My Creative Space

I'm finally back in 'my creative space' posts now and it feels so good to be able to go back to the routine.

I have listed these adorable tags today but will be making more of them tonight. Antique baby cards were digitally reproduced, and now we can have them as tags that go with baby gifts.

 For more creative space, visit kootoyoo site.

Don't forget to enter new giveaway starting this week from Lulie Chic. Enter here!

BzzAgent review: Multibionta

As part of being a BzzAgent, a couple of weeks ago I received products to try: Multibionta.

I take multivitamin daily but I honestly haven’t heard about Multibionta in the past, not until now. However, what encouraged me to try it is that Multibionta is not only multivitamin. It has probiotics which are a good thing! We (my husband and I) used to take priobiotics separately in addition to dailyt multivitamin intake. We bought probiotics sold in a local organic store and it’s not cheap let me tell ya and decided to not purchasing them any longer.

Multibionta offers a unique combination of probiotics, vitamins and minerals that all work together to strengthen the digestive and immune systems. Working together, the vitamins and minerals in Multibionta encourage the growth and survival of the probiotic cultures in the gut. Plus, a healthy gut flora is also capable of improving the absorption of certain minerals, and of producing specific vitamins.

Did you know that about 70% of the immune system resides in the gut? That’s why it’s so important to promote good digestive health in order to boost immunity. Stress, poor eating habits, physical strain, antibiotics or other drugs can disturb the good bacteria in the gut. You can support a healthy level of good bacteria to your gut by taking a probiotic supplement like Multibionta.

So...I've tried Multibionta for a couple of weeks. I think taking them daily has helped me a lot to stay healthy. The recent moving was a big thing and could be stressful and so far we manage it well.

Sign up for 30 Days to Great Challenge and you’ll receive a $10 coupon and be entered for a chance to win an iPad!

Giveaway Winner of 3pearls

Happy Monday! 

The weekend went by so quickly. The unpacking continues and we're getting there surely one day at the time. This new house starts to look cozier day by day as boxes started to disappear one by one. 

 Good news is that it's time to announce the winner of a giveaway that just ended yesterday. 

 Congratulations Jacqueline #87!! You've won 3pearls' giveaway!! 

Thank you Marci for sponsoring this fantastic giveaway! A new giveaway starting this week is from Lulie Chic. Enter here!

Giveaway: Hair Accesorries

Win One Headband and One Bow Set of your choice, sponsored by our lovely Julie from Lulie Chic.

Get to know Julie, the artist behind Lulie Chic. She is our Saturday Artisan this week.

There are many ways to enter. Please make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry.

How to enter to win:

Mandatory entry:

• Go to Lulie Chic shop. Return to my Adore By Nat blog and simply leave a comment here about your favorite item from her store.

Extra entries (only qualify once mandatory entry is fulfilled):

• Earn 2 entries - Go to yesterday's post to know her more. Leave a comment there (yesterday's post) on at least one the following: what you learn from the interview, what you want to see more on her shop and why, or any constructive feedbacks are always appreciated.
  
  Come back here and leave 2 comments that you did, to ensure your entries are counted.

• Heart Lulie Chic. (1 entry). Simply let us know your Etsy username.
• Follow my adorebynat blog (1 entry). If you're already a follower, you still get an entry, just says you're following already.
• Like Lulie Chic Facebook Page. Tell Julie that adorebynat sent you there.
  
• Like my Adorebynat Facebook Page. Don't forget to say 'hi' to me there and come back here to leave comment (1 entry). If you liked my FB page already, you still can say hi and earn 1 entry. I'd love to hear from you!
• Follow adorebynat on twitter (each earn 1 entry).
• Tweet about this giveaway, add "@adorebynat" in your tweet. (1 entry).
• Blog about this giveaway to earn 2 entries. Leave two separate comments here please providing me with the link to your post.
• Be creative and share the love! Refer your friends and family to enter this giveaway. Use your social media (other than twitter and blog) to shout out this giveaway. As long as you provide me a link or a way to confirm it, you'll earn 2 entries (two separate comments).
  
• Purchase an item from Lulie Chic and earn 10 entries for each purchase. Don't forget letting us know by leaving comments :-)

Contest starts now and ends on April 9, 2011. Contest opens worldwide.

Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you. Entries without contact information will be disqualified. Entries that do not follow the rules will be disqualified. Contest winner will be drawn on Sunday, April 10 by a random number generator, by the artist herself. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.

Saturday Artisan: Lulie Chic

This is the first day I'm blogging right in my new home. Yei!! And I'm proud to introduce you to Julie of Lulie Chic, an Etsy shop fulls of sweet and stylish hair accessories for little girls. 

Julie was so kind to send me a few bows for my nieces. These beautiful bows arrived a couple of days ago. Sweet Gena is wearing one of them. A pretty hair clip for a pretty girl.

These bows are made from high-quality ribbons and hair clips. She adds non-slip grip to each one of them, making sure it stays put in the little girl's hair. That's little thing adds to the perfection. Not only it's beautiful but it's also practical. 

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

I am a mother of two wonderful daughters (ages 1 and 4) and wife to a very loving and computer-savvy husband. I work in the Human Resources Field but in my spare time (what little is left after taking care of two kids, husband, dog and a house!) I LOVE making hair bows and accessories. It started as a little pet project while my first daughter was slowly growing hair. After a while, it became a little obssession...I just had to make a bow to match every one of her outfits! Friends and family started noticing and asked if I could make some for them and their friends. Once I had my second daughter (yeah more bows to make!), my best friend and I decided to start an Etsy shop since we were both stay at home moms with nothing better to do (ha ha). Our store was a HUGE success, well we like to think so. 

In the 5 months that we have been open, we reached 200 sales, 200 shop hearts and 200 Facebook fans! My friend has since opened up her own shop (Lulie Decor Designs, specializing in Personalized Custom Wedding and Baby Picture Frames). My shop sells all kinds of hair bows: simple ones, patterned, tuxedo bows, pinwheels bows, korker bows, boutique bows and recently headbands! I have bows for all year wear and also for holidays. Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day and Halloween have been A LOT of fun! You can check out our listings, promotions and giveaways by becoming a fan on Facebook.

Which part of creation process that you like to do the most?

I love the initial part of the creation process which for me is putting together colours and patterns to come up with unique and fun bows! There are so many colours and designs out there so the possibilities are endless. I get inspiration from the clothes my daughters wear, especially during holidays. Christmas is the best!

For us who love to travel, could you share a bit about your beautiful town/ city? Pictures will be great :-)

I live in beautiful Ottawa, Canada! I have my whole life and don't want to leave anytime soon. Well, I wouldn't say no to sunny Florida as it can get quite cold here in the winter! And my family are huge Disney Lovers so we consider Disney World to be our second home!

What is your best seller?

Personalized Hair Clip and sets of choose your own colour/patterns.

How do you balance your personal and work life? 

Very carefully! While I was on Maternity leave, it was a little easier and I was able to do some work during the day while my girls napped. Now I am back at work so I need to carefully plan my evenings. After dinner and the kids' bedtime, I check on my store, see what orders I have and what promotions I need to take care of. Once a week, my husband and I do a movie night to keep us both sane and the weekends are busy with swimming, errands, cleaning but I find time to work on my store...usually late at night! 

Saving money is important; tell us one thing that you do to save money? 

I have found several online suppliers that sell great quality ribbon for great prices. I try to buy large quantities of clips and ribbon so I can save on shipping costs. If I buy things in stores, I make sure I have coupons or buy during sales!Stay-tuned for tomorrow's giveaway! In the meantime, do enter to win Blossom Pink Earrings.

Giveaway Winner of Sybillinart

Congratulations Owlie, you've won Sybillinart's giveaway!! You have 48 hrs to respond to Sabine's 

e-mail.

Sabine, thank you so much for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway. To everyone who entered and commented, thank you so much! Your time and feedback are appreciated.

We've moved last Friday. The new house is still in a mess with boxes are everywhere. I only have limited internet access. Hopefully by the end of this week, I can get back into the swing of things again.

Giveaway Winner of Linda Butterfly

Congratulations, Denise G! You've won LindaButterfly's giveaway.

Please get back to Linda and let her know your choices of 3 beautiful cards.

Thanks Linda for sponsoring this giveaway and as always to everyone who entered and commented.

We have 2 awesome giveaways going on now:

• Blossom Pink Earrings
• Boomark, Magnet or Tags

Gotta go now!!

Giveaway Blossom Pink Earrings

Win this pair of earrings: Blossom Pink Earrings, sponsored by our lovely Marci from 3pearls.

Light, Bright Sparkly Pink faceted Czech glass accented with Gold and Candy Apple Green make a cheerful statement for spring. These earrings dangle 1" from Gold Filled Earwires.

Get to know Marci, the artist behind 3pearls. She is our Saturday Artisan this week.

There are many ways to enter. Please make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry.

How to enter to win:

Mandatory entry:

• Go to 3pearls shop. Return to my Adore By Nat blog and simply leave a comment here about your favorite item from her store.

Extra entries (only qualify once mandatory entry is fulfilled):

• Earn 2 entries - Go to yesterday's post to know her more. Leave a comment there (yesterday's post) on at least one the following: what you learn from the interview, what you want to see more on her shop and why, or any constructive feedbacks are always appreciated.
  
  Come back here and leave 2 comments that you did, to ensure your entries are counted.

• Heart 3pearls. (1 entry). Simply let us know your Etsy username.
• Follow 3pearls' blog (1 entry).
• Follow my adorebynat blog (1 entry). If you're already a follower, you still get an entry, just says you're following already.
• Like 3pearls Facebook Page. Tell Marci that adorebynat sent you there.
  
• Like my Adorebynat Facebook Page. Don't forget to say 'hi' to me there and come back here to leave comment (1 entry). If you liked my FB page already, you still can say hi and earn 1 entry. I'd love to hear from you!
• Follow 3pearls or adorebynat on twitter (each earn 1 entry).
• Tweet about this giveaway, add "@3pearls2 and @adorebynat" in your tweet. (1 entry).
• Blog about this giveaway to earn 2 entries. Leave two separate comments here please providing me with the link to your post.
• Be creative and share the love! Refer your friends and family to enter this giveaway. Use your social media (other than twitter and blog) to shout out this giveaway. As long as you provide me a link or a way to confirm it, you'll earn 2 entries (two separate comments).
  
• Purchase an item from 3pearls and earn 10 entries for each purchase. Don't forget letting us know by leaving comments :-)

Contest starts now and ends on March 26, 2011. Contest opens worldwide.

Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you. 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 27 by a random number generator, by the artist herself. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.

Saturday Artisan: 3pearls

Meet Marci of 3pearls, our Saturday Artisan.

"Handmade Jewelry, Gifts, and Accessories of Semi-Precious Stones, Swarovski Crystals, Glass Beads, Cast Metal pieces, recycled wool and whatever else strikes my fancy are what you will find at Creations by 3 Pearls"

I adore her shop and secretly favorite her favorite shops, thanks for having her into my Etsy circle. *smile*

And I learn that sometimes your best tool you cannot live without is not necessary directly related to your craft. Read on.

Which part of creation process that you like to do the most?
I love it all but that moment when a whole new idea comes to fruition in your head is probably the most exciting part for me. The excitement of starting out on a new project is the best part I think. Of course it's also very nice to finish and have it be something you're really happy with.

Could you share on how your organize your products, we all can use a little tips here and there in this department?
I’m crazy for little chests and bins and tiny drawers. I sometimes end up with more little drawers than I really need just because I found something at a sale that I loved. I really love organizing and having a place for everything and everything in its place. As much as I like organizing, I’m not so good at maintaining the organization as I would like to be. That is almost always one of my New Years resolutions. To stay on top of the mess. I’m usually too fast to start another project before putting away the bits from the last one or even finishing one before the next one starts. So many ideas so little time…

What is your best seller?
My best seller so far has been my Crochet and Beads designs. I sold several Winter white and Frosty Blue bracelets over the holidays. Each one a subtle variation because they are really one of a kind creations. They were a happy accident. I was trying to make something else and when it started to become this bracelet I decided to just follow the direction it was going. I really enjoy something that just makes itself. Planning is never one of my strong suits. So often if you have too definite an idea of what you want to end up with it leads to disappointment. I tend to just start doing something and then see what happens. I usually get several more ideas as I'm going which I try to remember long enough to explore when I 'm done with the current project.

What inspires you?
I’m inspired by all kinds of things. When I’m driving home sometimes the colors outside are so beautiful I just can’t wait to get home and try to capture that feeling in some way. My little Swedish grandmother was a really wonderful baker. She always had something warm and delicious fresh from her oven when we visited. Her freezer was full of cookies and pastries. She would have dreams of adding strange things to her recipes and wake up and try them. I thought that was really odd when I was little but now I find myself doing the same thing with my creations. I guess what your mind is full of during the day gets free reign at night. Some really good ideas are born of dreams.

What is your favourite tool that you cannot live without?
My espresso maker. I can improvise just about anything but I would really miss a great cup of coffee.

Saving money is important; tell us one thing that you do to save money?
I try to do all that I can to save money and resources. I always recycle packaging and even padded envelopes that I receive things in. I find that they look almost new and I haven’t had any complaints. I also re-use old jewelry parts. I’ve gotten a lot of old pieces from family and friends and I take them apart and use whatever is salvageable. Some of the old stuff is much better than anything new.

Stay-tuned for the giveaway that she's sponsoring! You know you don't want to miss out.

In the meantime, 2 current giveaways that you can enter if you haven't already are from Sybillinart and Linda Butterfly. Support handmade and support the artists!

Cutie Owl Tags

I can't believe we're already half week through. Hope your days have been great so far.

I created these tags a couple of weeks ago. They're irresistably cute, I'd say!


I love the fact that I can use many different color cardstocks and create different set each time. Of course, I always accomodate for those who prefer certain colors.

They are now listed in my shop, come check it out!

Adorable Gnome Party Set

Thought I share with you what kept me busy lately aside from renovating our new home. We did some painting on Sunday and I can tell you I would rather creating these adorable gnomes than painting the walls.

This is a set of party invitations, favor tags and cupcake toppers for one of my wonderful clients.

Custom orders are always welcome and it's always a pleasure being part of special events.

Giveaway winner of FotogirlCreations' Giveaway

Congratulations, Sweet Shenanigans! You've won FotogirlCreations ' giveaway.

You get to enjoy $25 Gift Certificate to spend on Shauna's shop.

Thank you so much Shauna for sponsoring this giveaway! As always, I thank everyone who entered and left great feedbacks.

2 current giveaways that you can enter if you haven't already are from Sybillinart and Linda Butterfly.

Giveaway from Sybillinart

Win what you like! You can choose between a set of tags, a magnet (or set glass of magnets), a bookmark or a brooch from Sybillinart. Get to know Sabine, the artist behind Sybillinart. She is our Saturday Artisan this week. 

There are many ways to enter. Please make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry.

How to enter to win: 

Mandatory entry:

• Go to Sybillinart shop. Return to my Adore By Nat blog and simply leave a comment here which item you prefer to win.

Note from Sabine: As I don’t have everything listed in my shop, I will send some pictures to the winner to choose. Extra entries (only qualify once mandatory entry is fulfilled):

• Earn 2 entries - Go to yesterday's post to know her more. Leave a comment there (yesterday's post) on at least one the following: what you learn from the interview, what you want to see more on her shop and why, or any constructive feedbacks are always appreciated. Come back here and leave 2 comments that you did, to ensure your entries are counted.

• Heart Sybillinart. (1 entry). Simply let us know your Etsy username.
• Go to Sybillinart and tell us what word comes to you.
• Sabine loves to get any suggesstions from you! Tell her what you'd like to see in her shop (1 entry).
• Follow Sybillinart's blog (1 entry).
• Follow my adorebynat blog (1 entry). If you're already a follower, you still get an entry, just says you're following already.
• Like Sybillinart Facebook Page. Tell Sabine that adorebynat sent you there.
• Like my Adorebynat Facebook Page. Don't forget to say 'hi' to me there and come back here to leave comment (1 entry). If you liked my FB page already, you still can say hi and earn 1 entry. I'd love to hear from you!
• Follow sybillinart and or adorebynat on twitter (each earn 1 entry).
• Tweet about this giveaway, add "@sybillinart and @adorebynat" in your tweet. (1 entry).
• Blog about this giveaway to earn 2 entries. Leave two separate comments here please providing me with the link to your post.
• Be creative and share the love! Refer your friends and family to enter this giveaway. Use your social media (other than twitter and blog) to shout out this giveaway. As long as you provide me a link or a way to confirm it, you'll earn 2 entries (two separate comments).
• Purchase an item from Sybillinart and earn 5 entries for each purchase. Don't forget letting us know by leaving comments :-)

Contest starts now and ends on March 19, 2011. Contest opens worldwide.

Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you. 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 20 by a random number generator, by the artist herself. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.

Saturday Artisan: Sybillinart

Happy Saturday! It's sunshine right here in westcoast, and it's a pleasure for me to introduce you to our Saturday Artisan, Sybilline aka Sabine of Sybillinart. She is a decoupage artist and we share the same passion in papers: scrapbooking, cardmaking etc. I've met Sabine through my natsupplies shop and we've been in touch ever seen through Etsy, twitter and Facebook and enjoy our friendship. Do you have your morning coffee ready? I do! :-) Sip it and enjoy the interview.

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

I was born in France and lived there for 30 years; My Family moved to Canada 10 years ago to build a new life and we love it. I discovered the new decoupage technique on a French internet forum and I think I can say that I have mastered it now!. I also like other paper crafts like cardmaking, tags… 

For us who love to travel, could you share a bit about your beautiful town/ city? I am sure everybody will love that part as I am from France! Not far from Paris but I prefer the country side.

What is your best seller? I can say that may best seller are my switch plates; Last November I sold more than 70 at the craft shows I was in. But my boxes are also appreciated. 

How do you promote your shop? 

I use Facebook, Twitter and some forums and blogs.

Any advice for others running their on-line shop?

Starting an online shop is not an easy task! You not only need to read all the good advice that you can find but understand them and apply them to your shop, like good tagging, good pictures, being part of a team (on Etsy)… I was very happy to follow some of them like the one to build our own light box. But sometimes it might take time to do them all or just understand them.

Saving money is important; tell us one thing that you do to save money? Like a lot of crafters, I like to upcycle and reuse; One of the product that people like the most is this pencil holder that I make with tin can (I don’t sell those in my shop because of the shipping rate) ; I also keep some soap dispenser and decorate them to coordinate my home décor! I reuse old CDs to make Christmas ornaments or cards that’s just a few examples!

If you want to learn how to decoupage, visit her blog for the tutorial. 

Stay-tuned for tomorrow's giveaway! 

Don't forget to enter the 2 current giveaways we have: $25 Gift Certificate 3 Handmade Greeting Cards

Progress These Days

Happy Friday everyone! I'm so glad that we survived another week! Above is a snapshot of beautiful scenery we have from our deck at the back of our new home. Can't you tell that it's a golf course?

We had hired a painter to paint our new home. Sadly, it didn't go well that we ended the contract 2/3 of the way and we will have to finish it off ourselves. 

The flooring contractor started his job today and hopefully he delivers. The new flooring should be completed in 4 days. After that, we are planning to do the painting, which will happen during weekdays after we get off from work. It's going to be a LONG week!! I just need to remind myself: It's going to be worth it!!

 

Therefore, I may need to close my shop or at least not taking new orders at the moment . . . only if I can't resist to. You can tell I'm still contemplating here. I do have a few orders to complete and mail this weekend. That'll keep me extra busy but at least I'm doing what I love to do.

Giveaway Winner of Delightfully Noted

Congratulations #72 Laurie Tiscione of Kingdom Kards, you've won Delightfully Noted's giveaway!

You have 48 hours to get back to Jennifer after being notified. Enjoy the beautiful personalization notecards.

Thanks so much Jen for sponsoring this giveaway and everyone who entered.

There are still chances to win these 2 giveaways:

$25 Gift Certificate

3 Handmade Greeting Cards

Talk to you soon!