Excitement, and my First card tutorial!

So I am truly on an excitement high for all the new things going on right now. Yes I sell cookies and want to share that aspect of how to's...BUT when it comes summer time I won't want to be making them! I work in a space where there is no air conditioning, thats how my house is too! So turning the oven on is NOT an option come mid day during 100 degree temperatures (inside 90).  So do I sacrifice my bedtime (the thing I look forward to all day after running around with my boys....?  I THINK NOT, well the truth is I HAVE..!)?  With my ADD (self diagnosed) this got me thinking as I so often do (not to say they are complete thoughts, but they are thoughts and I don't discriminate), why not use my expensive cricut machine to help me make cards  and sell them on etsy. Sure, why not?!
Well turns out my sister in-law is pretty crafty, also owns a cricut machine.. and I needed some bonding time with her; my loud mouth hasn't exactly made our relationship easy for the both of us! Our wish lists in hand and ideas afoot...nothing but cuteness on it's way.

So with all that random information I am excited to share my very first etsy card from PaperXchange, I call it "Whaley Love You"

I will be adding more detailed tutorial photos next time, I'm WHALEY sorry for the lack of photos in this segment

Now for the recipe:
12 1/2 X 4 1/2 cream cardstock (folded in half)
1 piece of olive textured adhesive mat stack cut at 5"x4"
1 baby blue whale cut from my Life's a Beach cricut cartridge at 3 inches on 60 lb cardstock
white sharpie paint pen - extra fine tip to add stitching
small piece of cream carstock to print phrase "I WHALEY LOVE YOU"
pair of scissors
pop up craft dimensional stickers (in the glue isle)
1 crystal bling for the eyeball
stamp for the sentiment
glue pen (I use the zig 2 way fine tip)
LOVE and patience

So I started out by making sure my husband and boys were fed! THEN I folded the cream card-stock in half and making that fold nice and flat with my bone folder. Cut and then pealed my olive mat stack and added a bit more glue (its "adhesive" but peels off fairly easily) and centered it. Added white stitching around the perimeter to make it look like stitching.
After cutting my piece from my cricut  I added some ink to the sides of the card to make my whale look a bit worn but more importantly he looks more dimensional on the paper. The water spouts I added with dimensional stickers to make those pop as well (also inking up those sides). Used a rhinestone for the whale's eye and added a blow spout with my white pen again. Picked my favorite font for this card on my computer and printed onto a piece of cream card stock the phrase "I WHALEY LOVE YOU" and just cut the cloud free handed...and (you guessed it) inked around the edge. The inking around the edge I think adds so much depth, turns bland into wham...muahaha. (That's the ADD setting in... OKAY FOCUS)
Anyways... once i cut the cloud, I added more dimensional stickers and set that into place. Using the same ink from the edging of my whale and cloud I inked up a "Happy Valentine's Stamp" and stamped that into the inside of the card. Cream on cream crime, I mean stamping.

So that is my card, I added it to my Etsy just the other day, and have been checking the views on CraftCult and there has been a bit of traffic.  Just hoping someone will purchase...

If you have any questions or want to comment please feel free to do so! I want to hear your thoughts!

IM OUT

I'M BACK

Okay so it took about a year, but I think my sister in-law and I are driven for success, we have joined forces and creative brains for what I believe is going to be an amazing 2011! I find myself always needing a partner in crime, I get too "ADD" all by myself if you know what I mean...

That being said... I come back to this blog thing that I tried to concur once before without luck.

In the new attempts to put my stamp on this world I'm driven and inspired by all things paper and sugar.

This past year I have wrestled a site called Etsy, a huge underground secret site for all things handmade.  Well its not secret but it is such an awesome site and plateu for people who want to buy or sell! 

So I get crazy ideas all the time and my cookie shop was one of them, I call it CookieXchange! So much of a crazy idea that I opened the shop thinking "I can make and sell cookies!" without knowing actually how to make or sell cookies!  

I searched high and low for instructional videos or written how to's... but there are only bits and pieces out there, I had to finally come up with my own version of recipes and techniques. 

SO I want to share with you those techniques, give you my money and time saving strategies... whether you want to sell your own cookies, make some for a party or start your own family traditions! I also want to see and hear about your experiences.. share with me pictures of your cookies!

..... can I also tell you that I claim to be crafty in other areas of my life... not just with the kitchen but with PAPER!! Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I have another etsy shop and its all about Paper!  I call it PaperXchange (are you noticing a pattern here?). Nothing too creative in there just yet BUT my sister and I plan to take over the card making industry, one glue stick at a time! I will also be sharing my recipes for those cards! So buckle up, sit back and relax.. I'll try to update this bad boy as much as possible with old photos, new projects and designs... Look out Martha Stewart and eat your heart out Hallmark ... here we come!