Spring is Here

At least officially, Spring is here.
It's windy and chilly today, so I guess it's going to be a good excuse for me to craft all day.
But not exactly. I have had sciatica pain for last two days, so my stretching excersizes must be done twice a day on top of my trampoline routine. Since it hurts more when I sit - I will be doing more chores around the house just because its less painful to move around then sit or stand. And today is Monday and since I follow @Cleanmama on IG - i will be cleaning all the bathrooms :)
I didn't mention earlier but my husband and I both using Fit bits. I like it very much - it's very motivating for me, easy to check how much I'm moving and reaching my goals every day.
And I can't stress enough how important it is to keep moving. I was just thinking that the other day, that we were given two legs for a reason. Not to drive, sit or lay down all the time but to MOVE using those legs. I feel like we don' t use those legs enough and that applies to both children and adults. So with the abundance of food (including empty calories) and ton of passive activities humans are becoming larger, lazier and less healthy. So Keep Moving People. I was told once that not everyone likes to walk like you do. Well,  I don't really know that I love to walk, but I know that I need to use those legs of mine. I even park further down in parking lots, because every step counts!
And as we all know I sit a lot because I love to create. Last week we had fun at card class making Easter basket full of Easter eggs card. The basket is simply weaved with strips of card stock and then colored with a cube of brown ink. Eggs are stamped or cut out of colorful papers. And of course we made the eggs sparkle with glitter using Stickles. I also love that bow - it's an awesome die cut from Cuttlebug - Anna Griffin collection. There is so many uses for that big bow.
Enjoy and Happy Easter

Welcome 2016

2016 and new resolutions, new hopes, new dreams and that's how it should be.
I purchased an embossing folder that says "Do What you Love, Love what you do" and that is so close to my heart. So I will keep on crafting and sharing my creations with others who love it too.

My Etsy store will be 4 years old in February and I crossed 2000 in sales - I couldn't be more happy.
I'm also building the amount of listings in my new online store Thebiggestlittlecardshop.com
As far as my fitness goals I'm happy, I work on it every day and yes between Thanksgiving and New Year I gained 3 pounds but that's nothing. Is already lost 1 just by adding a couple of extra long walks , 5 minutes to my trampoline time and of course I stopped all the deserts. Festive time is over , no more indulgence , but it was fun, I loved it and enjoyed it. You can enjoy food, you just need to know there will be consequence, keep stepping on that scale (it never lies, haha) and make up for what you indulged in, its that simple.did.  I sure enjoyed making Christmas cookies with my daughter and had lots of them. All the sweets we received from Poland were yum yum too. But like I said, the festivities are over and let's get our bodies in more natural circle, back to basics. In my case basically, vegetables, meats and fruits. I think that if you find other pleasures in life then food, you will be ok.

The weather is pretty cold here, as it should - we need moisture and those skiers need their snow pack 😀. But I took my dogs for a long walk in the snow yesterday and all 3 of us enjoyed it. Bella needs to wear a sweater these days, the poor thing has thinning hair in the old age.
Today is the last day of tree recycling so I need to take down all the decorations and drop it off. I wish we could keep it a bit longer.
On the happier note, we are going snow shoeing and our son will be joining us too!

I noticed I use lots of watercolors lately. This is a fun technique, first you place some watercolor on the paper by planing where you will stamp flowers and where leaves. Then you stamp your image in versa mark and emboss in clear. The last step is to apply ink with sponge dabber in black or another dark color over the whole page. The embossed image locked the water color you used and resists the dark ink that you applied so just wipe off with dry tissue the ink that dulled the stamped image.

Keep Calm and Stamp On

It's a challenge

Ok folks,
I see all sort of challenges going on in crafting word and it's wonderful but I wanted to challenge you in something else then creativity. I honestly believe that when you are crafter - in my case a card maker - it's not difficult to create something for a challenge  - please, give me one more reason to sit down at my crafting table - right?
So here comes my challenge and this one is not just for women after 50 😉
I challenge every woman - young and not so young to do 200 bicycle crunches every day. It doesn't matter if you can only do 20 at a time , but the total must be 200. I already started this challenge and sometimes I do 50 at a time, then take a break and then again 50 - that takes me maybe 3 minutes of my time. Then I spend an hour at my crafting table but the in order to craft more I need to "earn" it so I do another 50 and again 50 until I'm done with 200 for the day. You may ask why? The answer is simple. Especially now, when winter comes, days are shorter, I personally don't spend as much time outside but it's still important to move, excersize and keep in shape. And this challenge keeps me more active and reminds me to get up and move. Let's not forget the Thanksgiving might be behind us, but Christmas is coming and with the family gatherings, comes more food, more cookies etc. So, join me Ladies for the daily challenge so that scale won't go up this holiday season.
And enjoy my holiday dove Garland in red and gold available at www.thebiggestlittlecardshop.com

Excersizing after 50

I really wanted to touch the subject of exercising after 50. First of all I strongly believe that no matter what age we are we need lots of movements in our lives to keep us going. But it's crucial when we are getting older. For the last 3 years I have been doing it every day unless I'm on vacation. I developed my own routine of stretches and other exercises to keep my body moving. I honestly don't think that's important that you doing certain poses correctly or fully out. I think that the most important thing is that you are actually moving. So for example when I stretch, my posture might not be perfectly straight but it is not that important - unless you getting ready for Olympics - haha. I think it matters that I do it and at the same time I listen to my body. My daily routine includes sun salutations, plank ( I don't see myself in the mirror so not sure how great is that plank, haha), at least 3 separate sets of 20 crunches, shoulder stand and clam work with my legs. Of course there are other exercises - every now and then I add something new, I skip some, so it goes. (Blanca :)
Now you may ask why talking about it when I am all about crafting? That 's exactly WHY!
I can sit at my crafting table ALL day - but I make myself to get up and move. Otherwise I would be worse then a couch potato. It is hard because I love to make cards and work on them all day long - so here is what I do. I need to earn that time to craft and create. So in the morning after my first cup of coffee - I do my morning stretching/etc routine. Then after that 10 minutes (not too long - its workable - you can do it) I feel like I earned that time at my craft table. And below are a few of my latest creations. If you love them - please visit http://thebiggestlittlecardshop.com   they are listed in my shop for sale!!!

Burgundy and pink - who would think these colors can look good together!?

this one has a see through - embossed acetate window !

elegant Christmas with some bling and below - never enough Thank you cards

How to break your card making addiction

So I am definitely a paper crafting addict, but then again there are much worse addictions then this one, right?

But I'm also an adult, a mom, a wife and a house keeper SO, I have to from time to time use reasoning with myself and leave the seat at my desk and actually do other things. Today it wasn't even that hard to leave my seat, it actually was easy because I can't sit much. And if you must know, it's because my butt hurts 😜. So here is what happened. Yesterday I spent a day in beautiful South Lake Tahoe and I drove by Stables in Zephyr Cove. Yes, it has been 20+ years since I was on the top of the horse but heck , I figured it's like bike riding, right? Well it was and it wasn't. Big John was a BIG horse but as gentle as a lamb, haha. So there was no trouble there at all. The horse in front of us was a bit too slow and the guy didn't use his heals to make him go faster so Big John had his head almost touching  the rear of the horse in front of us. Every now and then that horse in front of us would swing his big head side ways and give Big John that look "get out of my ass bud, or else " look but there was no confrontation.  The views were breath taking, the forrest, the lake, even the dust I was breathing had its charm. So yes that's why I can't sit today and make cards :) next time I will need to bring a memory foam pillow , haha

It's good to break your routine sometimes. I am blessed that I can spend so much time on crafting. But sometimes it does get out of control and all other things don't get done. So today my addiction was broken, but tomorrow? Who knows what I will be doing tomorrow?

And here I am sitting high - majestic views all around me. Till next time, Wiesia 

On line promotion

It's Sunday and I decided to promote my online store today. I'm not all that familiar how to do it.
I decided to start with pricing. I made 2 Holiday/Christmas cards and priced them for sale - only $2 each! I posted the picture on my Instagram and I am waiting 😊
I wonder if price is going to be enough to bring customers, but I need to start somehow.
I'm already thinking about another promotion - offering a discount of the total order. But first I need to increase my inventory.
If you have online store - little one, like mine - please share your beginnings and struggle?
We all learn from each other.
In the meantime please visit my store: TheBiggestLittleCardShop.com and let me know what you think.

Welcome To The Biggest Little Card Shop!

Drum roll please...........!!!!

Hello and welcome to - "The Biggest Little Card Shop!" 

On this blog I will post a "behind the scenes" view of some of the items I make and the new mediums I try. Crafting is my passion and I love sharing it with people. So follow my blog and journey through crafting and check out my card shop. Let's keep snail mail alive!  Thebiggestlittlecardshop.com 

          About Me:

          

              My name is Wiesia Fascio and I create one of a kind cards and scarves! It has been my dream to share my love of crafting and card making, with the world since I started this passion 18 years ago. 

            We live in a world where we can send a text message within seconds to wish someone a Happy Birthday, or Skype someone halfway across the world to say Congratulations. However, nothing can replace the thoughtfulness and love that is included in sending a card! The entire process of picking the perfect card, handwriting a personal note just for their eyes and dropping it in a mail box is a cherished occasion. When someone receives a card in the mail with his or her name on it, they feel loved and appreciated in a way that a text message or phone call cannot make them feel.

            So it is a perfect combination! People want to send special one of a kind cards to their loved ones, and I love making these hand crafted cards!