Sneak Peek!

Looking back over the past year I can see how much I've grown as a scrapbooker and now paper crafter...I am enjoying this artistic journey immensely! After my hubby and kids, what brings me the most joy is creating something memorable for someone else. This is a little peak at some delicate pink and green crepe rosettes that will make a beautiful holiday banner for my good friend at Mommy Mafia Designs.

Yulemart was a Blast!!

The holidays are such a busy season for us crafters and I finally have a few minutes to update you on my recent endeavors! What's consumed my life for the past 2 months or so? My first really big holiday craft fair! Yep, I took the big plunge and had a booth at the Yulemart right before Thanksgiving. I can't tell you how many all-nighters I pulled preparing for this thing and while it wasn't as profitable on the spot as I would have liked, the exposure has generated several custom orders. So, for any of you contemplating a big fair and not sure about profits, if you do custom orders you will probably see a return on your investment in the near term! The downside of being so sleep-deprived is my brain was just a tad numb during the fair which is why I don't have many pictures! I made good friends with some incredibly talented artists, like Tandra from Prim and Proper who inited me to sell some items in her shop! Along with providing motivation for new art, like the hand-colored and -glittered digital stamp tags, I have a sense of what the "popular" items were. Overall, this fair was a wonderful experience...I'm already planning for next year!

Friday Faves ~ Throwback Goodies

I was feeling a little retro flavor today, so I'm sharing some vintage goodies from my Cafemom Team sistas! Which one is your fave?

Reflections of an Eclectic Crafter

I'm supposed to be cleaning my house right now for friends coming over for a cook-out tomorrow, but I just had to blog about a question that I've been grappling with for some time now...WHAT IS MY STYLE??? Why does this matter? Well, in my hours and hours of blog-hopping and virtual window shopping on Etsy, the most successful sellers are branded and seem to have a style. If you see their work, then you automatically say, hey that's Papercakes' shop, or Boodybabies, or Wylesstyle or Rockerchic or whomever the seller may be. Is the same true of my work? Does it need to be? I go back and forth on this, because some days I feel like a little vintage, some days something polka dot, strawberry and chocolate will tickle my fancy, and then some days I can go totally rustic. Deep down inside, I think I prefer all things cute and sweet. So, why don't I just focus on this? All my life I've been told, I'm so cute, which is fine when you're 8 years old, not nearly 40. Funny how my own cuteness seeps it's way into my work. I've tried to do edgy or beautiful, but it just keeps coming back to CUTE. At the craft fair I recently did, someone wanted to buy a card and asked if I had anything not so girly and cute...I thought, nope, that's what I like, so that's what I make! I think I've been stretching myself too thin trying to create a little of this and that for everybody instead of a lot of what I love for the people who will love it too! What's your STYLE?

New Greeting Card Line at C&S Crafts

When I came across several vintage photographic images on Etsy I knew the time had come to try my hand at greeting cards. Well, I don’t think I could have found better photos for our new line of all occasion greeting cards. We have four unique cards, just in time for Mother’s Day (from top l to r): "Blessing of a Mother's Love", "Reflections", "A Rose for Mommy" and "Sweet Youth". And look at the pretty little matching tags which are blank on the back and perfect for gifts, journaling, a bookmark or many other possibilities! I spent a great deal of time deciding on how best to portray the images. Initially, I thought of a simple, yet charming card in which the photo was printed directly onto the blank card. It turned out to be a little, well, less than exciting. Perhaps it's just the scrapbooker in me that needs to embellish, embellish, embellish! But, I didn't want to overshadow the beauty of the pictures themselves, so I chose adornments that would hopefully enhance each one. Lovely satin ribbon, buttons, a pink paper rose, and even a little bling for added sparkle. Coming soon in our Etsy shop. Upcoming posts will detail Cinnamon & Spice's preparations for their first craft fair!