{Oh Man, Oh Man, Oh Man, Oh MAN!!!!}

Welp, if you’re not friends with me on Facebook, or haven’t “Liked” the {anna.michelle Cards} fan page OR you’re not following me on Twitter….then I’m confused as to how it is you came across my blog.  JK – this means you haven’t heard the great, fantastic and wonderful NEWS!!!!

I received an OFFICIAL letter yesterday, letting me know that I am a confirmed vendor for this year’s

Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh MAN this is gonna be fun!  I was already so excited about the possibility of participating and had begun making arrangements, purchases and plans to be in it without every REALLY knowing if I had been accepted.  But I have been very officially accepted and received a packet FULL of stuff yesterday!  So, I have a lot of work ahead of me, and probably many long weekends of preparation so that I can still work on regular orders during the week.

So, make your plans to come to Christmas Village in Birmingham, AL Nov. 2-6!  I’ll be on Row “Blitzen”…in the WAY back 🙂  I’m right by the food court – when you come in, go right and follow the rows of booths ALL the way to the NEXT TO LAST row and take a left.  I’ll be the next-to-last BOOTH before you get the to food court.  HOLY COW…this is gonna be fun…..

I’m also in the process of working on a lot of new designs (as I mentioned in my previous post) and I’m SUPER excited about it.  One thing I’ve been doing is making these little mini journals to sell at CV (I’m official so I can just abbrev.)  ANYWHO…they’re super cute and come with a fun little golf pencil.  I’m pumped about those.  I think I’m also going to be doing 2012 calendars which will be super fun as well!  I already have one made up that’s similar to THIS one (another bit of inspiration from Pinterest).  I’ve already printed one and it is absolutely adorable!  My version only has two months on each page and is printed in a mint green and pale pink!  Connected with eyelets to a sturdy piece of chipboard.  MAN, it’s cute.  I’ll post some pics soon!

On that note, I’m gonna go renew my car tag. gross.

happy Friday, errrbody!

Anna

{Sneak Peek}

Hello there crafting/blogger world!  How’s everybody’s Wednesday going so far?

I have been having a great time in the studio working on new designs and, particularly, getting ready for Christmas (yes, I said it…and yes, it’s over 80 degrees outside).  Anyway, I’ve gotten so much inspiration from my beloved Pinterest, so these are some of the things that I’ve come up with for Christmastime!!!!!!  (Oh, and prepare to laugh.  I totally misspelled the French “joy” on the first card and the next to last card…awesome).

Clean & simple Christmas Phrases card:

Little Twiggy Pine Branch Card:

The pathetically misspelled card (but it’s so darn CUTE!):

Advent “Activity” Cards – a set of 24 cards with fun things to do with a loved one or the whole family on the days leading up to Christmas (I’m thinking I’m going to get old mason jars to put them in and wrap them up all pretty:

Well, what do you think of my Christmas wares?????  I’m having fun and plan to make LOTS more!

I’ve also been working on new wedding invite designs.  Here’s a sneak peek of one:

It’s still sort of a work-in-progress, but I LOVED this frame graphic that I found and was excited to use it.

Thoughts?  Opinions?  Let me know what you think!!!!

Happy Wednesday.

Anna

{Woah…that’s a lot of paper}

How is everyone on this wonderfully rainy Tuesday morning?!  Let me just say I LOVE mornings like this – I was so inspired this morning that I decided to go work out!!!  At 6am!!!!  WHAAAT?!?!  So I did and now I’m back and ready to roll today!

Something I have been meaning to post is this new craft show/holiday event that I’ve been invited to be part of in Tuscaloosa, AL called Handmade Holiday!!!  I got this email, randomly, last week from a sweet lady who said she loved my stuff and would be thrilled if I would/could participate in this show.  It’s just the second year running, so it’s fairly new, but I think it is going to be fantastic!  The proceeds from vendor applications go to the B2P Project (Books to Prisons) which I am TOTALLY down to support!  Crazy thing is…it’s one week after Christmas Village…talk about insanity!  IF my application to Christmas Village is accepted, I am going to be one tired puppy by the end of the second week in November…sheesh.  Sorry family, but I’m gonna be a total bore at Thanksgiving!  🙂

Part of the application process to Christmas Village was to send in photos of my booth set up…which…uh…didn’t exist until the other day considering this would be my first craft show (maybe a little much to take on right out of the gate, but whatever….)  What do you think?!:

I got most of the stuff for my set up from around the house and the America’s Thrift Store in Midfield, AL…that is my ALL TIME favorite thrift store.  In my nearly 10 years of shopping there, I’ve never been disappointed and it proved itself once again on Saturday when I went thrifting.  I also went to a larger thrift store closer to my apartment and found that awesome blue trunk!!!  I was SUPER pumped to have found that.  I also got the wooden recipe stand there!  But MOST of the little baskets and things were found in Midfield…of course.

Then, yesterday, I began to really crunch the numbers, figure out just how much of an investment these shows were going to be.  And MAN I was not prepared to see numbers that high!  Holy moly!  Basically, I need to make about $3,500 worth of product to make the profit I’m hoping for…and with selling things like gift tags and cards, that’s going to be quite the challenge!  BUT, I think I got it all figured out and I went ahead and made a trip to Staples yesterday to load up on some materials.  I ended up getting 7 packs of cardstock (250 sheets in each!), two packs of regular printer paper, 2 LARGE boxes of tags and 5 small boxes of tags…and that’s STILL not everything I need!  And let me just give a little background on my recent history with Staples…

I’m in there A LOT.  This particular store is literally a two minute drive from our complex and it’s just more convenient to go there for things like toner, paper, last minute envelopes/shipping supplies, etc.   I also recently printed out a hardcopy of Stephen’s book there!!! (CRAZY…he’s ALMOST finish – for those of you who don’t know, Stephen (my husband) has been writing a memoir and has been working on it for the last 8 years or so…it’s about dang time…)  Anyway, so I’ve been in there a lot recently – like twice a week most weeks (sometimes MORE).

Well, there’s this guy that works in the printing/copying center of Staples and he’s begun to recognize me as THAT girl…the one that comes in there WAY too often.  So yesterday, when I was checking out with this cartload of paper and tags, he just looked at me and said “What now?!”  haha I started cracking up, rolled my eyes and said, “I know, I know…I live here…I decided to get a booth a Christmas Village…sooooo, I’m stocking up.”  He looked over the counter at my cart and said “Good grief…” and just walked off.  It was hilarious – looking back at the conversation, he sounds really mean – but he’s not….just has a dry sense of humor.

Anyway, after spending $185-odd at Staples, I returned home with a trunkload of materials and ready to rock!  I’m excited about these craft shows and the potential client base I can build!  I just hope I can keep up! 🙂

Happy rainy Tuesday, everybody!

{So much to tell you…}

It has been a little while since I’ve posted something….that’s due to the INSANE amount of work going down in the shop recently!  Not only multiple orders, but technical difficulties, stock issues, etc.  On that note, one technical difficulty I’ve been having is with my printer.  Now..I LOVE my printer.  I really do.  It’s extremely efficient and generally gets the job done SO well!  Except when it doesn’t.  The other day, I began the process of printing envelopes for an order….my printer H-A-T-E-S envelopes.  Like…a lot.  I started the day with the understanding that it was going to take forever to do these, and I was right.  I started at 10am and didn’t finish until nearly 5.  Ridiculous.  Over the course of those 7 hours, I decided to name my printer, since we had already spent so much time together.  Rhonda.  My printer is now affectionately called Rhonda.  My husband, Stephen, asked “Why Rhonda?”  To which I replied “So I can say things like “HELP ME RHONDA!”  and “Rhonda’s gettin’ all moody again” or, when it makes funny noises I can say “Rhonda just farted…”” – I know…childish.  But I think it will help me not want to throw it out the window.  It’s the same concept as living on a farm – if you have to kill the animal, you sure as heck don’t name it.  Naming it makes you want to keep it.  So I tried the positive spin on that – so far is going well.  I coax the tired printer saying “Come on, Rhonda…you can do it!  There’s not actually a paper jam.  I’m not sure why you think there is, but there really isn’t.”  HAHA – anyway – that’s probably my delirium of having worked nearly 20 hours this weekend alone.  SHEESH.

Moving on….

Another exciting event (well, it’s not exactly an event yet…I’m hoping it will be an event soon to come…) is Christmas Village!  Christmas Village is a HUGE craft/artisan Holiday extravaganza here in Birmingham, Alabama and hosts hundreds of vendors at the BJCC.  One could (and most certainly will) spend hours and hours walking through rows of booths, set up with all sorts of handmade, homemade and country-made goodies!  It’s a crafty lady’s DREAM!  Well, I got to thinkin’ about Christmas Village the other day, thinking how nice it would be to go this year, maybe with my Aunt Lori and my little cousins.  YES!  Then…a lightbulb went off…ANNA…YOU HAVE A CRAFT BUSINESS!!!!  YOU SHOULD GET A BOOTH AT CHRISTMAS VILLAGE!  Boss.  I looked into the application…it’s pretty expensive, but I didn’t see an entry deadline posted anywhere AND I think I can totally swing it!  OH MAN…I’m super excited and I hope it works out.  I have to figure out a mock set-up ASAP to send in pics of my “display”…which doesn’t exist…because I’ve never done a craft show….so this should be interesting.

Also in shop news this week I’ve got some new card designs coming to the etsy store SOON!

Chevron "Thank You" notes with Brown Kraft Envelopes

Blank Vintage Whale Notes with Brown Kraft Envelopes

Robot Recipe Cards

I mean…it doesn’t get much better than a robot recipe card.  Seriously.

Lastly, Pinterest has once again come to my aid and provided me with some inspiration – this time of the culinary persuasion.  Below are pics of my FABULOUS Whole Wheat Pistachio Pumpkin Bread with Honey Butter.

It was totally delicious!!!  You can get the recipe here.  ENJOY!

happy tuesday.

{Styled Photo Shoot with Glessner Photography}

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was contacted by Elizabeth Glessner about a styled wedding photo shoot she was doing.  I was so excited about the theme and colors and knew that it was all going to look so fantastic when it was all put together!  Well I recevied an email from her this afternoon with all the photos from the shoot!  It looked SO great!  Here are a few of my faves:

Photography: Glessner Photography www.glessnerphotography.com
Event Design/Decor: CHIC Nashville Weddings and Events www.chicnashvilleweddings.com
Cake: Sweetface Cakes www.sweetfacecakes.com
Florals: Zia Flowers www.ziaflowers.com
Hair/Makeup: Ashley Rose Love www.baxterandcompany.net
Jewelry: Brentwood Jewelry www.brentwoodjewelry.com
Venue: Riverwood Mansion www.riverwoodmansion.com
Apparel: Olia Zavo zina Bridal www.oliazavozina.com
Invitations/Menus: Anna Regstier www.annamichellecards.com                                                                                                              Models: Cody Kern and Amber Lee

{Labor Day Goodness}

Good morning! It’s a wonderfully cloudy Labor Day here in Birmingham and it’s the perfect day to get some work done in the shop!  I love days like this – the sky is grey against some already changing leaves on the trees outside, beads of rain hanging from the black plastic chair on the back porch.  ::sigh::  …SO nice….

I’m thinking this morning about how lucky  I am that I get to do this every day all day…I love it!  I’ve already got two orders lined up for next YEAR, which just seems so crazy to me!  But it’s fantastic to know that things are going that well.  (They could be better, but hey…I’m not complaining).    Aside from already being booked for next year, I’ve been able to be part of some HUGE milestones in people’s lives all over the world…literally.  Weddings in Australia & the UK, first birthday parties, birth announcements, bridal showers, graduations, etc.  It’s really uplifting to know that I’ve contributed (in some small way) to these major events that will always be remembered by the people involved….here are photos from sweet brides who were kind enough to send me pictures of their big day with my paper goodies featured:

They are SO sweet to have sent those and I’m proud to have been part of those weddings!

Then I get to do fun things like this:

football-ticket birthday party invites for a split family 🙂  hehe

A custom recipe notebook for a friend’s boyfriend in culinary school 🙂

a proposal card…from the GIRL…SO precious.

I can’t wait for more sweet moments that I get to be part of!

Happy Labor Day.

Anna

{Pop Up Video}

Yesterday, as I was working on one of my largest wedding orders to date, I decided I would video tape part of the process, to show just how HANDMADE these little guys really are.  I love doing what I do and the whole process is so much fun, but it definitely takes a lot of time and attention to each little piece.  So I hope you enjoy my ghetto little video, complete with adorable new apron (to protect my clothes from the spray adhesive) and my not-so-clean kitchen table 🙂