Thrifty Thursdays - Candy Box Mini

It's Thrifty Thursday and I have something to post!! That I made!!  I've been looking for mini book bases all over lately - my new favorite thing is to take cardboard boxes and use that as a base for a mini.  For this mini I used a candy box.  I just cut the excess box off so that it looked like a binder and punched holes for ribbon.  Easy! So keep your eyes open for boxes around the house to make your next mini book!

Summer Studio Makeover Week 10

I haven't made much progress in the last week - I have a lot going on that has taken me away from the blog and the studio - some good (visiting family), some not so good  and still trying to find a way to process and share.  When I get stressed I just shut down so I haven't really done much lately.  Today in place of studio progress I thought I would share with you a little bit of the studio today that is done - how I store my paper. There's the debate of whether or not you should store by manufacturer or color or theme or all in one giant pile!  I store mine by manufacturer.  This works especially well for me because I am obsessed with paper - I can name you a manufacturer, paper line, and paper name just by seeing a sample.  When I do a project I can envision a paper I want to use for it and I know the manufacturer right away.  Because of my obsession -this system works well for me.  It probably doesn't work so well if you buy and scrap more based on theme - if you sit down to scrap mostly holidays for example you probably just want to have a stack of Christmas, Halloween, etc.  I store my paper in shelving units - easily accessible and out in the open.  I find if I keep paper in boxes in a closet I won't use it - I tend to use whatever is easiest to find. 

I keep all my paper scraps and store them in individual bags by manufacturer.  I find its probably better to store your scraps the same way you store your paper - because that is how you have taught yourself to find paper for your projects.  I keep the bags stored in a box in my closet.  I tend to not use scraps that often but from time to time will go back through and use them for punches or cut them down to 4x6s and 5x7s for mini books. 

So how do you store your paper?  Any great tips or links?

Giveaway Winner

#4 Liberal Sprinkles: Hi Melissa, congratulations on your shop sales! I would love a kit for Italy, France or Europe. best wishes,Grace

Congratulations Grace! Please send me an email with your address to claim your prize.  I need to hear from you by Monday July 25th!

Summer Studio Makeover Week 9

Do you see that?? It's the floor!!! You can see the floor!! YAY! 

In other news - I have been wanting the Distress Stains for months - and I finally bought them - all of them (because really how can you just choose one or two colors??)  I haven't really done anything with them yet other then change the color of these grey tickets - which I'm totally loving!

 

I have a great idea for a mini book for tomorrow's thrifty thursday - hoping it will work out the way it is in my head!  See you tomorrow!

Etsy 500th Sale - Giveaway!

I have been itching to do a giveaway - and have been looking for an excuse to do one.  I thought i would wait until I reached 1000 followers - but that wasn't looking like it was going to happen soon enough -so then I thought Aha! I will do when when I reach 500 sales in my etsy shop!  And last week I reached that milestone!

I opened my little etsy shop in the beginning of February this year and have been lucky to see it grow so fast. The shop reflects my love of all things vintage paper and I have been having a blast seeking out special finds and creating kits to sell in the shop.  I am grateful to have people out there willing to support me - so to thank my customers and my loyal blog readers I am doing a giveaway!  So what do you have a chance to win?

GIVEAWAY
Win a custom ephemera kit created by me!  Kit will be worth at least $25 and will include at least 50 pieces.  You get to choose the theme of the kit - Want a travel kit based on your family vacation to California?  Or maybe a dream kit of Paris with touches of blue?  Maybe a kit based on your favorite color red?  Or maybe a back to school kit - ready to scrap memories of your childhood?  You choose! Feel free to look through my shop to get an idea of the types of kits I have created in the past - or challenge me and come up with something completely different!!

Required Entry: Leave me a comment on this post telling me what the theme of  your custom kit would be if you are lucky enough to win! (1 entry)

Additional Entries:

• Follow Bursts of Creativity blog, current or new (1 entry)
• Become a fan of my facebook page - Melissa Thiesse, current or new (1 entry)
• Purchase something from my Etsy shop (2 entries - leave 2 comments - purchase must be made after this blog is posted - 6am EST Monday July 18th  - cannot get credit for previous purchases)
• 1 entry for each of the following you to do to spread the word about this giveaway - tweet, blog, or facebook status (feel free to copy and paste a link)

** Leave a separate comment for EACH entry and your email address in one of the comments unless it is linked to your account. **

**Everyone is invited to enter the giveaway - this means you international readers!!**


Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST Thursday July 21, 2011. Giveaway is closed!

What's New in the Shop

Antique Class Photograph: $8.00

I have over 45 antique and vintage photographs listed - check them out in the vintage photograph section of my store here

Vintage Football Ribbons (set of 3): $5

Vintage Game Pieces (over 40 pieces): $7.50

Vintage Christmas Postcards (pack of 10): $8
Christmas in July?? Get an early start on your Vintage Christmas crafting needs - check out my holiday ephemera section here

Thrifty Thursdays - Button Magnets

 

Today's thrifty thursday project is fun, fast and easy!  And bonus it's thrifty because it takes supplies you probably already have in your craft room!  For this project I used buttons (and you know I have TONS!), a little bit of bling (self adhesive rhinestones), magnets, and glossy accents to glue they layers together (though please please use hot glue - it will be sooooo much faster and easier - I was too lazy to plug the hot glue gun in and I wanted a project I could do while sitting on the couch and watching Big Brother!

 Simple to do - just glue layers of buttons together, top with a rhinestone and glue a magnet to the back!  I am loving the pink and yellow combo - so perfect for summer - like pink lemonade. OH!  You know what's better than pink lemonade??  Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade:

Seriously - it's the best drink on the planet!  If you have never had one you need to stop what you are doing and run to the nearest Starbucks - seriously - it's that good!  If it wasn't midnight I would be there right now!!

This post is linked here:

Summer Studio Makeover Week 8

I spent a lot of last week working on the studio and I'm feeling good about it - I'm hoping it will be completely done in 2 weeks (or maybe 3?).  This weekend I worked on a replacement for my cork tiles.  Actually I came up with the idea - Dustin put it together!  I have been holding on to a bunch of vintage yard sticks for some time and I got this great idea to glue them to the frame of a cork board to make a frame:

I like how it turned out - it will look a lot better once I take the time to put stuff on it and put some stuff on the wall around it.  I hated those cork tiles I used to have - I do NOT recommend them!  They were crumbly and the little squares they came with wouldn't stick to them so they would keep falling - of course the squares stuck to the wall a little too good and now I have horrible little squares left on my wall.  I got the majority of the adhesive off but there is like a small layer of adhesive left - any idea how to get that off???

I also wanted to show you what I did with the other gumball machine.  I filled it with ribbon bits:

And remember to check out my studio destash sale in my etsy shop here - I added more die cuts

This post is linked here:

Summer Fun

So I was thinking about the blog today - and I thought "ehh... I won't blog today - I have blogged plenty I can miss a day" except that I then checked the blog and realized OOPS! I haven't blogged that much.  So where have I been??  Well here.... mostly working on the etsy shop which has taken off in a big way.  I'm in month 6 of the shop and almost at 500 sales (499).  It's going so well I plan on celebrating with a giveaway soon (maybe next week?).
      Last week I spent a lot of time in the studio trying to get that all organized and cleaned.  I have a cool project to post tomorrow.  The cleaning is taking a lot longer than  I thought.  I mean I know I said it would take all summer but I also kinda thought I could just go up there in a day and do it if I really wanted to.  But it's taking a while... mostly because I really want it to be perfect.  And because the studio is in limbo I haven't felt like making anything.  I don't want to pull stuff out only to have to put it back and I don't have space to create.  I'm looking forward to having it clean and then I can get back to creating and regular posting.
     And then there's family time - I spent 4th of July weekend down in North Carolina with my parents and sister and of course my nephew Jarmon.  He thinks his uncle Dustin is the best thing ever.  If I walk into a room he kinda half smiles and looks around (looking for Dustin).  If Dustin walks into a room he get super excited - jumping up and down (the same reaction he has when he gets a balloon).  So Aunt Melissa = Ehh.  Uncle Dustin = the best thing since balloons.  It's kinda sad.  haha
     So that's where I have been - hopefully soon I will be around more -  but I will definitly be back tomorrow - see you then

Thrifty Thursday - Pinterest Finds

I'm thinking I am going to make this a once a month Thrifty Thursday - sharing great ideas I've found on the internet.  Most of which I have found through Pinterest.  Check out my pinterest here.  Make sure to click either the picture or link under the picture to check out the original post:

Better Homes & Gardens - Dish drainer turned organizational system

 

Craft Stylish - Apple Print Tote

Always Christy - 100+ ways to creatively reuse old magazines

If you have a great idea or have found a great idea leave a link in the comments - would love to see them!

Summer Studio Makeover Week 7

Look what I found:

 

Two vintage (?) gumball machines.  I found them in this little place in Halifax North Carolina.  I felt like I was in that show American Pickers.  It had wall to wall stuff piled on top of each other - you had to climb and dig to find stuff.  They are going to look great in the studio - one filled with buttons, and the other I'm not so sure yet.  Also not sure where to put them - it seems like I am starting to bring in more stuff when I need to move stuff out!

 SALE

Check out the items in my Spring Cleaning Sale section of my Etsy shop - for a limited time I have slashed the prices up to 50% off .  Help me get rid of some of my supplies! Please note: if you are purchasing multiple items I will refund any shipping overage paid (more than $1).   You may be able to combine purchases into a flat rate ($11) box - if you want to buy multiple items feel free to convo me first to combine or else I will refund after the items have been shipped!.   **Prices good now through Friday July 8. 2011**