Creative Customer - Marcey

I received an email this morning from Marcey Stone over at Happy Stones sharing with me some photos of her paper goods she created from a template set she purchased from my etsy shop a little while back. She added some sparkle with rhinestones and glitter. And you know, glitter always makes me smile. I was excited and delighted to see what she came up with. I always wonder how my designs are given and received. Thanks for sharing Marcey!!

Family Fun Week - Day 5

Family Fun Week had to call in sick for Day 5. Little Cat A had a fever and felt yucky. :(

Family Fun Week - Day 3 & 4

Day 3 - Sunday
Well, we laid low on Day 3. Some chores around the house (no fun in that) and then in the afternoon we went to Gianna's, our niece, family birthday get-together. Got to catch up with everyone. For all you crafters out there, my brother told me about this website that is closing out a bunch of stuff www.pedlarsretail.com. We ate some tasty BBQ chicken with fixin's. My brother-in-law is the BEST BBQ-er! He could open a restaurant. Really. In the evening, we came home we had Movie Night in our family room and watched Wall-E and ate our candy from Powell's Sweet Shoppe.

Movie -- $2 (Netflix)
Family Memories -- $ Priceless
Total -- $2

Day 4 - Monday
We decided to go into San Francisco for Day 4. Little Cat B (14 year old son; does that make him Medium Cat B??) had been wanting to go to the SFMOMA for some time. On the way, we stopped in Berkeley at Zachary's for a slice of their delicious pizza and then another pit stop at Bake Sale Betty's to pick up some of her mouth-watering Ginger cookies for the car ride to the SFMOMA.

The SFMOMA was fun, but it's safe to say I don't get modern art. I tried, really I did, but after viewing 3 of the 5 floors, Little Cat A and I went to the gift shop and had a fine time looking around. Little Cat A bought a very cool, clear bouncy ball that is filled with superfine blue glitter. It's mesmerizing.

We then decided to head on over to the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop at Ghirardelli Square where we proceeded to gobble up 2 giant Hot Fudge Sundaes. Our tummies felt a tad woogley after the treats, so we walked around and peeked in some of the shops to give our stomaches a chance to settle before getting in the car again. There were a couple of shops that spoke to me and I had to explore further.

First, there was Kara's Cupcakes. I adore cupcakes! The petiteness, the sweetness, the flavors, everything about them, I love. I bought a Sweet Vanilla and a filled Meyer Lemon cupcake. I ate the Sweet Vanilla in the evening. I savored it. I don't like to be rushed with a cupcake. It was the best tasting cupcake I've ever had. The frosting was tres vanilla-y and the cake had a bit of an almond taste to me. YUM!! The Lemon cupcake is still waiting to be sampled. Here are a couple of photos of the cupcakes in their natural habitat..



We then strolled over to Lola of North Beach, a very cute paper goods and baby gift shop. We poked around a bit, had a few laughs at some of the cards, bought a card that sparked an idea for a Print Possible holiday card and had a lovely chat with the woman who was working there.

Then off to home we went. I made chicken noodle soup for dinner and we popped popcorn and watched Bee Movie (a very clever movie in my opinion).

Zachary's Pizza -- $14
Bake Sale Betty treats -- $5
SFMOMA -- $32
Parking -- $9
Ghirardelli treats -- $18
Card -- $3
Kara's cupcakes -- $6
Movie (Netflix) -- $2
Time with Family -- $ Priceless
Total -- $89

Family Fun Week - Day 2

Yesterday, the first whole day of Family Fun Week, we went to Petaluma, CA. Though it's FAMILY Fun Week, this trip was solely my desire because Cathe Holden of Just Something I Made blog was participating in a vintage craft boutique. Cathe posted some sketch books on her blog that she would be selling at the boutique and I wanted to own one the moment I saw them.

The weather was beautiful, sunny, clear and in the 70's. We enjoyed the lush, green rolling hills showcasing the mama sheep and their baby lambs on the way there.

Here's what we parked next to. I couldn't resist snapping a pic. Wow!

The boutique was absolutely fabulous!!! There were about 15 vendors and each one had beautiful items. It was so nice to meet a fellow blogger and especially someone who is so creative and talented. Cathe couldn't have been nicer!

Here's Cathe surrounded by all her lovely goodies.

Here's the newest addition to my things-that-make-me-smile-and-bring-me-joy cache.

Cathe wrapped up my new sketch book in such a cute way with some red and white baker's string tying a pair of scissors to the bag along with her business card. It felt like a gift to myself.

The LOML, Little Cat A and Little Cat B were extremely patient while I visited and shopped. Here's another little goodie I bought. Glitter makes me smile...



Next we were off to The Tea Cafe for lunch. It was OK. I think the next time we visit Petaluma, we will try a place new for eats.

We then walked over to Powell's Sweet Shoppe. This is just a wonderful place. It's filled with every candy imaginable, pleasingly displayed and they have Charlie and the Chocolate Factory playing on a TV with theater seats to sit in. Little Cat A bought a DOTS lunch box that she has been pining for since August, and we all bought some candy, of course.

Then it was time to drive home. Fun was had by all and I will enjoy my sketch book for years to come!

Boutique goodies -- $28
Lunch -- $45
Candy -- $15
Inspiration received from seeing so many beautiful creative things -- Priceless
Total -- $88

Family Fun Week - Day 1

Well, the kids have the whole Thanksgiving week off from school and with feeling the need to conserve finances, we decided we would not be doing any grand destination vacation. So, I came up with what I thought would be a brilliant idea (so far, I think I'm the ONLY member of our family that thinks so) of staying local, but acting like we are on vacation. We all contributed to a list of places we would like to visit/experience. Our budget is $100 a day for a family of four, not including gas and bridge tolls, but including food.

And here we gooooooooo...

Last night went to the The Paramount Theater in Oakland to see Singin' in the Rain. It was so much fun! The theater is art deco beautiful (of course, I forgot my camera) and the movie was great! (Nobody in my family had ever seen it.) And the Paramount doesn't just show you a movie, oh no my friend, they give you an experience. At 7:30pm a man sitting at an elaborate organ rises from below the stage and proceeds to play some oldies until 8pm. After each song the audience claps and cheers. Next they show an old cartoon and some previews of old movies. At 8:15 they turn up the lights, and rising from the stage once again, the man playing the organ PLUS three men in tuxedos, one woman in a vintage fancy dress and a very cool retro spinning wheel with 3 turning dials/wheels. It was time for "Deco-Win". Each patron received a numbered raffle ticket when entering the theatre. The Paramount's "Carol Merrill" (Vanna White for you younger readers) spins the wheels/dials, one of the tuxedoed men calls the winning number and, ta da, the lucky ticket holder wins a gift certificate from a local food place. They did this 3 times and no, we did not win, but it was still great fun! Then the movie begins. After each great dancing scene the audience applauds and cheers!

It was a great time and I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is near enough to partake!

Movie entrance fee -- $25 (5 people, Little Cat A took a friend)
Food Treats -- $23 (4 bottles of water, 3 bags of popcorn and 1 box of Milk Duds)
Parking -- $10
Experience -- Priceless
Total -- $58

Party Invites for my Niece

Time flies! My niece Gia is turning 4. Seems like last week she was born...

Well it's her first "little friends" birthday party and I offered to create the invites. She decided on a princess theme and my sister and brother-in-law were kind enough to just trust me to come up with something.

Here's what I came up with...


Of course she would need some Thank You notes too!

I hope they like them. I think I will make some into birth announcements for my etsy shop

What a Pretty Treasury!!

Jen over at Paper Wren put together a very pretty Treasury on etsy called Tipetty Tap Tipetty Tap and was kind enough to include my "Hello" / Typewriter gocco-ed flat notes. I love the subject matter and colors she focused on! Thanks Jen!

What an Honor!!

Miss B over at leblahg.com invited me to do an "On the Download" on her blog today. "On the Download" is a weekly (on Fridays) free download of an creator's artwork. I've put together an assortment of gift tags just for the download.




I was so honored by her invite. I adore her blog! It's beautiful, informative and so fun to read!

So scamper on over and get yourself some free gift tags! And of course, check out all the great things on her blog (not to mention her beautiful paper goods in her etsy shop)!

Enjoy!

Wine Glass Name Tags Demo

My good pal, D, is part of a wine tasting group. This group meets regularly with the hosting of each meeting/dinner party rotated through the group. When it was D's turn to host, she and I had a little visit and came up with these tags so everybody could have fun tasting without fear of swapping cooties. :)

the supplies: embroidery floss, 1/8" hole punch, scissors, 1 1/2" scallop punch, 4 x 6 chartreuse card stock (really any size card stock would work, I only had this size in the color we wanted to use.)

On the computer I set up a layout with 1 1/2" circles (that didn't print) on my size paper and then centered each name in the circle. If you printed the names out on 8.5 x 11, you could just sprinkle the names about with a bit of space between them.

I centered each name in the 1 1/2" scallop punch area.

I punched each tag with a 1/8" hole punch.

Measured about 6" of embroidery floss.

Folded floss in half, threaded through the hole, put ends through loop and pulled.

Tied around the base of the wine glass and trimmed ends.

I also created menus (her last name begins with P) that she slipped into these napkin holders from IKEA that have a little slit at the top to hold such a thing. That tall brown item behind the menu is a wine bottle wrapped up in craft paper (so know one knows what they are tasting). I made a bunch of numbered labels, one for each wine bottle.

A cootie-free good time was had by all!

A Sweet Co-Creation

I just love when a good idea springs forth during the hum drum moments of the everyday. The newest pdf template in my etsy shop, titled "Sweet" happened just that way.

Little Cat A (10 year old daughter) and I were at the grocery store on Wednesday when I heard a rather loud gasp. Little Cat A had spied the Hostess rack of treats sporting a sale sign that read 10 for $10. After spending $1 of her allowance on some firm vanilla cakes with plastic-type frosting, we were driving home when she said, "Too bad you don't have brown labels. You could make some to look like cakes." I thought that was a fab idea!

Here's the final result...

the set of 4 note cards

Little Cat A wanted one that said "Hostess with the Mostess". What a clever girl!

A Crafty Rainy Saturday Afternoon

Last Saturday it rained all day which made for the perfect day of staying inside and doing a little crafting. I decided to try something I suggest in my pdf template listings in my etsy shop with the envelope seals, which is "take some string and make a garland". Here is the process and the results...

My supplies: Scissors, ribbon/string and a sheet of printed labels.

I pulled some ribbon out, placed a sticker face down, put the ribbon in the center and then placed a second sticker on top of the first.

I used the side of the label sheet as my "ruler" to space the stickers along the ribbon, so they ended up about 11" apart.

I tried several ribbon styles. Here's one I think looks very un-lovely. It's just too wide.

Then I tacked a couple of push pins in the wall and tied the ends of the ribbon to them, used some petite clothes pins (double stick tape would work too) to hang the cards and, volia, a holiday card display. It being the beginning of November, I haven't actually received any holiday cards, but you get the idea.

Here's the garland created using string instead of ribbon. The idea is to use it as decoration around a Christmas tree. Again, this being the beginning of November, I don't actually have a Christmas tree yet, but you get the idea on this boxwood who was kind enough to model.

Tried it on a gift too. I rather like it.

I think it would be fun to do several rows hanging straight down in a doorway. (Think beads from the 60's style.)

Well, that was my rainy Saturday afternoon.

Feel free to leave a comment and share ideas.

Another Treasury!

It's always exciting to know that someone has looked at my work and then liked it and then shared! Well, Stacey at bipsy on etsy did just that with her darn cute Treasury titled "Ah Nuts". Those are my squirrel note cards in the top right.

Here it is... (sorry for not showing the whole treasury. I still can't figure out how to capture the whole screen. My apologies to the artists who I cut off.)



Are those squirrel booties cute or what?

Rampage of Appreciation

Fall has officially started in my neck of the woods. Last Saturday it poured most of the day, some sun on Sunday and rainy and cloudy today. I like the sun. Actually, I need the sun. I get grumpy and schleppy when the sun hides for too long. So, I started thinking of how I'm going to get through this cloudy season that's just beginning and I remembered a little process I learned from Jerry and Esther Hicks called a "Rampage of Appreciation".

It goes something like this...
1. gather a pen and paper
2. find a quiet, comfortable place where you can be uninterrupted for say half an hour
3. write down 100 things you appreciate

By the time 100 is reached, you can't help but feel better. My list has run the gamut from appreciating flushing toilets and the internet to the ability to take a deep breath with ease or the way my husband make me laugh.

I just thought I'd share this in case cloudy days get anybody else down too. Really it works any time, like when I'm in a nasty, grumpy, negative, poor-pitiful-me sort of mood. Cause that's not pretty to be around. Luckily this exercise helps snap me out of it.

Woo hoo, the sun just peeked out of the clouds!

Featured in a Treasury!

Elena at Tickled Pink Knits (take a peek at her shop, down right beautiful pieces) has put together a very lovely treasury called "Oh Honey Brown Bear" (super cute title) and included my "New Hive" moving announcements.

Here's a look at it...



Elena did a fabulous treasury and I love the mellow yellow vibe! Thanks for including me!

For the Do-It-Yourself People

Something new and different in my esty shop. Stationery you can print at home. I love the convenience of this idea! You'll always have a note card or gift tag on hand or a last minute gift! Print any time you like. As much as you like.

Everything is formatted to print out on 8.5" x 11" sheets.
This photo shows the gift tags on top, the folded note cards at the bottom and the envelope seals to the left.



This is a shot of some folded note cards and gift tags cut and ready to go.



This is of a folded note card and some gift tags.



The envelope stickers/seals in action.



Holiday cards and gift tags.




Most of the designs can be personalized too.


I had a great time creating these and looking forward to doing more...

Good Fortunes

Who doesn't love cracking open a fortune cookie and seeing what's in store for their future or reading something nice about their personality? Well, I do, especially when it's something good, plus you get to eat a cookie.

A month or so ago, I read an article in Cottage Living (I think) about a woman's cute cottage decor and she had a big post in her home with tons of fortunes tacked up all over it. That sparked the idea for my fortune cookie card. I thought it would be fun to give a card that the receiver interacted with a bit. I did a mock up and had it resting on my desk for several weeks. Each person in my family mentioned in passing that they really liked it, so I thought I would put it in my etsy shop and give it a go.

Here are some photos of it. It comes in a package of 5 cards with 1 list of fortunes to cut and insert in the cookie and 1 blank card to create your own fortunes.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any good fortunes.

Always Learning...

This last week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday to be exact, I received a great business lesson. My friend, Marcia at Cottage Jewel, invited me to participate in a craft boutique. Though I had just 3 days to prep, I jumped at the opportunity because I've wanting to be in a couple of boutiques this holiday season. Since most all my creations are personalized I just needed to put together a display board or two, set out my portfolio and business cards and I'd be good to go.

Here's my little display.

I did some cards to hand out so people could shop on line if I didn't the chance to talk with them at the show.

So far, so good...

I had a nice time. Met some wonderful people. Had many laughs with Marcia. And sold one pack of $3 gift tags. Oops! What happened?

This boutique has been going on for 20 years with many of the same sellers. Why such dismal sales for moi?? Here's the lesson part. I forgot to ask who the target market was for customers. Here are a few photos of other sellers' goods.



All perfectly nice items, handmade from lovely women and all in a completely different style than mine and all ready to be bought on the spot.

Lesson learned: Research, research, research the venue before committing.

Tasty Art!

I saw Alice Waters' book, "The Art of Simple Food" in Costco about a year ago and was intrigued. But, I was not in the book-buying, food-making sort of mood at the time, so I passed on buying it. Well, I kept thinking about it here and there over the year and then saw it again in a shop in San Francisco's Ferry Building (aka a foodie's paradise) and again, it called to me. But this time the $35 price tag stopped me from taking it home. My good friends at Amazon.com came through at $23 and change and it was mine!

Let me start out by stating I am not a cook. I make food in order to survive (my family, I'm sure, wishes it were different). Don't get me wrong. I love good food. I just enjoy eating good food, not making it. So, for me to recommend a cook book it pretty high on the WOW-o-meter.

Things I love about this book:
- the way it feels in my hands (the paper and cover are a great smooth texture)
- the beautiful illustrations (done by Patricia Curtan)
- the variations on each recipe giving them a new twist
- the simplicity of the recipes
- the knowledge imparted about the science of food and cooking
- the way it makes me crave nutritious food (and for not-quite-recovered junk food junkie, that's saying a lot)
- the way it reminds me to support my local food growers and to eat healthy
- the way it actually makes me want to cook!!!!!

It's part cooking and food education, part cookbook and part art (in the recipes and the actual book).

I figure if something has such an impact on me, I should share.
Check it out...

Wow! Featured in a Treasury!

What an honor! I always love looking at the Treasurys on etsy.com and what a lovely surprise to wake up this morning and find one of my designs shown in one. Debra Linker put together a beautiful Treasury called Morning Fog. Here it is: