A Few Odds and Ends

We’re getting ready for our family vacation, so I’m sitting on my hands and not starting any new projects. It’s hard! I got a pad of really neat scrapbook paper last weekend and am DYING to do something with it! I need to focus my attention elsewhere though, so am just going to have to tough it out until we get back. We are renting a cute little cabin in central Washington with my cousin and her husband, and there will be NO internet access either, so I guess I’ll be going through all sorts of withdrawals! Seriously, it should be fun- we’ll do some fishing, hiking, canoeing (if my cousin is able to bring their canoe). I also have some books that I’ll bring in the hopes that I can find a nice shady spot on the lake to park and read. Is it the weekend yet??!

Anyway, before that, I have a couple of new things to share. First up is a card I created for a monochromatic card challenge in the Yahoo paper crafts group I belong to. I really wanted to go with purple for this challenge, but when I went through my paper supply, I didn’t have any purple papers that didn’t have some other color on them. I had several pink ones though, so that’s what I went with, even though pink is not one of my favorite colors:

I’m not sure I love the monochromatic look- but heck, I’ll try anything once! I think it turned out pretty nice. I’m going to send it to my step-mom, along with the purple photo bookmark with my kids’ pictures on it.

Next up is a couple of interesting experiments I did with pressed flowers. I’ve been thinking lately that I would like to expand what I’m offering in my Etsy shop, so have been thinking up other things I might be able to do with them. I have had this idea floating around in my head for awhile of making a card with pressed flowers on it, but the hard part about that is that the flowers are so delicate, so would have to be protected somehow. I’ve been mulling around the idea of a decoupaged card- I have never done any decoupage before, but have seen plenty of shows on HGTV to know what it is and generally how it works. So, off to Michael’s I went to look for Mod Podge. Who knew there were SO many different kinds?! I was glad to see that there is one for paper amongst all of the varieties. When I discussed my idea for a decoupaged card with my BFF Kendra, she mentioned that warping of the paper might be a problem, because liquid glue tends to do that. So I have hopes that the Mod Podge for paper will solve that problem. My original plan was to do one of these decoupaged cards for the monochromatic card challenge, but I was limited on time so decided to put it off until I have time to think about the design and not have to rush through making it. So, no, I don’t have one to share this time.

In the meantime, though, I started thinking about other things that could be decoupaged with pressed flowers, and the first thing that came to mind was picture frames. I picked up a couple of unfinished ones at Michael’s for pretty cheap, and here’s what I did with those:

This first one uses pansies with a metallic gold tissue paper that I found at Michael’s. I used the regular gloss-finish Mod Podge for this. I really like how this one turned out! The only thing I’d do differently next time is try to use a tissue paper that is not quite so metallic. I like the gold, but wish it wasn’t so shiny. I know I’ve seen gold and silver tissue with more of a matte finish, so will be on the lookout for that after vacation. The Mod Podge is easy to work with, but I did end up having to use a few coats of acrylic spray on top of it, because even when it dries, it remains a bit soft and tacky. The acrylic spray took care of that though, and gives it a nice, even, and solid shiny finish.

Here is the other frame that I did. Recognize this design from my Etsy shop??

This one is…OK. I’m not knocked over by it or anything. I think I used too many daisies, and that makes it look at bit too busy. My daughter loves it though, so I will probably give it to her. I used the gold tissue on the raised edges for this one, and it works really well here. The green background is card stock that I cut down to size and glued in with Aileen’s Tacky Glue, then decoupaged the daisies with the gloss-finish Mod Podge. That issue I mentioned about the paper warping? Yeah, Kendra was right about that. It did get a bit warped while the Mod Podge was still wet, but once it dried, it was not so bad. Still, in the future, I will make sure that I use the Mod Pod for paper on things like this. This frame is not quite done- I still need to finish it with the acrylic spray, then I’m sure Meredith will find a picture to put in it for her room.

This was a great learning experience, if nothing else. I learned that if I’m going to decoupage pressed flowers, darker colored flowers work best. The white daisies, while very pretty and one of my favorites, become opaque when they come in contact with the Mod Podge, as did the lighter yellow pansies. Next time, I will have to be more careful about putting light colored flowers on a dark background for that reason. Tissue paper works great for decoupage, because the Mod Podge can act as both the glue and the finish for it. However, card stock is heavy enough that it needs stronger glue for adhering it to something else. Hopefully with these lessons learned, my next experiments with this will turn out better. I might actually list the pansy frame in my Etsy shop, but not until I have a few other items to list as well. My next venture will be to Goodwill to see about getting some frames that I can embellish in a similar way, so after vacation, that’s what I will be working on.

Don’t forget to leave me some feedback on your top 10 favorite bookmark designs in my previous post! Thanks to everyone who has entered so far- I’d still love some more feedback!

That’s it for now- see you all after vacation!

In Need of Market Research, So….Another Giveaway!

Here it is mid-July, and I’m already thinking about the holidays! More specifically, I’m thinking about the need to bulk up my Etsy shop bookmark inventory for the holidays. Since I don’t have a lot of time for crafting, I have to plan ahead and work in small batches. That means that NOW is a good time to start thinking about doing some prep work and build up my stock for all those purchases that will come rolling in around the holidays. Aren’t I optimistic??!!

Here is what I would like to do. I would like to conduct a poll of the top 10 bookmark designs that are currently in my Etsy shop: http://www.bgardencreations.etsy.com/ so that I can narrow my focus and concentrate on the designs that are most likely to be of interest come the holidays. Though I will continue to create new designs, I’d like to get a handle on what I currently have in my shop that works so I can stock up my inventory of those. Hence, the poll. I want to know what your top 10 favorite bookmark designs are in my Etsy shop. Please add a comment to this blog post with the names of your top 10, and I will enter you into a drawing for a free bookmark of your choice of any design currently in my shop. I will even personalize it with your initials if you like! Doesn’t that make you want to help??

Deadline to enter is Friday, July 30, 2010.

I would like to get as many opinions as possible, so please feel free to pass this on to your friends or otherwise give me some free advertising! If you are not a follower of my blog, please make sure that I have a way to get ahold of you if you win the giveaway- either include your email address in your comment, or you can email me privately at bgardencreations@yahoo.com if you don’t want your info public.  (I would love more blog followers though!) Winner will be notified by Saturday the 31st, and I’ll also post the results here on my blog.

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to your feedback!

I'm in an Etsy Treasury!

I was so surprised and pleased yesterday to get an Etsy convo that one of my bookmarks has been included in a treasury!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c3dcff8f9688eef209c5226/animals-insectsincluding-people?index=0

For those who aren't familiar with this, a treasury can be made by anyone with an Etsy account. It's simply a collection of favorites found in different Etsy shops. Sometimes there is a theme to a treasury- everything selected might be the same color, or maybe all the same type of item, or could just be a central theme. In this case, the treasury I have been featured in is items that are insect or animal-themed. This is the bookmark that was included:

The really exciting part of being included in a treasury is that you then have a chance of making it to the front page of Etsy.  Once per hour, they put a new treasury up on the front page, so if you have an item that makes it there, it gets a LOT of exposure!  Of course, lots of people make treasuries, and only so many can be on the FP, so the chance of it happening isn't huge, but it's exciting to have that possiblity!  This is actually the third treasury that I've had an item in.  My pansy bookmark was in one in May, which I knew about, and my Fresh as a Daisy bookmark was in another one, which I never knew about until I checked out Craftopolis.com- I guess not everyone notifies you when they include your items in their treasuries!

Anyway, it's really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme, but since I've been in kind of a slump, this really lifted my spirits.  It also motivated me to move redoing my photos higher on my to-do list, as that really is an awful photo!  Ugh, lesson learned- keep up the improvements on the photos, because you never know when you'll be featured!

Something New to Get Out of My Slump

I finally found a little time to do some tweaking on my blog template- whaddya think?

Still haven't gotten back to making any new bookmarks, but I did finally get one of my personalized ones listed in my shop! I got the three-flower pressed flower bookmark up, so still need to get the listings done for the 2-flower one, and the one with the handmade paper. I'll work on that this coming weekend.

In the meantime, I did something kind of fun last weekend. The Yahoo paper crafts group I joined recently has a weekly challenge, and the challenge for this week was to make something with a ribbon. It could be anything, it just had to include a ribbon. Now, bookmarks are a total no-brainer there...but I wanted to try something different. I decided to make a card, which I have never done before, but after looking at all the lovely ones that my BFF Kendra makes, as well as some of the ladies on the Yahoo paper craft group, I thought I'd give it a try. I got out my tub of paper punches (just when did I acquire so MANY?) and let my imagination go! I had trouble thinking of a theme or color scheme, so I started looking around my kitchen, and settled on my favorite dishes as the inspiration.


I got these dishes last year when we did our kitchen remodel, and I *LOVE* them! I was so excited when I got them...I hadn't had new dishes since hubby and I got married in 1994! They are the Pfaltzgraff Verona pattern, which luckily for me had just been discontinued when I was shopping around, so I was able to get them online very inexpensively. Anyway, here is what I made:



I love these colors! Teal is one of my very favorites, and it is so pretty when combined with blue and the lime green shades. In hindsight, I do think this card is a bit busy- I guess I got carried away with those paper punches! Next time I would probably try to tone it down a bit there, maybe use more patterned paper and fewer punches. But I'm pretty happy with this for my first attempt. I doubt my cards will ever be as nice as the ones that Kendra makes, but I enjoyed doing something different and look forward to trying again.

Computer Problems and Creative Lulls

I haven't updated for awhile for a couple of reasons. One is that my home computer was attacked by a virus a couple of weeks ago, so we've had it in the repair shop twice to deal with that. Ugh- haven't had to deal with anything like that in a long time! I guess it goes with the territory of having a 14 year old in the house who likes to do lots of Google searches- perhaps it's time to start looking into parental controls! I'm not convinced that the viruses are all gone...Norton keeps telling us that it's blocking viruses, and all the websites we're visiting are ones we know are safe, so I'm afraid there is something still in there. Time will tell, I guess.

The other reason is that I guess I've hit a creative lull, or maybe just lost some steam for awhile. It's a bit discouraging to have put so much time and effort and creativity into my stuff and not get any sales, or even very many views, on my Etsy shop. I unfortunately just don't have the time to devote to Facebook and Twitter and the like, which is what everyone on the Etsy forums says you have to do to get your products out there for people to find. I've been taking the approach of just continuing to plug away and keep creating and listing, but it is hard when you get next to no feedback. Anyway, my husband and kids were on vacation for a week and a half and returned last weekend, so I've had NO time to do anything since then. I have delayed listing my personalized bookmarks in my shop, but hope to do that this weekend. I do need to get back into just making stuff though, if only to keep the creative juices flowing. I guess I've just been a bit overwhelmed. I recently joined a paper crafts Yahoo group and would love to start contributing, but with the computer issues and having no time, I just haven't been able to yet. Hopefully soon!

I do want to share with you one photo bookmark that I did a couple of weeks ago. My BFF Kendra sent me the most amazing picture of her two gorgeous children that she took in her parents' back yard in AZ. I was so taken with it that I just HAD to put it on a bookmark! Here is the picture:


Can you believe that that is a real rainbow in the background?! I have never, ever seen such a full one before! I just loved the colors in this photo. I had so many ideas for the bookmark, but here is what I went with:



I used that lovely blue handmade paper and some pansies in this one. I do wish that the one blue pansy didn't blend in so much with the paper, but I didn't want to use two identical flowers. Anyway I really like how it came out. Poor Kendra probably has enough bookmarks to last her several lifetimes, so really does not need one more, but maybe her mom will like this one.

Well, maybe this weekend I will dig myself out of my slump and try to make something. I know that the weather is supposed to cool down some (it was 101 here yesterday!!), and that will be much more comfortable if I decide to do some work.

Summer At Last!! And More New Creations!

Did I mention, summer has *FINALLY* arrived in the northwest?! I was beginning to think it never would! Get this: I actually SWEATED today! Yes, I am easily amazed! It is so nice not to have to wear jackets and/or water-repellant clothing! My herbs are blossoming, and I took these pictures of them today:

Lavendar



Sage


Cilantro, which bolted before I could even use any :(


But enough of that. I have some new stuff that I worked on this weekend that I am totally excited about! I think I am nearly ready to start offering personalized and custom photo bookmarks in my Etsy shop, now that I have had some more practice. First, I have to share this:


This is some handmade paper that I acquired today. I have used handmade paper before- you saw it in my last post, in the blue photo bookmark. I got that paper at Michael's several months ago- I saw it there and was so taken with the vibrant color that I had to buy it! Of course, that was the last time I've seen it there. I remembered seeing some at another local store here called Paper Zone, so decided to go take a closer look today. I wasn't sure what it cost there, but was pleasantly surprised- the most I paid was $2.99 for one of these large sheets (about 25"x36"). I got several colors this time, and am sure I will be back for more later! I haven't been this excited since I got my new laminator! I think that handmade papers bring so much to a bookmark...they are unique and interesting and have so much dimension to them. They do present their challenges, though. Some of the ones I got are nearly as thin as tissue, and my paper trimmer doesn't cut through them very well. The ones that are very fibrous look so lovely with the distressed edges, but it's hard to create that- it takes a lot of manual work to achieve that effect. I really think it is worth it though. These papers make each bookmark truly a one of a kind!

So, let me show you what I did today. Most of these I used the handmade paper, and I also took this opportunity to do some final experiments with photo and personalized bookmarks before I go live with the concept on my Etsy shop. Here we go:


I made this one for my husband's neice, who has a birthday coming up. This is my first shot at putting a whole name on a bookmark. These letters were a bit bigger than I would have liked- I would have preferred to have the name spelled vertically down the bookmark, but there wasn't room in this case. I hope she likes it! This one uses a deep purple handmade paper and dark pink larkspur.


This is my try at making a masculine bookmark, incorporating the handmade paper and personalizing it with initials. This is for the eldest son of some very dear friends of ours, who turns 15 in July.

This one was interesting to put together- this is my first attempt at a double-sided photo bookmark. This was made with pictures that my BFF Kendra sent me of her kids and her husband's neice and nephew. Her family is going to Iowa in a few weeks to visit her in-laws, so I made this for her to give to her mother-in-law.
Side 1


Side 2


Using the same pictures, I made a bookmark for Kendra with just her kids:


I love how that one turned out! The contrast of the color of the flowers (those are blue butterfly delphinium) against the teal handmade paper is just gorgeous! This one is my favorite of the day.

And a couple more that I did for fun:


Loved this designer paper when I saw it in Michael's! It reminded me of French toille, and I thought it would be fun to work with. I love the contrast of the strong black and white design with the soft, shimmery pale pink.


Hard to see in the pics, but these dragonflies are all punched from iridescent papers. To make them more interesting, I cut the wings off and switched them up with different colored bodies. You can see that I used a soft mossy green handmade paper with this one. I have always loved green and purple together, so this one was fun to put together!

Hope that wasn't too many pictures to digest! I hope to do some more work this week, since the rest of my family is out of town and I will have uninterrupted time to work. I really want to get something up on my Etsy shop soon. I think I will start with the personalized bookmarks, as those are relatively simple. The photo ones are a bit more complex, and I need to work on writing out my policies and procedures for those.

Until next time, happy summer!

Cookin' Up New Stuff

Happy Fathers Day! Hope it is a nice one for all the dads out there. My husband is working today, but I have his favorite dinner cooking in the slow cooker for when he gets home- spagetti! The sauce is his favorite. It's my cousin Trina's recipe, and although I can never quite get mine as good as hers, I know he's going to love it!

I've been plugging away on bookmarks, and have a couple of new ones listed. Well, one is new, one is one that I have done before but haven't had listed since I first opened my shop. The new one is my first go at a new flower that I got from one of my suppliers- fuschias! Such pretty colors in this one!



Here is the other one- gold butterflies:



This is one of my oldest designs. These butterflies are Martha Stewart 3D stickers, which I fell in love with at first sight several months ago when I first started designing my bookmarks. In fact, this was my first non-pressed flower bookmark design. I saw them at Michaels but didn't buy them at first because they were spendy, but then I went home and couldn't stop thinking about them and ended up going back the next day to buy them! I don't do these often because they are so expensive, but they remain a favorite.

In fact, I love them so much, that I made my first personalized book mark for myself with this design!


I want to start offering personalized bookmarks in my Etsy shop soon, and who wouldn't love a beautiful bookmark with their name or initials on it? I did one for my BFF Kendra too- she requested the azaleas for hers:


I have gold letter stickers for now, but there are other colors available, so I should be able to do some really pretty personalized bookmarks! These will be completely customized- the customer can choose the colors, flowers, and whatever name or initials they want.

I am also still working on the photo bookmarks. Here are a couple I did this weekend, which incorporate pressed flowers as well as photos.




At this rate, I am going to have more bookmarks than I can ever use myself! Kendra, my marketing guinea pig, is supposed to send me pictures of her two beautiful children so that I can continue my product development and can hopefully offer custom photo bookmarks in my shop soon. I have a couple of other local friends who I might hit up to experiment on too, so I am hoping that this time next month I can put up some custom listings in my shop. I can't wait- I love trying something new!

One of these days, I WILL get back to the gift bags and tags. I have so little time to work on my creations, and since I've had this custom bookmark idea that I wanted to flesh out, I want to see that through before getting to the bags and tags. Look for those soon though!

Busy, busy!

It's the end of the school year, so things have been really busy and hectic! Tomorrow is 8th grade graduation for my son, and Tuesday is the last day for both kids. Our schedule has been full with lots of end-of-the-year activities- lots of concerts for my son, a dance recital and field trip for my daughter. As a result, I haven't been spending much time on my bookmarks lately. Hopefully once we get into the summer groove, I can get back into it.

I did just do a special bookmark for my husband for Father's Day that I wanted to share. I've had this idea rolling around in my head for awhile of making custom photo bookmarks, so decided I'd experiment using my own family. My kids and dog were very patient to pose for the pictures that went into this- especially the dog! Here is the finished product:


Not bad for a first attempt! I put it together kind of quickly, and I like how it came out. I think next time I would make the pictures a little bit smaller and maybe offset them from one another, kind of stagger them down the bookmark. I have also thought about leaving room to put in some text, so will have to play with that a bit. Now that I have the basic process down, I can't wait to do some more!

More to come later when things settle down a bit. Until then, Happy End of the School Year!

More New Stuff in Progress, a Rant, and Another Promotion

Just listed my bookmark o' the day, the blue and green dyed daisies from my last post. I hope someone likes it enough to want it for their very own!

I worked a little bit today on some paper poinsettias- yes, I am looking toward the holidays already! I have been looking for a poinsettia paper punch, but haven't liked any I have seen. My BFF Kendra sent me a link to a great tutorial on how to make poinsettias, and they are gorgeous! However, they are labor-intensive, so that's why I'm starting now, 6 months before Christmas. I'm hoping to use these for gift bags and tags, and figure that if I can get some assembled now, it will be easier work to put together the bags and tags a few months from now. After all, who needs even MORE to do during the holidays?! Anyway, check these out- they're not perfect since I'm still learning, but I like they way they are coming along!




I had almost everything I needed for these, except for the punch for the center petals, so I took a trip to Michael's today. I am there quite often, as it is very close to home, but I have been increasingly frustrated with them since they changed their coupon policy. It used to be that you could bring in multiple coupons to use, but now they will only accept one per customer per day. Now, I ask you, what good is it for them to print a 40% off one item coupon and a 15% off entire purchase coupon side by side in the newspaper but not let the customer use them at the same time?! I get their coupons in my email, in the paper, and at the register, so just how am I supposed to use these without making half a dozen trips there a week? Arrrgggh! Today I was fed up enough to actually write them a letter (yes, a letter, on real paper) and give them a piece of my mind. To me, it demonstrates a lack of respect for not only their customers' time, but also the environment, to require multiple trips to their store when one would suffice. Maybe I will just have to go to Craft Warehouse more often- they don't make you jump through all kinds of hoops! Anyway, rant over. The punch I got is a Martha Stewart punch, and it's not the one I really wanted, but they did not have the 5 petal punch. This one looks better than my daisy punch though, which I tried at first but didn't like the result as much.

Anyway, on to the promotion. I don't know if anyone out there is actually reading my blog, but just in case someone is, here is a deal for you! Place an order from my Etsy shop by June 7 for one bookmark at the regular price, and get a second one for equal or lesser value for half price, plus free shipping! This is a great opportunity to get a nice little gift to slip into a graduation card or to give a special teacher as an end-of-the-year gift, or even just to treat yourself to something pretty! Just place your order for both bookmarks and pay via PayPal, and I will refund the shipping and half the price of the second bookmark. Make sure that you send me a convo through Etsy to let me know you have placed the order, and mention that you saw the promotion on my blog. It's that simple!

Next time, I hope to have some more gift bags to show you. Until then, enjoy your week!

New Stuff Coming Up

Ahh, the long weekend has been great! It is so nice having an extra day off- I enjoyed today so much more knowing that I wouldn't have to get up and go to work tomorrow! I had a chance to get some stuff done around the house, and also do some creating, which I am anxious to share!

I've had my Etsy shop open for a little over a month now, and am learning more every day. One thing I've learned is to not list everything all at once- the more often you can list, the more your stuff gets seen, because it's at the top of the search list! So instead of listing all my new items, I'm going to hold off and just do a little at a time. I already listed my new azalea design today, but I have some others that I am looking forward to putting up in the next few days, and am happy to give a preview here!

Here's one I just love, two of my favorite colors together:


Here's another I'm excited about. This one uses a sweet polka-dot pattern paper and mixes deep red roses and a pink larkspur:


And here's one that is a little different. This one uses rubber tree leaves:


I got these leaves at a craft store, but can't wait until fall when I can try some fall leaves that I can collect myself. I've done some experimenting with pressing green leaves myself, and they just don't look right- they all seem to turn a kind of putrid green color, and no one wants to see that on a bookmark (or probably anywhere else)! I have done ok with ivy though, and want to try again with that, so stay tuned, you may see some of that soon!

I mentioned awhile back that I had a custom bulk order. I was contacted by someone interested in my daughter's Black-Eyed Susan bookmark for a bridal shower favor- the bride's favorite flower is the black-eyed susan, and lucky for us, she stumbled upon our bookmark on Etsy! I was happy to provide her with 13 of that design. I meant to take a picture of all of them, but I was so anxious to get the order packaged and shipped that I forgot! They all looked pretty much like this though:


I was so excited to do my first custom order! I sent along a free gift with the order, something I've been experimenting with lately, in hopes of developing a new product to eventually list on my Etsy shop. Take a look:




I have a couple of other gift bag and tag styles I've worked on, and am hoping to get a few made to list on the Etsy shop and see how they do. It's so much fun coming up with designs! The only problem is, I could go broke buying paper punches, there are SO many neat ones out there!

Look for my new bookmarks on my Etsy shop in the next few days at http://www.bgardencreations.etsy.com . Let me know what you think of my new styles!