Shop Update...

Is my header photo big enough?  I'm not very tech savvy so bear with my while I figure things out!

This paper and fabric album/journal was added to Etsy this morning.  For 10% all sales through the end of April us coupon code "SPRINGSALE" at checkout.

Lots of room for photos AND journaling in this album...

(This photo was not included on Etsy since I'm limited to five photos)

Pages for photos...

Pages for Journaling and photos

Pocket with two handmade tags...

Back cover...

And since I'm in the thick of spring cleaning...more ephemera kits!

Happy All Saints Day

Happy All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Dia De Los Muertos. My girlfriend (who still has relatives in Mexico) asked her cousin to send me some sugar skulls so I could make these adorable "Day of the Dead" cupcakes found in this book but they haven't arrived yet...maybe next year? Etsy only allows five photos when listing an item for sale so here are the additional photos as promised...
Here is the vintage Memories Fabric/Paper album...
Here are photos of the three jumbo double-sided tags...(front)
(Back)
...and here is the vintage Christmas File Album (I only posted the photos NOT shown in my Etsy store for this one)

A Good Day! (or Two)

The past few days have been very exciting...on Saturday Shelby made an unexpected trip home (gave me three loads of laundry to do but I was happy to do it if it meant spending a few hours with her), I'm even making progress with the dreaded "end-of-visit" anxiety...no tears when she left this time! In addition to that, we FINALLY took the plunge and upgraded my crappy crappy CRAPPY computer, I now have a fancy one with tons of memory and disk space. The whining and crying over my snail of a computer are things of the past...I can now post my "picture of the day" in literally seconds instead of 45 minutes. And...if that wasn't enough to make me a happy girl, I got this package of fabulous felt from Colonial Crafts in the mail Saturday afternoon...I love all the colors! I'll be making little felt Christmas houses until my fingers fall off... Later that day, we ran to an estate sale and I found this wonderful Mary statue (in addition to a few other religious treasures)...they had another like it that was in pristine condition but something about this worn Mary spoke to me, isn't she lovely?
Today's big news is that this complimentary issue of Somerset Studio was waiting for me when I got home from work. I briefly mentioned in an earlier post that I wasn't sure what was being published but I had a hunch it was my love, hope, faith lotto cards. I say I wasn't sure because I was never notified that I was being published in Somerset Studio but I got an email asking me if I wanted a complimentary issue or a voucher for an issue. I sent 4 pieces of "art" to Stampington in hopes of being published. I was notifed by Sew Somerset that one piece would be in the Winter issue (soon to be arriving on my doorstep) and a second piece would be published in the Summer issue (out in June)...so I naturally assumed that there was some sort of mix-up; however, a rep for Somerset Studio assured me a third piece being published...and here they are, mine are the three lotto cards: If you happen to pick up a copy make sure to check me out!
I'll leave you with a few items I've been working on for my store...I'm hoping to get it good and stocked for holiday shopping so I can relax and enjoy the next few months but so far I'm not having much luck!

Have a good week!

Rachel

Halloween Embellishment Giveaway!

Tom and I went to a few estate sales last weekend...Tom didn't find any treasures but I sure did. One sale had a stash of vintage hats, the hats were in terrible shape but lucky for me I learned the trick to reviving vintage millinery from a cute little old lady selling vintage hats (just steam them and reshape before they cool)...they look much better now than they did on the hats!

I also found all sorts of paper treasures but some of them smell a little musty. I think I heard that storing them in kitty litter for a bit takes the smell away. Does anyone know if that's true?
I also found these adorable picks and couldn't resist...I think I'll make up some little Christmas kits for my shop with these little cuties, the vintage millinery and the little metal jello molds shown in the pic above.

Now for the giveaway: Leave me a comment sometime before Midnight (central time) Friday, September 18th telling me what your favorite item is from my Etsy shop (it could be something currently listed or something that has already sold) and one lucky winner will get a set of the Halloween Felt Rounds AND a set of the Happy Haunting Journaling Spots.

Please check my shop for new Halloween items and kits and watch for my "clearance" sale starting soon.

Paper Bag Lady

About three years ago my sister, Lisa, got me hooked on making these little paper bag scrapbook albums...I used to sell them on Ebay before I discovered Etsy. I quit making them a year or so ago but after making the five graduation albums for Shelby and her friends I'm obsessed with making them again. One of the girls asked if I could make an album for her father so here it is...

I suppose I should finish Shelby's Senior Prom album before I make anymore paper bag albums!

"Thank you for your service"

Shelby and I spent most of last Saturday at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds where they were holding the annual spring Antique and Flea Market Spectacular. We literally ran out of money so we drove home to get my bank card, ran to the bank to get more cash then headed back to the fairgrounds to snatch up more treasures. We got a ton of loot but my favorite find of the day was bought at the very first booth we visited...it's this great hand-painted little shell coin purse, it was obviously well loved but it's in really good condition aside from the worn paint. I think I have the perfect idea for it but I'll have to see how it turns out!

A wonderful customer and really sweet lady custom ordered two vintage military themed journals from my Etsy store...one is for her husband who is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq and should be back home in October...the second is for a co-worker who will also be heading to Iraq very soon. I found the tasseled flag cards at the flea market and immediately thought they'd be perfect on the journals...hope you like them Melanie!

I've been wanting to do some art swaps but didn't quite know how to go about doing it. I found a great website dedicated strictly to art swaps so I joined a few (maybe more than I should have but I always work best under pressure!) I'll post pictures as soon as I get my goodies made...the best part of it all is looking forward to receiving my packages filled with secret treasures in the mail. Can't wait!

Time flies...

Seems so long ago that we were in hot, sunny Florida for spring break. The weather was perfect the entire eight days we were there, and, needless to say, we had SO. MUCH. FUN! This was the first vacation in a long time in which none of us wanted to come home.

Here are some of my favorite picturesShelby gave Mickey a little smooch on the cheek...

Matt was thrilled about this one since Goofy has always been his favorite Disney Character (with Pluto a close second)

I was thrilled Pinnochio was there! Isn't he adorable?

Love this picture of me and Tom...kind of romantic huh? This was at Clearwater Beach (Gulf of Mexico)

I just couldn't resist snapping their picture under the "We have crabs" sign...notice Matt didn't want anything to do with it. Tarpon Springs, Sponge Docks.

{BIG SIGH} I really haven't come out of vacation mode yet even though it's been a week since we got back...I'm having a really tough time getting back in the swing of things. I quit my shameful photography "picture a day" blog...I fell behind while on vacation and there's simply no way I'll be able to catch it up now (or maybe I'll feel really ambitious this weekend and just do it??) I did manage to make a few new goodies for my shop...

That's all for now!