2 years on Etsy!

2 years ago we opened up our Etsy shop! That's right! Today is our 2-year Etsy-versary. =)

We've come a long way from when we first opened. Our pictures have definitely improved (how in the world did we sell anything with our beginning photos?!), we have a better idea of shipping prices, we've learned how to use Google Analytics, twitter, and facebook, we've learned how to take better photographs and edit them to look normal and not blah... lots of things! It's been quite a learning experience.

Here's the first item we sold:
Tea Bag Book

This photo is actually not too bad, but the black background is definitely not us. The bright and happy feeling in our shop definitely is a much better reflection for us. =)

Anyway, we are celebrating our Etsy-versary today by including a free handmade card with any purchase from our shop today! you can visit our shop HERE! =)

Hope you are all having a nice day. Thanks for visiting! =)

Apple Tea Book

From Heidi...Since Adriel shared that "wonderful" photo of me putting the finishing touches on the apple tea book I was making, I thought I'd share with you how it came out (minus me in the pictures :-) I don't know what it is about these little book/cards, but I love making them. I think I love combining the DS papers, colors and embellishments together. Plus I love the size of these cards...their small, but they're full of little surprises inside and out. They're just really cute! We sell these in our Etsy store for $5.50 plus S/H. Here's the Etsy link for this tea book. Enjoy!

The Last Tea Bag Book

From Heidi..Here's my last share of tea bag books...although, after Adriel's post on photography I'm a little shy at posting my photographs. My disclaimer is that I haven't visited the blogsite that Adriel posted...I will, but I've already got my photos ready to post. So view these as my BEFORE photos (haha).

I used the Ruffle Edge Technique that came from Jan Tinklenberg on this tea book. I must say that gathering fabric is a whole lot easier than gathering paper. I really like how the ruffle turned out, but I haven't decided whether or not I enjoyed the technique...I got a little frustrated with it, so I have to factor that in, as to whether it's something I want to do a lot of. I haven't tried it again, so it's obviously not one of those things that I really loved doing.

If you'd like to try it, here's brief instructions on how to do it.

(Supplies - Crimper, 1"x12" strip of DS paper, Scallop Edge Punch, Sticky Strip, CS oval, circle, or other shape...and patience!)

-Use a 1"x12" strip of DS paper and scallop punched one long edge of the strip.

-Run the scalloped strip through the crimper.

-Place sticky strip on the backside of a CS shape, to which the ruffle will be attached. Don't try and make the sticky strip nice and smooth, it will look bumpy, especially if you're going around a circle or oval shape.

-Peel off the sticky strip backing on your CS.

-Start pleating your scalloped, crimped DS strip of paper and as the tutorial I used says, "Start sticking..." and adhering your pleated sections onto the sticky strip of your CS back.

-Continue to pleat and gather evenly the DS strip, keeping it nice and even all the way around your CS shape until you come to the end. Simply trim off the excess.

If you try this, let me know how it turned out for you and if you came up with any "tricks" to evenly sticking it on the CS. Thanks again for visiting us!

Another Tea Bag Book

From Heidi...
Here's another tea bag book that I made a few weeks ago. This is one of my favorites. I like the soft blue and the weathered vintage look. I sanded the edges of the DS paper and used tearing and inking the edges to distress parts of the flower centerpiece. This is SU's "Bella Birds" DS paper. Hope you're having a great start to your week!

Rockabilly Tea Book

From Heidi...Time to get back onboard and start sharing some of the fun stuff we've been working on. I've been working on pictures I've taken over the last few weeks, so now I can share them with you. Here's a tea book that I think is really fun and edgy. I used SU's Rockabilly DS paper (which I see is being retired) using the black stripe and Kiwi Kiss polka dot. These are a lot of fun to make! Thanks for looking.

Recipe:

Rockabilly DS paper

Lavendar Lace

Stamp Set:

Darling Dots

Ink:

Lavendar Lace

Old Olive

Accessories:

Black brads

Black eyelets

dimensionals

Ribbon

Sticky strip

1"circle punch

hand punch

Tea Book

From Heidi...We had a potential request for an order a few weeks ago for one of our tea books with an apple on the front. We didn't hear back from the person who made the request, but I thought the idea of the apple tea book was so cute, I went ahead and created one. I thought I'd share this with you, it's cute...thanks for looking.

Spring Tea Bag Book

From Adriel:

My mom made this cute tea bag book the other day! I love the designing she did with it and the special touches that make it "her". Since I took the pictures of it, I'm posting it! =)

This is such a cute way to let a friend know that you're thinking about them! It's great for Easter or just a spring-time "hello".

My mom used a couple of our FREE sale-a-bration rewards that we recently received for this project. The floral stamped image is from the Botanical Blooms set and the patterned paper is the Delicate Dots DSP! Isn't it great?!

I think this kind of project would be great to do for our Stamp Club sometime! =)

BTW, Sale-a-Bration is continuing through the end of March, so there's still time to get these fun products for free! You can find out more about that HERE.

Tea Bag Book

From Heidi...

I'll share the Tea Bag Book first. I love making these little tea card books and I had a lot of fun using the stamps, paper and punches from the Love You Much bundle on this one. Everything coordinates so well together. We'll be making this tea bag book at our first Stamp Club meeting of the year, January 22, using the Love You Much stamp set, paper and punches. Join us if you can.

Thanks for looking!