Coupon code

Here's that coupon code, as promised :) 

The details
The code - THANKSGIVING2010
20% off your purchase
At The Whimsical Muse on Etsy only
How to?  Select your items & enter the code at check out

Just a quickie

Unfortunately, I didn't add anything new to my shop since my camera stopped working at the beginning of last week.  My new camera has a bit more of a learning curve, so I'm working on it.  Hopefully I will get to some more sticker seals posted by the end of the week.

**Stay tuned this week for a special coupon code to The Whimsical Muse on Etsy for my blog visitors :)**

New at The Whimsical Muse! 1-inch round envelope seals

New in my shop today! 1-inch round glitter envelope seals!
Currently available in silver, gold, green, red, white & sky blue.
Next week I will be adding a few more colors :)

In use on some enclosure envelopes that measure about 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"

The envelope with the red seal reminds me of Rudolf! I could see this becoming  part of some fun envelope art for doodlers :)

Here are the small glitter heart seals also available in my shop layered on top of the 1-inch round seals.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/thewhimsicalmuse

Outside the Box

Last night's Outside the Box was so much fun!  I stayed way to long & so ended up staying up way too late (yes, I'm tired today).  For now, I will leave you with this picture of the necklace I pieced together for my version of the make & take.  It's simple but I like it :) 

We are using the Fall 2010 edition of Somerset Memories for our book of the quarter (well, whatever it is now that we are using a book for 4 months of the year...a third sounds odd).  It's really lovely and even  includes our lovely leader, Elena Etcheverry, who initiated & was part of the Lucky 13: A Year to Remember Circle Journal.  This edition of Somerset Memories magazine/idea book is very inspiring. 

Chipboard bird collages

before

after

I made these for a "bird swap" last month with my Scrapbook Club (now called Outside the Box).  They were lots of fun to make.  I started out with plain chipboard birds (from StudioCee on Etsy).  I basically collaged them using what I learned in the Collage 101 workshop I took at CREATE.  I added "Smooch Spritz" for the color & pearly sparkle, applied paint to the edge, adhered random inked words, added Diamond Dust to the wings & added some bling for the eyes. You can check out Kat's blog post for a much better look at these birdies: http://katstinkerings.blogspot.com/2010/09/out-of-box-at-urban-barn.html

As usual, since time flies, we have another meeting tonight where we will chat, show off what we've made in the past month & more.  I'm looking forward to it, though I'm not sure what I will bring for "show & tell."  Maybe the blue cowl that I knitted last week or maybe (doubtful, though) I will bring something from CREATE that I've finished.

Double rainbow and amazing sky!

 last night

 the sky in front of my house last night

You can see more pictures on my Flickr photostream:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomcreativemoments/

CREATE and Kindergarten

Things have been fantastic!  Busy yes, but fantastic. I closed both Etsy shops for about 2 weeks toward the end of August.  I went to the Cloth, Paper, Scissors CREATE retreat in Chicago, IL.  While I did my utmost to be ready with supplies in hand at the retreat, it seemed as though there were still a few more to buy when I arrived in Chicago and still a few I wished I had while in several workshops.  It was five really full days.  I really enjoyed having the opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and simply play.  The instructors were full of techniques and ideas.  While I would end each day utterly exhausted, I still found myself wanting to work on more of whatever I had done that day.  My projects remain unfinished but at some point I will post pictures, finished or not, along with bits of info from the workshops I took, as well as some more about CREATE. 

My little one started all-day Kindergarten yesterday, so we've been figuring out all of the details (like how to get her to school by 7:35 am...okay, before the tardy bell rings at 7:40 am...we're working on becoming early birds, what to bring for lunch and snack, remembering to prep as much as possible in advance since it really does...).  We did what seems to be the requisite running around to pick up some back-to-school clothing, shoes, a lunch box and whatnot over the weekend.  It wasn't crazy but it was things to get done.  Since she's in school all week now, things are changing with my schedule.  I'm not sure how things will look in a month but for now, it seems like I have a bit more time on my hands.  The school is on a year-round plan so I will have a month here and there where being "mom" will be my main focus.

That's all for now :)
Pam

Art Journal Week at Balzer Designs

One of the blogs I really look forward reading almost daily is Balzer Designs. I love her anything goes style & how she applies it to art journaling, other mixed media & even scrapbooking!  This week is Art Journal Week at Balzer Designs!  Julie Fei-Fan Balzer is focusing on art journaling basics this week.  If you've been curious or tempted, it looks like a great way to get your feet wet (or jump right in...). 

fairy bottles, The Art Bar & more!

I went to The Art Bar in Santa Ana on Saturday for a lesson from Miss Vicky on soldering & making fairy bottles with some gals from the Scrapbook Club (plus a few others).  What fun!  You just cannot go wrong with Miss Vicky.  She's a hoot...and then some!  The Art Bar is fantastic, too.  For such a small space, they sure have a bit of everything for mixed media & more.  The cool part, well, too me anyway, is that they have a "bar" where you can buys "shots" of paint & whatnot.  How cool is that?

After The Art Bar, we went for lunch at The Filling Station in Orange.  I got so lost on the way & have no clue how I ended up finding this place.  No GPS, no map of the area, didn't call or get directions.  I do have a pretty good sense of direction but know very little about getting around Orange County.  I'll just call it my internal GPS :-) 

After lunch, we wandered through wonderful little & big antique shops.  So many fantastic things to see.  So many temptations that I passed up.  I gave in to the Red Velvet cupcake at The Perfect Circle Cupcakery.  It was well worth giving in.

New at The Whimiscal Muse!

1. A set of "funky buttons."
2. A set of "fancy buttons."
3. Walnut ink dyed crinkled seam binding (I have some white crinkled seam binding that will be listed later in the week).
4. Travel sized dominoes (dominos) approximately 1/2" wide by 1 1/4" high. Great for making domino pendants with ink, alcohol ink or even using the number sides in front! These are the exact kind I use for my mini sized alcohol ink domino pendants over at http://etsy.com/shop/HandmadebyPam

Is it snail mail or...

I got the cutest items in a package yesterday.  I knew they would be cute when I ordered them but...they are just adorable, no?

I found these cuties at studioCee on Etsy.  There are so many more adorable & fun chipboard items at studioCee that it's worth a look.

Mmmm!

The kid & I went to the park today.  While she was playing, I was thinking about Starbucks.  It didn't help that there was a Starbucks across the street from the park, another coffee house caddy corner to the Starbucks & that one of the mom's had a yummy looking frozen drink in the stroller's cup holder.  When we left, the kid dropped the hint, "I'm thinking about Starbucks."  I said, "me, too, but we're not going there today."  I'm trying to be good since it's such an addiction & really seems to add up.  The kid said, "I know, we can have our own coffee house at home."  The kid knows me well.  When we got home, I did some searching on the internet to see if I could find a recipe for a frozen mocha.  I looked at several.  I nixed the ones with ice cream, yogurt and/or whipped cream since we don't have any at the moment.  I found one that looked realistic & sounded yummy so I decided to try it.   Mmm!  It tastes an awful lot like the fancy mocha from the expensive place.  I'm going to share the recipe (since there's no way that I'm sharing the mocha...it's all mine mine mine).  I'll just warn you now, that if you don't wait for the coffee to cool off, it won't get quite as much of the slushy effect.  Ask me how I figured that out :-)  Also, it's pretty big for one so you could share...if you want. 

frozen mocha for one
ingredients
3 ounces double strength coffee
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 Tbl sugar
1 1/2 Tbl chocolate syrup
1 cup ice

directions
1. Make coffee
2. Chill coffee
3. Put all ingredients into blender.  Give it a whirl on high speed until the ice is in teeny tiny pieces.
4. Pour into cup of your choice & enjoy! 

New at The Whimsical Muse

New in the shop, coffee dyed crinkled seam binding! It still has a coffee scent, as well as some lovely spots of darker brown where the coffee pooled a little more which gives it a slightly distressed look. You may find a tiny bit of sparkle here and there in this seam binding. It is wrapped with a bit of hand stamped muslin and an arms length of black and white baker's twine.

Crinkled seam binding is fun for both prim (primitive) & vintage style gift wrapping, crafting and decor. It would be lovely to use in wedding decorations and favors. I'm offering it in 5 yard increments but am happy to discuss custom lengths, as well.  

I have some pretty new crinkled seam binding that I dyed blue with hints of indigo & purple.  I will be listing it soon.

Jewelry mode

I've been in jewelry making mode. It's new for me but I'm really enjoying making pretty necklaces & whatnot. Most recently, I made a bracelet & a necklace. This time, they are for me as it seems that most of what I make goes to someone else. I made them with antiqued copper & Swarovski "Elements" (crystals & pearls).

Can you keep a secret? part 2

Following up on my last post Can you keep a Secret. I gave the boxed & wrapped necklace to my mom, she smiled, shook the box & said, "I think I know what this is..." A lovely "thank you" when she opened the box. She hadn't seen my post about it or the pictures thankfully. Haha! Lesson learned.

Can you keep a secret?

Can you keep a secret? I've always thought of myself as fairly good at keeping a surprise but I almost blew it tonight. Crossing my fingers that I can share it here on the big ol' world wide web & hope it doesn't get back to the person I'm from whom I'm hiding the surprise.

Here's the surprise! Shhhh! I made this necklace with a really cute hummingbird charm & a few little crystals for someone who loves hummingbirds.

A beautiful day in San Diego

It's been another lovely day in San Diego! It was about 80 degrees according to the thermometer in my car (haha!). The kid & I went to lovely touristy Seaport Village today. My ulterior motive was to hit up the Village Hat Shop & pick up a hat to wear outside while of course providing the kid with a fun day out. The kid loved the carousel aka merry-go-round (she calls it a "merry-go-around") even though she reported it was a bit "bumpy" when going up and down. I found myself a bucket hat in sort of a dusty denim at the hat shop (it will be so cute when I pin on a flower...maybe even the one from ThiliBlooms). We shared some popcorn. Several random birds including a duck seemed to think we were rude for not sharing more since they kept moving closer every time it looked like we were going to drop a bit of popcorn. The kid kept trying to "shoo bird" them away with only a little luck. We wandered around a few other stores including the kite shop before calling it a day.

It's a Fabulous Friday!

I received a surprise in the mail a few days ago! A lovely bloom from ThiliBlooms on Etsy! It can be used as a hair pin or a brooch. Isn't it darling?

New at The Whimsical Muse!

I'm just starting to add a few new things at The Whimsical Muse! "This is a muslin gift bag set. I love these little muslin bags. They are so nice for packaging & to store a few little treats when no longer used as a gift bag. I'm offering them as a small set with a hand cut gift tag & kraft heart envelope seal. There's a bit of the new burgundy baker's twine on the tag that I will be offering in my shop soon. Here's the link to the set in the picture: muslin love gift bag

Thrilled!

The lovely(oh, hello friend) you are loved blog is doing a "lovely packaging" giveaway & there is, among many other things, a $10 gift certificate from The Whimsical Muse in the giveaway! The giveaway features many fantastic shops from Etsy that offer a beautiful array of items to dress up those lovely packages.

When life gives you lemons, make something

Tonight's Scrapbook Club was rescheduled at the last minute. I didn't check the phone for messages & almost didn't check my email. I was annoyed at first, thinking 'what if I drove the more than 30 miles which takes at least an hour during rush hour and arrived to nothing?' Then I was disappointed. I sat. I moped. I checked out Facebook & stopped myself before getting sucked into surfing Etsy (& spending out of frustration). I wanted to make something new & different but felt glued to the chair until I got this idea while looking at the Martha Stewart website (I never thought I would reference her site here, but I really do like it). There was something on her site about embroidering & I though, 'that looks like fun, I could do that.' I didn't have any interfacing or a sewing machine but I did have plenty of embroidery floss, a drawing, tracing paper and a bunch of these cute little muslin bags. The tracing paper didn't work out quite as well as I would have liked so I ended up filling in the spots with pencil onto the muslin.
I'm not sure if this bag is quite done. I do like it the way it is but sometimes I just have to add a little something to make things even better. I'm happy I was able to take advantage of having some alone time to do something creative.

Hope all is well with everyone!
Pam

New at The Whimsical Muse!

New at The Whimsical Muse on Etsy.com, glitter heart stickers - envelope seals in red, gold, pink, lavender (not shown here) & a set of all four colors. They are perfect for Valentines day, anniversaries, weddings & just to say "I love you." Great to seal an envelope, make a simple card, dress up a present, add to a mixed media project, embellish a scrapbook page...

A few days late but...

Happy New Year!

Pam