Regroup & Replenish

I have to post this right now. 

I have to tell the whole world how good of a job I did today. Did I just really compliment myself? Wow. I don't do that very often, if at all. 

The craft bazaar I told you about in my last post was today and it was a major success. Major for me. I didn't make a bajillion dollars but in my little world of crafting...it sure felt like it. 

I've only done 2 craft shows (the one that I did in March doesn't count) but I have to say that even though I have made a profit - it's not all about the money (it sure helps) but I love seeing people's reaction to my creations. It really makes me happy that people enjoy what I make because it's something I love doing. It's so awesome to see someone smile about a set of coasters or a button bracelet (which were the biggest sellers today!!)

Needless to say, I can't wait for the next show in 3 weeks!! I know the next one is going to be HUGE - not just for me but for everyone involved. It's located at one of the biggest churches around the area. That stated, I am going to have to regroup  which means taking a breath, cleaning my craft room and get to makin' more stuff! I mean seriously MAKE. MORE. STUFF. 

In other exciting craft show news, I finally got to use my Square! It was a big day for me!

If you purchased something from me today, stopped by my table or even picked up a business card and you are reading this, I just want to say THANK YOU! Your support, interest and kindness mean so much to me. It helps to keep me inspired and driven to do what I love! 

I sincerely hope that you enjoy your creations that were purchased. I loved making them for you!

UPDATE

Oh yeah, in my last post I talked about chicken enchilada soup in the crock pot and gave a link to the recipe, you need to try it. The soup was awesome. The only thing I added to the recipe was taco seasoning. It gave it a little bit more flavor. Also, garnish it with some cheese, sour cream and crushed tortilla chips. Yum! Go try some. Have it for dinner tomorrow. 

...until next time...

-Sam

The Three Cs

Hello, all!

I hope everyone had a great week and you are now enjoying your weekend! It's a cold one - a great day for cleaning, crafting & cooking. The three Cs - which is what I'll be doing as soon as The Today Show goes off. I love "relaxing" (I call it "relaxing" because mainly its just a method of procrastination from what I really have to do - cleaning.) on a Saturday morning with a cup of steaming coffee, my computer and The Today Show! 

I posted about Zoe, the new puppy, in my last update a few weeks ago. We love her to death and she's still a handful. She also makes a mess and pulls all of the dog toys out of the toy box and they are spread all over the living room floor. Basically, I have to clean more. I'm really not a fan of that. I also have to catch up on laundry and I'm not really a fan of that either. 

Next weekend is another craft show at a local high school. I'm really excited but I still have a TON of work to do. I have to name/label all of the button bracelets, coasters still have to be worked on, cards have to be made. I also may have just increased my workload this morning by emailing a local boutique about selling my creations. I'm so nervous! I'll keep you posted on the news!

Yesterday, I finally received my business cards from VistaPrint. They turned out so nice! See? The picture isn't so nice - thanks to being a cell phone picture but you get this gist of it. 

So, for the cooking portion of the three Cs. Tonight is Crock-Pot night. I don't feel like cooking anything so I'll let the Crock-Pot do it. That thing is like a magical pot. I don't have to do anything but put the ingredients in there and let it do it's thing. I'm thinking of Chicken Enchilada Soup for dinner tonight. The hubby said that he wanted some Tex-Mexiky. I found this recipe on Pinterest and I think this is "the one." Sounds yummy!

It's 9:00 am now and I guess I should get up and start cleaning and getting ingredients ready for the Crock-Pot. Procrastination time is over. 

Whatever you are doing this weekend, whether it be cooking, cleaning, crafting, shopping or nothing at all, enjoy it!

...until next time...

-Sam

Just an Update

It's after midnight on Saturday morning and I thought it would be a great idea to start typing an update about what's going on in my life. I'm now starting to think that was a horrible idea because I probably need to go to bed instead of typing random things about my life and watching reruns of "The Office." Oh well. I digress. 

Meet Zoe (the little 4 legged creature). She joined our family of 3 about 2 or 3 weeks ago. It's been somewhat of an adjustment having another dog around. She definitely keeps us on our toes! 

This is my table set up at my first real craft bazaar! It was so much fun and I actually made a profit! I think I'm addicted to doing craft shows - three more have been booked already since last weekend! 

My button bracelets were a hit! I have to admit that they are really cute! The Virginia Tech color scheme was a hit as well as my table covering that I wrote on. If people weren't intrigued by the button jewelry, they were intrigued by my table covering made of postal wrap. Thank you, Pinterest! 

Other little things that are going on right now:

1. I'm getting a new shotgun tomorrow! Yes, a real shotgun. It goes bang!

2. We are painting our kitchen and redoing our cabinets and adding a pantry. I hate home improvements but I love the final product. 

I'm running out of things to ramble about. Goodnight!

...until next time...

-Sam

New Website!

I've been a pretty busy little bee lately. I've been working on button bracelets (orders and for the craft show), coasters and a brand spankin' new website!

This is the contact page. There is also reviews, FAQs and a gallery. Pretty awesome stuff. I soon hope to have an actual working store. It just makes ordering from me a whole lot easier. 

If you want to take a look at the website, click here.

If you see anything that needs to be changed or if you would like to see something on the website that isn't there, please let me know. 

I'm also pretty excited about how my button bracelets have been taking off. I've sold them to pretty much every woman I work with and I have orders coming in on Facebook and at church. I hope to sell these in a local boutique soon. I just have to muster up the courage to do so. I don't like rejection. Haha!

This bracelet is actually the hubby's idea. He thought it would be a good idea to add the little "Hope" ribbons. He was right. Did I really just say that? I admit, he has good ideas every once in a while. My bracelets also have these really pretty sparkly buttons. So cute! This photo has almost 15 likes on Facebook and just recently received an order for 2 of these. This particular bracelet is $15 if you would like to purchase. Please email me at justdarlincards@yahoo.com.

Well, that's all I have for today! Enjoy the rest of your weekend! 

...until next time...

-Sam

Photo Share

I am still behind on my Project Lifing/Sn@pping. I started working on our little trip to Baltimore, MD on Memorial Day. I really like this picture mainly because of the text that I added. It was pretty boring before but adding a little text adds a lot of character to a photo.

This picture took a lot of work because my printer wasn't cooperating a whole lot. Sometimes, wireless printers can be a pain in the butt. I love my printer when it works because it prints awesome photos but it's a stubborn thing.

That's really all I have for today. I just wanted to share my picture. 

What are you creating today? Are you doing anything fun?

...until next time...

-Sam

No-Kink Hair Ties

I have curly, thick, sometimes unruly hair and I alway carry a hair tie on my wrist or in my purse. I've finally joined the bandwagon on these no-kink hair ties made out of elastic. I love them!! They also look great on your wrist - they make a cute bracelet as well!

I have a ton made so far. They are an easy and fun thing to do while watching TV. In my case, I was watching some of the first season of Friends. I have to say that I've never really watched that show until now. A really good friend of mine let me borrow the complete first season and it's kind of addicting. I will be watching more today because it's a rainy Sunday. I love rainy Sundays!

The only problem that I have with this project is the elastic is kind of tricky to find. I couldn't find any at Michael's. Hobby Lobby has it in the hair accessories section and Joann's has it tucked away in the sewing section in the back corner of the store.

You really don't have to follow a tutorial to make these but if you do, I used this one. If you know how to tie a knot and use a lighter, it's easy peasy. If you are going to try and make them, I recommend cutting the elastic at 9" intervals.

I plan on packaging and selling these on Facebook in my Just Darlin' store and also at upcoming craft shows. 

Enjoy your Sunday and have fun making these awesome hair accessories!

...until next time...

-Sam 

Updates & Stuff

I am most definitely still alive and kickin'. You probably wouldn't know that by the lack of posts here on my blog and also on my Facebook page. I am so bad about this blogging thing - I even remember writing a post saying that I was going to blog everyday. So much for that!

Anyway, for those of you that do stick around and read what I have to say, I have an update on some things and just want to share what I've been up to lately. 

Here. We. Go.

Okay, I am dying to go back to last week and relive it all over again. I was vacationing in Myrtle Beach and this was my view every morning and night. This week, my view, is my desk at work. Whoopee.  

Gorgeous, right? 

I am having withdrawals. Seriously.

The hubster and I had such a great time with our closest friends.

Aren't we adorable?

So, like I said before, this week has been just another week doing the same things as always. Yesterday, I was told by a little birdie that there will be another craft show in October at a local church. I think I'm going to go and sell some things of mine. Hopefully, this show works out better than the last one. I don't think I'm going to have many cards there this time. I think I'm going to have some Christmas ornaments and coasters and possibly some new things. I don't really have a whole lot of details yet but I'll try to keep you posted.

I'm still doing the Project Life/Sn@p thing. I'm so far behind on that. Like, woah. 

I went to Hobby Lobby today and they have some really cute stuff for Sn@p/Project Life. I was pretty excited. I walked away with a couple of cute things!

Other than my vacation and a possible upcoming craft show, there hasn't been a whole lot going on.

Can you believe summer is almost over??

...until next time...

-Sam

Project Life/Sn@p: May 15

As you can tell from the title of this post, I'm a little behind on my Sn@pping/Project Lifing. I've been slacking a little. I just wanted to share this section because I love the colors that I used for this layout! 

. 

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. I'm heading to Myrtle Beach next weekend and I can hardly wait. I feel like a kid on Christmas!

...until next time...

-Sam

Sn@p Update - Brody's Birthday

I finally got around to cleaning my craft room. 

FINALLY!

It's gorgeous! I love it! A happy craft room makes a happy Sam.

The very first picture is what I like to call a miracle. There's nothing on the floor, no random stuff just out and about, clean. You can tell that I cleaned because there's still a can of pledge on my desk. =)

....because my room is now clean, I finally finished Brody's birthday Sn@p album page. I finished the page pretty late last night which isn't really a big deal. I get more crafty the later it gets.  The top picture has a horrible example of my handwriting. I may get more crafty the later it gets but apparently my handwriting doesn't work the same way. My handwriting is normally pretty neat. How embarrassing!

Look at it. Funny, huh? He's all about that little cake!

I kept his cake topper. It was too cute not to!

I am having so much fun with this Project Life format. So easy and fun! If you haven't given it a try yet, I highly recommend that you do. You'll be hooked. 

If you have started. I would love to see some of your pages! 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, everyone. Please remember what this holiday is all about and pray for our troops who are our past, present and future. 

...until next time...

-Sam

Linky Party @ Whipperberry

Hello! I just wanted to let everyone know to link up for a Friday Flair Link Party over at Whipperberry! It should be lots of fun! Go get inspired and comment!

I haven't had another update on my Sn@p album this week. I haven't really had a chance to work on it. Actually, I've been a little bit discombobulated because I feel that my house is in total disarray. Laundry needs to be done, like always, bathrooms need cleaned and my craft room looks like a tornado went through Hobby Lobby and deposited all of its goods right there in my house. I plan on fixing all of this tonight - I hope that this warmer weather will motivate me a little, okay, a lot. Sometimes, okay, a lot of times, I am not the most motivated person out there. 

Wish me luck on being motivated tonight and don't forget to link up at the link party!

...until next time...

-Sam

Sn@p Update

O.M.G!! When I first started doing my version of Project Life I never thought that I would keep up with it or have so much fun doing it! It's a total blast! I've been working on pages every night and I love how my album is turning out. I even made some really fun printables my Apple Blossom pages that were also a hit on Facebook - 260 shares for one printable and 31 shares for another! Go me!

 

The first and second pages are from the wine festival that kicks off the festivities for Apple Blossom ( I apologize for the crooked picture).

Are you Project Lifing? Are you keeping track of the day to day? I would love to see your album or journal! Feel free to share!

...until next time...

-Sam

Sn@p!

 

I've decided to take a little breather from my little business for a bit and I've decided to a little bit of Project Life/Sn@p. I think I'll call it Sn@pLife. That sounds good. 

I used to be all about doing 12x12 layouts and I just can't do that anymore. I don't have the patience or the time to do it. I haven't done a 12x12 layout in a very long time.

Sn@PLife seems like a much easier option for me. Pictures and cards and journaling - pretty easy. I haven't put anything in my pages yet but I plan on doing that this weekend. I have to get everything printed and organized (which is a feat in itself for me!).

I added the fabric to the front but I haven't started adding embellishments yet. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress!

...until next time...

-Sam

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRODY!!

I know a lot of you have seen Brody in other posts of mine, but yesterday was his 5th birthday. We gave him a little doggy cake and I snapped this photo at just the right time. I find it hilarious! I hope you do as well!

He's all like, "IMMAGONNAEATCHOO!!!!"

I can't say that I blame him, because when I get a cake put in front of me, I'm all like, "IMMAGONNAEATCHOO!!!"

Anyway, there hasn't been much crafting going on. Although, I am cleaning up my craft room and made cute little table runners last night for the tops of my drawers. As far as cards, coasters and the whole lot of it - nothing. I would really like to get some of my own scrapbooking started. I haven't done that in FOREVER!!

...maybe tomorrow. 

...until next time...

-Sam

Herbs, Toys and Puppies

Hello! It's me again, Sam, bringing you the life of me from my Mac and my kitchen table with my cup of coffee in hand and only a corner left of my cinnamon raisin toast - which will probably be fed to Brody.

It's that time of year again where everything is blooming and thawing out from winter. We are growing herbs this year. We didn't do that last year but we had really good luck with tomatoes. They were everywhere! A lot of them went to friends and family because we would have never eaten so many tomatoes! Hopefully, the tomatoes will be plentiful this year because I will be making salsa - which is why we are growing cilantro! The Mexican restaurants probably run out of salsa every time I visit. Mmmmm....

I'm not sure if this is cilantro. There are two pots planted - one with basil and one with cilantro. The other pot wasn't very picture worthy because the seedlings are just now coming up out of the dirt - except for one over achiever.

Lately, I haven't been feeling very inspired to make anything. I'm feeling that I just need to take a little bit of a break, not completely stop making things, but maybe just slow down a little bit. I was really cranking out some stuff right before the notorious "craft show," and I guess I'm feeling just a little burnt out. Just a little. 

I am making stuff here and there. Last night I made a dog toy following this tutorial by FabYouBliss. I thought it was pretty simple. I used fabric instead of jersey knit and I knotted the ends a little bit different but it's basically the same concept and Brody seems to really like it. I actually let him take it outside this morning for a photo op. Normally, inside toys don't go outside and outside toys don't come inside. So, he really seemed to enjoy taking his new inside toy, well, outside. He ran around the yard like a crazy dog. I couldn't get really good pictures because he wouldn't stand still. 

I have a feeling that this toy may not last a long time with Brody. He likes to pull the tassels at the end of the toy. He can be very destructive. 

Finally! A decent picture! Even though I had to hold his head to get it but it worked out. Boxers aren't really the most calm breed of dog. 

I'm going to make another toy for this guy....

Meet Buddy, formerly known as, Reggie. This is my new baby brother. If you don't understand what I mean by that, well, my mom and dad got a new puppy through a chain of events and I'm the only child so, he's my baby brother and he's sooooo cute!!! Look at that face!!! I think he'll appreciate and handmade toy. He wants to chew on things that aren't toys anyway, like my mom's ankles. She may appreciate a new toy much more than he will. Ha!

I guess I need to get up and start some laundry and may be tidy up a bit.

I hope you have a great weekend and feel inspired to make something for yourself, others or a furry friend. 

Also, it's a great day to plant a garden!! Go outside!!

...until next time...

-Sam

P.S. - Brody enjoyed the toast. =)

New Stuff

I just wanted to share 2 photos with you today! I worked on some new stuff over the weekend - just tiny little things. 

New rings! I made these with some embellishments that I found at Michael's over the weekend. The pink ring is mine. I can't seem to part with it. Actually, I may keep all of them and go buy some more embellies for rings I'm actually going to part with.

Washi covered thumbtacks. I've been asked to decorate some thumb tacks for some co-workers. These are more of a trial run but they are really cute! I just need some more Washi tape! 

Link up and take a look at some other awesome projects - Click here.

I hope everyone had a great Easter. 

...until next time...

-Sam

Dust and Crab Leg Shells

Okay, so yesterday was the much anticipated craft show. After all of the hype on Facebook, excitement and nervousness - it was a complete flop. The event wasn't at all what I was expecting. It was more of a yard sale/flea market thing. People just brought their junk, threw it on a table and put .25 cents on a set of salt and pepper shakers out of their garage. Basically, it was a bunch of men going around buying dust. A lot of men and a lot of dusty stuff. Men don't really buy cards or coasters or jewelry. However, I did have one guy buy my set of of camo magnets to put on his gun safe. He is the exception and I thank him. 

Even though I didn't sell a whole lot, I'm thankful for the experience. There were lessons learned and things I know for the next craft show. These pictures are of my table and you can sort of see what my cousin had set up on the other side. She faired pretty well and sold some of her hymnal angels. People really seemed to like those. I can't say that I blame them, they're cute!

Coaster and pendants...

Cards! You can even see how I had my table decorated for Easter.

So, what do I do now that this experience is over? Do I keep cranking out more cards and coasters for the next bazaar or show that may come up? Do I take a break for a while and just do my own thing? We will see....

However, after a not so successful show we went to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack near D.C. Here's the picture to prove it...

So, I guess yesterday wasn't all that bad of a day! I did make money and I got to eat some yummy seafood. There's always a silver lining to the cloud...even if it that cloud is covered in dust and leftover crab leg shells.

....until next time...

-Sam

Craft Show Craziness

T-Minus 4 days and counting until the craft show that my cousin and I are doing together. I'm so excited but I'm so nervous as well. 

I've never done anything like this before, just for my profit, and I hope it all works out. I'm praying that I have enough product made. I want to be busy and sell a lot of stuff but I hope we aren't too busy as to where I don't have enough. There's definitely a fine line here.

I have at least 20 sets of coasters, maybe less. I'm not sure if I'm going to sell the last sets that I have done because I've rushed them and now the sealant has cracked. I have a ton of cards. I just feel like I keep making and making but nothing is piling up. I have a lot of envelopes to make in the upcoming days. I have 3 sets of magnets to fix because they fell off my shelf and broke. I don't feel like I have enough magnets. Plus, I don't really know how I'm going to display my stuff. I really need to get my inventory straightened out so I can reconcile it with my Facebook page - I don't want old stuff on there. Ah!!!

Needless to say, I'm feeling very unprepared for this whole thing.

Friday night is set up. O.M.G. I only really have 3 days. 

I'm stressed out a little. 

Okay. I just needed to vent a little. Any encouragement? Any advice? 

...until next time...

-Sam

A Little Hello and Some Mother's Day Cards

I'm snowed in. It's a winter wonderland outside today and I'm loving it! I've made some new cards in the past couple of days and just wanted to share them with everyone. 

I'm totally in love with these corrugated cards that I got from Michael's a few weeks back!!

I thought these 2 corrugated cards would be great for Mother's Day or a wedding!

I hope everyone enjoys their Wednesday!

...until next time...

-Sam

Just a Little Update

My craft room is a complete disaster. There are a couple of reasons for that - the first one being is that I'm just a slob and the second is that I have a lot going on. I'm trying to hard to get product ready for a local craft bazaar. I'm so excited!!! My cousin and I are going in together and we hope to be awesome! Of course, I'lll be making my normal things like coasters, cards and magnets. Jess, my cousin, will be making some things of her own like hymnal angels and possibly some olive oil dispensers made out of recycled wine bottles. I'm not exactly sure what she has planned yet. I have big plans so I hope things go well for us. Crafty seems to run in the family.

I'm turning in our application and money in on Tuesday and I'm hoping that all the spots aren't taken. I just want everyone out there to wish us luck and if any of my readers, the few that I have, to come and visit me if you are in the Winchester, VA area the day of March 23rd. I will have more information the closer the date gets.

I've been making coasters and magnets like a mad person. I'm kind of in a card funk at the moment. Every card that I start making seems to be a big fat failure. I'm hoping to get over that soon because it rather frustrating. If I don't have many cards for the show, I will not be very happy and I won't have anyone to blame but myself.

I'm also pondering on the issue of getting a credit card reader. I don't want to limit my customers to pay only by check or cash. I think if I'm going to start doing some more craft shows, I need to cater to my customers. I know that I don't carry cash around all the time - so I can't expect customers to have cash on them at all times. It's just not convenient. If anyone has any experience with the Square card reader, please let me know. I would love to hear what you have to say.

I just wanted to give a little update. I know that I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. I hope everyone out there is healthy and happy.

...until next time...

-Sam

I Love You

This is the first Valentine's Day card for 2013! I just wanted to share and let everyone know that it's up for purchase on my Facebook page. 

I just can't seem to get enough of doilies these days!

Enjoy your Saturday and make the best of it!

...until next time...

-Sam