Cheering Up from My Family

I've been MIA for a couple of weeks. The first week my mom came for a wonderful visit and the LOML and I went away for the weekend (sigh of contentment), and then the second week, I had a complete melt down (origin unknown) and went to a very dark place. (It had nothing to do with my mom's visit, honest.) I don't know what happened. I'm going to point the finger at hormones and leave it at that.

Hanging on the wall, in a location I can see while laying in bed if I turn my head to the left, is a big (3'x4'), linen-covered bulletin board. I tack images on it that make me happy. You know, shoes, lake houses, travel destinations, etc. During my ugly time last week, I took everything off and just left the assortment of tacks scattered randomly. This is what my 14 year old son did with the tacks to try and put a smile on my face.


My husband added the "tongue" the next day. It's a piece of paper from the top of a business form. In other words, trash. Clever boys.

They love me.

Valentine Treats for my Family

This morning I TRIED to make something special for my family for Valentine's Day. I saw a yummy recipe in Marty Stewart's Feb issue for heart-shaped Ginger Sugared Cookies. I'm not the baker in our family. The LOML is. He likes to bake. He's good at it. I like to eat what he bakes. A match made in heaven. But, I thought he (and the rest of my family) would enjoy being on the receiving end of some baking love. So I tried.Here's what the little pretties looked like going into the oven. Not bad. I was already starting to pat myself on the back.

Here's what they looked like coming out of the oven! What!?? They are official Valentine blobs! Seriously, I could have just thrown the dough at the cookie sheet and gotten equal or better results.

After having spent the time making the dough, refrigerating it, rolling it, cutting it, sprinkling it, re-refrigerating it and then baking it, I was invested in this little project and was not going to give up.

So, I scrounged through my stash and found some glassine envelopes. I packed 5 little "hearts" (the bigger hearts will need to be used in blind taste tests, ephasis on blind) into each envelope, sealed them with some labels I made and wrapped them with baker's twine. I'm hoping the packaging will work as camouflage and distraction for the cookie-blobs.

Nothing says love like an envelope of Valentine's blobs. :)

Featured in a Treasury!!

Stacey over at Shubey created a VERY lovely treasury on etsy and was kind enough to include my Bird Silhouette flat notes (they are the 3rd photo down on the left). I think she put together a pretty palette and made great choices. I'm always amazed at the talented people who play/work on etsy. I'm liking those magnets on the bottom left! Thanks Stacey!

Cheap Wall Art (I mean frugal)

The walls at Print Possible (my other, other job) are bare. Have been for 2 years. We keep meaning to put something up, but time keeps moving on and the walls haven't dressed themselves. Well, no more naked walls! These will be hanging very soon. (click on photos to enlarge)

The 16 frames all laid out on my floor. I'm going to try and hang them with sticky-back velcro so they will (hopefully) be easier to align.

I bought some 5.5 x 5.5 Nyttja frames at IKEA ($24 for 16 frames!), scoured my clip art books, did a little printing and cutting and voila, instant art.

The frames still wrapped up and some trial images printed out.

I created a template in Illustrator so I could print the images 2 at a time. I printed the trim marks as solid lines for easier cutting and because the picture frame border would cover any cutting mistakes.

A closer look.

I printed the "border" on kraft paper and the butterflies on white. I ended up changing the corner images to include some of the border because the corners on their own (see photo 3) were to overwhelming when they were bigger.

Thrift Store Gold (or Silver in this case)

Yesterday, Little Cat A and I went to a local thrift store. It's been a very long time since I've been on the thrift store circuit. Back when I was an owner at Room With a Past, I hit thrift stores and garage sales weekly to gather inventory to revamp for the shop. After a few years of weekly hunting, I was burned out and had to take a couple of years off. But, I'm ready to get "back in the saddle" and hunt again. I was rewarded on my first time out by finding this silver toast holder.

I've been wanting/needing a file folder holder (say that 3 times fast) and did not want another black plastic one from the office supply store. I love the font, the patina, the look, the everything! about this toast holder (I mean folder holder). All this enjoyment for only $3! (contented sigh...)

Some Free Love

Ok, I've been wanting to do a free download for quite some time now, but had no idea how to do it. Once again, it's Cathe Holden to the rescue. She gave me some pointers (ok, she told me exactly what to do). Let's see how it works. Please click here for a download of this:

It's an 8.5 x 11 pdf of Valentine's gift tags/lollipop holders. I created them for my daughter to pass out to her pals in class. Just print, cut and attach a goodie to each tag and spread the love. Little Cat is is going to punch two holes in the center and "weave" a lollipop stick through them.

Please let me know if this download works for you and how they print for you. I'd really appreciate any feedback. I want to get it right so I can do more freebies in the future:)

Happy Valentine's Day!!
Whitney

New Designs for the Shop - Scooters, Scrolls and a Bird

I've been eager to sit down at my computer and work on some new stuff for my etsy shop. Having to get year-end bookkeeping stuff done at my "other" job and having to get a new laptop and transfer everything over to it has kept me in a very left brain place lately. I needed a creative fix and I got one. Two glorious days (while the kids were in school) at home, alone (except for the dog that loves to sit in my lap and rest her head on my keyboard, which makes it challenging to type) to play and create. Oh the joy!

A modern scroll do-dad sort of thing.

The color ways the modern scroll do-dad comes in.

A different modern scroll do-dad sort of thing.

The color ways the different modern scroll do-dad comes in.

A little retro scooter for her.

A retro scooter for him.

Technicolor sound wave? Party Streamers?
Who knows, but I liked it.

I know, I know, birds , birds, everywhere birds,
but I can't seem to get enough of them.

Look What "Oh So Beautiful Paper" is Sharing

Haven't picked out your Valentine's Day card yet? Take a look at Nole's, Oh So Beautiful Paper blog. I think she has got WONDERFUL taste and always showcases the most lovely paper goods. She was kind enough to include my Book of Love in her first installment of Valentine's Day cards. I did submit my entry to her and I'm honored she chose to include it. Take a peek here.This is my favorite. It's a print. I just love it!

Another Valentine After All

I THOUGHT I was only going to create one design for Valentine's Day, but I came across a couple of cupid graphics that inspired me. I decided to do a PDF Valentine Set for the etsy shop. I tried to make them flexible to use.

The PDF files all printed out.

Everything cut up and ready to give.

Each little Love Note is for writing something you love or appreciate about someone. Similar to the Bucket of Love concept, but instead of having all the notes in one place, I like the idea of hiding them all over the place so they can be found for days on end.

The Petite Valentines are for using as gift tags (maybe with a Hershey Kiss taped to it?) or punch a couple of holes in it and "weave" a lollipop through.

The labels are just for fun; sealing envelopes, decorating a package or making Valentines with.

When Good Dogs Do Bad

Would you think by looking at this

I would ever need one of these?

Well, my furry pal, Lola, and I went visiting yesterday to my good friend Denise's house to meet the newest addition to their family. Cookie, a Malti-Poo puppy. We thought it would be so nice for Lola and Cookie to become friends. Well, not only was Lola less than patient with the pup (a tad snippy, actually), but she went No. 1 on a cool, round mattress that D has (of course, it was new). So, not only will I be replacing the mattress, but sending this apology card. I designed it last summer when I found the dog graphic and thought it was hilarious. Who knew it would come in handy! I hope it's the last time I have to use it.

A Great Way to Start a New Year

I came across this blog the other day called Simple Mom. It's fantastic! I was most intrigued with a posting she had called "20 Questions for Planning New Year's Goals". I promptly downloaded the pdf and printed out a couple sets. One for me and one for the LOML. I just love the way the questions are worded. Very gentle and yet thought provoking. Look at the questions here and see if they speak to you.

If you have the time, this is another great article from her site about setting goals or making changes without the pain.

My First Advertisement!

If you get a chance, check out my first advertisement. Stephanie over at StephModo contacted me about advertising on her blog. I checked out her blog and promptly said YES!. Her blog is just wonderful and has a bit of everything; some design, some food, some personal, some everything! Take a peek here. Thanks Stephanie!

Valentine for the Shop

The Book of Love

I don't do a lot of designs for holidays. Just a few for each one (at most). I just finished my one and only nod to Valentine's Day for my esty shop. The idea came from the Christmas gift (The Bucket of Love) I made for my husband. That project was loads of work. It was worth it, but I wanted to come up with something a little more user friendly for the shop. Enter "The Book of Love". All the giver has to do is decorate the heart (if they choose), fill in the pages with the things they love about the person, pop it in the envelope and voila, instant valentine keepsake. I have enough supplies to make 10 (my first limited edition!).

The heart and envelope are red pearlized paper.
The heart works as the to/from tag and to keep the book closed.

Once the heart is removed, the book opens.

The inside front cover (on right) and the first page to write on.

Samples of the pages to write on.
They alternate in the book. 10 pages total.

New Year - New Face (kind of)

Here's to 2009 being a year of prosperity, love, kindness, appreciation and laughter! (And on a personal note for me, here's to being more patient and creative. Well, and organized too.)

With a new year I thought it time for a new approach . That approach being one of not hiding behind my computer. If I were in the entertainment business, I wouldn't want to be an actor (no lime light for me, thank you very much), but a set designer/builder. I like the creating, the behind the scenes. I'd much rather put a party together than attend one.

But, I've noticed loads of people put their photos on their blogs and I really like it. It's so much more personal to me. More friendly. SO, I've officially left my comfort zone and put my mug on my blog page. It's GINORMOUS!! I don't know how to make it smaller. If anyone knows how I can make it smaller, I beg of you to leave a comment or email me and tell me how. Quickly, so I can stop the cold sweats. Oh my, I miss my comfort zone already!

Happy 2009!!

UPDATE: 1-28-2009 Cathe Holden over at Just Something I Made came to my rescue and told me how to make my mugshot smaller. She actually sent me a smaller photo for me to drop in and emailed me the steps she took to make the photo smaller. It had to do with Photoshop Elements and making the photo 125 pixels. THANK YOU CATHE!!

A Sweet Mouse All Dressed Up

Ok, this little mouse is not ALL dressed up. I mean, she is lacking attire, but she's got it going on in the accessory department.

This is the newest stationery set for my etsy shop. It came about when Jamie at City Chic Country Mouse (click here to see the seriously cute stuff in her shop) wrote that she was having a hard time finding cute mouse graphics. I thought Hmmm... if she was having a challenge, then perhaps other mouse admirers were also. So I set to work and came up with this little gal.

She travels through the mail with her sister
who likes to ride on the envelope.

This is the three color combinations she comes in.

The Final Handmade Christmas Gift!! -- A Bucket of Love

Finally finished the last of my handmade gifts for this holiday. Whew! It's a Bucket of Love for my husband.

This idea started in November of 2007. I was going to make a daily calendar for Christmas with each day stating something I loved about him. Well... that idea turned out to be more than I could take on (365 is a lot to think of, not too mention making the calendar!). So, I shelved the idea for last Christmas, tweaked it a bit and came up the "Bucket of Love" for this Christmas.

The Bucket of Love ready to give.

The idea for the paper fortune cookies came from the For the Love of Paper blog, click here to see how they're made. I printed the "loved things" on the paper directly (not a fortune slip), cut out the 3" circles (bigger would have been better) and folded them. I had a heck of time keeping the cookies from popping open (even with permanent sticky). I ended up heavily creasing the fold. They don't look near as nice as Kimberly's, but I was running out of time!

I put them in a clear paint can/bucket from the Container Store, made a label for each side of the bucket and voila, I was done. A Bucket of Love for my Love Bucket!

I wonder if he will read them all at once or spread his reading out over time? Either way, I hope he will feel the love.

A Birthday Shout Out

My pal, Cathe Holden, over at Just Something I Made is celebrating her birthday today so...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
CATHE!!

Handmade Goodies for Me!

My little elf self has been working hard on making some handmade stuff for this holiday season, but little did I know there was another elf in my midst who was also working quite hard.

My pal, Cierra, at work bestowed these beauties on the LOML and myself yesterday. Well, knock me over with a feather! I mean, just look at the details! She did some shopping at Paper Source and spied these plain boxes and then just let her creativity go.

Inside were a couple of homemade truffles. Sweet!

She didn't stop there. She also made us a beautiful card that becomes an ornament. Truly, my poor photography skills do not do it justice.

It's dated and she wrote a lovely sentiment on the back.
The tree pops out of the card, ready to hang.

Cierra admits she may have an slight addiction to Paper Source and all the inspiration and supplies they offer. (She's not at the intervention point yet, but we are keeping an eye on her :))

I so appreciate the care and creativity that went into these goodies and I will have good memories each year we hang the ornament on the tree!

Handmade Gifts

I haven't been posting much lately. Trying to make this holiday a hand-made one is taking loads more time than I thought it would. Here's a few more things I can check off my list...

Little Cat A is a snuggler. She loves plush/soft stuff (blankets, stuffed animals etc). I thought I would knit her a scarf for Christmas. I haven't knitted in about 20 years and I was very much a beginner when I stopped knitting. I have to give a big THANK YOU to You Tube and all the kind, generous people who post knitting videos. Without them I would have ended up giving Little Cat A a ball of yarn! Thankfully the yarn I chose was VERY forgiving. I initially started out with 25 stitches and after 1.5 hours of knitting, realized that would be way too wide and I unraveled all my hard work. After all, I wanted the scarf to keep her warm, not strangle her! I started again, this time with 12 stitches and somehow ended with 14 in the end! I don't know that happened. Anyway, here's what Little Cat A is receiving.

Little Cat A's Christmas scarf.
I thought it worthy of two photos since it took me forever to make!

Next up may seem like a cop-out, BUT my peeps will need to write thank you notes after Christmas. So they will each get a set of flat notes with return address labels designed just for them.

Little Cat B appreciates the Steam Punk style,
so the gears work for him.

The LOML would appreciate something simple.
Manly yes, but I like it too.
(Does anyone remember those Irish Spring soap commercials??)

Little Cat A likes cute things; puppies, kitties and of course, butterflies.

I have only one more hand-made gift to make. I'll post it when it's done. I'm excited about the concept, I hope the execution of it meets my expectations. Fingers crossed.

Gifts for the Neighbors

Each year at Christmas time the LOML (Love Of My Life) bakes up several varieties of yummy cookies for our neighbors. He puts a LOT of work into these babies. He scours the internet for new and different recipes and no recipe is too time consuming or difficult for him. I always encourage him to keep it simple, but he's all about the taste, no matter the effort. Then, after all his efforts, he's perfectly fine with putting his creations on a cheap paper plate and covering them with ugly plastic wrap for delivery to the neighbors. He's been doing this for 15+ years and each year I suggest he kick up his presentation a notch or two. He's never interested. This year I figured, if it was important to me, then I should do something about it. So I did. Here's what we co-created together. He was responsible for the cookies and I was responsible for the marshmallows and the packaging.

A package of wrapped cookies and the supplies I used to make the cookie tags.

Here's the Hot Cocoa packaging before I cut them out.
Props to LollyChops for coming up with the great hot cocoa packaging idea.
Thanks Lolly!!

Contents:
Carmalitas
Iced Citrus Crackle Cookies
Lemon Meringues
Ginger Cookies
Cappuccino Flats
Homemade Marshmallows (little hearts - cut with a cookie cutter I bought at Bake It Pretty which I discovered from Miss B at Le Blahg. Thanks Miss B!)
Hot Cocoa Mix (store bought, but packaged with love)

The filled boxes before they get all wrapped up!

All wrapped and ready for delivery!

I like how they turned out and they were worth the hours and hours of work!