cupcake card designs

Maybe it's just me, but I'm super excited about the new line of note cards I'm designing. My Photoshop practicing is finally starting to pay off & I'm exploring the idea of using my photos in my card designs. What do you think?

My only issue is finding the best way to get them printed. I used to do it in-house, but I'm thinking the photos need a professional job & I'm afraid to order in large quantities. Any suggestions? Or do I need to think positive and get a bunch printed? Should they be note cards or postcards? Geesh! I've got a lot of questions today. I guess I'm making you work for your eye candy today!

the ballet diaries

Pack your bags, I'm going on a rant...

We just started ballet lessons 2 weeks ago. My daughter took lessons last year, but the classes were in the morning. The studio was quiet and it was an enjoyable way to spend 45 minutes.

This year, she takes an afternoon class. All three ballet studios are filled to the brim and there is a shared waiting room. And it's total chaos. So loud and chaotic that I was actually thinking of not taking her anymore. The noise is almost unbearable. The reason is because most of the children have siblings waiting with their mothers. And the children are allowed to run around the tiny space, yelling and jumping on things and bumping into people. As the children get louder, their mothers just start talking louder as they visit with one another.

Now, I know I am the mother of an only child, but I was also the oldest of four children and have waited for a sibling or two in my day. We were absolutely forbidden to run around. We were expected to sit down in a chair and wait. The only good reason to get up and move? If a grown-up walked in the room and they needed a place to sit. We were then expected to politely give-up our seat to them and move to a quiet place on the floor. Talking was kept to whispering. If any of these rules were broken, we were disciplined. And there were other children, also waiting for their siblings that were also being held to the same standards. I look back fondly on those hours. The quiet hush in the room was relaxing. You could hear our mothers murmuring to one another. We would have a little snuggle with my mom or we colored or we just daydreamed.

So where am I going with this? I don't know. Maybe I'm getting old and cranky. I am surprised that I have to struggle to keep my sanity for 45 minutes in a ballet studio. However, I am a mom and the job description requires certain sacrifices be made so that my daughter can dance. I can't very well tell her, "Mommy hates the noise, you have to quit ballet". And I can't change the world. So I've packed a little paper suitcase and filled it with odds and bits of paper, a glue stick, scissors and a pen. I grabbed a small journal, and every Monday afternoon at ballet, I pull out my suitcase and work on my visual journal. There's something about art that transports me. I get so involved working on my little journal, balancing a workspace on my lap, that the noise begins to be muffled. It's my sanity. It's the ballet dairies. I am trying to look at these hours as time for me. Instead of getting irritated, I am trying to see Monday afternoons as a gift. A time to take 45 minutes and do something I love. My goal is to do one small journal spread each week. Today's image is my spread from last week.

So tell me, how do you escape from the hectic world?

ARTchix Contest Winner!

The winner of the wonderful ARTchix package is Debby from Debby's Dare! Congratulations Debby! Please email your mailing information to me at: laura (at) katydid-designs.com and I'll get your information to ARTchix. (I'd love to see a project you make using the product, so be sure to email me when you put something up on your blog!)

painting furniture

This inexpensive, bright blue, metal bed belonged to my maternal grandfather. A few years before he died, he bought it for his guest room and he loved to take naps in it. We regularly heard how it was the most comfortable bed he had ever slept in.

When he passed away, my niece got the bed for her first "big girl" bed. This summer she graduated to even more "grown-up" furniture, and my daughter was ready to move out of her toddler bed, so we inherited the bed. But my daughter's room, as you can well imagine, is pink and girly. A bright blue bed would not do.

So, I decided to spray paint it pink. But then, of course, I couldn't stop there. I also created candy canes striped on the bars. As I was in the hot garage, breathing too many spray paint fumes, I felt my grandfather standing next to me. I could almost hear him, whispering excitedly about how it was the most comfortable bed he ever slept-in. About how pleased he was that his simple happiness was being passed around the family.

The bed is finished now and every night I crawl into it to read to my daughter. And you know what? It really is the most comfortable bed I've ever been in.

creative newsletter

My monthly creative newsletter will be in your inbox in a few minutes. This month, I talk about Artist Trading Cards or ATCs. When I first started on my creative journey, ATCs were one of the first projects I tried out. Since they are only 2.5" by 3.5", I was able to actually complete a whole piece of art while my daughter (a newborn at the time) took a nap. Art saved my sanity on many days during those early years of motherhood. Being a stay-at-home mom to an infant was probably the loneliest days of my life so far. I was isolated with only a baby to talk to for hours on end. Then I discovered the rich and supportive online community of art bloggers and I suddenly didn't feel so alone. I would do ATCs swaps and have a little bit of joy waiting for me in my mailbox when the swap packages arrived. (The photo above features the first ATCs I ever did for a swap back in January 2007!)



I also have a great opportunity for all of you! ARTchix Studio is offering a prize package to one of my lucky readers.

It's a "Spoil Me" Extravaganza! It includes:

Spoil Me Buttons
Spoil Me collage sheet
My Art Challenges collage sheet
My Art Challenges II collage sheet
Chixies Spoil Me Collection of 4 collage sheets
Party Girl collage sheet
Chixies Spoil Me sticker sheet
Handmade with Love sticker sheet
Blog Sticker Collection of 6 stickers
Blog Sticker Collection II of 6 stickers
I Love ARTchix sticker collection of 12 stickers

This is a $60 value, so you definitely want to try to win this. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post, telling me which ARTchix product is your favorite. I'll randomly draw a winner on September 28.

CONTEST CLOSED! THE WINNER IS DEBBY OF DEBBY'S DARE! CONGRATULATIONS!

Check-out my newsletter this month. If you aren't a subscriber yet, visit my website at www.katydid-designs.com to sign-up. If you didn't receive this month's issue, you can read it here.

these are a few of my favorite things

These are the last photos I took before my camera died. (sniffle) The good news is, after today's post, I'm somewhat caught up on showing you all my mail goodies.

In August, I participated in Modern Crush's Favorite Things Swap. I was lucky enough to matched up with Amy from Switz Art. She sent me an enormous package of all kinds of fun goodies. In fact, I'm still sifting through the box finding fun things to play with.

Of course, I didn't photograph the package I sent to her. (I need to be better about that.) Lucky for you, Amy did take a photo of what I sent her. Check it out here. I thought I did a fun wrapping job. I sent her the lyrics to the Sound of Music's song, A Few of My Favorite Things and then tagged my goodies as parts of the song. So a zine I sent her, had a tag saying, "when the dog bites". Another item had a tag that said, "when the bee stings", another said, "when I'm feeling bad". All the items I sent her really are things that "I simply remember...then I don't feel so bad." (Is the song stuck in your head now? Sorry about that.)

Speaking of the zine I sent her....It was a Borrowers zine. I bought one for myself. Remember The Borrowers books? I loved reading those when I was a little girl. As part of my summer reading project, I reread the first book and was amazed by how much it spoke to me. The whole concept of the Borrowers is how the use everyday items to make all the tiny things they need for their home. As someone who just made a tiny cake out of cardboard tubing, I realized I have a lot in common with them. If you haven't read the book in awhile, pick it up and read it again. For even more inspiration, be sure to buy yourself a Borrowers zine too.

a moment of silence please

I've read about it happening to other bloggers. I would click my tongue and think, "poor girl" and go about my life. But you never know how it really feels until it happens to you...

My sweet, dear Canon PowerShot A95 has broken. It's now only taking lovely photos like the one above. (How cool would that photo have been if my camera worked?) Sure, I've been complaining about my camera, whining that I wanted a new camera, but now that it's broken I'm sorry. You never know what you had until it's gone.

The good news is, it looks like it a defect that is covered by Canon. The bad news is I have to mail it in for repairs. How in the world can I live without a camera for any amount of time? Sure, I know I used to only take my camera out when I went on vacation a couple times a year, but now I use it every day. It broke on Wednesday, and I swear I've thought of a million photos I could have taken since then.

My husband is hinting that a bigger & better camera might be in the stars for me for my 40th birthday, but that's not until November!

Keep your fingers crossed that my little PowerShot comes home soon. In the meantime, I'm sifting through my thousands of photos to see what I can show you while we all wait for my camera to come home.

a lovely package exchange

I've been a very bad girl and have been hiding all the great mail goodies I've received over the past couple of weeks from you! I recently participated in oh, hello friend's lovely package exchange. I was paired up with Suzanna Cassidy. What a sweetie! In the photo above you can see all the lovelies she sent me! I loved everything, but I was very excited about these two items.


The tin with the cupcake image contains two cupcake rings!

And here's a photo of the wrapped package I sent her.

If you want to see what's inside, visit Suzanna's blog post here. Thanks for being such a great swap partner Suzanna!

totally tubular

Good news! The sun came out yesterday afternoon and I was able to get my original cardboard tube projects photographed.

The first project I came up with is super simple-photo holders. Here's how to make them:

Take a cardboard tube and cut it so that it measures one inch larger than the width of your photograph. Then cut the tube in half lengthwise. You will have half a tube. Decorate the tube with paint, fabric or decorative paper.

Measure a line across the top of the tube to fit the size of your photograph. Make sure the line is squarely centered in the top. Carefully cut through the line using a craft knife. Slide photo in the cut. (Note: I've found that pesky old gravity can get in the way if you try to display too tall a photo in this holder, so photos that are smaller and of landscape orientation work the best.) This project is cheap and easy and you can decorate the holders to match each photograph. I think a few of them grouped together would make a great table display.

My next project was all about cake. I created a cake using cardboard tubes and scrapbook paper. Cardboard tubes are perfect for this project because they already have a bend to them. Just cut the tubes to the size you want your cake layers to be. I sliced them into strips, but you could make your cake the width of the tube. You would just need to decide on the cake height then. I used stiff scrapbook paper to create the top of each layer. Then decorate. (That's the fun part.)

These would be great nestled in a box for someone's birthday or wedding shower. I made a cake small enough for Barbie. She loves it, but she would. I mean we all know she isn't going to gain an ounce even if she eats the whole cake by herself.

For more projects featuring cardboard tubes visit these links:

Cardboard Barrettes

Children's Play Tea Set

Sandra Evertson has some fantastic flowers made from cardboard tubes in her book, Fanciful Paper Flowers. You can see one the projects I made from the book in this post.

My friend and fantastic artist, Jill Rosoff, recommended I look at what Accidental Mysteries posted about cardboard tubes and I was blown-away. Check out these amazing sculptures!

cardboard tubes

Do you want to know how my crazy little mind works? I thought I would give you a peek this week. (It's scary in there, so wear protective clothing and sunglasses.)



When I have to come up with project ideas for publications etc., I'll get "idea block" just like everyone else, but a trip to the children's section of the library usually helps me. I was recently trying to come up with some projects that are "green". I had this book laying around the house that I took out of the library for my daughter. First I picked a project for her to work on. (It helps my creativity if she's too busy to ask me 999 questions.) We picked out this great cardboard tea set, made out of one cardboard paper towel tube. While she was making that I tried my hand that the super cool hair barrette made from a section of toilet paper roll. I was so excited by it.


I think it looks amazing and it took me five minutes to make it. And in my excitement, the ideas started to pour in. I had to cut the tube up for the barrette project and that helped me see how the material curled and acted when I manipulated it. I pulled out my idea journal and began taking notes and sketching. Before I knew it, my daughter was done with her project and was watching TV and I had two new, original projects completed.

Do you want to see them? Well, you'll have to wait until the next post. The skies are overcast today and I can't take a decent photo. But I'll be back.

In the meantime, here's the tutorial for the barrettes. I got it from the book, Look What You Can Make with Tubes.

Barrette Tutorial

1. Cut a piece of cardboard tube lengthwise on one side.
2. Cutting horizontally, cut a 2" by 3" rectangle from the tube.
3. Decorate the rectangle with paint, printed paper (used gift wrap?) and/or fabric. I used fabric for the one shown in this post.
4. Punch small holes on either end of the rectangle.
5. Slide a skewer through the holes to secure hair. SAFETY NOTE: I cut off the sharp ends! An even safer version, that can be found in the book, is to cut slits instead of holes and slide a Popsicle stick through. (The one I made is for me, so I chose to forgo the Popsicle sticks!)

i have some catching-up to do

I'm so behind on showing you everything I've been up to lately. Lots of tutorials and swaps and other good things. This weekend, I'm going to attempt to get caught-up and today, I'm giving you all the links to the tutorials that I have had featured on various and assorted websites.


First up, I completed my Guest Designer feature at Art Glitter in August. Here are my August projects. I'm particularly fond of the Glitter Globes!) To see all six of the projects I did for Art Glitter and get the tutorials, please go their website at http://www.artglitter.com/guestdesigners.html.

I also had a project featured on Fiskar's Fiskateer blog. I'm excited about it because it's my first tutorial that has to do with fabric/sewing. To see the full post and tutorial go here. Fiskateers are "crafting ambassadors". I've made a ton of great, new friends by being a Fiskateer and Fiskars has some pretty special events that ONLY Fiskateers are invited to. (I'll tell you, I come home loaded down with fantastic Fiskars goodies from the events too!) It's a really fun community. To learn more, visit the Fiskateer website. If you decide to join-up (it's free!) contact lead Fiskateer, Cheryl.

Can you tell someone has been playing with Photoshop this week? I figured I would get my "Photoshop Friday" squeezed into this post too! I'm practicing on creating images that look like professional ads. Since I sell online I thought that might be important!

slipping through my fingers

Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that I'm losing her forever
And without really entering her world
Im glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what's in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sleep in our eyes, her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake, I let precious time go by
Then when she's gone there's that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt I can't deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
(slipping through my fingers all the time)
Well, some of that we did but most we didnt
And why I just don't know

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what's in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers...

Slipping through my fingers all the time

Schoolbag in hand she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile...

(Lyrics from the ABBA song, Slipping Through My Fingers)

my thoughts on "starving artists"

My online, Multiple Streams of Income course started yesterday. In it, I mentioned that artists aren't the only ones "starving" right now. Accountants, life coaches, etc. are too. Then I said that artists just seem to get picked on about it. Which got me thinking. Why? Why are artists constantly being told that they will starve? Artists have no more of a chance of starving than any other entrepreneur, so we does society pick on us?

So I came up with a theory. It's because people are jealous. They don't want to believe that we can make a living doing something that is fun-doing something we love. Cutting and pasting and splashing paint onto a canvas. Somehow, we've all been told that "real" work has to be work and you can't be successful unless you feel like you are rolling rocks up a big ole hill.

Now, I know my accountant friends are going to back at me with, "But I love my job! Numbers make me happy!" And for some people that's true. But when you take a big, general group of people I think more people would say that it looks like making art is a lot more fun than playing with numbers.

So let's prove them wrong. Let's stop believing what they are saying. (And let's stop saying it ourselves.) Start believing that you have as much of chance at "making it" as anyone else. My September newsletter about finding your target market went out this morning. Reading it is a very good place to start on the road to making a living doing what you love.

Tell me, why do you think people tell us we will starve if we want to make art a career?

Totally Creative

Have you heard of Totally Creative magazine? It's a new, electronic magazine and it's chock full of great, crafty ideas. In fact, the new issue has my Ribbon Organizer in it!

There's a special subscription offer going on right now too!

Limited Time Offer - 25% discount for new subscribers: Annual Subscription for only $18.75 (regular price is $24.95 for six issues). To subscribe go here.

i hate halloween

I do. I know some people love it, but I don't like it. I don't get the whole scary, gruesome thing. I don't like to dress-up. I'm a Halloween scrooge.

But, being a good business person, I know people like to buy Halloween stuff. I know that I should have something festive for those Halloween lovers out there in my shop. And this is what I came up with. A whole line of black and white and sort of Halloweenish party supplies. Party supplies for the kind of party I might actually throw for Halloween.



I'm thinking these kits would be great for a "Girl's Night Out" kind of party. Whip-up some martinis, make (or buy) some cupcakes, and rent Phantom of the Opera and you have a "Halloween" party even us scrooges might come to. (I might even let you put a masquerade mask on me if the cupcakes are chocolate and the martinis are strong enough.)



My deluxe party kit contains pretty much everything you need: invitations, cupcake picks, and candy bar favor wrappers. Or go lower key with just invites and cupcake picks. See that cute Marie Antoinette sucker with the deluxe kit? I have three of those and I'm mailing them out to the first 3 people who place an order for anything in my Halloween 2009 line.

I'd love to know what you think of my new party kit idea. I'm thinking of creating more for birthdays and other holidays.

got notebooks?

I just did a little shop update yesterday after spending the weekend creating these cute little notebooks. It became addictive and I spent hours making them. I like them because I am using up all that scrapbook paper I've bought and then saved "for something special". Somehow knowing the paper is on a notebook that will be written in and loved makes it easier to let go. And let go I need to do because my studio is overflowing!


After taking photos for the shop update though, I have to ask, "Whose 40 year old hands are those?". Seriously, sometimes aging just sneaks up on you and then WHAM! smacks you in the face (or hands in this case). After looking at these photos, I immediately moisturized my hands, filed my nails and painted them. Why didn't anyone tell me I was running around with them looking like that?