Adding a personal touch

In case you were to timid to ask {or just never thought to}, YES!  I can add personal touches to your order.  With some limitations of course.  But please, don't hesitate to ask me through Convo on Etsy.

I've received a few requests to add names to my Bridal Party Thank You Cards - Sassabelle - Style No. 1, so to make it eay for you, I listed an "Add On" for names in my Etsy store.  It only costs a couple dollars extra gives your cards an even more personal appeal.

The process is simple.  Just add the Add Names listing to your cart with the rest of your purchase, and in the "notes" section, tell me the names of your party and their roles.  Easy-Peasy!

Get a glimpse of these beauties going out the door today!!

www.etsy.com/shop/PaperLoveWhimsy

Have a whimsical day :)

~*Comming Soon!*~

In the meantime, please visit my store at www.paperlovewhimsy.etsy.com ~*Thank You*~

On My Workbench ~ More Flower Combs!

Spring is on it's way!

During nap time, I got to play with more paper/felt flower hair combs.  Look for them in my Etsy store soon!

Bloem

In Bloem - Spring Hair Blooms

I was really excited to get a little time last week to craft.  I also got a chance to purge some unnecessary scrapbooking supplies {I really haven't scrapbooked in years}, and even had extra time to painted my nails....blue!

Going through my supplies, I got reinspired to make some flower hair combs.  It also helped that I recently sold another pair on Etsy!

Starburst Flower Hair Combs (Set of 2)

Happy Saturday!!

Tax Time

I'm new at this craft business thing, and haven't really had that much time to invest into it.  So I was really proud of myself last year, when I took a leap and got my business license, hoping it would be one of many more steps in the right direction towards my goal.

To be honest, I never did ANYTHING with it! {Aside from ordering some envelopes, which I still have to see if I saved the receipt for}.

Fast forward to a week after my baby boy, Rowan, was born, when I got a call at 7am, from somenone at the County Clerk's Office, letting me know that they needed to audit my home business.  I managed to give a sleep deprived response of, "I haven't even done anything with my business."  The man replied, "So, you're not renewing your license?"  And all I could muster up was, "Not now". 

So now, with tax time just around the corner, I have to figure out how to file a business that didn't really produce OR expense any money.

Also, I'm not sure whether I should renew my license.  I guess I should have allowed them to audit...*not thinking clearly at the time*

I planned to really get going on it during my maternity leave {in my dreams!}. Rowan had a different plan, mostly revolving around himself.

We moved into a fixer upper house and had a baby last year.  I get anxious enough over taxes as it is. I'm really not looking forward to filing this year, even though we should get a lot back.  I think it's time to kick TurboTax to the curb and go to a professional, who can sort through it all.

If anyone out there has some tax advice for someone just getting their feet wet, I'd love to hear it!

Happy Tax Filing!

Featuring a Reversible Hooter Hider Tutorial by Made by Lisa G

I don't have much time for my own arts & crafts right now, but my friend, Lisa G has been sewing all kinds of great gifts for me and other new moms, so I asked her to do a guest blog tutorial for one of her creations. 

She one-uped my request, and started a whole new blog, Made by Lisa G, to share her crafting "How To's".  Lisa is also a great photographer, so you can bet all of her tutorials are going to have great pics, which makes it SOOO much easier, don't ya think?

Here's a peek at the Reversible Hooter Hider Tutorial by Made by Lisa G  

{Go to her blog for all the details}

A Hooter Hider is a must have for modest moms who breastfeed. 

I use mine all the time!

Thanks Lisa!

Holiday Baby!

Our first baby, Rowan Matthijs Balyon, was born on December 22, 2010.  He's the most precious thing! 

So, forgive me for being slow with the bloem blog updates.  I have my hands full right now.  You can follow us through life as new parents on our family blog, One Ring Short of a Circus.

Hot Chocolate Mix in a Jar (Easy & Budget Friendly Gift)

This year, we made Hot Chocolate Mix in a Jar for our neighbors and friends.  Just a little gift to warm people up during the holidays, without breaking the bank.

Here's how we did it:

1 Cup Powdered Milk

3 Heaping Tablespoons Dutched Cocoa Powder

3 Level Tablespoons Sugar

1/4 Mini Marshmallows

We mixed 5 batches at a time

2 Cups per Mason Jar.

YUM :)

I decorated the jar top with Christmas-y fabric and a raffia bow.

Make sure to include a card that tells your recipient how to make and enjoy their delicious treat!

"Mix 3 heaping Tablespoons (1/4 to 1/3 cup) cocoa with 8 to 10 oz of hot water.

Makes about 4 servings"

 

That's all there is to it!

-Sarah

French Memo Board - Tutorial

How to make a French Memo Board

by bloem

I just made a French Memo Board for one of our friends daughters.  These are a fun and stylish way to display and stash mementos like pictures, tickets, hair clips, etc.

 

Here's how I made my French Memo Board.

Materials:

 1. Pre-stretched canvas, your choice in size. 2. Fabric of choice, enough to cover canvas with about 1.5" to spare on each side. 3. Batting. 4. Ribbon of choice. 5. Buttons of choice. 6. Scissors. 7. Staple gun. 8. Glue gun or needle & thread (not shown).

Steps:

Click this image to enlarge

1. LAY the canvas face-down on the batting.  PULL the batting around the edges and STAPLE the batting to the back.  Stretch the batting as you go, just enough to be taught.

2. LAY the batting covered canvas face-down on the fabric and do the same thing with the fabric that you did with the batting.

3. TUCK the fabric to make your corners are neat and STAPLE.

4. LAY the ribbon out in the pattern that you want (Generally criss-crossed).  You may want to double check that the ribbon is spaced far enough apart to hold whatever you plan to put in the memo board.

5. & 6. STAPLE the ribbon onto the back. Tip: tape the ribbon in place first to make sure the ribbon is evenly spaced and where you want it to be.

7. SEW buttons on at the ribbon cross sections, or GLUE them with a hot glue gun.

That's it!  It's super simple!

-Sarah

Karla & Christopher S. - Custom Made Wedding Thank You Cards

I had the pleasure of designing custom wedding invitations for Karla & Christopher S.  I was really pleased with the design and they must have been too, since they decided to order coordinating Thank You cards.  

 

bloem - Custom Thank You Cards - Karla & Christopher S.

 These cards are what I call "matchbook" folded.  They clasp with the little olive branch tab.  The matchbox fold can be used to create cards which can be mailed sans envelope, saving trees!  However, the cards are designed to fit into a standard 4-bar envelope which, in this case was provided in a shimmering champagne color.

Coordinating Wedding Invitations, designed by bloem, for Karla & Christopher:

Brother Sewing Machine - Zigzag Stitch Issue SOLVED!

I never posted my recent sewing issue, however, I did spend WAY too much time trying to find the answer on the internet.  Luckily, I was able to find an answer, but I can't remember where, so I thought I'd share it here in case anyone else has the same problem.

 I was trying to make a Christmas stocking, (a major pain in the butt project, as posted earlier), and the zigzag stitch on my Brother CS-6000i sewing machine was not working.  Not unusual for this POS machine. Specifically, the right side of the zigzag would not pick up the bobbin thread, so I ended up with a straight line.  

I found a few people out there online who had the same issue and the responses were mostly related to changing the needle, changing the bobbin, changing the tension...the usual.  Anyway, I happened to find one brilliant response that mentioned that only Schmetz needles seem to work on her Brother.  Desperate, I switched out my cheapy-cheap needle for a Schmetz (I can't actually believe I had some) and my zigzag nightmares were over...almost.  I still had a lot of problems with the tension.  It's always something with that machine!  Arrgghhh!

In bloem...

Holiday Gift Tags!

I just listed a small line of handmade gift tags to add a special touch to your holiday gift giving.  These tags are stamped with rustic, charming snowflakes. 

Enjoy :)

Gift Tags in bloem

Baby is Almost Here!

Today is my last day at my REAL job.  The job that pays.  Which means, it's getting close to time for Baby B to make his grand appearance!

The last few weeks (okay, and months), we've been wondering all the things you wonder when you're waiting for a baby to come;  What will he look like?  Will he be healthy? Can I do this? Can we do this?

I'm looking forward to the time off, and hoping that I may be able to squeeze in some crafts between napping and last minute to-do's.  AND, I'm really looking forward to Baby B's arrival!!!

Boo!

Rainy Days

I'm loving the rainy weather right now!  It's such a relief from the scorching hot days we had here in SJ just about a month ago.

The rain is bringing new freshness to everything.  It's time for lazy mornings in slippers and pjs, curled up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate (no coffee for me right now).

The shift in weather has really given me a new burst of creativity, and while I can't wait to showcase what I'm working on, I have to have some patience.  So in the meantime, here is an image board that fits my cozy, crafting mood right now.

-Sarah

My DIY Baby Shower Favors - Take 1

So I had a mental block for a loooong time over what favors to give at our upcoming baby shower. I even went shopping a couple weeks ago to get inspired and came back empty handed! But today, I gave it a second shot, and came up with an idea that I like.

I wanted to incorporate the mini wooden shoes (Rogér, my husband, is Dutch)that we didn't end up using at our wedding. I bought some "baby" ribbon, as well as some blue and some green ribbon at Michael's. I also bought a Sharpie Paint Pen (it's a pen with oil based paint!!)

Here's the results:

I'm thinking of adding a magnet to each shoe so guests can put them on their fridge.  Any opinions or suggestions??

An Autumn Wedding

A bloem origninal was just featured in a beautiful Etsy treasury by GrievousAngelDesigns.

 Click on the picture to go to the this treasury

On My "Workbench"

Our kitchen cabinets just came in! So exciting, except that they are "Assembly Required", sooOo, they're sitting in boxes piled up in our living room.  Hence, my latest flower head wreaths are resting upon the mountains of cabinets.  I'll be adding these to my Etsy store soon!

On My Workbench.... Cherry Blossom Paper Tiara

Working on more paper tiara designs so that your princess can have the perfect crown for her next celebration ;)

On My Workbench...

For my wedding, I made flower headpieces for the four flower girls.

 My little cousin Xian Li in her pillow case dress and flower headpiece

(see MORE wedding pics).  They looked so adorable!  So I decided to make a couple more from the leftovers, to put in my Etsy store, bloem.

 New flower headpiece available in bloem soon!

Custom colors and flowers are available upon request.  Just Convo me through my Etsy store!