Motivational Monday (a little late)

Hello all! Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend! Did you get some Christmas shopping done? I scored a few good deals but didn't find as much as I was hoping to.

This past week, my goal was to work on a Christmas gift for my parents, which I am happy to say is halfway done. When it's finished, I will share it with you all...I think it is going to be a great gift that will be passed down through the years. My second goal for the week was to get caught up on printing and storing my photos. I am now up to date on printing out my photos and filled up 2 photo albums over the weekend! Yeah for progress!

So, for all of you out there who submit cards/projects for magazines and have yet to be published, did you see this post over at Paper Crafts today? 14 new designers are in the current Card Creations and two of them are a part of the Etsy Inspired Design Team!!! YEAH Emily and Ashley...huge congrats to you both!

And Paper Crafts just happens to have a big submission call going on right now for Card Creations Volume 9. Want to join me this week in my goal of creating and submitting at least 3 cards for this submission? Maybe we'll be the next newbies to be published in Paper Crafts! :)

Have a great day! I'll be back on Thursday with my Etsy treasury post and some great gift ideas for your kids and loved ones. I am finding some amazing stuff on Etsy these days! :)

Today's Mama and GameStop Giveaway!

Last week, Ali Edwards shared this giveaway on her blog and it is just too fabulous not to take a few minutes to check out and complete for a chance to win amazing Christmas gifts! :)

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? My wish is to focus on the true meaning and reason for the season...to teach our youngest son more about the birth of Jesus and attend our church's holiday events. I wish to create wonderful holiday traditions and memories that will be treasured for years to come.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? We wake up and see what Santa has filled our stockings with. Then we enjoy those items while getting breakfast ready. We all sit down for a special Christmas breakfast and then take turns opening our gifts to one another.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? Hmmm...a relaxing, spa weekend would be amazing but a more practical wish would be for new living room furniture...I would be able to enjoy that every day. :)

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? My husband makes sure to take at least one week off of work so that we can spend lots of quality family time together...having game and movie nights, baking cookies, making gingerbread houses, playing in the snow, and going to fun (and free) holiday events in our community.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? We were a board game family and now I enjoy playing them with my boys too. Some of our favorites: Sorry, Connect Four, Uno, Risk, and Monopoly.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? Attending church on Christmas Eve for Carols by Candlelight, getting a gift for a child in need (toys for tots or a giving tree), and decorating cookies.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? This is a hard one for me because I would not want to be away from my extended family at Christmas time. However, I guess if we could all go together I would want to go to San Diego, CA where my grandma lives (she is my only close relative who does not live in the same state as me).

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? For me, the Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board is at the top of my list. Number two would have to be a Nintendo DS for a special person on my Christmas list. And if I was lucky enough to win this giveaway, my third item would be the red Wii Bundle which I would give to a family with several children who are in need this Christmas...what a way to brighten the holiday for them!

So, a big thank you to GameStop and Today's Mama for a chance to win this amazing giveaway! Click HERE for all the details on how you can have a chance to win too!

Hello Sunshine! - Etsy Inspired Challenge #116

Well, our snow melted away enough for me to get to my parents house for Thanksgiving and all was clear for some Black Friday shopping too! I'm about halfway done with all my Christmas shopping, hooray!!! And I found some great kids gifts on Etsy that I'll share with you all later this week.

But today is the Etsy Inspired Challenge and I just love Heartsong's paintings...they are full of warmth, life, and inspiration. I was inspired by all the sunshine bursting out of this shop, especially this painting.

So, of course I had to try to create my own sunshine card!

To create my sun I simply used a circle lid and stamped it onto my card and then used a paper towel to dab/wipe ink into the half circle. Then I used a piece of paper to get my straight edges on the sun rays.

In addition to her beautiful artwork, Laura (owner of Heartsong) offers online classes focusing on health and healing.
Here is a note from Laura: Hi! I'm Laura Koniver, MD... physician turned artist. My passion is creating art that re-connects you to well-being. I offer on-line Health eCourses that do the same thing... remind your spirit of it's innate connection to health and healing. See my course descriptions at http://heartsongfineart.bigcartel.com//
Everything I do is infused with the knowledge that health and well-being are available to us at all times.

I have a blog in which I mix art, health and healing every day! Follow me at http://www.heartsongfineart.com/blog/

xoxo, Laura
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/heartsongfineart

Laura, Heartsong, will be giving all players and followers of EtsyInspired a 20% discount in the store! Use the coupon code INSPIRED at checkout! Thanks, Laura! She has also offered up a wonderful prize for one winner--a Box of Fine Art Notecards.

Our fabulous sponsor this week is Karber Digital Images! All types of digial images are for sale on this site--even Christmas digis! Perfect for you to get started on your Holiday cards! Check them out:: Karber Digital Images. And head on over to their blog, HERE!

Karber Digital Images has also donated a prize for one winner-- 2 free digital images {winner's choice}.

To play along::

**Go to the Heartsong, look around, and find an item or two that inspires you.

**Make any creation that you would like and post a link on the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday, December 3rd at noon Pacific time.

**Please give credit to the shop/item you found your inspiration from and link back the EtsyInspired.

**If you upload to an online gallery, please use keyword EIC116.

And be sure to visit these talented ladies for extra inspiration:

• Angie (November Guest Designer)
• Ashley
• De
• Emily B
• Emily N
• Joy
• Kerry
• Savannah
• Stephanie
• Virginia

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful day with family and friends. I'm waiting for a little warmer temps and some rain before I head out to my parent's house for the day...our neighborhood still has a lovely hill covered with snow and ice.

Recently I created some Thanksgiving cards for a customer so I thought I would share two of them today with you all.

Today I am thankful for my husband who is a great provider, father, and friend. My oldest son who is so smart, loving, and has a heart of gold. My youngest son who makes me laugh daily and is so sweet and loving. My parents who have always supported and encouraged me in all I do, shown me unconditional love, and been wonderful role models. My little brother who is a wonderful uncle and is always there when I need to talk or need a good laugh. My extended family and friends who bring joy to my life. Thank you all for being a part of my life! I am so blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Treasury Tuesday - All I Want For Christmas...

Happy Tuesday everyone! We have snow, ice, and super cold temps here so it is another cozy day inside for us. We are enjoying the family time and getting stuff done around the house. As most of you know by now, I love Etsy...it is a wonderful handmade community and I am always finding new goodies to put on my wish list. With Christmas around the corner, I thought I'd create a treasury filled with some of my favorite things that I would love to have wrapped up under the tree for me this year! :)

If you see some things you'd like to or might be a great gift for someone you know, click HERE to see the treasury up close along with links to all these fabulous items.

And for more great gift ideas, you might want to take a peek at these wonderful treasuries too!

100% Recycled Gift Guide

Gift Guide For Teachers

I Love Grey! Gift Guide

Motivational Monday - Making Progress

Well it is snowing here in WA today and school has already been cancelled for tomorrow. My son is super excited, as I was as a child, but this mommy is kind of wishing for warmer temps so that I can get out and get some shopping/errands done! However, staying home today did allow for me to list some new card making kits for kids in my Etsy shop, which was my goal for this past week...so at least I did get some things accomplished.

Here is a peek at some of the cute handmade boxes that the kits come in:

I am really enjoying setting small goals for myself each week. It motivates me to write my goals down and share them with you all because then I feel more of a commitment to completing the tasks I set for myself. I hope some of you have been joining me and are making progress toward your own goals.

This week my goal is to work on a Christmas gift for my parents...I already worked on it a little today so I'm off to a good start! :) My other goal for this week is to organize my pictures and print some up. I LOVE my digital camera (Cannon Rebel xsi) but boy do I take a TON of pictures now. I am getting a bit behind with my photo albums. When I had a film camera I was always up to date with my albums. Gotta love technology! :)

Have a wonderful evening! I'll be back tomorrow with some Etsy Inspiration and great gift ideas!

Grateful for You - Etsy Inspired Challenge #115

This month seems to be flying by...Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas will be here before we know it. I have tons of gifts to buy, a birthday party to plan, and lots of projects to complete. I'm sure many of you crafty folks have plans to create some holiday gifts and the Etsy Inspired Challenge is here to offer you a little inspiration and a chance to win a gift for yourself too! :)

This week we have a scrumptious shop for you to be inspired by! Queen of Tarts Cakes offers wonderful handmade cookies in a variety of flavors and designs. They also have a second shop filled with edible image wafer papers for all you bakers out there who like to do it yourself.

Our sponsor this week is Inchie Arts, a great company that sells artist grade matteboard squares...perfect for stamping, watercolors, copics, and more! Check out their blog for lots of great ideas on how to use their products.

I was inspired by both our sponsor and featured Etsy shop to use inchies on my card.

I loved the sweet colors on these Baby Girl Quilt Cookies.

I have a dear friend who is moving out of state soon and wanted to create a special card for her so I was also inspired by the American Crafts' challenge to create a project with the theme 'I'm grateful for...'

For this card I used some of American Crafts fabric paper (love it!), AC Botanique patterned paper, and AC ribbon. The stamped sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

To have a chance to win $25 worth of goodies from Inchie Arts or a sweet little prize from Queen of Tarts Cakes, simply:

- Visit Queen of Tarts Cakes and find an item that inspires you.

- Create a project of your own and for an extra challenge make sure to incorporate some squares.

- Link your project up to the Etsy Inspired blog by Friday the 26th at noon.

And for extra inspiration be sure to visit these lovely ladies!

• Angie (November Guest Designer)
• Ashley
• De
• Emily B
• Emily N
• Joy
• Kerry
• Savannah
• Stephanie
• Virginia

Have a wonderful weekend!

Treasury Thursday

Well, Tuesday and Wednesday kind of got away from me...so I moved Treasury Tuesday to today! :) This week I was inspired to create a honey themed treasury after finding a few lovely golden items while browsing Etsy.

You can find the links to all these wonderful items by clicking HERE.

And three fellow Etsians have included my Christmas button tree cards in their holiday treasuries. You can check them out here:

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

Pine and Berry...Wondrous Woodland Gifts

Fired Up for the Holidays!

Have a great Friday! I'll be back Saturday with my Etsy Inspired project.

Motivational Monday - Balance

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekend was filled with lots of quality family time! My goal this past week was to spend lots of time with my boys and hubby. We took time to play board games, read tons of books together, snuggle and talk, sing songs, dance, and have puff ball fights! :) You know those colorful pom pom balls that you use for craft projects...they are great fun to throw around!

Whenever you are working toward a big goal it is important not to forget to take time for your family. It's so important to have a balance. If you find your kids are acting out a bit more or you are feeling like you haven't been around much, set a goal for a week to spend good, quality time with them...you will never regret it!

I usually spend tons of time with my kiddos...sometimes to the point of not taking enough time for myself. But this past week I wanted to really make sure the time I was spending was extra special and engaging...not just homework, errands, sports, etc.

This week, with Christmas quickly approaching, my goal is to fill my Etsy shop up a bit more. Last year my card making kits for kids were a big hit and I have already sold several this past month. So, my goal is to get at least three more kits listed in my shop this week.

What goals have you been setting and achieving lately? Join me in a setting a small goal for yourself this week! I'll be back tomorrow with some Etsy inspiration!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Etsy Inspired Challenge #114

Hello all! Well, I have a weekend full of special time with my boys. Today we are relaxing at home...perfect for a Saturday, right?! And Saturdays are always a good time to do a little crafting too! So, this week for the Etsy Inspired Challenge we have another fabulous shop to spark your creativity. Happy Day Designs is a lovely jewelry shop with the most gorgeous color combinations...each piece is truly a work of art. I was inspired by these beautiful pieces.



I was immediately attracted to the green but when I saw that beautiful red in the shop too, I was inspired to create a Christmas card.

So simple but it still makes a statement, don't you think? I thought this design would make for a cute and simple gift box/bag too. The paper and ribbon are both American Crafts and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

I was also inspired to create a festive treasury on Etsy.

You can see these items up close along with the links to the fabulous Etsy shops that sell them by clicking HERE.

To play along in the Etsy Inspired Challenge:
~Go to the Happy Days Designs shop and pick an item to be inspired by
~Make any creation you'd like and post a link to your creation on the EtsyInspired blog
~Please include a link to the shop in your post~Challenge ends on Friday Nov 19, noon Pacific time

~If you upload to an online gallery please use keyword EIC114

I'm sure there will be some colorful creations in the gallery this week! Especially since you could win a lovely necklace from Happy Day Designs or a stamp from our sponsor, Whiff of Joy, by playing along in the challenge! See the Etsy Inspired Blog for all the details.

And be sure to visit the rest of the Design Team to see their Etsy Inspired projects!

* Angie (November Guest Designer)

• Ashley


• De


• Emily B


• Emily N


• Joy


• Kerry


• Savannah


• Stephanie


• Virginia

Enjoy your weekend!

Treasury Tuesday - Great Gift Ideas!

Happy Tuesday everyone! I am enjoying a quiet day at home with my little one and took some time this morning to create a treasury on Etsy. As the holiday season gets closer I know we all are looking for the perfect gifts for family and friends and Etsy has some wonderfully unique and lovely items to choose from. I decided to create a treasury for all those crafty people out there who enjoy trying a new craft or having fun with a do it yourself project.

You can find links to all the shops that sell these items by clicking HERE.

And I found several other treasuries full of great gift ideas too!

A Unisex Gift Guide, Naturally!

Cream and Black, Gift Guide under $35

A Gift Guide for the Home Decorator

Also, I have fun card sets and card making kits for kids in my shop that are sure to put a smile on a loved ones face! :)

Have a great week! I'm going to be spending lots of quality time with my family this week so I probably won't post again until Saturday for the Etsy Inspired Challenge!

Motivational Monday - Be Your Own Cheerleader

Hello friends! Checking in again this week to let you know how I'm doing with my goal setting. Last week I set the goal (again) to create and submit some projects for magazine submission calls and I am proud to say that I submitted some cards to the Paper Crafts May/June call over the weekend. Did you set and meet a goal this week too?

One thing I find helpful for reaching your goals is to become your own cheerleader. First you need to set goals that are important and meaningful to you so that you will want to work toward them. Then you need to be your own cheerleader...if you feel too tired one day, encourage yourself to just take a tiny step to meeting your goal. For example, one day this week I didn't feel up to working on any cards but I knew I needed to work on my goal a little so I could achieve it this week. So I just sat and looked through my papers and embellishments to find coordinating items and things that I might want to create with. Then when I went to make my cards I just needed to work on the design. If you are your own cheerleader you are also less likely to rely on others encouragement or opinions regarding your goals and thus more likely to achieve your goals regardless of outside influences. It is always nice to have family and friends to cheer you on but the first pat on the back should come from yourself.

Okay, onto my goal for this week...to take some extra special time with my boys and husband. This week my oldest has two days off from school and it is my husband's birthday so I am wanting to make sure to enjoy this week with them. Playing games, movie night, reading together...fun times!

I'll be back tomorrow with some great gift ideas and fun do-it-yourself projects!

Thankful Turkey - Etsy Inspired Challenge #113

Hello friends! Time for another Etsy Inspired Challenge! Our featured Etsy shop this week is PutuPrincess Escapes, which offers lovely hand painted shirts. I really love the lotus flower design...so pretty and feminine.

Our sponsor this week is Some Odd Girl which has tons of great digital images. I absolutely adore this sweet rainbow image. But for my card I used Turkey Perky, which you can actually get for free this month!

Isn't that turkey super cute?! I had a lot of fun pairing him up with some Crate Paper goodies. That scalloped frame is actually a chipboard flower...I just took out the middle section and then popped the turkey up on foam squares. I thought this would be a fun thank you card to give to someone this Thanksgiving.

I was mainly inspired by this shirt from PutuPrincess Escapes. I liked the central focus of the owl and Fall feel to this shirt.

One lucky winner this week will get to pick their favorite t-shirt from PutuPrincess Escapes and another will get to pick 3 digis from Some Odd Girl! Lucky ducks! :)

And it's so easy to play along...so if you have never joined us before, make sure to check out the Etsy Inspired Blog for all the details!

Be sure to visit these lovely ladies for extra Etsy Inspiration!

• Angie (November Guest Designer)
• Ashley
• De
• Emily B
• Emily N
• Joy
• Kerry
• Savannah
• Stephanie
• Virginia

This weekend is busy for us...soccer games and celebrations plus lots of stuff to do around the house. Thanks to everyone for your kind wishes last week for my little one...he is feeling MUCH better!

Treasury Tuesday - On a cold, winter morning...

Each Tuesday I share a treasury I've created as well as a few other fabulous treasuries I have found throughout the week. I personally find a lot of inspiration from Etsy and sometimes a gorgeous treasury will inspire me to create a project around that theme or color combination and other times I find new favorite shops and some amazing items that I probably would not have discovered otherwise. So, I hope sharing them will do the same for you! :)

On a cold, winter morning...

Gorgeous, right?! Such talented artists on Etsy! You can see this treasury up close with links to these great items by clicking HERE.

Here are a few other winter inspired treasuries:
Let It...Snow

Winter Wish List

Let It Snow!

Motivational Monday - Allow for Imperfection

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! We had fun taking the boys trick-or-treating and my little one is feeling much better...no coughing for 2 days now! Thanks for all your well wishes for him!

So for those of you who have started following my Motivational Mondays, last week I set the goal of creating 2 cards/projects and submitting them to some publication calls. Well, I did finish one card that I am quite happy with it but I didn't quite get to the second project. So, I will be setting the same goal for myself this week and hopefully by next Monday I will be able to say that I have submitted at least 3 projects to magazines.

In every goal you set, there are likely to be obstacles in the way...sometimes you yourself are your own obstacle. I am known to be extremely hard working and a bit of a perfectionist so sometimes I can be hard on myself when I don't do something as well as I had planned. However, I have learned to have more patience with myself and accept that sometimes I just can't do it all. I'm sure some of you can relate and I hope you will remember to allow yourself to make mistakes and have the same sort of patience for yourself as you do for your children/loved ones.

Please join me in setting a small goal for yourself this week...either privately or share it in the comments section with me and next week I'll be back to share my progress!

Enjoy your evening! If you enjoy winter, jewelry, or the color gray you are going to want to stop back by tomorrow!