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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Halloween Craft Fair Items!

Flashback to October 2014....

It's never too early to start preparing for your fall craft fairs!!  There's just something about vintage Halloween images....I'm in love with them!

I found some amazing photo flip books on Pinterest that someone had altered and I knew I wanted to try and make some Halloween ones!  These flip books are just the $1 clear photo brag books from the Dollar Tree!  They are super easy to alter and fill with pictures!  These Halloween ones that I made are perfect for those pumpkin patch pictures, pics of your kids Halloween costumes, trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving....anything!  You can fill one of these up and gift it to grandparents, friends and relatives!  All I did was take out the ugly insert that came with the album and I created my own covers. For these, I used the Graphic 45 Happy Hauntings collection and different images I purchased from Etsy.  I also tied fun ribbon and even added a back cover to each album.  These were super fun and went so quick!  Pictures below!!

Next, I wanted to make some of my Hershey's nuggets packs.  I decided to make some Halloween ones.  I wrapped the chocolates in different Halloween paper and tied twine around the packaging.  Then I hung a stamped tag for decoration.  They are always great sellers!  Pics below...

Lastly, I created something that is so "me."  I altered some flat paper bags with gorgeous Etsy images scraps of paper, ribbon and Dollar Tree washi tape.  I also used twine and more stamped tags.  I love paper and love packaging...so this project was so much fun!  See the pics below!

I sold these at my craft fair and wish I had time to make a lot more.  I hope to make a bunch of Christmas themed projects just like these this year, too. :)


Altered Photo Flip Books....

Hershey's nuggets packs...

Altered paper bags...

These are my absolute favorite!!



Spoiled by my family :)

My husband was in San Francisco and visited my all time favorite craft store, Once Around in Mill Valley, California.  He did a great job picking me out some awesome goodies!!  The Downtown Loft paper pad by DCWV reminded him of San Francisco, so he knew I would love it!  He also got me an Authentique Christmas paper pad, an American Crafts Halloween paper pad, some vintage seam binding in the pumpkin color and he filled up a couple bags of do-dads from their infamous do-dad section!  I loved every bit of it!! 

When my sister was still living in Texas, she sent me some happy mail from Hobby Lobby!!  My favorite item is the awesome chalk Christmas paper pad by the paper studio!!  We are going to make Christmas tags out of it this year!! 

I feel so loved by all these amazing gifts!!

From my hubby!

From my sister, Bri!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Kits Craze!!

I have been dreaming up a plan for my Etsy shop.  I absolutely love scrapbook kits!  I love making them, I love purchasing them, I love watching videos on them...I love everything about them.  There's just something so thrilling about designing a kit out of gorgeous paper and knowing someone will create something adorable out of it.....

I have had this plan in the works for quite a while now.  I have been purchasing elements for my kits slowly and have ended up with huge amounts of merchandise.  What I do is this:  I take a paper pad/collection and I build around it.  So, normally a paper pad comes with 2 of each design, so I can make 2 kits out each pad of 12x12 paper.  I have made some absolutely gorgeous kits, just jam packed with beautiful items.  Paper, buttons, charms, stickers, flowers, lace, ribbon, Tim Holtz metal embellies, brads, envelopes, pockets, album bases, and much, much more!!  I think I made over 80 kits and let me tell you...it took me over a month to complete!  It was a hard, but wonderfully enjoyable job.  Now, I just need to finish listing them in my Etsy shop.  I have a few in there and a few videos up on YouTube, but I can't wait until they are all listed and ready to sell, sell, sell!!  Here's a couple pictures of how my kitchen looked for that long month.  My husband was very understanding as you can imagine. :)




12 Days of Christmas Cards...Graphic 45!

Flashback to August 2014....

I made these cards with my mother-in-law.  She loves sending out handmade cards to friends and family.  We made these using the 12 Days of Christmas collection by Graphic 45.  We absolutely love working with Graphic 45 papers and chipboard embellishments.  These were so fun and came out so pretty!  Here's a link to my YouTube video if you want to see a closer look!




This is my favorite one!









Quick and Easy Brag Books!

Flashback to July 2014....

I have been all about simplicity in my crafting lately.  I'm drawn to the simple, clean lines and easy to do crafts these days.  I still like the vintage and shabby chic style, but I have been loving the quick and easy stuff, that's for sure.  I came across this awesome tutorial on YouTube and decided to make some myself!  The little brag books below were made using old file folders.  I cut them down to size and followed the tutorial.  The paper I used to cover them is the Botanical collection by Prima.  I was also able to use some lace trim, buttons, flowers and some stickers on the covers.  I love how they turned out. :)  Here's a link to my YouTube video to get a closer look!



To the ends of the earth for Vintage Buttons!

My sweet friend and co-worker, Amanda is my official thrift store treasure hunter!  She always finds me the best vintage buttons for me and on this particular day...she hit the vintage button jackpot!!  Do you have something that just makes you so happy...even though it's simple, practically useless and a bit quirky?  Well, I do and it's vintage buttons!!  My sister and I once woke up at 5am to be at a yard sale by 5:30 that mentioned "vintage buttons" in their ad.  Now, that's dedication.  

I love to incorporate them in my scrapbook kits, my albums, cards, and of course in RAK's to my friends.  I am getting ready to group them in packs of 20 and list them in my Etsy store, too!  I just love buttons and am so thankful that I have other's looking out for them for me, too.  Happy Crafting everyone!


My Beautiful Craft Room Curtains!

I have been obsessed, lately, with the color combo of red and teal!!  It just makes me imagine retro kitchens from back in the 50's and 60's.  It makes me think of my Grandma Tootsie...and I have no idea why!  Haha... It just makes me smile and I can't get enough of red and teal!!  It's the vintage teal color that appliances and kitchen tables were back in the old days.  It's the way red looks so unique when paired with that particular teal color and cream.  It's absolutely beautiful.  I decided, I wanted my craft room to have those colors, so my sweet momma made me the most beautiful craft room curtains ever!  She did patchwork and made cute ties with buttons.  I absolutely love them and they bring so much artsiness to my craft room!!