I’ve been reading a lot over on the Zen Habits website/blog http://zenhabits.net/ and while I certainly don’t agree with everything they say (I’m just NOT gonna become a vegan or do without chocolate in my life), one thing that stuck out, and has since hit me from other sites, stores, etc., is the use of a personal affirmation. Something similar to a pledge that you say to yourself however often enough you need to until it becomes part of your subconcious. Well, Matt inspired my personal affirmation for 2009:

This will be my year.

I like this affirmation, because it doesn’t set out a goal to reach, or any specifics, but just establishes the tone for the year. I’m going to keep telling myself this until I’m blue in the face or it starts sticking to everything I do… whichever comes first.

I hope this will be your year too!

Well, with the end of designing comes the end of needing piles and piles of ephemera stacked up everywhere! I’m keeping a bit for collage work, but I’m also getting rid of a bunch. Take a look at my Etsy store and see if you could use a bit of my Destash.

Also check out my collage (back up for sale after the move! )

Have a great Tuesday!
TM

Found this on my daily jont over to History Hoydens (http://historyhoydens.blogspot.com/)

All Hail Queen (of Hearts) Esther Howland

Esther who?

With florists and jewelers doing a land-office business around February 14, sooner or later, someone was bound to see the commercial potential in romantic greeting cards. And who has the time to make each missive with their loving hands?

The visionary was Esther Howland (1828-1904), a Worcester Massachusetts native and Mount Holyoke graduate who never married. But of course Jane Austen never wed either, and one could never accuse her of not knowing a thing or two about romance.

A classmate of Emily Dickinson’s, Howland graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1847 at the age of 19. When she received an ornate English Valentine from a business associate of her father’s, her heart skipped a beat—because she saw dollar signs.

Her family owned Worcester’s largest stationery and book store, so she already had connections. Esther created a dozen prototypes of her Valentines and gave them to her brother to include in his sample book. When he returned from his business trip with more than $5,000 in orders, Esther realized she wasn’t going to be able to process all those orders alone. So she started up her own greeting card business, importing machine-embossed paper lace (think doilies) and floral decorations from England, and employing her female friends to manufacture Valentines using the process and techniques of an assembly line (take that, Henry Ford!)

On February 5, 1850 she took out her first advertisement in a Worcester paper, The Daily Spy.

Soon, things were booming; in 1879, Howland’s company was named the New England Valentine Company (her valentines usually have a NEV CO on a red sticker on the back); and the little cottage industry moved from Esther’s family home to a building of its own. She published a thirty-one-page book of verses and allowed her clients to chose their own poem for their valentines.

Esther Howland became known as the “Mother of the American Valentine” and her company brought in annual revenues of $100,000. The decades between 1840 and 1860 were the golden age for sentimental Valentines. Even after they caught on in America, the perforated lace paper used for making them was still manufactured only in England, so Esther continued to import the lace-edged “blanks” for her company’s cards. But she introduced several innovations of her own to the Valentine-making industry: she is credited with the idea of placing a thin sheet of colored paper under the white paper lace, to produce a contrast, as well as with the concept of a three-dimensional “shadow box” card.

A recurrent knee knjury forced Esther to work from a wheelchair since 1866. And in 1881, Howland sold the business to the George C. Whitney Company so she could care for her ailing father.

No matter if you love or hate this holiday, you’ve gotta be impressed by the business chops and creativity of this lady!
Have a great day,
TM

It’s a new year, and one of my goals is to truely LIVE each day… not worry so much about tomorrow, but enjoy today for what it is… or at least make it through! Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way…

1. Handmade gifts: great in theory, fabulous upon completion… a PITA along the way!
2. If instructions say “quick and easy” – it’s most likely difficult and long.
3. Your child’s emotional pain is worse to a mother than any physical pain on earth.
4. Love is a choice, and not based on anything external.
5. Sometimes you don’t know you’re stressed by something until you let it go.
6. There’s beauty in everyday things – birds flying, squirrels jumping, wind blowing. You just have to notice it.
7. If you let go of seeking perfection in your art, you’ll find you’re happy with what comes out in the end. And sometimes it’ll be perfect!
8. Holding your tongue is the best policy (HARD one for me).
9. Don’t pick at zits! *yes, they tell you this as a teen but you never really listen as a teen… to anything!
10. Sing every day, even if you think you can’t.

Just a few things I’ve learned along the way. Have a great day!

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I am retiring from digital designing. I’ve loved every minute, but at this moment it’s best for my family if I retire. Hopefully it won’t be forever, but I wanted to let everyone know that all my items will be taken out of PlainDigitalWrapper.com as of Feb. 15th.

All products (including CU and the Extraction Service) have been marked down to $2, now through the 15th. Stock up on my retiring products HERE.

Thank you for all your support over the years, and hopefully this isn’t goodbye, but hello to a chance to expand creatively and connect with all of you more fully.

Much love, Tammy Moore

So I got to play with a digital camera for a couple days and thus got to play around in PS a lot. What a great break from the stress of the holidays! Hope you like them.

Just in time for the holidays I’ve created a digital collage item for CafePress! Check it out here: http://www.cafepress.com/KissMeChristmas

Bear with me folks… it’s been a long week of 10 hour work days (and 6 hours Sat. and 1 hour Sun.), plus a major FUNK, but here’s today’s rant.

When did common decency go out the window?

When did crushing somebody’s feelings become “business as usual”?

When did morality become a dirty word?

When did education end at the school bell?

When did friendship become too difficult?

When did work-life-balance disappear?

When did entertainment begin requiring 4-letter words?

When did tradition become tedious?

When did compliments become cliche?

When did protecting your children become wrong?

When did caring about strangers become weird?

When did faith become conditional?

 

Like I said, it’s a rant, but it’s what’s on my mind today.

TM

I hope you all had a fabulous end to October! Mine can be summed up with a few words: Marilyn, Queen, and Bobbing for Apples. Check out the pics below:

Dressed up for Jennifer’s party…

You have NO idea how much spandex it took to get in that dress! LOL

At the Fall Festival at church… my Rennessance Queen!

Trying not to smile, because “Queens NEVER smile Mom!”

And at Eileen’s house with Tina and her boys

Tina, Me, and Eileen

SUCCESS!!

Please help me welcome my new CREATIVE TEAM!! These ladies are FABULOUS digital scrapbookers, and wonderful people too! You’ll see lots of their amazing work in future posts, but please welcome…

Sharon, Diana, Cindy, and Betsie!! I’m so thankful to have these girls on my crew!

Have a great week!! ~TM~

Did you see the PDW newsletter this weekend?? What, you didn’t? You ARE signed up for the newsletter, aren’t you?! You’re not?! Well open up another window and sign up!! It’s www.plaindigitalwrapper.com… but don’t close this screen!!! W..A…I…T….

 You’re still here! Whew! Well, for those who didn’t see the newsletter, I was the Featured Designer of the week, and gave out some FREE GOODNESS!! Check it out below:

Meet Plain Digital Wrapper Designer
Tammy Moore

1. Tell us a little about yourself:
My name is Tammy Moore, and I am wife to Matt and mom to

Andrea (almost 9).

I am the Mail Order Manager for Lammes Candies, and have been

 designing on the side for almost 3 years.

2. Where do you live?
Austin, Texas, although I grew up in Bryan/College Station

(go Texas Aggies!! WHOOP!).

3. Do you scrap? Paper? Hybrid?
I’ll admit, I’m a paper gal. I love hyprid projects though,

and try to digitally scrap whenever the mood strikes.

4. What’s your favorite thing to design?
Elements – I love the instant gratification! LOL

5. What’s your favorite thing you have designed?
My favorite item is my “Pin-Ups” just for their fun-ness

(is that a word?! LOL) I also love that these girls have a little

padding on them, and are so confident in their bodies and attitudes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. If you had an entire day to do whatever you wanted,

what would you do?
Well, half the day would be gone by sleeping… I

 mean it, I love to sleep in! Then I’d get up, wear jeans, a tank top and flip flops,

and spend most of the day at a coffee shop reading and drinking lattes.

Then Matt and I would go out for dinner, pick up Andrea,

go get dessert together, and fall asleep exhausted.

7. What’s the last movie you recommended?
Hairspray (it’s a Top 5 favorite)

8. What’s the last book you read?
The Ruby Ring (I love historical romances and mysteries)

9. What’s one thing no one would ever guess about you?
Christian Bale was my first celebrity crush… back in 1992!

He was in “Newsies”, a Disney musical (still my favorite movie ever),

and I fell in love.

10. What’s the most (pick one) exciting,

adventurous, crazy, interesting, unique thing

you have ever done?
I have danced (the bunny-hop!) on

Radio City Music Hall’s stage!

FREE GIFT FROM Tammy Moore
Swing by Plain Digital Wrapper between now and

Sunday, November 2

to pick up this fantastic element pack by Tammy as our

complimentary gift to you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great week! New Releases are tomorrow! ~TM~