thought I'd post on Freecycle and ask if anyone DID have an Altoids addiction and wanted to give me some tins to play with. A couple days later I got an email from someone saying that they had a bunch of tins that Swiss Army knives came in. They're similar in size to Altoids tins, but don't have a hinged lid. They also don't have color or writing on them that I'd have to paint over, just a small logo on the lid. So I went to pick them up and they're PERFECT!! AND he had 45 of them. Jackpot!! So I've been making accordion albums and playing like crazy and loving it. And I've only been using scrap paper, so they've basically been free for me to make. Score! If I don't sell all of them (I've made about 7 so far) at the craft fair, I'll put them on Etsy, since I really need to get busy and put new stuff in there. I've sort of let it lapse so far. Oops.

The circle albums are made with coasters I got at Walmart on clearance. I got 12 coasters for $1 and I can get 3 books out of those, since they're just 4 page mini albums. I got a ton of them - enough for 15 or so albums. Today I've been making some of those. Have I mentioned how much I love my circle cutter? And Staz-on ink? These albums are going together so quickly and I think they're really cute. Hopefully the people at the craft fair will too.

So there you have it. I wasn't going to make new things for this fair... just sell what I'd already made. So much for that. But at least I'll get a feel for what sells and what doesn't and maybe, just maybe, I'll branch out and gain a little confidence in myself for selling the things I make. I hope so.

Now to figure out how to set up my display. Any ideas from you pros?

Sweet Pea Scraps August Kit (part 2)

Cards made with the August kit. I love how these cards turned out!! I still have plenty of leftovers from the kit, too, so I will be making more cards with these glorious papers!!

Apparently, I need help.

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Sweet Pea Scraps August Kit (part 1)

Whew! I've been back from Texas for a week now and it's been nonstop craziness! My uncle is in town for a week and the LSS open house was on Saturday. What crafting time I have had has been spent on projects for the craft fair in October. But I never did post my projects from the Sweet Pea Scraps August kit. I just uploaded them to 2ps (at least some of them... still have a couple more to stitch and post, thus the "part one" in the subject line) and my September kit has now arrived, so I decided it's time.