October 2014 Crafting Goals

A recap of last month’s goals:

• Plan out classes and sample cards for September and October -- Success! I've got all my samples made for Sept and Oct and classes all planned.  Now I need to start working on November...
• Create a for sale/for free box to put out at classes -- Success!I put out a box at meet and greet and actually got rid of some things. I plan on leaving the box out at my future classes until we get ready to move.  Then, I'll probably just send the rest out as RAKs and/or trash it.
• Finish and document my 30 Days of Lists -- Success! I actually stuck with it throughout the month and completed my first 30 Days of Lists.
• Catch up on PL albums (family and Arthur) -- 50/50 I am caught up with the family album, but Arthur's is far behind. I really need to spend some time on his.
• Reorganize my PL card collections -- Fail. I started organizing, but realize that I need a better system.  I'll have to spend some time thinking about how to fix it.
• Finish my Holiday and Demo event swap cards -- Success!  I got both done before they were due.  Thank goodness!

This month’s goals:

• 30 Days of Cards -- Yep, I am going to attempt to make a card a day for the entire month of October. We'll see how this goes.
• Prep my December Daily album -- Another big project for me. I fully intend to have this prepped and ready to show off for a class in November. Plus, I want to have it ready to document our December fun.
• Create card/scrapbooking kits for sale -- As part of the craft fairs I'm participating in, I want to create a few kits to sell.
• Organize my to sell items for upcoming craft fairs -- I need to pull my inventory, price it, and possibly plan out a few other crafts to make.
• Gather and package Arthur's 1st Birthday Goody bags -- The items are coming in the mail.  I can't wait!
• Make Arthur's 1st Birthday Thank You Cards -- I want these done before his party on the 11th.

Fun 'n Crafty Blog Hop October 2014

Welcome to the Fun n’ Crafty Blog Hop for October. This month we will be showcasing project ideas from Stampin' Up's card kits. I haven't bought many of their kits, but I must say that the ones I have seen just keep getting better and better.  I've now subscribed to Paper Pumpkin and am impressed.  But for today's hop, I am highlighting cards that I've made from the Everyday Occasions catalog.  The demos who attended the Unite and Excite events got the kit for free.  However, now that I've seen it, I'm definitely recommending it to all my customers.  Just check out all these beauties:

The leftovers!  I still have enough parts to make at least three more cards.  And look at all those dimensionals... they will be used soon enough.

Blog Hop Participants:

• Sara G. of 1200 Some Miles
• Tobe B. of The Craft Sea
• Stacey L. of A Work of Carte
• Jennifer B. of Northwest Stamper

30 Days of Lists -- Days 26-30

Have you heard about 30 Days Of Lists?  Created by Kam of Campfire Chic and Amy of Lemon and Raspberry, 30 Days of a Lists is a semi-annual journalling challenge.  In March and September, they provide you with one topic a day.  You then run off and create a list.

October 2014 Paper Pumpkin

I'll admit it, I hadn't joined Paper Pumpkin because I thought it wasn't a good deal.  After hearing more and more good things about the quality and quantity of products, I finally joined last month during the 1/2 off sale.  While SU had some delivery delays due to certain overseas supply delays, I received my project last week.  And boy was I pleasantly surprised!

The kit is a fun Halloween set of burlap bags and tags.  I immediately went to town stamping and embellishing my tags.  What surprised me was the quantity of embellishments.  Realistically, you can only put 2-3 stickers on each tag, but I received 2 sheets of stickers.  Even after I finished, I still have an entire sheet left for other projects!  Plus, the stamp set comes with the same images as the stickers.  I didn't even use those stamps yet.  I started to put the bags together, but realized that I want to save them for the fall social.  I have an idea to use them for parent goody bags of candy.  Now I need to look at our number of RSVPs and possibly buy a refill kit.

Overall, I am really impressed with the new and improved Paper Pumpkin.  I have already bought next months kit, but I imagine that I will continue my subscription after that.

If you want to get in on the fun, please visit Paper Pumpkin to sign up.

Sunday Haul #17

A few fun acquisitions this past week... I won $20 to Freckled Fawn from the 30 Days of Lists event.  I went a little crazy and grabbed some fun things: three rolls of washi tape, a cute bag, enamel stars, two sets of enamel dots, and a cute retired stamp.

I received my September Take Ten kit.  I love the bright fun colors of this months kit.  And look, sequins!!!!

Somehow I missed posting my fall PL swaps.  I really loved these!  I think this is the best overall swap that I've received.

Received a package from Blitsy.  I bought four scrapbook kits: two boy themed ones and two Christmas themed ones.  I can't wait to use them!

Through a FB Project Life swap and shop group, I bought partials of:

Cobalt

Amber

Strawberry

Holiday Catalog Swap Cards

My local demo group did a card swap featuring holiday catalog products.  And my goodness!  What a beautiful bunch of cards I received back.  Let's take a look at them...

Angela McCormack

Pam Wu

Rosemary Bryson

Stacey Lane @ A Work of Carte

Jennifer Blomquist @ Northwest Stamper

Cindy Espino @ Cynbad Living

Sara Grafton @ 1200 Some Miles

Jill Cantorna

Kathy Thisted

30 Days of Lists -- Days 16-25

Have you heard about 30 Days Of Lists?  Created by Kam of Campfire Chic and Amy of Lemon and Raspberry, 30 Days of a Lists is a semi-annual journalling challenge.  In March and September, they provide you with one topic a day.  You then run off and create a list.

Playing catch up a bit...

A to Z Me

As I don't have a technique post for today, I thought I would tell you a little about myself...

A. Age: 32
B. Bed size: Queen. I need my space! And occasionally a squirmy baby joins us for an hour or two.
C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the bathrooms. The absolute worst!
D. Dogs: Love them. However, our apartment is way too small for a dog. BTW J believes that a dog must be at least 60 pounds, hence the issue.
E. Essential start to your day: Coffee and baby snuggles
F. Favorite color: Purple, all shades.  Actually thinking about radically changing my wardrobe to feature purple.
G. Gold or Silver: Silver, but gold is growing on me
I. Instruments you play: None. I took choir in school and then theater
J. Job title: Mom, blogger, reader, organizer
K. Kids: Three -- 11 month old baby boy and 11 year old twin boys
L. Live: Sunny northern California... but have also spent time living in St. Petersburg FL and Omaha NE and grew up in Fort Wayne IN
M. Mother’s name: Rebecca
N. Nicknames: T-Frances, Tobekins
O. Overnight hospital stays: Two. A few days spent for each of my children's births.
P. Pet peeves: My biggest pet peeve -- late and/or flaky people!  So incredibly annoying.
Q. Quote from a movie: "What's with today, today?" -- Empire Records
R. Right or left handed: Lefty, but I do most sports related activities with my right hand. S. Siblings: One half-brother, one half-sister, two stepbrothers.
U. Underwear: Comfy cotton ones. Yep, I'm old.
V. Vegetable you hate: Cooked spinach, although I do like raw spinach in salads and sandwiches.
W. What makes you run late: J... not the baby, J
X. X-Rays you’ve had: A few chest x-rays for respiratory infections in childhood.
Y. Yummy food that you make: Brownies and wacky cake.  I've gotten lots of compliments.  They are my go to dishes for get together and potlucks.
Z. Zoo animal: Polar bears, sea turtles, otters, and other large sea mammals.  Fascinating to watch.

Children's Cards

I attended a fun little class taught by my crafting partner Colleen that focused on children's cards.  Between my friends and the parent's group, I will definitely have a use for these in the coming months.

Such an easy but striking design.  I can't wait to replicate this cute caterpillar.  

Legos!  I love the simple color blocks (complete with fake embossed circles) and big sentiment.  Perfect for any little kid birthday!

This was a birthday card, but I changed up the sentiment. A friend of mine is due any day with her baby girl.  I thought this would be the perfect card to send.

And finally, a cute birthday card using the stamp set that I can't believe I don't own myself: Zoo Babies.  My rhino is a bit off, but it's still a cute card.  I may just have to add this set to my next SU order.

Do you want to make amazing cards like these and live in the Bay Area?  Hop on over to the Mountain View Stampers and Paper Crafters Meetup site and join us!

Sunday Haul #16

I received more PL card swaps back in the mail. Tropical:

Days of the Week:

Washi Tape:

Stripes:

Butterflies:

Birds:

Love:

A trip to Michael's ended with a huge haul.  I went in for glue dots (love those things!) and somehow came out with a lot more.  They were having their "lowest prices of the season" sale, so I took advantage of some of the deals.  I ended up finally buying on of the desktop organizers.  Now all my tools are in one place.  I also grabbed some gray paper and a holiday paper pack.  Plus, a Halloween stamp, glitter tape, fabric flowers, glue dots, snowflake punch, heart punch, and stickers.