holiday sale day 4

Free 1st class shipping for purchases over $20 within the United States at The Whimsical Muse! For my fabulous international customers who purchase $20 worth of items from my shop, I am offering discounting shipping based on the discount my US customers receive. For example, if someone in the US would normally pay $3.00 for shipping the purchase you are making, I will subtract $3.00 from amount of your shipping. The $20 amount refers to the total purchase price of the items. Valid Saturday, December 12, 2009 only.

To take advantage of this deal, please "commit to buy" $20 worth of items from my shop then:
1) either go all the way through & pay using PayPal or 2) ask that I send you an invoice with the shipping modified.

Sale is still on over at Random Creative Moments/HandmadebyPam.

Have a fantastic weekend!
Pam

holiday sale day ??? & something new in my shop!

So we missed a day buttt...things are still on sale over at Random Creative Moments http://www.etsy.HandmadebyPam.com. Do take a moment to check things out over there. I will have a new category on sale tomorrow in one of both shops.

New to The Whimsical Muse...tinsel wire ribbon! It's so flipping cute & there are really so many things that you can do to use it in your crafting, gift wrapping & home decorating! It's great year round but super special for the winter holidays.

I think it would be great in place of ribbon on presents, to top ornaments, in place of string or other ribbon on gift tags, on mini (or regular) Christmas trees... It could be used to create a simple but lovely card holder for Christmas or birthdays. If you hung a length of it horizontally on a wall, you could attach some cute little clothespins or paper clips to it & hang Christmas (or birthday) cards from it.

Anyway, without further ado, here it is:







I offer it in 3 yard increments (it's about 1/2" thick) in gold, red & silver. I'm happy to cut additional amounts. I wrap a length of antique white ribbon adorned with a jingle bell around the tinsel wire ribbon. You can check out TheWhimsicalMuse on Etsy.com (check out the right side of my blog) & comment here or convo me on Etsy if you have any questions.

Back later with more sale stuff!
Pam

holiday sale day 3

Hello!

The sale for the day is now on! Thursday, December 9th only if you purchase anything at Random Creative Moments at http://www.etsy.com/shop/handmadebypam you get 20% off. All day long on the price any & all items you purchase! Sale goes through midnight Pacific Standard Time on Thursday. I offer a lovely variety of items that I've created using alcohol ink in this shop. My items include pendants that I've made on dominoes, greeting cards and original abstract art. They are all one of a kind. My pendants have been referred to as "wearable art."

For this sale, all you need to do is go through the regular steps to purchase an item on Etsy, including paying with PayPal. I've already gone in & changed the prices. If you tell me you heard about it on my blog, I will include a little something special.

Have a great one!
Pam

holiday sale day 2

Baker's twine is just fantastic, isn't it? Fantastic for putting the finishing touch on a package whether a wrapped present or some yummy cookies in a tin or bakery box, baker's twine can add a nice bit of simplicity and some nostalgia. Baker's twine is a lovely detail at weddings & in crafts. I offer baker's twine in: black & white; brown & white; red & white; blue & white; lime mint green & white; & light blue & white (the latest in my shop & really very nice). My current listings include baker's twine in 4 different increments: 5 yards, 20 yards, 50 yards & 100 yards. If you're interested in a different length please don't hesitate to contact me. I've set up many custom orders & am happy to do more. Please do understand that custom orders may take 2 days from payment for me to mail (rather than 1).

Anyway, time to get to the sale! Buy 3 get the 4th baker's twine FREE! Each listing must each be the same size but can be on any size listed (or custom). For example, you would purchase 3 of the 20 yard packs of baker's twine & then you get the 4th for free (whatever color you choose). Valid all day on Wednesday December 9th. Valid only at my shop, The Whimsical Muse on Etsy. If you don't see the size in a color you see I have, please let me know so I can list more :) This sale is happening Wednesday, December 9th only, through midnight PST.

Here's how to take advantage of this deal:
- "commit to buy 3 of the same size of baker's twine"
-let me know you would like the "buy 3 deal" & your color choice for the 4th pack in the "notes to seller" or by contacting me using the Etsy convo system
pay for your purchase using PayPal (you can use a credit card this way!)

If you have absolutely an questions, you can contact me by using the comment section here or by convo on Etsy. If you haven't yet made a purchase on Etsy.com, here are some FAQs that may help http://www.etsy.com/faq_buying.php?utm_source=etsy_success&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=etsy_success_090109

Pam :)

holiday sale day 1

Today until midnight (or until I post the next sale), the holiday sale deal is:
25% off all paper goods including greeting cards, tags, stickers, & bookmarks in both of my shops
The Whimsical Muse and Random Creative Moments This doesn't apply to the shipping price. I am, however, happy to combine shipping on items purchased in each shop, so your shipping will probably end up being a little lower than listed.

There are two ways take advantage of this deal:
1) "commit to buy the item(s)," let me know you would like the "25% off paper goods deal" in the "notes to seller" or by contacting me using the Etsy convo system, pay for your purchase using PayPal (you can use a credit card this way!), I will refund the discount.
2) "commit to buy the item(s)," let me know you would like the "25% off paper goods deal" in the "notes to seller" or by contacting me by "convo" on Etsy. I will send you an invoice with the sale price.

If you have absolutely an questions, you can contact me by using the comment section here or by convo on Etsy.

Pam :)

Holiday sales this week!!!

There will be some great shop deals advertised here this week for my Etsy shops!
Here's the deal:
1. Check in every daily for special sales. Tuesdays sale will be posted by late-morning Pacific time. There will be different types of items on sale each day for that day only. Mailing list members will be notified in advance (if interested in getting onto my list, let me know) & just may get extra bonuses :). If you have purchased from me in the past & haven't yet used your 20% off one item coupon (for The Whimsical Muse shop only), you can still use it if the item you want is one of the special items of the day! Pretty cool, huh?
2. I will give you instructions each day for that specific day. For example, if I'm offering a "buy 3, get the 4th free" special, I will ask that you purchase the 3 items you want & then mention in the "notes to seller" or by convo the code of the day & the color, style, type of item you want as your 4th item.
3. This applies to my shops on Etsy The Whimsical Muse & Random Creative Moments
4. There are all kinds of cool things available in my shops! So many yummy colors of baker's twine, carnival tickets, ric rac at The Whimsical Muse...plus some lovely pendants and artwork at Random Creative Moments (etsy.com/shop/HandmadebyPam)

I'm shipping all items within 24 hours of payment until just before Christmas in order to do my best to assure that packages get to their destinations in a timely fashion. If you are interested in a shipping upgrade to Priority or Express, please send me a convo on Etsy. If I confirm that I'm able to do this, I can either set up a special order for you to include the shipping upgrade or after purchase, I would simply send you an invoice to reflect the increase in shipping & then get your order to the post office ASAP.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask in the comment section or by Etsy convo.

Stay tuned!
Pam :)

Here it is...

...some fabulous new light blue baker's twine (bakery twine)!!! It's a lovely sky blue. It will be listed in my Etsy shop very soon!

There are so many fun things that can be done with it! I made some pamphlet booklets in the shape of shipping tags.

New stuff soon!

The UPS guy just dropped off a package of goodies tonight! More black & white baker's twine & some fantastic new baker's twine. Will be back soon with some pics in the next couple of days & then will be listing it at The Whimsical Muse on Etsy by next week, if not sooner.

Black and white baker's twine

Baker's twine before (brand new):



Baker's twine "after" (tonight):

That almost says it all! The black and white baker's twine has been flying out the door. It looks as though it's almost gone. Thankfully. I've got some more black and white baker's twine coming in at the end of the week. I'm currently selling baker's twine in increments of 5, 20, 50 and 100 yards. I'm happy to cut custom lengths of twine. I have baker's twine in the following colors: green and white; blue and white; red and white; brown and white; and black and white. I should have a few more surprises in the shop by the end of the week or the beginning of the next week.

I'll be back in the next few days to share some fun things about Scrapbook Club last week! That's all for now!

Handbound book

As soon as I saw this scrapbook paper at Cool Scrapbook Stuff in Poway maybe 3-4 weeks ago, I knew that I had to make a book with it. Interesting because I wouldn't necessarily consider it "my style " but something about it called to me. Anyway, I had gotten this idea of making a book using scrapbook paper, random art type papers, & chipboard. This is, I believe, a combination of a concertina with a pamphlet stitched book. The "back" of the book is an accordion. I hand stitched the three pamphlets into the back. I covered the chipboard with the scrapbook paper & then adhered the front and back parts of the concertina to the inside of the chipboard. I want to give either long stitch or coptic stitch a try soon.

Exploring!

Hello everyone!

Today the kid & I had a little adventure! We were tasked by her preschool teacher to go on a nature walk & collect leaves that had fallen to the ground to bring back to school on Thursday. As today my car's temperature gauge said it was 105 degrees, it was a tad toasty to go on a "real" nature walk. I was able to show her how to gently feel the leaves as she picked them up. I also showed her how the newly fallen leaves & the ones that have been on ground longer were so different. She probably would have kept on collecting leaves had it not been time to move on to another activitiy.

Our next stop continued our exploration mode. We hunted for buttons at our favorite button box (a bit of treasury box). She filled her tin & dumped it over & over. We talked with another lady as she was button hunting. We found some fabulous buttons, some of which might end up listed in my Etsy shop (TheWhimsicalMuse).

TheWhimsicalMuse on Etsy:
Newest additions:
1) A set of handstamped Christmas cards
2) baker's twine in 100 yard increments in black & white; red & white; brown & white; blue & white; and green & white

Items I've been cooking up for The Whimsical Muse
1) hand crafted items, including holiday tags
2) baker's twine offered in 50 yard increments (rather than it being a special order only item)

That's all for now :)
Pam

My life in a nutshell...keyword "busyness"

Things have been really busy around these parts:

1) We had a fantastic extended weekend trip to Durango, Colorado. A really nice place. Fun to visit my sister & her boyfriend (along with their 50 lb puppy & two cats who hid most of the time we were around. Yummy yummy food. My sister's boyfriend smoked chicken & ribs. The ribs were TDF...probably the best ribs I have ever eaten. My kid & my sister made pizza one night. Pretty amusing but fun with tasty results. We got out to restaurants, the hot springs, the local playground, more restaurants & more. Thank goodness for having the laptop with us...

2)...because sales on Etsy at The Whimsical Muse have been really great! Especially while we were on vacation. I don't know if it's Murphy's Law (or what) but I had an inkling that I would have a bunch of sales while we were on vacation & I did. A number of requests for custom cuts of bakery twine, along with a number of in stock, "on the (Etsy) shelf" items. I was up late the night we got packing orders & getting things ready for the week. I have been amazed at how quickly orders have gone from the local post office to their destination. Two days to get from San Diego, CA to the east coast.

3) The kid is back in preschool, absolutely adores her new class & wakes up every day asking, "do I get to go to preschool today?"

4) I finished a million flowers (okay, 28) for the flower swap at Scrapbook Club. We had SB Club tonight. Fun fun! I think people focused more on their swap items than on creating new things. The flowers...wow! Every person's flower creations were so different than the others but oh so fun. I love love love the creativity in this group! I will try to get a pic or two up eventually with all of the flowers. Crazy but I didn't end up doing anything (yet) with the kit from the last SB Club meeting. I guess I was busy :)

5) I just started singing again with a choir group I used to sing with :)

I think that summarizes the (happy) busy-ness in my life. Of course, the mundane is still there.

Scrapbook Club

Well, for the first time since starting back in January, I had to miss Scrapbook Club on Thursday night :( I knew about it well in advance but it was harder than I thought it would be. Anyway, I figured I would take the kid up to Pink Pineapple with me on Friday to get my class kit under the guise of her getting to play in the kids area at PP. Got my kit & it's full of yummy stuff for me to play with! Yay! I feel a little better now. When it came time to leave, it was harder to get my kid to go & I had to persuade her with a chocolate milk at Starbucks (cause that's "a mommy and me thing" as she says). Hehe... Quick stop at Michaels. Got a little something for my crafting (will tell in another post at another time) & a $1 coloring book for the kid.

Not the best pics but here is the kit:journaling pages & plastic gem things

Mixed Media Half Bracket Album from Fancy Pants
Fancy Pants paper



Maya Road Circles Translucent Sheet
Cute little chicky clip
I have no clue what I will do with my kit but I may be back with my results. I'm currently working on flowers for the class flower swap.

Wordle

Wordle word clouds.

Bakery twine delivery!

I got a yummy delivery of bakery twine tonight! Two huge spools of the goodness! One spool is wrapped with a pastel colored minty lime green & white twine and the other is wrapped in black & white. The green & white twine is very sweet & would be lovely with vintage style crafts & designs. The black has a very classic feel to me & would be nice in everything from vintage to modern designs. They are each now available in my Etsy shop The Whimsical Muse in 5 & 20 yard increments (in addition to red & white, blue & white and brown & white twine).

Baker's twine

I just got a delivery of some new baker's twine. Oh my! Two rather yummy new colors! I'll be back with pictures.

And the winner is...

balanced! I used a random number generator & came up with the number 4 then counted down http://www.random.org/integers/?num=1&min=1&max=7&col=1&base=10&format=html&rnd=new

I loved seeing the creative ideas that everyone came up with for the twine! How fun! Thanks to everyone for participating!

Austin's Gallery on Coronado & store update

Fantastic to see contest entries! I will accept entries until midnight Pacific Standard time tonight.

Today the kid & I went to Coronado Island to get away from the 95 degree heat in our neighborhood. It's always a beautiful ride, albeit a little scary going over the bridge to Coronado. It was a rather nice, though still hot. Many people were out enjoying the sun. I was thrilled to come across Austin's Gallery. I had heard about it before seeing it but really didn't know what to expect. It's this fantastic little gallery/artist co-op. Fantastic needle felted items, beautiful photography (one picture was of a hummingbird mid-flight & you could actually see the wings!), jewelry, purses...focus on handmade craft items. It was smaller but much cuter than I thought it would be & the person working there was very welcoming. I recommend a trip to Austin's Gallery if you're local or visiting the area. It's just off of the main drag by about 1/2 a block & really close to the famous Hotel Del Coronado. Check it out: http://www.austinsgallery.com/

I have a few new items over at The Whimsical Muse. Today I listed some gorgeous ivory braided gimp trim & some sweet white eyelet pattern heart favor tins! I have a number of items that I'm working on getting listed, so I should have a lot of new items in the shop this week. I'm expecting to receive some baker's twine in a few new colors by the end of the week & will list them as soon as possible. http://thewhimsicalmuse.etsy.com

new computer and contest update

We have a new computer! Yayyyy! The last computer was just sooo slow that it took forever to do much of anything. I feel like I've been set free from the slow motion that was my computer! Even doing listings on Etsy is a breeze.

Due to popular demand *winkwink* I'm going to extend the bakery twine contest for a week. The new deadline will be Tuesday, July 14th. What artsy craftsy, gifty, organizing, design, whatever cool things can YOU do with bakery twine? No pictures needed. Post 3-5 ideas here.

Little update & contest details!

First things first...The Whimsical Muse. I've been finding fun craft supply items here & there & thought it would be fun to share on Etsy. I decided to start up a little supply shop with quirky bits of this & fun bits of that like bakery twine, ric rac & whatnot (well, sorry, no listing for "whatnot" as yet). I do sell a few handmade items but they do tend toward the "handmade supply" end of things. I do have more items in stock that I will be listing soon.

I've been putting together a list of things that can be done with bakery twine in addition to wrapping it around a cake box. Here is where the contest comes in...1) you share 3 or more ideas of what can be done with bakery twine, 2) a winner will be picked randomly & 3) the prize is...you guessed it, 20 yards of bakery twine, in the color(s) of your choice from http://thewhimsicalmuse.etsy.com/ The deadline for entry is Tuesday, July 14, 2009.

Dusting off the ol' blog

Time to dust off my blog! Boy, it's sure been a while! There are all kinds of things going on in the world of My Random Creative Moments, including the addition of a new Etsy shop (The Whimsical Muse). Over the course of the next few days (well, probably week or so), I will be updating on the new shop, recent projects, fun random things, and a contest. Yes, I did say contest :) Stay tuned & check back soon! :)

Carlsbad Flower Fields

The kid & I got in the car & drove up to the Carlsbad Flower Fields today. We had fun. It was educational for her since she was 'I wonder what this smells like mode.' She stopped to smell the roses, carnations, sweet peas (what a beautiful scent!) and other flowers.

Ranunculus

Sweet Peas

They had some striking poinsettias in the green house. I'd never seen any like this before. They're called Flaming Spheres. Fitting, yes. Interesting name, yes.

Random end note about the Fields: The kid & I had a great time. The weather was nice. This close to the coast, it's good to have at least a light sweater. It's right next to the Carlsbad Outlet whatever place. We went there to grab some lunch at Ruby's Diner. There were numerous options for eating in the area. There were even picnic tables at the Flower Fields. The Fields gives entrance discounts for seniors, auto club members & military families. Kids under 3 are free. They have a nice outdoor play area. It wasn't super for the 3 year old set only because there were so many much bigger kids everywhere, even playing on the equipment meant for the 5 & under age group. They are open through May 10th. Their website is: http://www.theflowerfields.com/

Happy Birthday to me!!!

It's my birthday!!! In honor of my day (March 15), everything is on sale in my Etsy shop! http://HandmadebyPam.etsy.com
Come on by & take a look.

International shipping

I just had my first international sale via Etsy last week. I had been hoping that at some point this would happen & was thrilled when I saw that someone from across the globe had made a purchase from my shop. I'm not usually a worrier but I was a little concerned. Should I have packaged the item differently? Would the item make it in it's current condition? Would it end up stuck in customs? Would it arrive at all? I sent a note to my customer informing them when the item shipped & asking that they let me know when it arrives. I received a message from my customer today that the item had indeed arrived & was in perfect condition. Sigh of relief! Ahhh! Interestingly, I put the item in the mail on Thursday the 3rd of March & it arrived Wednesday the 11th. I've seen mail take several days to get to different parts of the county I live in, so for mail to move so quickly is quite surprising. The postal services of each country apparently worked mighty quickly & it must have sped through customs. It's so nice to have someone receive something I've sent & in this case, it was extra special since it was so far.

I have another parcel enroute to another country from a sale this week. The postal worker sorta smirked & smiled at the same time when I smoothed down the metered stamp/postage thing on the package. I laughed & explained that I hadn't sent much out of the country & was still just a little detail oriented about it. I have my fingers crossed that this new customer receives their item in it's original condition in a timely fashion. Will have to report back :-)

International shipping is not all that different from mailing an item in the U.S. There are a few things that helped me in the process of figuring things out. My advice: 1) make sure that you weigh the item, everything you will be packaging it in & the box/bubble mailer/envelope (each ounce when you ship to Canada is only .24 cents but to, say Australia goes up to .80 cents, not a huge amount of money but it sure can add up if one is less than careful), 2) like in the U.S., make sure you are clear in what category your item fits (envelope, small package, etc.), 3) check out the United Postal Services website on international shipping for pricing & information (see below), 4) package your item well, 5) fill out the customs form & afix it to the front of the package. Rumor has it that some postal workers will say that you don't need a customs form. The one who helped me last week seemed to think that it was a good idea & said that it would be less likely to be opened at customs since it said what it was on the form.

FYI, the USPS has information on each country & the types of items that are not accepted in each specific country.

USPS first class international mail: http://www.usps.com/prices/first-class-mail-international-prices.htm

If you have anything to add about international shipping & your experiences, I would love to hear them!

It's been a while, so I thought I'd share one of my favorite items (a set in this case) of what I've made recently

The quick & dirty tutorial:

"Ingredients & tools" cardstock, glossy paper, something to cut tags, hearts & ribbon (scissors, punches, die cut machine, whatever works well for you), adhesive (glue runner, glue stick...), ribbon, metallic mixative & alcohol ink plus an alcohol ink applicator & some felt cut to size for the applicator. You may also want to use ink &/or chalk ink to give them a little punch. I did.

You will definitely want something to protect your working surface & maybe even an apron for yourself. Alcohol ink stains. Badly. Don't ask me how I know. If you are quick enough, you can remove it with alcohol or blending solution (depending on the surface, of course).

I made four tags, so my numbers below will reflect that

1) Cut out four of each of the following:

a) tags out of cardstock (I used white & then inked them but it would have saved me a little time to choose a coordinating color in the beginning).

b) tags from glossy paper a little smaller than the cardstock tags. I find that I prefer the cream colored glossy paper over the white.

c) hearts

d) ribbon &/or fiber for each tag

2) Here's where you need that protective surface! I use a 15"x18" non-stick craft sheet from Inksentials (Ranger Industries, I believe) & I love it. Grab your glossy tags, alcohol ink in the color(s) or your choice, your applicator & felt. Put your felt onto the applicator. Hold your applicator so that the felt side is facing up, carefully open up the alcohol ink & tilt it toward your applicator. When the two meet, squeeze the applicator gently for about 2 seconds. Do the same with the next alcohol ink, if using. Apply the inked applicator to your glossy tags. I find that "pouncing" works well for me. The alcohol ink dries fairly quickly. Set the tags aside.

3) Still on the protective surface, grab your hearts, the metallic mixative & whatever colors of alcohol ink you choose. I used the gold metallic mixative. I think I used the wild plum, cranberry & red pepper alcohol ink. Grab your alcohol ink applicator. At this point, I would toss the old felt & grab a new one but whatever works for you. Following the instructions, shake the bottle of metallic mixative until you hear the little ball in it rattle. Make sure the cap is on properly. If you have forgotten to do this, Dawn dishsoap works really well to remove the mixative from hand & jeans. Not sure about anything else, though. Anyway, apply a squirt or more of the mixative to the felt. Take the applicator & apply the mixative to your hearts. You can either coat the entire heart or leave chunks of space. Experiment to see what you like the best. I find that I like them both ways. Next, set this felt aside & grab a new one (or reuse the same old one). Apply alcohol ink to the applicator as in step 2. Pounce it around the heart until you feel like you are done. This should dry fairly quickly.

4) optional: ink your individual pieces if you like. Pigment ink wouldn't dry for me on the glossy paper until I used a heat tool.

5) Assemble your tags. Adhere the small tag to the larger one & then the heart on top of the glossy tag. Tie it with ribbon &/or fiber & you are all done!

I hope you liked this tutorial!

Scrapbook Club at Pink Pineapple

I'd been wanting to take this "class" ever since I heard about it (maybe 1 1/2 years ago?). Scheduling had been a concern since I'm not that close to Vista & I'm responsible for a little kid until daddy gets home. I finally figured out that I could do it when I had another commitment on the same night of the month but then decided to hop in & go for it last week. The class is actually what's called a Scrapbook Club (formerly known as the Scrapbook Book club). It's up at Pink Pineapple Scrapbooks & is taught/led/coordinated by Elena Etcheverry of Scrapbook Royalty. The book this month is the hot-off-the-press Designing with the Divas by Danielle Forsgren & Rayme Sciaroni. Danielle was there & told us about the book & the cable radio show she does each week with Rayme. We each made some really cute little Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) as our make n' take (led by Danielle). Rayme stopped in & chatted with the group. At the end, Elena passed out a fabulous kit with the challenge to make a mini album & to distress it. A fun evening all around. I'm looking forward to playing with the challenge. This is what came in my kit! Fun things to play around with.

Links:

Pink Pineapple: http://www.pinkpineapplescrapbooks.com/

Scrapbook Royalty: website http://www.scrapbookroyalty.com/

and blog http://scrapbookroyalty.blogspot.com/

Diva Craft Lounge blog talk radio (Designing with the Divas):http://www.blogtalkradio.com/DivaCraftLounge/2008/11/12/Diva-Craft-Lounge