I received a Blog Award!

It has been ages since I received one of these!  I am so honored that my dear friend Sherry thought of me!  You can visit Sherry's Blog HERE.  She's a fellow tear bear artist, and makes some amazing cutting files that she offers for free on her blog too.

So the rules are that I have to pass this Sweet Blogger Award onto 5 fellow bloggers.  Not an easy task when there are so many creative blogs out there.   

1. Susan: Killam Creative
2. Gini: Beadz
3. Patricia: Patty's Crafty Spot
4. Jamie: Jamie's Design Garden
5. Carmen: cks*paper*scraps

These girls not only inspire me and our store followers.  I have been lucky enough to get to know each one of them personally. Thank you girls for your continued friendship!

On another note, we have received our shipment of Magnolia Stamps late this afternoon!  We'll be shipping them out on Monday!  Also, the new Pink Paislee lines have arrived!  OH, you have to see them.  I have a few more products to load on the website.  I'll have them loaded tonight and we will start shipping them on Monday.  KKS are among the missing.  They haven't arrived yet *bummer*.

Hugs & Smiles,

Now Taking Pre-Orders on the new Kraftin Kimmie Stamps - Moonlight Whispers!

Have you seen the new Moonlight Whispers Collection of Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps!  I love Annie Rodrigue designs, and the Angry Ballerina one is my favorite!

Kimmie confirmed that she has shipped our order last Monday, so they should be arriving this week!  YIPPEE!

Here is a look at a few of the new stamps coming...

To order any of these images, or if you would like to check out what else is coming in, visit our website HERE.

Hugs and Smiles!

New Mulberry Paper Colors!

Hello Friends!  I have lots to cover today, but I will try to keep it short and sweet.

We've received some lucious shades of mulberry paper on Tuesday.  I was so excited to see the quality and the color of these papers!  We have a new shade of Cream that will be replacing the "old stuff".  This "cream" is truly soft & creamy, making it so easy to work with!  I just had to play with it.  Of course I should have been doing other things.  Here is my example of a bear I created using the new "Cream" toned paper.

This example is up against our new shade of 165gms Mocha!  It's so hard to get the colors right in a photograph.  As you can see, the "fluff" is so much nicer.  All it took was some LIGHT strokes along the edges with our Fluff Me! Steel Brush.  I chalked him up a little with some Creamy Brown Fluid Chalk too.

Next I created a little bear with the new 165gsm Mocha Mulberry Paper.  This paper truly needs only one layer to achieve a lot of fluff.  You will want to wet this paper before you tear it - LOL.  Just take a look...

For this little guy, I used a different technique for fluffing.  Remember, he is only made with 1 layer of mulberry paper.  To make his fur somewhat curly, after I had him assembled, I took my water barrel brush and lightly dampened the edges.  I then took my Beary Creative Tear Bear Tool and "picked" at the fibers along the edge.  Finally, I allowed him to dry.  That was it.  Pretty neat, huh?

As for the color, it is similar to our current Dark Khaki shade, but much lighter.  I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this shade, but after making a few bears the other night, it's really grown on me.  I think it's my new favorite!

I'll try to get some samples of our new 165gsm Ginger Brown loaded in my next post.

Magnolia HOPPY EASTER Collection Pre-Orders

Happy Saturday!  I can't believe the weekend is here already.  Lindsay is doing much better.  There are still "rattles" in her chest, but she seems to be bouncing back.  Hopefully she'll be back to nursery school by next Wednesday.

We have some of the Magnolia Stamps from the Hoppy Easter Collection available for pre-order! 

These are just a few of the images we are expected to receive.  Aren't they irresistble?  Stop by our website and check them out.  Just as last time, we have "Special" pricing available for these images while we are waiting to receive our order.  Don't wait, order today and save!

We also have the new Moonlight Whispers Collection on order with Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps.  Pre-Orders for those will be accepted as soon as we have shipping confirmation.  I'll keep you posted.

Hugs and Smiles!

Peace Pipe Anyone???

Hey Friends! 

I know many of our in-store followers get a giggle at the stories I tell about my children.  Keep in mind, if I took everything in my life seriously, the stress would kill me... so we (my husband and I) both try take a different approach and look at things differently.  Obviously, this is wearing off on our 3 year old.

This weekend Ms. Lindsay was awful sick.  Drippy nose, runny eyes, terrible cough, and wheezing.  That's only some of it.  I spare you the gross parts - LOL.  By Sunday, she was a BEAR.  I'm not talking one of those cute fuzzy tear bear either. 

So Monday morning, we are off to the doctor's office.  2 hours later, after an full exam and breathing treatment, it was time to go for chest x-rays.  Diagnosis:  Lindsay has infections in both ears, a sinus infection, and pnuemonia!  Now, you would never know she was so sick by the way she runs around and plays.  Sunday was the only day she wasn't quite herself.  Today, she was as chipper as can be, greeting everyone no matter where we were.  Given the severity of her condition, she should be in the hospital, but her doctor and I both agreed she was best to be treated here at home.

Tonight we were giving her a breating treatment before bed...

We've been calling her nebulizer "Magic Dragon Puffs", but tonight she called it a "Peace Pipe".  She even makes this look like fun.  She posed and smiled for every picture I took.  She's such a ham. 

Another way to take a bad situation and have fun with it.  My daughter is learning early.

Have a great day everyone!

"Charlie Chick" Easter Tear Bear Pattern

Happy Saturday Friends!  I'm back with the second pattern I promised you.  For your creative endevours, I bring to you "Charlie" our sweet chick.

For those of you that know my family, you've probably caught on that the names we have been giving our patterns resemble someone or a pet in our family.  Granted, our Tear Bear remains nameless at the moment.  Hmm... I think we'll have to poll our audience for that in the near future.  If you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment below.

Anyway, "Oliver" is named after my husband's Springer Spaniel.  "Bella" has been named after my sister's Pug (sorry, no bunnies in the family, and Charlie.... well,  he was named by my dear hubby.

Charlie will begin shipping on Tuesday, March 9 2009 along with Bella.  Pre-orders are now being accepted on our website.  Just follow the link HERE.

I'm glad you came by to visit.

Hugs & Smiles,

Bella Bunny Pattern Preview

Hello everyone!  I know you have all been waiting for a new mulberry paper pattern.  I'm very excited to finally start getting back on track here.  We've had so much going on the past few weeks that it's been overwhelming... although the journey has been exciting.

This is "Bella Bunny".   Bella was created using our NEW SUPER EXTRA THICK WHTIE MULBERRY PAPER.  This new shipment is the BEST white we have ever worked with.  I know you are going to love it.  It fluffs beautifully, and you have more control over tearing it.  You will need to use your "Beary Creative Tear Bear Tool" and a waterflow brush when working with this paper.  The results are truly amazing!

Bella is one sweet bunny that can be created with her ears down, or her ears up using the additional parts that are included in this pattern.

Best of all, you can Mix-it-Up with Bella. Add her head to your tear bear pattern and you've got yourself a standing Bunny.

Bella is in production right now and will begin shipping Tuesday, March 9.  We will start taking pre-orders for Bella on Friday.

I should have one more pattern ready to reveal tomorrow.  Yeah, can you believe it?  Two in one month - WOW!

NEW MULBERRY PAPER and Changes ...

We are also pleased to announce we have received restocks on white and grey mulberry paper.  We have been working with one of our manufacturers for the last several weeks reviewing samples, testing colors and thicknesses.  I told you've I've been busy - LOL.  You will start seeing some changes in our color selection, and thickness availability.  The quality of the paper is SUPERB, by far the most impressive I have worked with to this date. 

We also have a new color in our line up.  Remember "MOCHA"?  Well it's back and better than ever before.  This paper is SUPER Extra Thick.  I can even get away with using one layer when making my bears.  I'm going to be using this for "Oliver's" tutorial that I lost when my computer crashed.

Hugs & Smiles!

The Design Team's Blog is LIVE... and Sugar Rush Sale!

Hey Everyone!  I've had a very busy couple of days, so I apologize for not posting.  Aside from 18 inches of snow, no mail service (yeah, the post office closed - what every happened to their motto?), kiddos home from school for 2 days (one for wet roads - lol), closing the shop on Friday due to the yucky white stuff, then trying to get caught up and ready for classes and a crop on Saturday, and the launch of the Design Team's Blog, and everything else... I'm whipped!  I'm sure many of you can relate!

Anyway, GOOD NEWS!  The Design Team Blog is now LIVE!  Silly me sat and watched until the first post went up just after midnight.  Gini is our first contributor... and yes, I understand she was watching too *wink*.  Gini has a beautiful card posted on the DT Blog, and the tear bear she made was her first one ever (using our template, of course *smiles*).   Be sure to head on over and check it out... give her some "love" and leave a comment for her to while you are there.

This week over in the TBS Shop, we have 25% off Sugar Rush by Basic Grey.  This is a great deal, and will remain on sale until Sunday!  Don't miss out.

I've got lots more to post later and some really cute photos of the kids in the snow.  See ya a little later!

Hugs & Smiles,