Friday, September 30, 2011

7 Days of Craft Fair - Day 6 - Post-it Note Holder

Post-it note holders sell pretty well at the craft fairs. Mostly because they're functional, inexpensive, and everyone uses post-its.  The link for instructions is at the bottom of this post.
I used the Paisley Cricut cartridge to cut the cute cat out. She's a princess!

 I used Scor-tape to adhere the post it note to the inside of the book.

The pen was left over from my last post-it note holder.
You can buy the mini pens for a little over $1 each here.
However, if I were selling these, I'd purchase golf pencils. You can get them here for less than .07 each. When shoppers consider this item, they'll purchase it because of the note pad and attached writing utencil. While they'll prefer a pen in most cases, I don't think they'll want to pay another $1 more for it. Thus, I think pencils will suffice for this item.

Today's Craft Fair Tip - Balance saving money with qualify and presentation. The goal is to secure a fair profit margin. Not only are you seeking to sell your item for more than it cost to make, you want to be compensated for your time. Be sure to factor that in as well.

Here is the tutorial that shows how to make it step by step.







Thursday, September 29, 2011

7 Days of Craft Fair - Day 5 - Spa Socks Cupcakes

I was inspired by Green Beans Crafterole's blog to make this Spa Sock Cupcake.
I used Life's a Party Cricut Cartridge cupcake wrapper cut at 2 1/4"
Then I rolled the sock up, put a piece of cinnamon disk candy on top, and wrapped it up.

 Here is is all wrapped up and ready to sell at a Craft Fair.
It would look really great on a cake stand with a bunch of other Spa Sock Cupcake friends.

Today's Craft Fair Tip: Organize your craft display so that like items are together. Try not to have too many random items that don't belong with your theme. If you can stick with a theme - it will bring a sense of professionalism to your display. Shoppers know that if you taken the time to focus on your presentation, then you've taken the time to make your handmade items with quality!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

7 Days of Craft Fair - Day 4 - Handmade Pins

If you're wondering why I think stick pins make a great craft fair item...my thought is this. First, they're handmade and craft fair shoppers love handmade items. Second, many craft fair shoppers either make cards or scrapbooks themselves or know others who do.

Today's Craft Fair Tip: Packaging is key when you're selling at a craft fair. You can have the prettiest item, but packaged wrong...and it won't sell. Look how easy it is to package these stick pins in coordinating paper. I think it looks so professional!


To make these stick pins you'll need a glue gun and glue sticks.
Beads - your choice! I used extra ones that were in my bead box from a previous project.
I picked up the pins at Joanns in the floral section.  If you don't have a Joanns near you, you can purchase stick pins online here.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

7 Days of Craft Fair - Day 3 - To Go Coffee Cups

I think these cups would go really well at a craft fair in Tucson. Yes - I did get my engineering degree from the University of Arizona - Go Wild Cats!

These coffee cups can be found at your local Dollar Tree. Embellish them with vinyl and you're all set for your craft show. Be sure to put hand wash only on the note you put on the inside - that way the vinyl will stay on for a long time.

I used Old West Cricut cartridge and vinyl to complete this coffee cup. I used my gypsy to weld the Bear Down shadow and cut the letters out at 1" (The welded shadow is 2" top to bottom). Then I applied the vinyl using transfer tape. Of course you don't need to do that - I just prefer to use it.

You can buy vinyl on Amazon here.  It's about .50 per 6"x12" sheet, and you can make a lot of coffee mugs for cheap this way!

Today's Craft Fair Tip: Items that represent a local college or highschool will grab the attention of the locals who are shopping. Unique items that they can't buy in the store will most likely sell well!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Christmas Card - I Triple Dog Dare You

We interrupt our 7 days of craft fair items to bring you this special card I made for Dustin Pike's funny card challenge.  I was inspired by this digi stamp and the movie A Christmas Carol to come up with this card.  I used Cuttle bug snowflake embossing and the snowflake is cut form Cricut Cartridge When It's Cold Outside.  Anyway - I hope you like it!
Here's the inside!



7 Days of Craft Fair - Day 2 - Embellished Journals

Embellished Journals make terrific craft fair items and they are so easy to do!
I picked up these journals and matching cards at Michaels last month for .50 each!
I used cricut markers to trace the letters. This font is from the StoryBook cartridge - drawn at 1".
The scalloped circle and inner circle are from Elegant Edges cartridge cut at 1".
Then I used stickles to pretty it up.
I made these for the girls in my bible study this month.
We just finished the book of Revelations - boy was that action packed!
If you make these for a craft fair, you can monogram on site with your cricut markers and Cricut, or you can use other embellishments instead.



Today's Craft Fair Tip:
Stock up on cheap journals when you find them throughout the year!


Sunday, September 25, 2011

Craft Fair Items - Get Better Soon Kits

This week I'm featuring items that would make great craft fair ideas! Check back everyday for neat ideas and inspiration as you prepare for upcoming craft shows, or if you're planning fun gifts for Christmas!
This week I'm featuring Get Better Soon Kits. I was inspired by a post on one of the Cricut Boards, but I after searching for 10 minutes I can't find it anymore. Sorry.  Anyway, here it is:

Supplies used:
Pillow Box - Purchased on Amazon.com
Art Philosophy Cartridge
White and lavendar label cut at 3"
Judith Stamps - Heard You Caught a Bug
Dollar Tree - Pocket Tissues (come in packs of 9), Cough Drops, and Vitamin C Drops

I purchased the pillow boxes on Amazon.com. They ran about $15 for 50 of them:




Sunday, September 18, 2011

Winner of the Making Memories Scrapbooking Software

Congratulations Carol - you've won the Making Memories Digital Scrapbooking software!
"I am now a follower of your blog by email. I love the kits by Ettes and Company. Time 4 Growth, Hey Girlfriend, Time 4 Me are a few of my favs. Thanks for the chance to win the software!"
I hope you enjoy the software! It's really fun!





Saturday, September 17, 2011

Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway - Last Day!

Today's the last day to enter my digital scrapbooking giveaway! If you're interested, please leave a comment on the post located here before midnight tonight!  Sorry, but comments on this post won't count - so be sure to go to the post about the giveaway!
Thank you!

Whoo Hoo! My blog makeover!

Whoo hoo!  I got a blog make over! Well....actually I didn't "get" one. I did it myself! In addition to the graphics, I changed url and the and slogan. The slogan totally cracks me up! This week one of my fellow cricuiteers made over her own blog and inspired me to do the same. I was going to pay someone to do it for me, but then I'm cheap...so when Melody said she did hers - I said "why not me too?". You can see her blog at: Melody Lane Designs.
Now the question is...why in the world would I stay up until 2AM to make over my blog?  Well I think I just wanted to do something that noone asked me to do.  So...here it is! I hope you like it!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Please Don't Send My Kid Home Alone...

I am extremely blessed to be able to hold a job and still "somewhat" manage my household. The bummer part is that I live about 1 hour from my job. Luckily, I work at home some days and other days I can leave early to be home for them when they get home from school. There's only day that I send them to after school care, and it's been consistent for years! Imagine my horror when I received a call from the school telling me they accidentally sent my 2nd grader home on the bus.  My heart dropped and I began frantically gathering my things to make the drive home. I also whipped out the cell phone and started the call list. You see, I live in Arizona and in a very busy neighborhood. So...combine one adorable small kid with 114 degrees and many strangers and what do you get?  A very freaked out mom - that's what you get!

Luckily, my son was smart enough to get to a neighbor's house, who called the school because she knew he wasn't where he was supposed to be.  There's a plus for being friendly with your neighbors you know! She drove him back to school where he was promptly whisked away to daycare.  The teacher apologized. I told her that God always has protected this little boy (who was born 2 lbs 6.4 oz, 11 weeks in the NICU, and surgery to boot).

Well... to avoid this crazy situation, I whipped out my Cricut and created this "gentle" reminder. Ok...it's not that gentle - it's actually 4" in diameter. It's huge on his bag.  Here's his new button that he wears on early release day now.  I hope you like my solution to this very crazy situation.  I probably went overboard, but I really don't care! 


The Cricut Cartridges I used to make this include:
Going Places for the sign
Doodle Charms for the bus
Everyday Paper Dolls for the face
Peachy Keen Stamp for the face

I did laminate it, but I took the picture before the lamination because I'm not good with camera glare!
I shared my creation on the school blog hop with MyPinkStamper this month.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Welcome to the Family! My New Arrival!

Welcome to the family!
Top - My new Cricut Cake
Bottom Left - Cricut Expression
Bottom Right - Cricut Imagine
Front - Cricut Personal (My Baby Bug)

My new cricut cake arrived today....
I hadn't planned on buying one...but I do love that red color. Picked this one up off of Ebay for less than $90. Such a steal considering it was just released last year for a retail price of $430. Lesson learned...never buy a Cricut when it first releases...you really don't need it that bad. Ok...I don't want to talk about why I "need" 4 cricuts.  To be honest...I own 5, but one of my baby bugs stays up north.  Each of my Cricuts have their own function and purpose.

  • Cricut Cake is my newest addition. She's meant for cakes. I figure if I don't use her much for cakes...I'll convert her to a regular pretty red expression.
  • Cricut Imagine prints and cuts. She was really frustrating to get used to because she had to get sent back to the manufacturer for an update. I think I didn't get to use her until about 1 month after I bought her. Now I use her often, but not as often as my expression.
  • Cricut Expression just cuts paper.  I love the autofill function because I can cut shapes in bulk.  I do this all the time! She can also cut up to 12" x 24".
  • Baby Bug is portable. She can go anywhere, but can only cut 6 x 12. I picked her up for really cheap from one of my favorite places to buy cartridges...I think she was $30 with a cartridge that I can sell for about $30.
In all, I realize how blessed I am to own these tools. I'm working on a plan to use my creativity for other purposes besides my own stress relief.  God's putting a "bug" in my heart again - so I'm praying for direction, and I'm confident he will respond in good time.  Until then....stay tuned!



Monday, September 5, 2011

Digital Scrapbooking Software Giveaway!

Whoo hoo!  I just received a copy of My Memories digital scrapbooking software to try and one to give away.  Details on how to enter the giveaway are below.  After I received the link to download this software, I immediately gave it a test run.  I have to say...having used four high end digi scrapbook programs in the past - this one's very easy.  I threw this layout together in five minutes, including importing the picture, and trying to figure out how to add elements!  What do you think?


Think of all the fun things you can do with this software.  Not just scrapbooking! You can do your Christmas cards, invitations, and more!

I really do like this software and My Memories has a ton of free downloads and really nice ones for purchase as well - with reasonable pricing.  I love the quick pages (which is what I used to create the one above). You can export your creations for printing at your favorite photo site.  I have lots more exploring to do, but I want to get this posted so you can win your copy!  

If you can't wait...here's a $20 off deal for you.  The code below gets you $10 off the software and $10 to use for digital content in the store. Visit: MyMemories and use: coupon code STMMMS29603 to get your $10+$10 off today.

*********** How to Enter **********

Now...to win your free copy of MyMemories Suite (a $39.97 value) you need to:
1.  Become a follower of my blog
2. Visit Mymemories.com and choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout. 
3. Leave a comment on this post letting me know which one is your fav!

********************************

Be sure to leave me with a way to contact you.  
You have until midnight on Saturday, September 17, 2011 to post your comment.  
Once comment only - please! 
I will post the lucky winner here on Sunday, September 18, 2011.   
Good luck!