documenting life :: part 2

Yesterday I talked about how important it is to me to document this time in my life. I talked about what I am doing digitally to do this.

Today I am going to tell you about what I plan to do with paper and documenting. These three things aren't going to happen right now but I am super excited to do them soon!

1. Project Life

If you haven't heard me talk about Project Life before then you haven't been around too long. Or maybe I think about it more than I talk about it. Anyways I love the concept of Project Life. It is a very simple way to scrapbook. It's all about getting life's moments documented in the easiest way possible. And it's pretty to look at!

I plan on getting this before the wedding. I want to use it for our first year of marriage. I am so excited about it! My mom has it now and I love how it works and how simple it is.

2. Minibooks

I have made mini books in the past and I love making them. I like how everyone you make can be completely different. I also like how they can be about anything. They can be about an event, or goals you have, or just things that inspire you. I was going to make one for this post but I didn't get the chance to (even though I had the whole day off from work :) I have an idea for one that I will hopefully share soon!

3. Christmas book

I first saw this on Elise's blog and I absolutely love it. From Elise's post:

"The book has 25 two page spreads which have a place to share a family photo from Christmas eve or day, a place to journal what you did during the holiday season, a place to share the holiday card you mailed out and a place to share what happened to the family during the past year."

Isn't that the coolest idea ever? I plan on getting this book closer to Christmas time and use it every year! I am so excited! 

documenting life :: part 1

This is the first post of two that I am going to share with you how I plan to document this year. There are going to be a lot of changes this year (putting a wedding together, getting married, moving to who knows where) and I want to remember them all and be able to look back at these moments. I keep thinking way down the road when we have kids. I want them to be able to look at these things and see what we were like when we were first married and things we did.

There are three things that I am doing now that are digital. I will get to the paper things tomorrow.

1. Blogging

The main reason I started this blog was to document things happening in my life. I like to look back at old posts because it helps me remember those times. It is so much easier for me to type some things then to write them out by hand. So I am much more likely to blog about it then write it in a journal. Some examples of things I am glad I blogged about are: the story of our engagement, my very first inspiration board of what I was wanting at the moment for our wedding, and what I did to ask my girls to be bridesmaids. These all seem to be wedding related things but that is so where I am right now and where I have been for the past 6 months (and where I will be for the next 4ish months :)

I need to always remember why I created this blog. I started it for me.

2. Oh Life

I don't remember where I first heard of this but when I did I thought it would be a great way to make my 5 year journal process easier. Oh Life sends you an email everyday (you can set what time it sends) and asks you how your day was. All you do is hit the reply button and type how your day went and send it back! That's it! It is so easy to do on my phone.

Another thing I like about it is when it asks you how your day was it also shows what you wrote a week ago, a month ago, or a year ago depending on how long you have been doing it for.

If I ever get caught up in my five year journal (yes I am a little/a lot behind) I have something I can look back at to see what happened that day!

3. Pictures

I love to take pictures. And look at pictures. I think they tell events and stories the best. Since I have moved back home with my mom and her DSLR I feel like I am prone to taking more pictures. Don't ask me why but I prefer taking pictures with my mom's camera then with my point and shoot. Well I will tell you why. The pictures are so much better!

Me and Matt are planning on getting this camera before the wedding as our wedding present to each other. I also am planning on getting this lens too. As a present to myself. For getting through tax season in a tax office. Having that camera will be a wonderful thing to have at the beginning of our marriage. Can't wait to take lots of pictures! :)


See you tomorrow for the paper version of documenting life! :)

wrp valentines

I finally listed a couple new things in my shop!

First is this set of 4 valentines cards that have striped envelope liners and coordinating labels.

The next new card I listed is a valentine’s spin on the classic you and me card. It also includes a coordinating label.

I hope you like them! Now I think you need to go and buy your special someone a card! :)

wrp

This post was supposed to be about my new amazing product in my shop that was going to get so many views and sell out instantly...well that didn't happen. Mainly because I didn't get anything new listed. You would think that promising you all something new in a week would keep me accountable but it didn't. I am still trying to make the most use out of the little time that I have.

I did get a new paper cutter this week! I got my old one for my birthday this past year and it has seen better days. I could only cut through one paper at a time so it would take me forever to do a large custom order. Now with my new cutter I can cut through multiple layers. That is my favorite thing.

I was very happy to see this large box at the front door!

Here it is! It's a CARL 12210 Bidex heavy-duty rotary trimmer. I like it so far. Hopefully it will stay that way. Now I just need a big custom order :)

2011 goals for wrp

After graduation I had this huge plan to really grow my shop. Enter 8am-7pm job. Now I feel like I am going to have no time to put into wrp. I still want to list new things and keep it going but it is going to take much more time and effort than I had originally planned. I recently ordered 250 bubble mailers so I need to put those to use and ship out orders!

As I look back at the goals I made on October 28th, I feel like I didn't try hard enough and therefore did not accomplish them. I did not get on the front page again, I did not list 3 new things each month, but my views did increase for November but went way down in December.

I think that the key thing that I need to do is list new things! That is my only goal for wrp for right now. I need to focus on creating and listing new items.

By this time next week I hope to have something new in the shop.

That is all.

free shipping

want free shipping on anything from my shop? go here to find out how!

do you have your christmas cards yet? i have some great options if you don't!

need some tags for your gifts? check these out!

my cards would make great stocking stuffers and I would love for you to stop by! and who doesn't love free shipping? :)

close to 50!

I am currently at 48 sales right now in my shop!

To celebrate getting to 50 I am going to give a free gift with purchase to sales number 49-55.

It may be a set of cards or some handmade envelopes! It will be a surprise!

I would love for you to help me reach 50 sales!

This is a huge accomplishment for me!

Thank you!

http://whitneyraepaper.etsy.com/

etsy takes work and some goals for WRP

When I first opened my etsy shop in July I put everything into it. I was doing my internship at the time but had a lot of free time in the evenings to dedicate to get it going. I was on the front page of etsy the first week I was open! This was huge for me!

School started late August but I still found time to give to my shop. Then midterms came around at the end of September and beginning of October. I pretty much put etsy on the back burner. I still renewed things daily but that was it. My sales and views went down majorly.

I am trying to get my shop ready for Christmas now and I have been putting more work into it the last week or so and all of a sudden my views went up and I started getting more convos and sales! It's crazy what a little bit of effort will do for my etsy shop. Next time I am in the slump I need to remember this and get to work!

Here are some of my goals for WRP in the coming months:

• Sell 8 christmas card and tag sets
• Sell 10 sets of christmas cards
• Sell 8 sets of christmas tags
• Increase my views every month
• Increase my number of sales every month
• List 3 new things a month
• Get on the front page 1 more time before the end of the year

I feel like writing these down will help me remember them. And as I reach them I will feel like I have accomplished something. Some may be a little too high but I will try to get them done!

Also, I created a facebook page for my shop! You should go here and "like" it! Thanks so much!

wrp christmas

Here is a preview of whats to come in my shop for Christmas! I am super excited about this! I am still waiting on a few things to come in so this isn't everything. I plan on getting this listed by November 14th. I am planning on selling a set of everything and then selling them individually as well. Enjoy!

 This is one of the two sets of cards you will get in the card and tag set. They come with kraft envelopes. I am waiting on red envelopes for the other set of cards.

 I really like the way these turned out! You will get 8 of these in the set.

You will get four of these red tags along with white ones that match (waiting on some super cool white paper to finish these)

 These are labels! You will get four of each one in the set!

I would love to know what you think of these! I can't wait to get them listed!

P.S. we are taking our engagement pictures today! I am super excited!! Can't wait to share them with you!

look what i got!

I got it! I am the proud new owner of a zutter bind it all! Friday after work I headed over to hobby lobby and just could not resist. I keep telling myself that it will pay off in the long run, when I start selling the things I bind in my shop.

Here is what I made the first time I used it. I just took random paper I had laying around and glued them back to back and added some hand-made envelopes.

It didn't turn out perfect but I could add pictures and words to it and make it into a mini book!

This is the kind of thing I want to sell in my shop.

What do you think?

currently wanting

For WRP I want to make and sell mixed paper journals. While researching ways to bind these journals I came across the zutter bind it all. This little (and affordable, at least I think so) machine will punch holes and bind books! It uses metal wire for the binding (which is a major plus!).

Putting it on my list of things I want.

That list includes:

Sewing Machine

Kindle

Canon DSLR Camera

and now the Zutter Bind It All

engagement mini book

After a delay in getting my pictures printed (it took about 3 weeks to get them after I ordered them!) I finally finished my engagement mini book! I really like the way it turned out! I just took the words from this post and added pictures. It is pretty wordy but I wanted it to be detailed so I can look back and be reminded of everything. 

 Enjoy!

my paper stash

After taking the big mini workshop I decided that I needed (wanted) some new paper. Elise gave us ideas of what kind of paper to get (big sheets rather than 12x12, double sided is a major plus) and said that we should always keep our eyes open for paper.Here is the paper that I have collected so far. Apparently I like orange and yellow! I didn't realize I was getting so much of a similar color (but all the different oranges will work great in books together). The two yellow and gray rolls at the top are from Smock Paper. The four single sheets are from Luxe Paperie and the two last two rolls are from World Market (did not expect to find paper there but so glad I kept my eyes open and found it!). I also got some 12X12 Hambly Screenprints and I love them! I have already cut some up for a book I plan to share with you soon! I can't wait to start cutting these down for mini books!

mini workshop

I signed up for an online workshop by Elise last week sometime. Elise makes amazing mini books. The workshop is called the BIG mini workshop. Over the next 2 weeks she is going to post things about making mini books on the class blog. Registration is now closed since the class started today. I am really looking forward to learning from her and to making more mini books! I hope to share with you the mini books that I will make. I will hopefully finish my summer one soon and share that too! p.s. I may have settled on wedding colors...I will post an inspiration board this week sometime. Be looking for it! Thanks for stopping by!

Save The Dates

I have added 2 new Save The Date Postcards to my shop! The would be perfect for a modern wedding! They come in 9 colors. You can see them here and here.