Presenting: Beaded Tail!

Sharla, of Beaded Tail, has always been one of my favorite Etsy Bloggers, and this month she is the Blogger of the Month! Much of her life is dedicated to animals and the proceeds from her shop go to animal causes. You can see some of her cat earrings to the right and can find many more cat and dog themed items at http://beadedtail.etsy.com

Her blog is just as much fun as she features her own pets giving their point of view of the world around them. All pet lovers should check it out at http://beadedtail.blogspot.com Our Katydid and Kirby read it regularly!

Goals in small (and large) steps

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade". How often have we heard this adage? Well, I'd like to make a slight change to: "When life gives you dirty dishes, use this lemon-aid"! It's all part of one of my small goals, to sell many more of these dish scrubbies on Etsy. Of course my long term goal is to be the Scrubbie Queen of Etsy, but I learned long ago that most goals are accomplished in small steps, so I thought I'd share that with you as part of an Etsy Bloggers Challenge.

These scrubbies, in various forms, have been part of my family's helpers for years, and recently I designed these in a lemon shape. Many folks I know are kind enough to say these are the best dish scrubbies ever. Not only great in the dishpan, they can be used to clean many surfaces, because not only are they tough, they will not scratch glass surfaces. So go ahead and use them on glass stove tops, bathroom surfaces, or even your windows. A friend of mine love these for Pampered Chef pans and another even uses them to clean her parrot cage! My husband finds them most useful for cleaning the windshield and hood of the car and has recently taken to cleaning golf clubs with them.

They clean up over a peg in the dishwasher or a bag in the washer and air dry in a snap, leaving no odors.

You'll find them in my Etsy shop along with many other styles, including my original apple scrubbies. Certainly some of life's little problems are curable with these "lemon" aids!

Presenting: HandmadeBySandi

In honor of Memorial Day, I decided to choose these two patriotic items from our Etsy Blogger of the Month: HandmadeBySandi. She has quite an interesting variety of items in her shop at http://HandmadeBySandi.etsy.com Her items range from jewelry to adorable baby washcloths to many delightful crocheted items which, as a fellow crocheter, I can tell you are artfully done. Congratulations, Sandi, for being the Etsy blogger of the month, and for having a birthday this month as well! I have only one important question for her: Is that candy included with the bowl????

New Perennial Garden

My wonderful daughters provided the first perennials for our new backyard garden as a gift for Mother's Day: seven gorgeous columbines, three of which you see here. The garden idea was the result of our adding an addition to the house last winter. Our contractor backfilled around the addition and built us a small raised area shown below.
Today we selected and purchased the rest of the plants and tomorrow is planting day. Because it is a sunny area, we tried to choose flowers with color who love the sun, including black eyed susans, shasta daisies, salvia, blanket flower, and pinks. Check back tomorrow and throughout our summer growing season for for the completed project!

M.........other's Day Camping

For quite a while now, Mother's Day Weekend has always meant camping with my older daughter and son-in-law. Their tent camper is roomy and comfortable. This year will be extra special because my younger daughter and sil will be visiting from Boston, and will join us. It should be extra interesting with our latest weather forecast. I took this picture of the camper last weekend which was gorgeous and warm. This weekend we're slated for rain and cold with possible snow! Good thing it has a heater. Can you say "games" instead of "hiking" and "chili" instead of "hamburgers?" No matter what, we'll have a glorious time!!!

T.........he Gift

On Saturday morning a slim volume arrived in the mail, a gift from a former student. I had known that something was in the works, but the result was one of the most precious gifts I have ever received. It is a copy of the doctoral thesis in philosophy written by a very fine young man that I had the privilege to teach more than 15 years ago. As you can see, the dedication claims that it is partly my fault! However, I'm accepting none of the praise or blame because even the title is daunting: Spacetime Gaps and the Persistence of Objects Through Time. It will take much thought and study on my part to even begin to understand it! He was even so gracious as to mention me in his thank you section. I've always felt that teachers want their students to surpass them and he has truly proved this theory. Thank you, Tom.

You may also be interested in checking out the charitable organization that he helped found and for whom he works: www.gamersforhumanity.org a most useful and valuable group that fills a unique niche in the world of charity.

P.........resenting MagdaleneJewel and Knits!

This month's Etsy Blogger has inspired me more than she knows. Her delicate work is not only evident in her jewelry such as the gorgeous necklace that features a polymer clay flower and crystals shown below, but in her knitting. As a fellow knitter, I can tell that her workmanship is excellent. The baby mocs shown to the right are just one of the sweet items in her new shop http://www.magdaleneknits.etsy.com . And that's where she has been an extra inspiration to me. In a couple of weeks, I'll be opening a new shop as well to separate my baby items from the other crafts. Stay tuned for the update! Meanwhile, please check out her shops, both knit and jewelry. The second is at http://www.magdalenejewels.etsy.com . You'll be glad you did!