The best news a mother could ask for!

I've been beside myself, upside down, turned around and jumping for joy for the past couple of weeks just waiting until I could FINALLY make the announcement that my daughter and her husband are expecting a baby in December!!!!! WOOHOO!!!! She's an only child, so this is our first grandchild and I can't begin to tell you how excited her father and I are! Soon it'll be time to dust off the old serger and sewing machine and start sewing. My daughter lost 120 pounds and has transitioned in to some very small clothes, now will need a few items to get her through, then there will be a little one to sew for. Oh boy oh joy!!!

Mike, Emily and Matt

Time for celebration of 100th item listed in Eco Chique Boutique on Etsy!

I've been very busy taking pictures and replenishing the shelves in our Etsy shop and finally listed our 100th item! Well actually if you count all the sales we hit 100 a long time ago, however it was my goal to get 100 items listed at the same time and I finally reached that goal today. If you like EcoChiqueBoutique on Facebook maybe you've already seen the announcement, if not it will be worth your time to go read it now because there's a gift involved if you're not too late.

Mother's Day cards I made

Wait until you see these awesome cards I made for my mom and mother-in-law for Mother's Day! I cut them on my Cricut using the Mothers Garden SVG Kit from SVGCuts.com. They even have video tutorials showing how to put these things together. I think my moms will enjoy these, especially the way the sunlight comes through that vellum window inside! Have you ever seen anything so beautiful made out of paper? Me neither!

Restocking the Eco Chique Boutique Shelves!

Yesterday after doing my Saturday morning errands (LOVE our local Farmers' Market!) I spent some time taking pictures of all my upcycled drink can brooches and restocking my Etsy shop's virtual shelves. After church today I'll take pics of badge reels and if time permits will get some of my oodles and oodles of upcycled paper embellishments posted. I kind of got carried away making all those die cuts out of assorted food and tissue boxes, wallpaper samples and security envelopes. Here's a few of the new brooches just listed in Eco Chique Boutique.

The Real Secret to Having It All

“Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.” Margaret Lee Runbeck, Author, 1905-1956

What does that quote have to do with my craft room transformation? Well actually quite a lot! How many of us continue to buy, buy, BUY stuff, whether that means paper or other craft supplies, fabric, recipe books or whatever else it is that we collect with good intentions to make something all the while thinking to ourselves that it will make us happy? Ok, so incredibly long run-on sentence that we were taught not to use, but I'm only human and my thoughts go that way. So one of the email subscriptions that I ignore far too often caught my eye today. It's from Living Better at 50+ and I'm very glad that I read the article because it spoke to me. I hope you take the time to read it too. The link below will take you to the article written by a woman who I think I'll get to know more now that I've discovered her blog. Her name is Claire Vorster and I'm sure anyone who has a big duck's beak on their "about me" page has got to be a really cool person. If you're wondering if you'll ever have it all or need some encouragement, go check it out!


The Real Secret to Having It All

Zeleny Art Fair

The flyers are ready now for the Zeleny Art Fair, making this fun event even more of a reality. You'll have to hop over to their blog to see some of the other vendors. Eco Chique Boutique should be on their as soon as they get all caught up. If you haven't liked us yet on Facebook, please head over there now so you don't miss out on any updates. We'll have a special surprise for our FB fans who stop by our booth! Please help us get the word out by sharing this post any way you possibly can. We're all just little hometown folk trying to make a difference in our world!

Prickley Pear March Challenge Card

I recently purchased a set of clear stamps and matching die on clearance and had fun playing with them. The die is itsy bitsy and quite honestly I was stumped as to how to use it, so went in search of ideas. Well so far I haven’t found a tutorial or examples for this particular set called Tree Shapes, so the card below is my way of just winging it. I did manage to find the Prickley Pear blog containing some awesome cards using their products. While there I noticed they have a challenge going on and decided to use their sketch to finish my card. This card will be entered in their March challenge. If anyone has this stamp set and matching die or you know where I can find a tutorial for using the tiny die please let me know. The pieces are so small that it was tricky matching up the small stamps to the cutouts.

Ingredients:

Cardstock:  Buff cardstock is from an upcycled file folder (no kidding folks, these were being sent out for shredding until a coworker and I rescued them!). Kraft and red are from my stash.

Diecuts:  Prickley Pear Tree Shapes (aka Four Seasons), EK Success Slim Edger Punch Large Lattice Chain. Spellbinders Lacey Ovals, Leaves from my stash (possibly cut on my Cricut using the Home Accents cart)

Embossing: Designer Frames Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folders from Stampin Up!

Stamp: Prickley Pear Four Seasons

Ink:  Riding Hood Red by Stampin Up!

Lace from my stash