Wednesday, January 28, 2009

T.........runk Show!!!

Friday evening, January 30, at 8:00pm CST, I'll be joining these 12 fine artists and more from the Etsy Bloggers Team in a virtual trunk show! It will be held in the Etsy labs and all are welcome to shop for great deals and wonderful products. I've made what we call a treasury of some of the items that will be featured. To see them larger, just click on

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=36094 If you would like to shop at the trunk show and are not familiar with Etsy, just contact me at the email address in my profile! It should be a great time! I haven't chosen my items to sell yet, and if anyone has suggestions, just post them here! I do know that I'll be offering two free scrubbies with any purchase on Friday night as long as buyers type "trunk show" in "Notes to the Seller"!

Monday, January 26, 2009

W.........inter parking, anyone?

Even though our village makes a superb snow plowing effort, this year after removing truckloads of snow, they had to resort to temporary No Parking rules so that emergency vehicles could get through. This is the first time in the 12 years that we've lived here that this has occurred! The only reason you see the car behind me is that the owner is a volunteer fireman, and needs to get out quickly! When my husband snapped this photo it was also 20 below zero. Such fun!!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

S.........weet Saturday!




This morning I woke up to a very sweet surprise. The winner of my blog contest, niftyknits, posted about her winning on her blog! You can check it out here: http://niftyknits-somuchyarnsolittletime.blogspot.com/
Nifty lives in the UK and knits the most adorable critters, such as the meerkat and the lovely flower brooch pictured above. The neat thing about her is that she designs her own patterns! I do a little of that, and believe me, it takes a great deal of time, and in my case, a great deal of error!
You can get to her shop through her blog above or at http://niftyknits.etsy.com/ Why not visit her and see her other darlings!
I know what she means by "so much yarn, so little time" and I could add "so many pine needles, so much paper" as well! It's so much fun to wake up in the morning and have a myriad of projects that you can do. We recommend crafting and buying "handmade"!

Friday, January 23, 2009

B.........ooties with socks

When searching for a way to make booties to
accompany my latest Christening dress, I
wanted to be sure that it would not be so easy for the baby to kick them off. I remembered seeing booties done around baby socks a long time ago and adapted a tiny pair of socks by attaching a bottom, sides, and an instep to the bottom cuff with a fine elastic thread. The actual crocheted portion of the booties is done in the same crochet cotton as the dress and the lace roses attached to the instep match the rose on the bodice of the dress. Both are my own designs and are available in my Etsy shop. Although the booties were designed to go with the dress, they would be darling for any special
occasion!















Tuesday, January 20, 2009

S.........isters of Surprise



Last Saturday I had the great privilege of joining a fantastic group of women for their annual retreat in a lovely facility in the beautiful rolling hills of the southern Wisconsin countryside.

Organized by Associate Pastor Ann Utke of The Greendale Community UCC Church, it featured a study of "Bad Girls of the Bible" and provided a many thoughtful insights in a most welcoming atmosphere. The spirit, energy, and humor of these wonderful ladies was contagious and I am most grateful to have experienced their sheer delight in life.

The day featured group presentations of three of the Biblical women and included a skit acting out the forgiven woman of the New Testament, an obituary of Jezebel, and an appearance of Delilah on Oprah! Guess I forgot to mention that this was an imaginative group!

We were also able to walk a "prayer/meditation labyrinth" (you can see some of the participants spreading it out) and decorate small boxes to illustrate our inner and outer selves.

















Thank you ladies, for this fantastic experience, and a very special thank you to our driver, who skillfully managed some very slippery and snowy Wisconsin roads and got us safely to and from our destination!






Monday, January 19, 2009

D.........rum roll please!!!

The winner is:

niftyknits

I had my husband choose a number at random, and she is the one! If she contacts me within 24 hours, either by convo (this lady is an etsy seller from England), or by commenting here, her items will be on their way quickly!

Now here's the other great part! If anyone else WHO ALREADY ENTERED this contest replies to me, you will receive a free scrubbie. Please use my email, listed in my complete profile and then give me your snail mail address.

Thanks to all who entered and for your kind comments and great suggestions. I've already implemented a few of them!

Friday, January 16, 2009

B.........log give away!

It's my first year etsyversary, and you could get the presents! From 1:00 pm Friday, January 16, until 1:00 pm Monday, January 19 CST, I'm offering one of my crocheted mini-tote bags and six dish scrubbies along with free shipping anywhere to one of you who follows these rules:

1) Click on my etsy mini to your right to enter my Etsy
Shop.

2) Come back here to leave a comment about any
item...I'm going to be brave and accept positive and
negative comments. Your name will then be put in
the drawing.

3) If you wish to be entered into the drawing twice, also
give me a suggestion for my shop or tell me what you
would like to see in my shop (within reason!)

On Monday at 1:00 pm CST, I will do a random drawing and the winner will be notified ON THIS BLOG with instructions about how to proceed. If no winner comes forward by Tuesday at 1:00 pm, I'll draw a different name until I have a winner! Good luck!

Also, in honor of the etsyversary, I'm offering a VERY special deal: 50% off any ONE item in my Etsy shop on Saturday, January 17, and February, January 18 only. Just put the promo code "Etsyversary" in notes to the seller and I will credit your paypal account. You must pay shipping, however. Thank you, and please note that the 50% off deal ends at midnight on Sunday night.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

B.........askets and Babies

Every once in a while, something comes out of my hands that I personally, really like. Since being on Etsy, I've been encouraged to try a wide variety of projects, and since I'm continuing to celebrate my Etsyversary this week, I though I'd show some of my personal favs. The first picture shows Camille, one of my amigurumi bunnies that I adapted from a Lion Brand Yarn pattern, overlooking perhaps the pine needle basket of which I am most pleased. This round basket features a lid coiled around wire hexagons with a swirling teneriffe pattern. The sheath ends of a few needles form the handle.
Also, I've designed, made and sold several hand crocheted Christening dresses. It's always an honor for me to have a baby baptized in one of my dresses and I am in the process of completing another complete with hat and booties and hope to list it this weekend.
I wish to sincerely thank my readers, customers and fellow artists and crafters on Etsy for their great support. I've put a few of them in my latest treasury: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=33563 , but there are so many more to thank! Please stay tuned tomorrow for my special blog give away and a special offer from my shop in honor of this first Etsyversary!



Wednesday, January 14, 2009

B.........iggest sellers

In preparation for my "etsyversary" on January 17, I thought I'd do a two-part series on what I consider my greatest successes over the past year. By far and away, the apple and pear dish scrubbies have been the most popular. These are original designs and were such fun to create and market. I attribute their popularity to their price, practical use, and originality. They are available in pairs and also by the half dozen which saves even more. Folks have told me that they like to tie these on a package as a little extra, and I even had another etsy seller, zamzamdesigns, feature these on her blog! I plan to do a blog giveaway this weekend and these might be the prize!





Friday, January 9, 2009

N.........ew Year's shop goals

Setting goals is important any time of year, but January seems a better time than most. Prompted by the Etsy Bloggers, I set out to form this year's goals of my Etsy shop. Over many years, I've learned to keep goals reasonable and considering the economy I've decided to feature smaller, practical items. There will still be some new baskets and Christening Gowns, but for now I'm concentrating on scrubbies and scrubbie dishcloths. The latter are washer and dryer friendly, and the small scrubbies can be washed in the dishwasher. Just because they're practical, it doesn't mean they can't be attractive, and they're offered in sets of two or six to keep costs down. As you can also see, our beautiful Katydid has decided to "help" me attain my goal, and posed on my make shift light box. She and her brother, Kirby, are often seen in "helpful" mode, lying on the bed as I'm trying to make it, jumping in the dryer when it's warm, and sitting on my lap as I try to craft. How could anyone attain goals without them?




Thursday, January 8, 2009

P.........resenting: RoseWorksJewelry


The fabulous etsyblogger for January is Ruthie of http://roseworksjewelry.etsy.com One of her beautiful pieces is shown on the right. She has a variety of jewelry in her shop, ranging from hemp to fine crystals. She even made all the jewelry for her own wedding! I particularly enjoy this graceful pendant highlighting a necklace. Please take a moment to visit her shop on Etsy or her great blog at http://roseworksjewelry.blogspot.com to see more of her lovely work and be tempted as much as I am!