TIME FOR A CHANGE!

My 2nd Etsy shop (The Paper Peddler) has been keeping me quite busy lately (I'm not complaining, though). I really want to have a regular blog and in trying to keep 2 seperate blogs (1 for each shop), they have both been negleted. In an effort to have the kind of blog I want, I am currently in the process of merging the two together. I am hoping that this will help me focus on my blogging and bring a better reading experience to all of you who check my blog on a regular basis (only to find there are no posts, nothing fun to read, explore or look at). Please visit & bookmark my 2nd blog, which is now going to be my only blog for both of my etsy shops and crafting related items. Thanks to all for you interest & support - it is much appreciated!!! The Paper Peddler Blog: http://paperpeddler.blogspot.com/

GOOD for the ENVIRONMENT

ETSYPAPER TEAM - HANDMADE PAPER I sell my cards on my main website but I also have a shop on etsy. I belong to a "street " team within the etsy selling community called The etsypaper team. We are over 100 members strong and have our own social networking site where we can communicate and share ideas and photos of our paper related products. A month (or so) ago, one of our members started a forum looking for suggestions on what to do with paper scraps. There were a lot of great ideas and after one thing led to another...... we decided that we should send our scraps to one of our members who actually makes her own paper! I sent a 2lb. box of scraps a couple of weeks ago and everyone else is doing the same. This is a much better solution than just throwing scraps in the trash (you can only imagine how much paper 100+ paper crafters can go through!). We have tagged her handmade paper - Etsypaper street team paper. She is also donating a portion of her sales back into our street team fund. The paper looks great, with a nice selection of colors and it looks to have a nice texture as well. If you are interested in buying her handmade paper, the link to her shop is at the end of this blog. The paper she makes from our scraps is good her shop, good for our team, good for the environment and good for the buyer who gets great looking and fun handmade paper to play with! It's a win/win/win/win situation! Etsypaper team members who sell handmade paper: Main- http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5328180

Other- http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5323828

Valentine's Day Trading Cards - Jr. Cardmakers

It's time for love - Valentine's Day is here and my girls are super excited! When I think of Valentine's Day I am reminded of school days when I handed out small trading cards to all of my classmates, enjoyed yummy heart shaped cookies, and rushed home to admire all of the trading cards my friends had given me. Valentine's Day is lots of fun and a great time to remind friends and family of how much you care for and love them. For the past two years , my girls have delighted themselves in making Valentine trading cards for their friends at school. I enjoy helping them pick out Valentine themed stamps, inks and stickers and then supervising them as they lovingly create cards for the big card trade. This year I decided to give them 100% cardmaking freedom. I gave them all of the supplies - heavy white cardstock (cut into 2.75 x 4.25) pieces perfect for trading, Disney Princess stamps, pink and red ink pads, and bright, glittery heart stickers. I laid it all out, had them put on art smocks and they went to town. They made 32 cards in all and while my oldest daughter practiced writing her name on the back of each card, my little one made a wonderful, mock cursive scribble signature on each of her 22 cards. They can't wait to take the cards to school. I'm sure their friends will all be very happy to take these cards home. They are of course the best kind of card - HANDMADE!