Monday, August 27, 2012

Bye Bye Isaac!


Being cooped up at home while Isaac dances across the Keys and into the Gulf seems like pure heaven! Isaac became the perfect excuse to just go create. I’ve been on a “Pennant and Banners” kick. I know, the trends been around a while but I was slow to jump on board. The first banners I created were based on pre-cut chipboard from BoBunny, 7 Gypsies and Maya Road. One day at Paper Niche it hit me.  They have two large Sizzix dies that cut pennants and banners out of chipboard. YEAH! No shipping, less cost, what’s not to love? And so started the obsession.



I spent Friday at Paper Niche’s crop and created 6 Christmas banners. Easy. I adhered 12 x 12 chipboard to holiday paper, let it dry under the weight of some large dies as I did other things and went back and cut it with the large Ellison machine. When Isaac rolled through I had plenty to keep me busy! I added the lace trim to the edges, punched holes at the corner and used lots of wire-edged ribbon to tie the pennants together.  This idea is so versatile and easy! Keep it in mind for birthdays, graduation, welcome home and just about any holiday. In fact, it’s part of my October class. You’ll have to come back to see what’s in store for my Halloween projects!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

It’s rapidly approaching “Art Show Season” around my studio and with it always comes the panic that I haven’t produced enough goodies to sell.  My focus naturally turns to remedying that. Add to the mix the fact that my hubby is in Amsterdam from June 28 through September 10 and it’s a recipe for errors! No one to look at my work and say, “Something’s wrong here.”  

Big sellers in my tent at shows are Wall Words. Sometimes it’s “Dream,” sometimes it’s holiday related like “Ghost” or “Santa,” but my booth and ETSY site always contains college related wall words. They sell well. So I took inventory and knew that I needed to produce college wall words.  Did some for UCF and FSU, took pictures and was getting ready to put them up on my ETSY site. I was editing the pics for the FSU production, (I made 3 of them) and it suddenly hit me. Mind you, it takes me 2 weeks to create these so I had AMPLE time to realize the error. It took until they were complete and ready to be sold for me to realize that even though I was working with FSU colors, I had screwed the letters together to read USF! I must be out on Mars someplace, really.

I did manage to salvage the “S” in all of them, but had to start from scratch on everything else.  Here’s one corrected. You can see the second one on ETSY. Number three sold this weekend at the "Trash to Treasure" show at Paper Niche. Told you they were popular!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

It’s Friday evening, where IS that take-out menu?


That’s the inspiration for September’s class at Paper Niche. We all live very busy lives and by Friday night I’m usually too tired to go to a restaurant!  So Friday is traditionally "Take-Out" at my house.  I needed a way to corral all the menus and turned to Kaiser Craft for the solution.  I turned their writing desk into a Take-Out Menu Holder using BoBunny’s World Market Paper.  Join me on Saturday, September 1st and corral your menus too!  It’s a fun beginner’s class, so it’s open to everyone. Go HERE to sign up for the class.

The best part?  “Take Out Menus” is actually stamped onto the paper so you can change it out to read anything that’ll fit in the area!  Customize it to fit your family.  Love it. 

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Paper Niche Trash to Treasure & More Sale


Come join us this Saturday from 9-5 for this unique event. The scrap room will be turned into a shoppers paradise! Come shop for old and new scrapbooking and stamping supplies and buy from local crafters and Artisans.  I’ll be there with a table of one of a kind albums and school necessities.  Get the jump on my Art Show Season and see it all first!  Go to Paper Niche for more information and directions.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Gator Nation Goodness



 I’m still busy creating for the Fall holiday season. I don’t think this one will be around for long though!  



It’s based on a blue BoBunny Cascade Chipboard Album that was perfect for a University of Florida Keepsake.  Because it’s a cascade album, I wanted to incorporate something that would allow more 4 x 6” photos.  Here’s what I came up with. 
The last inside page is interactive.  Untie the ribbon and it opens to reveal 4 more full size photo mats. It’ll be in the ETSY shop if you’re interested. Enjoy!