It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

This holiday season snuck on me so fast! Thanksgiving has come and gone. I’m still recovering from Turkey day!

I was thinking I had all this time to prepare myself for my first Etsy holiday season, and now all of a sudden it’s the weekend after Thanksgiving! I put together my inventory a few weeks ago, and am just now getting together all of my listings to post on Cyber Monday.

I spent a big chunk of this weekend taking photos, editing photos, working on item descriptions, and updating existing listings for my holiday sale. You should see my craft room right now! I was supposed to clean it up this weekend, but I’m afraid to even go in there! I’m in my computer phase right now (versus my scrapping phase) and during this time I only step in that room to grab a pair of scissors or a ruler!

My work place had a craft fair a couple weeks ago – only open to employees – and I didn’t have much success. Which in a way is ok with me because now I can list everything on Etsy and hopefully kick off my store with a good Etsy holiday season!

How was your weekend? Did you spend lots of time with family? Get any Christmas shopping done? Have you gotten any snow yet?

Craft Gawker

I came across a website that features various artists and crafters. On Craft Gawker, artists submit their items hoping to be chosen out of the many talented people who submit their items as well. So…I decided to try it out and submitted one of my listings. And 2 days later, it showed up on the front page! The picture you see here is the item they accepted.

I urge you to give it a try. You never know what can happen! I’m going to submit a few of my other cards as well. I’ll keep you updated on their progress. And make sure you check out Craft Gawker to see all the amazing talents out there!

Happy Halloween!

It’s Saturday morning again – my favorite time of the week – and getting ready to start baking my first apple pie…EVER! It’s no secret I love to cook, but baking? I’m not such a pro. I’m prepared to change that though. Well, maybe. We’ll see how it goes.

Today is Halloween and I’m looking forward to hanging out with my fiancé where he’ll probably get me to watch a scary movie. I am not a fan of scary movies. They creep me out and when I’m by myself I always end up thinking about them! This is the first year we will not be going out on Halloween and I’m definitely looking forward to it. We just moved into our new apartment where there are a lot of kids. So who knows, maybe we’ll get some trick-or-treaters?!

In light of the holiday, doesn’t this look yummy from tetoncocoacompany?

Etsy Favs - Orange Crème

I am just loving fall and decided to make my own mock treasury, since I can never seem to get online at the right time to actually get one published. So here is my fall "treasury"

Orange Crème

Nogginsnbobbins

Moocowhandknits

AmandaLouise

EfiaFair

Khollis

Lenni08

A breath of French Air

Don't these items just put you in the mood? Be sure to check out these Etsy shop's who all have tons of other fabulous items.

Update

Back again! My blog is feeling neglected, but I have good reason for not posting for so long. First and foremost, my fiancé and I moved into our first place together! October first was our move in day and we now finally feel situated and organized. AND best of all, I have my own scrapping room! Actually it’s technically our “guest bedroom” but I have so taken it over. My poor fiancé has to do his work in the living room. No complaints from him yet though…yet.

I also started a new job a couple months ago which made me so mentally exhausted at the end of the day that I didn’t feel like doing much when I came home except crashing with a glass of wine in front of the TV. But with the holidays just around the corner, I have decided it is due time to start relisting and making some holiday cards and tags. I will also be involved in a craft fair at work the week before Thanksgiving. I am super excited since I have never been a part of a craft fair before. So we’ll see how it goes.

And now with no further ado, I would love to share with you a few of the things I have been working on.

I'm being featured!

Check out my interview at here on DZfantasy's blog. And don't forget to pay her Etsy shop a visit where you'll find fun and unique fiber sculptures of fairies, mermaids, and more!

Feelin' Like Fall

We have been having a little taste of fall with some stormy weather here. I just love fall and everything that comes with it. Fall and spring are the two seasons that I just crave following a harsh season before. I love decorating for fall too. Getting out all my warm colors and spice candles give me a sense of hominess and security.

This morning I woke up to clouds and wanted to watch the Food Network channel (funny how those two things come hand-in-hand for me!) I love watching their chefs prepare comfort food dishes while it’s cold outside (it was only 45 degrees when I woke up!) and sometimes wish that I could be the chef on the show in the beautiful kitchen and cooking whatever I want – no matter the cost – so I can show off my talents to amateur’s. Let me clarify…I AM an amateur and only WISH to be the professional chef (oops, it’s back on. Gotta take it off mute).

Here’s what I’m watching right now:

Ellie Krieger making Mushroom-and-Onion Pizza with Basil

Mmm, I LOVE basil; definitely my favorite herb. I have never watched Ellie on the food network before (my favorites are Giada de Laurentis and Tyler Florence). Ellie seems to be a health nut…hmmm, not really my style. But hey, if it’s healthy AND tastes good then I’m definitely first to give it a try. And I just love her kitchen. Second from watching what the chef is cooking is seeing how their kitchen looks and flows together. Ellie has white cabinets with dark grey countertops – could be soapstone? It’s hard to tell. But I love the contrast of light cabinets and dark countertops. She has a beautiful glass subway tile backsplash and mullion cabinet doors to show off her pottery. Can you tell I love kitchen design?

Here’s the recipe for the pizza:

Ingredients
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 medium red onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (10-ounce) baked thin pizza crust
• 1 cup marinara sauce
• 1/4 cup sliced, reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes
• 4 ounces shredded, part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Heat the oil in a skillet over a medium heat. Add the mushrooms and onions and cook until tender and most of the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and remove from the heat.

Place the pizza crust on a baking sheet. Spread the sauce over the crust leaving a 1-inch border. Top with the mushroom mixture and sun-dried tomatoes. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake until the crust is crisp and the cheese is nicely melted, about 13 minutes. Sprinkle with basil, cut into 8 slices and serve.

Looks easy enough, right? (oh no, the sun is coming out!) Now I just need it to truly be fall so I can get out my warm jackets, spice candles, and change up my décor.

Enjoy the recipe!

10% off this weekend at Shop Reminiscence

Come to my Etsy shop and receive 10% off your entire order through Sunday at midnight PST. Just mention this post and I will reimburse you through PayPal. Here you will find high quality greeting cards and scrapbook pages. And keep checking back because invitations, tags, and Halloween cards are soon to come!

My relationship with my Slice isn’t all peachy but…

There are some new design cards with new product features that can be pre-ordered! I am so tempted to get one even though I haven’t been completely happy with how it works. But the designs are just so cute! Here are some of my favorites:





Click here to pre-order these new cards (and more!) and a discounted price or here for the MM Slice homepage. The new features include mirroring, shadowing, and an increased speed option!

I am so excited to try some of these new cards. If you have any favorite Slice cards let me know which ones they are! I would love to hear about them.

Just Rite Stamp Set Giveaway

Click here to go to the Die Cuts R Us Design Team blog to win this Just Rite stamp set. All you have to do is leave a comment on their blog! Easy enough, right? This is also a great blog to follow because they have a fabulous design team who share their scrapbooking ideas, tips, notices on sales from their shoppe, and much more. They also have great challenges. Have fun browsing!

MM Slice Machine – It’s a Love/Hate Relationship

Last Christmas I received the Making Memories Slice Machine from my fiancé and was super excited that I couldn’t wait to get started making new cards with it. My first time using it went over pretty well. But now I am having the most difficult time getting consistent cuts! No matter the pressure I put on it, how thick the paper is, or how tight the blade is. I guess it’s just a matter of practice because on regular computer paper it didn’t cut all the way through, and then I tried it on cardstock and it did cut all the way through. Go figure!

Taking the time to make the initial cut with the Slice and then to have to manually finish it just isn’t cost effective when I’m trying to shell out several cards in one sitting. I hope I can figure this out soon because the memory cards for the Slice have such cute images and are perfect for cards! *sigh*

Here are a couple things I’ve created with my Slice:



Most of my stuff has been practice and not worth showing! Once I get more I will post pics. Stay tuned!

Choose Any 4 Cards From My Inventory

I just posted a new listing in my Etsy shop. You get to choose your favorite cards from my inventory to create a set of 4 for one low price!

I am trying different methods to get my inventory moving and this is just one of several ways. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter to get instant updates when I post these specials. ‘Free Shipping’ and ‘Buy 2 Get 1 Free’ are next! So check back often.

Organizing my Scrapbook Nook Step 1

My scrapbook “nook” has become so unorganized that I get a little frustrated when I start making cards and pages.

The most unorganized part? My paper! I kind of had them organized by color, but I had forgotten most everything I had that I needed to go through it again. My best paper organization system I have right now is from JoAnn’s Fabric and consists of 1 large plastic standing holder with dividers, and 4 small plastic standing holders (no, not very chic I’m afraid).

So I took out all my paper and organized it by solids; pattern paper by color, season & holiday; family & baby; and scraps. My “after” picture isn’t all that interesting so I will be posting those pictures once I have EVERYTHING organized…and who knows when that will be!

My next step is to put coordinating papers together and start stocking up my inventory so I can go buy MORE paper! And one of these days I will have a fabulous, creative paper organizing system. I can't wait!

Etsy Paper Networking Site

I just joined this fabulous networking site called Etsy Paper. Almost three hundred members right now and I’m sure growing every day. I have been addicted to blogging, facebook, and twitter (well not so much the latter), so finding this new network site is just another outlet I’ll add to my list! Just briefly browsing through the site (I just became an “aspiring member” as of a couple hours ago). I have found that each and every member has their own unique touch and are very talented, so I am super excited to be a part of this community.

And the forums, oh my! I’m already addicted to Etsy forums, so my hubby-to-be will be so excited (*sigh, eye-roll*) that I’ve found yet another feature to keep my eyes glued to my computer. I’m surprised I’m not seeing spots yet. Hmm, something to think about.

Shop Reminiscence

Here are just a few excerpts of what you will find at my Etsy shop, ShopReminiscence. So far I have listed several custom OOAK greeting cards and scrapbook pages. I cannot wait to get started on custom invitations, which is my new endeavor.

Enjoy!

All About Me

I grew up in the greater Seattle area with my parents and two younger sisters. I graduated in 2006 from Washington State University with a degree in Professional Development emphasizing in Interior Design. I now live in Eastern Washington getting ready to marry my wonderful fiance, Mike.

My outlet in life is to create. I love scrapbooking and have just recently gotten into cardmaking and my new venture is invitations - which I am hoping to start selling in the next few weeks. My hope is to fill this blog with fun stories, design and scrapbook idea's, wedding planning, recipe's, and my guilty pleasures (um...reality tv anyone?! I'm loving Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood).

Please visit my Etsy shop, ShopReminiscence and my facebook fan page and tell me what you think!

Check back often as I will be promoting my favorite shops!

Addicted to Etsy

Ever since starting my own shop on Etsy, I have been addicted to the website 24/7! It’s on my mind when I first wake up, during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Everything from the forums to searching all the different talents and their stores...it's so easy to spend hours without even realizing how long you are on your computer until your eyes feel like they are going to pop out.

At this point you are probably asking yourself “don’t you have a job to go to instead of wasting away on the computer all day?” Besides, that’s not all I do everyday…Honest! (Does shopping count as time well spent?) Anyway, to tell you the truth, I have all this time on my hands because…here it is…sigh…I am one of those lucky unemployed looking-for-a-job-but-not-really cause-I’m-having-so much-fun-not-working-for-someone-else people. What's a better way to spend my time while I’m unemployed than to do something I love to do and try to make a living off of it? I realize I have a long ways to go, but a dream is a dream and I’m shooting for the stars (though I’m sure I will have to find a “real” job by the end of the summer…oh eff!).

Here is one of the first things I found on Etsy that I LOVE! Carolhannah has some beautiful dresses.

Now go, grab a glass of wine, and search on Etsy until your eyes are bloodshot and you can't think straight anymore. You'll love it, I promise!