PUBLISHED!!!

Sunday, November 9, 2008
so I just had to share with you all, that I have my first publication ever, in CARDS magazine. I'm super excited and it feels really cool to see my card in an actual magazine!! eeek! :)


If you haven't yet, check out the November, 2008 issue of CARDS magazine, page #78!!

Labels:

why I <3 my ATG gun.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
I had a wonderful reader & fellow blogger, Jaime email me and ask about my ATG gun. I get this question a fair amount. People are wondering what I like or don't like about it...as they are maybe a bit unsure of whether they want to take the plunge. I figured I would post my response back to her so you can all see it, and maybe this will help you decide if you want one!

First off, for those who have no idea what an ATG gun is (as I had NO idea a year ago that these even existed!), here is what they look like: (you can also see me using it in pretty much all of my videos)


I purchased mine at my LSS, however you can find them at this website. A lot of people on SCS chat about ATG guns regularly, so I would advise you to do some searching on this forum if you have more questions.

As for me, here is what I said back to Jaime. These are just my views, not necessarily what everyone else thinks - I basically just wanted to let you guys know what I like and sorta don't like. (which isn't much!)

what I like:
  • 36 yards on one piece of tape, as opposed to 36 feet on a Tombow = MUCH more use out of one roll, and MUCH more cost effective
  • Goes on smooth - glides nicely, doesn't get gummed up too easily (i found my Tombow to gum up a LOT)
  • VERY VERY sticky. we're talking so sticky that I get worried when I try to place something down & do it the wrong way. haha! It's MUCH stickier than a Tombow...I've found it to be one of the stickiest around
  • You can easily remove excess by running your finger over it & peeling it away. so that's also a nice thing

things that could be downsides but really not that big of a deal to me:
  • Sometimes it's a little big & klunky - however really not that often. For example, there are very few instances where the surface is just too small and I need to - use a Tombow to get in there. So i still have one of them for that purpose. However, it's few & far between.
  • Some people don't like that it's big - I personally think it's a plus, because I can always find it on my messy craft desk! ha!

OK i hope that helps some of you. I can tell you that I use my ATG for altering notebooks, wooden clips, wooden clipboards, making cards, scrapbooks, etc. and it works great on ALL those things.

OH and ONE last thing - I stumbled upon this thread at SCS, where there has been lots of talk of even more inexpensive tape to load into your ATG gun. Sounds like the tape is just as great, and even LESS money than buying the 3M brand! I haven't taken this plunge yet, but I plan to try it out very soon. I'm curious to know if any of you have tried it!

Labels:

One Fair down...

Monday, October 20, 2008
hello everyone - sorry it's taken me a few days to get this posted, but I had my first fair of the season on Saturday, it was great! I really enjoyed the town (Sudbury, MA) and there seemed to be a great turnout. The weather was really nice (a little brisk, but hey it's Fall in New England!)

Anyway here is a quick photo of me inside my booth. I'm getting better as I do each fair. I learn a little something new each time. Luckily the next 2 fairs that I'm in are both indoors and I won't have to worry about a tent or anything, but this worked out just great. I've uploaded the rest of my photos from the fair to my Project Gallery, so please do check them out!

Fellow Crafters: if you are wondering what sold the best, items like $1 bookmarks sold really well. Also, post-it note holders & Jumbo Clothespins that hold photos were hot items. I hope that helps some of you out there who are planning your own fairs.

Lastly....if you are here on this site because you took one of my business cards as this weekends Fair, THANKS for visiting! Come back often, or feel free to email me with any questions you have on items I offer, or any custom things you'd like to order!

Labels: ,

Craft Fair Tips UPDATE & Reminder :)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Hi All - about a week or so ago I posted my personal tips on selling items in a Craft Fair. I promised to update later on with any tips I received. I wanted to share this one from Susan - it's a GREAT tip, and I'm glad she reminded me of it!

"make sure your items are vertical, give them some height - like your card rack. If all your items are flat on the table and you have a group of people in front of your table they will be block your items and people passing by will not be able to see what you have and will just keep walking. If you can, Have a wall or curtain behind you that you can display some merchandise and have a sign so people from all over the area can see you."

Thanks Susan! Click HERE to visit her wonderful blog!

Also, just a gentle reminder for those of you local to MA about my Craft Fair this Saturday 10/18 in Sudbury. Click HERE for more information.

Labels: ,

Door Hangers

I was playing around with my Cricut this weekend and noticed one of the designs to cut out was a door hanger. I thought this would be great to make, as there are so many things you can do with these! When I was a kid I loved putting these on my bedroom door. I decided to use up more of my Halloween stuff & make some for the fair.

Here are some photos of the ones I made. I tried to make them look spooky with some sponged-on ink around the edges, and also cutout the word "BOO!" with my Cricut. I finished it off with a stamp from the SU! "Batty for You" stamp set, and some Martha Stewart Halloween Ribbon.


The best part about the projects I make with my Cricut is that I use the Design Studio Software most times. This allows me to size everything just the way I want it, and then save the project for future use. So when I want to make these again, all I have to do is open my file in Design Studio. Pretty neat-o.

Labels: ,

MORE Poop!!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Hi All - I finally finished my second round of poop-making :) This time it's SNOWMAN POOP! Hopefully you can see the closeup and read the little poem that goes along with it. I made much more of these poops as I'm hoping to sell them right up until Christmas.




If you are interested in purchasing any of these from me, please click HERE to contact me!

Labels: ,

FAQ: Craft Fair Questions & Answers

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Hi everyone - just wanted to post this on request from a few readers who have questions regarding items I've made for my Craft Fairs, and other things related to fairs. Keep in mind, I've only done 1 fair so far this summer (which did pretty well!) - but I'm doing at least 2 or 3 more this Fall. I will have much more info for you after that.

But here are some quick tips that I have so far:

Q: How much do you charge? How do you know how much to charge?

A: This one can be tough. I try and take into consideration #1 - how much did the item cost ME to buy. I then try and determine how long it takes me to make. If there is something that I find really cute, but takes a long time to make, chances are I won't do it. People at craft fairs are usually looking for a deal - they want something inexpensive, but cute & fun. This is why doing things like "snowman poop" or "pumpkin poop" are great - once you get the process streamlined, they don't take too long to make!

With that said, I probably plan on selling all my "poops" for $1.50-$2 each. Haven't decided yet. I'm using relatively inexpensive candy, plus I was able to really streamline the process of making them so that it didn't take too much time. My thought is that people will really by lots of them if they are only $2 each, and I would hope they want to purchase as stocking stuffers or fun gifts for their children/grandchildren.

If you plan on selling handmade Greeting Cards, this can be a little tricky when it comes to pricing. I sold about 20 or so of my cards at my last fair and I was very pleased with that. However, many people told me I wasn't charging enough. They ranged from $3-$4 each. It's tough, because some people don't want to pay that for a card - however Hallmark & other stores like Papyrus sometimes charge $5-$6 each!

My best advice to you on Greeting Cards is make sure they are displayed well enough for people to see the detail & effort you've put into them. I purchased a used card display carousel on Craigslist for $20. This allowed my customers to spin through all my cards, viewing each of them without having to go through a box, etc. Once they saw the level of quality in the cards, they have no problem paying $3-$4 per card. You can also offer something like $4each or 3 for $10.

Q: Any tips on what items to make? What are the "best sellers"?

A: I can tell you the #1 thing that is best to make, are items that draw people to your table. So...how do you accomplish this? Well, the #1 thing I found was cute (inexpensive) items for children. For example: bookmarks that only cost $1 each. At my fair in June, the kids LOVED these. I wish I had made more. They loved the little animal creatures on top of the bookmarks. I had people asking me "do you have any MORE bookmarks??". Again, inexpensive, cute, and the kiddos leave happy they got something :)

Another thing people love are treats or goodies they can give to friends, kids, or TEACHERS. Teacher gifts are HUGE. Parents never know what to get a childs teacher for Holiday or end-of-year gift, and they often have several teachers, so don't want to spend a lot of $$. I had one woman at my fair in June clean me out, bought all of her childs teacher gifts, all for like $35! I was VERY happy, and I think she was too!!

Q: Any other tips?

A: Signs, Signs, Signs....this one I think helped me a lot. I decided to have plenty of little signs to give people ideas & explain my product. For example, I had a sign that said "PERFECT items for TEACHER gifts!!" - so many people said "yea, these ARE great items for your Teacher, huh?". That's just something they might not have thought of beforehand...

Also, try and demonstrate what your product is for. If you've made post-it note holders - ensure there are some post-its in them. If you've made photo holders, stick a few samples photos in them...or perhaps some business cards.

That leads me to another point - if you have a blog, create a business card. Doesn't have to be fancy, just something simple (I print mine on white cardstock and cut them up!) - be sure to list your blog URL. Then, whenever anyone buys something, ALWAYS give them a business card! I left a pile of mine on the table for people to take. This will be helpful in case you are looking for future business, custom orders, etc.

Lastly, just have fun & remember to smile & talk to people! Lots of people loved to talk to me about how I get my ideas, how I make stuff, etc. I didn't hover over the customers, but when they came to me it was nice to chat with them.

I hope this helps some of you. I'd love to see any creations you have made for your fairs, so please do email me or comment here and let me see what you're up to! Also, if you have any additional tips that I've left out, I'd love to hear them! I will re-post them here for all to see.

Have a great day everyone!

Labels: ,

Come to my Craft Fair!!


Hi everyone - just thought I'd throw a post up here to all of you people living in the MA area. I'm participating in the Harvest Craft Fair on Saturday, 10/18 in Sudbury, MA.

Click HERE to view the promotional flyer for this event.

**************************
Details:
Saturday October 18th, 2008
10am -- 4pm

Homemade Soups & Breads
Baked Goods, Jams & Jellies
Hourly Raffle

Route 27 & Concord Road
Sudbury Town Center
www.fpsudbury.org
**************************

My booth is an outside booth, let's all hope & pray that the weather is NICE!!

To see some photos of my very first Craft Fair that I participated in this summer, click HERE. This will give you an idea of the type of things I'm offering for Sale. I'm going to be offering a lot more treats & Holiday themed items this time around...gotta love this time of year! I hope to see you there, and please do let me know if you've seen my blog, it will make me feel very good! :)


Labels: ,

Pumpkin POOP!!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

just thought I'd share what I've been working on these past few nights...


I LOVE this poem that I found on Splitcoast. I am making these bags of Pumpkin Poop to sell in an upcoming craft fair, along with other types of "poop" (snowman poop, turkey poop, maybe some magic reindeer food, etc.) I will upload the samples of each as I get going on them.

Here are all the ingredients in case you want to make some POOP of your own!

White Cardstock: 3 5/8" x 1 7/8"

Black Cardstock: 3 3/4" x 4 1/4" scored at 2 1/8"

"Batty For You" Stamp set by Stampin Up!

Circle Punches: 1 1/4", 1 3/8", 1 1/2" - all by Stampin Up!

Scallop Punch - Stampin Up!

Only Orange Ink Stampin Up & Black StazOn Ink.

Halloween themed ribbon

Candy bags (purchased at AC Moore)
I assembled everything with some staples on the bag, to the back of the black piece of cardstock, and then adhered the top flap down with my ATG gun. I plan on using this template for the remainder of my poops that I make!

If you make some, be sure to comment here with a link to it so that I can see!

If you are interested in purchasing some Pumpkin Poop or any other kind from me, please click HERE to email me! Thanks!

Labels: , ,

For Sale: Custom Shadow Boxes

Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Hi everyone - just another update on these custom shadow boxes!

I created this one recently for my brother to give to his friend, whose baby was just christened. Thought I would share a photo with you all, so that you can see the different variations on theme. This time I used a Mahogany colored frame.






I'm offering these Shadow Boxes for $50 each. This price includes the frame, all materials, and my time to make it. It's 100% customizable - you can be as involved or uninvolved in the process as you prefer. As long as you have an idea in mind, chances are I can find the supplies to create it.

These make a wonderful gift for any occasion, not just new babies. For more info, you can see my other posting on Custom Shadow Boxes.

Please contact me if you are interested or have questions. Thanks!!

Labels: , ,

a new venture...

Friday, August 1, 2008
...and now for something new: I'm going to start offering a few things for sale!!

I've recently made a Shadow Box Baby Gift for a co-worker. Below are some photos of this project. I'm going to start offering these for $50 each. The price includes all materials & time. These boxes are fully customizable; I will work with you on the layout, design, colors, theme, etc! These make a wonderful unique gift for a newborn baby. The box below measures 9"x9" (7.5"x7.5" viewable). The frame is wooden, with plexi-glass (less breakable!).




Depending on the availability of the shadow boxes, I will use something similar to this - but am open to larger sizes, different styles, etc. Price may vary depending on particular type of box you are interested in, but I will work with you to quote these out.

Keep in mind, there are many things I can do with these. Have a Birthday, Anniversary, or Graduation to celebrate with someone? Don't know what to get them? Something like this might be the perfect gift.

Below is a photo of a shadow box I created for my brother when he Graduated College in 2005. As you can see, there are many celebrations in life that would be perfect to showcase with one of these shadow boxes.


Please contact me if you are interested or want more info. Thank you!

Labels: , ,

photography.

Monday, July 14, 2008
sooo...I'd love to be a better photograhper. I've been trying to improve the quality of photos I take of my crafts. My hope is that they are better for all you awesome people who come & visit my blog.

whenever we go somewhere, I get really into finding cool things to take pictures of. And anyone who knows me, knows that I go NO WHERE without my camera! It's permanently in my purse. Never know what might happen that you need to capture :)

Here is a lovely flower that I captured this weekend:


 I took some photos this weekend while we were hangin' out in Portsmouth, NH - I decided to add a Photography section to my Project Gallery. check it out and let me know what you think! My next big purchase might be a real high quality digital camera - so if anyone has any feedback on their favorite brands - leave me a comment and let me know!

Labels: ,

cupcakes and mass assembly

Saturday, July 12, 2008

today I've been baking cupcakes and spending some time putting together over 200 custom invitations. I'm making the invites for a 10 Year High School Reunion. It's actually not too bad cutting all the pieces, and is moving along quicker than I thought it would! If anyone is ever interested in talking to me about custom invitations - be sure to email me! I will post a picture of the final product - but if you haven't seen other invites I've done, do check out my wedding invitations.

We are off to a BBQ for the rest of the afternoon (which is why I made these cupcakes!!) MMMMM....


Labels:

new toy for ME!!!

Monday, June 23, 2008
so as you know, last week I was feeling a tad under the weather (and No, just to clear things up - it was a stomach bug, not any 'baby' issues as some lovely anonymous bloggers were kind enough to comment here! hehe). Anyway...I was home sick from work last Monday when I heard a thump on our front porch...I looked out and saw a box and a UPS truck. So I looked at the box and the outside of it said...Provocraft Cricut Expression!! WOAHHH!! My birthday is not until the end of August so I was pretty surprised. Pete ended up fessing up that it was indeed supposed to be a surprise for my birthday - he was trying to get a head start on shopping and what were the odds I was home the one day they deliver it?? What a hubby!!

So naturally we opened it - no way could I let it sit in the box until my birthday :) I finally had a chance to get it all setup after my brother's wedding this weekend. Here it is all ready to go! I was practicing with it as you can see. I can't wait to make lots of fun stuff with this bad boy. I'm pretty spoiled I think!! yayyyy




Labels:

Happy Birthday Erin!!.....(and some exciting NEWS!!)

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

so this is a day early, but I am off tomorrow & Friday for my brother's wedding. I wanted to get this posted as I made this card for my friend at work Erin - it's her birthday tomorrow. Happy Bday Erin!! Have fun in Vegas!! :) I have a fun tidbit of news to post today...I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately, but finally feeling back to myself, so I'm ready to dish about it! OK well actually this news is more than "fun" - it's REALLY EXCITING for me....

I'M BEING PUBLISHED!!!! I got an email the other night, about a card that I submitted, and they actually want to publish me in the November 2008 issue of CARDS magazine. EEEEKK!!! I'm soo beyond psyched. So now, I must make one of those fun little graphics for my blog that says "removed for publication" - hehe, how fun is that? I think now that I know I was accepted, I might try my luck at submitting a few more entries to some other magazines! woo!!

"Erin" Card:
Paper: K & CO. Designer Paper, SU! Green Galore, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Stamps: SU! Tart & Tangy, Fontwerks Alphabet
Ink: SU! Green Galore, Pink Passion, Embossing Powder & Versamark
SU! Circle Punch, Scallop Punch, 5/8" Regal Rose Ribbon

Labels: ,

my first Craft Fair...

Sunday, June 15, 2008

yesterday I had my very first Craft Fair. It was a church in Westborough, MA. I did VERY well! I was a bit nervous that nothing would sell, but I definitely sold a good amount of stuff. The hottest thing by far were the paperclip bookmarks. The kids seemed to like the Alligators & Lions from the Wild About You stamp set.
It was a gorgeous day and I was lucky to have a table on the front lawn of the church, right under the shady trees. My Aunt Anne was nice enough to come and sit with me for the day and help out. Here are a few photos of my table, for better shots, and up close views of the items I was selling, please visit the Project Gallery.








Labels:

looking to beef up my "blog browse" list!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
hey everyone! So I would like to include a section on my sidebar here, dedicated to those other great people out there who have blogs. What kind of blogs you ask? Why...any type! I am a blog-fan of all types. (in fact, I have a personal blog in addition to this here crafting blog). Yes, I do frequent crafting blogs more often, however I enjoy blogging in general. If any of you readers out there have a blog that you would like me to add to my "list", leave me a comment (be sure to include a link to your blog!) - I will check it out and add you to my list! (as long as you aren't a crazy spammer!) - my only request is that you would do the same and add me to your list? Deal? :)


Labels:

CKC...holy cow...

Friday, May 16, 2008


So this year was my first year ever attending the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention. It's going on in Manchester, NH this weekend. I took today off and headed up there by myself, to do some shoppin' and see what it was all about. 

All I have to say is....HOLY DOLLAR SPOT!! I scored the following goodies (mostly Heidi Swapp & Bazzil Embellishments) FOR A DOLLAR EACH. I couldn't carry all the stuff I wanted to buy. I ended up buying $42 at the dollar spot, and that's only because I couldn't fit anything else in my arms :) - it was definitely the deal of the day. (click the link above for their website)

There was lots of other great stuff at the show - page & scrapbook kits, and I even scored a few sets of Nestabilities. I couldn't believe they had them there...they had an awesome selection. Nesties are so hard to find these days so I was psyched to find some! I also am proud to say that I resisted the urge to purchased a set of Copics...it was tough, but I did it :)

I am so happy that I've been getting more visitors to my blog lately. I hope you all like it. Stay tuned this coming week for hopefully some more tutorials & cards. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Labels: ,

*new* Project Gallery Added

Friday, May 9, 2008

Hi everyone! I finally got around to putting together a gallery for all my projects. It's not too elaborate, but gives you an idea of the type of stuff I've been working on :)

Click here to visit the gallery. There is also a link on the side. ------>

One of the newer items in the gallery is the "Baby Album" that I just completed. It's a scrapbook I made for friends of ours, who were looking for a scrapbook for their baby James' first year. It's going to be a Mother's Day gift to the Mom from her husband, which I thought was really thoughtful! I used some photos they provided to me, along with a bunch of blank spots for her to fill in with lots of photos of James. I hope she likes it...click HERE to view the page in the album.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!

Labels: ,

scrapbooking, cats, and bone folders.

so just in case you wanted more footage of my cat, I decided to upload this cute clip of him getting the all star treatment on my scrapbook table. He LOVES getting rubbed by my plastic bonefolder - the tool that I use to score and crease my cardstock. Apparently it feels good on his fur and he keeps comin' back for more! Here is a cute little clip of him, see if you can hear him purrrrring away. Enjoy!




Labels: ,

excited!

Friday, April 25, 2008
so I've got some exciting news...well, exciting for me at least :) I've been officially accepted into 2 craft fairs. One will take place on June 14th in Westborough, MA. The other will take place this Fall, Nov 22nd, at Middlesex Comm. College...literally right down the street from our house!! I am very excited because I have wanted to do some fairs for a while. I better get crackin' on making stuff!

Here are some more spring/summer like projects that I've created. I imagine I will be making lots of things like this for the craft fair in June. I just got a big order in from Stampin Up, so I have lots of new stuff to play with. As always, I got my inspiration for these paperclip bookmarks from Splitcoast. There have been lots of versions of these on there, and I just love how simple they are to make. You can buy the plain jumbo paper clips at Staples. All it takes is some embellishments & glue dots, and you can make these cute little bookmarks!
The photo holders are also something very quick & easy to do. I'm hoping these will sell well at my craft fairs. They can be used to hold photos, post-it notes, business cards, or even a recipe.





Labels: ,

new look...no more pink.

so I've spent some time updating the look & feel of my craft site. I'm not too much of a pink person so the pink flowers had to go. I used Adobe Photoshop all last night to create this new banner & side bars. I hope you like it. The colors should be yellow, blue & green...but some people were telling me it was showing as peach? Comment me and let me know what you think! I have some things I will be taking photos of today that I've made recently, so hopefully I will have another update with pics for you soon.

On another note, this banner creation was technically my first pass at "Digi-Scrappin" (AKA Digital Scrapbooking). Like I need to get into anything else, right? Anyway, I used a wonderful template I found online. The name of the template is "Kit Safari Baby" and it's published by Fanette. You can find more info on their website located here. Thanks for looking!

Labels:

my messy space

Sunday, March 30, 2008
so it occured to me this weekend that although I have a very tidy craft room, I am very messy when I'm in the middle of a project! These are some photos of my desk today while in the midst of card making. I was at a crop on Friday night and it was no different. My space or not, I am a messy craft person. I think it's a sign of intelligence?


Labels:

Links

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
I'm working on putting together a project gallery, as well as some pricing information for projects that I create. For now the links on the side aren't really doing much. Thank you for your patience!!

Labels: