A long hiatus, New Papercraft items... and a new line of Jewelery & Metal Crafts!

Good morning!

It's been [yet again] TOO long since I've sat down and updated my blog. In fact, it looks like it was early May the last time I shared. Let me explain: those last few pregnancy weeks were miserable! Partner that with wrapping up my final work weeks, and our precious new little guy joining us in early June, and-- wah-lah! --blog writing hiatus. I know you're on the edge of your seat, so here is a photo of our sweet little man: It took a little while, but I finally made it back to my crafting desk. Here are a few new items I whipped up:

Don't forget to check out all of my items on my Facebook Page http://facebook.com/idontcookorclean! I will be doing a FREE GIVEAWAY on that page when we reach 200 "Likers"!

You'll also find my brand new line of handmade items on that page. I recently branched out to some different items including Jewelery, Magnets, Keychains & Metal Crafts. These items will be vintage-inspired, and I am even including some Wizard of Oz-themed items... my very favorite childhood movie!

Thanks for checking in!

Baby Models and new Etsy listings

As I mentioned before, I have also been making bibs and burp cloths. I made several for us, as well as for friends. Here are two Sugar Skull print bibs I made for my friend's daughters:

Baby Model Kite

Baby Model Brenna

And here is my sweet boy with a tattoo-print bib (which can be found new on Etsy):

Baby Model Fisher

Also, here are two sports-themed sets I made for my friend's sons:

Baby Model Kaleb

Bib & Burp Cloths for Ashley's baby-to-be

I decided to throw some of my new items up on Etsy. Check out etsy.com/shop/mrsjmattson for this Sugar Skull burp cloth and tattoo-print Bib! Remember, I can do custom orders :)

New items listed on my Etsy site :)

Just in! I just listed to handmade organizers: one in Birthday theme, which is intended to remember the birthdays of your friends and family, store greeting cards and postage stamps, and collecting your party planning ideas and gift receipts. The other is a Recipe Organizer, which allows you to keep your favorite recipe cards and organize by category.

Contact me for custom orders. I have Birthday and Recipe organizers listed HERE on my Etsy site, but have also made a Christmas Organizer and can do any theme of your choice!

kids + Disney + cookies + frogs

Riley and I have been hard at work, creating and sending cards to terminally ill children all across the country. I could not be more impressed with both her creativity and compassion. A few days ago I bought some kid-friendly postage stamps, and came up with a new idea:: starting now, for every order sold through my Etsy site, we will send an additional card to a sick child. Your purchase will ensure a customized "cheer" card is made and mailed! Thanks in advance for your contribution.

Speaking of Etsy, I decided to branch out from only cards and am now selling some other paper crafts as well. I currently have 3 Disney princess cut-out packs for sale which you can check out HERE.

As for a personal update, I have tried to make the most of my four day weekend. The kids got haircuts yesterday, then had a playdate with Miss Kelsi. This morning I woke up and baked three types of cookies, including sugar, which my kids enjoyed frosting for Halloween with their buddy, Rylee. After baking, we went out for lunch, then they spent the afternoon playing outside. At one point I had to call my son in to capture wild frog that had decided to take up residence in our downstairs! Everyone knows I hate frogs. Luckily Noah saved the day!

Paying it Forward.

As you all know, I have been keeping myself busy experimenting with card making. This is all well and good, and I have enjoyed starting up my Etsy site and working with the vintage shop.


As my box of "finished" cards filled up, I began to wonder how and when I would use all of those cards. The answer was so clear. I googled a few key words and found several great sites for sending greetings to hopitalized children and war veterans. My daughter got in on the action and even made a sweet little card for "a sick kid" which she is SO proud of.

So far I have sent a card to 6 year old Peyton who I found on Hugs & Hope, and Aiden and Isabella who were featured on Make a Child Smile. I am excited to send out many more to other organizations as well!

This card-making is getting serious.

With the grand opening of the London Couture Vintage store just a week away, I have been hard at work getting all of my ducks in a row. I can't believe that my art work will not only be on display, but will be for sale, and I am ecstatic that the owners are so excited about featuring my cards.

I came across Vista Print where I designed some great business cards, labels, and a stamp that feature my blog and Etsy addresses. I also decided to copyright my blog and artwork. I now feel completely ready to take on the crafting business world!

ooh la la.

More greeting card news.

My friend Andee has recently opened a vintage store, London Couture. Last weekend I participated as a runway model in his grand opening fashion show, Strutts For Mutts, which was a charity benefit for the Metro Animal Shelter.

Since I had already created a number of vintage-style cards, I asked Andee if he would be interested in having them in his store, and he was very excited about the idea. I made a decent size collection for him, but after the show, I felt inspired to try out some fashionista-themed cards as well. I got ahold of two new Cricut cartridges-- Forever Young and Summer in Paris (limited), which are perfect for the cards I had in mind. Here are a few of my new designs (don't mind the camera phone quality photos, haha):



Of course these cards will be packaged up with envelopes and my logo before they are sold to the store, but I wanted to snap a photo first because I am really happy with how they turned out. Don't forget to check out some of my other paper gifts over on my Etsy site here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mrsjmattson. Unfortunately I am reserving all of my Vintage and Fashionista cards for London Couture, but I will let you know if I put any up!

Hey, I made an Etsy site!

I've been scrapbooking for years, but never expanded beyond photo albums. After purchasing my Cricut machine in July, I found myself eager to cut out new things, and I started exploring with greeting cards.


Now that I have made a whole basket full of cards with various themes, I have decided to try and sell some of my inventory. Check out my Etsy site HERE.

Playtime.

In addition to unpacking and baking, I have been spending a lot of time playing with my newest toy, my Cricut Expression machine. I have NO idea how I have been crafting all of these years without it! I started off with a few cartridges: Give a Hoot, From the Kitchen, New Addition, Dreams Come True, and Mini Monsters. Here are a few things I've whipped up while trying it out: