Tuesday, September 29, 2009

4 New Postcard Kits Arrived, World Card Day and More Vac Photos!

Our 4 new Postcard Kits have arrived and they turned out fabulous! The 4 new kits include Baby Boy, Best Buds, Family and Kitchen Mail and they are shipping now! I’m also posting a bunch more photos from our trip below and info about our World Card Day with Splitcoast!

Here is the Baby Boy Kit and a photo of the stamp set included below it.
This kit turned out so adorable! I love the sleeping baby with 'Don't wake me, I'll wake you". It includes 6 large postcard size images, 12 smaller images embellishments and 18 ivory chipboard pieces to glue them to. You will be able to create 6 postcards or you can turn them into garlands, baby album covers, ornaments and keepsakes.

The stamp set included is 3" x 2.75" with 10 separate very cute stamps! I love the stork wearing the hat and shoes, the little babies holding the Postcard banner, the baby riding the safety pin and the postmark stamp that says Special Delivery Stork Express. You could write tiny letters inside the little block stamp to spell a name or word and these stamps would look cute stamped in blue ink. The postcards can be embellished and by hung by ribbon, lace, trim, twill, jute, raffia or wire. If you mail your postcard in an envelope – stamp and decorate the envelope as well! * Ink, acrylic block and embellishments not included. The sixth postcard image is printed on the front packaging.

Here is the Best Buds Kit and a photo of the stamp set included below it. This kit turned out so pretty! It includes 6 beautiful large postcard size images, 12 smaller images embellishments and 18 ivory chipboard pieces to glue them to. You will be able to create 6 mail art postcards for friends or use them for garlands, mini albums, ornaments and keepsakes!
The Best Buds stamp set included in the kit is 3" x 2.75" has 11 separate pretty stamps! The little flower vines with the nest and bird can also be stamped together to create borders, dividers or corners. The ‘Greetings & Kind Thoughts’ lettering and lovely ‘Postcard’ stamps are from an antique postcard.
Here is the Family Kit and a photo of the stamp set included below it. This kit turned out so pretty! It includes 6 beautiful large postcard size images, 12 smaller images embellishments and 18 ivory chipboard pieces to glue them to. You will be able to create special mail art cards or use them for garlands, mini albums, ornaments and keepsakes!
The stamp set included is 3 x 2.75" has 14 separate stamps! You can stamp: Dear Mother, Grandma, Sister or Daughter and I Love You on your postcards. The little flowers can be stamped beside either of the 2 art deco cottages to create a garden and the tree stamp makes a great center divider. Plus you get a border and small design stamp to play with.
Here is the Kitchen Mail Kit and a photo of the stamp set included below it. This kit has a fun retro theme perfect for creating girlfriend gifts and cute kitchen decor! It includes 6 large postcard size images, 12 smaller images embellishments and 18 ivory chipboard pieces to glue them to. You will be able to create 6 fun postcards or you use them for recipe album covers, kitchen art and keepsakes.
The stamp set included is 3 x 2.75" has 10 separate stamps! The retro theme stamps include Hello, Girlfriend, a cute check list, a border and corner, lady with a can of Joy, a postmark style circle stamp, coffee pot and the cutest Campbell Soup girl! The postcards can be embellished and hung by ribbon, lace, trim, twill, jute, raffia or wire. If you mail your postcard in an envelope – stamp and decorate the envelope as well! * Ink, acrylic block and embellishments not included. The sixth postcard image is printed on the front packaging.
We have teamed up with Splitcoast Stampers and a bunch of other companies for World Card Making Day this Saturday, Oct 3/09 and we will be hosting a challenge, giving away prizes! Our time slot is 11:00 Eastern Standard Time. Be sure to join in the fun! Here are the details. I will post about this tomorrow as well.
Okay, here are the rest of the photos from our 16 day vacation with Jet Blue 'Fly All You Want' passes we bought for $595.00. The passes are good until Oct 8/09 but they sold out fast. (Hey - we could still fly somewhere) They may do it again next year. Our first stop was Boston to the Brimfield Antique Show. I posted a bunch of photos from the show HERE but deleted these 2 by accident, so I'm adding them now. This was one of those fun little vintage shabby booths that are so great to poke around in. You never know what you may find.
The next day we drove into Boston and spent all day walking all over the city. My favorite thing is all the old buildings!

Boston was established in 1630 so no wonder it looks so cool

This is a photo of Newbury Street. It's very upscale with all the famous designer stores but lots of cute little boutiques and restaurants in 19th-century brownstones.
I love the area called Little Italy in Boston. It's really feels authentic and there's lots of great food!
This store called Polcari's has been around since 1932. I found some great snacks and the best Balsamic Glaze in the entire world, called Blood Orange. Mixed with olive oil, garlic and herbs it is to die for on salad!
After Boston we used our passes to fly to Charlotte, NC and drove down to Greenville, SC to exhibit at the Heirloom Stamp Show. We spotted this giant peach water tower on the drive.
The stamp show in Greenville was lots of fun and we got to meet so many wonderful people! I just wish we had stayed longer. By the time we set up and did the 2 day show we didn't have much time to explore.
We only had a 10 x 10 booth so I filled every square inch with product and samples

After the show we used our passes to fly to Fort Lauderdale and drove across the state to stay in Naples on the west coast. Naples is a pretty little town with a real Italian theme, great little boutique stores, galleries and restaurants. There were great deals on dinners - 2 dinners and a bottle of wine for $29.95.
We had a picnic lunch at the beach and the seagull were very friendly and hungry

Later they went off to watch the sunset.
4 days later we hopped back on a plane with our passes and went to New Orleans for a few days. I loved these old buildings and the streetcars!
I saw so many beautiful things in this antique store but my budget and lack of space allowed me to only look.
This photo is from the French Quarter in New Orleans. We walked to Bourbon street and YES it's just like they say - a giant party street filled with live music bars, restaurants, souvenir stores and lots of crazy party people.

We celebrated our 31st anniversary while we were away. How did the time go by so fast? I was 20, he was 24 and now he is going to retire this Jan. It seems very weird. After New Orleans we used the passes to fly to Vegas, and Phoenix. Then we flew back to Seattle and drove 2 hours home. We would recommend the passes if Jet Blue offers them again.

In closing, I'm very sad to say that two of our lovely Design Team ladies are leaving the team but they may be back when they have more time. Anna Wight has been on our team for over 2 ½ years and Vivian Peters has been with us for a year. Both of these talented ladies have created so many fabulous samples and really helped show off our products! We will miss them both tremendously and hope they will come back and play again! I will be announcing some new faces and guest designers shortly.

Check out all these fantastic samples in Anna’s Crafty Secrets Gallery!

Thank you to those of you that left all the nice words and tips on my last post! Selena, I’m heading to a Ross store this week to look for that dress form!
Wishing you all joy & creativity!
Sandy Redburn
Crafty Secrets


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Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave., Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine, WA 98230

Friday, September 25, 2009

Design Team Blog Hop!

Hi Everyone!

I got back from vaction late last night and realized some of the ladies on our Design Team are doing a blog hop today. I'm posting the links now but I will come back and add some photos later today!

Check out these wonderful samples!!!

• Vicki Chrisman

• Anna Wight

Marisa Grosson

• Michele Kovack

• Linda Duke

• Pam Hooten

• Heidi Blankenship

Come back later to check out some new photos!

Sandy

Crafty Secrets website
Heartwarming Vintage Blog



Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Brimfield Antique Show, plus New Samples & Links

Hello from vacationland!

It's the last day of our crazy holiday using the Jet Blue passes we bought to fly anywhere for $495.00. The passes last a month but we only had 16 days, so we've been flying all over. We've been to Boston, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Scottsdale AZ. We fly back to Seattle tomorrow but I have my laptop and wanted to post the photos I promised of the giant antique show we went to in Brimfield, MA outside of Boston. Scroll down to see lots of photos!

First, I have a few wonderful samples, links and challenges to share. Look at this adorable card DT member Pam Hooten created using the kids from our
Thanksgiving Clear Art Stamps Set! You can see more photos and the details HERE on Pam's blog.


Marcy (kiddielitter) is hosting a fun Fall challenge over at Spiltcoast using any of our products and I adore this cute card she created stamping a fairy from our Fairyland stamp set onto the mushroom and how she added the leaf and Hello stamp (from Sweet Kids) using a wonderful fall color palette. You can get info on the challenge HERE and see the gallery HERE with more great samples!

I missed last weeks 'Baking' challenge that Julie http://avintagechic.blogspot.com hosted but I have to show you 2 cute cards and encourage you to go check out all the fabulous samples so many people created HERE in the gallery! Here is Julie's card using the baking girl from our Homemade Booklet and the little cookie cutter stamps from the Sweet Stuff stamp set. This card is a hoot and the creator Maryann (Amaranthine) made me laugh out loud when I saw how she used chalk to add the extra black smoke coming outside of the picture. She added a gift certificate with a note stating it was safer than her baking. What a cute idea! See more cards HERE!


The Brimfield Antique Show was spectacular and I didn't want to leave! It covered 21 farmers fields with over 6000 sellers! We only had 1 day but the weather was perfect. I think we probably saw about half and we walked from 9 am to 6. These altered dolls were one of my favs!


Here are more. The artist wasn't there but I have her card buried in my luggage and plan to buy one of her dolls. Each one was totally unique and special.


Loved these bird houses created from License plates
These statues weren't old but I loved the selection of reproductions this company had!


Many of the pieces in this photo below were reproductions but really beautiful! I loved that the entire show was a mix old genuine antiques , a variety of reproductions and a great array of one of a kind art! I believe to keep this show strong they need to keep the largest part of the show in original antiques but it was also great to see items to suit every budget.
These old church windows were beautiful with the sun shinning through them!


There was a fantastic mix of everything in every style you can imagine. People were searching for old comics, war memorabilia, china patterns, toys and obscure things. I even saw collectors wearing T-shirts stating what they wanted to buy.


These were a bunch of weird glove mold forms in every size. Eclectic and interesting. I wanted one but didn't have any room left.

I've also wanted one of these dress forms for ages and I would have bought one if I could have fit it in my suitcase
I loved this guys idea to turn old wooden skids and pallets into coffee tables.

I have a thing for vintage glassware and fell in love with sooo many pieces that our carry on suitcases have been filled to the brim since this event 2 weeks ago! Yep, we've been lugging them to every airport on the trip!


This display made me think of Lisa Zappa (one of our beloved past DT members - who I hope is coming back one day) and her cool red kitchen!



Drat, I just came back to edit some text and I deleted 2 photos by accident! Sorry, I can't add them back.
I was disappointed that I didn't find hardly any old antique paper, books or images at the show. Maybe I never made it to the right field? When we were leaving we came across these giant cow mascots and I loved them. This was such a fantastic, memorable - I want to go back event!
We've fallen in love with Boston and I will post some more photos next time to show you why it was one of our very favorite places on the entire trip .

In closing, if anyone is interested in the Jet Blue passes they may bring them back next Sept. To fly as much as you want for the month for $595. is a great deal and it sold out quickly. We found out that Sept is a slow month for travel so we found some great hotel deals as well.
I will post more photos after after we get home.
Wishing you joy & creativity!
Sandy Redburn
Owner


Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine, WA 98230

Crafty Secrets - Heartwarming Vintage Co.
Toll Free Phone 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Cool Ideas! New Products! 2 Great Shows!

Hi Everyone,

I some fun things to share today!


Gone Batty Postcard & $30.00 G.C. - Linda Duke
Altered Clipboard by Pam Hooten
Vicki's Sweetchips House in Altered Arts Magazine
Splitcoast Challenge & Sample Galleries
2 New Creative Scraps
New Seasons Greetings Stamp Set
I'm off to 2 Great Shows!

DT Member Linda Duke has gone batty with this really cute Halloween postcard she created using one of the cards from our Halloween Vintage Postcard Kit. Each kit comes with 6 die cut ivory chipboard cards, the images and stamp set. I love the crepe paper wings Linda added to hers! You can get the details HERE on Linda’s blog plus you have until 7 pm Sept 8th to enter Linda's giveaway on her blog to win a Crafty Secrets $30.00 Gift Certificate with free shipping!


Look at this fun clipboard DT member Pam Hooten altered using a mix of images from our Calendar and the Girlfriend Creative Scraps. I love the way she used the old book pages to cover the clipboard. You can get all the details HERE on Pam’s blog.

Congratulations to DT member Vicki Chrisman, who has one of our Sweetchips Folding Houses featured in the latest edition of Altered Arts Magazine!


The Splitcoast ladies have been busy again with more fun challenges using our products. Look at this adorable card below that Lori Lynn Washburn created for her ‘Plaid Challenge’ she hosted.
Darlene Pavlick is hosting the next challenge and her clues are easy to guess this week. You can find out the answer and join in the fun HERE on Splitcoast.


We have some great new products arriving this Wednesday, Sept 10/09

Our new Seasons Greetings (available Sept 10/09) is a medium stamp set (6 x 4")
with beautifully detailed designs and lettering. The little bell would look great embossed gold or colored red and green. The 2 reverse corners are designed so you can also create circle frames, borders and cool star designs. The vintage Santa’s and winter girl will be fun to stamp and color. You can stamp the funny little Santa with his hands touching to create a border. The large sentiment is perfect to stamp in cards you want to send to your family or to a group of friends. This set is both classy and fun!


CS-07 Merry Christmas (available Sept 10/09) Wonderful vintage to adorable retro is the best way to describe this colorful collection of Christmas themed images and sentiments. The sheet size fis is 8" x 19" and folded in the middle to take less space - but includes 22 great images printed on a medium weight cardstock. The designs are perfect for dressing up Christmas cards, gift tags, scrapbook pages, keepsakes and an array of paper crafts!
CS-08 Birds & Blossoms (Available Sept 10/09) Beautifully timeless with a touch of whimsy is the best way to describe this pretty collection of birds and flower themed images. The sheet size is 8" x 19" and folded in the middle to take less space - but includes 22 different images on a medium weight cardstock. The designs are perfect for dressing up birthday and greeting cards, gift tags, scrapbook pages, altered art projects and an array of keepsakes!
Then, watch for our 4 next NEW Postcard Kits coming later this month! I will let you know as soon as they arrive and I'm so excited about how nice these turned out! You can see 1 image from each kit below

Lastly, I'm excited to say that I'm leaving today for a vacation/business trip with my husband to celebrate our 31st anniversary! Our first stop is the Brimfield Antique Show - which I've wanted to attend for 3 years now.

SO WHAT IS THE BRIMFIELD SHOW??? Only the largest outdoor antique show in the world and takes up over 23 large farmers’ fields! Held since 1959 in Brimfield, Massachusetts, three times each year, with over 6000 sellers and 130,000 visitors over the course of the week. Brimfield is about an hour west of Boston. I'm searching for great vintage images and books. I may pin a 'What I Want' sign on my back as I heard there are so many antiquers everywhere it works!
After, we are heading to exhibit at the Heirloom Stamp Show in Greenville, SC Sept 12 & 13. If you are close by I hope you can come and meet us at this fun and inspiring show!

PS – of course, our office and warehouse will still be open and shipping orders.

Wishing you lots of joy & creativity!
Sandy Redburn
Owner
Crafty Secrets - Heartwarming Vintage Co.
Toll Free Phone 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4
USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine, WA 98230