Pink and Paper

Another Easy Shaker Card

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 22:53:00 +0000

As you all know, I went a little crazy with shaker cards a few weeks ago. Because of that, I have one to share...

I made this for one of my kids at church.

Side note.... I have no kids of my own. Every Sunday, since I was 15 years old, I have taught the kids at church in either Sunday School or Children's Church. Because of this, I am super attached to my kids. A lot of them I have known since birth or just after. I remembered as I wrote that line, 4 of my "kids" will be leaving for the military over the next 6-8 months. Cue the tears. They aren't really kids anymore. And even though I didn't bring them into this world, I still claim them as mine. And I don't want them to grow up. And I don't want them to move away. And I cry every time I think about it, so let's move on.

Anywho... I made this for a kid who helped me out and went above and beyond. I didn't have a template, I just picked a fun font and cut the squares and circles with my Silhouette.

I added dots to the font with my white gel pen and layered 3 of the word "thanks" to make it thicker.

I used my fuse tool to make a pocket, then added the iridescent stars to fill the pocket. Aren't they fun?

That's it folks! This card was simple and could easily be reproduced just using different papers and fonts. I thought I'd start sharing links to the supplies I use, in case you are looking for them. Here's what I used in this card:

Please use the links above and help support Pink and Paper

Free Font Friday - Afterschool Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 03:08:00 +0000

Hey folks! It's Free Font Friday....on Sunday!

The last couple of weeks have been a bit chaotic at Casa de Garrett, so I've missed a couple of Fridays. I was going to wait until the end of the week, but who says free fonts can only come on Fridays?

I'm such a rule breaker.

Today's font is...

You all know I love swirly fonts and of course, this one is fab. You can get it at Dafont here: Afterschool Festival

Happy Fonting!

Cheryl

Strawberry Shaker Card

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 22:57:00 +0000

I have another shaker card to share with you! I just can't get enough of them!

This is one I made a few weeks ago during my all day card making party (I was the only one at my little party...LOL!). I love this giant strawberry!

This card was super easy. I found a drawing of a strawberry online and pasted it into my Silhouette software. I traced it and smoothed the edges to make a cut file.

I again used my fuse tool to make a pocket for the shaker part of the card and filled it with lovely pink micro beads!

The card measures approximately 6" x 6". That's one big berry!

Do you love shaker cards as much as me? If so, please post a pic on Pink and Paper on Facebook and let us all see your creativity!!

Adios!

Free Font Friday - Mrs Monster

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 20:58:00 +0000

It's fall y'all!! That means it's time for some Halloween fonts!

Get the Mrs Monster font HERE.

Enjoy!

Simple Masculine Card

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 00:34:00 +0000

I love making cards. I think it has to do with the fact that I love giving people gifts. Like, seriously love it. I have never read the book, but I'm pretty sure my love language is gifts. It's not always feasible to give a gift, but you can always find an occasion to give a card!

I haven't made a card for anyone in over a year. For me, that's an eternity. I used to make a ton of cards. I tried to make my mother-in-law a birthday card a few weeks ago and it was a disastrous mess, so I quit and bought her one. [sad face]

I wanted to say thanks to some awesome teens in our church for helping me out, so I decided to see if I could get the creative juices flowing today. And I made 5 cards!

Here's one...

I've said it before and it's still true - Masculine cards are HARD to make. I always want to sparkle or glitter or shimmer it or something. My hubby picked out this paper at Hobby Lobby a while back. He said it's his favorite paper I own. Poor guy... he has bad taste - except in women! Actually, I am glad he talked me into buying it because it's perfect for simple cards.

I used my fuse tool and page protectors to make a pocket, then added micro beads to fill it up. I cut out the sentiment using my Silhouette, then put it on with foam tape.

It's quite plain and perfect for the recipient! The young man I gave it to is definitely no-frills, so this was right up his alley. And he enjoyed playing with the shaker part!

Once I came up with the general idea, I made several. I would suggest whenever you make a card, always make a couple, then you'll have them on hand when you need one fast.

Happy Crafting!

Free Halloween Printable!

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 00:17:00 +0000

Fall is officially here. Except in Oklahoma.... where it was 90 degrees today! What the what?

I guess it's still "officially" fall but I could really go for cool weather. I hate heat.

Anywho, with the arrival of fall, we know Halloween is just around the corner. Not having kids, I don't have to make costumes or deal with trick-or-treating, but I still love making goodies for my co-workers and friends.

Since I got my fuse tool, I have been OBSESSED with all things shaker. Shaker cards, shaker bookmarks, shaker dashboards for my planner.... So why not do a shaker Halloween treat bag?

If you're not familiar with a fuse tool, check this out:

Now that you are in love with the fuse tool like I am, what can you do with it? I have a simple idea that will be a hit with all your pals. Promise!

All you need is a printer, some paper and some 5x7 cello bags. (I got mine from Amazon HERE)

I guess you could call these "treat packs"? I have no idea. I just think they're cute. I basically took a printable card, put it in a 5x7 cello bag, added embellishments and/or candy and sealed the end with my fuse tool.

With my limited photography skills, it's very difficult to photograph a shiny, flimsy bag. I kept getting a glare, so I just laid it down and hoped for the best. If you want to give a treat without candy, you can add some sequins or die-cuts and just write a little note on the back.

In this one, I added a couple packs of Sixlets. My hubby loves them. I find the crunchy shell nasty, personally.

If you don't have a fuse tool, but still want to make these, you can easily fold them over and seal the back with some cute (and glittery!) washi tape.

Now for the best part - a Freebie! I created these cards to share with you all. Just click the link under the picture to download the PDF document for yourself.

Halloween Printable 2017

If you make some, I'd love to see pics. Post them on the Pink and Paper Facebook page and we can all share fun ideas!

Happy Creating!

One more debt gone...

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Sun, 17 Sep 2017 20:08:00 +0000

I just paid off a medical bill! Woohoo!
I just paid off a medical bill! Woohoo!
I just paid off a medical bill! Woohoo!

(Picture me dancing around and singing those words at the top of my lungs..because that's what I'm doing.)

Since I've shared some of our debt situation with you guys, I knew you'd want to know that I just paid off a medical bill! Let me tell you why I'm so happy...

After The Great Meningitis Outbreak of 2014, we received 14 medical bills in the months that followed.

14! Holy cow, that's a lot of bills!

I had just gotten over this horrible illness (and had a "traumatic brain injury" as I'm told), so to say I was overwhelmed was an understatement.

I called them all, made arrangements to pay what I could, and prayed. Insurance ended up covering a few of them and one actually wrote off the balance I owed. Fast forward to 2017. After way too many payments, we're down to 3 bills.

And today, I paid one of them off!!

This has been a long road and hasn't been easy. Paying off debt SUCKS!

It's one thing to pay off debt that you acquired because you bought too many purses. But having to pay bills because you start having convulsions in your living room floor, go into a comatose state and end up in the ICU is a whole other ball game.

I pouted for a bit.

I had a pity party because "Why did I have to get Meningitis?".

I cried A LOT.

Then, I decided to be a grown up. Things do not go as planned. Life happens. And sometimes it sucks and we just have to accept it.

So, I added them to my list of debts and started paying. A few were small enough they went away quickly. But these last 3 have been hanging on for dear life.

Thus my happiness today.

Debt is the worst.

If you think you MUST have a brand new, fancy car or you can't live without that designer couch...don't do it! It's not worth it. Take if from someone who learned the hard way. Since we paid off our "BIG DEBT" (as we not-so-lovingly called it), we still owe on a few things. BUT not having that big payment looming over us every month is the most amazing feeling ever.

I am still not always perfect on my budget.

I sometimes spend money when I shouldn't and have to swap things around to cover it.

I sometimes have an urge to charge something because I just want it soooo badly.

But I'm trying. Every single day. And Charles and I are daily making the conscious decision to NEVER go back to where we were.

Happy Sunday, y'all!

Cheryl

Free Font Friday - Chesan

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 18:36:00 +0000

As you can tell, I lean toward swirly, fancy fonts. But sometimes you need a funky, simple font....

Get this great font HERE.

Enjoy!

Free Font Friday - Anydore

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 21:16:00 +0000

This one's lovely, folks! I can't wait to make some fancy planner pages with it!

Get this fabulous font HERE.

Enjoy!

Free Font Friday - Oh Wonderful

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 20:48:00 +0000

It's font time again!

This is sooooo fun! Get it HERE.

Enjoy!

Pen Review - Staples Felt Tip Pens

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 02:15:00 +0000

I'm a sucker for a pretty pen.

This should come as no surprise to you if you've been around me (or read my blog) for any length of time. I see those glorious pen bodies, in all the colors of the rainbow, and I must have them!

I was a gel/rollerball pen snob for much of my writing life. Once I discovered gel pens, I left the world of ballpoints behind for a better way of writing.

Then came 2001. I started dating my husband, who was taking some college classes at the time. We swung by the school bookstore one night on our way to dinner and of course, I had to check out the pen section.

In that moment, my life changed forever.

I discovered Staedtler Triplus fineliners.

As I saw the rainbow display boasting 20 colors of inky goodness, I knew I had to have them. (They now have more colors - Yea!) So, I looked at Charles with my sweetest expression and he dropped thirty bucks on a set of pens. This was the moment I knew he was truly in love with me, by the way. I mean - if a man buys you good pens, you've found your soul mate.

From that day forward, felt tip pens (also known as fineliners) replaced gel pens as my favorite. And 16 years later, they're still one of my most loved sets.

There's a fine line between a good felt tip pen and a fine point marker and every time I see a new brand or style, I must buy them.

Last week, I found these:

They were around $7.00, which is a decent price for 12 pens.

Aren't they beautiful? I know. It's hard to stop staring.

I opened them up, took pics, then promptly started writing with them. And they are pretty good. They are no Staedtlers, but I don't regret buying them.

One complaint I have is the nubs on the pen body. (As you can see in the pic above) They hurt! After just a few minutes of writing, my finger hurt from those prickly bumps. I don't quite get the point of them - Maybe they're supposed to be a grip?

As for the ink flow, I feel they're a little stiff but after you write for a few minutes, they loosen up and the ink flows more smoothly.

Would I buy them again? Probably, but only because my goal is to have a set of every pen at the store. Yes, I'm serious. Don't judge me.

I will use them but not all the time. I cannot deal with those prickly nubs.

And that's my 2 cents.

Some of my favorite fine liners (including the Staedtler's) are:

As always, if you use the links above, it helps support Pink and Paper.

Happy Monday!

Free Font Friday - Middle Class Script

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 20:17:00 +0000

Font Friday is back, people!

I used to bring you a fabulous, fantastic font every Friday (say that 5 times fast!) but I got lazy and that was that. Just because I wasn't posting doesn't mean I wasn't finding fabulous new fonts, though! Here's one of my new faves:

Isn't it adorbs? I just downloaded this today and couldn't wait to share it. You can get it from my favorite font site HERE.

Enjoy!

Easy DIY Washi Tape Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Sat, 19 Aug 2017 15:58:00 +0000

I {heart} washi tape! Like, seriously, I love it. If you're going to have to tape something, why not use fancy tape instead of boring, clear Scotch tape? My motto has always been "Why be boring?".

Every time I go to Michael's or Hobby Lobby, the washi tape calls out to me. It's as though it's saying "Cheryl, I'm a sad, lonely roll of washi just looking for a good home.". And just like stray animals, it jumps into my cart and I just don't have the heart to tell it no.

My washi collections has grown exponentially over the last few months (thanks to those enablers on some Facebook groups I belong to) and I'm starting to get a good organization plan in place.

This is ONE of my boxes of glorious Washi Tape!

Because I have so much tape, I decided to see if I could find some uses other than decorating my planner or envelopes. Here are some great ideas I found:

1. Washi Notebooks and Pencils

2. Washi Tape Bunting

3. DIY Earphone Holder

4. Washi Covered Drawers

5. Decorative Power Cords Using Washi

6. Chalkboard Washi Tape

7. DIY Washi Tape Switchplate Cover

8. DIY Cake Topper

9. Back to School Washi Tape Command Center

10. DIY Washi Tape Vase

I have several of these projects on my list to try. I promise I'll share pics of my attempts when I do them!

Before I go, I thought I'd share some links to some of my favorite washi deals. As always, using these links helps support Pink and Paper and helps me continue to share fun things with you!

Happy Washi Crafting!

Why Budget?

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 21:52:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I posted about budgeting. After staying on budget, our first money goal is to get out of debt. We still have some medical bills and things to pay off, so we're several months away from being totally debt free....but we're much closer than we were!

I belong to several Facebook groups, one of them being a Dave Ramsey Budgeting group. In this group, folks ask questions and share their struggles and victories with money. There are several people in the group who have paid off all debt, have several months expenses in savings and are working on the rest of the steps in Dave's plan.

The other day, someone in my group posted about something that happened to her and she gave us permission to share as long as she remained anonymous. Here's her story...

"Lunch today at Steak n Shake is a reason I'm thankful for DR. I saw a mom with 3 kids, she looked to be down on her luck they were splitting one meal, and she looked to be in a bad way. I sat next to her with my little one in tow, and asked if she was ok, she balled her eyes out that they are on the brink of being evicted if they didn't get the rent money and struggling financially. Her little one is in remission from cancer and she was scared they would be in a shelter. My little one was very sick when she was born, so I felt her pain. I called my hubby and we got their rent paid for the next three months and filled their fridge with food. They aren't even in much debt but medical bills have drowned them, I asked her to meet with me next week so I could help her and her husband get out of the hole they are, she agreed and has already called me 2x to confirm what she needed to bring. My husband even got her husband an interview at a friends trucking company for Monday. DR put us in a position to live like no one else so we can live and give like no one else. I'm so happy we were able to help."

I sat at my desk bawling like a baby when I read this. This is what it's all about, people! How exciting would it be to look at someone who is struggling and know you can change their situation because you were smart with your money? I CANNOT wait until we are at this point. We give to a missionary that comes to our church, we donate if there's a family in need and we give to our church - but I've never been in the spot to pay rent for several months and fill up someone's fridge.

Someday soon, I will. Someday, I will bless someone with a car. Someday, I'll buy a needy family a TON of groceries. Someday, I'll experience the joy of changing someone's situation when they think all hope is lost. Jesus said to do it. That's reason enough for me.

Pen Review - Sweet Secret

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 02:03:00 +0000

More pens to review today...

I recently placed my first order with AliExpress. AliExpress sells cheap stuff from China. I love it! So far, I've only bought pens and washi tape, but I've been pretty happy with everything I've gotten.

I am a HUGE fan of Pilot Frixion pens, so when I saw these for $3, I had to try them. They are a knock off brand of the Frixion pens. I figured if they were crappy, I only lost $3. But I was pleasantly surprised - I love them!!!!!!!

Here's a close-up of the label. If you'd like to order them, just search erasable pens and sort by price. I am not sure of a brand and as you can see, most of the wording isn't in English.

As soon as I received them, I sat down and tried them out, of course! I really, really like them. The colors are vibrant, they don't skip and the ink is smooth.

I feel like they don't erase quite as well as Frixion but they're pretty stinking close!

Although they said they were 0.5 (that's what the package said, but I'm assuming they meant .05), I feel like they write more like a .07 to me. I feel the Frixion .05 have a much finer line.

If you want cheap pens, you should totally buy these! I have had them at my desk at work for several weeks and they continue to work perfectly - no skipping or running out of ink.

Until my next pen purchase...

Wonder Woman

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 02:04:00 +0000

On Saturday, I went with some gals to see the new Wonder Woman movie. Girl Power!

I was born in September 1975. The first episode of Wonder Woman aired on TV in November 1975 and the show ran until 1979. (In case you were wondering....)

I remember as a kid watching Wonder Woman reruns.

I. LOVED. HER.

Like, seriously.

Like most young girls during that time, I wanted to be Wonder Woman. I had a WW costume, complete with crown and everything and I would just run around in it. I thought she was so beautiful and so strong. And who doesn't want a lasso of truth to catch bad guys?

Lynda Carter was so stunning - and still is, for that matter. Have you seen her now?

Impressive! I'm super jelly of her gorgeous eyes. And the rest of her, for that matter.

Being a lifelong Wonder Woman fan, I was very skeptical when I saw the pics of the new movie coming out. First of all, I did not like this new outfit. It was almost too dark for me.

Second, the new WW seemed like she just didn't have "it". Don't ask me what "it" is, but it makes sense in my head. I just couldn't picture this gal saving they day.

After seeing the movie today, I changed my mind. I really loved it! She is gorgeous and the outfit grew on me. I thought it was a great story of a sexy woman kicking some serious butt! It had a good message as well and I can totally see Gal Gadot becoming a hero to many little girls out there.

She also has really good hair.

And can we just talk about that GLOWING lasso of truth? Amazing. I mean, I really want one. No joke. If I could buy one, I'd totally hang it on the wall of my craft room.

Now.... What do you think? Which Wonder Woman is better?

I tend to lean towards Lynda, but probably just for nostalgia. It's basically a toss up, but because of nostalgia, Lynda eeks out on top.

I'd love to know what you think...

Pens!

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 01:15:00 +0000

My pen shelf in my craft room. I don't love the mis-matched container but it works for now...

Hi, My name is Cheryl and I'm addicted to pens.

I have loved pens, paper, markers, crayons and handwriting since I was a child. I don't know when it started, exactly, but I can remember sitting around just writing names and trying to make them pretty. I would color the letters and outline them all fancy and make "word art" before it was a thing. My love for all things stationery grew as I grew up and it's still going strong.

I just finished organizing my hundreds (I'm not exaggerating!) of pens and decided I'd like to start sharing some reviews of my favorite pens here. I know I've read a lot of reviews online and it's helped me make some great choices, so I'd like to do the same for you guys.

I'll post reviews starting next week, but in the meantime, check out the pics from my Pinterest board of some beautiful writing instruments...

This makes my heart skip a beat. Pens AND organization!

DIY Pen holder using PVC pipe- Genius!

I've been wanting these MildLiners for a looooong time. I just ordered my first set! Woo hoo!

I just want to look at this table all day.

I love this pouch! I saw it on Pinterest but can't figure out where to get one....

This is the "Better Together" pouch by Mochi. Love. But I'm cheap and it's like thirty bucks.

Happy Saturday!

Money!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 15:50:00 +0000

It's almost July! And July is officially my favorite month of 2017. Not because of Independence Day (although it is one of my faves), not because it's summer (I HATE to be hot) but for a reason you'll probably never guess.

On July 7th, I will make the last payment on a debt we've been paying on for 5 years. A BIG debt with a BIG monthly payment. I won't get into specifics on it - I'll just say some if it was our fault and stupidity and some of it was due to other things in my past. That doesn't matter now. What matters now is I get to start over, in a way. I am so excited because I'm going to actually make a budget.

Who gets excited to make a budget? This girl! (And her mother...)

For the entire time we've been paying on this loan, we had a monthly bill list I would follow. See, a budget is telling your money where to go while planning for current and future expenses. Because this payment (and a few medical bills) was so large, we haven't been able to budget in that sense of the word. All I really did was decide which bill was paid with our first paycheck and which was paid with the second each month. We would have a small amount left for food and that was it. Anytime something extra came up, I would have to finagle bills around to try to make it work. And living that way stinks!

So, July begins the rest of my life of FREEDOM! As the scripture above says, when you owe money to someone, you are a slave to them or to that debt. It keeps you in chains and weighs on you. It is always there and breaking free is hard. Really hard. Through the process of paying off this debt, we had months where we would think "If we'd just filed bankruptcy, this would have gone away" or "Poor me...blah, blah, blah". But those days are gone, people! We paid what we owed, didn't ruin our credit in the process and we survived.

I'm not sure if you all live on a budget. If you do, stay on it! If you don't, why not? Budgeting takes discipline, effort, and commitment. It's not always easy to say no when something screams "BUY ME!". But, you can do it. And so can I. I'm so excited to sit down this weekend and tell my money where to go and not the other way around.

You may not agree with him on everything, but Dave Ramsey has great budgeting advice. He suggests using an envelope system and using cash only. We haven't done that all the time in the past, but we have been trying to stick with that lately. It works! It's much harder to hand over a hundred dollar bill than it is to hand over a debit card. You don't feel the loss of your money with plastic in hand. I am currently working on a new envelope system for my wallet and I'll share pics of that when I'm done.

If you're new to budgeting or your money is out of control, educate yourself! I would suggest this book:

One final thing.... Just imagine what you can do when you have money and aren't struggling! Check out this article where folks are telling their money what to do... and it's fun!

My Budget Said I Could!

Alright, I'm off my soapbox for today, folks. I am far from perfect in the budgeting department, but I'm learning and getting better as I go. I want you to come on this journey with me. Let's get rich together, ok?

Pens! Pens! Pens!

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Sun, 23 Apr 2017 04:24:00 +0000

I love pens.

Seriously. I looooooooove pens. I love pens more than some humans....

Ok, maybe not. But still, my heart does go pitter patter as the sight of gorgeous rainbows of pens! I'm a serious addict and have no plans to curb that addiciton any time soon.

Because of said addiction, I own hundreds of pens. People will frequently see my pen collection or the massive amount of pens in my drawer at work and say "There's no way you can use all those pens!" WRONG! I most certainly do. I rotate them out almost weekly and prefer hand written notes to computer generated printouts, so I use them a lot.

I figured I may as well share this fabulous collection with you all, so I thought I'd start sharing a new set of pens every few days.... Here goes!

Stabilo 88 Fineliner Pens

Felt tip pens - sometimes called fineliners - are probably my favorite type of pen. I am not sure why, but I feel like my handwriting looks nice with them and I love the way they write. With a fineliner pen, you do have hold your pen somewhat upright, so if you write with your pen slanted, you may not love them.

One of the other selling points of these particular pens is the color choices. I love that they have tons of colors - including neon!

Here's a sample of how they write, along with the colors/names.

The neon colors don't show up great in the photo, but every color but neon yellow looks really nice and bright in person. These pens are so much fun! They write smoothly and don't bleed through most paper.

I would highly recommend them! I feel like Amazon has the best price and you can get them online HERE.

Remember, anytime you use the link above to purchase on Amazon, you're helping support Pink and Paper.

I'll be back soon with more pen love.

Happy writing!

Happy

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 20:16:00 +0000

I wasn't going to post today but I saw this quote online a few minutes ago and it really made me think.

All my life, I have worried about keeping everyone around me happy. In my mind, if you weren't happy with me, I was bad. I thought if people weren't happy with things I did or said, it meant I was wrong or it meant I was a disappointment.

At 41 years old, I can finally say I am learning to change this. It's a hard habit to break. When you've tried to be a people-pleaser your whole life, it becomes a bad habit just like smoking or chewing your nails. I often find myself giving up what I want, or sometimes what I need, so that others aren't upset with me. Don't get me wrong - I'm not talking about being a selfish jerk and ignoring other people's feelings. I'm talking about being you, unapologetically. I'm talking about learning it's ok to be different than someone else and to not agree with everything they say.

If you rely on other's happiness for your self-worth, stop. Stop now! I wish it hadn't taken me so long to learn this. The last few months, I've started to be more "Cheryl" than I feel I've ever been. And if people don't love all the parts of the real me, that's ok. I'm not going to be a jerk - on purpose, that is - but I am going to be me and I'm going to be ok with that.

It is not my job to be everything to everyone around me. Or to create happiness for those that can't do it for themselves. I will love those around me. I will be kind and generous. I will do what I can to help others - but I won't lose myself in the process, anymore.

If this is you, remember the wise words of Kevin Hart...

Happy Saturday!

It's been too long...

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 23:02:00 +0000

Hello all you Internet peeps! I have been gone way too long. I've missed you!

Where have I been? Let's see....

My last post was a little over a year ago. At that time, my tiny little business started to grow a little. Through word of mouth - and the blessing of God - I started getting orders from friends of friends of friends. I loved it. For a while. I ended up working in the evenings after work, all day Saturday and between church on Sundays.

My home suffered.
My ministry suffered.
My health suffered.
My weight suffered.
My husband felt like a single man.

But, I had cash! Needless to say, it could not continue the way it was. For a few years, I thought getting paid for my crafty wares was the ultimate goal. I have since discovered it's not all it's cracked up to be!

I am a type A personality and I tend to be a workaholic, especially when it's something I enjoy. I kept saying yes to orders I didn't have time for. And it was no longer fun. It was work. And not even decent work, but hard work. I had to create these personal items people wanted, then execute them in very short time frames. I don't know if you've tried, but coming up with a good idea is hard on 3 hours of sleep. Everything - including the quality of my products - started to suffer.

So....around Christmas, I decided I was done. I stopped taking orders, which was really hard for me. Saying no is not my strong suit. My husband and I were talking one day and he asked me why I had stopped posting here and I realized how much I missed it.

My posts may only be read by my family and a few others, but I love sharing my life and creations with you all. It's therapeutic and it's my happy place.

This time, it will be different. Before, I was worried about having a "successful blog" and staying within my niche. That is not the case anymore. I will share with you whatever suits my fancy. Some of it will be paper and crafty, but some of it won't. Sometimes, I may just share cute otter pictures.... because they're fabulous!

I mean, who doesn't need this in their life????? O.M.G. I want 42 of them.

That's all my rambling for now. Happy Wednesday!!!!

New projects!

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 02:23:00 +0000

Hi guys! It's been way too long since I've posted! About 3 weeks ago, things went INSANE at work, my Etsy store and business picked up big time and I discovered 24 hours in a day wasn't enough to do it all!

We've had two of us doing the work of four and I've been working a lot of overtime. The paychecks will be nice, but I'm done! We have a new person starting in 3 weeks, so the countdown is on. All this overtime would have been tolerable on its own....but for some reason, I got a gazillion orders and projects during this time as well. Now, I'm not complaining about God blessing my business. I am just tired!

Since I haven't had time to craft for myself and post, I thought I'd at least share some pics of what I've been doing....

My co-worker asked me to make this "faux" ticket for her to give her dad on his birthday. She and her sisters got him tickets to the Lakers/Thunder game and this was how they told him. What a cute idea! I would have never thought of that I totally enjoyed it. I laminated it so he could keep it. She said he loved it!

I also did several Easter baskets. I forgot to take pictures of a couple, but here are two of them.

Please ignore the bad pics... I took them at my desk at work.

This is an Easter basket for a very sweet, lovely young lady.

She loves horses and wants to grow up to be a vet.

Her mom chose the colors to match her room, so she could use the basket after Easter.

This is for her brother, Trey. He loves super heroes and his favorite is Batman.

One last project...

I made several personalized bunnies for Easter. This was for a co-worker to mail to her niece.

I have several other projects to share, but not today.

Hugs,

Cheryl

Harry Potter

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 13:01:00 +0000

I don't love Harry Potter.

(GASP!)

I really don't. I have tons of friends who love the books, love the movies and just love everything Harry Potter. I just don't get it. My husband read the books, then saw the movies. I went to the theater for one and ended up sleeping for more than half the movie. I just couldn't get into it.

For those of you who love Harry, I thought I'd share what I worked on this week...

A lady I work with ordered this wall decal for her daugther's reading nook in their new home. I hope she loves it!

I have made several wall decals and don't have any in my own home. Do you? Since I've had my Silhouette, I have all these ideas and never do them for myself. I must change that!

I just thought I'd share what I've been working on. Now, I'm off to work on bunnies and baskets for Easter....

Smiles,

Cheryl

Wedding Shower Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 01:13:00 +0000

A few months ago, one of my dearest friends got married. None of us are drinkers or big into partying, so a bachelorette party wasn't going to happen. I decided to throw her a sexy shower instead!

I went with pink and gold for the colors and loved how it turned out! I thought I'd share some pics with you because I was on a tight budget and was still able to do an elegant shower.

The lighting in this room is really poor, so please ignore the yucky photo. We sat up the drinks in the kitchen dining area, and this was on that table. I bought a frame from Michael's and then purchased the gold foil honeycomb paper at Hobby Lobby. I covered the mat with the paper, then used gold vinyl for the wording. I let the bride take this framed art home but now I want one! I think I'll have to make me one...

I bought several candle holders at the dollar store and glittered those babies like crazy! They were everywhere. Thankfully, my mother has a serious obsession with cake plates, so she had tons we could use to elevate our decorations and make it fancier.

As you can see, I love my gold vinyl! Everything that didn't get glitter, got vinyled!! I use several paper punches to make dots and then did simple stripes on some.

I also made some big confetti using vellum paper and placed it around the table. This fab candle holder came from a 70% off shelf at Hobby Lobby.

It's hard to see in this pic, but I made ring dishes as favors. I used gold vinyl and put their first initial on each bowl, them put in a cute bag and tied with a bow!

More cheap candles looking all fancy...

The night before the shower, I found this cute cup at Michael's. Of course, I had to personalize it for the bride!

Just a few more shots of the spread...

That's all folks! I just thought I'd share some ideas for an easy and cheap party!

Hugs,

Cheryl

Etsy!

noreply@blogger.com (Pink & Paper) — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 00:52:00 +0000

A decal ready to ship!

I just wanted to pop by and let you know that Pink and Paper is back on Etsy! I had a store a few years ago, sold a few items and sorta lost interest. I've been selling quite a bit to friends, relatives and co-workers so I thought I'd go ahead and list my items in my store.

Right now, all I have are decals, but I have several items sitting here ready to photograph that should be up in a day or two. For now, here are some decals I have to offer...

If you need one, shoot me and email or visit my store HERE.

I'm working on Easter baskets, so I'll be back soon to share them with you guys!

Smiles,
Cheryl