Hi and the winner of My Cute Stamps Giveaway is:
Congrats Pillowgirl! Just email me at carina@diginirvana.com with your mailing address and we will have Spunky Nature sent to you! Congrats again! Thanks to everyone who participated! Check back often for more interviews! A huge thank you to My Cute Stamps!
As part of Heather Bailey’s March of Tools, I am trying to remember tools in my life that I can’t live without…especially when I recently use them. While I spend most of my “tool time” with my computer and other technical gadgets (and will be posting more and tutorials on them soon;), I decided to throw this wrench in the works. My first gadget for the March of tools is my dumbed-down cake decorator. I decided to feature it because I have been using it a lot lately (a lot for me anyway!). Siri, Flissa, and I made cupcakes today for an early St. Patrick’s Day.
I like the idea of using multiple tips, but truthfully, if I’m making cupcakes for preschool or a birthday, I’m probably going to use the same three tips that I know how to use. This little instrument makes life pretty easy with clean up AND decorating. I believe I got it from Michael’s about 6 years ago. I’ve been using it ever since!
So there it is! My first featured tool. Not very clever, but a great tool nonetheless! (Plus the first one I’ve had time to take a photograph of.)
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I have a very special interview with designer Holly Jones today! She is the owner and creator of My Cute Stamps, an absolutely DARLING store with her beautiful clear stamps! She also has a fabulous blog Creating Cupcakes. She’s also offered a darling stamp set to be given away to someone! Let’s meet her:
Carina: What kind of “designer” do you consider yourself?
Holly: I started out as a graphic designer but as I worked at various jobs, I soon realized that I preferred Illustration over design. Now I consider myself an Illustrator.
Carina: Do you consider yourself a “creative” person?
Holly: Yes, growing up my dad owned a small print shop. I preferred playing with his trash (discarded papers, glue, inks, & etc.) more than I enjoyed playing with any of my toys. I love to learn new creative skills. I enjoy drawing, stamping, paper crafting, knitting, jewelry making, the list goes on & on.
Carina: Do you always feel creative?
Holly: Most of the time. Most days I feel like there isn’t enough time to create everything I want to create.
Carina: What kind of jobs have you had?
Holly: My 3 favorite jobs include: 1) Working at the computer lab it college. This is where I learned to use the computer & graphic design programs. I didn’t have a computer of my own until a few years ago, so it was fun to be able to use one everyday at work. 2) Being a “live in Nanny”. I got to explore the Eastern states with a great family whom I still keep in contact with. 3) Designer & Illustrator for Stampin’ Up! I worked here designing papers, products & stamp sets. I really enjoyed the environment and my fun and creative co-workers.
Carina: Tell me about being a mom and your “design work”.
Holly: I work at home with my 2 cute girls. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, It can be challenging at times. My girls are both young and demand a lot of attention, so I really don’t get much work done until they go to bed at night. My oldest daughter is 4. She loves crafts, she has recently been interested in drawing her own stamp sets. She keeps asking when we will be selling her cute designs. I don’t think it will be much longer before she’s ahead of me in her creative skills.
Carina: What do you do now?
Holly: Right now my husband and I have two businesses, Vinyl Wall Art & My Cute Stamps. He does most of the orders & technical stuff, while I do all the design work and marketing. I’m currently designing some new Reposition-able vinyl for Vinyl Wall Art, and getting our display for the Stamp business ready for the Salt Lake Scrapbook USA expo which takes place next week.
Carina: Tell me more about My Cute Stamps? What made you get started with that?
Holly: Initially, I started doing Wall Art because I had a 2 year non-compete contract with Stampin’ Up! I still enjoy designing wall art, but I missed designing for the craft industry. My non-compete contract with Stampin’ Up! ended in October (the same month as my birthday) My husband thought it would be fun to order me some stamps that I designed in celebration of both occasions. I really loved designing the stamps, and had forgotten how much I love to design products for the crafting industry. I posted some of my stamp designs on the internet, and the response was fabulous, so we decided to set it up as a business. I’m really glad we did. I’m having a great time coming up with new set ideas & new product ideas (coming soon.)
Carina: What is your favorite stamp set?
Holly: It would be Eek! A Monster!
Carina: Where do you see yourself in 10 years with your designwork?
Holly: I hope to have an entire line of products within the next 10 years. More than just stamps, perhaps coordinating papers, and craft kits.
Carina: What makes My Cute Stamps Unique?
Holly: When I design new stamps, I really try to keep in mind how the stamps will be used. I try to make each set as versatile as possible. I want the end user to be able to use each set for multiple occasions and projects.
GIVEAWAY FROM HOLLY!
A big thank you to Holly for doing the interview! And she has been really generous to giveaway this darling stamp set: Spunky Nature Stamp Set! It’s my favorite set!
What do you have to do to win it? Comment on this blog and your name will be entered into the drawing! If you go over to check out My Cute Stamps and tell me your favorite set, I’ll put your name in twice! Easy! This giveaway will end on Saturday at 9AM MST and winners will be announced on Saturday morning at 10AM MST. Good luck!
Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway! I really loved hearing your comments and hope you will keep coming back for design projects and more! Be sure to stop by tomorrow for another giveaway and an interview with a fantastic designer, Holly Jones!
Winners announced! I will be emailing the winners in just a second! I used random.org:). Drum roll, please!
21- Manic Mother
56- Michelle in AR
13- Lena Loo
Congrats Ladies! I’ll be contacting you with your winnings!
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As many of you know, I live in rental that we aren’t suppose to paint. So a lot of my tricks to decorating are things that are “movable.” Well, last week I got the okay to paint the living room and kitchen! What a dream! I’m not done accessorizing and I’ve pulled everything down from the walls. I have a million little projects to work on for this home and I’ll be sure to post them here!
Okay, so here’s the before:
So this is my kitchen. Very big, I know.
My Living Room…there was a pony parade going on!
Here are the colors I chose:
I actually tried out the taupe and knew it was just right…but the tiffany was a little dark for my taste. My finally color ended up being the shade lighter than this color, which wasn’t exactly right, but will do for now. It needs just a hint of green.
This is the shade darker…glad I tried it before buying the gallon! And the final results! TA DA! Ummm, I love color! It changes the entire space…notice I haven’t changed a lot else (I DID pick up the ponies, but they’ll be back!:)
Darling little bird and number balls found at Thai Pan Trading! $2 for the bird and $1.50 for the balls!
I once saw this on a show…the kids books stayed in the room on a tray. Heaven knows that our kid books are ALWAYS in this room, so it seemed right to sort of “organize” them by putting them on a tray.
I only painted the bottom half of the kitchen taupe. High contrast heaven!
I’ve already have a dozen more projects for all these rooms. I have curtains…but I’m not sure if we are going to be able to hang them in here because of the plaster in the wall…it makes it hard to drill!
MY FRAME PROJECT—Painting the frame, take 2
Okay, back to the living room…notice that great focal point frame (and nothing else on the wall? hehee…)? I found that at Home Goods on clearance and painted it. ‘Painted it’ is an understatement because I actually worked on it THREE times because I could get the color right. I thought I wanted it to be white. It didn’t work. I mean, NOT AT ALL. It looked terrible (By the way, that frame WILL get hung…just haven’t gotten round to it yet). Then, I decided to be bold and paint it red.Also a bad idea…but not as bad as the white. The THIRD time I painted it brown, but left some of the red peeping through (just a tiny bit). It was exactly what I needed. I want it to be a focal point and it had to compete with the curtains.
Here’s how the frame started out. Gold, ugh, not for me. I love how ornate it is though!
Here’s the white phase, which leads very nicely into the red and brown phases.
While the red phase looks COMPLETELY scary here, I’m glad I did it because it acts as an undertone for the brown and gives it dimension. It’s not FLAT.
The final un-hung frame. I’ve been a busy gir1. I’m about to fall asleep writing this! I’m off to bed early tonight! And remember to check tomorrow! I have an interview with Holly Jones and a great giveaway from her super darling store My Cute Stamps!
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It’s a freebie day! If you’re like me, you are all over the place all day long: kids, work, dinner, shopping…the list goes on and on! And sometimes I’ll think of something TODAY, that I need to remember TOMORROW…so I came up with these cute little task lists that are SUPER easy to use. They are formatted on a 8.5 x 11 paper and you just need to cut it right down the middle. I put the tasks into boxes with lines because I sort of like to categorize what I’m trying to accomplish…home stuff, work stuff, etc. It’s also sorted into TODAY and TOMORROW.
Hope you enjoy this freebie! Today is sort of a “double take” because the SITS girls is having their Spring Fling and I’ve decided to fling some digital scrapbooking your way! All you have to do to be entered into this giveaway is comment on this thread. Easy-peasy!
I’ll do a drawing for the winners…for every 20 commenters I will draw a name and you get to choose ONE KIT from my new Peony Place collection! So get people to visit and comment! I’d love to give out a lot!!!! Here are the kits you get to choose from!
I will be announcing the winners on Wednesday morning at 10am MST! So check back:)!
Also be sure and check out the 20% off coupon and $40 gift certificate we are giving away at the SITS girls for Card Nirvana!
Need the SITS GIRL discount at Card Nirvana this week: CODE: SITS20MARCH
And the last thing that you need to know is that I have a very special interview and free gift that I will be giving out on Thursday! So be sure to check back for that giveaway! Happy Tuesday!
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I’m here to post about the wonderful stuff going on tomorrow here at my blog, card nirvana, and the SITS girls! The first thing is happening right here!!!! I am giving away for every 20 commentors, 1 digitial kit of my new digital scrapbooking line (which hits Two Peas in A Bucket next Tuesday…it’s not even out yet!), The new line is called Peony Place and it’s a collection set up in digital scrapbooking sets. Not a digital scrapbooker? These papers are still great to print out for hybrid projects like cards and holiday projects! All you have to do is comment on TOMORROW’s thread and you will be added to the drawing! I will draw one person for every 20 people who comments ( so if 40 people comments, I’ll draw 2 people and so on). How easy is that? I’ll also have a new freebie card up for you to pick up, so you should dash by to at least get the details on that! So everyone wins:).
Tomorrow’s winners gets to choose from these:
Perfect for spring, don’t you think? Here’s a layout I did of my daughter Siri using the Floral Fantasy!
Okay, so at card nirvana, you are going to be able to pick up a freebie tomorrow! So check here first and then you are going to want to hop over there.
Finally, Card Nirvana is giving away a $40 gift certificate (that’s a lot of cards!) with the SITS girls. You’ll need to check out their site tomorrow to be available. They also have the coupon code for a 20% off discount at Card Nirvana! If you have had your eye on something, now is the time to buy it! Head on over there and see what you can see!
Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!
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I want to give a big welcome to Renee Stosich who has joined the Card Nirvana team! I think you are going to like her designs as she does everything from whimcial to sophisticated! Take a look at her cards, which you will see growing over the next couple of days as we get her cards up!
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Check out my frame project as published in Utah Baby Guide! I also submitted it to Apartment Therapy’s February Jumpstart Contest (it didn’t win, but it was still fun to submit).
Anyway, if you get chance, download the Utah Baby Guide
Like a mad woman I have been adding cards to Card Nirvana, my downloadable-printable card store! I created Card Nirvana so anyone could download a card already set up with crop marks and with as many invitations as could fit on a page. So all of the invitations are set up on 8.5″ x 11″ paper. Most cards, invitations, and place cards are set up 2 to a page or 4 to a page depending on the size. The best part is that for people who are not into Photoshop, the cards are set up in Adobe Acrobat so you can change the type! It’s really easy to use and you can create your invitations in just a few minutes from your home printer. I use the cards all the time for my daughter’s birthday parties and my holiday cards. You can find out more about what you get in a download by clicking here.
You can also check out the freebies and sales here.
So go check out some of the fabulous new cards! Here’s a sampling of some of the new stuff! All these cards are created by Jen Allyson or myself! Click on the photo to go to that category at card nirvana!
The place card is on sale right now so check it out! I can’t wait to use them for my easter dinner!
You’ll also find our awesome wedding announcements when you click on the image above.
Thanks for looking! New cards are uploaded all the time so check back for new invites and cards!
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If this doesn’t make you happy, then I don’t know what will! At Apartment Therapy’s sister site Kitchn there is a post called Layers, Icing, and Sprinkles: 14 Birthday Cakes.
How delectable is this?
Makes you want to go and make a beautiful cake, huh? Here’s a couple more to make your mouth water:
Felicity is turning two in April and I will definately be trying to use one of their cakes (there are 14 and I could eat them all right now!). Go take a look at how beautiful they are! I’ll be posting a little later on a book I found that makes me oh, so happy! A few pretty photos to boot for inspiration!
And a quick newsbite: I buckled down and painted my living room yesterday! The jury is still out on the color. I’ll be posting it once I have the room a little more put together! Still need to get the curtains up…
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Hello all! Here are my Two Peas Digital Scrapbooking Release today! Take a look! More Bella Bella 2 and a Hybrid Project!
Here’s the Hybrid Project! I’ll be posting more pictures and instructions on putting together your own Tiny Town soon!
More Bella Bella 2! Links will be up soon for these! Just go to my regular 2Peas shop area for now!
I thought I’d give you a sneak peek at next weeks releases because I could also show you some great ways to use the Bella Bella Products (examples from the album!)
Here’s a closeup of the layout from some pictures I took of Siri on the playground.
More products for next weeks release: one more Bella Bella 2 accesories and a digikit—April Showers!
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There’s something about spring that makes me want to buy fresh flowers everyday! I don’t buy flowers very often, but sometimes I do give myself a treat and grab some flowers when I’m out grocery shopping. My favorite flowers are peonies (I’m actually starting a new line called Peony Place…look for it at 2Peas in a couple of weeks!) and Josh use to buy them in the spring for me in Minnesota in the Farmer’s Market on Nicollet Mall.
So here’s my “springtime” moment for you! Flowers from the deco files at Domino Magazine! I found flowers used beautifully in rooms and on their own! Enjoy!
I am SO into this room…there’s something so homey, but COOL about it. You know what I mean? I just love the flowers…so casual but sophisticated!
I’m in LOVE with this arrangement….and the room!
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I just finished laying my two daughters down to bed and I sang our traditional, “Baby’s Boat A Silver Moon.” I was drawing on Siri’s back (my five year old), and when I finished the song, I told them good night, I love them, and was about to leave the room. Siri said, “Stop Mom! I need to draw a heart on your back so you will always remember that I love you!”
How sweet is that?
And that is why I’m a mommy. For moments like that.
I have to call it a space because that is what it is. It’s not a room. It’s not a studio. It’s a space. A 4 feet x 6 feet bit of space to be exact (if you count all of the rug). It located in my bedroom (something I don’t recommend, but under current circumstances could not be helped) and it was a strain to get a vertical shot of the thing! But here it is, in all it’s mini-glory!
Basically, I tried to use things I already had around the house. I supplemented it with stuff from Ikea, Antique Shops, and Home Goods (for my budget). I tried really hard to stick to the basics—storage and lighting. I added the numbers because I was inspired by a page in a Pottery Barn decorating book. I REALLY wish I could paint the wall to give everything a nice pop…but since I can’t paint, I’ll try to bring in color other ways (for example, I’d love to paint that wood table I have that is acting as my desk).
My big bargain buy was a total accident! I got that new chair for $12 down from $150 at Home Goods. It’s a great basic color and I can see recovering it in the near future. I’m also in love with the lamp!
This is the top view of the shelves. I bought the shelves from Ikea. Since I have so little space, I worked my way up to utilize space.
My desktop…lots of sketching, facebooking, and designing happen here.
Here was my “number” inspiration to help tie things together a bit. It makes it all a little more graphic:). I printed numbers, used sign stickers, and house numbers.I need a seriously big number to put on the wall but haven’t found one yet.
Here’s the inspiration for the numbers: A Pottery Barn decorating book.
My tray on the desk keeps me “organized”. Well, sort of, I just dump things in it. It makes the desk less cluttered. It also holds my ugly hard drive (hidden under my Arts & Crafts book!).
Here are my easy-peasy tags for my jars. I used My Minds Eye Rub-On Alphas and printed out the tags from these templates I made. You can download them here:
They are the same tag, set up for print-ready.
These are the My Minds Eye RubOns.
Setting it up on my computer:
I love the rubons because they are so simple and really take all the work out of this project.
Hope you enjoyed! I’m sure I”ll be changing this minispace as I find more “stuff.” I especially want to add more color. Have a great Saturday!
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