My First Etsy Purchases

Remember this post? Yeah, me too! :) I finally took some pics. Yup, I'm a tad slow these days. Having classes start this week has really thrown me completely out of whack. I'm having a good time though learning all kinds of fun things in the world of graphic design.

Last week I was a little addicted to Etsy. Lots of goodies have arrived and lots more are on the way. Come on USPS deliver the mail faster....pretty please. I'll be doing some blogging about those fabulous pieces later this week.

But for now. I'm going to share my pretty pieces from Bayscallop Fine Craft. These are my gorgeous handmade scallop adornments. They come eight to a box. Two come with real starfish attached. They have a small hole for a ribbon or whatever you wish to use to hang them up. I plan on putting them on my Christmas tree. My bedroom is all decorated in a beach theme. I am trying to come up with some for them to keep them out year round.

My second purchase was a gorgeous pair of brass and copper acorn earrings from the 1920's from Mark Montano. Now I wish I had taken photos of my package! Mark wraps beautifully! He should offer classes to husband's. Just saying. :)

Mark also has gorgeous hand writing! He even included some flowers for my ephemera collection. How'd he know?

The earrings came in a lovely turquoise fabric envelope. They really are gorgeous and rare. Not something you'll find in a Wal-Mart! I can't wait for autumn so I can wear them.

Until next time *

Have you supported a small business lately?

Seven Minute Layout

Remember how I promised you my seven - yup 7 - minute layout? Well, I didn't forget. I got a little distracted rearranging and moving my studio this week and dealing with my heartbreak of losing {Colorful Creations}. Hopefully, next week I'll have pics when it's all neat and tidy.

Without further ado....here we are....

The papers are from the Bohemia collection from My Mind's Eye. I believe I won this paper stack at my very first Scrap Pink at Colorful Creations. If I didn't win this, then I bought it at AC Moore on Cape Cod that weekend. Any who, I've had it for almost three years and have never used it. How sad is that?

As you can see, there's nothing bohemian about my photos. They are from a very brief trip to Folly Beach in South Carolina in 2009. The trip was literally about 10 minutes long. Yet somehow I still managed to take about 80 photos. Digital cameras are dangerous!

Dimensions for the Left Page:
The brown striped paper is 2 1/2" x 12".
The pink patterned paper is 9" x 9 1/2".
The green paisley paper is 6" x 3 5/8".
The 2 mats are 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" and the photos are     4" x 6".
The base is a 12" x 12" sheet of green cardstock.


Dimensions for the Right Page:

The brown striped paper is 9 1/2" x 12".
The pink patterned paper is 2 7/8" x 12".
The green paisley paper is 7 1/2" x 8 1/4".
The 2 mats are 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" and the photos are 4" x 6".
The base is a 12" x 12" sheet of blue cardstock.


I came up with this layout on the fly. I had less than 15 minutes left at a crop and was desperate to get as many photos scrapped as possible.

I do have a few rulers for my style. I always build on on sheet of cardstock. It's almost always a color also. I try to pull three or four colors for cardstocks from the three sheets of patterned paper that I chose for the layouts. And yes, I always use three different sheets of patterned paper for my layouts. I love color and paper!

Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. The photos are from the beach. And no there's not a beach or water paper in sight! I have tons of photos from the coast from a few years ago and I am sick of scrapbooking all of my water photos on beach and water paper. So I went looking for some paper that I have had for awhile that needed to be used up. I had more than enough to do all 83 photos from Folly Beach. I still have a pile left. By using the Bohemian stack, I had tons of papers to choose from. They all coordinate with each other and there's embellishments that match as well.

As you've probably noticed, the layouts aren't embellished. Nope, they're not finished. This as far as I go at crops. I do all of my embellishing at home in my studio. There's just too much to bring with me at crops. So I focus on getting as many photos scrapped as possible. This is my secret to getting 70 plus pages done at a weekend crop.

Oh and if you click on the photo, it will open in another screen and be much larger.

Until next time *

Have you printed your digital photos lately?

A Gift

Remember how I said {Colorful Creations} had their own line of stamps? I have been collecting them. There were a few that were missing from my collection. Sadly, I'm still missing one or two and I can no longer get them.

Just before the store closed, I called and spoke with Jenn and was able to get a few. I left her my credit card info so they could ship the stamps to me. I got a phone call the next day from Jayne that something was wonky with my card. I was out of town and didn't get to call her until the next day. I am so thankful that I got to speak to Jenn and Jayne before the store closed. I talk to Jenn frequently through Facebook, but it's just not the same.

Jayne didn't want my credit card info again. She told me she sent the stamps to me as a gift. I was speechless. I got all teary eyed and everything.

I got them a few days later. And now it's like the nail is in the coffin and the store is officially gone. This just breaks my heart.

Thank you Jayne not for the stamps, but for being Jayne and having a fabulous place for us artsy fartsy types.

Sometimes it's the small things in life that mean so much! {Hugs to you Jayne}

Until next time *

Have a LSS? Treasure it. Many of us don't have one anymore. :(

A Few Mishaps

Sorry about some of the viewing mishaps that have been happening over the last few hours. I was working on restructuring my blog. And as progress was happening, I decided to make some big changes to layout and background. This missed up the viewing for a bit. I'm all done now.

Lots of new stuff coming this week!

Until next time *

Got ephemera?

Ephemera

So I'm on an ephemera kick this week. Why? I was sick in the middle of the night and I swear I've read everything interesting on the internet so I decided to do some window shopping on Etsy. Yeah, window shopping. The kind where you spend money.

What is ephemera? First time I heard the word was from Anna Griffin awhile ago. Tim Holtz likes to use it to. Here's what Merriam Webster - the dictionary people - have to say:
 "ephemera plural : paper items (as posters, broadsides, and tickets) that were originally meant to be discarded after use but have since become collectibles"

I have never spent much time checking out Etsy before. I know a few people with shops and was looking at their goodies. In the last few weeks, I have purchased some gorgeous hand made scallop shells that I will be making into ornaments for my Christmas tree. I purchased them from Bayscallop Fine Crafts. It turns out I know the owner! I took a class from her during Stampoberfest at Colorful Creations. Talk about a small world!

My second purchase came from Mark Montano. Yeah, the guy from HGTV and who wrote the Big Ass Book of Crafts. He made acorn earrings from the 1920's. They are gorgeous! The man knows how to wrap! My package looked like something from a Hollywood. He should hire himself out for gift wrapping workshops.

I should take come pics of my recent Etsy purchases. I think I will wait until this weeks purchases arrive in the mail. I purchased lots of goodies for my ephemera collection! Lots of vintage, Bingo cards, library cards, tags, wooden spools, wooden buttons, tickets, sheet music, all kinds of goodies! I even purchased some digital sheets of Victorian ATC's and tags.

I can't wait to play with all of the goodies. Please USPS get them all to my house quickly!

I will be opening my own Etsy shop in the next few weeks! I'll keep you posted on all of those happenings.

In the mean time, I'm on a mission. I need more ephemera! I am thinking about hitting up some flea markets and the Good Will this weekend! I'll let you know how this goes. I've never gone to a flea market before. Gotta remember to bring cash in small bills so I'm told.

Until next time *

How's your ephemera collection?

It's Gone

This pic belongs to Erin Horgan.  

I just saw that Erin posted a pic of {Colorful Creations} on their last day. All I can say is wow! Look back a few posts and you'll see all of the amazing things the store once had. This is what was left Saturday afternoon.

Talk about a sad, lonely photo! Even my husband was dumbfounded. He was shocked. He said, "It's gone. It's really gone."

It surprised me how he took the news. His first words were, "What happens to Jenn?"Then he said, "What will everyone do? You have friends there who go there all the time. What will you do when we go to Cape Cod?" I just had no words. I had no words when I saw this pic either.

There is some good news with the store closing. Crop on the Cape is still happening! {CC} hosts this event and I've never been able to attend it for whatever reason. Technically, I am not able to attend in 2012, but I'm going to skip a couple days of classes. It's for my art, right?

Until next time *

Seriously support your LSS even if it's only $5 a week. They need your help to stay alive and we need them as much as they need us!

The Ladies of {Colorful Creations}

I had a few people contact me who wondered if I had more photos of {Colorful Creations}. Of course, I do! I even have a few of the staff!

Instead of trying to get the text to go where I want because that never works for me, I am giving the photos captions. If you'd like to see the pics larger, click on them and they will open in another screen and be much larger.

Happy viewing!

The infamous teal sign.

The entrance. They always had such fun things in the windows! 

Need a place to rest? Waiting for someone to shop? These were so comfy and teal.

The Art Bar. Every month there were a few different inexpensive projects to make.

A beautiful paper apron made by Melissa O. This one of the amazing pieces of art we could have won from a Scrap Pink raffle.

The very first crop I went to at {CC} in 2008. It was an amazing weekend! And to think I didn't know a soul there when I got there. Now I live a thousand miles away and I have some great friends from there!

Gorgeous products! I loved their displays. Jayne and Jenn have such great taste in store fixtures!

More goodies! On the left way back you see someone's back. That's the beginning of the studio space!

The best in beach, ocean, travel and vacation you can find!

Oh yeah look at all these Quickutz dies! A few years back they had a Quickutz Club. I really wished I lived closer to the Cape then.

The wall of rubber stamps. That wasn't all of them either. Across from this was another display just as long filled with rubber stamps. At the end of them on the wall were the clear stamps. There were also rubber stamps dispersed throughout the store. 

Gorgeous ribbons! Books and magazines, too!

Got cardstock?

Now on to the artwork. This pics are of artwork made by ladies who worked there. They were used to decorate the store. Such a creative bunch they are!

They had tons of page kits you could purchase. I have this one. It is one of my favorites. I'm addicted to autumn!

Super cute card box!

Gorgeous shadow box with Erin and her brother.

Everyone needs at least one dream.

The perfect autumn art banner.

Melissa O and Erin the elves.  Santa has such great helpers!

Too cute! 

Beautiful lighthouse card. Several different stamps were used to make all of the images. Pretty cool, huh?

A mini book that was an Art Bar project.

Yes, this is round. Reminds me of an old fashioned mailbox or newspaper holder. It's just so darn cool.

Melissa O and Bob's beautiful wedding day. This is one of my all time favorite wedding layouts.

This shadow box I tried so darn hard to get! It was a raffle for Scrap Pink one year.  The box and papers are from Creative Imaginations. I never saw this paper until I walked in {CC} one year and fell in love. I won't tell you how much of this I have bought over the years. Anytime I find any of it, I buy it. 

Super cute box!

Cock-a-doodle-do! Super cute recipe box.

A Cape Cod layout kit that they sold. I have one of these! I should put it together.....or did I use it? Hmmmmm....

Another beachy Cape Cod layout. Remember yesterday when I said {CC} had their own die cut? I actually meant they had their very own "Cape Cod" die for their Accucut. I have lots of "Cape Cods" floating around. Good thing! I know I'll need a ton.

These were state tags that were changed up a bit. See that Clever Tip? Yup, Jenn and the ladies always had lots of clever tips to share. This one I thought was extra spiffy. I bought some tags from states I've never been to like New Mexico so I could change them up.

And now without further ado....the ladies of {Colorful Creations}.

This photo is from Jenn Shurkus. Steal it and she may hunt you down!
This is Jayne and Jenn.

Jayne was the fantastic owner. I'll never forget her "Man Vegas." It's what you get when you mix Manchester, NH with Jayne. And I just realized I don't have a pic of Jayne. Seriously?! How can that be? Well, I'm going to have to borrow one. I hope Jenn doesn't mind. :)


Jenn Shurkus was the manager of {CC}. She's a graphic designer and teaches classes all over the Northeast. I would say Massachusetts, but I have taken classes with her in New York. She went to Ohio last year and to Nova Scotia - up in Canada! - this year to teach. Have Jetta, stamps, and ink will travel I think should be her motto! She's also on Creative Imaginations design team. I mentioned yesterday that it's all her fault I got into Copics. She's a Certified Copic Instructor and a Certified Ranger Educator as well. She was on the A Muse design team also. Jenn is just amazing and
so inspiring!

This pic also belongs to Jenn Shurkus.

Melissa O is always there when you need a good laugh. She just has something about her that makes you happy just being around her. She has gorgeous little girls. Her husband, Bob, even made us a piece of our Advent Calendar one year. I'll have a pic of that soon. Waiting for my hubby to hang it up. Melissa is also on the Core'dinations design team. Lucky girl!

I just discovered I don't have a pic of Melissa that's not part of a project. Surely, I must have one somewhere! For the meantime, I have borrowed one from Jenn. Hopefully she doesn't mind. Don't steal it or I will send her after you. She could really ink you up. :)

This is Jenn and Erin. 

Erin, Erin, Erin. What can I say about Erin? She's a lifesaver. No really she is. Remember way back when I first posted about my favorite store closing and I told the story about locking my keys in my car? The person who came to my rescue even more than OnStar was Erin. It was her phone I borrowed.

Erin is just pure entertainment. From her Hanson stories to her cruises with John Mayer. Never a dull moment with her around.

Melissa cashing someone out.

Melissa M what can I say about her? She is very patient even when I know my 800 questions about a product have to be driving her up a wall. She gives really great advice. I always love watching her Facebook status about her kids, hockey, and all of her family time. She's a hands on mom and I admire that a lot about her.

Finally....I have a few pics of my favorite {CC} croppers. One has become a really great friend and I really miss her. I can't wait until I can go North next year and see her. I may have some Thickers I need to send to her before then.

Angela getting her creative juices flowing.

We'll have to do dinner again. Last year when I went up for a visit, I had a great night with Angela. I was so stressed after my GPS sent me through Washington, D.C. during rush hour that I just cried for like two hours. The next evening I got to {CC} and life was good. The girls calmed me down. How I don't know. Angela and I went to Uno's since i don't have one here where I live in South Carolina. We cropped together all weekend and have stayed friends even with my crazy move.

Hide EJ hide! 

EJ - aka England Jane - just cracks me up. She has no problem speaking her mind which is rather refreshing since so many people don't. I loved hearing her stories about England. And yes, she has the coolest accent!

I think that's all for now. Stayed tuned for my new studio and tons of pics!

Until next time *

Seriously, when was the last time you shopped your LSS? I don't mean window shopping. Support your local businesses!