Last week I took the time to create some cute baby shower thank you cards. Hubby and I have already received some gifts for baby and I want to be prepared to send out thank yous to the senders. So I grabbed the uber awesome Baby Bundle stamp set and the fabulous Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and whipped these together.

I started out with this fun card. I’d had the idea in my head to create a “quilt” card and it actually turned out pretty close to how I had pictured it. The images from the Baby Bundle set made perfect little quilt squares. Shapes punched using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, combined with brads, made great little accents to fill in some empty space. Finally, a touch of taffeta ribbon gives the card a nice finishing touch.

This next card also uses the fun “quilt” texture like I used on the first card. Sadly it doesn’t show up too well in the photo, but it really does look cute in person. I kept this card much simpler and used the stroller and baby image from the Baby Bundle set as the focal point. The thank you sentiment and some more Itty Bitty Shapes finishes off this simple yet beautiful card. This one turned out to be my hubby’s favorite, so I guess this will be the design going in the mail to anyone that sends us baby presents

It’s funny because as I continued to create, my card designs kept getting simpler and cleaner. This final card is the one that I like the most. And it is definitely not just for baby showers. These would be great for any occasion. Just change up the colors of the flowers and the sentiment and you can have gorgeous cards for any occasion under the sun!

You can find these cards in the Baby Shower section of My Etsy Shop! And as always, the project recipe for these cards is below for those of you who like to DIY.

Next I hope to have some mini scrapbooks to share with you, unless another inspired idea takes over me!

Until next time…Keep on crafting!

Project Recipe:
Stamp Set: Baby Bundle
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Blush Blossom Stampin’ Write Marker
Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Tools: Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Bone Folder, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Paper Piercing Tool, Paper Snips
Extras: Brads in Subtles, Pretty in Pink 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon
All supplies can be purchased in My Online Stampin’ Up! Store

This first favor box design features a cute little tag that says “Welcome Baby”. A little taffeta ribbon provides the perfect finishing touch to these simple boxes.

The next design is very similar to the first. I just went with a different focal image, a onesie. I also opted for a nice Satin Ribbon closure for the top of the boxes as well.

I kept these projects pretty simple. But I have a few more ideas up my sleeve for using this box shape. So you can count on seeing these petal cone boxes again!

Find these fun baby shower favors in My Etsy Shop! I’ll customize them just for your event!

Until next time! Keep on creating!

Project Recipe (For you DIYers):
Stamp Sets: Baby Bundle, Punch Bunch (SAB), Vintage Labels (retired)
Ink: Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Blushing Bride, Certainly Celery
Paper: Certainly Celery, Blushing Bride, Whisper White
Tools: Large Tag Punch, Curly Label Punch, Petal Cone Bigz Die, Big Shot Machine, Stampin’ Dimensionals
Extras: Marina Mist 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon, Certainly Celery 5/8″ Satin Ribbon
All supplies can be purchased from My Stampin’ Up! Online Store

Last year I wrote a nice long list of goals for Scraps of Life. So let’s go over those goals and see what was met, and what has changed in the last year!

1. Branding! Getting the world to see Scraps of Life as a paper crafting business, not just a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. –> It took a while, but I think I’m slowly starting to meet this goal. I had a logo designed, created a tagline for the company, and I’m very slowly starting to build up a nice customer base on Etsy. And I’m definitely able to focus this line on wedding and special occasion stationery now that I have My Paper Moose as an outlet for my other ideas. So I’m getting there! In the meantime, this goal is staying #1 for 2011.
2. Establish my Etsy and Artfire shops – I’ve got them made, but they are far from professional. I need to list items more often, which means I have to create more product! –> Well, my shops do look a tad more professional since I set this goal. I have a logo. I have an avatar. I have a nice shop header. And I actually have products listed in my shops too! But the key now is to get even more products listed on a regular basis. So for this year, my goal is to list at least one new item in my shops each week, as well as one new invitation suite design each month. It’s a goal that’s both challenging and attainable!
3. Promote! I need to get my name out there and start drawing attention to my blog as well as to my online shops. So if any of you know anyone getting married or who just needs some great invitations or cards, please tell them about me –> Sadly, I have to say that despite my efforts using Twitter and Facebook, I haven’t really done a bang up job of really promoting Scraps of Life as much as I should have. Nevertheless, I do have two weddings and a baby shower to create for (thanks to close friends who want to utilize my creativity for their special days)! So this is definitely a great opportunity to promote myself even more this year and get even more exposure. But I definitely still need to work on utilizing Twitter and Facebook in more efficient ways this year.
4. Sell! – I need to sell more. Period. Like many new business, I’m not exactly raking in the dough. But I’m determined to see a profit, even if it’s just $.01, at the end of 2010. In order to do so, I need to sell more. And not just my stuff. I also need to work on selling more Stampin’ Up! product as well. My goal is to sell at least $3,000 worth of Stampin’ Up! product this year, in addition to at least $1,500 of my own product (items that I’ve created). I’ve got some ideas up my sleeve. So we’ll see how it goes. Feel free to help me out with this one :p –> Well, I didn’t quite make that profit I was hoping for last year. But I did make a few significant sales last year, which was awesome just for the experience and exposure. I definitely feel that this year will be a better year for online sales of my products as I’ve learned so much during the last year. As for the Stampin’ Up! side of selling, I think my product sales totaled a little over $1000. Not quite the $3000 goal I had in mind, but definitely better than nothing! For this year, I’ll be leaving the Stampin’ Up! focus over on the My Paper Moose side of things, leaving me to keep this line completely focused on my products and project ideas, which will hopefully lead to more online sales. And I’m upping my personal product sales goal from $1500 to $2000. Reach for the stars!
5. Another thing I really want to do is set up a booth at my local farmer’s market. The idea of doing so scares me to death, but I know it’s something I need to do. So I’m gonna suck it up and do it in 2010! You need to hold me to it! –> Yeeeaahhh…I gave up on this one pretty quickly. Not because I couldn’t do it. Simply because it just would not have been an efficient means of making income for me. I’m not the kind of person that can sit and make 10 of the same item, and then do that with multiple items so that I’d have a stock of products to sell at market. I decided after one craft fair that sticking to online sales is best for my business, at least for now. So I’ll keep my focus on creating more for my Etsy/Artfire shops.
6. Be consistent. That’s something I really need to work on. I’ll have weeks where I make something new everyday. And then there will be weeks where you won’t hear from me at all. I want to change that. I want you to know that you can always count on me to have something new for you each week, even if it’s not every single day. –> Hmmm…here’s another one I need to continue to work on. But I’ve given myself a more reasonable goal for this year. My goal is to post 1-2 times a week, and introduce a new invitation suite design once a month. This keeps me from becoming overwhelmed and feeling too much pressure to make something and it allows me to be creative without the hindrance that pressure can cause.
7. Find balance. This is something else I really need to work on. I really need to find the right balance between work work and house work. I may be a business woman, but I am also a wife and a mother to two dogs. I need to make sure that I take care of my household responsibilities as much as, if not moreso than, my business responsibilities. –> I think I did really well with this goal…until my husband came back from deployment, LOL. But I’m definitely going to be working hard on finding that right balance so I can give the appropriate amount of attention to both my business and my family. This is even more important now as hubby and I are expecting our first baby in June! Yippee!
8. Spend less and create more. One of the hardest things about being an SU! demo is the “need” to buy ALL of their products. I always tell myself that I NEED this stamp set or that tool or whatever, when really, I should be creating with what I already have and sticking to my spending budget. I think my hubby will be glad I have this down as a resolution. –> Now here is one goal I did pretty well with. I set a nice little monthly budget for myself and I stuck to it quite well. I’ve really focused my wish list so that I’m only buying items that I really need or can use for my business, cutting out those stamp sets that I want only because they seem cute. Now my goal is to make my business self-sufficient, using only business income to fund my business so I’m no longer using hubby’s hard earned money to fund this business.
9. Recruit. I haven’t actively been trying to recruit any of you to join Stampin’ Up! and become a part of my Scraps of Life stamping team. And I don’t really plan on actively recruiting either. But I do hope that I’ll be able to recruit one or two people to become Stampin’ Up! demos simply because they see how much fun it is through my blog. –> Amazingly and unexpectedly, I actually recruited my very first SU! demo late last year! It’d be fun to recruit another demo this year, too, but that definitely won’t be a big focus for me. If it happens, then I’ll be stoked. But if not, I’m fine with it because I’ve got plenty of other things to worry about.
10. Finally, I really want to work towards becoming a wedding planner. I’m not sure what steps I need to take for that, but this goal is the reason for my $1,500 sales goal of my products. That will be enough money for me to take an online certification course in wedding planning. It’s something that I’ve been thinking and praying about for a while, and I’m hoping 2010 is the year that it all gets going. –> I definitely thought about this goal for a very long time. I looked at that online certification course often. I watched a bajillion wedding shows. And then I recently came to the realization that, inasmuch as I LOVE weddings, planning them is just not my gift. They are a passion of mine, but they’re not that big of a passion. I LOVE creating the little details for them though. Designing invitations, favors, programs, and other little items is really where my passion for weddings lies. I’m not really the type of person that sees the big picture of the entire event very well. I tend to focus too much on the smaller, tinier details. So I’ll keep my focus there and continue to pursue my passion of really being a great stationery designer. Now, instead of taking a wedding planning course, I want to take a graphic design course of some sort so that I can expand my creativity and use digital media to create designs from scratch. It might take me a couple of years to make enough money to take the course, but it’s a good long term goal that I think I can achieve.

If you’ve been following me throughout the last year, I’m sure you’ve gotten a feel for how crazy things tend to get for me. I have the tendency to take on too much at once. So let’s hope that this year holds a little more balance and a lot more creating!

What do you think about my resolutions? Have I made good changes to them? Or am I just being crazy? What about you? What are your resolutions for this new year? Let me hear from you!

Yes. My Paper Moose. That, my dears, is my new-ish line of casual hand-crafted gifts and stationery. It may be a separate website, but it is still from Scraps of Life, and it is still all me making everything you see there, just like on this website! I decided to start a separate line so that I could keep the Scraps of Life name associated with fine stationery for special occasions and events. So when you get the chance, hop on over to My Paper Moose and check out the fun and random stuff I post over there! I’m sure you’ll like what you see!

But that didn’t stop me from diving into the world of Wonderland to create some party favors for my friend Jamie’s Alice in Wonderland themed birthday brunch.

Appropriately enough, she first mentioned her themed bash during one of our trips to Disneyland (That’s us above enjoying Grizzly River Rapids at California Adventure. She’s the one in the middle. Her sister Marissa is the super smiley one on the right). Jamie and her sister are pretty much the sisters I never had. We all LOVE anything Disney, we love goofing off, and we love just being together hanging out and doing whatever. But Jamie studies art history in London, so my time with her is very limited until she finishes up with her studies. So getting this chance to celebrate her birthday, I wanted to make sure I did something special to make her party feel a little more like Wonderland.

It took me a while to figure out just what I should make for her party. Boxes? Tags for little treats that say “Eat Me” or “Drink Me”? After a lot of thought (and many Google searches on “Alice in Wonderland Favors”), I finally decided to try to make some Alice in Wonderland themed teacups which I could fill with treats of some sort. There was a lot of trial and error coming up with how to construct the teacups and saucers, and plenty of frustration that went that. But the end result, and seeing Jamie’s reaction when I presented them to her at her party, made all the work and frustration totally worth it! All the photos below are courtesy of Jamie herself (Jamie Dungca Photography)!

Here is the set up for her brunch, which she held at The Glass Door restaurant in Little Italy

I made three different styles of teacups, modeled after three of the main characters in the movies: Alice, the Mad Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts

We filled the teacups with little Mint Patties.

I really am so pleased with how the favors turned out. And they were a hit at the brunch, too! People thought they were adorable, and just knowing that they liked them made me feel so good. I’m not quite sure if this is something I’ll be offering in my Etsy shop at this point. But who knows. If people show interest in them, then of course I’ll consider offering these. But for now it was just fun to make these for a good friend for her fabulous birthday party.

Oh, and did I mention, her party was a sort of costume party, too? She had everyone come dressed in their own interpretations of an Alice in Wonderland character. No elaborate costumes, just simple dress that hinted at a character. I went as the Mad Hatter, so of course I had to make a little hat for myself, too.

I would have worn this around all day if my husband let me, it looked so cute! But hubby can only put up with that type of embarrassment for so long…haha.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this journey into my Wonderland! I had fun creating for it and sharing it with you! And to my awesome Cheetah Sister, Jamie…I LOVE YOU WOMAN! Happy Birthday!

I apologize for the lack of text visibility on the response card in the upper right corner. The ink color just wouldn’t photograph well. But it’s definitely visible in person. No invisible ink used here! Scouts honor! The next photo should be a little better.

Of course, each set would come with a way of revealing the hidden message. The invitation features a belly band with a strip of red vellum that reveals the invitation message as you slide it up and down the invitation. The Save the Date includes a decoder “glass” that your guests can use to discover the date to save for your wedding day. So whether you’re into spy movies or just like something fun and different, you’ll enjoy the little bit of intrigue this fun set can bring! Try making them yourself (it’s seriously way easier than it looks!) or you can purchase these now from my Etsy Shop! Let your guests spy something fun in their mailboxes soon!

For example, I found THIS HILARIOUS BLOG POST today via a tweet from The Man Registry (@themanregistry). Bride and Groom Scorecards? Really? YES! They’re even laminated…PROFESSIONALLY :p And you know what? I LOVE them! Of course, we’re not really supposed to be keeping score in marriage. But if it’s just for fun, then why not? So huge props to The Groom Says for remembering to keep things light and humorous! Because marriage is supposed to be fun, too, right?!

Now the wheels in my head are turning, trying to think of fun products I can make specifically for grooms. Hmm… I’ll have to keep you posted on that! Anyways, go find a groom’s blog today and take a look at the man’s point of view on wedding planning

This first collection is based off of my Star Crossed design which I used on one of my Happy Tears Tissue Boxes. I just swapped the colors and came up with what is now my new favorite design!

The next collection is a new design based on a design I created for one of my Happy Tears customers. I call this my Flutter collection. I’m sure you’ll see why.

This next set is also from one of my Happy Tears designs, Poppy Days. I love the combination of Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz, and the flower is just so fun!

Next up is my Avenue 5 collection. These have a more classic or vintage look. Puurrrrrttyyyy :p

So there you have it. My first few designs for favor bags and boxes. I had tons of fun making these, especially those cute little candy wrapper boxes. Aren’t those cute? You can make your own candy wrapper boxes using the new Candy Wrapper Bigz Die from Stampin’ Up! It will be available in the new Holiday Mini Catalog, which goes live on September 1st! Here’s another look at the candy wrapper boxes

Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing my new favor boxes and bags. I will continue to release new designs over time, so be on the lookout! And remember, if you’d like to order anything you see, all of my items are available on my Etsy Shop. Just click on the “Order” Tab above to see what I have available!

Next week, I’ll be showing you a couple of cute baby shower favors I’ve been working on as well So until then, have a fabulous weekend!

The funny thing is that with all the Happy Tears orders I’m trying to fill, I have no time to work on creating other products that I’d like to share with you here and on Etsy. Oh, the irony. But I’m sure I’ll find a way to balance things out. This whole business thing is still all so new to me. Just being able to balance housework and business work is tough enough. Now that I’m actually getting some real business, getting that balance is even more of a challenge. But hey, I love challenges

Anyways, I don’t really have any new products to share with you today. But I just wanted to write to keep you updated on what’s going on behind the scenes with Scraps of Life. Right now it really is just all about filling orders and…ick…I don’t even want to say it…preparing to file my return for sales and use tax It’s bad enough having to file taxes once a year, but now that I’m a business, I have to file a different kind of return to pay taxes to the state from my sales. Yeah, it’s no fun. And it definitely has me worried. I want to make sure I report everything correctly since I’ve never done this before. So hopefully I do this right….fingers crossed!

On the brighter side of business, I have continuously been brainstorming new products to offer. I’m hoping to debut some designs for favor bags fairly soon, along with some treats that you can include in those Out of Town Welcome Bags/Boxes for your out of town wedding guests. So look for those in the near future. BUT the most exciting thing I want you to look forward to is the launch of a new line of products from me. I want it to be a bit of a surprise, so I won’t even mention the name of this new line (though some of my Twitter peeps might already know…hehe). But I can tell you it’s going to be a lot different from Scraps of Life. Because I want to keep Scraps of Life focused on weddings and special occasions, I decided to start a separate line for the more everyday stationery and gifts that I like to create. I’m hoping to debut that line, and a whole new website, in August, so I’ll keep you posted. And for those of you that miss my regular Stampin’ Up! sneak peeks, updates, and projects, no worries! My new website will be a bit more dedicated to that, so you can once again look forward to Sneak Peek Weeks, Webbie Workshop Weeks, and other fun tutorials and projects featuring Stampin’ Up!’s latest and greatest products.

Well, I guess it’s back to the grind for me. It’s a good thing I love my job!

So tell me, what new wedding products would you like to see offered by Scraps of Life? And what do you hope to see from my new line and website, coming in August? I would love your feedback!

Weddings are a cause for celebration…and sometimes tears. So help your guests wipe those tears in a fun and elegant way with Happy Tears Tissues. Your guests will be delighted by your thoughtfulness, and the fabulous packaging. Read on to learn how to make your own Happy Tears Tissue Boxes, which you can design and decorate to complement your wedding colors, style, or theme!

***PLEASE NOTE*** I have created this tutorial for your personal use. Feel free to teach this project at a stamp camp or workshop. And please feel free to share your Happy Tears Tissue Box creations with others, including online. All I ask is that you show me the courtesy of giving me credit by mentioning my name and linking to my blog. Also, I do ask that you please not distribute this tutorial via any electronic means. Printing out the instructions for your personal use or for a stamp camp/workshop is fine, but transferring the electronic file or posting this tutorial on your blog or website is prohibited. If you want to share this tutorial, please do so by linking to my blog. Thank you.

Now, onto the tutorial! (Click on the photos for enlarged images)

Supplies:

• One 5 ½” x 5 ½” piece of cardstock
• One 4” x 5 ” piece of cardstock
• One small piece of scrap paper
• Wide Oval Punch (from Stampin’ Up!)
• Sticky Strip or strong adhesive
• Pencil
• Paper Trimmer and/or Craft Knife
• Bone Folder or other scoring tool
• Pack of pocket-sized tissues
• Stamps, ink, and decorative papers of your choice to decorate

Step 1:

Take the 5 ½” x 5 ½” piece of cardstock and score it ½” and ¾” in from two sides, like shown.

Step 2:

Rotate the piece of cardstock so that your score lines run along the top and bottom of the piece. Then score the cardstock at ¼” in from both sides, then at 2-5/8” in from both sides. Your cardstock piece should now look like the photo below.

Step 3:

Rotate the cardstock again so that the score lines you just created run horizontally. Use the vertical score lines as a guide and trim the cardstock so that it looks like the photo below. Trim the cardstock using your paper trimmer or a ruler and craft blade. I’ll do my best to explain, but it might be easier to just follow the photo.

• Start by trimming off the two small rectangles in the top corners.
• Next, cut a vertical line along the side of the two small squares next to the rectangles you just removed. Only cut until the two score lines meet, creating small flaps like shown.
• Cut off any cardstock below the second horizontal score line from the top and on the sides of the center section, except for the two small squares on the sides.
• Cut a vertical line along the side of the two small squares, only cutting to where the score lines meet to create two more little flaps.
• Your cardstock piece should now look like the photo below (I hope I explained that okay!).

Step 4:

Take the wide oval punch and punch out an oval from your small piece of scrap paper. Use the punched out oval to position where you want the hole for the tissue box. Once you’ve positioned the hole where you want it, use a pencil to trace around the oval to mark where you will punch the hole.

Step 5:

Use your traced oval as a guide and punch out the hole for the tissue box with the Wide Oval Punch.

Step 6:

Fold the box along the score lines and apply sticky strip to three of the flaps like shown.

Step 7:

Remove the adhesive backing from the two side flaps, fold over the top of the box, and adhere the sides down. Your box will look like shown.

Step 8:

Take two pocket tissues and insert them into the tissue box through the remaining open flap. They won’t go in flat and perfect, so bunch them a little bit to get them in the box. They’ll slide in fairly easy, and they can be removed easily, too. They  just won’t lay completely flat in the box.

Step 9:

Remove the adhesive backing from the open flap and adhere it shut. The tissue box is complete! Isn’t it cute?

Step 10:

Now we’ll create the cover for the tissue box to slide into. For this, you’ll need to take the 4” x 5” piece of cardstock and score it along the short side at ¼”. Fold along the score line. To make sure it will wrap around the tissue box properly (so it’s not too snug or too loose), line up the little flap you created to one of the sides of the tissue box. Then carefully wrap the cardstock piece around the tissue box and fold as needed.

Step 11:

Adhere the ends of cover together. Your tissue box should now slide easily into the cover.

Step 12:

Finally, decorate the tissue box cover as desired.

Depending on your design, you may want to decorate the tissue box cover before you fold and assemble it. Also, you can decorate the tissue box itself if you’d like. Simply stamp, emboss, or decorate it before you fold and assemble it! The possibilities are endless!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via my Contact Page.