Toot Toot!!!

My daughter is a very talented young glassblower in Vancouver. She's becoming a well-known up and coming artist in the glass community. Today she was telling me about her work and was humbled to say how good she is compared with others. I told her it was good to toot her own horn once in a while. She should be proud of what she does!
Well, I need to take my own advice. Like mother like daughter I guess.
So ... toot, toot!!
I am so honoured and thrilled to be asked to be a guest designer @ The Paper Passion for the month of June.
I will be featured on their forum and gallery as well as their Facebook Page and their Blog. Each Friday for the month of June, I will have a project using products available at The Paper Passion along with tips or techniques.
I received my box of goodies yesterday and the wheels have been turning ever since!
I am sooo excited and thrilled to be asked and look forward to sharing my work with you.
Be sure to check their Blog every Friday (as well as guest designer Zoe Newburt featured every Tuesday in June) for my projects and tips.

Barbecues, Fairs and Stickpins

Okay maybe they don't go together - or do they? Regardless, that is what my weekend consisted of.
Finally with the nice weather we were able to barbecue and ... wait for it ...
sit outside!!!!!!!!!!!! It felt good to sit under the umbrella even if cars and sirens did go by. Something about eating outdoors just makes the food taste that much better. And the barbecue helps too - steaks, burgers, chicken, ribs, fish, veggies - whatever, taste so much better on the barbie! Of course a nice, cold cooler helps too.
This weekend too was our annual May Days. I haven't been to it in  years but went with our son and his wife and our 9 mo.old grandson. I was impressed and proud that our little ol' town of Ladner put on such a great fair. There was a midway with rides and games for young and old, concession stands, vendors with their homemade goodies and handmade wares, a bandstand  with continuous entertainment, softball tournament, petting zoo (which is the one thing my grandson would have loved and somehow we missed it) and of course a beer tent to keep the men happy. Actually the beer tent was a popular place.
My grandson, although too young to enjoy the rides or goodies, did win 2 small prizes with a little help from daddy - so he was pretty happy. He had a smile on his face the whole time. He seems to be in his element when around people or activities. He`s going to be a going concern - but a good concern - especially when I am the grandma!
I also added some stickpins to my Etsy shop. My daughter has been busy with moving and work so has not had time to set up her lampworking table and equipment. So I bought some beads from a wholesale bead store and made some new stickpins. I designed cards to display them on and grouped them in sets of 3. I photographed them all (oh yeah - hubby bought me a new light box - love it!) and added 2 of the sets to my shop. I made 7 sets but I`ll add a couple at a time as I want to spread my listings out a bit.
Here`s the 2 sets that I added. There are individual photos in my shop. Also, this is what the packaging looks like.

So, how was your weekend?

Oops!!!!!!!!!

Sorry  I have been such a bad blogger. I can't believe how much work having an Etsy shop is. I thought that I just made items then hopefully they sold. But there is shop  branding, pricing, packaging, shipping, promoting, photography. tags, titles, descriptions, teams, circles, searches and treasuries - phew - not to mention the creating! I also have another blog 'Scrapping Life' which I have spent more time designing so this poor little blog has been left out in the cold. I am thinking of having only one blog but for now please forgive the lack of creativity on this blog design.
I have been busy making items for the shop though. And yes, they are much more creative.
With the busy wedding season upon us I have been making albums that can also be used as wedding albums.
The first is an album uusing Basic Grey's Capella line. This paper is an older paper but I always loved it - it's  perfect for photos of your special day. This 5X7 album contains 16 pagea - 8 with photo mats and 6 pocket pages which include pull out mats with tabs to add more photos or journalling. Beautiful Prima flowers, pearls and lace were added to the front cover.

Next is an album made wih a mixture of Prima's Fairy Belle and Printery papers as well as Romantique by Graphic 45. It measures 5 1/2 x 4 1/2 and contains 24 pages - 12 of which are pocket pages with pull out tabs. This book has a romantic, vintage look to it.  The cover contains Prima flowers, twill ribbon, a sheer ribbon bow with a vintage style button and beautiful black pearl swirls. A metal and rhinestone heart locket is attached with a chain. The locket opens for you to put a special photo inside.

The next album is suitable for a wedding, an anniversary or just a special album for two. It  is a beautiful 6x6 scrapbook mini album made with the Bella Bella paperline from My Minds Eye. The front and back covers are made with sturdy chipboard and contain inside pockets to store photos, letters, emphera or treasures. The front cover is embellished with Prima flowers, pretty Prima 'peacock' rhinestones, ribbon and bow, a beaded stickpin and a title 'You and Me'. A handbeaded charm bookmark hangs from a chain.Inside there are 16 pocket pages with pullout mats and tags for all your photos.

I also made a brag book and some altered notebooks that I will share with you shortly.

These items are all available in my Etsy shop.