A glimpse into my world

I decided while in the midst of working on a huge load of bracelet orders; 1 Hobbit bracelet and 4 custom bracelets consisting of 6 different books! that I would give you a glimpse into what I do to create them. Please note this is not a tutorial, just a look into what I do. Wish I had taken a few more pics of the process but did most of my work last night and couldn't get good enough pics.

Here I'm working on rolling some of The Hobbit beads

I like to get creative when I work. I use wax paper have under the pages when I run the adhesive on it, bobby pins to hold them closed till I can glue them, and my pen roller.

Next after I'm done rolling the beads, I move onto the gluing part.

My gluing station is this covered wooden ottoman cube thing. I flipped the lid so I have the hard surface inside of the padded. Again I use the wax paper to put my glue on. There's my latex glues to keep the glue off of me. Learned real quick with the water resistant epoxy I use that I need them! Getting water resistant glue off once dry is not fun! Also have my foam brush for applying the glue and my holder.

a close-up of my holder. I totally made it myself out of clay and yes those are toothpicks sticking out! I swear half the time I use regular household items when crafting.

Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into what it takes to make the book page bracelets I do. And as a reward here are two new bracelets that you will see very soon: Clockwork Angel (Infernal Device series) and The Fault in Our Stars.

Happy crafting!

Peek a boo it's me!

Man I swear I think doing a blog has to be the hardest thing ever for me! I keep saying that I will keep up with it and it just falls off my to do list every time! Any who! Loads of things have happened since January so let's see.

Only working part time at two jobs now (right so I should have tons of time to blog!). Been trying to concentrate on making new a better things for the shops. Will get to those in a minute. I've become an Aunt! WOOT!! My nephew is too adorable! My son broke his arm, super ouch! Had to have surgery on it and too many doctor visits so far! Plus a few other new things going on in my life that aren't totally set so not mentioning yet.

So onto the good stuff right! No more blabbing about my life outside of crafts (is there such a thing?). So much has been going on in the shops. The birthday celebration sales have been going good and proud I've kept up with them. I try to keep each birthday sale to two months than it will go away. Let's just say this summer look for some major (and I mean MAJOR!) birthday sales. Not mentioning names but 3 very popular book themes will be going on sale! Hopefully I'll keep up with them all!

New stuff has been appearing as well. I'm in my "time off" period from fairs so in the process of getting the majority of my stock posted. So there have been things I've made just not posted since I've been going to fairs. Did you see them all?! Here's some for you:

New covered scratch pads in MyThoughtsExactly

Skinny pads making their comeback in MTE as well!

Onto TurningThePage

There are keychains(also available in MTE as well) :

Working with another shop to create some earrings: 

And the perfect item to carry all your stuff in- a purse made from a book (have many more planned so keep your eyes pealed!)

Phew! That's alot of new items and I didn't even show them all to you! Why ruin all the fun, let you check out the shops and see!. 

Also have to tease another sale that will be going on in My Thoughts Exactly shop. I have way too many made journals right now and looking to clear some so I'll be having an "overstock" sale all summer on journals. They will be marked really low so take advantage while you can!

That's enough from me now. I'd ask you to check out my mom's new Etsy shop as well. She makes these really cute lightweight jewelry (bracelets, necklaces and watches) mostly from satin rattail cord. Her prices are amazing as well! You can find it : BeasAccessories

Here are just a few of her things:

Happy crafting everyone!!

Happy Birthday or should I say Unbirthday to you...

Finally get to talk about these new sales I'm going to be having! I plan on celebrating birthdays in the book world. Whether it be the author's birthday or the character's, I'm going to celebrate it! The sales will run for a month or two (depending on the amount of birthdays) and will be in both shops.

This month has to be my favorite and what other way to start then with my favorites! In the month of January we have several different birthdays. There are the three character ones: Professor Severus Snape, born January 9th, the most famous detective Sherlock Holmes (Jan 6th) and our favorite vamp killer Buffy Summers born January 19th. Then we have the staggering 4 author birthdays. First up is J.R.R. Tolkien (Jan 3rd), A.A. Milne (Jan 18th), my favorite all time poet Edgar Allan Poe (Jan 19th) and another fav Lewis Carroll (Jan 27th).

To celebrate we'll have all related bookmarks, journals, magnets, coupon holders and any other items on sale for atleast a month. This first sale will run through all of February since I don't have many next month. I'm hoping this will help bring in new items every month and hope you enjoy seeing who's up next!

Happy Crafting!

P.S. If you notice I'm forgetting a birthday of an author or character I have items posted for, let me know!

***I realized I forgot Jacob Black! (Jan 14th) He will be celebrated as well!***

Time Management

I'm finding having alot more "free time" very unsettling. After months and months of having to plan out every minute of my day and now not so much, I find myself at times just wondering around the house. Yeah I have plenty to do but I'm lost without that list lol. Anyone else get that way?! Any-who, with that free time comes finished products!

First up are 3 new bracelets that can be found in Turning The Page shop. I had this one done since before Christmas but knew I couldn't handle the orders at the time. It's the Sookie Stackhouse made to order bracelet:

The second bracelet is one I've wanted to do for awhile now. It's one of my all time favorite shows and when I found some of the books I knew a bracelet had to be done! It's the buffy-the-vampire-slayer made to order bracelet:

The third bracelet I had to rush to get done. I used to keep up with what movies are coming out but I had let that slide with being so busy. Then while looking for books (for my own reading pleasure) I saw a movie tie-in version of Beautiful Creatures! So of course a bracelet need to for be made.

made-to-order-beautiful-creatures-paper

 

 

I've also taken more pictures of new items that will be up this weekend and during next week. Some have to do with the sales that hopefully will start Monday. (New blog post as well to detail sale) Ok I wanted to post a picture but I can't get the upload button to work with me. So you will just have to be surprised!

 

Happy Crafting!



 

 

I'm back and what a year it's been!

I made it! I can't believe I actually made it through 2012! I had such big plans for both of my shops and they all pretty much didn't make it. Before writing this I looked back at my old posts and saw the list I made for 2012 and I don't think I could cross off half!

 

The main reason for that is I've been working way too much! For awhile I was working about 60 hours a week. And on top of that I did manage one new item and that is the book page bracelets. Now if you are unfamilar with them, here is one:

Made to Order Harry Potter Bracelet

 

These bracelets have by far become my best sellers. Currently available are Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight, Mortal Instruments, Darkest Powers, Lord of the Rings, Monster High and Divergent. **Spolier Alert**Coming soon are : Sookie Stackhouse (within a few days it will be posted), Buffy the Vampire Slayer and already announced on Facebook-Beautiful Creautres.

I have so many more planned as well.

 

As for New Year plans. boy do I have alot! In a few days I'll post a list of them. I want to compare my current list I'm working with last year's list before posting. But I will also be posting a blog specifing the following sales event: Birthday sales! That's right, b-day sales. I work with so many different authors' works that I want to honor them even more by celebrating not only their birthdays but if I can find out, the characters' birthdays as well!

 

 

Well I'm off for now to get to work on some of those new items for those mentioned sales! It's great to be back and plan to keep up with this more this year!

 

Happy Crafting!!!



Still around

Just wanted to make a quick post for those that do follow my blog. I'm still around. Life has beyond gotten in the way. Super busy with my new shop Turning the Page and the book page bracelets I sell on there. And now getting behind due to a knee injury. When I have more time in my daily schedule I plan on doing all those previous listed things I wanted for both shops.

Happy Crafting!!

Coupon Holder Update

It seems that coupon holders are a popular search on Etsy lately. I have plenty up but still want more. In case you are a fan of them, here's what you can expect in the next few weeks (need to get more adhesive & velcro to make more):

• Mickey Mouse ones
• TB Bucs holder
• Faith ones
• 10 pocket holders
• Extra long ones

I hope to have them done by February so be on the look out. Speakin of February, my first month long sale will start! I had hoped to have it this month but I'm busy playing catch-up on EVERYTHING! lol So what's the sale going to be??

JOURNALS for $5.00!!!!!!!!

It will run ALL the month of February and that will include the made to order ones.

Happy Crafting!

What to expect in 2012...

I have so many plans for the new year and I haven't finished coming up with all of them! Here is a list of some of the things you can expect for my many projects:

Blog:

• Definitely going to try and post more.
• Do more card challenges
• Possibly some tutorials of how I make some of my items

Facebook:

• Post more
• More special deals for Facebook fans only

Turning the Page:

• Current sale of Buy 2 Get 1 free will become a permant sale
• More journals covered in book pages
• Hopefully will have other types of items available as well.
• New pics of items and better descriptions including size

My Thoughts Exactly:

• New pics of items and better descriptions including size
• More journals
• New items
• Clearance section will start up during the first week of the new year
• Monthly sales will start in the next week or so. Will have them by type of item, theme, etc
• More made to order items will be available

I still plan on doing more fairs as well this year, probably spread them out better though! Well that's all I can think of so far for the new year. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

What a year!

First Happy Holidays everyone!!! I can not believe my shop has been open for over a year now. And to think it almost didn't happen. I had started out just making stuff for my church fair and after the one I did in 2010, I had a bunch of stuff left. My bestie talked me into opening on Etsy and now I've been open for over a year and have done a ton of fairs.
Just wanted to recap some of the fine points. I've had 76 orders and sold 121 items! I've also had custom orders outside the shop for 150 coupon holders, 100 notepads, a bridal favor set and a few other small ones. I couldn't of asked for a better first year!
I've learned alot of lessons along the way too. Like what fairs not to do again! Doing so many this year has taught me alot. Especially not to do one the week before black friday lol. I certainly plan on being better prepared next year for the holiday season.
I think the biggest lesson I've learned this year is keeping my work room in better order! I seem to be forever cleaning it. I'm always recovering from one fair or order. I am going to try my hardest to get it cleaned and keep it that way. Hopefully I can do it :)
Well just wanted to say thanks to all my customers that have made it such a great year! I'll be posting again soon with what to expect this coming year, got alot of things in the works!

Happy crafting!!

Slammed!

Sorry for the lack of update of the sales. I've been slammed! Just finished up an order for 16 shopping organizers, plus other shop stuff. And been busy preparing for Christmas, it seems the older my son gets, the crazier our schedule becomes! So since I was unable to change the sales yesterday, I decided to extend the journal sale. Here's what you can expect the rest of this week:

Monday & Tuesday: Buy 1 Get 1 Free on keychains. That's both the postit keychain and the bottlecap keychains. They make great stocking stuffers. If you're unfamilar with them, here are some samples:

Wendsday & Thursday: All Shopping Helpers are 20% off. That will make the coupon holders $2.00 instead of $2.50 and the shopping organizers will be $5.60 instead of $7.00. Here's a few that are available:

To finish off the sale, Friday & Saturday: 10% off your purchase by using the code that will be available on the shop banner those two days.

Happy Shopping everyone!

Days of Christmas Sales!!!

That's right! I'm planning more sales! The Cyber week sales were a pretty good hit so I decided to keep the savings rolling. Starting tomorrow My Thoughts Exactly will be having 12 days of Christmas sales and Turning The Page will have all the bookmarks Buy 2 Get 1 Free.

12 Days of Christmas sales at My Thoughts Exactly will actually be 6 different sales that will run for 2 days at a time. I haven't finalized all 6 sales but here's what will be going on for atleast the next week:

Sun & Mon- Stationery Boxes will be 20% off. If you haven't seen them before, here's one currently listed:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/72846263/bright-hearts-stationery-box

More will be posted tomorrow and Monday as well. And the price will be adjusted to $8.00 instead of $10.00. These boxes make perfect gifts for teachers, co-workers and for hostess gifts.

Tues & Wends- Magnets will once again be Buy 1 Get 1 Free. More will be added by Tuesday.

Thurs & Fri- Journals will be on sale for $5.00

I will post again with the rest of the deals as the week progresses. Hope you enjoy all the sales and Happy Shopping!!

Sale Extended!!

I'm in the generous mood this Holiday season. The Cyber Monday sales have now turned into Cyber WEEK sales!! That's right! All those good deals I'm having are still happening till Saturday night. I have tons of items that make perfect stocking stuffers and don't forget all the journals that have free personalization that are on sale for only $4.00! That's $3.00 off my regular price!!! Check out the shops for more:

www.etsy.com/shop/MyThoughtsExactly

www.etsy.com/shop/TurningThePage

Also make sure you check out my friend's shop that's having 10% off her Twilight stuff:
www.etsy.com/shop/hotapplepie


Happy holidays and Happy Shopping!!!!

Cyber Monday Sneak Peek

Did you shop till you dropped on Friday?! I did a bunch, more than usual. Did you also see that there are currently sales going on in both shops?

These sales end at roughly midnight tonight Eastern Standard time. At that point the Cyber Monday sales will start up. I don't have banners finished yet, but here's what what the sales will be:

Turn the Page Sale for Nov. 28th:
                                    BUY 1 BOOKMARK GET 1 FREE!!!!

My Thoughts Exactly Sale for Nov. 28th:
                                    BUY 1 BOOKMARK GET 1 FREE!!!!
                                    FREE Candle pop with every purchase over $5.00
                                   Journals only $4.00!!!!!

The sale will last till 3am  Eastern Standard Time Tues Nov 29th since that's when I'll be home from work. Alot of item will be added throughout today, tonight and tomorrow. Also remember custom orders are available and if an item you like is sold, message me. I may be able to make more.

Happy Shopping!!                             

Exciting News!!!

First let me first apologize for my absence. I just finished 3 fairs in 3 weekends. And man I don't want to go through that again lol. I'm glad I'm done and can focus on getting things up for the holiday and making new things. If you are a fan on the Facebook page then you've already heard the news. If not, first shame on you :), second there's a new shop! That's right, I've opened up a subdivision of My Thoughts Exactly. It's called Turning the Page.

It will be devoted to items only made with book pages. I had noticed how much bookmarks I actually had made from book pages and realized that I didn't want them clogging up the main shop. I'm very excited to have it opened. There will be more than just bookmarks available soon. I'll also be converting this blog into a joint blog as I did the Facebook page.

You'll want to make sure you are a fan on Facebook and a follower here to be the first to find out the special sales that will be starting very soon. Still trying to finalize what ones I'll be having, but a hint, there will be some freebies!!

That's all for now, and I'll be doing better at keeping the blog updated too. Happy Crafting everyone!

Spare time

Finally have a few minutes to spare while I wait for cookies to bake. My schedule has been utterly insane. Figured I'd share with you why it's been insane. Well first I had a fair. Did ok, sold about 30 items but unfortunately for me they were mostly my $1 items. Here was my set-up:

New to my items are gift baskets.

Got fairs again coming up starting next weekend thru the next few weeks, so the insanity will continue! Well after the fair was over, it become Pumpkin Patch duty every day at church;

I had duty again today in about an hour in which I'll be finally carving our pumpkin too. On top of that I had an order for bridal shower favors for a friend at church. I had to make 17 of them. They turned out so cute!

In other news I'm trying to get more stuff made for the shop, mostly Harry Potter themed stuff. Also have to clean alot because my big bro is coming at the end of the week coming up so I need to have the craft room available for me to sleep in. Well cookies are ready. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!!

I'm back!

Yeah it's been awhile since my last post. One word for the delay: FAIR lol. Just kicked off the fall festival this weekend. And it was a long one, 7 hours long! Unfortunately didn't do that great, made enough to cover the costs of the registration and stuff, but not alot more. I was really shocked since I have alot of stuff for kids and the place was swarming with them. Just not my day I guess, but hey check out my view!

Here's close-ups of my tables

The shop has been reopened after being closed this weekend. Expect to see new items throughout this week including alot more bookmarks, journals and possibly a few other things. I also have a few more fairs over the next two months so expect to see the shop closed some weekends. I try to only keep it closed for two days at a time. Got a few new decorating ideas for some items I make thanks to inquires made yesterday so look for those too over the next few weeks.

Also don't forget the coupon code available to Facebook fans expires the end of October!

Happy Crafting!

Pike's Challenge & Gift

Oh how I love Dustin Pike's stuff! His "China Monkey" made the perfect graphic to use on a card I was making to go along with a gift I made. It's for a girl in my son's Tae Kwon Do class that along with my son not only just earned their yellow belts, but both got chosen to be on the black belt team. So I wanted to give her something to congrat her. Here's the card which I also did for the Pike's challenge to use stars or stripes:

I kept it simple since she's only 7. And here's her gift. I made the paper for the journal since it's near impossible to find any kind of martial arts scrap paper

Can't wait to give it to her!!! Well off to clean up my mess, Happy Crafting!!!

Another Doodle Pantry Challenge

Did another Doodle Pantry Challenge. Another simple challenge, just use one of their images. I chose the little birdhouse along with matching sentiment.

Hope you like it! Been working a both more bookmarks for the shop, they seem to be pretty popular lately. Also got a few other things done that will be up pretty shortly. Still need to finish up some prayer journals. I gotta find the Cricut cart I use for them before I can finish. Hopefully it will pop up soon and it's not lost like my scallop punch lol. Anyways, Happy Crafting!!!

Meljen's Card Challenge

Did another card for a Meljen's card challenge. This one was to not use any pattern paper. I used my favorite little donkey with sentiment. I kept it very simple. I had thought to add more but I like the way it looks too much lol

I hope you like! Got a couple more cards to work one, plus more stuff for the shop. Happy Crafting!

Yummy in my Tummy Challenge

Another challenge done! This one's for Dustin Pike's Yummy in my tummy challenge. Had to use a food related image so I chose the Madison cupcake one. This is one of my favorite images and finally used it!

Hope you enjoy it! And don't forget, Giveaway starts tomorrow!!!!