Introducing Happy Day

We would like to introduce Happy Day. Birthday cakes, candles and party hats too! Patterned papers feature varnish and glitter accents. This collection offers inspiration for parents and kids to make their party extra special. Perfect for creating decorations, birthday party invitations and thank you notes.


HINT: Check back tomorrow to meet Jocelyn's friend.

Mixing it up

Holidays wore me out! I'm still recovering from all the traveling. Just to mix it up a bit, I created a festive shrug and vest. The shrug would be perfect for a bride or for a special occasion. The vest would be great over your favorite tank or shirt. I found a great metallic jacquard fabric a couple weeks ago and finally found a good use for it. Enjoy!

Shrug

Vest
I made these in xs-s, but if you need a different size, get in touch. I still have enough fabric to make a few more. :)

Introducing Jocelyn

The time has finally arrived! We would like to introduce Jocelyn. She is trendy, glittery and bright, with colors like pink riot, aqua shock and chocolate fix. What would be better for a gal than to create personalized layouts or artwork for her bedroom and locker?


HINT: Check back tomorrow for a Happy Day.

Write Your Goals

Last year Dotty gave us some tips on setting goals. So here are few reminders:
1. Write it down.
2. Pick only a few.
3. Look at them often.

I am going to add:
4. Be specific.
5. Keep track.

I made this book to help me keep track of my goals this year. I chose to use papers, ribbons & epoxy stickers from the En Route collection as a reminder that life is a journey and goals keep us heading in the right direction. I am going to write each goal on the front, then use the inside to track my progress. Do you have any tips or goal ideas to share?

-Maria

P.S. Don't worry we will start the sneak peeks TOMORROW!

Holidays 2009

Holidays...
The time to indulge in too many sweets and yummy foods...
The time to give gifts...
The time to enjoy the company of family...
The time to embarrass the dog...

Matt got me a Fernanimal for Christmas (among other things).

Indy is smacking her lips at the thought of the Fernanimal...

So now I had to tease Indy...

"I promise not to tear it apart"

"But can I at least taste it?"

"Oh, mom!"

"I will get you another day."
A couple family photos:

New pieces in the Etsy shop

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!
Just to kick off the week, I've created a couple new designs for the Etsy shop.

Blushing Bouquet

Flower Burst

This design comes in pairs and you can choose two of the same color or mix and match. Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

photo from this blog

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! We hope you are enjoying this holiday season with friends & family. We want to thank you for all of your support. As our Christmas gift and to show our thanks, we want you to be among the first to preview our new collections. Please check back next week to see them!

Happy Holidays!

Sorry for the light posting this week! Matt and I have been traveling a bit. We'll be traveling a bit more and then we'll be home this Sunday and I'll be back to posting. :)

Wishing everyone the best this holiday season!!
Matt, Myra, & Indy!

3rd Thursday - Juliette

Club SEI's January kit will feature Juliette. This collection has soft, romantic colors and versatile patterns. The papers are treated with glitter, pearl, and pink pearl. Click here to see what club members can make with this kit. If you aren't a club member, you can still sign-up and receive this kit until Monday, December 28th.



These coupons were made using the click-n-prints from January's club kit available to club members only. Happy 3rd Thursday!

Nearly Ready

Well it's past midnight so I guess officially it's Christmas Day - Merry Merry Christmas everyone! I'm fluffing around doing last minute chores for tomorrow's festivities and waiting to play Santa Claus. I've been trying to keep the Gingerbread Houses from going stale, and I even cleaned the oven - not sure why exactly. After being very relaxed about the whole thing I've developed an eleventh hour conscience and realised I should do some preparations.

I've even started to set the table - this year our placemats are old Christmas record covers and I even recognise a few from my childhood.


I think I'll try filling the stockings now - have a great day everyone.

Wine Holder

This wine holder was sent to us by Memories from the Heart. We love how it shows what can be done with a little creative thinking. Look around for simple packaging that can be dressed up with pretty paper, ribbons, & tags. One of our favorite things about this wine holder is when you open it up you are greeted with a holiday scene from our Christmas Mint paper collection.

Hmmm Yum.

WHAM RAP!

We had dinner with some friends tonight and, of course, it involved dancing! There's no better way of fitting in extra dessert than daggy dancing around the backyard. One of the tunes was Last Christmas by Wham! which made me ask if they had Wham Rap. They couldn't remember it - can you believe it - so here it is for their education and your enjoyment.

Giveaway Winner

Thank you for all your comments on Amy's blog posts. We are going to have to agree with them. The Mod Podge banner is amazing and those pugs are pretty silly! The giveaway winner as selected by random.org is:


Congratulations Tina! Now all you need to do is send your mailing address to us at seiblog(at)shopsei(dot)com to claim your WinterSong goodies.

Worse than Jean Shopping...

I have set aside today to buy myself new bathers - I have put it off numerous times but as we leave for the beach in a couple of days I can procrastinate no longer. Wish me luck.

Jeans Watch

Reece Witherspoon is right up there with Jen Aniston when it comes to knowing how to rock a pair of jeans.

Time Flies

It seems that time really has run away from me. It's been 2 weeks since I have posted and what a hectic time it's been.

In all of the craziness, I have hardly had a moment to think about Christmas. Harry and Brad can't believe how uninteresting our Christmas tree is this year!! They think that I have turned from being a Christmas obsessed maniac to a Christmas Grinch! Not so, I keep on telling them...just lots of other great things I am trying to work through...

As from this Wednesday I will be taking one month away from the blog. I need some time to recharge and refresh...however, I am very much looking forward to continue to share my experiences, inspirations, travels etc. with you all in 2010 here on ABT!!!

Image - John Dolan photographer

Have you seen these commercials?

Okay, probably only airing in Oregon, but I saw this lovely commerical promoting shopping in Downtown Portland while Matt and I were watching the Discovery Channel tonight, and they have a lovely and lengthy clip of the English Dept.... and you can see this blue flower hat I made for the lovely Elizabeth Dye last year.. and you can see a Clara cameo. :)
woot woot! Click HERE to watch (sorry, you can't click the photo to watch).

Have a lovely weekend!

Just a few shots of a custom belt for Lisa...

Snow Banner + Giveaway

By this time you are probably thinking that I was completely going to skip over Mod Podge – but no way! Mod Podge got me where I am today, so for my final post I bring you a banner made with Mod Podge. This banner is in honor of winter and to celebrate my week here at SEI.

This banner is simple to make, really. I simply painted wood banner pieces (from a local craft store) with red acrylic paint and then dry brushed them with silver. I cut out letters in my own funky handwriting and Mod Podged them to the banner pieces – 20 minutes later I coated the whole banner with Podge. After all was dry, I used this tutorial from Mod Podge Rocks! reader Theresa to make flower embellishments with brads. Glue those on with craft glue, string onto a ribbon and you are good to go!

Thank you so much for having me this week. Have a wonderful holiday season and please enjoy your winter celebrations. For inspiration and to visit me, swing by Mod Podge Rocks! any time. I post a new Mod Podge project nearly every day. Thanks again and I can’t wait to see you soon!

Thank you for a fun week, Amy! We can tell that you are such a fun gal and really love to make all kinds of creative projects.

Readers, which post was your favorite this week? Leave a comment answering this question and you will be entered into a giveaway to win some of the WinterSong products Amy used throughout the week. Just leave your comment by Sunday December 20th at midnight and we will announce the winner Monday. Be sure to check back next week to see if you are the winner because if we don't hear from the winner by December 28th we will pick a new winner!

Winter Birthdays

I just love receiving cards, a very important part of having a winter birthday! We winter birthday babies need to know that in the midst of Christmas, Hanukkah and other holidays that you didn’t forget about us. We like to have our special days. I dedicate the card above to my Grandmother Beverly, my mom’s mom. She was the only other winter birthday in the family, and she died of colon cancer at age 57. I always remember her birthday on that day (January 8th), and I will forever.

One of the best birthdays I ever had was a photo shoot with my best friend, Cody. We bought 80’s sweaters from the thrift store and dressed up, taking photos up and down the street in front of our apartment. It was silly, it was fun and it was something I’ll never forget. Lesson? Don’t forget to document those fun and silly times – they WILL inspire you later. Here’s a few photos from that shoot, and in typical Seattle fashion – no snow.