Power Outages

This is the time of year in Astoria, Oregon where the winds howl and the rains pound on the roof! Today is one of those days! I'm cozy inside, but no power!

So today, I'm experimenting with Blogger and attempting a blog post using my phone. My phone still works thank goodness!

What can you do without power? You can paper craft, read a real book, scroll on your phone, email people or fold laundry. I had taken photos of some large gift tags I made last week, so thought I'd post those. They are what I call wonkey house tags.

They're large, about 6 inches tall, and I glued on bits and pieces of papers, and then added lace and little embroidered flowers.

I love the pink and green of course! I added little satin bows to the heart on the roof.

Isn't the purple pretty?

I'm doing this in the dark, with a little battery lamp beside me, with the wind gusts of at least 40 mph outside.

And the blue and green is a nice effect. I then doodled around each tag with a black pen. I love doodling!

I'm going to scan these and add them to my Etsy shop as printables. I'm going to make more as they are fun to make!

How did this post look, attempting it using my phone? Actually, it was pretty easy!

Wherever you are, have a great day!

                           Marilyn

New Etsy Shop!

I've had this dream for over 2  years now.. to open a new Etsy shop with digital printables only. I would like to give myself some "passive income".

Digital is all the rage right now, from what I hear.

I took courses on Youtube on how to make my own digital papers, which is where I started out over 2 years ago.

Since I got excited about this, I began taking pictures of everything! Things I could turn into clipart and photo wall art, etc. 

 

One of my grandma's doilies that she made. I will turn it into a frame for some stationery or part of a card front.

One of my mom's  hankies. She collected them for years. I've turned it into stationery, which I haven't listed yet.

I rumaged through my mom's old hankies, and doilies, and lace things, and old glassware, and took photos of it all. I'm working on making some stationery which is framed with the lace and hankie images. 

Stationery.. I'm making a set.

I'm also having fun making some Christmas tags.

 

A couple of years ago, I made some tea themed tags and vintage ladies tags. Those are still a work in progress.

Introducing my new shop, Rocking Horse PrintsUS

I've really had fun designing my shop, making the logo, and creating mockups for my listings.

I've just begun adding items. I have a few Christmas Tags listed now, plus one of my photo quote prints and a Bucket List.

In between all my crafting, I've been working on getting my newly created tags and card fronts ready to list! It takes time, but once it's done, then it's ready to sell in perpetuity! 

I would love it if you'd go take a look. Maybe try puchasing a print and trying it out. All the tags are "print and cut".... you print it, cut it out, and make it. You can decorate it, punch a hole, tie some ribbon on it, add glitter or lace, make it your own! Very easy. And you can print as many as you want. Think of a sheet of 8 tags that you could print out 100 times!

Or think of paying $1.00 to purchase the Bucket List, and printing out 10 to give as gifts.  

I was just excited to share this with you!

~Marilyn~ 

ALL CONTENT © PINK PAPER COTTAGE.

PLEASE DO NOT COPY MY PHOTOS AND IMAGES INTO YOUR OWN POSTS WITHOUT FIRST LINKING TO THIS BLOG AND MY NAME.

Can you believe it?

Can you believe it? Christmas is only two weeks and two days away???????  No no no! It was just Thanksgiving! Why is the time racing so fast? I feel like I'm being dragged by a runaway train. Do you?

I've spent the last few days loading some new items into my Etsy shop.. things I made for the bazaar in October. I also added a new header/banner to my shop that I just love. It's so ME!

 I've added some new tab dividers, custom made Christmas cards (some gorgeous ones!), Christmas gift tags (even some buffalo plaid checks and deer antlers - all the rage now I guess)... and a few new vintage gift tags. 

New vintage card added.

There are also a couple of new envelope folios that would make a great gift. They will hold coupons or recipts or gift cards, cash or special letters or note.

And of course, some of my photo albums and little tiny mini albums are still available.

Please go take a look if you would! My Pink Paper Cottage

Maybe you'll find something you just love!

Happy two weeks before Christmas!

~Marilyn~

ALL CONTENT © PINK PAPER COTTAGE.

PLEASE DO NOT COPY MY PHOTOS AND IMAGES INTO YOUR OWN POSTS WITHOUT FIRST LINKING TO THIS BLOG AND MY NAME.

Ornament exchange fun!

Happy "busy" December everyone! The time is passing way too fast. I think we all agree right?

I had the experience recently of participating in an ornament exchange hosted by Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose.  What a fun time I had making a Christmas ornament and some other goodies for a name I was given. I didn't know her. Her email to Stephanie did state a few things that she liked, which was just to my taste, so I kind of went overboard making her some goodies, plus the ornament!  

I can't describe how neat it was making for someone I didn't know. It just kind of opened up my creative juices. She liked "vintage, handmade, shabby chic, lace, old fashioned, and blue & white". How cool is that? 

Here are the things I made, and sent off to my secret pal last week.

First, the ornament. It's a fabric fold Scandanavian ornament I found on YouTube. Love it!  You use 8 strips of fabric, that are folded and tucked into each other.  It measures about 3"x3" in size.

Of course I couldn't just make an ornament. So I proceeded to make a little Christmas photo flipbook.  It measured about 5" x 5".

I had fun adding the red glitter papers, and used my Sizzix and cutting dyes to cut out the borders, doilies and corner pieces. The book opens up to pages that have gate folds and that flip open. Lots of fun to make.  I also found this pattern on YouTube.

Next, I wanted to make a little "pocket envelope" (also found on YouTube at Septeria18 on YouTube) to hold the ornament. I made the little pocket an ornament also, by tieing a pretty red ribbon on top so it could be hung on the tree and hold a special treat for someone.

These pocket envelopes are so fun and easy to make, that I made another one to hold eight Christmas gift tags. These are Christmas tags I purchased from  Seneca Pond Crafts on Etsy, and they are digital, so you can print them out any time you want! Aren't they darling?

And since she liked blue and white, I just HAD to make another pocket envelope with some pretty vintage gift tags to which I added a little bit of lace on the bottom. These printed tags are also from Seneca Pond Crafts. This "pocket" was larger, about 8" square.

I just couldn't seem to stop myself.............I also made a little tiny booklet out of the blue and white papers, but I forgot to take a picture of it! I was so anxious to get everything in the mail. It was oh so darling. Maybe I'll make another one of these days.

So..........my package was sent off and I felt good that I actually got some projects done! I will also receive an ornament (and goodies?) in the mail from someone who drew my name for the exchange. Can hardly wait!

Merry December everyone!

~Marilyn~

Masculine card share and free printables sites.

Just a quick post today to share a neat masculine card I made for my friend's son who just turned 18.

I used black cardstock for the card base. I wanted a sort of grunge look... you know how 18 year old young men are right? I wanted to have a card with the theme of dream, take a journey, and encourage him to "live an inspired life". 

I just love the hot air balloon I found on The Graphics Fairy.... isn't the image vintage and old looking? Look at that little man down there? The Graphics Fairy has over 4500 free images! I just love her mostly vintage images and her blog and gallery of ideas.

I used black ink to swipe all the edges for that vintage look... and used some free tickets that I printed off the internet from The 80's Me blog.  She has many other tickets for free printing. I have a stamp with the words Dream, Journey, etc. so I stamped on the tickets with black ink. 

I popped up the hot air balloon with some foam tape so it would stand out. My background paper was a piece I had leftover from some project, and for the life of me now, I can't remember what paper pack I got it from! Sorry............

I don't really have alot of "masculine" doo dads and blingy stuff (but what guy wants or needs blingly stuff anyway!), so for the inside of the card, I used a tag (another free one!) that I printed out from Sweetly Scrapped that says "Fly". I thought this was very appropriate for an 18 year old just graduating from high school.

I used another ticket with some stamping on it, and wrote the number "18" on a circle punch out. Of course, everything got a good swipe of black ink!

I hope this might give you an idea for a more masculine card.

Enjoy......

Valentine's Subway Art...... fonts are so fun!

I LOVE playing with different fonts and making Subway Art for special occasions. So...........after I finished up with my teeny tiny envelopes for Valentine's Day (see my previous post), I thought I should get my Valentine's Day Subway Art downloaded into my Etsy shop.... so here it is!  

The watermark won't show up when you download this from my Etsy shop.

Isn't it fun? I made this last year and never got it put into my Etsy shop!  Better late than never I guess. It's a digital "instant download". I also made a sheet of NINE tags you can print out, cut, and use. Check my blog post HERE where I talk about how to download fonts onto your computer.

The watermarks won't show up when you download this from my Etsy shop.

These are really high resolution images, so you could print out the large one on 8-1/2 x 11 glossy photo paper, and frame it for a pretty Valentine's Day decoration. Or print on 4x6 or 5x7 glossy photo paper to place it on a card.  Find my Valentine's Day Subway Art here in my Etsy shop.

Wouldn't the tags be darling cut apart and placed in a little mini album you've made, tucked inside the pockets? Or use them on canvas art or for scrapbook pages. I would use red cardstock for my mini album so that the tags would stand out.

Just thought you might like to see this.  I have other Subway Art in my Etsy shop too. 

Valentine's Day Pretty Fabric Gift Bags.....

I'm IN LOVE with pretty little fabric gift bags! I'VE PUT SOME NEW ONES IN MY ETSY SHOP TODAY! Pretty cottage chic fabric gift bags approximate 8"x10" in size:

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Each with their own pretty little tag of a teapot or teacup.  Go  here at my Etsy Shop to purchase a lavender bag and tag - $6.79 each.

Black grosgrain ribbons sewn in seams to tie it closed.

Look at those beautiful teapots.... in peach and lavender. It's really lavender, not blue. My camera would NOT pick up the lavender colors! The tags are a piece of fussy cut fabric that I've glued onto the tag.. and sprinkled glitter here and there.

I made adhesive round stickers (that come off easily) to put on the fabric bag, inviting the user to use it again and Go Green!

Here are the peach colored bags:

Soft pretty peach fabric with the darling teapots and teacups fabric trim, with lace tucked under the edge. Do you love teapots as much as I do? My sisters collect them and so did my mom. I would too if I had the room!  You can purchase a peach fabric bag with tag here at my Etsy Shop.

Twins.............. I have two of each color.

These gift bags surprisingly hold alot. You can get an adult woman's T-shirt in one, several hand towells or kitchen towells, and they could also be used for overnight trips as they'll hold your pretty underthings, an extra T-shirt and a few toiletries.  Great also for a little girl's dolls and doll clothes or a set of their favorite things to take along with them in the car. (See below for other uses).

I've in love with these tags.... all glittery and pretty.

I also have two cute muslin decorated bags, just perfect for tucking with candy treats or jewelry.........or lipsticks............... nail polish, etc. These are 4 x 5-1/2"...... perfect for little bits of this or that.   Here's the link to my Etsy shop to purchase a muslin bag for $4.00.

God Loves you and So Do I.

I've sold this lavender stamped muslin bag, but see how pretty it looks stuffed with goodies and sitting in a cut glass bowl?? Love these little muslin bags!

Last but not least!............... my sweet little retro kitty gift bag or carry-bag. This is a fairly heavy authentic vintage retro fabric (8"x10" in size). Love.e.e.e.e. it!  Click here to go to my Etsy shop to purchase this little bag for $5.00. No tag with this one but I could make up a little tag if you desire.

Trimmed with a linen look fabric and delicate cream lace... ties are tan grosgrain ribbon. 

A fabric bag can be used in some of these ways:

- gift wrap for a present (and so easy - no more paper, tape and scissors)

- travel bag (for underwear, socks, delicates, jewelry)

- paperback book bag

- organizer

- small toy bag for kids

- protect valuables and keepsakes from dust

- store small photo albums or mini albums

- store ipods, cords, small electronics 

Tucks neatly in your suitcase for travels, and can be used and washed over and over.

Enjoy looking! I have some more gift bags ready to go into my shop next week!