Zutter, and Mini Monsters

I'm still excitedly working with the Bind it all, and still absolutely love it. I will post pictures later, but also yesterday I purchased the new mini monsters cricut cartridge (on sale at Michaels, 49.99). Hopefully on friday I will be able to pick up a few others. :)

Im headed upstairs now to use both of them, pictures to come soon!!

:)
-Rachel

Having some internet issues, the wireless router broke, so I can not use my laptop for the internet, meaning I cant upload any pictures.... hoping to buy a new one tomorrow, and start my new job tomorrow! YAY!

Zutter Bind it all, Day 1

Okay, so I just finished a project with the bind it all... would have done it earlier but got sidetracked with cleaning and all the new cricut carts out....

Anywho, absolutely LOVE IT. Worth every dime, maybe now I will get my money's worth out of all the scrapbooking tools I have.

I got the version 2.0 (the pink one) and bought a six pack of 1/2 inch black and a two pack of 3/4 inch white, just to try it out.

I played around a little bit with some scrap to get the feel for how the holes would be punched, and how to line them up properly, pretty easy set up, has a guide bar and a little tab to thread your punched holes onto if you have a bigger project, the little puncher only does six (i think) at a time, so bigger projects require multiple punches.

No assembly required.... AWESOME! this baby is ready for use right out of the box.
I couldn't get the DVD that comes with it to play in my computer... however this I am sure is due to the dinosaur of a computer I have. Nevertheless I hopped on over to youtube and watched my fair share of tutorials.

This evening I created the project you see, cutting 4 by 4 inch squares out of blue cardstock, rainy day stuff using the paisley cashemire cartridge, and hunting out some ribbon I had in my stash along with the butterfly brads I had. :) I took a felt marker and drew the clouds in, but you can't really see them, and I laminated the covers for extra durability. The punching and binding only took two minutes or less, set the guides, punch and bind. Easy peasy. This is by far the easiest most user friendly tool Ive gotten for scrapbooking.

I almost smooshed my fingers twice while trying to punch holes... I learned not to put my fingers there very quickly, so be aware of that.

There is a stabilizer bar that you pull out on the back, however I still moved around a bit, I suppose this will become more natural with practice.

My mistake with this project was that I wanted to use the white wire, which in all honesty was FAR too big for my project so the pages hang funny, I will know better next time. :) Maybe I will grow my stash of owires.... *evil grin*.

The tip they give you to move the back cover to the front for binding, is CRUCIAL! Don't ignore it.

That's really all I can say tonight, I haven't used it enough to pass further judgement, but as far as I can tell I am going to LOVE it.


Night,
Rachel

YAY! for zutter products...

I just got my bind it all this morning..... going to play with it and then write a review.... I have a feeling I will love it!

-Rachel

Ideas Ideas Ideas

Okay, I have been sewing like a mad woman, seriously... which has lead to thinking... I really and truly do not want to go back to college in the fall. I am fully aware that I am three semesters and a few summer classes from finishing, HOWEVER I do not wish to teach. As my ever growing debts keep increasing because I can't work because I am in school all hours of every day I am getting more and more aware of the fact that while yes, I need an education, I also need to start acting like an adult and create some income. While etsy has been profitable in the past it seems to have hit a down slope... i'm sure its due to my lack of listing dilligence along with other aspects. In the fall I will have the joy of being in the marching band at the university *rolls eyes* dispite my love for music, and the joy I get from singing, I do not feel like I will have the same excitement marching across the field in a thick wool onsie wearing and ugly hat and playing louie louie for a herd of sweating stinky guys. Now don't get me wrong I know that I should be well versed in both sides for teaching... however I will flat out refuse a band job, and quite frankly at this point I do not want to teach at all. Marching band is 9am to 9pm the full week before classes begin, once classes begin it is Mon. Wed. Fri. 3:00-5:30, and all games, and traveling. Which leads me to point two, traveling. While yes I most certainly enjoy traveling recreationaly, I can not just pack up and go whenever there is a ball game. I absolutely refuse to be away on holidays. That in culmination of other things are reasons I would rather not go back to university in the fall.

Onward with this story... I'm not complaining about getting an education... Honestly. So I am researching the Junior college with their one and two year programs and they offer classes at more flexible times. In the meantime I have applied for fifteen or so full time positions at various places, the most appealing one being a church secretary at a local methodist church. What I have in my heart though is a retail store... for all my stuff and other stuff too. In the front half have all sorts of gifty items, and bags, and bows, and cards, and party supplies, and in the back have all the new robert kaufman fabrics, and the new Andover fabrics, and RJR and all the newest gadgets and tools, morning glory polyfil (this is a whole nother story entirely) and thread and yarn and needles and all kinds of good stuff, I can see a wall of fat quarters in every color.... (im slightly fat quarter crazy right now). In addition to screen printing, letter press, block printing supplies, etc. There is a really nice retail space available downtown, however I am just so unsure about it all, and I know that it is most definitely something that is a few years off, because I need to get my finances under control, but that is most definitely where my heart lies. Any feedback on the idea would be much appreciated.

--Rachel

Showing off...

Okay, so it's been like 20 days or erm... 22 days since I last posted... I APOLOGIZE. Went to Philly, PA for the Market Square show... it was a big big bust. People were complaining that they had sold more in a snow storm than they did at that show. We did fairly well, and the business has picked up now that we're home. Had the BEST chinese take out while we were there, and of course hunted out the Cheesecake factory--YUM! I was really surprised at how much it felt like home up there, we technically were in Oaks, PA and we stayed in King of Prussia, PA., but I was informed it was all considered the greater Philly area. Oh, and before you ask.. no, I did not eat a philly cheesesteak. *bows head in shame* I didn't even think about it, and we didn't really see any promising restaurants adverstising cheesesteaks as their thing... so idk.

ANYWAY-- since I got home I have been BUSY BUSY BUSY! yay! I am trying really hard to use up all the fabric I have before I can buy any more fabric, or ribbon, and I must say, I am doing a pretty good job of it. However going through some inventory I realized just how much product I have that is not listed on my ETSY site..... I swear I would pay someone to do it for me. I like the creative aspect so much more than the business side. I never have gotten those scrabble pendants listed... hmpf!

Here's a few pictures of what I have been working on....This is a roll I designed, and will have a pattern up for purchase soon.... I designed it for my crochet needles, it rolls up and has a flap so they dont get loose, and ties in a pretty bow, and it is completely washable. This will hopefully be available in my shop soon too. :) we just know how I love to list stuff. OH! I almost forgot, this works great for colored pencils, markers, lots of things!


This is a pile of totes, and purses and a wallet, oh, and the thing to the side that is blue and yellow is a yarn cozy with a weighted bottom, there are two of them in the set, I believe they are listed on etsy.
I LOVE that owl fabric... I have two totes with it but I dont know if they are in the shop or not.
Owl half apron with pocket, absolutely adorable sz. l-xl (16-22) however my size 4p mother tried it on and its adorable on her, just wraps around a little farther.
pink quilt that is backed and quilted with ric rak trim... very sweet for a new baby!
Full apron, apples and pears, same size as about l-xl, Idk about the sz 4p though, didnt get her to try it on yet but ill let you know...
uhm.... oh that the top of the full apron, on my leather couch lol.
half apron out of malt and millshakes... with pocket and great ruffle. Same size as above. :)
half apron with pocket, I LOVE this one and Im not usually one for yellows and greens.... this one just tickles me pink.. uhm I mean yellow! :)

okay, I think that's all for tonight, Im sleepy finally. Hopefully more tomorrow or soon, and if anyone wants to do the listing work for me... lol I will feed you homecooking and make you something :)

If you need any more info on this stuff let me know, I know I was VERY general. Im just sleepy. ZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzzz.....
Night y'all!
-R

Small projects, little progress...

All I did was cut a cupcake using the cricut, and added a heart foam glitter sticker, and taped it to the bag... this was NOT the bag I had inteded to use, but due to my usual lack of planning, and organization I could not find the other gift bags that are hiding in my office that are solid colors... don't have a clue where they went.

This is Kelsey's gift, a magazine which she LOVED, wire to make earrings, and other fun stuff, and the most beautiful ombre thread for wrapping earrings and such with, along with some pretty pink shell beads, not a giant gift, but hopefully she will have fun! She makes some of the most beautiful jewelry.

This is her card I made using the Wild Card cartridge for the cricut, and I added another little foam glitter heart. f

This is Kelsey's present all finished, instead of making an envelope, I just hole punched the card with my crop o dile, and attatched it with a piece of ribbon like a hang tag, since I wasnt putting and money in it.

I had these chip board letters in a pile of stuff I picked up at the thrift store, they are a lot prettier in person, I was going to write dad but there weren't two d's lol, so I improvised. they have glitter, and vines and flowers on them, all I did was glue them on. And i just noticed how nasty my counters look... they dont look that way in person.

as soon as you open the book I put a pocket that will hold 6 or 7 pictures, I folded the edges and glued them down so there would be more room, and I took my 1" hole punch and punched half a hole in it so it would be easier to get the pictures out. The next page I just found and trimmed a vellum piece I had that said dad, and added a sticker...

This pocket is more flat because I did not fold the edges, and on the adjacent page there is a vellum piece that says "Husband of my heart" since this is for my mother, and the dragonfly matched the paper a lot better in person.

I did this pocket a little differently, there's only enough room for a few pictures because I did not crease the edges to create more room like I did with the other one,

I always have been and always will be a daddy's girl :)

I did this one a little different too... so you can slide a picture or something inbetween, plus it covered up a weird bunched up spot I had in the top corner, I just got a piece of paper and cut two matching strips and ran glue around the outer three edges of each.. I like that all the pockets arent the same. :)

This piece is actually what was left of the other pocket that matches, I try not to waste, and this page really needed some glitter.


I woke up later than I had expected this morning, so not a lot of progress was made... lol went to hobby lobby, ac moore, michaels, office depot, and joanns where I got a discount card for ten percent off my entire purchase including sale prices because I have a business liscense and resell the stuff, I don't go in our Joann's much because the ladies are grumpy, but that little extra might make it worth it.

I'm prepping all of my mom's stuff for the trip to PA next week to do the wholesale and cash and carry shows, and I just haven't had a lot of time for mine. hopefully I will get back to it full force soon. Tomorrow I have to go to the printers, and make business cards and hang tags for all of her stuff in addition to making pumpking, angels, and idk what all. Oh, and today I set up a website for her... she's been in the business for about 15 years, and doesn't have a web site.. well until today of course. It won't be fully operational until next week, but it's still exciting. I'm hoping she will be able to quit her full time crappy job, and continue to do what she loves.

As soon as the crafting outlaw form becomes available I think I am going to apply, I mean why not? How AWESOME would that be? I wish my etsy business would pick up, but it always does in August, so Im just trying to wait it out. Marshall Dry Goods has pulled Morning Glory stuffing off their website... pretty dissapointing... although with all the trouble Ive had out of that company I can't be too upset. I guess that's all for now, can't wait to get a bind it all and a Xyron machine (which are on sale at AC Moore this week), I have so many ideas that are just waiting for play! :)

peace!

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