Sunday, October 21, 2012

So, what's new?

I've been a little MIA and neglecting my blog this past week. We've been experiencing some major internet issues and it's been difficult to do even the simplest of things. Still having issues but they are hit or miss, so hopefully I can get a post in.
I don't have any layouts or stories to share with you all. Hope you're not too disappointed. But I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to promote some new items in my shop that I'm really excited and proud of.

I'm slowly building inventory, and I've had a couple of local sales...so we're heading in the right direction. Now, it's time to really get the word out there!
First, here is my favorite thing in my entire shop. I've considered keeping it for myself! lol. But I'll share with you all, because you so deserve it! This is my new "Country Bumpkin' Shadow Box". Created with pretty paper, fibers, flowers, and some cutesy charms. Can you see, now, why I wouldn't want to part with this??? 
Now, while I would rather wait until November to start thinking about the Holiday Season, I am learning that in the retail business, that is not allowed. I'm not rushing the season, I love everything about Fall, and Halloween may be just as much of a favorite, if not more, than Christmas, itself. However, I know the holiday shoppers are out there and they're lurking..many even shopping already! So here goes, the first of the Christmas/Holiday cards are in!


Wait, there's a little more. We have a brand new product! Who doesn't like to sit down and drown themselves into a good book? I'm not a huge reader, but when I do read, I'm usually scrounging for a bookmark. I tend to find scraps of paper and use them, or an envelope, what ever may be laying around. A person who loves pretty paper should not have this issue! So, now we have bookmarks in the shop.

Our first set, is a set of three, Girl Scout themed bookmarks. Now, these aren't just little rectangle pieces of cut, pretty paper. These are patterns, matted on cardstock, matted on a heavy matte board (the kind used in picture frames), made to last a long time! A perfect gift for that special Girl Scout in your life...or even a leader and/or volunteer.

There will be more bookmarks with different themes added as time goes on. But, for now, here is our first set...

Stay tuned for more. Thanks for looking. I wish you all a blessed day!



" The idea is there, locked inside, and all you have to do is remove the excess stone. "~ Michelangelo

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Color Me Happy

I love colors. What would our world be like if we didn't have color? Seriously, blah! Colors reflect a lot of things and are a symbol of life.
A scrapbooker looks at colors just like an artist does. Well, heck, a scrapbooker is an artist, after all. Right? Scrapping encourages us to use color combinations that we wouldn't think to use together. 
Take the color brown, for example. Brown, by itself, you may think is not a pretty color. But add something else to it, like yellow & turquoise, and it really changes the perspective.
That's what I love about scrapbook challenges. They encourage us to experiment and try new things. Things we may not think of on our own. I would've never thought of combining those three colors, if it weren't for this month's CK Color Challenge. Turquoise & yellow, yes...even brown & turquoise, yes...but the three together? I, most likely, would not have done on my own.
So I went with it, and the results...I'm extremely happy with! I used a light brown with this layout, but just the same, it's brown! Here's the layout I came up with...
These are pictures from our annual trip to the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY. We go every year. It's our mark of the official 'end of summer'. Our last big hoorah before the girls go back to school.

And, if you don't know it already, my sewing machine and I don't get a long well, so I never sew on a layout. But, I do like the looks of stitching on a page. So I compromised here, and used a Sakura pen to do the stitching around the letters. It's not cheating! ;-) There's also some stitching on the ribbon...it came that way!
 
Among this layout, I spy some Amy Tangerine, Prima, & K & Company...

I had some help in figuring out where to put the photos on this page. I love, love, love sketches. Sketches are fun, and again, encourage us to try new things. This is based on the October sketch from PageMaps.

So there you have it. My advice for you is to be creative and use your imagination. Try new things. You never know the outcome until you do it. You may decide it works for you. If it doesn't, then you know and at least your tried! Remember, you can do this with any craft or activity...not just scrapping!

Have a blessed day and happy creating!

“The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most. ” ~ John Ruskin

Friday, October 12, 2012

ONE is NOT the loneliest number!

Woot my first blog hop. I almost messed up and completely forgot about it! Just getting back on track after a rough week. Hope I don't disappoint you. If you are participating in the hop, you should have found me through Amanda's blog because she is the host of this fun hop. But, most likely you're getting to me late. If you're just starting. You should definitely stop at Amanda's first to get the scoop on how this hop works. She's got some give-away's too!

I'm usually a multi-photo scrapper. I love putting multiple photos on a layout that tell a story of an event. However, every now and then there's that one image you want to capture. A picture is worth a thousand words. There's that one photo that can tell a person's personality, or maybe describe a place you visited. 

I do both, digital and traditional scrapping and like to do a lot of one-photo layouts with my digi scrapping. For some reason I save digi scrapping for those layouts that are more personal. Those extra special layouts (even though, they're all special).

Here's one of my favorites, "Moments." It's so hard to get a photo of all three of us girls together, since I'm the one usually with the camera. This layout was done last summer. (Sorry, I do not know the designer of the kit used).
Here's one of my DD's that I did several years ago, back in 2008. This one is a traditional layout. I love this quote! Even though they were so little, I'm sure they think that about each other now! "I'm smiling because you're my sister, I'm laughing because there's nothing you can do about it."
I feel that the design of this layout really captures the photo because the photo takes up the majority of the page. There is that touch of elements, but the photo is the main focus and it's obvious.
Ok, so I didn't totally cheat with this blog hop. I did complete a fresh layout this morning. I have several one-photo layouts to go with song lyrics. I could write a whole post just on that. I love using song lyrics on a page. It helps with journaling. When you don't know the right things to say in your own words, look to a song. The whole song, part of a song, either way works.

This one is a digital layout and was made with the "Celebrate Life" kit, brand new from TeresaDigilDesigns.
I hope you enjoyed your visit here and got some ideas on using one-photo layouts. Now, guess what, it's... Adele's turn! Have fun hopping! Hope I didn't make you wait too long!

1 photo: Heather
1 photo: Crafty Country Bumpkin Jen
2 photos: Adele
2 photos: Heather M
3 photos: Becky
3 photos: Colleen
4 photos: Devra
4 photos: Carolyn
5 or 6 photos: Steffanie
5 or 6 photos: Dana
7 or more photos: Laura

Oops, almost forgot...
"A photograph is always about two things. It is about what is being shown, and it is about the response to what is seen."~Tom Bentkowski
 

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Our Adventure Through Vermont

I'm trying to start a tradition with my girls where every year we do something Fall related. Something more than the traditional apple picking, pie making activities. Being a lover of the outdoors, I love to explore and go on adventures. My adventures usually turn into real adventures, we either get lost, or stuck taking detours etc. For example over the summer, I wanted to take the girls to Trenton Falls, but the park was close, so we ended up going a little further north to Pixley Falls. 
Anyway, we didn't get to go on any Fall adventures last year. Two years ago we made it all the way up to White Face Mt. in the Adirondack's. The original plan was to visit Santa's Workshop, stopping along some scenic points on the way. I did not realize how close Santa's Workshop was to Whiteface! Now that was an adventure! A successful adventure, and totally worth the trip! Here's a layout from two years on our Whiteface adventure...
Now, our recent trip to Vermont was a successful adventure, as well. We started out ahead of schedule Monday morning. Our first stop was The Chocolate Barn just before Arlington, VT. One of the girls' favorite part of the trip. Handmade chocolates, maple syrup, maple candy. It smelled so good. Yes, of course, we left with some goodies!

The next stop was in Arlington, VT. Here, we were hoping to find a place called The Candle Mill. I remember being there when I was a kid and making candles with my mom. Unfortunately, The Candle Mill is no longer there. We were lucky, however, to find the building it was in. So, at least we didn't get lost trying to find a place that didn't exist. We explored around this quaint little town. The beautiful creek with the Fall foliage that was behind the building. My favorite was the covered bridge that was just up the road. We got to really drive through it!



Next stop was Manchester. On our way to Manchester we stopped at a little country Christmas shop, called Christmas Days. It's a popular little store on the scenic route. I didn't take any pictures here, and actually managed to refrain from buying anything, but we enjoyed looking around. The lights, the sights, and the smells of Christmas in this place made it worth stopping at.
When we got to Manchester, we did some more exploring and a lot of window shopping! Outlets, country stores, and beautiful scenic mountains. Of all things, though, my favorite part of this stop was that moment when everything in the world was perfect. Two little girls who go through life bickering and fighting with each other, calling each other names, etc, and so on, we're getting along, naturally. Not because they were told to do so, but because they were truly happy. The better thing is, they didn't know I was taking their picture!
Oh, and let's not forget Sarah's new friend...
and some more of a "mother's favorites"

Our final stop was Bennington. We stopped and saw the Bennington Monument, which reminded is of the Washington Monument in DC, only smaller...a lot smaller!
and the girls made another friend...
and, of course, you can't go to Vermont in early October without catching a glimpse of the foliage...
It really was as close to a perfect adventure as perfect can get. I hope that my girls will remember this day when they get to be my age, just as I remember the time I've spent with my mother visiting here.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover".Author: Mark Twain






Tuesday, October 2, 2012

OktoberFest

October has officially begun. The season for apples, pumpkins, ghosts, and goblins is at it's peak! We love October for so many reasons. The crisp, Autumn air, the pretty colors.
What started this Oktoberfest tradition? It's a 16-day festival that starts at the end of September and runs through part of October. It takes place in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a huge and important event among the Bavarians. Oktober Fest has been going on for over 200 years, starting in the year 1810.
Here's a photo I found on google images of the view of Oktober fest. Kind of reminds me of the New York State Fair, with a lot more people!

As having German descent in my family genealogy, and having a birthday in October (we'll discuss turning 40, later!), I figure we should celebrate this festival here, as well. While we may not have the carnival rides and all the wonderful German food, and beer, we can still celebrate in our own way.
During the month of October, my Etsy shop and Facebook are coming together and offering you 10% off my shop, any item. Ok, there's one small catch. All you have to do is go onto my Crafty Country Bumpkin facebook page and like the page. The coupon code is there, posted on the wall, just for facebook fans! That's, it! Easy? I'll make it even easier for you and give you the link. You don't even have to search for it! How's that for a celebration!!! 

And, of course, we also have a crafty item to share. To help celebrate the month of October, I just added these "Bootiful" notecards to my Etsy shop.
Not to fear, I have a quote for you, too! I really like this one! Enjoy. Have a blessed day!

"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October." -  Nathaniel Hawthorne