Another Random Friday

The past two days have been a mish-mash of events, so I thought it might be time for a Random Friday. Lots of little things, none of which is blog-worthy alone, but maybe as a compilation, I can get away with it. ;-)

1. I am gearing up for my first Cyber Monday. The Mimosa Club (my Tweeple) are having a special "free with purchase" deal, and whether or not *I* sell anything, I need to have a freebie to give away. It's marketing, but I need to MAKE it. I made some very fun gift card holders, then decided I wanted to sell those instead, and made some other ones to give away.

I just love this A Muse card pack:

I stamped a snowflake and sentiment (both SU) in Encore Champagne ink and embossed them with clear EP. I wanted something simple yet classy and needed to not overwhelm with all those dots! The ribbon is from my stash, and I used it all! I made 5 of these.

Here is the inside:

I sacrificed two of the note cards and cut them up for the pockets. If you do this, make sure to cut the piece a bit short of the width of the card, so when the card closes, it closed flat. If you bump the pocket flush with the crease/fold, it will not lay flat and the inside will show because the top does not reach all the way over any more. (Ask me how I know...)

I added the faux credit card so it was (a) not so plain on the inside, and (b) to demonstrate how this thing works. FYI - It is 3 3/8 x 2 1/8 - I measured my Amex card.

Then we have one of these:

... which just uses a different ribbon, because I ran out of the sheer one.

I uploaded this and a bunch of stuff to my etsy store in the hopes that *I* might have a sale on Monday. Crossing my fingers!

2. I did some major damage shopping online yesterday between stamping spurts. Let's see, I hit clearbags.com and stocked up on card sleeves. I also got a few different sizes of clear boxes to hold sets of cards. I plan to work on my packaging over the Winter, and with the online store now, I'd like to take it up a notch from what people expect at a Farmers Market, which is pretty much all I do.

I also ordered from a few stamping places, but I really do not want to talk about that right now. *hangs head in shame* I will reveal all when the goods arrive.

3. I ordered new card racks earlier this week, and they arrived bright and early this morning! These things are huge, but I think they will be so much better than the CD rack I have been using for the past few years. In about the same amount of space (footprint) it has 72 slots for cards instead of 48. And I got two! I may only use one for the markets, but I'll use both for my show on Dec 5th and see how it works out.

Here is the one I unpacked and assembled:

Please ignore all the packing materials flung hither and yon. Please also ignore the spackled-and-not-repainted spot on the far wall. I am a little behind in the Home Maintenance arena. But look at that card rack! Isn't she a beauty?! The rack is made up of four of the wire sections suspended from strategically-placed supports. Each one came in a bubble sleeve, so I have 8 of them. If you know anyone who needs a 4-foot+ bubble wrap sheath, please let me know.

Look at all those pockets! Wheeeee!

4. Since my last workshop, I have been stamping in my Captain's Quarters instead of using the Dining Room table. It is a small table in there, and it forces me to put things away when I am through with them. So far it's been working pretty well. Until these gift card holders, that is. I have been stacking vertically today, and, well, I had a minor avalanche earlier, which is why I am sitting here now and typing. I needed to leave for a few minutes.

5. I tried to make some birthday cards, but I stamped the sentiment no fewer than 13 times, and NONE of them was usable. NOT.A.ONE. I took another break and managed to get four decent images. I need to go cut those now and finish the cards. I'll show you those tomorrow.

6. Tomorrow! I get to go to meet one of my Tweeple in Baltimore! She is doing an art show at the American Visionary Art Museum, and if I find IT, I'll find HER! Pics to follow (not of me, of course, but of ART!)

Okay, that's enough of that. I need to go MAKE something this evening.

Thanks for stopping by!

PS: Shameless Commerce. Even if you do not want to shop, please stop by my etsy store and check out not just MY stuff, but the other shops in the list of Mimosa Club participants for our Cyber Monday to-do. They are some very talented people!