Saturday, February 27, 2010

Giveaway: TWO Pair of Earrings

This week giveaway is sponsored byHolly of fivelittlegems. We will have 2 winners this time, each will get a pair of gorgeous earrings. That's right, you read it correctly: TWO WINNERS.

First winner will get this pair of earrings:


And the second winner will get this pair of earrings:


I'm lucky enough that Holly gave me a pair of beautiful earrings as well so I don't get jealous with any of you :-) Thanks Holly!

I really encourage you to read her profile featured yesterday where you could always learn a thing or two from her. Thank you to those who left comments, always appreciated!

There are Seven ways to win the giveaway with a total of 18 chances to win.
Please make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry. How to enter to win:

Mandatory entry:

Extra entries (only qualify once mandatory entry is fulfilled):
  • Heart her shop and earn an entry. Simply let me know your Etsy username.
  • Follow my blog and you earn another entry. If you're already a follower, you still get an entry, just says you're following already.
  • Become my Facebook Fan and you earn another entry. If you're a fan already, you'll also get an entry. Let me know your FB username please.
  • Tweet about this giveaway. Provide me with your tweet please. Each tweet worths one entry and you can tweet each day until the end of the contest (a maximum of one tweet per day is counted). That's a total of 7 entries!
  • Blog about this giveaway to earn 2 entries. Leave two separate comments here please providing me with the link to your post.
  • Purchase an item from fivelittlegems shop and earn 5 entries. Don't forget letting me know by leaving comments :-)
Contest starts now and ends on March 6th, 2010. Contest opens worldwide.
Max 18 entries per person please (based on the rules above). Don't forget to leave me your e-mail address. Entries without contact information will be disqualified. Entries that do not follow the rules will be disqualified. Contest winner will be drawn on Sunday, March 7th by a random number generator. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.

Saturday Artisan: fivelittlegems


Meet this week Saturday Artisan: Holly of fivelittlegems. I applaud her talent and multitasking skills. She makes beautiful jewelries with so many details involved, I may add. She is also one super busy domestic goddess. Being a mom of a 2 years old myself is hard enough already doing all the chores that I need to do, let alone doing those while having 5 kids. Phew! Learn some tricks from Holly on how you can get your kids involved in your chores while they have fun at the same time.

Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/crafts that you make?
I'm a stay at home mom, married to a wonderful guy, and have 5 kids from 15 years down to 1 year old. I do many other crafts, but my favorites that stay in my "rotation" are jewelry, stained glass, crocheting and scrapbooking. Currently, my scrapbook supplies collection has taken over my entire kitchen and with 5 kids, I'll soon need to add a wing to my house to store all the scrapbooks!

What is your favourite item in your shop?
My favorite item in my shop is my stick pearl double strand necklace. The picture just doesn't do it justice. It looks AMAZING on!


What is your best seller?
My most popular are my twisted wire lucite flower necklaces and bracelets. Like this one:


How does your day go in general?
It's crazy! I wake up at 6am and get 3 of my 5 off to school then feed the 2 little guys and start on the housework. I alternate chores/playtime, and whenever I can I try to make a game out of the chores. The boys get a kick out of tossing the wet laundry into the dryer for me. They also like to splash around in the bubbles when I'm doing dishes. My 1 year old takes a nap at 11:00am, so that's when I let my 3 year old watch a movie and I check my Etsy shop and get any shipments ready to go out. Afternoons are pretty much more of the same, feeding/cleaning/playing until we have to leave to pick up my 6 year old from school. At this point you're wondering when I work on my jewelry, huh? The kids go to bed at 8:00pm and that's when I sit down to work. I usually stay up until 2:00-2:30am making new things and listing them in my shop. Not much sleep in my life right now, but I'm looking forward and preparing for when they're all off to school. I can't wait!

Do you have a favourite Etsy seller?
I have lots and lots of favorite Etsy sellers. There are way too many to mention. There is so much incredible talent to be seen and I am constantly in awe of the creativeness of some of my peers. But one of my favorite shops of all time is TheHouseOfMouse. Her little mice are the most adorable things I've ever come across! I would buy all of her little mice if I could afford them.

What inspires you?
Nature, flowers, color, the feel of the beads in my hand. Sometimes even putting on clothing will make me see in the mirror something that would look really awesome with whatever I'm wearing and I have to run to sketch it out so I won't forget.

What is your goal for 2010?
I hope to increase my local sales by taking some of my pieces to boutiques and signing up for some craft fairs. These are 2 venues with which I don't have much experience.


What is your favourite tool that you cannot live without?
Teeny tiny wire cutters. Making jewelry takes a lot of precision work, and sometimes it's tough to get a regular wire cutter in some of the tight spots.

How do you promote your shop?
Right now I don't have a lot of spare time. I have a facebook fanpage and I've bought a few ad spots off Etsy. I get some exposure because I make many many Etsy treasuries, which in turn causes people to put me in their treasuries. One of these treasuries made it to the front page. I also spend way too much time being silly in the Etsy forums. But I've gotten quite a few sales that way, so it's not a total waste of time.


Any advice for a newbie running his or her on-line shop?
It takes more time than you could ever imagine. It really is hard work. And I always tell people to read read read and read some more before just jumping in and opening up a shop. The storque and the forums have tons of great information that are invaluable. My final piece of advice is to work on your photography skills BEFORE you take pictures of everything you have to list. When you're selling online, your pictures are THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL YOU HAVE to achieve success. I've taken my pictures over 3 times, and am in the process of doing them once again. This is a lot of work. I wish I had gotten them right in the beginning. It's a learning process for me still, but I think I've gotten much better than when I started. And I always offer personal help with photos when other Etsians ask.


During this recession time, tell us one thing that you do to save money?
One of the things that people do to help with sales is renew listings on a constant basis in order to stay at the top of searches. I was spending about $30-$40/month on renewing last year. As of January 2010, I have vowed never to renew anything in my shop, only list NEW items. And you know what? I haven't renewed or listed a single new item this year and have had more sales this January than any month in 2009! We've also stopped going out to eat as a family, which we used to do once a week. Come summer, we'll be planting a vegetable garden in our backyard, so that will help as well.


Anything else you would like to share?
Having a business of any kind takes a lot of drive and perseverence. It normally doesn't happen overnight, but if you're determined to make it happen, you can! I'm not at the success level I'd like to be yet, but that's largely due to the fact that I don't promote myself like crazy. Most of my buyers just wander in and happen to find me. Which to me means I have something people like, and that's half the battle. If you're thinking of opening a shop, be patient, be persistent, and follow the rules. You may even make some great Etsy friends along the way! This was an unexpected bonus for me, but there are some really wonderful, generous, caring people that hang out on Etsy. My wish is that some day I'll get the chance to meet them in real life.

Any tutorial that you'd like to share?
Most of my craft has been self-taught and perfected by trial and error. I've really never looked into the millions of tutorials that are available. I know that one of the most popular is "how to make a light box" on Etsy's blog, "The Storque", but I already had a professional lightbox so never tried it. But my lightbox is invaluable. If I didn't have one and couldn't purchase one, I'd be making one for myself!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's giveaways sponsored by Holly!

Friday, February 26, 2010

New Design: Chic Birdie Tags


Introducing the new design that I whipped up last week: delicious sweet bird tags.

Made of layers of cardstocks that are not just regular cardstocks. They are high quality bazzill cardstocks. The pink matches perfectly with the ribbon and the bird image. The bling teal just cries out for attention "look how beautiful I am". Furthermore, they are textured cardstock which add dimension to the tag. The glittered and embossed polkadot patterned cardstock just make it perfect.


The cute image bird is from my dear talented friend of mine: VinkDesign.etsy.com


Feel free to snatch a set at my shop. I have 6 sets ready-made for now. So really, they're one-of-a-kind! :-)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Featured on Gilliauna


I'm honored to be featured at Gilliauna's blog today. She wrote a very nice article about my Adore By Nat shop. You can read it here. Her review really makes my day, encouraging me to keep doing what I love doing and share my works so others can enjoy them too.

Stop by her blog, browse for more posts where she wrote about other Etsy shops. Hey, I have founds some of my favorite shops there and you may also be.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Spotted Tuesday: Rainy Day


The weather had been nice for the past few days. It's not that often we got to enjoy warm sunny days in February down here at the Westcoast. But today, it started to rain again. I'm not complaining though. It's warm and cozy inside our new place.

Enjoy these beautiful arts/ crafts found on Etsy:


1st row from the left:

Venice and Rain
by Folk

Rainy Day by rkdsign88

Winter Rains - Large Signed Print 11x14 by Kecky


2nd row from the left:

Plainsong by TheSecretNest

mushrooms after rain by helendardik

Thunder and Umbrella Studs by kaoruwerk

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Giveaway: Olive Green Hand-Crocheted Wallet


This week giveaway is sponsored by RobinsFlight. Win a beautiful olive green and brown wallet.

I really encourage you to read her profile featured yesterday where you could always learn a thing or two from her. Thank you to those who left sweet comments, always appreciated!

There are Seven ways to win the giveaway with a total of 18 chances to win.
Please make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry. How to enter to win:

Mandatory entry:

Extra entries (only qualify once mandatory entry is fulfilled):
  • Heart her shop and earn an entry. Simply let me know your Etsy username.
  • Follow my blog and you earn another entry. If you're already a follower, you still get an entry, just says you're following already.
  • Become my Facebook Fan and you earn another entry. If you're a fan already, you'll also get an entry. Let me know your FB username please.
  • Tweet about this giveaway. Provide me with your tweet please. Each tweet worths one entry and you can tweet each day until the end of the contest (a maximum of one tweet per day is counted). That's a total of 7 entries!
  • Blog about this giveaway to earn 2 entries. Leave two separate comments here please providing me with the link to your post.
  • Purchase an item from RobinsFlight shop and earn 5 entries. Don't forget letting me know by leaving comments :-)
Contest starts now and ends on Feb 27th, 2010. Contest opens worldwide.
Max 18 entries per person please (based on the rules above). Don't forget to leave me your e-mail address. Entries without contact information will be disqualified. Entries that do not follow the rules will be disqualified. Contest winner will be drawn on Sunday, February 28th by a random number generator. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Saturday Artisan: RobinsFlight

Meet this week of our Saturday Artisan: Robin of RobinsFlight.

I don't know how to crochet. When I was younger, I made a few attempts then I gave up and chose to learn knitting instead (which I'm just a novice and don't have the time to do more). Somehow I got confused on the steps and where the hook should go. Haha.

I'm amazed by how neat Robin's hand-crocheted bags and purses are. Find out how she juggles making beautiful bags and purses while having 2 young ones to care as well.

Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make?
I'm a stay at home mother of a 2, ages 2 and 5. I make bags and purses with crocheted exteriors and sewn linings. I like to add in extras like zipper pockets and nice hardware to make them pretty and
more useable.


What is your favourite item in your shop?

I think the belted bags- they have such a classic look to them.


What is your best seller?
Definitely my wallets.


How does your day go in general?
Up by 6:00 to get a shower in before my son wakes to his internal alarm clock at 6:30. Cup of coffee while I check email and entertain my son, then it's crunch time getting everyone ready to get my daughter to preschool on time. Errands and time with my son, lunch and finally nap and rest time, which is craft time for me! Then more fun with the kids or maybe some crochet while they play, dinner, maybe a little online networking for me while my husband plays with the kids, bedtime for them (the kids, not my man!), and finally a little down time. The evening after the kids are in bed is when I get most of my sewing done.

What inspires you?
Often, it's a fabric that I just love that will guide the colors and style I crochet. Sometimes it'll be the line or style of a bag I see someone carrying. Or even a nice buckle or finding I'll see somewhere that just screams to be used.

What is your goal for 2010?
I guess networking more. I don't have a set sales goal, since I mostly do this for my own enjoyment. But I'd love to see more sales, and the best way to do that is to have people find you and see your work.

What is your favourite tool that you cannot live without?
Definitely my size I crochet hook! Although my sewing maching runs a close second!

Any advice for a newbie running his or her on-line shop?
I still feel like a newbie myself, having been on etsy for less than a year. But to all those newbies out there who are measuring their success by sales: it's tough, especially in these times. Don't focus on the sales numbers, focus on doing your craft that you love. Stick around, network, learn from those who are out there, are enjoy it!

Great advice, Robin! Definitely we need to enjoy what we're doing. And learning from others are definitely helpful.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post. Robin is a sponsoring a giveway that you will not want to miss out!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Another Important Move


Remember that I mentioned about a task that I need to do after finishing the sweet pink felt cards custom order?
Just in time for me to move on to my other 'task' which I'll share with you soon. But don't be excited, cause I'm not. It's has nothing to do with cardmaking, unfortunately.

Remember I said this here?
It has been those many sleepless nights thinking about how our life is going to be in a couple of months. I'm not ready to share now, maybe in the near future when the time is right. Just the thought of it exhausts me already.

Well....We're moving .... AGAIN.

It all started at the birth of our son in late 2007. In early 2008 we relocated from Vancouver, Canada to Indonesia (read here). In June 2009, we moved from Indonesia to Toronto, Canada. (read here). Then, in July 2009, we moved from Toronto to Vancouver as DH had a job offer there (read here and here). And since we lived in my parents' house and would like to be in our own feet, we moved again in October 2009 to somewhere closer to DH work (read here).

At the end of January 2010, another major change kicked in again. I decided to take the job offer from my previous boss. I know that this I'm going to be emotionally challanged as I'm going through the transition from a stay-at-home-mom to working mom, leaving my 2 years old son during daytime, a total of almost 12 hours a day. *sigh*


Fortunately, he'll be in my parents' childcare instead of some strangers, so that will give me a piece in mind. For this childcare arrangement, we need to move somewhere closer to my parents', hence the move.

Do you feel my exhaustion already on top of my roller coaster emotion away from my Ethan? I know millions moms can do this, and I should be able to....

And believe me, knowing the long-term plan that both my DH and I have, this moving will NOT be the last one. I know for sure that there will be more movings we have to do soon. The good side coming from all of these movings? Well, I'm an expert in packing and unpacking now hahaha.

Having said that, both of my shops, adorebynat and natsupplies remain open. The last shipping before the moving is today. The next shipping date is Wednesday, the 24th.

And the fun of Saturday Artisans and giveaways will continue. :-)

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Spotted Tuesday: Vancouver 2010

To celebrate the Winter Olympics that is happening right here in my home town, what is better than to show off some great arts/ crafts found in Etsy.

1st row from the left:

Canada Tin Winter Olympics
by tinytins

VANCOUVER-No.2-Map Pendant-Home of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games by ChellasCollection

Retro Winter olympics, White Ski Cap
by urbanknitfits



2nd row from the left:

Winter in Stanley Park - Original 36x48 painting by linzyarnott

Team Canada Pot Holders by GoodYarns

I Heart Skating - Figure Skate Charm Necklace by rjcharms.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Giveaway Winner of SimplyInvitingsCards


Congratulations, LisbonSky!

You win a gorgeous set of 2 mini cards from SimplyInvitingCards. Hooray!

Just a reminder that you must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.

Thanks again to all of you for entering the contest.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Saturday Artisan: BastilleBleu & BastilleBleuBijoux


Meet another talented artist on Etsy: Nikki of BastilleBleu & BastilleBleuBijoux. She makes beautiful lamp beads.

Here is another thing why I love handmade: not only you get one-of-a-kind product capturing the artist's passion, but also how the product is packaged and presented shown the personality of the artist. Find out how Nikki saves money during this recession time and at the same succesfuly promotes handmade.


Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make?
Im a wife, mother of two grown sons, dog lover, and reside with my prince of a husband in a 100 year old farmhouse in Milwaukee, WI. Im also a lampworker, or more commonly known as a "glass bead maker". Ive been doing this for 3-1/2 years, self-taught, addicted and completely in-love with lampworking! I cant imagine doing anything else, and frequently dream about creating cool looking beads. I opened shop on Etsy two years ago and Ive been having so much fun I havent looked back since. Last year I opened up my jewelry shop featuring my hand-torched lampwork jewelry designs and although it was slow at first, its definitely getting noticed a little more.

What is your favourite item in your shop?
It varies from day to day as I try not to repeat my bead designs or jewelry designs so that they remain to some extent, one-of-a-kind and special to each buyer.



How does your day go in general?
That too, varies. A typical day would be, getting up early to take the beads that I made the night before, out of the kiln and clean them and polish them. I string them onto wire and photograph them, and then edit them on photoshop so that the colors in the photos are as "true" to real life as possible and I add my shop name. Then comes the listing of each set and jewelry piece, which for me can be the toughest part trying to come up with interesting things to say about the piece, or worse... coming up with a name for the item. This roughly can take from 2-4 hrs and I havent even begun torching yet. Some days are dedicated to making my own puffy pillow boxes that my lampwork beads are packaged in, or printing out my own bagtags.... and other days, its all about promoting my shop on the forums, my blog or facebook, creating Treasuries, and browsing other shops and hearting them. When its all said and down, I typically spend 14-16hrs a day doing a job I "truly" love, which in my opinion, is what I call total BLISS!

What inspires you?
Im inspired by color, whether it is in nature, a clothing catalog, the newest color trends each year, random photographs in magazines, my dreams, other lampworkers and artists, or just a random thought of "what if".

What is your goal for 2010?
To continue to love what Im doing, and maybe if the heavens allow it, I can start to make a profit doing what I love.

How do you promote your shop?
I definitely take advantage of the forums for promoting my shop, as there are a number of posts asking sellers to post their sales, giveaways, blogs, etc. I also use my fan page on Facebook, my blog, and Twitter... in fact my new items can draw 30 views to that listing in under 30 seconds at times just by posting on Twitter. I also hand out a LOT of business cards and do as many craft/artisan shows as I can.

Any advice for a newbie running his or her on-line shop?
Its slow at first, its definitely worth the wait! Take advantage of the forums, make connections with other sellers to help spread the word of your shop and so you can do the same for them, patience, and definitely check around to see who your competition is and where their price point falls at for the same types of items that you sell, and most importantly... have fun, because if it's not fun (and your not making tons of cash) then you might want to ask yourself what are you doing it for?

During this recession time, tell us one thing that you do to save money?
Try to do EVERYTHING handmade, including your business supplies. I save quite a bit on packaging by making my own bagtags, recycling stuff I get from other sellers I buy from like bubble wrap, jewelry boxes, tissue paper, and ribbons. And when Im not recycling, Im making my own packaging from cardstock and other recyclable items... even my own crinkled shreds.

Visit her shops: bastillebleubijoux and bastillebleu! Let me know what is your favorite. And I'd love to hear from you on what you learn from her.

Happy weekend!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Sweet Card for Sweet Girl -- Part 2 (Final)

The past couple of days had been about cutting, stitching, and gluing. I started working on this custom order last week (read here).

Cutting papers.

Dry-embossing papers and punching.


Cutting felts and hand-stitching them. Adorned cute buttons.

Each of 45 cards are machined-stitched all around.

And it's time for some gluing. At the same time, I tried to keep the 2 years old busy, but most of the time he keeps me busy. :-)

And they're all done!! Just in time for me to move on to my other 'task' which I'll share with you soon. But don't be excited, cause I'm not. It's has nothing to do with cardmaking, unfortunately.

Anyway, going back to these sweet cards I made. Here they are....


Each is just too cute and darling, isn't it? Details ... and details ... I didn't really realize that much until I had to make 45 of them :-) The small rectangle in the right bottom corner is left blank as the client may want to put the guest names there ... or the girl's name. It's for Christening occasion by the way. Pretty neat for the Mom to think outside the box. These are not just regular cards you can find in brick & mortar stores.
And they're placed in resealable plastic sleeve, carefully packed and will be shipped tomorrow.


I would love to hear what you think of them. :-)

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Spotted Tuesday: Poppies


1st row from the left:

Poppy Red hair pin with swarovski stigma by DashleyDesigns

White Anemone Flowers -- ACEO Print
by printmakerjenn

Valetine pink poppy garland headband by muchloveilly



2nd row from the left:

Poppies in the Wind Necklace - Brass
by CocosGreenhouse

Leather Poppy Mini Pouch- Red by tmStudioDesigns

Chocolate truffle poppy wrist CORSAGE by MeadowbelleMarket






Sunday, February 7, 2010

Giveaway: Set of 4 Mini Cards by SimplyInvitingCards


This week giveaway is sponsored by SimplyInvitingCards. Win a set of 4 Mini Textured EnveloCards - Espresso.

I really encourage you to read her profile featured yesterday here where you could always learn a thing or two from her.

There are Seven ways to win the giveaway with a total of 18 chances to win.
Please make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry. How to enter to win:

Mandatory entry:

  • >>EDIT>>: As Jen's away for vacation and her shop is temporarily closed, go to either:
SimplyInvitingCards sold items.
or
SimplyInvitingCards Flickr Galery

and return to my Adore By Nat blog and simply leave a comment here about your favorite item.

Extra entries (only qualify once mandatory entry is fulfilled):
  • Heart her shop and earn an entry. Simply let me know your Etsy username.
  • Follow my blog and you earn another entry. If you're already a follower, you still get an entry, just says you're following already.
  • Become my Facebook Fan and you earn another entry. If you're a fan already, you'll also get an entry. Let me know your FB username please.
  • Tweet about this giveaway. Provide me with your tweet please. Each tweet worths one entry and you can tweet each day until the end of the contest (a maximum of one tweet per day is counted). That's a total of 7 entries!
  • Blog about this giveaway to earn 2 entries. Leave two separate comments here please providing me with the link to your post.
  • Purchase an item from SimplyInvitingCards shop and earn 5 entries. Don't forget letting me know by leaving comments :-)
Contest starts now and ends on Feb 13th, 2010. Contest opens worldwide.
Max 18 entries per person please (based on the rules above). Don't forget to leave me your e-mail address. Entries without contact information will be disqualified. Entries that do not follow the rules will be disqualified. Contest winner will be drawn on Sunday, February 14st by a random number generator. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Saturday Artisan: SimplyInvitingCards

Meet Jen, the artist behind SimplyInvitingCards, our Saturday Artisan this week.

As a papercrafter myself, I adore her designs! She is one of my favorites designers. Her papercraft creations appear on Etsy Front Page quite often, and let me tell you that it's ain't easy to be on a front page and yet she made it a few times. One must have a beautiful art/ craft to begin with, supported by not just an average photograph expertise. Find out Jen's little secret to her success.

Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make?


I've always been a creative spirit. My first art form was music. I started playing the French Horn when I was about 9 or 10 and continued for the next 15 years. After a long, convoluted series of life events and decisions, I wound up designing web sites and eventually dabbling in the fine arts as well, where I discovered a love for working with acrylic paint and creating mixed media work. It was only when my husband and I were planning our wedding that I began my current venture of making cards and keepsakes. What began as a necessity became a hobby and is now growing into a business for me!


What is your best seller?


My best seller are my word shape photo albums. Every one of them I have ever listed on Etsy either sold on Etsy or sold at a craft show because it was seen on Etsy. My handmade paper has done well, too.



What inspires you?


There are a lot of things that inspire me! Found objects, odd knick-knacks, old sepia photographs, 2D fine art, any items or ephemera from 1950 or before, interesting color palettes and compositions, dramatic landscapes, rough textures . . . I could go on for eternity!




What is your favourite tool that you cannot live without?


That's a toss-up between my die-cutting tools, inking tools, and my Crop-A-Dile. I use them all pretty heavily.

Any advice for a newbie running his or her on-line shop?


Yes. First, be patient. Overnight success happens to very, very few people. Use those first days or weeks to develop your shop, network, and improve your craft. Second, I cannot stress enough how important good item photos are not only for your shop, but for things like Etsy's various features and treasuries. I am very particular about what I even feature on my own blog! I strongly recommend going to a Shop Critique in the Etsy Virtual Labs. People there are really nice plus I always think it's a good idea to get feedback from people who aren't too close to your craft. They'll look at your shop very much the same way a buyer would. Third, enjoy what you do and it will show in your work!




Stay tuned for tomorrow's giveaway sponsored by SimplyInvitingCards.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Sweet Card for Sweet Girl -- Part 1

This week big project is to make 45 of these sweet cards for a client based in Europe (I love international buyer!).

Papers and cardstocks will used are from my favorites brands: Making Memories, K&C, and Bazzill.


You know how I love felts!


And of course, buttons! They just add cuteness to everything. :-)


These are just raw materials right now and I'll be soon do the cutting, stitching (machine and hand stitching), punching, embossing, gluing, etc. I'll be sure take more pictures as I'm working on them.

Happy Weekend!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

It's Been a Good Day

It has been a good day indeed!

The time shown it's just passed noon and I feel good! Yeah! I haven't been feeling this good lately. Perhaps it's because it started with a beautiful sunshine that greets the day. By the way, is it spring yet? I started noticing these yellow blossoms a few days ago.


Bright sunny day really has a positive effect on how I feel for the day. Gloomy days....hmm...not so much liking it.

Even Ethan had a great time playing outside.

I checked my e-mails and noticed I had sales. Yei! It always thrills me! And I LOVE my repeat customers. It means that they love my products!

A lots on my to-do-list got crossed out. Making calls for appointments and such are not enjoyable and I'm done for the most part. House chores such as dishwashing and vacuuming are also done. The laundry is on the dryer now.

I even got a chance to finish these tags and take picture of them. Perhaps I can even list this set of tags in my shop today.


So yes, it has been a good day so far. I'll have my lunch now and continue the rest of my day with positive attitude.

So how's your day been?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Spotted Tuesday: Pooh Inspired

This week Spotted Tuesday is inspired by my 2-years old son's best friend: 'baby Pooh'. Pooh maybe worn out (warning: too much love affection may worn you out), LOL, but he holds a special place in Ethan's life and to be honest I'm afraid that Ethan may choose him over me. Hik...Hik.

Enjoy these beautiful findings and let me know which one is your favorite?

1st row from the left:

Coral and Yellow Felt Beads by StemellinaSupplies

Boy and Rain Cloud by Cabin

Bracelet, Lampwork by Leah Sawyer



2nd row from the left:

Magnetic Little Cars Button Covers
by Wheezies

Needle Felted Wool Doll Ball by asherjasper

Ladybugs and Posies on Yellow Pouch by NGHDesigns

Monday, February 1, 2010

Another Giveaway Winner from Dryan327 Contest


I don't know what was in my mind when I did the drawing yesterday. Not sure if you noticed, but I missed entering entries. Only entries from 1 to 100 were counted. Duh! My apology.

Therefore, I did another drawing this morning to get another winner to win this pair of beautiful stunning red heart earrings (shown above). Perfect time for Valentine's day!

Congratulations, Debbie Jackson!
Just a reminder that you must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.

Thanks again to all of you for entering the contest.