Cecilia Huster 11/20/24 Cecilia Huster 11/20/24

Sizzix Holiday Giveaway

I made these cards for a giveaway on Instagram.

Giveaway Products

Sizzix Tim Holtz Merry & Bright
Sizzix Tim Holtz Dash Away All Diecember 2021
Sizzix Olivia Rose Mistletoe Leaves
Sizzix 3D Embossing Folder Leaf Pattern

Cecilia Huster 11/19/24 Cecilia Huster 11/19/24

Reindeer Shaker Card

I’m still charmed by Simon Hurley’s Woodland Wildlife Stamp and Die Set. So for an Instagram challenge with a snow globe theme, I watercolored the reindeer from it. I also submitted it to Simon Says Stamp’s Monday Challenge.

Cecilia Huster 11/10/24 Cecilia Huster 11/10/24

Christmas Boutique

When I got this die set I felt kind of meh about it. But now that I’ve created a card with it, I think it’s super cute! It was fun to put together, too.

Cecilia Huster 11/1/24 Cecilia Huster 11/1/24

Giveaway Statistics

I created a simple spreadsheet of my giveaway posts. The purpose of my giveaways is twofold - to clear out products I don’t use and to increase my Instagram follower count. On the question of if giveaways increase follower counts, I can definitely say yet. My follower count increased on average by 3.78 with each giveaway. The best one increased the count by 15. Given that I currently have 697 followers, that’s significant.

Cecilia Huster 10/30/24 Cecilia Huster 10/30/24

Sepia Cauldron

I started by creating the shaker. For this I used the two cauldron dies in the Kat Scrappiness Witches Brew Die Set. The background I cut from the lightest color in Kat Scrappiness Coffee Faux Glitter 6x6 Paper Pad and the foreground from the darkest color. I also used the background die to cut my acetate and the foreground die to cut two layers of Kraft cardstock. I sandwiched the acetate between the two Kraft layers and then added the dark cauldron frame die cut to the front. Then I placed a double layer of foam tape on the back.

Cecilia Huster 10/21/24 Cecilia Huster 10/21/24

No Tricks

I started by stamping the two witches from Trinity Stamps Hocus Pocus Gnomes Stamp Set and coloring them with my Ohuhu Alcohol Markers. See the tables below for the markers I used. In addition to alcohol markers I used white and silver gel pens.

Then I cut out my witches with the coordinating dies.

Cecilia Huster 10/13/24 Cecilia Huster 10/13/24

For the Love of Paisley

Paisley is my hands-down favorite abstract pattern! So of course I needed the Glimmer Kit of the Month for June ‘22. It’s called Paisley Glimmer and it’s on sale for less than $10 right now.

Cecilia Huster 10/4/24 Cecilia Huster 10/4/24

Birthday Quokka

This is a pretty straightforward watercolored critter card. For my palette I was inspired by Palette 176 in the Color Cube volume 1.

Cecilia Huster 9/21/24 Cecilia Huster 9/21/24

Reindeer Games

At that point the only dark green color on the card was the present that the bottom reindeer is holding. So I added smaller elements with some dark green to other parts of the card to spread it around a bit more.

Cecilia Huster 9/2/24 Cecilia Huster 9/2/24

A Stitch in Time

I’m not normally one for vertical writing, but I love the stitched texture of this die. It’s also great for stitching on the go. So I have a small collection of already-stitched die cuts in a drawer. The monthly Procraftinator Instagram Hop was an opportunity to turn them into cards.

Cecilia Huster 7/28/24 Cecilia Huster 7/28/24

Get Your Skates On

The skates are really easy to put together, with no fiddly bits. There’s a base layer, that shows up as the tongue of the boot and part of the heel. On top of that comes the pretty top layer, and the sole of the boot. The blade has tabs that you glue to the back of the base.

Cecilia Huster 7/22/24 Cecilia Huster 7/22/24

Kat Scrappiness Influencer Team

About a month ago I applied to join the Kat Scrappiness Influencer Team. I’m super happy to report that I was accepted! I’ve even submitted my first order with my influencer discount. I’m looking forward to receiving it and getting stuck in!

Blog posts for Influencer Team projects will be clearly labeled as such. In those, only Kat Scrappiness products will be named and linked. Normally I link all products, including those that I don’t have affiliate links for.

Cecilia Huster 6/3/24 Cecilia Huster 6/3/24

Pinkfresh Giveaway

This giveaway celebrates that I’ve reached 500 followers on Instagram. Super happy about that!

Cecilia Huster 5/17/24 Cecilia Huster 5/17/24

Post-Tax Season Business Update

This was my first tax season as a small business owner. Unfortunately I came to the conclusion that I need to get a paying job. So I’ve spent a lot of time updating my resume and portfolio site. My timing isn’t great, so it may be a while before I find something. The San Jose Mercury seems to have articles about more Silicon Valley layoffs a couple of times per week.

Cecilia Huster 2/25/24 Cecilia Huster 2/25/24

Frosty florals

The main feature of this card is created with the Honey Bee Lovely Layers Amaryllis Die Set. It creates a lush amaryllis plant with a choice of two planters.

Cecilia Huster 1/27/24 Cecilia Huster 1/27/24

Single-layer gnome card

The adorable little gnome with her poinsettia is from Trinity Stamps’ From Our Gnome To Yours stamp and die set. Because it had to be a single-layer card, it took a couple of tries to get right.

Cecilia Huster 1/16/24 Cecilia Huster 1/16/24

Sales tax time

I made a little more than $1,000 from selling my cards last year. That’s actually more than I thought. It’s still not enough to pay even one monthly mortgage. 😭