Two Thousand Eleven

Oh my scrappy peeps....there is SO much good stuff coming in 2011.  I simply cannot wait for it to get here.

Here's a few hints about the upcoming scrap goodness that is entering my life next year:

* I have been honored & humbled with an invitation to join the staff of a fabulous & inspiring scrapbooking website.
* One of my jewelry items is going to be published in a national papercrafting magazine.
* I will be launching a new website dedicated solely to my jewelry line.
* The NABS Scrapbook meetup group - started with my friend Angie back in June - is growing and thriving.  There has been a surge in requests to join NABS in the past month, which means meeting new scrap friends that are just as nuts about papercrafting as I am.

I will be sharing more details....soon!

Now...go scrap something!

O Christmas Tree!

Okay, okay...this isn't really MY tree...

I googled "world's most expensive Christmas tree" and this is what I got.  It's in Singapore and it's worth about a million bucks.  It also weighs over 7000 pounds.  (Not exactly something that you can have hubby fetch from the attic on his lunch break.)

You don't see a picture of my Christmas tree because... we aren't putting one up this year.

*I'll pause while you climb back into the chair from whence you fell when you read this devastating news.*

Yes, it's true.  There is no musical Pisowald Christmas decor illuminating the front yard - and pissing off the neighbors - for 2010.  There are no stockings hung, no garland strung, no cookies baked.

And since this is the internet after all....I don't know what criminal types are eagerly perusing scrappy blogs like mine just waiting for an unsuspecting papercrafter to divulge just when her and her family will be out of town so they can break in and steal all her pretty paper... I can't tell you exactly when or where we will be going.

(If you are a burglar reading this, note that all of my scrapbooking supplies have been booby trapped and you will not get out alive. It would be much safer for you to just break into the garage and help yourself to my husband's fishing paraphernalia.)

Maybe decorating would've gotten me more in the Christmas spirit.  I'm not a huge fan of the holidays anyway so without any festive decor hanging from every nook and cranny, it's really easy for me to be Scrooge-like.
I'm hoping that once we are in the sub-zero weather...surrounded by our families (and other people we see less than once a year) that it will all finally feel like Christmas.

Til next year....

A New Look

I finally got a chance to update my blog to a fancy 3-column style.   Considering how technologically challenged I am, this was kind of a big deal.

Hubster is working on my new website.  After it's all set up, he's going to hand it over to me.  That should be all sorts of fun.  He bought me a new computer (well, new to us) over the weekend which he is currently re-building (I don't know what that means, but he's pretty excited about it).  All I asked for was a new mouse, but who am I to argue??
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I am very, VERY excited that the Gypsy now works with my new Imagine.   I actually used my new "I" to make a baby shower card - my first real project with this machine.  I think it came out pretty cute:

My very talented and generous Stampin' Up demo Lisa has offered to take some of my jewelry to a craft fair she is doing this weekend, so I've got to get to work while the chicklets are in school...

News

Looking for my jewelry?

Click here.

(Three years later and Breena is still making Baylinn cry.)

I usually don't read the paper that comes to our house Thursday thru Sunday. Well, except for the circulars on Sundays (read: Joann's and Michael's coupons). But Brian brought it in today and set it on the kitchen counter so I looked through it while sipping my first cup of coffee. As I read just the first section, I was reminded why I tend to avoid it and the t.v. news.

It's Veterans Day so the front page article is indeed about a man who is a vet in the Iraq war. He came home with all his limbs, without a bullet wound, without any shrapnel in his body. Instead he suffers from a cancer that was caused from toxins he was exposed to during one of his Iraq tours of duty.

Also on the front page: a local guidance counselor in our neighboring town arrested for possession of child pornography. Lots of it.

Then there is the snippet that says "Injured triplet comes out of coma" - which I suppose would be the good news of the day, if I didn't already know that her sister had died in the tragic accident that put 5-year old Gabrielle in a coma in the first place. The triplets were playing in their neighbor's yard when a woman driving carelessly after a fight with her husband ran them down.

I don't know why I kept reading. Maybe I was looking for something good, something positive. Instead I came across the article about the 9th graders who took guns to school for "protection." A mom from my scrapbooking group has a daughter who is in the same class as these boys...a mom who spent hours scared for her youngest who was on lockdown while the school was searched and the guns were found.

Should I continue? There was the story about Elizabeth Smart testifying against the deranged man who kidnapped her at knifepoint from her home when she was 14. Then the one about amazon.com selling a book offering advice to pedophiles.

Finally the obituaries. Amongst the paragraphs noting the long lives of area residents, was a tiny pic of a bald, smiling little boy. Ezra David Matthews lost his fight against neuroblastoma on November 8. He was 2 years old. I looked up at my 3-year olds, who were pouting because I had just yelled at them - again- for fighting over toys (we have 2 of just about everything but this doesn't seem to matter.)

My girls drive me nuts. They are the reason that a glass of wine and a bubble bath is part of my nightly routine. But they are healthy. Happy.

Here.

Wanna Shop??

Here's the link to my etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TwoataTime

Or if you see something here on my blog you like, just send me an email. I accept paypal and ship for FREE in the United States.

email: britten@tampabay.rr.com

I love custom orders, so if you want something in a different size, shape or color... email me and we'll chat!

A new website is in the works....so soon you will be able to shop right here at my TwoataTime website.

All of my jewelry and hair accessories are hand-made by me... from paper. Each piece has been sealed several times to make it durable and water-resistant, yet it's extremely comfortable and light-weight. Treat it like you would any costume jewelry and remove it before immersing in water.

Below is some things that I have for sale but that haven't made it into my etsy store yet.Everything is available in other colors by request & at no additional charge.

Blue bird on 18" snake chain, $10

Gray flower bracelet, $15

Pink & Brown Owl on adjustable ball chain, $10

These flower rings are one of my most popular items. They are hand-dipped in enamel to make them durable (and shiny!) and adhered to an adjustable silver band. All rings are $7 and available in other colors by request and at no additional charge.

These rings were custom made in burgundy and dark brown to match bridesmaid's dresses.

(Thanks Christy - not long now!)

All of my earrings are super light-weight...I have a customer who has a torn earlobe (ouch!) and had not been able to wear earrings for 4 years, until she found my earrings at a craft fair. She's now the excited owner of 4 pair.

Necklace ($10) and earring set ($5). Available together for $15 or separately.

Copper earrings, $5

Double drop earrings, $6

Embossed flower earrings,$5

My girls have long hair and I never know what to do with it. That's what inspired these hair clips and barrettes. Some are ribbon covered metal clips, others are attached to a black barrette. All are $3 each.

Monogrammed clips available in any color combo and with your choice of initial.

Shiny star, green butterfly, pink tiara with rhinestones, yellow bird, AND LOTS MORE designs and styles!

All $3 each.

and coming soon.....

The Bridal Collection

Trick or Treat?

Apparently last night's answer to the age old question "Trick or Treat?" was treat because the two fairies pictured above came home with 7 pounds of candy...

Hold On Tight

Yesterday was an emotional day.

I had an absolutely wonderful day at the St. Andrews Craft Fair. The weather was near perfect (except for the wind gusts that threatened to blow away my ultra-light-weight paper jewelry). The fair-goers really had an awesome response to my jewelry so it sold better than I expected and I know my friend Angie had something to do with that (Angie is the "A" in our NABS Scrapbook Group). She volunteered to help me out at the fair, so she showed up wearing all of my jewelry and became a walking, talking advertisement for my little business. And it worked.

(I know, I know....I need a big sign.)

Angie is moving back to her hometown in Michigan this week and she is going to be missed by so many people here in Florida. Our NABS group is just not going to be the same without our vowel.

(Angie and I at our NABS Halloween crop last night)

After the long day at the craft fair, I came home to grab a snack, a shower and some scrap stuff and headed out to our Halloween Costume Crop.

(Group Photo)

(This is N.A.B.S - Nancy, Angie, Britten, Sharon)

Even though we lost touch for awhile, we have all been scrapping together for several years. We re-discovered each other through another scrapbook group on meetup.com in 2009 and when that group fizzled, Angie and I formed NABS in June of this year.

While it is always great to crop with these girls, it was a bittersweet night because we knew it was Angie's last crop with us. I hate saying good-bye. I'm just not good at it.

I also learned yesterday that a few of my scrappy friends have also been dealing with deaths of loved ones and job loss. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

Happiest of Halloween everyone.

Into every life a little water must leak...

Wait. That's not how the song goes.

The pile of wet wood you see above is my 5-month old floor.

Yes, it's been a damp 2010.

I came home Monday around noon to find a couple puddles of water in the hallway and the powder room. I thought maybe the toilet was leaking a little. Brian thought so too. Until I walked into our bedroom... and the floor squished.

We've got a leaky pipe....somewhere under the concrete slab the house sits on. Until they figure out where that leak is and get it fixed, we have no running water. Which sucks.

The plumber is here now so I am just hoping and praying this is fixed....soon.

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Now on to some happier news...

A bride-to-be and her mom purchased two of my rings at the craft fair a couple weeks ago. She liked it so much that she asked me to make her bridesmaids rings to wear at the wedding. I also made her these cute little boxes. Her colors are burgundy and brown.

Yep, that is a paper flower...dipped in enamel to give it high gloss and protect the paper.

It took me several tries to perfect the process for these rings but I just love how they look. It's just a fun piece of jewelry (and for $7, it's cheap too!)

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The last news I have to report is all about Club Ruby...and it's BIG!

Starting tomorrow - October 28 - Club Ruby will be opening up a basic membership to EVERYONE for FREE! There will also be other higher levels of membership with lots and lots of perks that will be available at a ridiculously small cost per month. So be sure to check out the Club Ruby site tomorrow for all of the details.

I was also asked if I was interested in a promotion to Master Designer for Club Ruby. My answer of course was "HELL YEAH!!"

I have loved being a part of such a talented Design Team and working for Megan and Sean has been a fantastic experience. They are so down-to-earth and superbly genuine. I love that they love what they do.

Country Day

Our (Christian) preschool isn't celebrating Halloween, they are celebrating Fall with a Country Day for the kids. They couldn't wear their Halloween costumes, but they could dress in country western attire. Since we don't really have much of that laying around the house, I wanted to make the girls a couple of t-shirts. I started with a stencil I cut with my cricut and some fabric paint, but that didn't work out, so I dusted off my sewing machine and did a quick applique with some felt I had. The t-shirts are Disney...a super find I discovered at the Dollar Store - for a buck!

The shirts look cute....from a distance. As soon as the teacher saw them she said "I see that Mom got crafty!" Uh-oh.

I'm sure the girls will someday refuse to wear my handmade creations...so I'm going to do it while I can. Even if they don't always turn out so great.

Custom Order

For Melody

*Happy Dance*

This *Happy Dance* is for getting through my first craft fair -- without any (visible) signs of a nervous breakdown. Which - for me - is a major accomplishment.

(Thanks for the pic Darlene!)

It might not look overly impressive, but I worked my butt off to get the stuff you see on that table made for the fair. And it really turned out to be a positive experience. The other vendors were friendly, the people running the fair were helpful, and the customers had nice things to say about my jewelry. (Although my friends and family have been very supportive and encouraging, it was good to hear that people who weren't related to me liked my stuff.)

I sold more than I thought I was going to, which was a nice surprise. I even got a couple custom orders and some customers said they would be looking for me at the next craft fair on the 30th.

Having just this little bit of success has given me a boost of self-confidence that I really needed. My etsy store desperately needs my attention...plus I've got some design ideas for Christmas floating around in my head. The sales I had today...along with some kind words from strangers...will give me the motivation to keep going.

I owe my NABS friend Darlene a HUGE thank you for volunteering to hang out with me today. She gave up most of her Saturday to help me and I can't put into words how much I appreciated that. She's a veteran craft fair vendor so her advice and support (as well as her black tablecloth and anti-pasta salad) was so valuable. I'm hoping she wants to get back in the craft fair circuit so I've got a partner to do these shows with. It's so much more fun with friends!

More Cute Clips

If this one doesn't sell, at least the girls can wear it...

This one is inspired by Boomer...

See the resemblance?

Hey Look! New Stuff!

Ever since I finished up my 3 Club Ruby Design Team projects for October, I've been making items for the craft fairs I have coming up.

Everything I've made so far as been for grown-ups. But I definitely think I'd be crazy not to tap into the little girl market so here are a couple new things I've been trying out. Luckily I have two girls with tons of hair to model for me. (These would look a little silly if I had boys.)

If I can get some more made, I might stick a couple in my etsy shop too, just to see what happens.

Once Baylinn saw this headband with the crown, she wasn't interested in trying on anything else.

Pumpkin barrette.

Bat barrette.
Crown barrette.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

The Gift of Gab?

Whoever coined this phrase never met Breena.

The child loves the sound of her own voice. She talks constantly. If she can't think of something to talk about she just makes statements. I call her Captain Obvious.

For instance:

"Momma, you having coffee. You wiping off the table. You wearing black. You a girl. I'm a girl. Boomer's a boy. Daddy's a boy." See what I mean? Captain Obvious.

It might be the worst in the car. Breena tells me how to drive ("slow down!" "stop!" "go!"), makes random statements like "trees don't talk," and then she loves to attempt to get my attention while I'm driving with "look at me momma!" and "watch this!"

I took them to the mall yesterday morning and Breena talked non-stop in the car until the usually quiet Baylinn actually yelled "Stop talking!"

Brian says to ignore her. That just makes her more determined. "Momma, you not talking. You not talking to me? Momma. Momma. MOMMA! What's wrong Momma?" Holy crap.

She has invented her own language:

"papa ernie" = pepperoni

"the crap store" = the craft store

"scraperate" = scrapbooking

"sip sups" = flip flops

"apple starts with a b. Baaa. Apple" (we are working on this)

The irony of all this?

Last week Brian and I went to the girls' preschool for their Open House. Both teachers told us how "quiet and reserved" Breena is. I'm not kidding. They thought Baylinn was the first born and the dominant twin because she can be quite bossy - especially to Breena - while at school. They said they actually "felt bad" for Breena because Baylinn takes things from her and tells her what to do. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. We thought maybe the teachers had them mixed up, so we gave them a quick quiz, but nope, they knew Breena was the red-head.

Go figure.

*Yawn*

Dear blog,

It's been 20 (!) days since my last update. I'm sorry I've neglected you. I have written a hundred [mental] blog entries in the last 3 weeks ...none of which managed to make it out of my head and onto the computer.

Last week was my 29th birthday (again) and I got two fabulous presents from the Hubster and Chicklets. One was the new Cricut Imagine - which prints AND cuts:

and the other was this nifty point and shoot camera by Nikon called Coolpix (mine is silver, not blue). It's the size of a credit card and only about an inch thick, but it has some awesome features that I have no idea how to use yet:

I also got to go on a fabulous scrapbook retreat with some talented scrappers from my NABS meetup group. Here we are posing out by the pool:

We spent 4 blissful days scrapbooking, eating, shopping (some did WAY more shoppin' than scrappin') talking, sharing supplies...and germs. Angie managed to pass on her head cold to 3 of us while we were there. Not the best souvenir to bring home to two 3-year olds, that's for sure:

So I've been sick almost a week now and I just can't get my groove back. I've got lots to do and no energy for any of it. I'm hoping to be over this nasty cold - SOON - because I've got jewelry to work on for two October craft fairs, Club Ruby Design Team tutorials to write and Christmas gifts to get started on. But for now...

...time for a nap.