Mixed card set. Brought to you by the Number 3

Mixed card set. Brought to you by the Number 3

I finally added another item to my Etsy shop. I've been making a lot of simple tags lately and decided to put them to use and make cards out of them. Hope you like them and hope someone likes them enough to purchase them. You get the benefit of getting to see all of the cards on their own, Etsy limits the number of images you can show of your item so I had to triple up on some cards.

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Happy Crafting,

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New items in the Etsy shop

There are new-to-you items in the Katemade Designs Etsy shop. I'm trying to reduce the number of stamp sets I don't use and raise a bit of money too. Unemployment goes just so far and when you have bills for car troubles, plumbing problems and medical visits all coming due at once.  Yes it's been a bad month and extra funds would be good.

Each purchase from the Katemade Designs shop gets a little something extra, whether it's gift tags or a card or embellishments -- it's like a fortune cookie, or a box of cracker jacks, or a box of chocolates - you never know what you'll get.

Soon there will even be handmade items in the shop but I need to clear the decks first.  Click on the For Sale tab above to see some of the new stuff or click here to go directly to the shop.

Enough of the sales pitch I need to get back to work.

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Happy Crafting,

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WOYWW Eye Spy game a little late

I went to bed at the same time my son did last night. A good move, even if it was unintentional. But this morning when I finally got to the computer there were already 109 links on Julia Dunnit's Stamping Ground blog  - the home of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW). So much for breaking the top 100.

This week I have a newsletter to write/produce a cub scout meeting to prepare for (need to get those patches on the shirt and vest) as well as all the normal stuff so I haven't spent oodles of time creating stuff that is blog-worthy. Well I've made a mess and that's what WOYWW is all about right? Actually embracing the mess seems to be a theme lately the Decor Chick! blog had a Real Homes, Real Messes, Real Life…Link Party! on Monday. It really made me feel normal.

Like I said I don't have any new projects to share but I have remnants of past projects still lingering on my desk.

1. There is a worm from the Silhouette tutorial I posted on Friday, you can see it here.
2. The card from yesterday's post, you can see it better here.
3. There is great wood print paper from K & Company.
4. There is a card that I'm working on with a 60/70's feel - remember the men's jackets with the 2 stripes down the right side. Haven't figured out a main image or sentiment but the background is on the desk.
5. There is a box of wire working supplies. I needed a bit of black wire to adhere a giraffe to a title piece for the scrapbook I work on at the local retirement community. I volunteer a couple of hours on Tuesday mornings and work with residents to make a scrapbook. We have completed one book and will be either adding pages or getting a new one for moving on to a new book next week.
6. There is a stack of paper my sister gifted me this Christmas, I used one for the aforementioned title that is below.
7. There is also a stack of stamps destined for the Etsy shop.
8. And lastly my son's pinewood derby car that we have yet to begin work on.

Bonus bit -  below the desk you can kind of see the rolling cart I made for card stock storage.

The title for a page I worked on at the retirement home. Love the giraffe paperclip.

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Happy Crafting,

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Dreams with Deadlines

I don't do make resolutions. They are easily broken and says failure to me. I make goals, if you have difficulty reaching a goal it is considered a minor setback, a stumbling block, not a failure.
I've divided my goals into 3 categories: personal, craft, and professional. I am also trying to keep in mind that I need a deadline on these because:

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

— Napoleon Hill             

Personal: 

• Spend time each day reading my Bible. I spend the last moments of each day reading a bit in the Bible hoping God's Word will be the focus of my dreams and coasting thoughts (coasting is that period between fully awake and fully asleep). It's not study and I don't think isn't adequate but it's a start.

• Live as simply and clutter free as possible. I am continuing to sell, donate or dump stuff I don't use. My house has too many stamp sets, craft supplies and vintage crochet and knitting patterns I don't have space for. I HATE throwing anything remotely useful away so I am selling crafty stuff on Etsy. I plan on posting a lot more sets and patterns to my shop this week but this time I am putting a time limit on their sale.  If they are not sold by the end of February they will be trashed or donated. If you know of a charity that could use these items I would love to hear about it. 

• Keep the whole house (fairly) clean. I am doing a pretty good job of tackling an area a day on the clean goal and tomorrow will be an all out attack on clutter and dirt. Then my goal is to put together a cleaning schedule making the job more daily maintenance than cleaning time suck. Of course as Erma Bombeck said, Cleaning the house while the children are growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing.

• Take the risk and meet new people. My house is becoming like a hermitage and that is never good. So I need to get out of the here more often and introduce myself to at least 2 people a week.

Craft:

• Finish the umpteen projects that I have started. I've identified the unfinished projects that haunt me most: the scrapbook pages that have no journaling or just Post-it notes with ideas scrawled on them and the card sets that are a card or two from completion. I would like to get these done by the end of January. The motto for craft this year, "Just get on with it." Remember the word for the year is COMPLETE.

• Don't start a new project if I have 3 or more unfinished projects waiting to be worked on. Some projects require drying or curing time and it would be silly to stop creating, especially if the mood hits, while waiting on something else. But I do need to journal when I'm working on a page not days, weeks, months or years later.

• Submit projects to publication and designs to manufacturers. I am working on the research into which publications & manufacturers are the best fit for my work.

• Increase followers on this blog. This blog is networked on Facebook and I can't see an of the analytics until I reach 20 followers so I would like to have 20 blog followers via FB by June. I guess if a goal is something you can do yourself then this one is really more of a wish. I will try and share more projects and useful information to make following worthwhile. Tomorrow I plan on beginning a series called Silhouette Sunday where you can get my designs and a few tips I have figured out. I need a few bits of information before I can post but if not this weekend then next weekend for sure.

Professional:

• Become proficient in more Adobe programs. I start classes on Web Design and Animation in February and am quite excited to be a student again. I love learning stuff.

•  Become employed (preferably in a job that I can also do from home if my kid gets sick). I'd love a job the feeds the soul and crafty spirit but I need one that feeds the belly and provides shelter from the elements.
  

Happy Crafting,

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Online Advent Calendar - Dec 3.

I'm a couple of days late on this project but I'm not going to let that stop me. I am posting an online version of an advent calendar, in addition to other posts I make this month, with a link to the verse and an item for sale on Etsy.com that I think illustrates the verse fairly well. I love the idea of handmade/homemade especially at Christmas and want to promote that idea here. I do not get a 'cut' of any of the sales I just like these items and wanted to share. The items I show may not be what comes to mind for you, I'd love to read or see what you think would be a better image so don't be shy about commenting.

Isaiah 11: 1-10

Click on the link below for more information or to purchase.

Lion and lamb rubber stamp WM 2.5x2 inches Deep etched by Dragonfly Buzz

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Happy Crafting,

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What are these pages for?

Do you ever create pages just for the art
and have no idea what they are for?

I have done this twice in the past couple of weeks and I just have no idea what I am going to use these for. I told you yesterday I make tags to test new techniques. They are small and inexpensive and I learn by working with them.

Yellow bit here ^ from rubbing the paper across drying paint on Craft Sheet.
Paper puckered from paint, is this salvageable?

Well these pages are the same way. I am selling my Stampin' Up! Infinite Goodness Hostess set, it will be in the Etsy shop within the week, but I wanted to see how the pear from this set would look on a page. Would it be big enough to help tell the story of saving the trees in front of my house? Well I hated the two I stamped to begin with. So as I often do I went whole hog and stamped out the frustration of "this isn't working."

I wanted to give the project a chance so I decided to try and paint them, because see through pears just don't work. Well now I kind of like these pears and I really enjoyed painting them so I may be using them after all but I'm thinking I may have too many there to do the job of telling the "I saved these trees" story. Maybe I should use pics of the tree in bloom from several springs ago when it was just amazingly while with blossoms. Maybe I could use this page to tell the story of picking pears from the tree with a friend.

Decisions. Decisions.

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I'm thinking stitching across the ridges of the hills. What do you think?

Then there is this beauty. It's no where near being done. I woke up thinking I should use my Martha Stewart butterfly punch to make leaves on trees and the trucks should be from books pages. The wood grain stamp is from All Night Media.

My vision was similar, but not the same as this. I couldn't do this on a tag. Wouldn't fit. But now I have no idea what to use this page for. It's not as easy as the pear page.  I can wing it on that one. I have a pear tree. This image/layout doesn't mimic any part of my life that I can think of.

Any suggestions? Any ideas? Help!

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Happy Crafting,
Katie

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts.
Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be  delivered to your door.

WOYWW and a Garbage Man Page

Most of today was spent in the garden. I moved the path and cleaned up a year of neglect and a day of bush removal. I did get 2 crafty things done today though. I finished a spread for "my lil Garbage Man" and I sorted all the cards that I've made but not sent or sold.

I was planning on having a booth at a local craft fair later this month but my son's initial first communion prep gathering is the same day and I will not be able to go. So I am putting the cards up on Etsy in packs just to clear the house. The packs are made from cereal boxes and can be made with the printing on the outside or raw with the greyish cardboard on the outside.

The envie full of Card Fronts and Recoverable Cards contains partial cards that just need to be finished. If I designed the whole thing I will sell it (or attempt to) if someone else did (these are from my days as a Stampin' Up! demo) I will donate them to WINGS (Women In Need Growing Stronger) for sale in their shop or to use in the program.

I have some questions about selling cards in packs and would appreciate your feedback.

1. How many is appropriate? 6, 8, or 10? Ten is the max I can fit in the boxes, with envies of course.
2. Would it be better to sell a variety pack, a pack of the same card, or a pack with a variation on the same theme (similar look with different sentiments)?
3. Would you prefer a printed or a raw package? I will offer customers the option of either just wondered what YOU want.

my lil Garbage Man

I have wanted to do this page for a long time but there really aren't any garbage truck embellishments out there - I looked. When I saw Allison's garbage truck card and found out that I could get this wonderful Richard Neuman image for myself I knew it was time to do the page. 

I printed out the image on Stampin' Up! Whisper White cardstock and then sprayed it with a sealer. I wanted to see if I could painted it and didn't want the ink to run. I used watered down ink on the dirt and decided I didn't want that effect for the whole piece. I moved on to markers. I used Regal Red and So Saffron because they went with the paper I had chosen so well. The paper is Gumballs from the Aged and Confused™ Sublime Collection™ by Basic Grey. The sealer gave the garbage truck a cool texture that I really liked for the subject. After I finished coloring it I took a step back and thought - this is entirely too clean. I fixed that problem by sponging on a bit of Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.

I used a black textured paper or unknown origin behind the truck so it would pop. Then a bit of kraft cardstock and a bit of wood patterned paper from DCWV. I made sure the colors were represented on the facing page even if the textures were not. The chip board letter stickers were inked with black Distress Ink to alter their color, the green ledger paper just wasn't working. I have had the stickers so long that the sticky was no longer sticking so I used a bit of Scotch Scrapbooker's Glue. I love that there is a wide end and a very small end just perfect for detail work. I also like that the small end doesn't get clogged. Plus with this glue even thin paper doesn't pucker.

Well it's no longer Wednesday and I really need to get some sleep. I have to be alert tomorrow for parent/teacher conferences. And, the world needs more lerts.

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Happy Crafting,
Katie

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Click here to help my son
pay his own way through scouts
order Trail's End popcorn
use code 79936evan674
and great tasting treats will be
delivered to your door.

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday - my take

I have thought about posting for What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday but never got my act together or I had cleaned up on Tuesday or the work desk was so bad that I couldn't imagine posting something that bad. Well today is the day. I've made three cards recently, two for birthdays and one get well. The get well is for fellow blogger Lynn Stevens who writes Trash to Treasure Art.

Now I need to get to the pack and ship to send out stuff bought from my Etsy shop. To see what's available see the link above.


Happy Crafting,
Katie

Etsy Feed

Well it's open. Katemade Designs has items for sale! Woo Hoo.

Did you know you can subscribe to an Etsy shop via Google reader? I didn't either. I was at my Etsy shop, Katemade Designs, and accidentally hit the subscribe button on my bookmarks bar. Then my Google Reader said, "you're not subscribed to this feed, do you want to be?" I said, "Why Yes, Yes I would," just to see what would happen. So now I am subscribed to my own shop.

If anyone adds items to my shop I will know about it right away. I should probably get on that just so that feed has something to do. You can also click on the subscribe button on the shop's pages but I don't know if that goes to a reader or email or what.

Of course you can also subscribe to and/or follow this blog. If you like seeing my little creations and reading the goofiness I post then please help me reach the modest goal of 20 followers/subscribers to this blog.

Happy Crafting
Katie

I feel like celebrating

The site meter there on the right tells me I am almost to my favorite number 6665. Why is that my favorite number you ask. It's my birthday, yes I am that old or young depending on your perspective, and I am in the mood to celebrate. What could be a better way to celebrate than to give gifts, goody bags, treats to my friends.

Here's what I'm going to do. If you become a follower of this blog AND leave a comment on this post I will enter your name in a drawing for a prize pack that includes a Stampin' Up! stamp set, some stickers and embellishments plus a couple of handmade items too.

I will contact the first 20 people who comment and each of you will get a snail mail thank you gift.

I will give you one more way to win the stash. I will enter you name in the drawing a second time if you refer someone to this blog. That means if someone comments saying, "[insert your name here] told me I should follow the Katemade Designs blog so here I am," you will get a second chance to win.

Easy peasy huh.

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Now on to today's card.

At CHA I purchased the Little Loveasaurus stamp set from My Favorite Things. Apparently I got the last one because it's not listed on their website and I took the last one off the hook at the show so I am even more stoked that I got it. I have wanted to try MFT stamps for a while. I love what Mel M. M. McCarthy did with this stamp on her blog, Mel Stampz. Why didn't I just get it back when? I've never seen MFT stamps in local stores and I don't buy much online. Old fashioned I know (see birthdate above).

The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was the strong chemical smell. These are different than other acrylic stamps I've used. When I inked it up and pressed it down I saw just how different they are. What a beautiful impression. There are small dots of detail and they were beautifully clear on the paper. There will be a lot more RAWR coming because I love this little guy.

I colored him in with Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits (remember that technique?) and I couldn't resist adding the googly eyes. Instead of letting him sit I made a card immediately, I'm trying hard not to let the stash of pre-stamped items get out of hand.
Of course now the stash of cards is growing so the Etsy shop needs to be stocked.

Happy Crafty and don't forget to follow and comment to enter the drawing.

Katie

Just a Note to Say Hello

"HELLO"

I have been making these cards for a while now and I am ready to show them off. While going through stuff with the urge to purge I found the rubber stamp on top of an envelop full of postage stamps and I thought they would look good together and you know what, I was right.

I still have a boat load of postage stamps from years ago (the perks of working in an office that a sweepstakes was mailed to) I'm still making this design in a variety of colors: Yellow, Blue, Purple, Reds, Green. I will have them posted on Etsy soon in packs of 6 (if it works for beverages it should work for cards, right?)

If you are interested in crafting with postage stamps I can hook you up. Comment here with the subject "I want postage" and I will send you some postal love to the first 10 commenters. I will need an email so I can contact you directly and get your addy if it's on your blog that works.

Happy Crafting,
Kate

Would you like to meet my monkey?

Edited to add contact info.

One of my friends is a sock monkey collector, he has decorated a Christmas tree completely in sock monkeys, and goes to the Annual Sock Monkey Festival in Rockford, IL. He has brought along mutual friends and the event has made many a monkey convert. My schedule never worked out for going to this event and so I didn't jump on the bandwagon when it rolled through town. They have their charm but I've never been a big sock monkey fan. They were not a part of my childhood, maybe that's why they don't have the same appeal.

I have a dear friend, Camille, that really listens when I talk and remembers what I say. We talked about Halloween costumes once upon a time and I told her that I've always wanted to go to a Halloween party dressed as Carol Burnett dressed as Scarlett O'Hara, curtain rod and all. Only the old-timers would know what the heck that means but I'm sure if you remember The Carol Burnett Show's sketch "Went with the Wind" you are snickering now. For those of you who need a little help here is a still of the sketch. The dress Carol is wearing was designed by Bob Mackie (a bit of obscure trivia I picked somewhere). My favorite line from this sketch, " I saw it in the window and just couldn't resist it."



How are these related? Camille knows I would accept a sock monkey gift but wouldn't go out and purchase or make my own monkey. She has a friend that makes sock monkeys and asked her if she would take on the challenge — and now I am the proud owner of the Carol Burnett as Scarlett O'Hara Sock Monkey. 

Isn't she wonderful? 

If you would like to get a monkey of your own you can email Customer Service at sockcreations@yahoo.com and request one of your own. They start at $25 plus shipping, of course the costs go up depending on the complexity of the monkey's outfit and gear. Please allow at least three weeks for delivery.

Camille gave other wonderful, thoughtful gifts this year, all specially made for the recipients. She made a coffee-table book for the monkey collector about a historic home he purchased. She had a special wallet made for another friend that needed a way to keep track of the plastic. The wallet was beautiful, colorful and I'm sure will be a great help to our friend. It was made by the owner of Drea, a handbag Etsy shop. Click here to see what she's got on offer. I'm seriously thinking about upgrading.

'guin collectors unite

I just stumbled across :: teeny beak creations :: on Etsy and I think I'm in love. If anyone would like to get me a gift these would be a perfect addition to my collection. I really love the Mac Penguin.

Visa Claus was good to me

For Christmas I bought myself a nicer camera for taking pictures of cards, 3-dimensional projects, my 5-year-old son, etc. I NEEDED this camera to make the Katemade Designs shop on Etsy.com worth going to. I will be opening the doors, so to speak, in January and am trying desperately to get things in shape for that [along with fighting illness, the messy house and prepping for Christmas].

I've been sick for 2 weeks - though my entire week of holiday vacation even - and haven't done much in the studioffice. At least not much worth showing the blogosphere. I will be taking pics of those that are worthy and some pics of the Grace Book vol 3 ©2007. I'll post those within the week.

Craft Safe, Use Rubber
k

Blog Like Crazy

The other day I promised I would be blogging like crazy. Well let the crazy begin.

Last November I participated in my first craft show. It was a one day boutique in someone's home and was so easy for me because I didn't have to be there. I made my cards, packaged and priced them, put together an inventory sheet (gotta love Excel) and sent them with a friend of a friend to Madison, WI. The Illinois card makers did better than those selling knit goods or quilts. Between that one day event and a couple of days in my girlfriend's office I made $80. Which I was quite pleased with for my first time out. Half of that money went to WINGS, Women In Need Growing Stronger . Somethings sold better than others of course, below is a sample of the things that were returned.

If you want to read about the joys and angst of preparation for this event see my personal blog, What Now? , and search for Madsion.

A best seller



I really like this design. I got the idea from a card I saw on Etsy. The original was a large monogram on mulberry paper. I used puzzle pieces instead. Stamped with Top Boss and embossed with a combination of gold embossing powder and clear UTEE. The combination of embossing powders gave it a really cool mottled effect. I sent 16 and only 3 came back -- all with yellow(ish) mulberry paper. Point taken.





The lonely, one and only, thank you

I love this combination of colored paper and card stock (CS). The CS has been in my stash for years, I got it at the Paper Source . I love the deep purple color, there are small flecks of gold and black here and there — really rich looking. The patterned paper is "Pink Flourishes" from Paper Pizazz. (I got a lot of this when my local JoAnn Fabrics closed.) I ran a Stampin' Up chipboard tag through the Xyron and attached the paper. The "brad" is a paper holder from the office supply store. The only stamping is the "thank you" which is from Stampin' Up's "Curvy Verses"



Dream Big!

I love this card I sent a dozen to Madison and a few sold but not great guns like the "perfect together" above. The only stamped bit is the "Portrait Stamp" © Stampington & Co. I set up a template on the computer, the sentiment was typed and 4 grey dots (5% black) were placed in the center where the postage stamps and stamped image were closest.
I used repositionable tape on the front of the postage stamps to group a lot of them together then ran them through the Xyron using permanent adhesive. Easy peasy I now have postage stickers to line up on 3 of those dots. I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the portait stamp. I used Stazon to get a deeper darker black and also wanted to prevent the ink from bleeding when I went to the next step.
I made a template using Stazon on a clear sheet of over-head projector film for the area between the woman's face and the edge of her stamp boarder. I made the template a bit larger than the card so the spray color would not get on the rest of the card. I ran the template through the Xyron using the repositionable adhesive so it would stay put, be reusable but not ruin the card. Another benefit of using the repositionable adhesive I could put it in my template notebook on a 3-ring punched page and I can use it again and again.
For the shimmery background I used a mixture of Pearlex and cheap hairspray in a misting bottle to get the background. I have one in about every color - one tip though, doesn't work with the ones with fine glitter - clogs the spring and makes spraying impossible. The hairspray works as a fixative and is a lot cheaper and I thought cleaner.
I freehanded a template for the crown and added some bling stickers. The scan isn't perfect because anything with dimension alters the colors. IRL this is a beautiful card.

Note: If you try this technique believe me on the Stazon, and the plastic template. I tried it with a lot of different inks and template materials, this works best.