Life Lately

Hi everyone! It's been so long since the last time I've posted on my blog and I was beginning to feel a little sad about it. I haven't really had the time to post like I normally do because I can't seem to find them time to do it. My small business is growing at a rapid pace, and I'm so happy about that! I have lots of new things in the works for my shop and I've been mainly focusing on that while also managing my shop and all the orders that I make and ship out. 

This weekend I managed to do a little bit of shopping at Paper Source, and I found these really great stamps--both photopolymer and rubber. I purchase some black and white twill ribbon along with some heavy lb. cream envelopes (that's I've always wanted to try from Paper Source). I've been collecting new stamps, dies, and embellishments for some time now but I haven't even been able to really sit down and play with them. Namely, because of all the orders I have and new items that I'm working on for me shop. Below is a picture of all the Lawn Fawn goodies I have that I can see from my desk when I'm working but I can't use because I'm so busy. Such torture, lol! 

I do have a video that I'm working on for Lawn Fawn so that will be a fun thing to share! I'm not going to reveal yet what it is I'll be making, though, I want that to be a surprise for all the viewers, hehe. I'm definitely loving the new LF release. The new stamp sets and dies are so cute! 

As you can see I've gathered a rather large craft haul and once I get a chance (or if I get a chance) to have some crafting time I'm going to be making lots of cool things with these. Take care! 

One Card A Day, New Series

In my last post I mentioned that I had a new goal of making at least one card a day; and, this week was the first time I actually give it a try. I made a card on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. With fulfilling orders it sometimes gets really hard to make a card each day because my business/buyers are my first priority. When I did have time to make a card it was more like I stayed up an hour later after work to make my card. Some nights I just couldn't stay up past midnight to make a card, though, hehe.

I recently purchased a few new stamp sets and dies—some from Mama Elephant and a few others from Avery Elle. I have a feeling that this new series ‘One card a Day’ is going to empty my wallet very fast, lol, because I’m going to need lots of new stamp sets. I mean I have a lot to begin with, but we card makers/crafters always need an excuse to buy more stamps—am I right?

For these cards, I use a lot of fun techniques like watercoloring, Copic coloring, and paper piecing. I also used Lawn Fawn paper, stamps and dies too. I actually had a lot of fun mixing and matching products from lots of different stamp manufactures. I usually make a card using only one stamp company but mixing them all together made the creating process so much fun!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this new series and I can’t wait to try it again next week. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to make one every day. I think I’m going to try and make a card tonight too, and if I do I’ll share them next Friday for ‘One card a day, #2. 

Crafty Weekend Fun

If you follow me on Instagram (@unifyhandmade) you may have already seen two of the cards I’m showing here on my blog today. I made these cards for fun, and I like having lots of them on hand and ready to go for myself and for my family and friends as well. The last stash I had collected was running very low, and lately I’ve been trying to make at least one card a day—for fun, to keep my stash alive, hehe. I think making one card a day is an easy goal—and it’ll certainly be a fun one. It seems as though I’ve haven’t been making as many cards as I used to these past couple of months. But now I’d like to ensure I put time aside to create at least one card a day. I think I’ve said this in the past a few times, but this time around I’m really going to make time for all of my stamps, dies, and other craft tools. I can’t let them just sit there collecting dust. They’re all too cute and fun not to use!

I do get my crafty fix when I’m working all day on the papercrafts I sell in my shop—and that’s such a blessing it itself. Maybe that’s why I didn’t even realize that I wasn’t making enough cards for fun because I have fun everyday just working on orders, too. Once in a while when I’m working I’ll glance over at my stamp stash and realize they’re being neglected but I always tell myself, “Oh the weekend, I’ll make as many cards for fun as I can” or, “I’ll make one card tonight before bed”. Usually I’ll post a light night card on my Instagram, hehe.

This weekend I also went to Lawn Fawn’s 4^th birthday party at, Stamp Fever, in Orange, CA. It’s a cute little craft shop filled with all the things to fulfil your crafting needs—plus the staff there is super nice! If they don’t have something you need, they’ll simply order it for you. Kelly Marie, and Mike, (two out of the three LF owners) were there greeting everyone, and doing fun make-n-takes. It was really fun to be in a fun crafty environment with friends. I even took my boyfriend, Gabriel, and I made him do a make-n-take with, Nancy, hehe.

While I was at Stamp Fever I picked up a few new stamp sets, and dies. I’ll probably be sharing those on my blog soon. I love supporting small business so I tried to spend as much as I could without going overboard at Stamp Fever—actually I think I did go a little overboard but it’s ok! Haha.

Tomorrow I have a new video on the Lawn Fawn blog so I hope you stop by their page to view it. I’ll probably share it here on my blog as well.

I hope you have a great day! 

Simple Organizing

Hi there! I’m back today with a quick blog post about organization. Since I have such a small work space I’m always trying to figure out the best ways to stay organized—even while my stash of tools, stamps, and embellishments keeps growing and growing. Recently I was beginning to notice I was running out of space in my ‘everyday stamps’ basket (that I have right in front of me on my desk); so, I decided to fix that issue. I wanted a new container that was relatively cheap, cute, easy to clean, and easy to move around. So I decided to head on over to Target and check out their selection of containers. First I went to the basic storage container area, and I wasn’t too excited about the selection, so I walked over the bathroom decor/storage section and I found this clear container and I fell in love with it. First, it was much bigger (and prettier) than the container I was using prior to buying this one.  Below is a picture of how I had my stamps stored before.

Also, I’d purchased some of these Avery Elle, Stamp & Die storage pockets, and while back; and, I thought today would be a perfect time to use them (since I was getting organized an all, hehe). A lot of my stamp baggies were getting ripped and falling apart because I use them so much, so I took the ones that were the worst looking and I transferred them into the new storage pockets. I’m definitely loving these pockets right now and I think I’m going to buy more—I can see how pretty this container would look if I had all of my stamps in these pockets. If you’d like to purchase some, you can find them here. They are always selling out because they are pretty popular in the stamping community.

So until, I buy more of the Avery Elle pockets I’m going to keep them all organized like this, but I can’t wait to have them all transferred into the storage pockets so everything will be uniform as well as organized. I’m also thinking of buying some more of these clear storage containers because I think they’d look pretty lined up next to each other—well that might have to wait until I have an actual craft room, but I can buy them and save them until I have one, haha. I don’t know if I’ve even mentioned before, that I don’t have an actual craft room. My crafting area is in a hallway in between the kitchen and the living room. All my stuff is on top of a white picnic table—which is the reason why I’m always trying to find the most efficient ways to be organized. My crafting space can turn into a tornado within seconds if I’m not properly organized, LOL!