DIY

I have an amazing promotion for you in my Etsy shop - read more about that in this post. If you’re wondering what to do with all those yummy goodies, here are 12 fun DIY ideas for you!

1
Make a beach or mermaid themed junk journal. The bundle contains so many goodies that are just perfect for that, and it also includes a printable beach themed kit with letter size papers and embellishment sheets, if you’re not that good with Photoshop or graphic software in general. Check out creative team member Sheila May’s Mermaid Junk Journal or flip through her Beach Party / Bathing Beauties themed Junk Journal for inspiration!

2
If you’re not into junk journals, and more into digiscrapping, finally take some time to scrap the photos from that fantastic beach vacation.

3
Have you been wanting to add some new wall art to your house? Then now’s the time! The Scrumptious Sun-kissed Summer Crafting Pack contains several pieces of wall art, ready to print! All you have to do is frame them.

4
Organize your craft room! Buy a few more boxes if you need to, go through your craft supplies and put related things together. Print the Craft Room Labels on sticker sheets, so you can just print, cut out and glue the stickers to the boxes.

5
If you love to cook or spend time in the kitchen, a well organized pantry will give you extra joy. Use the Pantry Labels from the bundle to organize your supplies in a stylish way!

6
If you want to declutter your home or (home) office, the printable Cable Labels are a good start. Print, cut and attach to all those cables and cords of printers, computers, scanners, laptops, phones…

7
Invite your family and friends for a summer afternoon party in the garden! The Vintage Orchid or Tropical Getaway Tickets, the Vintage Tropical Straw Flags, the Tea Party Invitation, the Tea Bag Envelopes… those will add some extra flair to your party. Print out a few botanical papers, like the papers in the Things To Do In The Garden collection and use as wrapping paper for small gifts, or to make festive garden banners.

8
If you’re more of a silent crafting type, summer is always a good time to start making homemade Christmas gifts for family and friends. Create unique jewelry, using the Alice In Wonderland, My One True Love or Vintage Tropical Jewelry Images, make unique clocks, using the Clock Faces, fill the Seed Packets with seeds from your garden that they can sow in the spring, or record their favorite music on a CD and put the CD in the CD Sleeves with Music Fairies… Nothing is ever more appreciated than a unique, homemade gift.

9
Does your garden need some work? Print out the Garden Planner. It will help you design, plan, harvest and maintain the garden of your dreams and you can use it over and over again!

10
If you have an extensive home library, if you often lend books to family and friends, the Ex Libris Bookplates will allow you to mark your books in a stylish way. Print and paste them in your books, add your name and address - no one will ever forget that it is your book they are reading.

11
Make a digital scrapbook of your latest trip to the mountains, using the Wanderlust Collection. The muted color scheme of lilacs, greens and neutrals will allow your pictures and stories to shine. The colors will look especially great with pictures of lavender fields, woods and mountains.

12
Print 1 or more of the Ex Libris Quotes or Catching Waves Poems on vellum and wrap around a glass jar. Put a candle in it, the light will shine through the vellum and make for a very unique candle light, perfect for a summer evening! You can do the same with some of the papers from this bundle.

Have fun!

Anja

Hi, everyone! Kate here with a look at the balsa wood magnet set I just made using the perfectly distressed elements from Anja’s kit Never Enough Hours, a collab with Captivated Visions. I’ve included a supply list in case you’d like to follow along.

(find it at Oscraps, Scrap Girls, and Etsy)

Supplies:

Photo paper

Cutting machine or scissors

Balsa wood (found in the craft section of the store)

Spray adhesive

X-acto knife

Nail file

Mod Podge

Small magnets

The first thing I did was print and cut the elements I wanted as magnets.

Next, I adhered the the elements to the balsa wood using a spray adhesive. Using an X-acto knife, I carefully cut the balsa away from the design. I used a nail file to finish it off. Balsa is such a soft wood that it really doesn’t take much - just use a light hand with the file.

I brushed all the tops with Mod Podge at this point, just to give them an extra layer of protection. Once they were dry I used hot glue to secure the magnets on the backs.

Thanks for looking! <3

I am still making weekly printables for The Graphics Fairy Membership site. If you are subscriber, you get them for free with every new weekly bundle. But if you are not a member, you can still grab them in my Etsy shop, in a slightly altered version. Some of them are also available in my shops at Oscraps and/or Scrap Girls. Check back often to see what’s new!

Here’s an overview of what I’ve been making in the past few weeks:

Coin Envelopes Vol1

With this pack you will get 6 gorgeous printable envelope templates that were created with vintage kraft paper and old newspaper textures. There’s a label on the front where you can write something down, and I’ve also included a paper texture that you can print on the back. Use these cuties for little things that have to be packed, stored, labelled and/or given away: seeds, beads, needles, coins, … You can also use them as gift wrapping for small favors and gifts, this is a great DIY gift idea for men (they are super easy to assemble)!

Grab it in my Etsy shop.

Science Experiment Card

Do you love science? Do you like to experiment? Then you will love these cards that will help you keep track of all your experiments in vintage style. Print the cards on heavy cardstock and keep them in a wood storage box, in the old fashioned way. Or use these cards and the box as part of your Halloween decor!

Grab this in my Etsy shop.

Test Tube Labels

A gorgeous set of printable test tube labels, created with vintage kraft paper. These specimen labels would be perfect for a mad scientist or steampunk laboratory party: fill some test tubes with little sweets and put a label on them. Or, use them for your Halloween decor!

Grab this in my Etsy shop.

Christmas Treat Bag Toppers

The detailed and elegant design of these candy bag or biscuit bag toppers in Edwardian style will make your Christmas favor bags look truly amazing! There are two labels with red stripes, two with green stripes and two with blue stripes. They all have the same vintage typographic text on the back, but I’ve provided a blank version for each label; this will allow you to add a personal message for your loved ones. These treat bag toppers are particularly suitable for pet lovers gifts!

Grab them in my Etsy shop.

Holiday Banner

This beautiful DIY holiday banner with vintage winter greenery and woodland deer images will look stunning on your holiday parties, whether it’s for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year or just for a winter woodland themed birthday party. Print on cardstock, cut out the flags (easy shape!), attach on a string - ready. This could be a fun winter project to organize with the kids!

Grab the banner in my Etsy shop.

Holiday Gift Tags

These beautiful printable gift tags with vintage winter greenery and woodland deer images will look stunning on your homemade gifts, whether it’s for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year or just for a winter woodland themed birthday party. A bit of space was provided on the tag to allow you to add a personal message.

Grab them in my Etsy shop.

Holiday Cards + Envelope

These beautiful printable holiday cards with vintage winter greenery and woodland deer images will make great holiday cards. They are double folding cards, so you can write a message on the inside. I’ve provided three different cards and a matching envelope, and insides for the cards and the envelope are also available.

Grab them in my Etsy shop.

CD Case Calendar Pages

These printable calendar pages with vintage birds will make a great bird lovers gift. They were made for a jewel CD case. The calendars show a different bird every month and I’ve added some information about the bird that is being featured. There is room for a few notes too. Although you can buy CD cases that are made for calendars, it is very easy to make one yourself, using an ordinary CD jewel case - I’ve included instructions in one of the previews.

Available in my Etsy shop.

Jewelry Gift Box

Looking for a fun way to wrap up small holiday favors and gifts like jewelry? This charming vintage jewelry box with vintage birds, a lace background and jewelry card holder is not only fun to assemble, it is also perfect to wrap up romantic holiday gifts for your wife, mother, daughter or friend.

Available in my Etsy shop.

Vintage Bird Coin Envelopes

Looking for a fun way to wrap up small Christmas favors and gifts? These gorgeous printable paper packets with vintage birds and a lace background are not only fun to assemble, they are also perfect to wrap up romantic holiday gifts for your wife, mother, daughter or friend. Think of jewelry, money, or gift coupons.

Grab them in my Etsy shop.

Gift Coupons

If you were still looking for unique holiday gifts for family and friends, look no further. These vintage printable coupons are the perfect Xmas, holiday or birthday gift. Print, cut and personalize. Offer a coupon good for a city trip, a movie night, a dinner in a fancy restaurant… Or use them to add a message if you give money as a gift…
Put the coupons in coin envelopes that I listed above, they were made to match!

Available in my Etsy shop.

These will make unique gifts for the holidays!

Have a great day,

Anja

As you may know I have been designing the free printables that come with the weekly bundles at The Graphics Fairy Membership site, since last summer. It is always such a pleasure (and an honour!) to be able to work with those images and designing printables is something I LOVE to do. Sometimes it is challenging to try and come up with something unique (although Karen and Emily are helping me come up with new ideas ), but it is good to be challenged and some of the things I’ve designed, would never have come to life if I hadn’t been invited by Karen and Emily to do this.

I am offering some of these printables in a slightly altered version in my Etsy shop too. And here’s an overview of what I’ve added over the past few weeks:

Wouldn’t you wish these printable postage stamps were real? Included in this pack is a gorgeous set of postage stamps with vintage harvest fruits and vegetables, dictionary and paint textures. Use them in your digital projects, or in any other (paper)craft project. Or print them and use them to decorate an envelope with a gift for a nature lover! Each stamp comes in a large version and in a small version, and I’ve added sheets for easy printing.

Included in this pack is a gorgeous set of 6 artist trading cards (ATC) with vintage botanical fruit prints. Use them in your digital projects, or in any other (paper)craft project. Or print them (best on heavy paper) and use them as tags or labels. Or frame them and hang them on your wall - these will make a gorgeous fall decor!

Your tea will taste even better if you wrap your tea bags in one of these shabby chic tea packets + matching label! They were created with a dot pattern paper and vintage teacup images. A wonderful DIY gift idea for friends and tea lovers! These tea bag envelopes are very easy to assemble, instructions are included in your ZIP files.

This tea party invitation can be used again and again to invite your family and friends to a high tea party, to a bridal shower or baby shower, or to any other occasion where tea is the main subject. Included is a front and back, and an editable Photoshop file, that will allow you to customize the invitation - I’ve included information about the fonts that I used. If you are not good with graphic software, simply print and add your own text in writing, or use a program like Word or Picmonkey to add text.

These printable tags were created with vintage fairies and flowers and soft grunge sheet music backgrounds. They have a burlap reinforcement. Use these beautiful tags in your digital scrapbooking or art journaling layouts, or print them for your hybrid projects, for art journaling, for gift tags and so on.

This is a gorgeous set of printable bookmarks, with a sheet music background, some paint, ornamental fragments in gold, and gypsies and flowers. These bookish gifts would make a great surprise for booklovers or for music lovers, for a sister, mother, wife or friend!

Included in this pack is a set of printable CD sleeves, created with vintage fairies and flowers and soft grunge sheet music backgrounds. You can use them as storage for music CD’s, or CD’s and DVD’s with family photos and videos. They will brighten up your (music) library ànd they make a wonderful gift wrapping for presents. They are really easy to assemble (instructions included).

For now, all these packs are exclusively available in my Etsy shop, but I’ll be adding some of them (if not all) to my Oscraps in the weeks and months to come!

Have a great day,

Anja

When I got the idea for this planner, the weather was quite nice here in Belgium… Now it feels more like autumn. But maybe it is a wonderful spring weather in the part of the world where you live! And maybe you feel like doing some work in your garden… Well, if you are looking for a fun way to organize and keep track of your gardening chores, then you will love this printable garden planner that I have created for you! It will help you design, plan, harvest and maintain the garden of your dreams.

You will receive 24 pages, all in printable sheets (in both JPG and PDF), in three different sizes: A4, A5 an US Letter size (8,5 x 11 in). It has been designed as a booklet (with extra space to punch the holes), but you can print the pages separately and add them to your regular planner.

The following pages are included:

• Page 1 - Cover
• Page 2 - Quote
• Page 3 - Garden Dreams & Wishes
  A page where you can put down your thoughts and dreams for (future) garden projects.
• Page 4-5 - Garden Budget Planner
  A page to calculate the cost of your investments, tools and other things for your garden, or to keep track of your garden expenses.
• Page 6 - Garden Layout
  Use the grid to help you plan specific borders, or the whole garden, to scale.
• Page 7 - Notes
  A page where you can simply write down your thoughts or observations.
• Page 8-9 - Seed Starter Log
  Keep track of the seeds you planted, date of planting, germination date, transplant date etc. and room for notes.
• Page 10-11 - Weekly Perpetual Planner
  Plan your daily garden tasks and check the checkbox when complete; print again next year.
• Page 12-14 - Monthly Perpetual Planner
  Plan and organise monthly jobs that need to be done around the garden and check the checkbox when complete; print again next year.
• Page 15 - Seasonal Perpetual Planner
  Plan your seasonal garden tasks and check the checkbox when complete.
• Page 16-17 - Pest Information Sheet
  Record problems, keep track of treatments and their effectiveness.
• Page 18-19 - Harvest Record
  Record the yields and harvests. See the result of your hard work for use as a reference in the future.
• Page 20-21 - Plant Profile Sheet
  A sheet that you can use to record the details of every plant in your garden; I’ve provided only two, but you can print as many as you like (left and right side provided).
• Page 22-23 - Useful contacts
  Write down interesting sites or garden shops that you love.
• Page 24 - Back

Did you recognize the papers and elements? This garden planner was designed by using papers and elements from my ‘Things To Do In The Garden’ collection! More information in this post.

The Garden Planner is available at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick, Etsy and Creative Market.

Important note to Etsy customers: due to the limited upload size on Etsy I could not include all the formats and sizes. The following sizes/formats are not included in the download: A5 in PDF, US Letter in PDF and A4 in both JPG and PDF. If you need these formats/sizes, then please contact me and I will send them to you, they are all available within the one price.

Let’s have a look at the preview and some detailed images:

You can make new prints of this planner every year, you can print as many of the individual pages as you need… And keep track of all your garden adventures over the years.

The Garden Planner is discounted for a week in all my shops, so grab it before it goes back to it’s normal price!

I also have two new commercial use packs for you:

Greenery Vol. 01 - Grass Blades

A pack of 7 fresh random sprigs of spring grass blades, in their original color. These elements were scanned at 600 dpi, and meticulously extracted by me to ensure best quality.

You will receive 7 hi res PNG files. Available in my shops at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick, Etsy and Creative Market (discounted for a week).

Wood Pieces Vol.01

A fun set of 12 mini wood veneer embellishments that would make a great addition to your garden/farm themed kits. They were scanned at 600 dpi, and meticulously extracted by me to ensure best quality. Maximum size is 1.5 x 1.5 inch (4 x 4 cm), which is their real size.

You will receive 12 hi res PNG files, including:
- 1 spade
- 1 watering can
- 1 bird house
- 2 birds
- 4 flowers
- 1 chicken
- 1 butterfly
- 1 rabbit

Available in my shops at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick, Etsy and Creative Market (and discounted for a week).

Commercial Use Deal Of The Day

My ‘A Moment Captured Brushes I CU’ are Deal Of The Day at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, you can grab them at 60% off, only today!

Whimsical Challenge at The Digichick

Challenges at The Digichick have to start on the 1st of the month and end at the last day of the month. And I started a little late with my first Whimsical Challenge there, but as from next month, you will have a whole month to participate! BUT you still have two days to tell me what you favourite TV-show is and why, you will all the information you need in this thread.

There will be a new Whimsical Challenge on Sunday, at The Digichick ànd at The Studio (Whimsical Challenge No2 at The Studio will run until the 15th of May).

Digiscrapparade

If you are reading this post before Sunday, then I can tell you that I will be joining the Digiscrapparade on Sunday - for the first time as a designer (really really excited about that!). If you are following the blog hop, you will come back here… Make sure you download my part, there’s a little surprise for you in the zip file 🙂

In the mean time, you can follow the countdown (and see some sneak peeks) on the official Digiscrapparade blog!

Have a wonderful day, hope to see you on Sunday!

Anja

There’s a new tutorial written by me on The Graphics Fairy Premium Membership site! This week I am showing you how to create a bookmark with a decorative edging. You will learn how to use Shapes in Photoshop Elements to create interesting details, as well as some other fun things.

I have been a Photoshop Elements instructor for The Graphics Fairy Premium Membership site since the beginning of this year. In order to follow along, you need to sign up though. And you might want to seriously consider signing up! Every week new bundles of vintage images grouped into themed collections are added, along with many extras like vector files, brushes, printables… and a tutorial, written by me, Jill or Emily.

For more information, go to this link. The more versatile file formats and expanded design resources will help you create, whether you are a crafter, digital artist, or designer.

Anja

Just a quick note to link you up to the most amazing hybrid project I’ve seen so far. The talented Vicki Davidson from The Digichicks hybrid chick team has used my Vintage Tropical Transfers and Brushes to create a table runner and a pillow. She is explaining how she did it in a step-by-step tutorial. Here’s the link to the tutorial.

Anja

Are you planning an Alice In Wonderland themed afternoon tea party with lots of delicious sweets and tea? Whether this afternoon tea is a party for a birthday girl or boy, or for a baby shower, or to celebrate an anniversary, this huge party pack will help you turn it into an unforgettable event. It provides everything you need to decorate your house and party in style, from the stunning party invitation to the cute souvenir bag that you will give to your guests as a thank you. Everything has been designed around Alice In Wonderland, the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter, with images from the books, and with romantic curly decorations and touches of gold, in a blue and a pink version.

The whole collection is now discounted and you can grab everything at 30% off
in my shop at Digital Scrapbooking Studio
in my shop at The Digichick
note: discount valid on separate packs, not on already discounted bundles.

Grab the bundles and save!

These bundled deals will allow you to grab all the separate packs at 36% off.

Grab The Blue Mad Tea Party Bundle at Digital Scrapbooking Studio or at The Digichick.

Grab The Pink Mad Tea Party Bundle at Digital Scrapbooking Studio or at The Digichick.

Cannot decide which one you prefer? Grab both packs and save even more!

Yes please! Take me to Digital Scrapbooking Studio or The Digichick.

Onto the separate packs:

The Invitation
Invite your guests in style with this party invitation. You will receive:
- a postcard size invitation (front and back) in hi res JPG
- a printable sheet in hi res JPG and PDF with two invitations (front and back)
- a printable sheet with a matching envelope (outside and inside provided, super easy to assemble)

Grab the blue invitation at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick or in my Etsy shop.

Grab the pink invitation at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick or in my Etsy shop.

The Banner
This themed banner will help you decorate your party in style! Included in this pack are all the letters of the alphabet, so that you can make your own text. And you will get 7 flags with images from Alice In Wonderland as well as one blank flag. You will receive:
- 26 flags with the letters of the alphabet
- 7 flags with images from Alice In Wonderland
- 17 printable sheets in JPG and PDF
Grab the blue banner at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick or in my Etsy shop.

Grab the pink banner at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick, or in my Etsy shop.

The Tickets
These gorgeous entry tickets will be a fun addition to the party! You will get a numbered set and a blank ticket, to add your own numbers. You will receive:
- 11 PNG files, 10 numbered tickets and 1 ticket where you can add your own numbers
- a printable sheet with 10 numbered tickets and 2 blank tickets, so 12 tickets in total
Grab the blue tickets at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick or in my Etsy shop.

Grab the pink tickets at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick, or in my Etsy shop.

The Mini Food Tags
These cute little food tags can be used to decorate your buffet table. Add these funny labels with ‘Take Me’, ‘Open Me’, ‘Eat Me’ and ‘Drink Me’ to sweets, cakes, drinks, or use them to add a personal touch to presents. You will receive:
- 4 PNG files - ‘Eat Me’, ‘Drink Me’, ‘Take Me’ and ‘Open Me’
- printable sheets in JPG and PDF with 16 tags ‘Eat Me’, 16 tags ‘Drink Me’, 16 tags ‘Take Me’ and 16 tags ‘Open Me’ (a total of 64 tags).
Grab the blue mini food tags at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick or in my Etsy shop.

Grab the pink mini food tags at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick or in my Etsy shop.

The Cupcake Toppers
Decorate your sweets, cupcakes or anything else you offer with these beautiful cupcake toppers - or use them as labels or tags. These cupcake toppers would even be perfect for any other non-Alice themed party. You will receive:
- 3 PNG files with images from Alice In Wonderland
- 1 PNG file with ‘Eat Me’
- 1 PNG file with ‘Take Me’
- 1 blank PNG file
- printable sheets in JPG and PDF with 6 ‘Eat Me’ toppers, 6 ‘Take Me’ toppers, 6 toppers with Alice and crown image, 6 tags with the White Rabbit, 6 tags with the Mad Hatter and 6 blank files, so 36 tags in total.Grab the blue cupcake toppers at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick, or in my Etsy shop.

Grab the pink cupcake toppers at Digital Scrapbooking Studio,The Digichick, or in my Etsy shop.

The glass recognizers
These glass recognizers will make sure that none of the guests ever lose their glasses again. Print on heavy paper, cut out, fold in two and attach to a straw or wooden picker. Write the names of your guests on the space provided, or offer them in a jar, provide a pen and have them write their names themselves. You will receive:
- 1 JPG file
- a printable sheet with 6 glass recognizers - in JPG and PDF
Grab the blue glass recognizers at Digital Scrapbooking Studio,The Digichick or in my Etsy shop.

Grab the pink glass recognizers at Digital Scrapbooking Studio,The Digichick, or in my Etsy shop.

The tea bag envelopes
Serve your tea in style with these wonderful tea bag envelopes (aren’t they cute?)! The envelopes are super easy to assemble. They all have the ‘Drink Me’ Alice In Wonderland image, along with the text ‘Drink Me’. A little tag is provided to attach to the tea bag thread (fold in two and glue together). These gorgeous tea bag envelopes will surely impress your guests and would be perfect for any other non-Alice themed tea party as well! You will receive a printable sheet in JPG and PDF with 3 tea bag envelopes and 3 tags.
Grab the blue tea bag envelopes at Digital Scrapbooking Studio, The Digichick, or in my Etsy shop.

And here is a little sneak peek of what’s coming next week!

Have a wonderful day,

Anja

Are you planning a Valentine’s Day Party, even if it’s just for you and the love of your life? Then you will find everything you need in this vintage style party pack! With its warm colour scheme of gold, red, orange and chocolate brown, and the ornamental curls, the vintage cupids and the red roses, this collection is the perfect addition to an unforgettable Valentine’s Day party.

The best news is, that you can grab all 6 packs at 30% off at Digital Scrapbooking Studio!

These packs are also available in my Etsy shop and in my shop at Creative Market.

Do you want all six packs? Then grab this bundled deal at 36% off!

If you are a newsletter subscriber, you can grab the freebie at the bottom of the newsletter. If you haven’t subscribed yet, then you definitely should, subscribe here.

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Anja

Christmas is just around the corner, just a few more days, and I have decided to take a break from designing during the holidays to spend some much needed time with my family. So there won’t be anything new from me in the next two weeks, BUT, I did add three new packs to my stores: a set of dinner printables, that you might be able to use for your Christmas party, if you are hosting one, a sheet with gift tags and a snowy paperpack.

Christmas Dinner Printables

A set of printables for your next Christmas party, created with traditional Christmas colours, red and green, some holly and a vintage Santa Claus image.

Included in this pack are:
- a menu card (measures 5 x 7,5 in or 12,7 x 19,05 cm)
- a tent place card (measures 3,5 x 2,5 in or 8,89 x 6,35 cm) when folded
- a utensil holder (measures 4,25 x 6,75 in or 10,8 x 17,15 cm) when folded
- a napkin ring (measures 7,873 x 2,167 in or 20 x 5,5 cm)

You will receive a Hi Res printable sheet (PDF + JPG) for each item and I have included JPG and/or PNG files as well so you can use them in your digital projects too. I have included some instructions on the previews, but everything is very easy to assemble. I am going to use these myself!

This pack coordinates with the following packs:
Santa Wishlist
Christmas Gift Tags Vol.01
Merry Christmas Banner

The striped pattern is a paper from my Cosy Christmas Fantasy Papers and the creamy paper is from my Cosy Christmas Solid Papers. The doily is part of my Cosy Christmas Elements pack and the vintage Santa Claus stamp is a brush from my Jolly Santa Brushes pack.

Christmas Gift Tags Vol.01

Funny vintage style Christmas gift tags, to decorate your Christmas presents! I have provided a front and a back. If you do not want a white blank back for your tags, then print on both sides of your paper. The back and the basis of the front is a red striped pattern with holly. On the front it says ‘North Pole Express Delivery’ with various boxes to check (Recipient has been found…, Do not open until…, Inspection by…). The stamp on the tag says ‘This item has been approved by Santa’.

Included in this pack are:
- a printable sheet with 4 tags; each tag measures 2,61 x 4 in (6,63 x 10,16 cm) - front and back, JPG and PDF format;
- PNG files of the front and the back of the tag, for use in your digital projects.

These gift tags coordinate with the following packs:
Santa Wishlist
Christmas Dinner Printables
Merry Christmas Banner

A Fairytale in the Snow Papers

It’s a wonderful combination, snow and afternoon sunlight… I created these papers from pictures that I took in the snow, photographing the light in the snow. I edited them and added some textures and overlays. Mix and match these papers in all your digital scrapbooking, art journaling, card making and paper craft projects. Or use them as overlays, play with the blend modes!

These packs are available in my Etsy store, in my shop at Digital Scrapbooking Studio and in my shop at Creative Market.

I’ve been busy busy busy (but I like it!)… I get up early in the morning and I go to sleep wayyyyyyyyy to late… Why? Well, for various reasons… Let me fill you in on the details:

1) I participated in a local market as an exhibitor

A few months ago I was asked to join the Pukema 2015 market in Puurs, a small village in Antwerp. Not only did I get a call from the Pukema organisation, I was also contacted by the organizer of a local fair in Eeklo (10-11th October), and I was accepted for participation in a third fair in Ghent (29th November). I have never been an exhibitor on a market or fair but there’s a first time for everything, right?
With a market and two fairs ahead of me, I started to make my preparations weeks in advance. I had a stock of my cards printed at Moo, had some posters made of my artwork , and prints from a small collection of designs that I’ve made for Etsy. If you know me, you’d know that I always strive for perfection (not always a good quality!) and I wanted to add something extra. That something extra was a collection of vintage style jewelry with pictures from my designs. Jewelry is not really my specialty, I spent a lot of time on making them, but I love how they turned out!

Having a stock of items for sale is not enough, I had flyers and business cards printed, and I thought of ways to present my products in the best possible way, that would reflect my style and the look and feel of my designs.

Because I was so well prepared the building of my stand went very smoothly and quite fast (I had practiced at home). I had everything with me that I needed and that helped to feel confident about myself. I took my daughter with me (because I know she loves doing those things) for some extra help.

The market was not an overall success, I had many viewers but just a handful of buyers. I don’t think that Pukema was the perfect market for me though, Pukema is more about music (there were concerts all day), having a drink with your friends, something to eat, fairground for the kids, some street amusement… I’m expecting more success at the other fairs. Still, Pukema was an unforgettable experience and I had a lot of positive feedback on my designs.

Some helpful tips :

1. Being prepared is not a guarantee for success but it does help enormously to feel confident and calm the nerves.
2. Make sure that your pricing is clear. I found some gorgeous little chalkboards in a dollar store - perfect in the whole concept but most of all: very practical!
3. Have a little notebook with you. It was a great tip that I got from a friend, and I was happy I took her advice. I took some notes from things that I experienced or thought of and wanted to do better next time.
4. A few years ago I bought a chalkboard in a store for just 5 Euros. It’s a great way to present yourself and your business. I saw many people watching it and reading what I had written on it.
5. If the market is outside, make sure you can rent a tent (or if you have one from yourself, be sure to take it). A tent comes in very handy with unexpected showers!
6. Make sure you have a stock of flyers and business cards with you. I may not have sold that much, people did often take a flyer and a business card with them, and you never know what might come out of that!
7. A jar with candies is always a good idea if you have families with kids passing you by. While the kids asked for a candy, the parents took a flyer or a business card.

Here are some pictures:

The chalkboard that I bought for 5 Euros, perfect to present my business!

A stock of flyers and business cards. And a jar with candies! Note to myself: a note with ‘take me’ would encourage people even more to grab them, usually they only took a flyer or business card (or both), after we explicitly told them they could.

My vintage style jewelry. I didn’t really know how to present them, but then I found the wooden tree, the perfect display!

Having my cards spread out on the table was the best idea I had all day LOL. I hadn’t planned on presenting them that way, I was just going to put them in the baskets, but people would never have taken the effort to look at them if I hadn’t spread them out like this.

My daughter, all set and ready. She did a great job in helping me out.

And then we had a few showers… glad that I had rented the tent!

Street amusement with Monsterbob

The streets were crowded, despite the rain.

2) I have been allowed to open a shop at Creative Market

Creative Market is a platform for handcrafted, mousemade design content from independent creatives around the world. I had my eyes on them for quite some time, all the best designers have a shop at Creative Market! You cannot just open a shop though, you need an invite. About three months ago I applied but wasn’t accepted. The message was that they wanted to see more of me and then two weeks ago, I applied again! And was accepted… Still cannot believe it.

I will still sell my designs in the VectoriaDesigns shop, Creative Market is just a second outlet.

I have to make new previews for my products (the format is different than the Etsy format) and I have to make new zip files (no TOU or links are allowed in the zip files). Making new previews and rezipping everything is a lot of work, but I’m nearly there. I’ve already had some sales and a product ‘handpicked’ by the staff. ‘Handpicked’ means that your product will be shown on the main page and that makes for a lot of likes and views for your shop. It was my Worn & Tattered Vintage Newspaper Textures that was handpicked by the staff and yes, it’s on their main page. Just scroll down until you see ‘Handpicked’.

Or see the rest of my shop here.

3) New designs

Of course I keep adding new designs to my shop(s). These are the latest additions:

Are you planning on throwing a Halloween costume party this year? Then this invitation template and pack of costume contest printables will be the perfect tool!

6 artsy Artist Trading Cards with vintage mushroom images, with grungy textures. The mushrooms were scanned from prints that I found in a box that belonged to my father. In the box were so many old books, magazines, schoolbooks and other fun bits and pieces.

And then this paperpack in warm autumn colours, a bit worn and textured, for an extra cosy feeling, with faded vintage textures and images. With this pack you will get 8 textured/patterned papers and 1 solid paper. They are perfect for your fall or thanksgiving projects!

Among The Shadows Collection - Sneak Peek

Oh yes, it’s coming! It will be available in a large Halloween themed pack at a very affordable price, somewhere in the first half of October. Stay tuned!

That’s it for now. Enjoy your week!

Anja

A sneak peek of something I made this afternoon: straw flags, with the patterns of the Vintage Tropical Papers I made last week. You can stick them to a plastic straw, but I used small wooden sticks. Use double sided tape to attach. A fun idea for your summer parties! Guests can write their names on the blank label on the front (I used some dummy names here, the label is blank). Coming soon to my Etsy store as a printable PDF!