I've certainly felt every possible emotion you could possibly imagine over this upcoming craft show; ranging from elation to feeling entirely overwhelmed! Shoot! I'm still wondering if I'll be able to get all that I'm "thinking" of creating completed in time. Thankfully, I still have a little over a month to get some of these things created and done; although I may try to round up a few "recruits" LOL!

I found out that the craft show will be held on Saturday, May 2nd from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. which poses another problem of how much of this, that, and the other do I create? So that's another entirely different consideration...

I also knew I needed to get myself "organized" a bit, so I do what I always do and began creating a list of what I hope to get created. Then, went back and added in some suggested "prices" for each item. So, here is what I've come up with:

Individual Cards - $3 ea; 2 for $5; 4 for $10

{each card is lined; included envelope; packaged in a clear resealable bag}

Card Sets of 3 -

3 lined cards; envelopes; clear resealable bags contained in a clear bag

$8

Card Sets of 6 -

6 lined cards; envelopes; clear resealable bag w/ magazine file holder or card box

$16

~ Boxes ~

Love Notes Sets

5 3"x3" lined note cards w/ pamphlet stitching and decorative box

$8

Mini-Milk Cartons

{will be filled with candy or lip gloss and small hand lotion}

$3 - $5 *depending upon contents*

May Day Tussie Mussies

Paper Mache cones w/ pp; scalloped and layer stamped image; w/ decorative trims

*price will vary depending upon contents*

ideas: silk flowers, small bath soaps/lotions/bath salts; candy

Garden Peat Pots

{see project list for ideas}

Price?

Sour Cream Containers

{filled w/ candy}

$3 each

Word Banners

{have "word" list; Cricut cuts 5" set w/ eyelets; adorned with ribbons/fibers}

packaged in sealed clear bag

*need to price depending upon materials/time*

Welded Word Chipboard Ornaments {glittered}

Mother's Day Crowns/Tiaras

$18

while reviewing that list,

I began questing whether or not I'll have too many "paper" products so

I began "brainstorming" for add'l ideas and created another list of ideas!

Also during this past week, I've gave some thought to my table and card spinner rack set up. I've decided to create a "Partly Paper" banner using my Cricut to display on the front side of my table. I want to purchase a pink twin size bed sheet for the tabletop. I thought of what I already have in my studio that I could utilize for risers... to get some things up off the table top and up where people may actually see them. I thought about using my big Eiffel Tower and smaller wire tower as decorative elements and Alexxis' pink and toile covered boxes. They should be perfect to hold cards, banners, or whatever in.. I also have my french easel that I can create a "display" board out of to feature some card samples. And the Card Spinner Rack has a place at the top to clip up a price list.

I've decided I desire to walnut ink up some 2 1/4" metal rimmed tags to tie onto the spinner rack with ribbon so that those can be labelled with card categories.

and I believe I may make up a "special" order price list for anyone desiring a custom banner - we'll see how that goes...

and I've even an idea for "a little freebie"

well, that's all the "little ideas" I have rolling around in my head today...

I'm off to get creating!

Goodies for the Decorative Die-Cut Diva!!!!

I previously mentioned that I co-hosted a Decorative Die-Cuts challenge over at the 2P's stamping board with Lickeyan for Winterfest 09, well, when I used the random number generator and discovered that Andi of http://www.andisperfectgravy.blogspot.com/ was the DDC winner, I just knew I had to offer to cut out her a crown! So I emailed her and she choose pink for crown.

Earlier in the day, I had picked up the silk flowers that are photographed below, so I used them as my color inspiration! Here's Andi's cut crown and some RAK embellishments to decorate it!

I couldn't resist sharing the flowers, especially those sheer ones with the pretty little beads;

some silk ribbon, a strand of faux pearls, and crystal rhinestones.

I hope Andi loves the colors I choose. Here's another close- up!

Boxes, Boxes, and more Boxes!

The past several days have flown by in a whirlwind, I swear I've seen glitter and paper scraps flying in the air! After I made the first magazine tote, I decided to create another, and a mini-magazine tote. Then, I discovered a smaller box, perfect for little "love notes" {3"x3" cards}, and one thing lead to another, and before I knew it, I'd created yet another little milk carton, played around with an older box template, and then, just played around and created a birdhouse!

Here's a photograph of all of them together:

After creating them all, I started decorating them. This one's for Mother's Day and I used a diecut from the Storybook cartridge {Cricut} and the lettering. A flower and some bling and it's ready to go! {I used red stickles over the diecut for additional dimension.}

Another close-up...


Another sweet little box to fill with something...

close-up of the details...
{also cut from Storybook {Cricut}
then, stickled!



In other news, Don and I took a road trip on Monday so I could purchase more supplies, mainly double-sided cardstock for more box making, but somehow a new set of stamps, more stickles, some silk flowers, and embellishments landed in the cart. We enjoyed a nice, quiet lunch out and had an enjoyable {uneventful} ride home. Once there, we spent more time together and yesterday, I was back to playing and even more creating!

I made a set of 5-6 "love notes" for the one small container with the bird nest. Created a little liner which I pamphlet stitched in for the insides. Then, I turned my attention to getting some things cut for the Decorative Die-Cut challenge winner, Andi. {I'll post add'l photos of those... I believe she's gonna love it! And in between operating the cricut to make my choosen cuts, I played with more stamps and inks and created two different set of 6 masculine card sets! {one specifically for Father's Day, the other just simply masculine}

So, today's agenda....
probably cleaning house! There's glitter and paper scraps everywhere!

{also, need to run to Hobby Lobby to return two tape cartridges that are malfunctioning and spray can of Krylon's Low Tack that won't spray! ugh!}

A Milk Carton and Mini Magazine Tote...

While online browsing for clear envelope bags yesterday, I made a note to myself to check online for some box tutorials for some of my card sets. You know you can find a tutorial for almost anything on the internet, right? So today when I discovered this thread on 2P's:

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2764391

I was so stoked!

I couldn't resist creating one so I followed the directions I found here: http://www.sunflowerstamping.com/2008/11/magazine-holder-tutorial.html

This creates the 4 1/4 "x 5 1/2" Magazine holder and is created in two parts;

versus this one: {which makes a one piece mini}

http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/2008/08/mini-magazine-tote-tutorial.html

I could not believe how simple this was to create and I'll

definitely be making more of these! Are they not absolutely adorable? I'm thinking I should create a lot of them... Definitely some as Mother's Day Gift Sets and
perhaps a few masculine style for Father's Day.

And I also discovered this milk carton on Splitcoast Stamper's some time ago, but somehow never got around to creating myself one until today. I believe I should make up a dozen or so to sell, as well. Of course, I'll have to fill them up some good chocolates. These would also be perfect for a young child's birthday... as they aren't too big nor too little... especially when filling them with candy!

I know a certain little someone who will definately be finding one of these in her Easter basket!

Here's the instructions/tutorial for it:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/milk_carton_box/

Enjoy!

WF 09 ~ Decorative Die-Cuts Challenge...

I am co-hosting this Decorative Die-Cuts challenge over at 2P's with Ann, so last night while I had little Miss overnight we created this crown/tiara!

I used the Cricut Expression and the Storybook cartridge to cut the crown at 5 1/2", then, cut again, this time shadowing it. I also used the daisy from the same cartridge to mount my MS white gold glittered letter "A" upon.

Eyelets add not only a decorative feature but hold a strap along the backside of the crown. Threaded with hand-dyed silk ribbon adds an additional touch of elegance. Pearls, rhinestones, and glittered thickers provide more dramatic bling, while a Jolee's dragonfly sticker adds just the right amount of whimsy.

I couldn't resist adding in just a few more flourishes.

These are stamped using Inkadinkado's flourishes.

{I believe I'll definately be making more of these --- especially for Mother's Day!}

WF 09 ~ Two Peas In A Bucket

And more birds for the "Think Birds" challenge

This one features a "Thank You Very Much" sentiment

And the green card's sentiment reads,

"Letters are visits

when friends are apart."

And yep! There's another stamped envy!

WF09 ~ Two Peas In A Bucket

I entered these cards into the Think Birds challenge.

The bird was adorable that I had to clean it,

just to stamp the envelopes!

The bird image lended itself well to my With Sympathy sentiment stamp.

WF09 ~ Two Peas In A Bucket

These are actually a set of 6 cards that I will selling, however, I only photographed 3 of them for this photograph. I entered these cards into the Do It Again & Again challenge since I used a CTMH image for the background. The hydrangea stamp is one of my favorite Anna Griffin's stamps. I love its classical, vintage style...

The quotation reads,

"we can never have

enough of nature"

~Thoreau

WF09 ~ Two Peas In A Bucket

I went through some of the cards I recently created in the "spirit" of Winterfest and photographed them so that I could upload them on 2P's for some of the challenges taking place.

This is one of the set of 3 cards that I'll be selling soon. I entered into the Do It Again & Again challenge. It's sort of a different take on "repetiveness" as I used the same colors, images, and a very similar design on all three.

Here's some close-up shots,

that feature those similarities

and likenesses.

Recent Card Creations...

I'm not exactly sure why I really never considered myself a cardmaker, as I've definately created my fair share of them over the years! But I can say that I've never really just sat down, intending to create so many of them before. Well, until Godelieve, of

http://www.stampingmathilda.blogspot.com/

posted a Sunday Scrap's challenge.

The basic idea was to use up those scraps so that's what I did! I went completely through my scrap basket, pulling out all the pastels and summer-y colors and simply began creating! I utilized some of my bigger sheets of cardstock to cut down for the card structure itself, while other scraps were big enough were utilized for card panels {or fronts or layers} as some stamper's call them.

The process of creating these was very fast paced. I didn't give a whole lot of thought to the designs, they just sort of evolved, becoming whatever they wanted. I did try to use up a lot of the stamped images that Don and I had sat and stamped together, along with the scraps from Little Miss' cardmaking escapades. So some time was spent coloring in some of the images while watching TV in the evenings, while at others times, I sat creating card liners. I used regular old text weight printer paper for that, just simply cut, score, fold, and punch. Sounds easy enough; until you need to create 79 of them, LOL! And every card I've created to date is now lined!

While at the Moose recently, I caught wind of a upcoming "inexpensive"craft show, so I'll be attempting to sell some of my cards and additional items there. Don brought me home a spinner card rack for displaying these and thankfully, I have until May to work on creating more. The display has 96 slots that will accomodate a set of 6 cards per slot. When you do the math, that's a lot of cards!

Some of these cards will be sold in Sets of 6 and Sets of 3, while others will be available individually. I've been looking into ordering clear boxes and clear bag envelopes and each card will came lined and with an actual paper envelope. I have plans for adding additional items: some Paris Eiffel Towers, Slider Boxes for both birthday's and Mother's Day, and some banners and word ornaments perhaps. I also want to focus on a masculine line of Birthday and Father's Day Cards. When I think about it, there is a lot I could create to sale but I'm still uncertain about how big of an event this will be, so I may look into some other alternatives as well. But for now, I'm simply proud of this accomplishment!

After Gary took my computer modem things just sort of evolved around here.

I cleaned up my craft area; did a bit of re-organizing, focusing on functionally first,

decorating second.

The breakfast bar, behind the computer desk comes in handy when I'm using the Cricut.

Simply pull it out a little , establish electrical and computer connections and its all set and ready to go! {Well, it will be again after I re-install the design studio software and contact Provo Craft - again.}

I started on Spring cleaning our home, although I didn't make it very far , when an opportunity to earn some $ presented itself, I grabbed it... So now, it's time for yet another round of everyday cleaning! But the good news is I got to purchase a few new toys which came in very handy when I got to use them.

I've, also, been able to keep up with my picture taking for project 365.

I'm really liking the fact that life just sort of took off, taking me in yet another new direction. It allowed me to get some photographs and to get ahead with the developing of them while I work to get the pages created, but more on that later...

Right before my computer began acting up, I was so looking forward to participating in WinterFest 09 on Two Peas in a Bucket, so I participated "in spirit" although I couldn't really connect with all the other peas for WF09 challenges but one challenge stuck in my mind. A scraps challenge so I went through my paper/cardstock scrap basket and pulled out all the pastel/summery colors I could and to date, I've created over 79 cards!!! I'll post pictures of some of them when life slows down once again. Until then... {*waves*}

Experiencing Technical difficulties...

I may be without computer access for a few days while my computer guru figures out why and what driver an recent update installed that is making my computer run wonky. All that I can tell you is that it involves my anti-virus program as I'm geting a Symantec Framework Error.

Ugh! Computers!

Love em when they work...

pain in the pita when they don't...

anyways, I'll still be here...

taking my photos every day...

creating my layouts when possible...