My order of Pulp binders arrived yesterday and I couldn’t be happier with them.  I ordered two, one in black and one in lilac, and had them  printed with “Paper Skirt” in silver on the cover.  I plan on using them as my portfolios.

I had been searching for nice cloth 3-ring binders for a long time.  I love the ease of being able to take pages out or rearrange as necessary.  My old album was a screw and post system - it worked and it looked great, but removing and adding pages became a hassle.

I give these binders and A+ (but a D- for UPS brokerage fees - yikes).

A few weeks ago, I ordered a photo poster from QOOP using photos from my Flickr stream.  Before ordering, I measured the Ikea frame I had on hand.  Except - I measured the outside of the frame.  Of course, when the poster arrived (and it looks great!) it was just slightly too large to fit inside the frame.

It’s another trip to the art store for me I’m afraid.  Lesson learned.  Always measure the inside of your frames!

See this?  It’s one sad and boring bulletin board.  Not good.  I needed a way to use the vialetter letters that I had ordered as a sign in my studio and for use at craft shows.

I pulled out some nice light pink linen from my stash and cut a piece slightly larger than the bulletin board.  Using my trusty glue gun, I glued the fabric to the cardboard on the back.

Next step: glue thumbtacks to the back of the letters.

And the final result?  An easy studio/show sign in under 30 minutes.  Crafty.

This week, I’ve been busy working on two custom projects.  However, it’s going to be a few more days before I can post photos and write about them.  I wouldn’t want to spoil their surprises.

In the mean time, I’m starting to restock for the Ladyfest Craft Sale.  I’m on the fence over whether or not to print Christmas cards for the sale.  I don’t want to hear anyone saying, “bleh! Christmas in September!  ugh!”  Because, that’s exactly what I would say.

I’m also waiting for some snazzy new binders to be delivered.  I ordered a couple of these cloth covered binders with “Paper Skirt” printed on them in silver to use as my portfolio.   I really hope they arrive soon.

Other than that, life outside of Paper Skirt has officially switched seasons.  I made soup for the first time in months and completed the great “Summer to Winter clothing switcheroo” on the weekend.  Goodbye capris - we’ll be together again soon.

I was doing some shopping downtown today and I thought I’d stop in at Workshop to pay my cards a visit.  I was so so happy to see them sitting on the main counter - it was pretty exciting.

I know.  My shop subtitle is “greetings & invitations” but there are no invitations online!  Alas!  I’m working on it - I promise!  In fact, today I ordered two beautiful cloth-covered presentation binders embossed with my business name to hold the samples.

Now, to finalize the designs, typefaces, and colours.   Time to get back to work!

I bought this frame at the Great Glebe Garage sale in the spring, it was falling apart and had a grungy mirror in it.

This weekend, I took the mirror out, epoxy glued the corners back together, gave it a thick coat of white paint and got to work making it into a bulletin board.

I bought a roll of cork and hot glued it to a piece of cardboard. Then, I covered it in a piece of grey linen. To assemble - hot glue everything in place and tack a picture hook on the back. Voila!

The materials for this project cost more than the frame! Oh well… it was a fun and easy project and the result is pretty good. Sort of shabby chic.

Getting into the habit of keeping tabs on expenses and inventory came quite easily for me.  For about a year and a half, I collected articles, pictures, magazine clippings, colour swatches, paper samples… you name it.  And my inner Martha Stewart had me cataloging all of these items into neatly organized binders and folios.

Being organized really keeps my mind at ease.

Today, I finished my current inventory list.   Now, to start making those numbers go down!  Let me go find my “Marketing” binder…

The good news: I printed another set of cards tonight. The bad-ish news: I spent the majority of the evening tweaking things like Google Analytics and PHP code for Wordpress because I want *certain* sidebars on *certain* pages.. and only those pages. I am picky.

The good news: I found out about Indie Public yesterday. It’s like Facebook for craft and independent design. The bad news: I may get hooked. There sure are a lot of people on it!

The good news: I bought the new Craft, Inc. book. The bad news: I still haven’t finished reading the last book that I bought on writing business plans.

Let’s end this post with some good news. I contacted Workshop Boutique about my cards and they’ve agreed to sell them. My products in a store. Awesome! I’m going to try to get them downtown by the weekend.

I am in desperate need of storage solutions, so when I saw this little shelf for sale, I knew it would be perfect for displays at craft sales (or at a future brick and mortar store - a girl can dream!)

A good lick of white paint should make it look fresh again!  The girl that I bought it from didn’t seem convinced that I could strap it to my bike to get it home.  Au contraire!  Here’s the photo proof!

I’m pretty sure I am a little bit Dutch.  What can I carry on my bike next?