Tomorrow's the first day of school! I need to return to work just so I can keep my days straight! It's my 10th year, and I know it'll be a good one.
I've been wracking my brain to come up with back to school gift for my friends at work.
A while ago, I saw a Valentine's Day gift idea for teachers here, and decided to use the idea to make gifts for my co-workers.
1. You'll need chinese take out boxes, fortune cookies, tissue paper, glue, ribbon, a 4" scalloped paper punch (I used the "Accent Essentials" Cricut cartridge), and this print out.
2. Cut out the print out, and glue to the scalloped black circle.
3. Add tissue paper to the Chinese take out boxes.
4. Add fortune cookies to the boxes.
5. Glue scalloped circles to the boxes.
6. Tie a bow to the box's handle.
7. Glue gun 2 pencils to the tops of the boxes for chopsticks :)
This evening, Ruth, Gracie and I walked up the steps of the Flamingo Library not knowing what to expect and feeling ill prepared. We had no idea that 15 minutes later we would be shaking the hand of a very helpful and knowledgeable man who gave us some very sound business advice. For free! Have you heard of SCORE ?
"SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses start, grow, and succeed nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and has been mentoring small business owners for more than forty years."
Ruth and Gracie were told about SCORE's workshops at the Department of Taxation Basic Training class last week. So, we made an appointment and met Dr. Norman Brown. We gave him some basic info about Paper Dolls, our product and where we want to be in a year. He helped us sketch out our timeline a bit, gave us some funding advice (Gulp!), informed us of the entire SCORE schedule of seminars, and even offered to show his son our Etsy shop to get his advice on our niche! We will be meeting Norman again soon.
Its the beginning of another great relationship and we left feeling so grateful that there are so many resources and altruistic people around us that want to help! I guess Goethe was right: "At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you."
Click here to see the SCORE seminars available in Las Vegas. Happy Wednesday friends, fans and readers! Until next week.
It's true, I like Gaga... even more when I was playing "Rock Band" a few weeks ago and finally paid attention the lyrics to "Poker Face" with Lauren. During the part,
"I won't tell you that I love you
Kiss or hug you
Cause I'm bluffin' with my muffin
I'm not lying
I'm just stunnin' with my love-glue-gunning"
We looked at each other and thought, "BLOG TOPIC"! haha. Yes, we are nerdy and are easily amused by silly Lady Gaga lyrics and are thinking about our little business all. the. time.
In all of my years of crafting, I have had a healthy phobia of glue guns. True story. Stop laughing. (Raise your hand if you've ever had a blister from a glue gun burn! Yup, you probably sucked it up, healed, and continued to use the gun to make pretty things.) Not me! I could give you a list of other adhesives that I've used to avoid the dang gun... Tombo Aqua liquid glue, Aleene's Original Tacky Glue, ZOTS clear adhesive dots, Amazing GOOP Craft Contact Adhesive and Sealant...
This summer at the sweatshop, I decided to give the glue gun another chance. It's cut down on drying time for projects, and I've probably gone through 200 glue gun sticks making exploding cards! May I recommend one? Here's the one I've been using:
It's the SUREBONDER Hi-temp detail mini glue gun. It's got a fine nozzle for detail work and a built in stand. :) I never thought I'd say it, but I love it.
Take a peak at what I've been working on:
What pretty things have you been making?
P.S. We sold another item on Etsy! Shout out to Candy from LV! Thanks for your support, it means a lot!
(Owl hoop made with felt, embroidery floss, and buttons)
P.P.S. Happy birthday (8/18) to an honorary Paper Doll, my Paper Mama, Mama Baula!
Paper Dolls has reopened the sweatshop. With a minor adjustment thanks to a Mitch Hedburg solution - air conditioning! We have registered for the Great Craft Festival, November 4, 5, and 6th at Cashman Center. Seeing as Santa's elves have been uncooperative in previous years, we don't really feel as though we can rely on them so, its up to us! We are breaking out all of the fall colors, papers, stickers etc. and the winter holiday supplies as well! Gracie has been burning her fingers to the bone with the glue gun making exploding cards, Ruth has been felting all the live long day, and me? I've been making wreaths. LOTS of wreaths.
Also, we are super official - we just got our EIN number! You have no idea how excited we were to see a legitimate document from the IRS that says Paper Dolls on it.
Finally, Ruth and Gracie attended the Department of Taxation Basic Training Workshop yesterday. They learned:
Document everything, keep all financial documents separate! Don't mingle business and personal.
Use your resources - there's a lot of information out there and its free. (http://tax.state.nv.us/ for starters!)
You don't want a visit from the tax man.
Everybody wants a piece of you - don't get attached to your money, its not really yours. Well, at least not all of it.
Hi doll face!Is it me or does it seem like everyone is popping out babies lately?I feel like I’ve been focusing on baby gifts for the past month.It’s seriously making my ovaries hurt, giving me baby fever!These are my favorite projects this week:
1.Baby booties
Look at these teeny, tiny things!SO simple, but so cute.My mom made these, by the way.They’re made of felt, flannel, and embroidery floss.
2.Baby wooden blocks
Step 1: Use your "25% off your entire purchase" coupon at craft stores to buy these 1.5” wooden blocks because they never go on sale and it doesn’t make sense to use your "40% off one item" coupon on one block at a time :/Use your "40% off one item" coupon on the Mod Podge. That's right! Save that money. :)
Step 2: Cut paper scraps from your scraps bucket to cover your wooden block sides.I cut 1 and 3/8 squares, but you can make them smaller if you want.
Step 3: Brush one layer of Mod Podge on a side of the block.
Step 4: Carefully lay on square of paper on the Mod Podge layer.
Step 5: Give it time to dry (it dries pretty quickly), then brush a 2nd coat on top of the paper.
Step 6: Continue steps 3-5 until all sides of all blocks are covered.
Step 7: Decorate as you wish.I used letter stickers to spell my friend, Julie’s little man sandwich’s name!I can’t wait to meet him.
3.Diaper Cakes
This was my 2nd diaper cake ever!It’s pretty easy to make.I learned how to make it by using good ol’ YouTube… that’s right… where I learn how to do just about everything. Ha!
Hope your week was filled with making pretty things! Happy crafting!
P.S. Ruth, Lauren, and I submitted an application along with our Etsy site and photos to become a vendor at The Great Craft Festival in November on Wednesday. This would be good experience for us because this is the 29th annual festival, and 13,000 are expected to come! We got an email back on Thursday that said we were accepted! Woo hoo! This only means one thing: Back to the sweat shop. :)
Hi everybody, this is my frustrated face. It's been a while since I talked about any business progress we've been making on brick-and-mortar Paper Dolls; still opening July 2012! We've been working on writing our business plan in the hopes of luring investors and/or helping us get a business loan. Today, we've been trying to make lists of all the scrapbook supplies we will carry and the wholesale prices for each. It's not very easy to find these prices if you don't already have a business license. It's a bit of a catch 22 actually. If anybody has any advice for us, we'd appreciate it. More to come soon- gotta get back to work.
Paper Dolls has been working on the financials for our business plan and enlisting the help of a lawyer friend of ours who has been very kindly willing to flex his pro bono muscles for some crafty girls in need. Thanks Mike! All that staring at spreadsheets has gotten me feeling a little down and I needed a boost. So, I cleaned up my room and bathroom this weekend while listening to some booty-shaking music and dancing around in my pajamas! Both rooms in my house have a lot of yellow patterns, objects and accents. How can you not smile when you see the perfect pair of yellow shoes, a cheery yellow floral bedspread or soft lemon satin ribbons? So, off we go, a tour of 2 of my favorite rooms in my apartment. A maize montage of photos, frames, a butter dish I picked up at Anthropologie on clearance, vases, an antique bird, my own painting and an earring organizer from Urban Outfitters. The shelves are from Ikea, of course!
A papaya photo board that hangs above my desk. I covered an old painting with upholstery fabric, wrapped satin ribbons around it and added photos of family, friends and loved ones.
A lemon lighting fixture I crafted with my Dad about 5 years ago. I picked up these plastic, geometric shades, added a light bulb on a wire and asked my super-handy father to fashion a structure out of conduit to screw into the ceiling. The orange doesn't exactly match my room anymore but I love it so much I can't seem to part with it!
My buttercup bedspread - I love, love, love it! I love my bed! Its over 100 degrees in Las Vegas right now and I still won't take my bedspread off. Its a cute yellow and grey floral quilt that goes so well with my grey ruffles waterfall curtains.
Golden Gerbera daisies sprinkled amongst lime and ivory flowers add the perfect amount of cheer and warmth to the area above the towel rack in my bathroom. I picked up the yellow flower hook at Pier 1 at the beginning of the summer for about $8!
More mustard Gerberas cover the push pins I used to hold these porcelain plaques on the wall of my bathroom. They invite you to clean, soak and splash in the sunshine glow of mellow yellow.
Thanks for coming on my tour - enjoy your week! Look for a blog from Ruth on Wednesday.
2. Cut out the print out, and glue to the scalloped black circle.
5. Glue scalloped circles to the boxes.
Ta-da! :)
