You Say Upcycled I Say Recycled

Let Go Of My Waffle (set of 3 tags)

There's a crazy new word floating around the art and craft community, upcycled. Well, maybe it's an old word and I've been living under a rock somewhere but as the go green craze continues to grow (yea!) so does the need for people to up the cool factor. So now there's this word to make artists and crafters feel artsier and craftier, I feel like a goof using it but when in Rome...upcycle, upcycle, upcycle. So I have some (re)upcycled items in my shop. Some of my paper bead bracelets fit this moniker and at the moment I'm adding to those green items by making bookmarks and tags out of product boxes. I think my favorite thing about these goodies has been naming them, too much fun and they fit right in with my paper hoarding tendencies. So here they are, some of the latest additions to The Beehive, and I've already sold one of the beer box bookmarks!

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.

Pop Tarts Tags (set of 3)

Please Read Responsibly (beer box bookmark)

The Photoshop B-I-B-L-E

What better way to spend the evening and work to grow your child's spiritual development than a bedtime story from the Bible?! Every night before bedtime we read the boys a story that they pick and then a story from their devotional Bible. It seems the Bohemian got a little confused on this night, he must've had projects on the brain! Actually Lil' Spitfire was enthralled, Mr. Golden Curls on the other hand was a little thrown off and ready to resume the routine!

Super Pugtastic!

Pug Notes Pug Cards by Mellisa Langer

Try not to be overrun by jealousy because now, not only do I have the most handsome Pug in all the land, but I have these beautiful Pug tags made by Melissa Langer. I won them from Fannie Narte's adorable blog giveaway. If you're an art lovin' Pug fanatic then you must check out Melissa's other goodies. You can find them in her etsy shop, Pug Notes; her website, pugnotes.com; and read all about her and drool over all kinds of Pug cuteness on her blog, pugnotes.blogspot.com. Fannie Narte's shop is also a must see, her artwork is gorgeous and you can find it at fannienarte.etsy.com!

Busy Bee

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.

It has been feeling good to be as productive as I've been since this past weekend. I haven't been feeling inspired to create in a long long time and I finally decided it was time to get off my duff and work in spite of that. I was determined to just dig into the supplies that have been sitting around and see what I could come up with. Once I started working inspiration came and I completed: my AREtsy swap gift, a Memory Catcher, 5 bookmarks (thanks Sally for that inspiration!), and about 10 sets of various magnets. Many of these items will become Christmas gifts to family but about 6 of these are going into my shop, thebeehive.etsy.com. I'm hoping that a bunch of new items will give the beehive the boost it needs to start making some sales, it's been pretty dismal over there lately. All my poor little orphans are crying for a home of their own!

Update: before I could publish this post I made 2 sales, yippee! Let's hope they keep coming! You can click the photos below to go to the shop listing.

Secret Santa

click image to enlarge

Arkansas Artists On Etsy (AREtsy) held a Secret Santa swap. I've only done two swaps but I've decided I love them! Here is what I came up with for Punkinhead (of punkinhead.etsy.com).

I received this great organic cotton Christmas tote bag fromVickie (of vhsfree.etsy.com). Click here or on the image to purchase your own Christmas tote!

Love Struck

When my best friend got married this fall I couldn't just buy off the gift registry when I could make her a super decked out wedding album instead. Unfortunately with the move and life I didn't get it to her in person, but it is finally complete and I am very very pleased. I splurged on gorgeous papers at $1.50+/sheet (I can hear non-paper crafters gasping!) with glitter embossing, extravagant flocking, and shimmer and sheen to die for. I'd been eyeballing them for months and planning my fall themed attack. I also bought the most scrumptious ribbons and a super cute package of buttons and timidly dug in. About 8 hours, and ten million brads later I could just melt into this scrapbook, I love it! I hope it will be the perfect showcase for her wedding pictures.






















NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.

Wishing You A Pug-filled Christmas

Isn't he so pretty? I was terribly impressed with his manners during his photo shoot. We've never done this and so far when I try to take his picture he runs up and sticks his nose in the camera. I suppose getting dressed up has a civilizing effect on us all! He sat still as a stone waiting for his treat, there must be bribes! I did realize after looking at these that he's shorter than the bottom of the tree so the tree wasn't as much of a background as I'd hoped it would be, more of a hovering presence. Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE this dog?! He's perfection. My husband's pretty cool too, he enables my newly found Pug obsession by taking pics while I bribe.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" It's just the Pug Mamma trying to trick her Pug into acting like a Poodle.

City Dweller

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.

I've been a busy bee this weekend! It's been awhile since I made a Memory Catcher but I'm happy with the way this turned out. You can buy it here or visit my shop, thebeehive.etsy.com for other fantastic paper crafts. My Memory Catchers are a great way to keep your memories safe and presentable without the time investment it takes to do a full blown scrapbook from scratch. They're also an awesome way to store up memorabilia until you're ready to scrap it. I have two Memory Catcher sets available in my shop and I take special orders. Just contact me for a Memory Catcher made to your specs.

Princess Bookworm

NOTE: My shop The Beehive is now Papercut Kitchen! Please visit my shop Papercut Kitchen by clicking here.

I love it when people place special orders, it makes me branch out and do things that I haven't thought of yet or that I've put off. I got a special request to make a princess bookmark and this is what I came up with. I think I'll make one for my niece and a boy version for my nephew. Maybe the boy version could be "Sir Reads A lot" :)

Bah Humbug!

Between kids and my love of pets I don't think I'll ever be able to decorate my tree below the half way mark. This year I thought I was safe with non breakables down low but Mr. Cash Pugface LOVES the plushies!