Love Notes Box

Hey all !! Gosh I feel like it has been forever since I updated the blog. 

This week has been kind of crazy and if you can believe it, we are having a snow storm !!

I believe I was thinking spring, warmth, sunshine..... anything but snow !

I finally finished my love notes box and now I can not wait to fill it up with more post cards. I have been having so much fun with these and they are going to make some great birthday cards as well as just because cards. I know there is no way that I could get away with mailing them as they are very chunky, so they will have to be hand delivered.

This is a picture of my box along with the beautiful flowers that Barrie sent me.

This is a picture of the top of it. Since I am using the Mariposia Papers, and I love birds thought this would be great for the top.

We got the shipment in of the Ranger Distress Stains in on Monday and I can not wait to get the chance to play with them. Tim has a video on his blog that shows how to work with them, and I am sure that Laura will be giving us a lesson on them too.

Some of the New Petaloo has shipped and when I did the tracking they are due to arrive on Saturday !!

It has been so long since we ordered it is hard to remember what we purchased but I am sure that once I open the box I will remember how beautiful they were and why we ordered what we did.

I also want to mention that if you purchased the Tattered Angels Timeless Romance stamps and are having a tough time finding a large enough clear stamping block, well no worries we found some and the are now available in the store. That post card stamp is pretty big and we have had some request to find the blocks so we did !!

Hope you are all having a creative week and that your smile has been a source of Joy to everyone around you .

Blessings Carol

Yippie Skippie

I just love it when I hear the door bell ring and it is not only UPS but FedEx Too!!!

One of the boxes was filled with lots of replenishing supplies that have been in great demand, such as the box feet, the cordless glue gun, lavish trimmings, and ribbon (plus a couple of new items too).

The second box was filled with some of the new Sizzix dies that have started to ship (sorry non of the Tim Dies are shipping yet) but the ones that are shipping are really nice and  a couple of them have my name written all over them and Barrie's written on others. The one I am anxious to work with, well the two really, are the accordion fold flowers and the mini envelope. They are adorable and I am a mini envelope lover!!!  I can make them to fit little thank you cards for in our packages !!!

We also received an e-mail today that said that Petaloo is now shipping the new flowers that we ordered so we are anxiously awaiting for those to arrive and let me assure you that they are very beautiful and will make you happy just like they did us when we spied them.

These are just a few of them and the rest are just as beautiful !!!!

We will let you know when they arrive !!

Have a happy Thursday !!!

Carol 

Coming up for air



The last two weeks have been incredibly busy packing orders and working on getting everything done.

We are amazed at the number of wonderful people that are ordering from us and we appreciate each and every order we get. We hope we are living up to your expectations !!

We have finally gotten in a couple of things that we ordered at CHA. The Punch bunch punches are here and we ordered them because they are the punches that are used in both of the flower books by Susan Tierney Cockburn. The ones we chose to start with will make some of the best loved flowers and with the instructions in the book they are easy to make and look so beautiful. We will add more of the punches as we go so that you can make every flower imaginable.

We also received the Glitz papers. YIPPIE SKIPPIE!!!  There are three lines, Afternoon Muse, Love Games and Lace With Grace and these are so beautiful and fun. The colors are amazing and the patterns are fun too. Be sure to check them out and let us know what you think of them.



Love Games ( 1 of 6 papers)



Lace With Grace (1 of 6 papers)



Afternoon Muse (1 of 6 papers)
 

We should be getting in our Ranger order this week and can not wait to get our hands on the new distress stains, and from the questions we have gotten it seems as if there are a lot of you anxiously awaiting them to arrive too. 

 We are finding it hard to keep things in stock as our suppliers are out of so many things when we order and we then have to try and order things from several different companies. Some of what we order we get in rather quickly, but others take a week or more to arrive. Sure wish they were as quick to ship as we are LOL.  We will be increasing the number of things we order as we are finding that our demand is increasing, just hope that our suppliers are able to provide us what we need. Guess this is kinda like having  growing pains, but we are adjusting and  learning along the way. Please be patient with us as we are working hard to get it right.

One of the things I would also like to mention is that I spend Wednesday of each week with my Mom so I do not get any orders packed until I get home from there, but don't let this stop you from ordering on Wednesdays  as I do get them packed and invoiced.

This day is very important to me, as my mother is the most important person in my life (second to my loving husband) and having a day with her each week not only makes me happy, but it delights her too. She is a cancer survivor, and each and every day I have with her is precious to me.

We hope you have a wonderful week and that you are seeing some signs of spring in your neck of the world.

We love ya !!

Carol

Post Card Fun

Post cards are probably one of those things that everyone has either received one or sent one. I know we have always had a rule in our house that if you go somewhere, you have to send a post card home. We have gotten them from all of the places we have traveled, even if we didn't send them, but just bought them as a keepsake. Now to be able to make them is so fun, and I am sure that I am hooked to say the least.

I have been using the Maraposa papers as I had a small stack that was not being used. On this one, I took the  Birdcage die cut, sprayed it with forever red perfect pearls mist and set it over the image of the bird on the paper, I used a  stamp I had on the left side that had the word gratitued on it, then I strung the vine ribbon through the holes in the bottom of the bird cage, added some mini flowers, pearl centers, and a chain that runs from the top of the bird cage around the side of the post card. Of couse I inked all edges with distress ink

The back was stamped with the Tattered Angels Timeless Romance  Stamp. I then cut out one of the stamps from the K&Company Lifes Journey Stamp papers, and used a Quickutz Die to cut out the postage stamp shape ( you can also use decorative scissors to get the same effect) Then I used one of the Post Card word stamps from Tim Holtz along with the date stamp and cancelation stamp from the TA stamp set. I free handed (with help with my clear stamping block) the lines. And of course all the edges are inked to give it that vintage look.

Once again I have used the Mariposa paper, and simply added a Petaloo color me crazy flower that was sprayed with Chalk, chalkboard glimmer mist, then added a 3-d flower (sizzix) three feathers, a Petaloo Butterfly, and then the heart lock and key (Martha Stewart Punch) I had to add some stickles to the flower, butterfly and the lock and keys to give it that bling look!  

The back of this one is done the same way as the previous one.

And last but not least

This one is again using the Mariposa papers, but I stamped the Heart and Key from the Timeless Romance Stamp set on it, then added 3 of the roses from the Je t'Adore Rose Cream

Ribbon. I added 2 feathers, and then set the bird from the bird cage die. The bird is sprayed with GM and then sparkled with stickles. The word love and the dots were added using a pearl pen, which stays glossy and dimensional !! I also could not belive how fast it dried.

Thanks Laura Dennison for the inspiration and I can not wait to make more !! 

Thanks for looking and hope you have a day full of inspiration from unexpected places.

Carol  

Back Up And Going

Wow it has been a rough few days but I think I am back up and going and the worst of the flu is behind me. Thank you all for your well wishes and understanding about the orders being slow to go out. I should be all caught up by tomorrow and things should be back to normal.

We are expecting that the Tattered Angels Timeless Romance Stamps have either shipped or are shipping out on Monday so we will have plenty more in stock for everyone. We are also excited to be getting the Punch Bunch Punches, and books in and we are also expecting them to arrive some time this coming week. These punches follow the books (Paper Garden & Paper Bouquet), also shipping this week.  We know that the McGill punches are also very close to the ones in the book, so if you prefer those punches we will have both of them to choose from.

So with that said, and it being 3 pm on Sunday February 6th and the Super Bowl commercials will be starting soon, I wish you all a good week and hope that what ever team your cheering for you enjoy the game !!

Go Steelers

(my team by default as my hubbie wants the other guys to win and we have a yearly bet on the game)

Home

We are all home safe and sound and I know I am happy to be here. The hubbie was happy to see me, and of course Sam our pup was ecstatic too, but I think more of that was for the fact that now he will not have to be torn away from his friend the heater at 4:30 in the morning to go out and do his business.

We were all a tad bit concerned when we were checking into the airport that our bags would be over the weight limit, as we brought home a ton of catalogs for future shopping and they weigh a ton.

We placed several orders with companies such as

Spellbinders, Pink Paisley, Petaloo, Glitz Design, Ranger, Punch Bunch & Sizzix

We have plans with products from other companies, but until we actually figure out what those projects are, we are waiting to order so we can get exactly what you will need. 

Spending time with Barrie and Laura was amazing, and we had quite a few giggle fests, which is cleansing for the soul to say the least. We spent a lot of time brain storming, bouncing ideas off of each other and it really is wonderful how we all think in the same color, and can start with A and end up with Z and never loose the original vision. All we can say is hold on to your paper trimmer girls, this year is going to rock !!!

For the most part we were disappointed in the fact that the show had nothing to offer that left us breathless and having to pick ourselves up off the floor. I am sure that the companies are facing the same economical challenges that the rest of us have faced and they have pared back as well. They seem to have been expanding on the products that are out on the market and are popular, and revisiting them in different shapes, sizes and colors. But you know we can make that all work for some amazing things.

We really did enjoy meeting Tim, and he is as nice in person as he is on his videos and in his classes, but the best thing that happened this week end for me, was to be able to once again spend a few days with Barrie, as she is the best person in the world, and getting to know Laura better. These are two amazing Ladies, with hearts the size of the universe and I am totally blessed to be able to call them friends !!!

Have a great day and watch for new things to start arriving some time next week and up through the end of March beginning of April !!

Blessings Carol

Punch Bunch Flowers