Gift Certificate Giveaway and Freckled Fawn Kits

Curtsey Boutique Paper Bows and Rosettes in Freckled Fawn's June Kit

I am so thrilled with the warm reception the shop has been getting. Every wedding, baptism, birthday and graduation that my little products from the Curtsey Boutique participate in is just delightful experience for me. I love it when customers share pictures of brides wearing my hair flowers or layouts with my paper bows on them.

To celebrate our milestone of reaching over 100 sales (that happened a bit ago, but we are playing catch up!) and to share some exciting news we are giving away a $10.00 gift certificate to the shop. You can use the gift certificate towards merchandise and shipping. All you have to do is comment on this post.

To see what you can use the gift certificate on (which is everything in the shop) visit the Curtsey Boutique here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/curtseyboutique

The exciting news is that our paper bows and rosettes will be sold as part of the Freckled Fawn's Indie Kits! I am so honored and excited about this kit which contains items sold by artists like myself - one of a kind, from the heart and all hand made.  The picture at the top of the post is June's Kit which is available for sale starting today. Here is the link to the Freckled Fawn's blog: http://iamdoe.blogspot.com/ sharing more about the kits.

Here is the direct link to her shop homepage: http://freckledfawn.com/

In addition to her kits she has the most AMAZING inventory of washi tape including a weekly special which I love to snatch up whenever I can.

Thanks so much for all the support and don't forget to comment to enter. The  giveaway closes on Friday, June 22nd.

CarrieAnne 

Scrapping Summer Vacation (from last year)

Curtsey Boutique Disney "Family Fun" Glassine Bag

The weather is warm, the sun is shining and I'm dusting off my suitcases in preparation of participating in that most noble of American traditions - the road trip. I'd love to smack (I mean shake the hand) of the man who thought this one up. I know it wasn't a woman. What woman said you know what makes family fun time amazing:

Pit stops in the middle of no where with gas stations that look like they came from an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Campgrounds that have very loose definitions of the words "private showers"

and 

Theme parks which cost more than the Gross National Product of Liberia.

I know I'm whining, but I'll probably have fun on my two day road trip to Indiana - right? 10 hours in the card with 4 kids, piece of cake. 

I can hear the snickers already so stop it!

With this in mind, I've been crafting vacation themed embellishments and pages this week. I'd love to say I'm getting ahead for this Summer, but the truth is I'm shamefacedly still scrapping last Summer. I hope to share a couple of Project Life layouts with you next week from our trip to New England and to Disney.

This year we are heading to Indiana (in fact we are heading out next Friday) so I thought I better get those pictures in books before they become lost in the ever growing pile of photos on my scrap table.

Curtsey Boutique Disney Label Journaling Cards

For our Disney trip I put together a few following journaling cards and a cute glassine bag to hold our ticket stubs and other bits of memorabilia.

The labels are available in the shop here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/101184628/disney-journaling-labels-stickers-for 

and the medium sized glassine bag embossed with polka dots can be found here:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/100827237/glassine-bags-embossed-polka-dot-set-of 

Planning to hit the road soon,

CarrieAnne

Dixie Highway Yard Sale & Eating Out Tag Digital Freebie

I supposed that being a historian, it shouldn't be surprising that I love old things. Whether its scraps of lace, old dress forms, embroidered sheets or sheet music - I love old stuff. What's better than loving old stuff? Buying old stuff and altering it!

This weekend my best friend and I are going to be cruising the Dixie Highway Yard sale - 90 miles of yard sale and vintage fun on old highway 41. We are lucky that it starts right here in Marietta!

If you're looking for more information on the Dixie Highway Yard sale here is a link to their facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/DixieHighway90MileYardSale

In anticipation of finding lots of vintage loveliness I whipped up a vintage inspired glassine treat bag and a new digital freebie.

Curtsey Boutique Medium Glassine Polka Bags

These medium glassine bags are polka dot embossed at measure 3.75 x 6.25. They can be found here in the Curtsey  Boutique: https://www.etsy.com/listing/100827237/glassine-bags-embossed-polka-dot-set-of

The red felt roses are also available in the shop here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/87903893/set-of-5-mini-cheery-cherry-rolled-felt

I'll be sure to share my vintage finds later in the week.

In anticipation of eating some local southern cuisine on our trip here is a digital freebie for you to enjoy!

Digital Freebie Eating Out Tag

Have a lovely memorial day,

CarrieAnne

Happy Birthday Tag

Curtsey Boutique Happy Birthday Tag

It seems to be Birthday Party season around here! We are grateful to have so many friends, but we are also looking forward to a weekend when we aren't toting the kids to "Jumpathon Galaxy, Suzie's Petting Zoo, or the Glitterati Birthday Lalapalooza Rink".

As I've mentioned before when it comes to birthday cards and people not old enough to drive, my rule is:

"simple, sweet and very petite."

The shipping tags from my shop are the perfect alternative to a full blown card. They combine beautifully with paper bows, can be decorated with paper scraps and hand stamping and embossing come out crisp and clean.

Homemade in under 5 minutes - why can't dinner be this easy?

Thanks for stopping by and helping me to catch my breath,

CarrieAnne

Tag Your It!

My 4 year old had a birthday party to attend this past weekend. It kills me to spend an hour to make a card for a child who is just going to trash it, so I made him this cute little tag. What little guy doesn't love space and it has the vintage feel I so enjoy working with.

The shop is now stocking these lovely tags (2 3/8 x 4 3/4) for about .17 a piece. What a deal!  I love that the hole reinforcer is the same color as the tag and that the heavy weight cardstock embosses beautifully. They also have a matte smooth finish, perfect for stamping.

What do you think about the chevron pennant? I've been toying with adding chevron label stickers to the shop. So easy and fun to personalize.

Tags are available in:

Red: http://www.etsy.com/listing/99384068/small-red-shipping-tags-4-34-x-2-38-set?ref=v1_other_2
Green: http://www.etsy.com/listing/99383978/small-green-shipping-tags-4-34-x-2-38?ref=v1_other_2
Yellow: http://www.etsy.com/listing/99384467/small-yellow-shipping-tags-4-34-x-2-38
White: http://www.etsy.com/listing/99383066/small-white-shipping-tags-4-34-x-2-38?ref=v1_other_2
Orange: http://www.etsy.com/listing/99384256/small-orange-shipping-tags-4-34-x-2-38?ref=v1_other_2
Blue: http://www.etsy.com/listing/99383652/small-blue-shipping-tags-4-34-x-2-38-set?ref=v1_other_2

If you like to try them all an assortment can be found here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/99385981/assortment-of-shipping-tags-4-34-x-2-38

I also love that they tuck into our small glassine bags perfectly. A fun way to give a gift cards for teacher gifts or mother's day.

We've almost reached our first mini goal: 100 sales! I'm excited to celebrate our success so far and will be offering giveaways to say thanks for all the support. We also have a bit of a fun partnership in the works, that we hope to share soon.

Thanks for tagging along,

CarrieAnne

Library Chic products in the Shop and Two Vintage Journaling Card Freebies

Assorted Set of 25 Library Cards - Curtsey Boutique

 I've been super busy adding fun items to the shop.  As a teenager I spent my Summers volunteering at the local library on my military base. One summer I transferred over 1000 books from the old card catalog system to the new bar code scanners we all take for granted these days. You might think, I'd never want to see a library card or stamp again, but just the opposite is the case. I love use library cards for gift wrap, journaling in my scrapbook and Project Life projects and making tags.

One of my favorite finds is these monthly periodical check out cards. They already have the day and month on them, so pop them in a typewriter, run them through your printer or hand write some journaling and voila you're finished. So fun!!

Cards can be purchased by color or in assortments in the shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/curtseyboutique?section_id=10783255

Library Calendar Journaling Cards - Curtsey Boutique

I've also been hard at play with digital images again, and have two 3x4 journaling cards below for you to use.  I really like the idea of the ledger paper inside the doily on the second one - what do you think?

Free Vintage Ballerina Journaling Card - Curtsey Boutique

Free Vintage Doily, Kraft Paper, and Graph sheet Journaling Card - Curtsey Boutique

Getting carded,

CarrieAnne

Miss Arts, Operation Write Home and a Deployment Digital Freebie

Curtsey Boutique Deployment Project Life sized Journaling Card

My husband and I were military sweethearts. We meet while we were both ROTC cadets at the University of Dayton. To my parents dismay we were engaged only after a few short months. After 12 years of marriage they've gotten used to him and we've pretty much proved that love at first sight can be a lasting thing. 

With both of us being active duty military our first years of marriage were mostly spent apart. September 11th, the War in Iraq and other domestic deployments had us passing like to ships in Battle Dress Uniforms that weren't even sailing on the same night. 

To say the least military charities are close to my heart. When Alyssa from Miss Art's approached me about doing a post on Operation Write Home and Miss Art's Papercrafting School's support of it I couldn't have been more excited.

Here is the Skinny:

Operation Write Home:

A charity that serves our armed forces by sending them blank handmade greeting cards they can use to write home on. It also provides the soldiers with cards of gratitude and encouragement.

Why this charity is so AMAZING:

In March 2011, they passed the 1 million card mark and crafters like us helped them do it!

How Miss Art's is Getting Involved:

Each Tuesday, visit the Miss Art's blog to view the tutorial. Then join designers Karen Hanson, Alyssa McGrew, Tina McDonald, and Jodi Baune in creating cards to donate to Operation Write Home. Cards will be collected at the Miss Art's office, then forwarded as a group to the Operation Write Home distribution center.

The first tutorial, giveaway rules, and instructions for creating and sending in cards can be found HERE

Miss Art's Paper Crafting School Operation Write Home Tutorial Project #1

How Helping Other's can Help You:

Besides that warm fuzzy feeling you'll get for doing something nice for a complete stranger, Miss Art's will be giving a free April Kit for every card you send them for Operation Write Home.

Where to get More Information:

Operation Write Home Link HERE

Miss Art's Paper Crafting School Link HERE

Miss Art's Papercrafting School Operation Write Home Giveaway

I have a shoebox full of letters in the bottom of my closet. Notes that we sent to each other over those first years of constant separation. Some of them have sprinkles of desert dust on them, a few are smeared with mud, but all of them are witnessses of a great romance.  They mean more to me than just about anything else I own.  Even years later, I don't like to discuss my feelings about being separated from my husband during deployments. So, I haven't yet used the journaling card at the top of this post, but it is free to all those who would like to use it. 

I am excited to help others build up their own shoeboxes and hope you too will be encouraged to give back to our soldiers.

Create with love,

CarrieAnne