Back to School - BBA Challenge

This month it's my turn to host the Blogging Business Artisans Challenge. My topic...Back to School.

"With the little ones headed back to school this time of year, create a fun back to school project. It could be something fun to do with the kids, something for them to give their teacher or just one last fun thing to do with them before they return to school.
Don't have kids, tell us what this time of year means for you. Do you still love to play with school supplies? Do you love that the local spots won't be so crowded with tourists?
Tell us all about it in a blog post."

I have to admit that I still peruse the school supplies every year, even though I haven't been in school for several years now. There is just something about fresh new supplies!

 

But instead of buying this year, I made one of the supplies myself! I always have tons of paper left over after making guest books. And I have tons of chipboard left over after making name albums. So I put the 2 together and made myself a nice little notebook. I always take tons of notes during the holiday season to keep orders straight, so this will be coming in handy very soon!

BBA Challenge - Fall Colors

My favorite thing about fall is the changing colors of the leaves. And I've noticed more red trees this year, which makes everything look even more beautiful! That's why for this month's BBA Challenge, I came up with the idea to use these fall colors to create art.

I was lucky enough to be asked by Sharla of BeadedTail to make her a wooden leaf wall hanging. She sent me scanned photos of leaves from her front yard. From there I created files to cut the exact shape of the leaf out of wood with my laser.

The funny thing about this whole process is me having to ask Sharla what size she wanted these made. I told her the scans must have come through really large because the leaves were over 9" tall! She just laughed and told me that was the actual size of the leaf! Our leaves seem so tiny here in Iowa!

 

After I cut the leaf photo and the wooden leaf with the laser, I glued the two together and added a sealant to preserve them. So far I have one done and I'm working on two more for her to hang on her walls and enjoy the fall colors all year.

What's your favorite thing about fall? Do you have 9" leaves in your part of the country?

New Christmas Ornaments - BBA Challenge

This month's challenge is brought to us by LeAnn of pasqueflower. Her theme is Prelude to the Holidays and she writes this about her challenge:

"October! It is time to start thinking ahead to the holidays -- Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year. They will be here before we know it!
This month, I challenge you to create a holiday-themed item. It could be a new listing for your Etsy shop, a holiday decoration for your home, a costume or special accessory for a holiday gathering, or a gift you intend to give to a friend or loved one.
Since "prelude" is a musical term, you could also make something music-themed if you wish."

I've known all year that I've wanted to add new ornaments to my shop

 for the holidays. This challenge got my butt in gear to get them done early and listed in the shop!

 I've only added one new listing, but I have several variations within the listing for buyers to choose.

I also plan to add a special set of ornaments for Baby's First Year as well. They will follow the same idea as these ornaments with the baby's name at the top, an image in the middle and the date at the bottom. I'm working now on getting several images together for parent's to choose from. I like to offer many options to make the ornament perfect for each buyer.

Thank you LeAnn for this month's challenge and for making me plan ahead for the holidays...I know we can all use that!

Emerging Foggy Spring

This month's BBA Challenge is brought to us by Linda who says "March is the month for spring, but early spring. Let's explore color in terms of tint. In color theory, a tint is the mixture of a color with white, which increases lightness. We often create with color and ignore tints of color. Create a flowery/botanical/plant project with muted tints leaving lots of white space, if you can. This project is to challenge your thought processes about color, using tints. Don't be intimidated by the absence of bright color. Get creative!"

I decided to get creative by tinting some paint. Above are all the materials I used for this challenge.

I started by mixing the yellow and blue paints with white to get my pastel tint.

I then taped off half of the wooden discs with painters tape. By folding the tape around the back, it creates a little tail which is nice to hold onto while you're painting.

I just eyeballed the tape and started painting.

 

I love how these turned out! The blue looks great, but if I use the yellow again, I'll definitely do a couple more coats. I think I'll make these into post earrings after I add a clear coat. But I can definitely see these as magnets as well!

Red Earrings - February BBA Challenge

This month I am the host for the Blogging Business Artisans monthly challenge! I chose a very open-ended theme that just revolves around the color red. "February is about hearts, love, roses...the color red. Create any project you like using the color red!"

I realized in creating this challenge that I rarely use the color red in my creations, so this was a nice challenge for me. I've been making several new jewelry designs with my wooden creations and found the perfect wooden beads to add to my designs! So I started with the red beads and came up with these fun new earrings!

They were so much fun to create and I just love how the turned out! Of course I had to create a pink pair next :)

I also made a larger pair with navy blue beads for a little variation.

 I've been on a creating spree lately, so look for many more new designs to come!

New Techniques - January Challenge

Our first Blogging Business Artisans Challenge for 2013 is brought to us by Deb of storybeader. Here's what Deb has to say about her challenge: "Set aside time to work on and complete a new technique that you admire. It can be within your field of expertise, but doesn't have to be. Blog about your project at least once during the month of January and show us your progression with photos or a video."

This challenge was very popular last year that we decided to do it again...we all need that nudge to work on new projects! For my new technique, I decided to make some fun chevron designs and paint them fun colors! I first engraved and cut them with my laser. I then hand-painted them and topped them with a clear coat for protection.

 Of course I started with pink :) I made a set of post/stud earrings and a set of magnets. I just LOVE how these turned out! I can't wait til I can get a bunch more painted in several different colors! I plan on adding dangle earrings and maybe thumb tacks at some point too.

Thanks Deb for this challenge. This is a technique I've wanted to try for a while and hadn't sat down to do it. This challenge was just what I needed!

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving to all my US blog readers! I hope you're surrounded by family and good food this weekend :)

This month our BBA Challenge was about Gratitude. The host says: "Living with Gratitude is my goal, but certainly at Thanksgiving we all stop to think about what we're thankful for.  How does gratitude play a part in your life?  Create something that shows your gratitude."

I took inspiration from two areas for this challenge. Judy Nolan makes the cutest Gratitude Journals in her MisterPenQuin shop and I wanted to make something similar for myself. Also, I've seen several of my Facebook friends doing a daily challenge by posting what they are thankful for the entire month of November. I took the two ideas and made a daily gratitude journal of my own.

 

Some days I'm grateful for the little things.

Other days, I'm grateful for bigger things...and use the front and back of the page to write my though

I'm always grateful for my family, friends, health and amazing life. So I used this journal to think about all the little things I'm thankful for. Anything from a day in my pjs to a great business opportunity. I'm thankful everyday :)

Personalized Name Signs

I'm very excited about my newest product! It's one I've been wanting to add to my shop for quite some time now and I'm so glad I finally got it listed!

NOW AVAILABLE: CUSTOM NAME SIGNS!!!

Our theme for the Blogging Business Artisans team challenge this month was to use a new medium or try a new technique. Nancy of N. Fallon Design Studio is our host and I love her theme (inspired by Deb of Story Beader)! My new signs use both a new medium and new technique!

The signs are made of MDF board, which is a new material for me. I use red alder wood in most of my work with a little bamboo and maple, but the MDF is completely new to me! And the technique of using two colors is also new! I love how striking the black and white look together! I'm inspired to try signs with more than 2 colors now as well! How cool would a pop of pink look on here!!!

I got these signs listed in my shop last night! I hope they'll do well with the upcoming holiday season! I sold one at my show last weekend, so I'm off to a good start :)

Back to School - BBA Challenge

This month's Blogging Business Artisans Challenge theme is brought to us by Erika of Artful Rising. Our theme is Back to School: Back to school supplies, clothes, accessories, art, anything related to the back to school madness!

I love to find ways to use up supplies that are left from other projects. When I make my guest books, I get three pieces of paper that I use as my pages from them, but I'm also left with a 5.375"x5.375" piece as well as a 3"x5.375" piece as well. My mini notebooks are perfect for using up the smaller left over pieces!

I came up with 4 new designs for this challenge as I thought they'd all make cute notebooks to send the kids back to school with.

This Live Out Loud Notebook would have been perfect for me when I was in school :)

And the Bright Ideas Notebook is great for any student...young or old :)

Now if I could just figure out what to do with the 5.375" square pieces! Any suggestions?

Love these challenges? Want to join an amazing Etsy team? Check out our team page right HERE. We'd love to have you join us :)

Summer Lovin' - BBA Challenge

This month at the Blogging Business Artisans Team, our challenge was brought to us by Jenny of A Bird In The Hand Art and her theme is Summer Lovin'. Jenny says:we can do anything summer or love related or even Grease (the movie) related!

It took me to the end of the month, but I finally found inspiration for the challenge! It is something I've been wanting to try for quite a while and the challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to give it a try! I made a Laser Cut Wood Frame Insert!

This insert is cut from the same material I use for wedding invitations and guest book covers. I did find that cutting these letters so tiny makes the frame very fragile. I was debating whether I would sell them in a frame or by themselves, but to ensure safe delivery, I will definitely be selling them in the frame.

I tried two different formats. One with the words floating in the middle and one with the words resting on the bottom edge of the outside frame. I like both versions, but both also have their challenges. The one that's floating is much  more fragile. But the one that's resting along the bottom will need some more work in my software program to be perfected.

I was so happy I thought to use this for the challenge piece. It has so many possibilities for babies, weddings, vacations...pretty much any time you frame a photo! Now I need to go find a photo of my own to put in this frame :)

Destination Wedding Invitations

As part of the Blogging Business Artisans Team on Etsy, one of our requirements is to participate in challenges. I love that challenges help us grow and try new things! This month's theme is brought to us by Erika of Little Andalucia and her theme for us is Under the Sea. Erika says: "June begins the anticipation of warmer weather, vacations, and playing on the beach. Create with the theme Under the Sea." 

I've been wanting to create some new invitations to add to my shop for a while now. My current designs are doing very well and I want to give people options when browsing. I thought the Under the Sea theme was perfect for Destination Wedding Invitations!

I started with the Starfish Design and have other options shown in the listing. Once I started designing these, it was hard to limit the choices! There are so many fun Under the Sea graphics I could use for these!

Thank you Erika for choosing such a fun theme!

 Keep an eye out later this week for more new invitation designs!

BBA May Challenge - Inspiration

 This month's Blogging Business Artisans Challenge is brought to us by Sharla of Beaded Tail. Sharla says: Your challenge is to incorporate your favorite inspiration into a project of your choice.

I would have to say that one of my biggest inspirations are my customers! If you've read much of my blog at all, you know that a lot of my custom orders get put in my shop as new listings. I love custom work because it opens up so many windows and gives me so many new ideas! And one custom order may lead to two or three new ideas for my shop!

My Wood Wedding Invitations are no exception! As of right now, I only have two designs listed in my shop (with many more ideas still to come!) But each order I've received for the invitations has been for a different and unique design.

 

My very first order was of this tree design. The couple sent me the design they'd used for other items for their wedding and I incorporated it into their invitations. I love how it turned out.

 

The second set was of my Carved Tree Design. This design has done really well and I love it on the invitations. Only a few minor adjustments were made to this original design.

  

 This third set is very similar to the original tree design, but the couple emailed their own drawing of the tree with a few adjustments. I think the little leaves finish it off...so cute :)

 

 For this next set, the couple described their ideal invitation and I emailed a few digital samples and we came up with this heart bunting design. This one will definitely be making an appearance in my shop! I added their names to the bunting to make them even more personal!

My most current set is for a couple getting married on a mountain top in Colorado! They loved the wood invitations for the rustic feel and wanted a design that would match their wedding theme. This mountain graphic was just perfect!

I love how each of these invitations is so unique and personal to the bride and groom! My customers are so inspiring and their ideas spark even more ideas in me :) I can't wait to create more designs for these invitations!

Red and Turquoise - BBA Challenge Piece

I purchased this paper set several years ago. I'm a bit of a paper collector rather than a paper user...LOL :) When I saw this month's challenge at the BBA Blog I knew it was time to dig out this paper and finally put it to good use!

Rose of RandomCreative is this month's challenge leader and one of her all time favorite color combinations is Red and Turquoise. After putting this album together, I can see why!

I am always looking for more color combinations for my Premade Albums, so I was happy to add this combination to my selections. And I've gotten it added in my shop as well!

Stop by the BBA Blog to see all the other entries.

February Challenge - A Month of Love

This month, I am the challenge leader for the Blogging Business Artisans and I chose the theme Month of Love! And what better day to blog about it than Valentine's Day :)

I had the perfect piece I wanted to make for this challenge! I've been wanting to try my hand at converting scroll saw patterns into patterns I can use for my laser. I came across this awesome heart pattern a while back and knew it was the perfect time to use it!

I loved learning how to make this into a pattern that I could use for my laser! It was a new learning experience for me and one that I can use over and over with several designs in the future! And the best part was, I got two designs in one with out even realizing it :) When I got the original heart all cut out...there was a little heart shape left from the inside of the heart.

I made this into brooch/pin. I engraved the word love on it and added the pin to the back!

Something else that was new for me this month was jewelry making. Sure I've made some simple pendants before, but I bought some new tools and attached a jump ring to the pendant, added the chain and added the clasp to the chain all by hand. It's a very small start, but it was fun to practice something new. I have other ideas for wooden jewelry and this will help me get started!

Check out some of the other fun heart projects I did this month: