10 Cards in 10 Weeks - Preppy Inspired Cards

My friend Elle is moving away in 10 weeks! She has given herself a challenge to wear a different outfit everyday until she moves. She is documenting this on her blog and posting her outfit there daily. You can check out her Completely Preppy blog HERE. There is lots of good stuff there.

This inspired me to make a challenge for myself. My biggest road blocks is not being inspired to create. So the challenge I came up with is to let Elle pick out an inspiration piece from the world of fashion (of which she is very savvy... me... not so much). She will give me the inspiration piece every Monday and I will post the card that it inspired every Saturday!

I just came up with this today so she gave me this inspiration piece.



So tune in Saturday to see what it inspired (oh the pressure!) You can play along too if you want. 10 cards in 10 weeks , maybe I will finally start restocking our Etsy Shop. Visit us on Etsy by clicking HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Random Art Inspiration... with Parker

I found this funny blog called "The Annotated Weekender", click on the blog name to link there. They draw/doodle all over a magazine every weekend. The cartoons are very funny and cute.

This is an example of one of the comics:



Cute right? Well this inspired Parker and me to get out our copies of Austin magazine and try our hand at doodling. These are the results. I am not a great drawer, so see if you can guess which one is drawn by a 9 year old and which one was drawn by me.






This was actually pretty fun, I recommend this activity for everyone whether you can draw or not. Thank to The Annotated Weekender for the inspiration!

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Etsy Inspired Challenge - My first time entering

I have been following this blog called Etsy Inspired Challenge. Basically they feature an Etsy shop each week as inspiration for a paper crafting project. They can explain it better. Click HERE to see their blog.

This week they picked a super cute Etsy shop called Bee Things. They sell super cute prints and use alot of birds, which we all know I love. They even have the cutest lunch sacks!

This is my inspiration from the Bee Things shop (my two favorite things, birds and cupcakes):I made this card using my cricut and basic grey patterned papers. I was wanting to use my cupcake paper so bad, but I haven't been inspired to use it. I am so happy this challenge came along! It turned out so cute I am going to offer it for sale in my Etsy shop MD Cards and Gifts.


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Again with the Owls?!

I know, I seriously have an owl problem right now. When I am browsing on Etsy I am inexplicably drawn into searching for Owl stuff. Etsy has Owls of all makes and models.

• This time I was inspired by this super cute stuffed owl from BWinks. They are unique and the fabrics used are so nice. I can't decide which one to order. I believe they can do custom color schemes too. I think this would make a great Mother's day, Baby shower or Birthday gift. The best part is that they are "Good Luck" owls!! You can never have too much of that!

• The next shop I fell in love with yesterday is called Woolcrazy. These are little hand sized owls and way too cute! It was hard to decide which one to post a picture of. This one is super cute. It also looks like they are part hand sewn, part needle felted and part knitted. The prices seem reasonable to me too. Click on the shop name to go to the Etsy Shop.

• Okay *hint hint* for my birthday I totally want these plush owl cake toppers! That would be the best birthday ever! This shop, Gifts Define, additionally has the cutest owl mobile I have ever seen. Although I am a little old for an owl mobile, I think I love it.

Don't forget to check out my Etsy shops Wanted Creatures and MD Cards and Gifts. Thanks for stopping by!

Random Book Recommendations

One of my favorite things is listening to book on audio's on the way to and from work daily. It makes the commute so much easier. I currently rent audio book from "Simply Audio Books". It works very similar to netflix. So...

• Recommendation #1 - If you spend alot of time in the car you should join a book on audio club or check them out at your local library.

One of my favorite authors to read (uhh...er... I mean listen) is Dean Koontz. His novels aren't always horror or supernatural. Sometimes they are just thrillers. I highly recommend reading this one, this book literally made me cry (in the car).

• Recommendation #2 - Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. This book is so good. It is funny, clever, suspenseful and has huge surprise twists. Usually I can see a twist coming but this one made me gasp! It is so good!

I have already recommended Dean Koontz, but I just listened to a Stephen King novel called "Cell". It is by far the best Stephen King novel in my opinion (out of the ones I have read).

• Recommendation #3 - Cell by Stephen King. This novel is about the end of the world as we know it brought on by cell phones. Then it is about relationships forming in a post apocalyptic world. It was very good and thought provoking.

Okay trying not to make this too long. But I can't forget to mention my fav genre while in the car, Chic Lit! My fav author in this genre is Sophie Kinsella. The stories are so funny and heartwarming. The books are narrated by a Brit and they are really cute.

• Recommendation #4 - Can You Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella.

If you have any book recommendation please feel free to comment. Thanks for stopping by!

The Nerdiest Video Game Stuff on Etsy!

We all know that I am a huge video game nerd. Not the type of video games that the boys like to play. I like games that would feel at home on a Nintendo Game Cube. I especially love nostalgic games, reminds me of the days when I had my first NES system. I remember going to eat at Mr. Gatti's Pizza and playing Centipede for 25 cents (Q-bert too).

Etsy has several cute things that make game nerds like me very happy. These are my picks for the best geeky, nerdy, video game items on Etsy! These shops make it very clear that the game nerd is alive and well.

• This is a gift set from Digital Soaps and is perfect for the gaming nerds out there (including my brother). They make soaps that look like video game controllers! This set includes an X-Box controller and shampoo in a Mountain Dew bottle! They have all sorts of soap controllers from Sega to Nintendo. They also have these soap sets, anything space invaders gets my heart racing!

• This is so clever! From 8-Bit Memory (great shop name by the way) comes Hard Drives made out of Nintendo video game cartridges. Yes, cartridges remember those? They come in a variety of GB. The product descriptions are funny to read too. I might have to break down and get the USB drive that was formerly a Nintendo Gameboy cartridge. From what I understand they have different games that you can request to have a hard drive custom made.

• When just saying you are a video game nerd isn't enough, how about showing that you are with a piece of handmade artwork from ArcadeArt. Not only is the subject matter great, but the art pieces of wonderful aesthetic value. The Pac Man "kill screen" painting is my absolute favorite! If you don't know what a "kill screen" is, you are not quite a game nerd yet.

Click the shop names above to go directly to their shops. Please also check out my shop Wanted Creatures on Etsy. They aren't video game related, but still pretty geeky! Thanks for stopping by.

Cool Etsy Dog Stuff!

So I am a little dog crazy right now since we got our puppy. It is like having a toddler in the house again and we super spoil him. I thought it would be fun to find the coolest handmade dog accessories (in my opinion) on Etsy and share them with everyone. Especially here in Austin, we love our doggies! (click on any of the shop names to visit them)

• This is from BeanTownHandmade, they make the cutest crocheted sweaters and collar flowers. Since I have a boy dog, I can't get him the flower (well.... maybe). What won over my heart was the sweater for the Sphinx cat. I have a Cornish Rex cat and she is always cold. I am going to have to get her one! You can pick the color and then they make it just to your pets specifications. They have super cute hats too! (The boston terrier model is super super cute!)

• Etsy has several shops that make metal dog tags, but this shop seems to have the most special ones. The shop is MakeYourDogSmile and the tags are great! They are so cute, I want to use them as a keychain. They are made after you order them with your dog's custom infomation. These are my two favs.

• Lastly, since I am owl crazy, I had to find a super cute owl collar. This one is from FidosFashionCollars. They have all sorts of cute dog collars and offer custom embroidery with your dogs name.

With the help from creative sellers on Etsy, your dog is sure to be the coolest in the dog park. While on Etsy check out my new creature shop WantedCreatures!

Random Reviews

I have a couple of quick reviews, but I won't make them too long.

• Rated R movie night was back on this Friday. We saw "Role Models" with Paul Rudd and some other people. It was so so so wrong and funny. The little boy in it is hilarious and it had super nerdy live action role playing. It was so cute. If you like 40 Year Old Virgin, you would like this too.

• Game review for Plants vs. Zombies! I thought I wouldn't like this game but Parker kept bugging me to load it. Now I am addicted to it. Once you beat the game there is so much continued game play to keep you busy. If you like "girly" games or "time management" games (I know I am not making it sound great), you should try it too!

Mother's Day Gifts Etsy Picks!

Mother's Day is fast approaching, so for this week's Etsy picks I was looking for great gifts for mom. If you haven't checked out Etsy, you should. Great stuff made by extremely talented people.

• This necklace from onelifejewlery is a great take on the traditional birthstone necklaces. You can custom choose your birthstone color and the names to be added. This is one garunteed to make mom cry!

• These are photo blocks that spell out Mom. This seems like a great customized gift that looks like you put alot of thought into it. You send your photos in when you place the order. There are other sizes of block, you can check out mleefipps by clicking here.

• My mom is an avid pig collector. I am sure your mom collects some wierd...umm... I mean "neat" stuff. When I saw this needle felted pig, I knew this was a unique take on the "pig figurine". If you search "needle felted" on Etsy, you are sure to find the thing your mom collects! This cute piggy comes from Bear Creek Designs be sure to check out that shop!

Thanks for reading my Mother Day Gift Picks! Don't forget the card! I have some great Mother's Day cards at my Etsy Shop. Click here to check it out!

Inspiration in the form of owls...

Today I had no husband, dog or son around. I thought it would be a great day, but turned into "wow being alone isn't that much fun". I went out by myself and found these great owl stamps! The inspired me to make a set of owl cards for Etsy. You can see them at my shop MD Cards and Gifts.

While I was out I got the Basic Gray 6x6 pads of paper. I love these for making cards. So here are just a few quick pics of my project for today. I hope you like them, I sure had fun making them.
Thanks for stopping by!