Teams, Banners and Books

Our Etsy class instructor has graciously set up a private Etsy Team for all participants of our course as well as future courses.
This is great news! It will not only be awesome to stay in touch and  ask questions as we help each other grow but it is also a great way to expand our customer base and get our shop known. As mentioned before, we will all be getting together to have a cross promotion/hop very soon. I keep going back and playing with my banner and am still not happy with it. I ended up hiring a designer to help me with one as I also want business cards to match with the same logo, etc. I know I could have asked my son who works for a web design company but he is so busy with married life, work and raising my little grandson. The most important thing!
Hopefully by the end of the week I will have a new shop banner and can apply it to my blog also. The name and links will remain the same.

On another note (lol - no pun intended), I made another altered Note Book yesterday.
I used another G45 paper - this time 'Boardwalk'. It has a vintage beach look to it with a big button and black/white striped bow  much the same as old vintage bathing suits. Again. it's available in my shop.

Have a great week!

My Kind of Day!

After a wet, cold winter today we had clear skies and sunshine, then my adorable 7 month old grandson came to visit and tonight I did some scrapbooking. The only way to make it better would be to throw in some shopping. Seeing my grandson always makes me smile. I just saw him 2 weeks ago but they grow so much at that age. Today he was using my wheelchair to grab onto and pull himself up - well almost. It won't be long until he's scooting all over the place. He's so strong and very determined - both good traits but not so much at this age! He's such a treat and to think that the fun is just beginning!
I also finished another altered note book I had started earlier in the week. I wanted it to be a distressed vintage look. I used papers from Bo Bunny and Echo Park tearing and distressing them then having a newsprint paper peek out as if the next page. Prima flowers were  added as well as a clock cut from their packaging, a silver chain, Tim Holtz gears, bling, ribbon, a tag and everything inked to give it a vintage look.

I LOVE making these altered note books. They can be used for anything and are so much fun to make.
This one is available in my Etsy shop. Have a peek while I'm off to pick papers for the next one!
Have a great weekend!

Easy Peasy and oh so Purty

I can't believe how fun and easy these stickpins were to make. And they are totally addictive! Now I have to get my daughter busy making more beads.
Aren't these so cute - actually I love them too much to stick on an album cover - I am wondering if I should sell them in pairs or 3's in my Etsy shop. What do you think? The large glass beads are handmade and the small glass ones are swavorski crystal.

I also made a charm to hang from one of my albums.

These were so much fun to do - except when my fingers stuck together. That jewellery glue is like super glue - it really sticks!

Thanks for looking.

Thank Goodness for Little Girls

Especially when that little girl is your beautiful and talented daughter! Some of you may know that my daughter is a glass-blower. She apprenticed with Robert Held Art Glass and now works at Bocci Design in Vancouver. As a side-line she also does lamp-working - aka glass bead making to a layman like me.
She recently gave me some glass beads to make stickpins or charms to add to my projects. Today she brought me over smaller glass beads, silver chain, pins, fasteners and tons of other things for me to play and experiment with. I am so excited to make my own stickpins and charms to add to my books. As I only make one of each book/project they are all one-of-a-kind. Now they'll be moreso - using handmade glass beads made by my own 'little' girl. Sweet!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Here it is March 17th already! (alright so it's after midnight - ignore the date above). Sorry I've been a bad blogger but there is so much to do do in starting a business regardless of on-line or a storefront. This day of technology helps a lot but it also creates more work - facebook, twitter, blogs . I'll update you on everything but first HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! Boy it's hard to believe that it is actually being held on a Saturday this year and here I am at home writing in my blog while in my comfy pj's and hubby is in bed counting sheep! Where have the years gone? It was actually 33 years ago today that hubby and I had our first date! We went to a dance in London, Ont. with the then little known Irish Rovers and double dated with my dear BFF and her ex. We danced the night away, got engaged 6 weeks later and married the following year. So yeah, we are coming up on our  32nd anniversary. Still happy but not spending St. Paddy's Day dancing and partying like back in the day. Wow - we sound like old geezers!! I should make some green tea at least -lol.!
Anyways, my Etsy shop is coming along. The course is helping a lot but also is the Etsy handbook. Between the two, I think (hope) I'm getting there. I've changed my banner. I don't like it as much but it's  clean and clear and not so s t r e t c h e d  out. I revised my policies, bought some search ads and I started a facebook page  www.facebook.com/SapphireNoteables . I made a couple more albums and listed them and OH YEAH - I sold a mini file folder portfolio! YAAY!  The buyer emailed me to say it was lovely but I just wish they would put it on my shop feedback for others to read. Oh well, hopefully that will come with time but in the meantime it's such a thrill for me to know that others are enjoying my work.
I added a nautical album which is made with pocket pages and tags. It can be for travel photos or just for the special man in your life. Masculine albums are so hard to find!
I used a lattice punch to edge the cardstock pages and really like the look of it. I hung a little charm to the front and a striped ribbon along the binding. I had to contain myself to keep it from being glitzy and pretty.
I used a Stampin Up paper for this album. I'm usually not a big fan of their papers but this one was perfect for the album I wanted to make.

The next album is from one of my most favourite paper lines -

'Little Darlings' by Graphic 45.
This paper is oh so pretty and oh so vintagey - as only G45 can do!

Oh em gee I just LOVE this paper. It is appropriately named  -  totally darling! I needed to replace the baby album that sold so this paper was perfect! I bound each page with satin ribbons tied in a bow - making pretty ribbon clusters on the end. The left hand pages each contain a pocket edged in a lace punch and inked with a tag inserted to leave as is or add a photo or journalling to the back. The right hand side of each page is an envelope style to add a photo into and a flap edged with a lace punch and inked. Lift the flap and add a photo or journalling. Lots of inking and vintage touches and Prima flowers, Stickles, Pearls and a stickpin were added to the cover.

Both of these albums are available now in my Etsy Shop.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!