I'm back and my new Etsy shop

Hello my friends! It has been a while since my last post.  So many things have happened since then; from my son's surgery last week, to the lost of my beloved grandpa the last day of 2012.  

2012 was a busy year and so far 2013 is no exception. My son started school last year and with that, I lost my full-time craft partner.  At the beginning, I thought I would have more time to do my crafts...silly me.  School was a big change for our family and kept us very busy.  My until-then-so-healthy son caught every single virus/bacteria going around... he even got pneumonia. So much fun...NOT!

In addition, he developed allergies and this resulted in a chronic ear infection.  As recommended by his ENT doctor, last Friday tubes got inserted in his ears and tonsils and adenoids got removed.  He is recovering well and since my son's summer break was finally here, he didn't have to miss school. 

So my son has to take it easy for two weeks, therefore we are spending a lot of time home. I really don't mind it since summer is very hot were we live. We have been watching movies, playing games, coloring and of course doing crafts.  

Last week as I was all worried about my son's surgery and I was about to lose it, out of nowhere my husband suggested I should open an Etsy shop to sell my creations.  That was an idea I have had in my head a long time ago but never got to do it. Not even after some of my friends and my sister suggested I should do it and even once in a while I get e-mails from my blog's readers asking if I would consider selling some of my creations. 

Well, I am very self-critical and tend to think my cards/layouts, even though I do love how they turn out, they are not good enough to sell.  Anyway, after thinking about all the pros and cons, I decided to take the plunge and do it.  So let me introduce to you my brand new Etsy store:  Leirad's.  You can find it at etsy.com/shop/Leirads

I will be adding more items over the next couple of weeks.  I really hope you will love my products the same way I loved creating them. 

That's it for today.  Please wish me luck and thanks for stopping by my little blog.  Hugs,

Leirad

SKdigis News and Monthly Release

Hello my friends, as some of you may know, I'm part of the SKdigis design team.  Sonia, the owner and designer of SKdigis, decided to stop the weekly challenge since this is the time of the year when everyone is so busy getting ready for the holidays.  The good news is that instead of weekly challenges, we're having a month long linking party.  Basically, you can link any of your creations using SKdigis as the main image for a chance to win a wonderful prize.  For more details about the linking party and rules, please go to SKdigis.

In addition, SKdigis will have monthly releases and each member of the design team will create samples showcasing the new images.  SKdigis new images for the month of November are way too cute and I had a hard time choosing an image for my sample card.  I ended up using the "Day and Night" image. Isn't the cutest thing ever?  I used Mojo Monday Sketch #250 and colored the image with Copics. I hope you like my sample card as much as I do.  

If you would like check out the rest of the design team's creations or to play along with us and be part of this month's linking party, head over to SKdigis.   Thanks for stopping by my little blog!

The Cat in The Hat Costume

Hello my friends.  Hope you're having a wonderful day. Today, I wanted to share with you The Cat in the Hat costume I made for my son.  Today is "Dress Up as a Storybook Character Day" at my son's school and since his favorite book is The Cat in The Hat, I decided to make a costume for him. 

For the hat I used a tutorial I found on Pinterest.  The lady at http://mamalusco.blogspot.com/2010/02/dr-seuss-hat-tutorial.html did an amazing job explaining how to make the hat.   I just had to make minor modifications to her design in order to fit my son's head.  

The Cat in The Hat t-shirt was my own idea.  I used an old black t-shirt, red and white felt.  I drew a pattern free-hand for The Cat in the Hat white belly and then transferred and cut it onto white felt.  Then I sewed the white felt to the t-shirt. Yup, that simple!

My son loved it and couldn't wait to wear and show off his Cat in The Hat costume today.  Hope you like it too! Thanks for stopping by my little blog and hope to see you soon!

Challenge 5: Spooky Nights

Hello friends, 

Hope you're having a wonderful beginning of the Fall Season! I'm enjoying the cooler temperature although I've been fighting a nasty cold since last week and still feeling under the weather. Being sick has kept me home a lot, so I have been spending some time on Pinterest and also I've been working on a couple of craft projects including a card for this week's challenge at SKdigis.

Let me start by saying that this week's challenge is sponsored by Barb from BugBites who has included one of Sonia's design in her recently released stamp set.  Isn't that amazing? This week's challenge is to create a craft/card/layout using any of the cute Ghost digis Sonia has in her shop. I created a card using the Scared Ghost digital image which can be bought here. Sentiment is computer generated. To check the rest of the DT creations or to link up your creations for a change to win this week's prize, please visit us at SKdigis.  

Hope you come and play along with us this week and thanks for stopping by!

Tools:
- Cuttlebug
- Cuttlebug Halloween embossing folder
- ATG 
- Brother laser printer
- Copic Markers

Materials:
- Aluminum foil 
- Twine
- GP black cardstock
- GP white cardstock
- Kraft cardstock from Joann's
- My Mind's Eye Mischievous 6X6 designer paper pad.

SKdigis Challenge No. 3: Spooky Delights in the Night!

Hello, it's challenge time again at SKdigis Challenge Blog.  This week' challenge is to create a card using a halloween themed background on your project.  It could be patterned paper, spooky words, or a digi background from SKdigis.

I created this card using the Monster #3 digital image from SKdigis. I colored this cute little monster using Copic markers. A complete list of materials and tools used on this card can be found at the end of this post.

If you would like to play along or to check out the rest of the Design Team creations, please stop by SKdigis Challenge Blog.

Thanks for visiting my little blog and see you soon!

Tools:
- Brother laser printer
- Crop-a-dile
- Sewing machine
- Copic markers

Materials:
- Wiggly eyes
- SKdigis Monster #3 digital image
- SU! ribbon (retired)
- GP black cardstock
- GP white cardstock
- 12x12 K&Company Spooktacular paper stack


Leirad