Poppy Seed Projects

New Layered Frame Concept

2012-03-03T23:22:00.001-07:00

Not only am I loving our new MDF frames, but it seems that many of you are as well! In the past month the 8x 10 Rectangle Bracket Frame and the 8 x10 Bracket Frame with Bump, (we are seriously good at coming up with names for our products!) have become our number one and number two top sellers.

I think the biggest reason these frames have been so popular is PRICE! Because we sell all of our craft projects as unfinished kits we are able to keep the price WAY down. Purchasing an unfinished project also allows you to customize!

It is particularly fun to layer the frames. To allow for more creativity we have been working on a line of what we are calling “frame trim”. The idea is that you take a thinner frame and layer it on top of one of our thicker frames.

Here’s what our Rectangle Bracket frame and the Rectangle Beveled Frame look like with out the trim.

And here are the same two frames with trim.

(No you don’t need bifocals, this pics a little blurry)

Of course you can still add the 5x5 and 5x7 Bracket frames to create layers.

LOVE this look. It so chunky, and makes such a statement, but sometimes I like being able to display a bigger picture with out so much frame, hence the concept of the frame trim. The trim gives you the same layered look, but still allows you show off bigger pictures.

So what’s with all of the chocolate, white and blue frames? I have been working on a photo collage for Preston’s nursery, check back for the big reveal of the final project.

Lehi’s Dream Memory Game–FHE Freebie

2012-02-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of this year I was called to teach the 8-9 year old primary class in my ward. I know this may seem strange to some, but I have always wanted to be a primary teacher, even begged a couple of time, so I was excited for the calling.

One of our first lessons was on Lehi’s dream. I made this little memory game for my class to play, (based on lesson 4 in the Primary 4 lesson manual.) When one of the kids found a match we stopped to read the scriptures on the cards. It worked surprisingly well and not only taught them the basics of Lehi’s dream, but also helped them understand what a symbol is and how it “mean” something else. I liked the way it worked so well that we have since also used it for an FHE lesson.

To make it possible to have three rows of four I threw in one extra set of cards, the Book of Mormon cards.

HOPE YOU ENJOY!

http://www.4shared.com/photo/8TxIokns/Memroy_Game_Page_1_copy.html?refurl=d1url

http://www.4shared.com/photo/WCrHN4C4/Memroy_Game_Page_2_copy.html?refurl=d1url

http://www.4shared.com/photo/69D7SBJP/Memroy_Game_Page_3_copy.html?refurl=d1url

Spring /Easter Double Sided Block Tutorial

2012-02-23T23:33:00.001-07:00

Adding scrap book paper to a block may seem like a pretty basic craft concept, but it is one of the number one questions I get in my emails. Hopefully this tutorial will help you avoid bubbles, wrinkles and create a great boutique look at a fraction of the price. The number one piece of advice I can give you is to use nicer quality paper that has the feel of card stock. Most newer papers are already this thick, but some older papers are not. Thin, cheap paper tears easily, gets wrinkles and bubbles and just isn't worth the hassle.
Step 1. Paint the blocks. Because you will be adding scrapbook paper you don’t need to go all the way to the center.

Step 2. Sand and stain the blocks. I am always amazed at what a big difference this step makes.

Step 3. choose your scrap book paper. I like to lay out the patterns in order to get a feel for the final projects

Step 4. Because all of our wood is cut by hand sometimes the measurements are slightly off. I happen to be a bit of a perfectionist, so instead of cutting all of the paper a standard one size fits all, I actually cut the paper to fit the actual block I am working with. To do this I lay the paper on top of the block and make a tiny tear exactly where I want to cut the paper. (you could also mark it with a pencil.)

There really are TWO different looks I use when applying scrap book paper to the block. In the first look I cut the paper slightly smaller than the block so that a little bit of the painted block shows around the paper. What this does is creates a small matte or framed look around the paper. This is the method I used for the Spring blocks in the picture shown at the start of the post.

To achieve the second look I take the paper right to the edge of the block, or even slightly bigger. Than after I have adhered the paper I take sand paper and sand any excess paper off by rubbing the edges of the block with the sand paper. This “sands” off the paper to make it an exact fit to the block AND antiques the paper at the same time. Make sure you use a high grade sand paper such as 120 or even 200, a low grade sand paper will tear the scrap book paper to bits.

Step 5. Ink the edges of the paper. If desired. I don’t always do this step, because sometime I sand the paper with a low grade sand paper instead. If you are doing this method instead I find that it is actually easier to sand the paper down once it is glued to the block. Just make sure you wait until the glue is completely dry.

Step 6. Adhere the paper. The biggest mistake people make here is they use too much glue. the key it to use enough to glue the paper firmly, but not so much that you create bubbles or wrinkles. Make sure the glue covers the entire block and is spread on evenly. To glue the paper I use or print mounting glue, and a foam brush.

Step 7- Smooth out the paper. Using a squeegee work out all of the air under the paper by starting in the middle and quickly but firmly sliding the squeegee across the paper in several different directions. Make sure to keep your squeegee clean and to wipe off any excess glue.

Step. 8 Apply vinyl. The only trick here is to make sure that the glue is completely dry. If it is wet the application tape can stick to the paper and tear it. So sad when this happens and you are so close to being done.

Step. 9 Display and ENJOY!

We Love Damask

2012-02-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

I have to admit I don’t always love what is trending at the moment, but right now I am LOVING the chevron, quatrefoil, polka dots and damask patterns that are so popular.
Today let’s focus on DAMASK.

They are so many cute damask scrap book paper designs out there that it is easy to incorporate damask into any craft project.

I love how this damask scrapbook paper looks behind our Easter print.

and I love how adding damask paper to this frame gave it a high end boutique look to our circle frame.

Kim got creative with this project. She used our bead board block, but instead of glazing the bead board she flipped it over and adhered the paper to the flat side of the bead board. Love the dimension the bead board adds to the block (opposed to just laying flat) and the damask paper looks awsome with the vinyl design.

Besides using scrapbook paper we also have had a ton of fun designing projects with a damask theme, such as the popular damask subway art.

and the Long Magnetic Board with damask vinyl accents.

Finally to make it easy for you to add damask designs to your home we also have several damask vinyl accent pieces.

Show and Tell

2012-02-19T09:00:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not, not everything we make ends up as a display for the store. Here are a few of our favorite projects we’ve recently made for ourselves.

Kim made these darling polka subway art plaques and the square bracket frame for her daughter Brooklynn’s room (she promises to post more pictures soon).

She also did the 16” B and the cute smaller reactangle bracket frame. I LOVE the statement the big B makes and the clean white color.

I started these fun blocks for Ellie’s nursery last year and finally finished them for her new room. The top blocks has a picture for the every three months of the first year of her life, and the bottom block has her one year old pictures.

So that’s what we have been up to. We would LOVE to see your finished craft kits from Poppy Seed Projects. Send in pictures of your finished craft kits purchased from Poppy Seed and 1-2 times a month we will post pictures of your show and tells. If your picture is chosen you will win a $15.00 gift card to Poppy Seed to spend any way you like. Plus if you have a blog you would like to promote we will link the picture back to your blog. Send pics to orders@poppyseedprojects.com with Show and Tell in the subject line.

FREE Baptism Print

2012-02-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

I posted these awhile back to use as frames for a child’s baptism day. I have had several emails asking for the print with out the frame. So many fun things you could do with just the print. Please if you use it for something cute and creative send me a pic. at the orders@poppyseedprojects.com email address.

Here’s what the originals looked like.

and here’s the prints with out the frames and the links to the free downloads.

http://www.4shared.com/photo/EBfhmG3Y/Baptism_Subway_Art_-_Girl_No_F.html

http://www.4shared.com/photo/T0aRbJaG/Baptism_Subway_Art_-_No_Frame_.html

Win a Valentine Gift Card from Poppy Seed

2012-02-14T07:00:00.001-07:00

A couple of days before I had baby I was digging through my some old pictures and came across my wedding pictures.

Don't we look so young and vibrant.

Of course our wedding day was a splendid and romantic day, but besides Ryan there where also a lot of other people there that day that I also love.

My two beautiful sisters, Heidi and April.

My Grandma Painter, Eleanor Painter, whom I named my daughter after (Ellie's full name is Eleanor Marie Archuleta).

And really that's just the beginning. My point is that there are so many people in our lives that love us Valentine's can be the perfect time for us to remember just that, how loved we are. Assuming that we all love our children. . . and hopfully our husbands too. . .who are the other people in your life that have loved and influenced you? Share with us your thoughts both on the blog and on our FB page and as a way of saying thank you we select one person from FB and one person from the blog to win a $15.00 gift card to Poppy Seed. Comments will be accepted until the end of tomorrow (wed)

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

Creating a Layered Bracket Frame Tutorial

2012-02-13T09:16:00.001-07:00

***This tutorial assumes that you already know some crafting basics, such as how to paint, antique, sand and apply vinyl.

YES soon we will have some great video tutorials on how to do these basics.

I made this frame as a display for the store. I LOVED how it turned out. It almost didn’t get to go to the store and stayed on top of my piano instead. Since than I have made several more with a variety of designs.

I am sure that there are several different ways to create this look, but this is the method I have had the most success with.

SUPPLY LIST:
Two different colors of spray paint, stain, sand paper, wood glue,
PLUS 1 -Square 5x5 and 1- 8x8 Bracket Frame you can use any frame combination though).

and 1- Polka Dot 16" Sqaure, there are actually enough polka dots on the sheet to do around three large (8x8) frames. You could also use any of our other vinyl patterns. I’ve tried the stripes and the quatrefoil and thought they turned out darling.

1.) Paint your frames. The frame that has the pattern will be painted twice. The first coat of paint will be the color of the pattern. The top coat will be the color of the frame. Yes this is actually a white frame that I used for another project. For the frame pictured above I actually painted the frame khaki first. I also painted the smaller top frame khaki.

I typically use spray paint. Not necessarily because it dries faster or is easier, but because vinyl sticks to it better and I like the smooth finish.

2.) Trace the smaller frame. Once the paint has dried I took the smaller frame, positioned it were I wanted it on top of the bigger frame and using a pencil lightly traced the top frame.

I don’t think every pattern needs this, but since the polka dots were going to be placed randomly I wanted to be make sure they would look good once the smaller frame was in place.

3.) Place the polka dots. Cut the polka dots out and place them randomly on the frame.

4.) Crease and cut any vinyl that goes over the edge. Of course to get things to look right I wanted some of the polka dots to only be partially on the face of the frame. To accomplish this look I placed the polka dot in the appropriate place and than firmly creased it over the edge of the frame. This gives me a nice fold line. I than lift the polka dot off the frame and using the crease line as a guide cut off the excess vinyl with a pair of scissors.

Once the polka dot is cut down I place it back in the exact same spot so that the cut line matches up with the edge of the frame.

5. Check your work. Once you have all of the polka dots in place put the small frame on top of the large frame and make sure you like the position of the polka dots. The awsome thing about vinyl is that if you are unhappy with the position of any of the polka dots you can lift up and move them.

6. Paint the top coat and remove vinyl. I wish I had taken more pictures of these next steps, but they are luckily pretty straightforward. Leave the vinyl on and than paint the frame again. This time the color you want the frame (not the pattern) to be (in this case blue). Wait until the paint is dry (this is important, don’t rush things) slowly peel the vinyl off revealing the bottom layer of paint. If the paint leaked under the vinyl, or if some of the top layer lifts off with the vinyl, no worries, you are going to antique the frame any way!

6. Sand and Antique both big and small frames. – As was previously stated I am going to assume that these two steps are something that you already know how to do. I do plan on creating tutorials as soon as possible. They are also optional steps.

7. Glue the frames together. – Using wood glue ( I like liquid nails) glue the small frame on top of the big frame. Make sure that you use only a small amount of glue and that you don’t get to close to the edges. Wood glue is incredibly messy and almost impossible to clean up. Once you have your small frame in place don’t forget to double check it’s position. Once that glue dries, it’s not moven! Allow the frames to lay flat for several hours while they dry.

TA DA, the end result is a boutique looking frame that looks like you spent a fortune!

You Bring Color to My Life- Free Down load

2012-02-11T09:12:00.001-07:00

Found this tutorial on pinterest. LOVED the idea. So the kids and I made some for their class mates the other night. I learned a few helpful tricks along the way and since the little circles shown in the picture were no where to be found I made my own free down load.

First to find the mold I had to search every store I could think of. I Finally found them at IKEA.
Second taking off all those crayon wrappers was tedious and even a little painful. HOWEVER it was well worth the process. My kids LOVED helping.

Because the thought of handing my children a large butcher knife to chop crayons seemed a bit frightening we tried a little different technique. We put the unwrapped crayons in plastic baggies and I let the kids smash them with spoons. My boys got really into it. To avoid fighting they each got their own bags. just don’t smash them to small or they don’t turn out as pretty.

When cooking the little hearts DO NOT over cook, for my oven it actually worked better to cook them for 12 min. Also do not wait until the hearts have completely cooled to take them out of the mold. They crack and break, but if they are still just slightly melted they pop out much easier.

Last of all since the little circles shown in the picture were no were to be found I made my own. I made them a bit bigger and changed the phrase so my kids would have room to write their names.

Here’s the link to the free down load: ttp://www.4shared.com/photo/sYLaffTa/You_Color_My_Life_8x10_copy.html?refurl=d1url

Valentine Print and Frame Winner

2012-02-09T14:38:00.001-07:00

Thanks ladies for all of your voting. It was fun to see what everyone’s favorite Valentine’s projects were! The winner as chosen by random.org is Christi. Christi please email me at orders@poppyseedprojects.com so we can make arrangements for you to collect your prize!

-Holly

Valentine Front Porch and Door

2012-02-09T09:00:00.001-07:00

Check out how cute Kim’s door and porch turned out all decked out for Valentine’s , including some early flowers from the hubby (Kim has had a rough . . .well year really. . .she deserves lots of flowers.)

Cute door vinyl decal.

And darling heart antiqued subway art plaque (I think hers turned out better than mine.

Ellie Girl’s Room

2012-02-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

We had to play musical rooms to get everyone situated in the right place so the baby could take over the nursery. We still have a long ways to go, but here’s the beginning stages of Ellie’s room.

Since she’s our only girl and won’t have to share a room we bought Ellie a full bed. Ryan than added the wanes coating wall behind the bed and we painted the room pink (of course). I am actually still not sure how I feel about the pink. LOVE the shade, but it is A LOT of pink.

I still need to add more pillows.

and refinish the dresser in a nice turquoise. (If Kim and I ever get bored we just might start a furniture refinishing business.)

The whole room is based on this amazing print that I bought at Oh Sweet Sadie over a year ago.

Found the perfect place for her baby pictures. When I hung them Ellie said to me, “That baby is naked, Mommy she’s freezing. . . poo baby.”

Yet again tons of projects left, but here at least is my vinyl project for her room. This design will go on the wall behind her bed on the space between the wanes coating and the ceiling, in white vinyl. I’m calling it Girly Quatrefoil. Already listed it on the website.
.

I’ll post updated pics once the vinyl goes up, we get the dresser refinished and the curtains are hung.

Valentine Giveaway

2012-02-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

LOVE our shaped MDF frames?

Here’s a couple of simple ways to enter to win not only small (4x6) rectangle bracket frame WITH the double sided print (Valentine’s on one side Christmas on the other.), but ALSO an 8x10 Rectangle Bracket Frame.

You can choose to use to either stack the 4x6 frame on top of the 8x10, or use it for a different project.

Here are three different ways to enter.

1. Leave a comment on our FB page voting for your favorite Poppy Seed Project Valentine project. You can view the projects HERE (scroll to the bottom of the page), and link to our FB page HERE. Leave a comment on this post letting us know you voted on FB so we can count your entry.

2. PIN any of our projects to your pinterest account. Leave a comment with a link to your pin in the comments below.

3. Leave a comment on THIS post voting for favorite project, telling us what it is that makes it your favorite.

The contest will end on Wed.!

Free Valentine Tag Download

2012-02-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

Love these little treat boxes. They make the perfect treat holder for kids, teachers, husbands, you name it. They can also be a fun craft project to do with your kids.

The treat boxes can be purchased on our website for only $1.95.

The tag is a free down load, feel free to use it for the treat box, or any Valentine’s project/gift.

http://www.4shared.com/photo/sPr2uNSK/Valentine_Gift_Tag_-_Pink_and_.html

http://www.4shared.com/photo/gEJiYlbS/Valentine_Gift_Tag_-_Pink_and_.htmlI

I did doctor my tag a little by adding some scrapbook paper and chalking it with scrapbook ink.

A Few of My Favorite Scrap Book Sites

2012-02-01T16:07:00.001-07:00

When ever I start to tackle a new design project like the Easter print for the Easter Bead Board Plaque.

or the prints for the Divided Pictures Plaques (Keli provides the beautiful temple pictures.)

I have a couple of websites that provide both inspiration and supplies.

First twopeasinabucket.com

designerdigitals.com (they are great for paper packs)

shabbymissjenssdesigns.com has a lot of great vintage stuff

and finally shabbyprincess.com.

I also have a couple of websites the I idolize and keep an eye on for free downloads to use for my own personal projects. . . but that’s a post for another day (:

Valentine’s Projects

2012-01-30T20:51:00.001-07:00

I LOVE Valentines. Always have, even in high school. The reason has 100% to do with my Dad. From the time I was a little girl he has always bought me candy, flowers and a card that her wrote a little love letter in each year. I have saved everyone of those letters since I was five. Each year I pull the box that keep them in and read through the stack of cards. Since my Dad passed away eleven years ago you can only imagine how much that means to me. (:

This Valentine’s we have added a couple of new projects, as well as vamped up some of tried and true. Several of these projects were designed to not only be cute décor. but to also make great gifts. To view all of our products click HERE, than scroll to the bottom of the page.

We have all of our Valentine’s projects in stock ready for shipping, as well as ready for immediate purchase at the store in Sandy.

Grandma’s Sweet Hearts block

Love blocks (available with white and chocolate vinyl.)

4x6 Bracket frame with double sided print (that back side is a Christmas print.)

Door Decal, Hugs and Kisses (available in white, chocolate and hot pink vinyl.)

I’ve started making a layered sign using this vinyl, we will see if it gets done before baby.

Baby Boys Room

2012-01-29T21:12:00.001-07:00

So these images aren’t the best because they were taken at the wrong time of day, but I was too anxious to wait. There’s also still a TON of work to do.

Like the rocking chair needs to be recovered (I’m thinking a dark chocolate, maybe with polka dots?!!!). Curtains need to be hung (my wonderful MIL is sewing them for me.)

The drawer under the crib needs to be fixed, the bed skirt sewn. . .

. . .and I need to sew the panels for the changing table. BUT the bead board is done AND the room is painted and that was a HUGE and very time consuming project.

The real reason for this post is to share the rough drafts for the vinyl that I designed to make Antiqued Plaques to go over the babies crib.

Thank goodness my design skills are better than my photography skills. When I get them made I will take picks and do another post.

Giveaways and a Winner

2012-01-28T21:04:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone for voting on the personalized damask vinyl. Eleanor was by far the favorite followed by Brooklynn.

Congrats to our winner Ashley Mitchell Mortensen! Ashley will win a 18”x24” damask vinyl decal of her choice. Ashley email me at orders@poppyseedprojects.com so we can make arrangements for you to collect your prize.

I’ll try and get both The Eleanor and Brooklynn decals up on the website and available for purchase with in the next couple of days.

Besides our own giveaway there are also two blogs giving away Poppy Seed Projects merchandise. One is at one of our favorite website, The Crafting Chicks.

and the other is at a website we just recently discovered called The Bragging Mommy.

So check them out and enter to win FREE STUFF.

Hostess Benefits

2012-01-27T20:22:00.001-07:00

Not to brag or anything, but our hostess benefits are pretty awsome. Most people don’t realize that our hostess benefits program has changed over the past couple of months. Hostess receive 10% of the total retail sales for their class back to spend on what ever they want.

Since or most popular class project is the Temple Picture most people chose a Temple Pic.

But really the choices are endless. You could also choose a Family Picture

a Subway Art Plaque (or two or three)

Or any of our craft kits.

All you have to do is hit $500.00 in retail. Retail sales can include people attending your class to make picture plaques, Greg Olson plaques, Temple Picture Plaques, Clocks, Family Pictures, Subway Art Plaques and Frames, and of course the Temple Pictures. In addition we also have craft kit catalogs so that you friends and family can order craft kits to pick up at the class and take home, saving them time, and money on shipping. Once your reach $500.00 you get to shop your heart out.

In addition to the 10% back for you to spend, each month we also offer a free craft kit. Below is a list of the projects offered over the next couple of months.

FEB. – Free Subway Art Plaque of YOUR CHOICE!

MARCH – Free Temple Picture Plaque (your choice on the temple)

APRIL – Bloom Where You Are Planted layered sign

MAY – 10” HOME mdf wood letters

For more information on hosting a class you can email us at the orders@poppyseedprojects.com. We have teachers in ID.,CA., NM, TX., WY., NV., WA., AZ, and of course Utah.

Valentine Treat Box, and a Free Download

2012-01-26T20:19:00.001-07:00

Normally I am not this on top of things, but since I will most likely will have a very brand new baby the week of Valentine’s to take care of I have been trying to get presents for my kids, their teachers, my husband, my Mom and MIL taken care of. I LOVE these boxes because they are fast and easy. Fill them up with a treat (like carameled popcorn) and you are good to go.

We sell the treat boxes at our shoppe. They are $1.95 for the big and $1.25 for the small.

To make the box a little more Valentinish I created this print. Simply print, cut, and glue. You can download the print for free at the link below.

http://www.4shared.com/photo/Tx3rFHQh/Happy_Valentines_Print_copy.html

Personalized Damask Vinyl

2012-01-24T23:15:00.001-07:00

My sister in law asked me to design a personalized damask vinyl for her babies nursery. I would love to get some feed back. Vote on your favorite by leaving a comment. All votees will be entered in a drawing to win one of the four decals of their choosing. Decals can be personalized with baby name or last name.

And of course there is more than one way to enter. Send a link to this post to a friend to be entered a second time. Join FB or become a follower (only for those who are not already fans and followers) for another entry, or leave a comment on our FB page if you are already a fan. Finally post on YOUR FB page or blog for one more chance. Don’t forget to leave a separate comment letting us know each way you entered (if you do a post on FB or your blog please leave add the link to your comment).

VOTING WILL CLOSE FRI. at FIVE.

Decal #1

Decal #2

Decal #3

Decal #4

Winter Wonderland Plaques

2012-01-21T18:01:00.001-07:00

We don’t have very many “winter projects” but some of the ladies at the warehouse begged me to design something for them using snowflakes. These two plaques are what I came up with.

Crystal (the amazing lady that runs our warehouse and manages the store), than took it a step further and made these three plaques using 12” square plaques instead of the regular 16” wood used for the Subway Art Plaques.

Love how the set of three turned out so I added them as an option on the website. http://www.poppyseedprojects.com/Kit/subway-art-plaques-and-frames/set-of-three-snowflake-plaques

Antiqued Plaques can be made on your own or in a class. We highly recommend attending a class the first time you make them since the process is a bit tricky. To learn more about hosting and attending classes you can email the classes@poppyseedprojects.com. We offer classes in Ut., Nv., Id., Ca., Wa., Tx., Nm., and Wy.,

Cyber Space Mon. Sale

2011-11-26T09:34:00.001-07:00

Black Friday Sale

2011-11-07T22:44:00.001-07:00

Below is a flier with all the details (and a printable coupon) for our black Friday sale to take place Fri. Nov. 25th.

Three Little Stitches and a Concussion

2011-10-05T10:23:00.001-06:00

If you follow us on FB you will know that on Mon. I posted about how long you could wait after hurting yourself before you had to get stitches. Now people have been asking what happened. The story is pretty funny so at the risk of making myself sound a little nuts here’s the story. This story is especially funny if you know my husband and how kind and mellow he is. knowing him helps you understand this was ALL ME.

I fully admit I am a little emotional these days (hey you try getting progestrone shots in your hip once a week while you are pregnant and see what it does to enhance your mood). Mon. it was my turn to drive kindergarten carpool. I wanted my husband to come with me, but he wanted to stay and finish mowing the lawn. Well I took it personally, let my feelings get hurt, and got MAD. He could tell so he decided to come and while I was gathering my stuff got Ellie in the car and took his place in the drivers seat. I came storming out of the house to see him sitting there and was just furious. The only thing worse to me at this point than him not coming with me is him coming because he feels obligated to. I march over to the drivers door swing the door open as hard as I can and tell him to get out of the car. . . I don’t want him to come with me anymore. Than I turn to leave, but not before the car door I had flung so forcefully comes right back at me and smacks me in the head. I black out and hit the ground. Poor Ryan is just sitting there watching the whole thing play out,. He can see his mad wife, can see the door swinging open and the coming back fast and hard but it all happens so fast he can’t do anything about it and the next thing he knows I’m on the ground unconscious and bleeding.

So there you have it. I lost my temper and ended up knocking myself out. I had to get three stitches and have had a terrible headache for three days now. Let that be a lesson to you all. . . .don’t upset a pregnant women!!!!

-Holly

Show and Tell

2011-08-25T21:17:00.001-06:00

Over the last couple of weeks we have been making crafts like crazy to use as displays for the store. After awhile you start to get board of doing the same old things. Soooo we started to get a little creative. Here’s some of my favorites.

Kim made this Home Sweet Home block, but instead of glazing the bead board she flipped it over and used the smooth side to adhere scrapbook paper to.

We decided we needed a wider variety of vinyl options for the Child of God plaque. So we added chocolate and hot pink option for the names, and white and beige for the overlays. Love the idea of sticking the plaque inside a wreath.

Kim also made these darling back to school count down blocks.

Absent

2011-08-23T19:24:00.001-06:00

Absent minded, absent from church, absentee mother, absent from life in general. That’s how I feel I have been lately. I am now 13 weeks pregnant and I can tell you what. . . there is a direct link between how well I am feeling and how often I post on FB and the blog. (: That being said you can just guess how the last week as been.

I am so grateful to be pregnant! I know that it is not something to be taken for granted, but it is so hard for me to think about happy chipper crafting things to write about when I’ve spent most of the day with my head hanging in the toilet!!

Charity Never Faileth Bookmark

2011-08-12T11:27:00.001-06:00

Have we ever mentioned that Kim is the second counselor in her wards RS Pres.? Not something she goes around announcing to people and she’s probably going to be embarrassed that I’m mentioning it here. The reason that I bring it up though is because of the effect that it has had on some of our conversations. Over past six months we have talked with a new awareness about the role RS plays in the lives of women around the world and in our own wards. We’ve also talked about the need for cute hand outs for church (: With that in mind I created this book mark.

I have always LOVED the RS motto. Nothing could be more encompassing of the role women play in the lives of their families, their wards and their communities. It inspires me to be kinder, more thoughtful. . .and just plain better.

ENJOY!!

http://www.4shared.com/photo/0xVtz2NB/Charity_Never_Faileth_-_Bookma.html

Antiqued Art Plaques Are Here

2011-08-09T15:53:00.001-06:00

We’ve been talking about these for weeks now, but they are finally ready for classes! Our antiqued art plaques, frames and signs (the signs aren’t quite ready). http://www.poppyseedprojects.com/AntiquedArtPlaquesandFrames

I will be teaching a class on how to make this fun project at our store in Sandy on Sat. Aug. 20th 7:00. the plaques cost $19.50 and the frames $21.95 for the rest of the details on the plaques click on the link above). For this class ONLY we will be offering a 15% discount. Class size is limited and sign ups are available on a first come first serve basis. To sign up for the class email Holly at orders@poppyseedprojects.com. I just need to know which plaque/frame you would like to make and the quantity of each. I will than send you an invoice. Payments do need to be made in advance to guarantee your spot.

YES there are still more plaques to come, so check back on the website often, I should have more pictures up in a couple of days and a few more by the first of next week.

A Sneak Peak . . .

2011-08-04T23:28:00.001-06:00

Besides what you can see in the commercial there are a couple of other fun new things at the store.

{please excuse the quality of my pictures, I totally forgot that I had the wide angle lens on the camera when I went to the store, and of course I didn’t take any other lenses with me}.

Here’s few of the fun new things we will be offering-

Children’s furniture

In this picture you can see the grocery store (blue and grey on the right) table and chairs, kids bench and kids book shelf.

Here is a closer look at the book shelves.

THE ALAPHABET TREE! This tree is so big and covered from so many angles by other walls that it was impossible to get the entire tree in the picture. Overall it measures 8ft. tall and 9.5 feet wide.

In addition to the tree we will also be offering tons of other fun home décor. vinyl. As well as customized vinyl.

Have I mentioned that the store IS open. We did a “soft opening” on Tues. Our store hours are Tues-Fri. 12:00-6:00 and Sat.10:00-4:00. We are still waiting on the cash register to be set up so for the time being we can only accept cash or checks. By Sept. all the kinks will be worked out and we will have our GRAND OPENING!

Winner, winner chicken dinner

2011-08-04T19:54:00.001-06:00

If you read blogs you know people in the blogging world LOVE that saying. . . it’s so cheesy, I just couldn’t resist.

Thanks everyone for casting your votes on the double sided blocks. It was pretty much hands down the batty boo. The new blocks are listed and available on the website!

Dana with the White Silk Purse is our winner! I’m excited for you Dana, you have been a great support to the Poppy Seed blog! Contact me at the orders@poppyseedprojects.com and we will get you HOOKED up!

A Brand New Product Line

2011-08-03T18:13:00.001-06:00

If I had to pick a favorite out of all of the new craft kit projects we are offering this year, these would be my favorite. Introducing . . .Poppy Seed FRAMES.

Scalloped Frames:

Circle Frames:

The large scalloped Frame holds a 8X10 picture, the small holds a 5x7. The Large Circle Frame hold an 8x8 and the small holds a 5x5.

The best part is the pricing. The large frames are $16.50 and the small are $11.50. If you’ve done any shopping around you will know those are ridiculously low prices. After Kim made the cute small circle one with the damask scrap book paper she found an almost identical finished one at a baby boutique for $48.00!!

The frames pictures above are already listed and ready for purchase on the website (click on the picture for a direct link). BUT there are still 3 more frames in the works!! Once we have samples made up I will post them.

GTU Commercial

2011-08-02T17:08:00.001-06:00

Our GTU commercial advertising our store started running today. EXCITIING! Here’s a look at it in case you blinked and missed it (:

And YES! The store is open. Tues-Fri. from 12:00-6:00 and Sat. from 10:00-6:00. We are not quite able to process credit/debit cards so for the next week or two we will only be accepting cash and/or checks.

Batty Boo or Scary Boo?

2011-08-01T16:57:00.001-06:00

I have to say I am particularly proud of how this project turned out. I think if you take a look at the before and after pictures you will see why

Before

AFTER

Batty Boo

Scary Boo

Oh goodness that first set just make me laugh, not bad, but I just feel like we can do soooo much better now.

As you can see though we have a problem. TWO different little “o’s” for the boo. We are torn, so it’s up to you. Scary Boo, or Batty Boo? Let us know by leaving a comment to cast you vote. Voting will stay open until Thurs at noon and one person will win a free set of our revised double sided blocks!

If you would like to be entered more than once than you can also

1. Like us on FB

2. Follow us on the blog

3. Add our button to your blog!

If you already like us, follow us and have grabbed a button than. . .

1. Write a post on YOUR blog about Poppy Seed

2. Leave a comment, status update, or share a picture of a Poppy Seed Project craft on YOUR FB page.

Leave a separate comment for each entry and make sure you send us a link to FB page or blog!

Freebie Fridays

2011-07-29T16:52:00.001-06:00

You are probably wondering what happened to all of the fun freebies. Well to be honest we burned ourselves out!! It seemed like between Kim and I we had enough stuff sitting on our computers to last weeks! But oh my goodness how we burned through them. Sooo instead of designing crap just to have something to post on Friday we thought we would scale back.

We will be posting a freebie the second and fourth Friday of each month, Kim will take the second and I will take the fourth. This will gives us the time to make sure that the stuff we do post is still awsome and DANG cute!

So for this Friday something extra fun and special. A customizable birthday card.

For the next mon. (until Aug. 26th) I will customize this invitation for FREE for anyone who would like it. All I need is a cute picture of your baby (that should be easy enough) the date and time and if you would like the babies name. I can take off the in lieu part at the bottom. (It reads in lieu of gifts bring yourself) The customized invite will be sent to you as a 5x7 jpeg that you can print at any photography store (ie walmart costco) and as a pdf file that you can print on the computer.

Wait though here’s what YOU have to do.

1. Like us on FB

2. Follow us on the blog

3. Rave about us to your friends and family, by sharing the blog with anyone and everyone that you think might be interested.

New Family Picture Vinyl Options

2011-07-28T20:18:00.001-06:00

ok so I have been working on some new vinyl options for the Family Pictures. I designed TONS of new stuff. . .here’s what made the cut.

Seen above are two new options.

1. New Personalized Last NAME and Est. Date

2. New Personalized Initial

Two more new options

1. Personalized Last Name

2. Than there is a totally new concept, a new saying that simply runs across the top of the picture. If people like it, we will add 1-2 more cute sayings.

Just one new option on this one, NEW SCROLLS!! Still working on 1 or 2 more new scrolls. Because I LOVE options!! Really who doesn’t. (:

We Have a Winner

2011-07-28T20:05:00.001-06:00

For the picture plaque any way. We had a tie for the two different Cherish options. That doesn’t really help me! (:

R @ Rebecca's Roundup is the winner of the picture plaque AND new vinyl. Rebecca if you would like to email me at orders@poppyseedprojects.com and let me know which vinyl option you would like!

Tater Tots and Jello

2011-07-22T19:18:00.001-06:00

I have to admit I spend so much time on the computer that the last thing I want to do with my free time is browse through blogs. BUT there are a few that I just can’t stay away from. Tater Tots and Jello is one of them. She has fantastic tutorials and really fun guest posts.

Every Friday. Jen does an awsome weekend wrap up with links to more ideas than you could ever hope to imagine. She ALSO does a giveaway, and this week Poppy Seed is the giveaway!

Check out all of the fantastic ideas and enter to win at:

http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2011/07/weekend-wrap-up-party-and-poppy-seed.html

New Picture Plaque Vinyl

2011-07-22T12:35:00.001-06:00

Well I think that we have all had a chance to read about the winners of the Girls Camp Contest (:

Let’s move on! In preparation for the opening the store we have been designing LIKE CRAZY! Now we need your opinion on some things, so over the next week get ready to cast your votes!

The first item I need your opinion on is the picture plaque vinyl. We have had TONS of requests for some cute words to put on the picture plaques.

Finally a couple of weeks ago I had some time to design some. The concept behind the words is that you can either leave the embellishments OR simplify the look by cutting them out and throwing them away and just using the wording OR cut the embellishments out and than use the wording in one place and the embellishment in another. Anyway the point is to get creative.

Here’s pics of the wording we have so far.

Here’s were I need YOUR VOTES! I have designed TWO CHERISH and can’t decide which one to go with.

Cherish #1

Cherish #2

Pick your favorite and cast your vote!

VOTING STARTS NOW! And will go through Mon. morning. We will choose a winner from the votees to win a FREE PICTURE PLAQUE AND THEIR CHOICE OF VINYL.

Want more than one chance to win? Here are the ways you can be entered.

1. Cast your vote

2. Like us on FB

3. Become a follower on the blog

4. Leave a comment on any posting or picture FB

5. Leave a comment on the blog for a post other than this one.

Don’t forget to leave a comment on this post for each entry!

GIRLS CAMP KIT CONTEST - WINNER!!

2011-07-08T23:17:00.004-06:00

This was going to be a contest open to voting, but there were only two entries and one was going to Girls Camp this past week. Ha! That will teach us to do a girl's camp contest after 90% of the wards out there have already gone. We'll do better next year!

So on to our winning group. Even though they were the only valid entry, they are darling and I think they would have won anyway. The entry was placed by Erica, a young women's leader in Las Vegas, NV. This is what she has to say about her group of girls:

"I have been with this young women's group for 4 and 1/2 years. We have made trips to our temple several times, the St. George temple, and the Salt Lake Temple. Every trip we make to the temple, including all of our local temple trips we take a picture. As a leader and for the young women it is fun to look back as these young women get older and grow up together and are making it to the temple together. Our entire goal as a group is to get us all their to a temple together, someday. No empty seats in this young woman group!!!!"

Love it, love it! Isn't that such a fantastic goal to have? Congratulations to Erica and her group - you get to pick 50 young women kits for girls camp! Maybe something centered on the temple...

FREEBIE FRIDAY - JULY VTing Tag

2011-07-01T21:36:00.003-06:00

Hey all, Friday is almost over but I still have time to post a quick freebie. This is a visiting teaching gift tag designed for July. I tied mine onto some patriotic foamy soap from Bath & Body works (it is on sale for cheap right now!). I think it would also be super cute tied to a firework fountain or a box of sparklers, especially for a family with kids (mine would loooove it if that showed up at our door).

So if your summer is crazy like ours and you have had trouble getting out there, this is a quick way to let your ladies know that you are thinking about them or something fun to bring along on your visit. Have a fun and safe 4th!

http://www.4shared.com/photo/91i0Dys9/July_VT_notecard_copy.html

GIRLS CAMP KIT CONTEST!!!

2011-06-30T22:23:00.002-06:00

Some of my favorite memories as a teenager are from girls camp. The songs, getting poured on, the latrines, and of course...the crafts! When I was 12 I made a BE-yootiful mauve and country blue bird house at girls camp, complete with tole paint flecks and big, rafia bow. My mom was nice enough use it as a decoration in our upstairs bathroom (that only my brothers and I ever used). I loved it though and was proud to see my birdhouse on display.

We want to make sure that other girls have the chance to catch the crafting bug at camp! Even though we're a little late in the season, hopefully there will be enough wards out there still going to girls camp who can benefit from this fun contest! To enter, please send an email with 50 words or less telling us why your ward deserves to win. Include a picture of your girls if you want to! We will select our finalists and post them here on Tuesday so people can vote throughout the week. Our winner will receive their choice of 50 FREE YW'S CRAFT KITS to make at girls camp.

Email temples@poppyseedprojects.com before Tuesday at noon to enter. Good luck!

{Last Minute Father’s Day Gift Tag}

2011-06-18T22:31:00.001-06:00

AND announcing the winner of the $50.00 gift basket!!! As chosen randomly from a big hat full of names, Katelyn! Katelyn if you would like to email us at orders@poppyseedprojects.com we will make all of the little arrangements for you to receive your gift basket. Thank you everyone for participating, and no worries this is not our last!

Now here is the freebie for this week. Just worked this one up last minute for all those Father’s Day gifts I plan on handing out tomorrow. Hope you can utilize it too!

Here’s the link to the free download: http://www.4shared.com/photo/4aBOAokD/Fathers_Day_Gift_Tag.html

Do you have a, “Secret Sister”?

2011-06-16T22:48:00.001-06:00

ok so maybe you don’t, but what about the girls in your YW group, or your daughter? Or maybe you are just one of the lucky {and stressed out} women in charge of girls camp?

Inexpensive (only $1.75 per kit with purchase of five or more), easy to make, reminds them who they are and what they believe in. . .what more could you want?

You can purchase them here at:http://www.poppyseedprojects.com/Kit/LDS/young-women

A tisket, a tasket, put it in the basket....

2011-06-14T23:29:00.001-06:00

We are excited for Kristen, our crafty winner of last week's contest. She stayed true to our original concept and it paid off in lots of votes! Thanks to all who participated and made our first craft off so much fun.

For our winner and one other lucky person, we have put together the following 'basket' of Poppy Seed goods worth over $50 bucks...scroll down for instructions on entering the giveaway.

One of our favorites and a great idea for Father's day...

Every Picture Magnet Board

$8.50

Perfect for any little nook in your home...

Home Sweet Home Block

$5.50

A mini sign for every season...right in time for Stars and Stripes!

Mini Sign Seasonal Set

$13.75

One of our top sellers and personal favorites...

Life's Greatest Blessing Sign

$16.95

What dad wouldn't want these on his desk? With his own kids, of course...

Cubed Picture Blocks

$2.50/$6.95

Okay, now that you have seen how awesome of a giveaway this is, here is how you get entered to win! Do all three to get entered multiple times...

1. Become a follower of this blog.

2. Like us on facebook.

3. If you are already a follower on the blog and facebook, either post about the giveaway on your blog or your facebook page, and put the link in a comment.

Contest closes on Thursday at midnight - winner will be announced on Friday. Good luck!

Craft Off Winner

2011-06-13T22:34:00.001-06:00

Congrats to Kristin Walker the winner of our first Craft Off!! Tune in tomorrow for all the delicious details about the $50.00 gift basket AND a chance to win one of your own!!

{Cub Scout Freebies}

2011-06-11T10:18:00.001-06:00

For the last FOUR years I have been the Webelos Leader for my little neighborhood cub scout troop {I know, I know Silver Beaver here I come!}. The four prints below are a little something that I created for the boys to finish up their craftsman badge. We used one of Poppy Seed’s small picture blocks and did the same thing as the Father’s Day blocks. . .prints on four side and picture of the boys on the fronts.

So all you cub scout leaders ENJOY!

http://www.4shared.com/photo/MQf92IoK/A_Scout_Is.htm

http://www.4shared.com/photo/chHORzzr/Be_Prepared_copy.html

http://www.4shared.com/photo/IHgvbJ0M/Do_A_copy.html

Our First Craft Off!!

2011-06-09T22:16:00.001-06:00

We sent four ladies an unfinished Home Sweet Home plaque and told them to let their imaginations go wild!!! Now you get to place your votes!!

The owner of the Home Sweet Home plaque with the most votes we receive a gift basket full of Poppy Seed Projects merchandise!

VOTING WILL END MON. AT NOON.

{{To vote just leave a comment letting us know which plaque is your favorite}}

Votes placed after Mon. at noon will not be counted (:

Plaque #1 – Kristin Walker

Plaque #2 - Brandie Hepworth

Plaque #3 – Becky Heckenlively

Plaque #4- Leslie Gleaves

Good Luck Ladies!!

Father’s Day Picture Blocks

2011-06-08T21:12:00.001-06:00

This turned out to be a really fun project. What I loved the most about it was that all three of my kids (ages 2-8) LOVED it. Kept them entertained for at least a good twenty min. Which during summer break is PRICELESS!

Here’s what we did.

I have found from previous experience that there are some things that are not fun to do with kids. So I did the prep work BY MYSELF.

I took three of our small cubed picture blocks and painted and stained them.

Than I cut a bunch of squares (12 to be exact) from white card stalk and chalked them with scrapbooking chalk

Than using our print mounting glue I glued the white squares on the front and side of the block. . .

. . .and a cute picture (the cute part IS necessary) on the front.

Than I let the kids go crazy coloring the blocks.

For you FB fans, here they are from left to right, Super Demanding, Whiner, and Disobedient. {{aka Ellie girl, Carson Larson and Mr. B. . .aka Ellie, Carson and Brayden}}

Just an FYI I don’t normally paint pictures of snakes on my children’s faces, he had just returned from a party and it was crucial to his social status that the snaked stayed.

On with the tutorial!!

When they were done. . .

I used our texturizing cream to seal and protect their art work. It also gives the pictures a canvas look which I LOVE!!

And here’s the end result.

How awsome is that. . . cute kids, fun memories!

You Are Loved

2011-06-03T15:52:00.001-06:00

Ok check out how cute the Teacher Appreciation prints turned out stuck in a frame, All you year round school ladies, I’m telling you this is the easiest projects EVER!

I bought the frames at walmart, left one black and spray painted the other two.

Loving the print and stick in a frame idea so much that I created these little babies below. I thought these would be perfect for just about anything. Presents for friends or daughters, YW handouts/birthday gifts. Let you imaginations go WILD! The images were created as 4x6 prints, but you can of course adjust them.

http://www.4shared.com/photo/08f51YmK/You_Are_Loved_-_Orange_copy.html

http://www.4shared.com/photo/NgqZQuBb/You_Are_Loved_-_Pink_copy_2.html

Windows and Door Prints Announced!

2011-06-01T17:43:00.001-06:00

Alright ladies it’s final. The first two window and door prints that will be available will be. . .

The Lanterns and Flower Box Picture

and. . .

The Window with Green Shutters

They should be ready mid July. We will have an exact date as we get closer. As long as they do well we plan two more sometime in the fall.

NOW comes the fun part (fun for me anyway) for the Window with Green Shutters pic we will be offer a couple of cute vinyl saying options! I’ll work up some different options and post them as soon as they are ready.

Last of the Teacher Appreciation Freebies

2011-05-30T11:51:00.001-06:00

Sorry these are a little late. Saturday ended up being a sick day at our house {{The Hubby works on Sat. so a sick day for me means laying in bed watching cartoons with three kids crawling all over me. . .super relaxing. . .super rejuvenating}}.

For those of you who like options. . .lucky you! My oldest son has THREE different teachers to say thank you to this year. . .so here is the print I created for them in THREE different colors. My plan it to find three cheap frames, paint them some funky colors and stick these prints in them, easy enough {{and that’s what we procrastinators need, EASY}}

I’ll post pictures when I have them done.

The pics below were created as 5x7’s

http://www.4shared.com/photo/n1473N30/Teacher_Appreciation_Printable.html

http://www.4shared.com/photo/L28zxf_m/Teacher_Appreciation_Printable.html

http://www.4shared.com/photo/P_ji6RQ1/Teacher_Appreciation_Printable.html

As Requested. . .

2011-05-27T21:20:00.001-06:00

I am so flattered that the Sister and Mother word art were so well liked that people would actually want them for teachers and friends!

Click here to view the original post along with some ideas for these fun downloads.

http://www.4shared.com/photo/dlGqzXCn/Description_Teacher.html

http://www.4shared.com/photo/yAtHf-qy/Description_Friend.html

Saving the best for last. . . check back tomorrow for the final teacher appreciation freebie!!

Teacher Appreciation Card

2011-05-27T11:03:00.001-06:00

If you are like me you are suddenly realizing that the kids only have two days of school left and you’ve got NOTHING. Well hopefully we can help you out. Here’s the first freebie for the day. {{ I have a few more up my sleeves so check back today and tomorrow!}}

. . .and remember, love it, share it!

www.poppyseedprojects.blogspot.com/freebie

This one is real simple, a print and fold card!

http://www.4shared.com/photo/mm8XwGL8/Teacher_Appreciation_Card_copy.html

Downloading Freebie Tutorial

2011-05-26T09:51:00.001-06:00

There are a TON of awsome freebies out there. But what happens if you are computer illiterate {{like my cute Mom}} and have no idea how to use all this free stuff. Well here is a little tutorial to help you out. This tutorial assumes that you don’t have any fancy software like photoshop and are working with just your basic word processor.

Step 1.) Click on link provided for the free down load

Step 2.) Clicking on the link will navigate you to a website used for sharing files. We like to use 4shared.com. Underneath the picture of the download you will see a download button. Click on it.

3.) At this point you computer will prompt you to save or save as. Choose save as and navigate to the folder you would like to save the file under.

So far so good right?!! The next couple of steps will be a little different depending on the word processor you use. But the essentials should be the same.

4.)Once you have the processor open you want to find the PICTURE option. Usually found under the edit or insert tab. Once you have “PICTURE” highlighted a drop down menu should pop up. Choose from file.

5.) Navigate to the correct folder. Select the desired file and click open. It may take a second but the picture will than appear in your word processor.

Once the file is open in your word processor (it may take minute to be patient) you can than manipulate the file to various sizes.

This is a GREAT process if you are wanting to print something off on your home computer (perfect for projects like the Happy Spring Visiting teaching tag, or the Mother/Sister word art). This does obviously limit you though on the quality of your image and the size of the print.

Revised YW Poster

2011-05-23T23:31:00.001-06:00

A big SORRY on this one. Here is the reedited version with the correct wording. Thank ladies for helping us catch that so quickly.

http://www.4shared.com/photo/SfgN1uwe/Theme_poster_damask_copy.html

As stated in the earlier post this pic was created an 11x14, but you can of course print it in a smaller (or even MUCH smaller version if needed).

We’ve already had such great feed back and sent so many great ideas. We would LOVE to hear your plans and ideas for the poster!

Announcing the Totals

2011-05-23T23:10:00.001-06:00

Thanks to all who voted on the window and door pictures! The final results are fun to see

#1 – 8 Votes

#2 – 14 votes

#3 – 15 votes

#4 – 10 votes

We are still allowing our teachers to submit their votes {{plus Kim and I haven’t casted ours}} so that may shake things up a bit! We will let you know when a final decision on the prints is made AND a more exact release date.

And now for a winner. . .

Kimberly with the comment:

I like #1 and #3...all are amazing though. Talented photographer!

Send me a little email at orders@poppyseedprojects.com and we will work out the details!

Sister and Mom Word Art

2011-05-20T13:19:00.001-06:00

I initially made these two word art projects to fit inside this cute charm I purchase at Stampinup.com

They were incredibly easy to make. I simply printed out the graphic below at1.5”x2” cut the print out and stuck it inside the charm. The charm has a front and a back so on the reverse side I printed out the initial for their first name.

http://www.4shared.com/photo/4lLZtP8l/Description_Sister_copy.html

http://www.4shared.com/photo/O0SzolMQ/Description_copy.html

For another simple and easy gift simply print them as a 5x7 and insert in frame.

Check These Out!!

2011-05-20T00:06:00.001-06:00

I could not be more excited about this new project!!

We are adding some GORGEOUS window and door prints. The prints will be the same size as the Family and Temple Portraits (18x24) and will be made in our classes.

First the tough part. We have to choose the prints! We have narrowed it down to these final four, BUT need your help deciding on the final TWO. Please leave YOUR comment voting on your two favorite. One lucky person will win the opportunity to be one of the first people to make one of these beautiful pictures (they will be released by mid to end of summer).

Besides making a comment you can be entered TWO more times by:

1. Becoming a friend of the blog

2. Following us on FB

Already a friend and follower? Than you can be entered two more times by:

1. Leaving a comment or “liking” any of our statuses on FB

2. Inviting five fabulous friends to view the blog.

VOTING WILL CLOSE ON MON. AT NOON!

NOW FOR THE PICS!

#1 Vintage Green Door

#2 Lanterns and Window Boxes

#3. Antique Wagon and Windows

#4. Window with Green Shutters

These beautiful pictures were taken by our very own {{and very talented}} Tina Pierson.

Poppy Seed Store Update

2011-05-18T19:58:00.001-06:00

When Kim and I decided to open a retail store in the space in front of our warehouse we knew we were getting in a little over our heads, what we didn’t know was how fun it would be to remodel the space and come up with some fun new projects.

A couple of weeks into the project we decided that rather than stressing ourselves out and neglecting our children we would take it slow and perfect everything along the way.

Here is a photo update of our progress

The front door

Front end of the store

A very exciting view of the shelving! But, really check out the cute arched window, some day that will be the check out counter, and through the window you can see into the craft room.

Door to the craft room.

This is the kids area with one of the sets of unfinished table and chairs we plan to offer.

The store is located just south of Tuscan Garden Works off of the 90th South exit. (close to Taipan) Right now we are on schedule to have a soft opening mid-end of July and than a grand opening mid Sept.

Our Television Debut

2011-05-18T19:23:00.001-06:00

If you missed us today on Channel 2’s Fresh Living Show, no worries, you can still watch it online at:

http://connect2utah.com/recipes-and-life/fresh-living-main

A Fabulous Freebie

2011-05-17T22:52:00.003-06:00

This is about as fabulous as a freebie can get!!

http://www.4shared.com/photo/TRMFxkkD/Theme_poster_damask_copy.html

YW THEME poster created by: KIM. This can be created as big as an 11x14 to be hung on a wall or in a smaller version for scriptures. The options are ENDLESS {{Told you I would make it up to you all for not posting a Freebie last Fri.}}

Technical Difficulties

2011-05-14T11:06:00.002-06:00

This is me and my life the last two days. Woke up Thurs. morning and jumped on the computer to take care of a few things. While I was typing away there was suddnely a plastic burning smell. I assumed the dish washer was the culprit, but next thing I new the screen went black and the computer shut down. Turns out that burning smell was my mother board frying (those were the computer geeks exact words). The good news. . . none of my files were lost, the bad news I don't have access to any of those files until Mon. Sooooo, please forgive me for slacking on the Freebie Friday and the lack of post. Next week you can expect double doses!!

I just have to share

2011-05-10T21:04:00.001-06:00

Inspired by one of my favorite artists Rodney White {{ I own a reproduction of his cherry picture below, although that is not my house}}

And all of the darling subway art you can find on etsy {{and just about every crafting blog out there}}. . .I have been working on a new project.

Here’s a picture of the basic layout, although it doesn’t do justice to the end result.

The wording will be used for a 16x16” plaque. I’ve designed around 10 different plaque, I’m so excited for them!!

A Big Craft Off

2011-05-09T21:38:00.001-06:00

Okay so I have to admit I did not come up with this fun idea on my own. I’m totally stealing it from house8810.com. {{Which BTW is one of the coolest online shops ever}}. They had a little craft off with our good friends The Crafting Chicks {{another AWSOME blog we LOVE}}. you can check out their craft off here:http://house8810.blogspot.com/2011/05/craft-challenge.html.

THE CRAFT OFF . . .

So here’s how it works. We will send the first six ladies to contact me at: orders@poppyseedprojects.com a free Home Sweet Home layered plaque {{we just ask that you pay shipping or pick it up at the warehouse in Sandy}}.

You will than have until the 23rd (2 weeks from now) to make the cutest stinking plaque you can come up with! We will than post pictures of your project on the blog and open it up for voting. The winner {{person with the most votes}} will receive a gift basket full of $50.00 worth of fun stuff from Poppy Seed!!

Let’s recap. . .FREE PLAQUE, and 1 out of 6 chance of winning $50.00 worth of FREE STUFF!!

Soooo. . . if you would like to participate email me for more details ASAP! I’ll take the first six ladies to email. Please put CRAFT OFF in the subject line.

Hooray for Freebie Friday!

2011-05-06T10:07:00.001-06:00

For those of you who haven’t heard the word Poppy Seed offers free downloads. All of our Freebies can be viewed under the freebie tab, and every Fri. we upload 1-2 more freebies, so check back often.

This weeks freebie. A darling Mother’s Day tag.

Print in color and use as is, or print in black and white and add it to some cute scrap book paper. Happy Mother’s Day!

Here’s the download link:

http://www.4shared.com/photo/qcfRRUhI/Mothers_Day_Tag_2011.html

Wed. Winner Announced

2011-05-05T22:32:00.001-06:00

Thanks ladies for all of the heart warming stories!

My favorite love story. . .my parents. They met when my mom was thirteen and my dad was sixteen. The first time my dad saw her was on a LDS YW/YM outing to the great SL for a swim (fun!?) My mom had just moved into the ward and my dad told his friend I’m going to marry that new girl, it probably didn’t hurt that she was wearing a swimming suit at the time (; They pretty much dated from that moment on. Growing up they used to love to embarrass me by making out on the front porch, YUCK! I never had to doubt for a moment that they loved each other growing up and that brought a huge sense of security to my life. 11 years ago my Dad passed away and one of the single greatest blessings of my life is knowing that because of my parents love and devotion to each other, and their kids, they upheld the commitments they made in the temple. Now that’s LOVE.

NOW. . .for the winners name drawn randomly from a hat by my husband (we will have none of this fancy random.org stuff here.) Heather W.

Thanks again everyone for playing. We will have another fun give away next week, and don’t forget to tune in tomorrow for our Freebie Friday, when we post free printables for various projects!

Craft Classes Vs. Craft Groups

2011-05-04T14:45:00.001-06:00

I know confusing right! There is a simple explanation though.

CRAFT CLASSES

Are taught ALL over Ut., and in parts of Id., Az., and soon Ca., NM., and TX. We are always looking for energetic, crafty, organized ladies to teach for Poppy Seed. It makes for a great part time job that works well around families.

At the craft classes we teach:

The Temple Portraits:

The Family Portraits:

The Clocks:

The Picture Plaques

The Greg Olson Plaques.

And coming fall 2011, 12x12 Temple Plaques, 18x24 Portrait of the Savior and oh so much more.

THE CRAFT GROUP:

Is taught at our warehouse/retail store in Sandy (right by Taipan of the 90th S. exit) the third Fri. of each month.

To view the projects offered this month and all the fabulous little details click on the picture below.

May is for love birds

2011-05-02T23:11:00.001-06:00

When you think MAY you think what. . .Mother’s Day, spring. . .final exams (the nightmares still haunt me), how about weddings? Half the world it seems gets married in May I swear it. Well to celebrate all those crazy brides to be and (brides that have been) we are doing a FAMILY GIVE AWAY.

Up for grabs. . .

A classic that has made us famous, our Families Life’s Greatest Blessing sign. AND. . .

A fresh spin on an old favorite, our Long FHE Board (it’s magnetic).

These two fabulous prizes can be yours if you play by the following rules.

TO ENTER there are two options with three ways to be entered:

NEW To Poppy Seed:

1. Become a FB friend

2. Become a friend of our blog

3. Leave a comment telling us a little about your favorite love story

Already a friend of the Poppy Seed Blog and Face Book? Well you can:

1. Send five friends that you know will just LOVE Poppy Seed an invite to our blog and FB page.

2. Leave a comment on any of the post on our blog or FB page.

3. Leave a comment telling us a little about your favorite love story.

Remember we do ask that if you unable to pick up your prize that you cover shipping. This allows us to do MORE fun prizes and giveaways!

GIVE AWAY WILL CLOSE WED. AT MIDNIGHT

Two Times The Fun!

2011-05-02T11:09:00.001-06:00

Ladies, Ladies! Because there was a little bit of confusion about when the voting ended for the Remember Raffia contest we are going to have TWO AWARDEES! Congrats to both ladies, Kelli and Leslies Gleaves! You will both be receiving you choice of a Clock, Temple or Family Portrait! To receive your prize email me at orders@poppyseedprojects.com.

Thanks to ALL who entered, I got a good chuckle from our little blast from the past.

Baptism Subway Art Frame

2011-04-29T14:26:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow my oldest, is getting baptized. {{sniff,sniff}} I’m not even sure if I’m crying because he’s so big, or I’m so old.

I designed the matte to stick his cute picture in to be displayed at his baptism. I wish I would have though of it sooner though because I also think it would make a cute invitation.

Here’s the blank version. The download if for an 8x10 and fits a 5x7 picture. You could easily resize it though and enter text and/or picture for an invitation.

You can download it here:

http://www.4shared.com/photo/tKXNutTS/Baptism_Subway_Art_copy.html

***Post edit:

As requested, here is a girly version!

http://www.4shared.com/photo/Uy8ZV5Ft/Baptism_Subway_Art_copy__1__-_.html

And because girl stuff is SO fun to Design, here’s one with pink tones.

Down load by clicking here: http://www.4shared.com/photo/f_ZJtSB8/Baptism_Subway_Art_-_Girl_copy.html

Freebie Fridays!

2011-04-29T09:55:00.001-06:00

A new tradition for a new blog! Kim and I are constantly creating things that never make it to our online shop. Things for birthday parties, lesson plans, visiting teaching you name it. We would LOVE LOVE LOVE to share these creation with you! Every Fri. we will be listing one or two of our favorite projects for you to download free (for personal use only). FUN FUN. This week. . . .

Kim is going VT (what a good girl). Check out this darling idea. She simply created this tag, printed it on her computer, cut it out, stuck it on some scrap book paper, and viola there you have it. Add flower and some cute ribbon and you have some a darling visiting teaching gift.

Here’s the freebie! Just click on the link below, save to your computer and PRINT.

http://www.4shared.com/photo/dt8l-rgx/vt_spring.html

Check back with us later today for another free download and our GIVEAWAY!

Details. . .

2011-04-28T21:17:00.001-06:00

So I stink and didn’t announce the winner of the gift certificate this morning. To make it fair we will have a grand prize winner {Temple/Family Portrait or Clock} and a second place winner {$20.00 gift card}. If any one disagrees they can send their nasty emails to orders@poppyseedprojects.com. The voting will end Fri. at midnight!

THE GIVEAWAY {{for the three picture plaques}} GOES TO. . . . The Archuleta’s, promise it was totally random! Stay tuned though, another giveaway will start tomorrow!

Mon. will be the last day of the BIG BLOG EVENT. EVERYONE who has participated by commenting, voting, competing will be entered one time.

Remember Raffia–TAKE TWO

2011-04-27T22:01:00.001-06:00

I enjoyed this contest so much that we are going to continue the fun. To be fair to the girls that already entered we will award a gift card tomorrow morning. BUT THAN to bring more laughs, giggles and trips down memory lane we are going to keep the competition open and have a vote off.

Here’s how it will work. Below are the entries from the ladies that have already posted. You can either vote on one of them OR submit your own entry. Basically we are looking for the most ridiculous, silly, tacky, wayward craft you have made. All who enter will want to send their friends, family, coworkers, neighbors and any one else you can think of to www.poppyseedprojects.blogspot.com to vote for your entry.

THE GRAND PRIZE – Winner’s choice of a Temple/Family Portrait OR one of our new clocks!

Heather W. -

I use to have those wreath like things with the raffia bow and dried flowers... AKA dust collector ;)

The Allen Family -

Haha. Love the pictures. I wish I had kept one of mine I got rid of to share. :)
I made a fabric stocking (that doesn't really open) with painted, wooden decorations attached to it.

Kelli -

So I stitched "Families are Forever" and put it in a double frame but I couldn't find a recent family photo in time to give it to my mom for Mother's Day so I drew a picture of our family. This was back in high school, mind you, 15 or so year ago, and my mom still has that picture up! She refuses to change it to a photo. I'll try to get a picture of it to share with you!

The Archuleta’s -

My grandma was big into crafting when I was growing up. In jr high and High School she had me decorate bars of soap with ribbon, scrapbook paper, jewels, paint ect. She would display them in her bathroom in a basket. They were sooo ugly! I wish I had a picture of them.

Tori -

Raffia memories: Oh my favorite raffia memory to laugh about, was a wooden doll. I am sure she was at least 3 ft tall with raffia hair which touched the floor. I would actually curl her hair with a curling iron to keep her looking gorgeous. Ha Ha. What a doll, pretty funny some of the things we thought were cute.

Nate and Danette -

The cheesiest craft I made was a house out of popsicle sticks it was way ugly went straight to trash.

Mariah -

I took a big piece of white fabric and stuck it through a hoop, then painted a face on it to make a ghost. :)
I cut gingerbread men out of brown paper bags and attached to a long strand of raffia and torn fabric pieces.

Leslie Gleeves -

Here are some pictures for the blog contest. It is a bunny with a wooden head, hands and feet that are painted and then glued into a totally eighties inspired peach flower dress complete with lace, (the bunny is not stuffed at all so it is just the head, hands and feet glued to material :) There is also a candle holder complete with a peach color candle, adorned with, again, eighties inspired lace and bow (the lace coincidently matches the lace on the bunny).

LET THE VOTING BEGIN!

Help Us Decide

2011-04-26T21:29:00.001-06:00

We created these two new prints to be used on a new set of new 2”x3” LDS YW locker magnets. What we are wondering is if it is just enough to catch their eye and remind them of something bigger, OR if more needs to be said to get the point across. Let us know what you think.

Our First Giveaway!!

2011-04-26T16:03:00.001-06:00

EVERY ONE LOVES giveaways! And this ones is something you won’t want to miss out on. We are giving away, not one, not two but THREE pictures plaques!

That’s three plaques to keep all to your self, or two to keep for your self and one to give away, or one to keep and two to give one away. . .you get the point! Not sure WHO to give one to? Mom’s love photos as do grandma’s, mother-in-law’s. Also a DARLING idea as a teacher gift with a class photo.

FOUR opportunities to enter.

#1 - Grab a button and than post the link in our comments

#2- Leave a comment on this post telling us what you plan on giving Mom for Mothers Day

#3- Become a “friend of the Poppy Seed Blog” Don’t forget to leave a comment letting us know you are our newest friend

#4- Become a fan on facebook

Mom’s Love Photos!

2011-04-25T19:46:00.004-06:00

Below are our most loved projects for Mother’s Day, what do most of them have in common? PICTURES. What Mom or Grandma doesn’t LOVE pictures of their kids/grandkids. For more info. on the project click on the picture. The best part, we have all of these items in stock and ready to ship. AND WE HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE FOR YOU, use LOVEMOM to receive an automatic 15% off!

CUBED PICTURE BLOCKS

A friend of mine made the cubed picture blocks for her Mom using pictures of her and her siblings when they were young. DARLING!

DIVIDED PICTURE PLAQUES

MAGNETIC BOARDS

My friend Heidi Parson had the cutest idea for her Mom. She made the These are Long Magnetic Board and than instead of adding pictures of her kids she added gift cards for some of her Mom’s favorite things.

MOTHER’S QUOTE BLOCK

CLASS PROJECTS

THAN OF COURSE there are always the Clocks, Temple and Family Portraits. These are always HUGE for Mother’s Day. We have TONS of classes going on ALL over UT., WY., AZ., ID., and parts of CA. for more information email classes@poppyseedprojects.com

Contest #1–Remember Raffia?

2011-04-25T14:26:00.003-06:00

We’ve all made them at some point. . .carousel horses covered in crackle paint and tied with a raffia bow, dolls made of corn husks with fake silk hair, toll painting wood Easter Eggs (maybe some if you made some over the weekend!). The craft projects that haunt us from our past (maybe a not so distant past). We would love to hear and see them!

To enter in our first contest leave a comment telling us about the worst, cheesiest, craziest or even silliest craft you’ve made, than once you've left your comment, or sent a picture for us to post, become a "friend" of the Poppy Seed Blog. Send pictures to orders@poppyseedprojects.com

The contest will be open until Wed. Then we will select one winner who will receive a $20.00 gift card to Poppy Seed Projects. Everyone who enters by either leaving a comment or submitting a picture will also be entered to win the GRAND PRIZE at the end of the BIG BLOG event. . . your choice of either a Family or Temple Portrait. Don’t forget to be entered you have to leave a comment or submit a picture AND become a fan!

Picture Submitted by: Kelli Lafranca

Picture submitted by: Leslie Gleeves

BIG BLOG EVENT

2011-04-25T13:50:00.001-06:00

What is the BIG BLOG event? Well it’s contests, giveaways, discount codes, and tons of other fun events on our blog through out the week.

Some things to look forward to. . . A Clock giveaway, various craft project giveaways, and fun prizes for a variety of contest. At the end of the BIG BLOG event we will be giving away a grand prize of your choice of either a TEMPLE or FAMILY portrait. AND all of this takes place just in time for you to receive your prizes for Mother’s Day.

Soooo, if you friends, a Mom, sisters coworkers or anyone else that you think would enjoy what we do hear at Poppy Seed Projects pass along the word.

Because of the immense amount of giveaways and promotions that we will be doing this week we do ask that if you can not pick up your prize at our Sandy location that you cover the cost for shipping. This allows us to giveaway MORE, MORE OFTEN.

All About Poppy Seed

2011-04-22T16:21:00.010-06:00

Oh my goodness! I just spend the last 24 hours with out the internet. . .I thought I would die I felt so disconnected and lonely. So forgive me for the delay in blog posts.

To start off I thought it would be fun to give a little back ground on Poppy Seed Projects.

Poppy Seed was started really on a whim over three years ago by myself and my good friend Kim.

We started out as Simply Creative. . .

Later decided this name didn't work for us (to generic) switched to http://www.createsomethingcute.com/. Decided that name was a little weird. . . and finally wound up with Poppy Seed Projects.com. During this time we also out grew a blog, launched a website, out grew our website and launched our current fantastic website.

While all of this was going on online the physical aspects of Poppy Seed were being operated primarily from my home. After a year we realized this wasn't really working so we moved to a warehouse in West Jordan (one of the happiest days of my life) which we quickly out grew and moved to Sandy

Along the way we learned A LOT about customer service, running a business, hiring and training teachers, and prioritizing.

NOW we have over 30 + absolutly AMAZING teachers, a warehouse in Sandy with a retail space out front (the store we will soon be opening) 2 wonderful ladies that run the in and outs of said warehouse, a couple of ladies that work from home . . .and of course Kim and I are both still around.

The last three years has been like taking a crash course in MBA school, Graphic Design and Family and Life Sciences all at the same time. I am and always will be amazed at what Poppy Seed has become and that SO many love our products. Thank you, thank you, to all who love and support us.

NOW GET READY. As soon as Easter weekend is over we will be starting the BIG BLOG EVENT with giveaways, contests, and coupon codes! See you Mon.!

LET THE BLOGGING BEGIN!

2011-04-19T14:31:00.009-06:00

We are so excited to launch our new and improved Poppy Seed Projects BLOG! From this day forward we pledge to bring you. . . {craft ideas}, TUTORIALS, product features, highlights from other crafters, giveways, CONTESTS, {and oh so much more}!

So check back with us often as the blogging begins!

Framed Family Portraits

2010-05-10T16:54:00.008-06:00

We wanted to introduce the latest addition to Poppy Seed Projects ...

Framed Family Portraits

This craft is DARLING and will not disappoint!!

Framaed picture complete is 26x32

create this for only $49.50

Turn your family picture into a unique piece of art! Choose from our four matting options and then add your choice of vinyl accents. Go home with your finsihed portraits assemebled in a chunky 4 1/2" frame and covered with textured, glassless finish.

First...Pick your Mat

Second...Pick your Vinyl

Bring your own 11x14 Photo to calss, and by the end..You will have an AMAZING family portrait that you can be proud of!

If you are intrested in booking a class. Contact us at temples@poppyseedprojects.com for a teacher in your area.

CRAFT GROUPS

2010-04-27T22:57:00.000-06:00