Ta-Daaaaa!!! Crafter's block solved!

So right after I posted my last entry, the ideas started flooding in.  I had the faux stitched cacus and beanie, and I knew I wanted to use that some how. 

The purple paper is from Recollections Snowy Days paper pad

White rectangle cut using Spellbinders Nestabilities Wonky Recangles and embossed with D'vine Swirl and inked with ColorBox chalk ink

Cactus cut at 4" from Destinations cart

Beanie cut at 1" from Gingerbread cart

Merry Christmas stamp from Fiskars Holiday Hooplah and embossed with Stamp Stuff Winter Wonderland embossing powder

Red 3/8" ribbon from my stash

Card, cactus, and beanie faux stitched with white gel pen

And my favorite part...  Penguins jumping rope using Christmas lights stamp on the inside!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!



Crafters Block

So, I got this card order, and I'm totally stumped.  I've been thinking about this for a few weeks, and it is just not coming out like how I have it in my brain...  Doing Christmas in the Desert should be super easy...  right?  Well, apparently, WRONG. 

Embossing snowflakes onto Christmas plaid was a no-go. 

Picture framed cactus was less than exciting. 

Candycane striped cactus is cute...? 

I'm sure to most people, these ideas look fine, but we are our own worst critic!  And I am just not proud enough of this product to put my name on it...  Any one ever feel the same?  I'm cuttin close to the deadline...  and I'm just tryin to get past this crafters block...

Die cuts?

More ribbon?

Gold embossing?

Craft punches...???

Maybe too many options is a bad thing.

...Hmph...

Brads, Velum, and Stamps, oh my!

Here's a set I made to accompany a gift set of books.  I wanted to make a card for the gift, then included matching note cards for each of the books so I could include a special message.

As usual, I fell in love with this turquoise paper, so I didn't want to cover it up.  I had a stack of 3 inch velum strips left over from a project so I thought that would be perfect for this paper. I'd never stamped on top of velum before, so I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out.  I stamped the fuschia hearts then stamped the black words on top of the pink.  It turned out so cool!

I used scraps of the turquoise pattern paper on top of strips of turquiose paper to create continuity on the note cards.  I added distressing to the edges of the card as well as all the strips.  The Distressing Ink used on these cards are Antiqued Linen and Tea Dye.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!  It's definitely cold and rainy here, so I'll be bundling up for all my errands...

Holiday Boutique

This past weekend was the "big" debut for S. Elle Designs.  I joined up with Hayley from Smiling Circus for a Holiday Boutique in Irvine.  We were both excited, nervous, and tired, seeing as this was our first event ever for the both of us, and we had only two weeks to prepare.  I brought all my wreaths and 13 sets of cards.  Smiling Circus has mostly sewn items but also embelished vintage windows.  Sewn items included bibs, lovie blankets, flower clips, and coffee cozies. 

The Hubster came to help us set up our booth and helped us arrange the layout since we didn't have any time to prep that ahead of time.  He was also a great, big, huge help on transporting everything from the car into the venue, since neither of us had a fancy wheely cart.  

Hayley had an awesome vintage-y bookshelf to display my sample cards.  You can also see this awesome window that everyone just had to get their hands on.

Funny story about the wreaths... Since it was such short notice, and I didn't want to spend a ton of money and time looking for a display easel, I had no idea how to showcase the wreaths.  So I scoped out Target in the hopes that I would find some inexpensive or clearance shelving when I walked down the laundry aisle.  And then the light blub went off!  A handwash drying rack.  PERFECT!  Thankfully I already had the rack, so I was all set.  Just needed some shower hooks and I was golden.   And I think it turned out pretty nifty.

In this one, you can see the wreaths as well as the windows from Smiling Circus.  These two windows have hooks added to them.  One of them also has glass etched leaves.



We were pretty bummed with the turn out of the event.  Based on information from past years, there wasn't a good turnout this year.  There were lots of lookers and touchers, but hardly any buyers. All in all, it was an interesting experience.  I think I'll do another boutique or craft fair again... just with much, much more notice next time...