Christmas Door Sign

Hello friends! Today I'm sharing with you a Christmas Door Sign that I made for my son's preschool teacher. 

Tomorrow is Ethan's last day at the preschool before we're going for our vacation. I'm using one of Amy Jaz Designs' Document Your December kits, the Modern Merry Element Pack.

Thanks for stopping by!

Giveaway: Vintage Children Book

Win a vintage children book!

This giveaway is sponsored by Lilly's Lucky Penny who is giving away one book of their choice to the winner. Just let them know the gender and age of the intended reader and a few of their favorite things and they will ship out a surprise book!

Get to know April and Kara, 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 Lilly's Lucky Penny shop. Return to my Adore By Nat blog and simply leave a comment here about your favorite item from the 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 feedback are always appreciated. Come back here and leave 2 comments that you did, to ensure your entries are counted.
• Heart Lilly's Lucky Penny (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 my Adorebynat Facebook Page. You must drop by and say hello to earn 1 entry.I'd love to hear from you.
• Follow adorebynat on twitter (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 Lilly's Lucky Penny and earn 10 entries for each purchase. Don't forget letting us know by leaving comments.

Contest starts now and ends on December 10, 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, December 11 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: Lilly's Lucky Penny

Meet April (Penny's Mom) & Kara (Lilly's Mom), two sisters that works together offering vintage toys and books for children at Lilly's Lucky Penny. There are something about vintage items that I adore, the story and memories that they have being passed on to next generation. I really wish that I still have my toys that I could pass on to my son, but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take them with me when I moved here in Canada. Most of you knows that I'm a mom to a little man and I'd bet he loves this pick up truck.

 

So without further adue, let's get to know these 2 womens, April and Kara. 

Tell us a bit about yourself? 

We are two sisters who have fairly recently become moms together. Our girls are both under two years old and keep us real busy when we're not at work or school. We both love to garden and neither of us like to cook, luckily the men in our lives do otherwise we'd only eat red vines and hummus (not together!) for supper. 

Why vintage store for children? When we were shopping for our girls, we were drawn to Fisher Price and other toys we played with when we were kids. We ended up finding more stuff than we had room for in our homes but we didn't want to stop looking.

What is the story behind your shop name? 

Our little girls, Lilly and Penny, were the inspiration for our shop so it was a no-brainer that our Etsy shop would carry their names. 

Could you share on how your organize your products, we all can use a little tips here and there in this department? 

We organize the store in a way that we would like to shop it if we were the customer in a physical store. We put all the fun attention-grabbers in the front and the browsing-type stuff in the middle and our bookstore is at the end.

How do you balance your personal and work life? Leave your work at work! It's easy to do when you walk through the door at home and are greeted with big toothy smiles and outstretched arms from your kids. If we have time at the end of the day and when the kids are in bed and the dishes and laundry are done, we try to get some more of our inventory up on Etsy, Every couple of weeks we have a Friday playdate for the girls, and Happy Hour for us girls and we'll bang out a bunch of Etsy stuff - it makes it less work and more personal when we can do it together.

Stay-tuned for tomorrow's giveaway!

Black Friday Sale

BLACK FRIDAY SALE:

Enjoy the following promos at my Adore By Nat shop! It's time to stock up for the holiday and party you've been planning for.

FREE SHIPPING within CANADA, use coupon code: BF2011

For EVERYONE: Spend $5 (before shipping) and get $5 toward your next purchase of $10 or more. Offer cannot be combined with any other offers, discounts, or promotions.

A Very Vintage Christmas

I am in love with A Very Vintage Christmas Kit by Amy Jaz Designs. Truly, the kit is wonderful and I have so many ideas running in my head. But let's do it one step at a time, shall we?

Many papers to select from the kit and I just combined 3 of them. Love the deer!

Added the Joy to the World phrase and a couple of gold brads. Of course, red and white baker's twine adds a christmasy feel to it. Subtle machine stitching and distressed ink makes the card perfect.

Lona de Anna Special Offer

Hi friends, Lona de Anna from the land down under has a special offer for AdoreByNat's readers. Enjoy 25% off on her prints available in her Etsy shop from Tuesday to Thursday (3 days only). Enter Coupon Code - LDA25ABN on checkout to receive your 25% off any print. To use this coupon codes, you must be a visible follower of Adore by Nat and heart Lona de Anna Etsy store.

More Holiday Gift Card Holders

Happy Monday! Hope you had fabulous weekend! As I'm preparing for holiday season, I thought I'd make a few more Gift Card Holders. They really come in handy for adding special touch to your gift cards. Sometimes I think they're the best gift as you could just get what you want or need.

 

Giveaway: Crystal Snowflake Earrings

Want to win this gorgeous Holiday Crystal Snowflake Earrings? This giveaway is sponsored by Shadow Jewels. Get to know Rhonda, 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 Shadow Jewels shop. Return to my Adore By Nat blog and simply leave a comment here about your favorite item from the 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 feedback are always appreciated. Come back here and leave 2 comments that you did, to ensure your entries are counted.
• Heart Shadow Jewels (1 entry). Simply let us know your Etsy username.
• Follow Shadow Jewels 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 Shadow Jewels Facebook page AND tell Rhonda , Nat of adorebynat send you there.
• Like my Adorebynat Facebook Page. You must drop by and say hello to earn 1 entry.I'd love to hear from you.
• Follow Shadow Jewels on twitter (1 entry)
• Follow adorebynat on twitter (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 Shadow Jewels and earn 10 entries for each purchase. Don't forget letting us know by leaving comments.

Contest starts now and ends on December 3, 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, December 4 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: Shadow Jewels

Our Saturday Artisan this is week is Rhonda of Shadow Jewels. Come on, take a peek at her shop and you'll stay awhile admiring her beautiful jewelry collections. Looking for a perfect Holiday gift? She gets that covered. 

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

My name is Rhonda, but everyone calls me Shadow. I make vintage inspired and wire wrapped jewelry. I'm a nurse and a nature nut. I'm married, have two grown kids, and a house full of cats. I live near Los Angeles.

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

Putting beads and rhinestones together in different ways to create something beautiful and unexpected, that keeps me interested in my craft. But even more than that, I love shopping for vintage beads and rhinestones, and finding rare old pieces to use. My favorite part of all is opening a package, and finding my vintage rhinestones in their original wrapper. I love the yellowed crackly paper, the warm musty smell, and the soft cotton batting that has kept the crystals safe through the years. And of course the labels are wonderful sources of information. It's always fun to be able to tell my customers exactly where their beads or rhinestones were made.

For us who love to travel, could you share a bit about your beautiful town/ city? When I go out, I don't head for the city, I run to the Sierra Nevada mountains. There is something so serene in the high lonely places, it touches my soul. I am drawn to the forests and giant trees of Sequoia National Park. The sweeping vistas, spring flowers, forest creatures, and the colors of nature through the changing seasons are my main sources of inspiration.

How does your day go in general? Oh boy. Well, a couple of months ago we took in a stray mama cat. Someone had obviously dumped her when she was pregnant, and she was the skinniest, sorriest cat I have ever seen. It took a few days, but she finally grew to trust us enough to bring her kittens. They are growing up fast, and mama is fat and happy now. My days are filled with caring for them and playing blanket monster and paper ball.

What is your favourite tool that you cannot live without? My dremel with the burr cup attachment. With this amazing little tool, you can remove the sharp bits from the end of a clipped wire, and make your own earrings. Brilliant!

How do you promote your shop? First, I strive every day to improve my shop and make it the best it can be. I signed up for the Etsy emails, and read all of the tips they send us. It does no good to promote your shop if you only have a few tired items, poor quality photos, or bad tags and titles. I mainly promote my shop through team activities. Making treasuries is great for promoting inside Etsy. For off Etsy promotion, I use social networking. Facebook, twitter, my blog, and other sites around the web. Get the word out people! Shake your moneymaker! 

Stay-tuned for tomorrow's giveaway!

He is 4

Today my little baby turns 4. No matter how many times he corrects me, "Not baby, mama. I'm a BIG boy," he will always be my baby.

That's him trying to show me his four fingers. How adorable!

I love you, my little man. You makes me smile and laugh. Tonight I asked you if you know what a birthday means. I started to explain it to you that you were on mommy's tummy and then you came out... You quickly asked me, "Mama, where is the door?" LOL. I was speechless and could only laughed.

Yes of course, there are moments that you're a trouble-maker. But still at the end of the day, I still love you so much no matter what.

I could see you were SO happy today: having a little party at the preschool, getting lot of toys from grandparents, aunties and cousins, and visiting Toys R Us to get your Thomas Trains and more. The joy was overwhelming, but in a good way.

Happy Birthday my little man!

EtsyGreetings Holiday Blog Hop

This year EtsyGreetings team is doing a Holiday Blog Hop and the theme is My Favorite Handmade Holiday Tradition. Oh how I love this time of year as it gets very festive with all the bright lights and carols. We love to drive around the neighborhood to see all the pretty decors and sometimes we go up to the mountains to get a little bit of white Christmas. One of my holiday favorites is Eggnog. It's sad that I can't have it throughout the year but come to think of it again maybe I like it a lot because I can only have it during the holiday season and that's what makes it special. Mmm.... A friend has an eggnog cake recipe that she's going to share with me very soon. I think if I can make it right, it will be part of our holiday tradition. But for now, being a papercrafter myself, my handmade holiday tradition is not far from making anything that involves papers. This Christmas Card with our son's picture is a perfect one to send to our family and friends.

I'm also making Christmas Tags. Aren't these adorable? I can't help in mixing vintage and modern style together. Who says we have to stick to just one style, right? The tags are 2"x3". The images and paper are from A Very Vintage Christmas Kit by Amy Jaz Designs. Add some baker's twine, ribbon, and brads and you get beautiful tags.

Thanks for hopping by!

Giveaway: $10 Gift Certificate from Scrapbooks and Stones

Win $10 Gift Certificate from Scrapbooks and Stones. Get to know Colleen, 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 Scrapbooks and Stones shop. Return to my Adore By Nat blog and simply leave a comment here about your favorite item from the 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 feedback are always appreciated. Come back here and leave 2 comments that you did, to ensure your entries are counted.
• Heart Scrapbooks and Stones (1 entry). Simply let us know your Etsy username.
• Follow Scrapbooks and Stones 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 Scrapbooks and Stones Facebook page AND tell Colleen , Nat of adorebynat send you there.
• Like my Adorebynat Facebook Page. You must drop by and say hello to earn 1 entry.I'd love to hear from you.
• Follow Scrapbooks and Stones on twitter (1 entry)
• Follow adorebynat on twitter (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 Scrapbooks and Stones and earn 10 entries for each purchase. Don't forget letting us know by leaving comments.

Contest starts now and ends on November 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, November 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: Scrapbooks and Stones

Meet Colleen of Scrapbooks and Stones. Colleen specializes in scrapbooks (custom books or premade pages), handmade jewelry, and things made out of duct tape. As some of you may know, I scrapbook and I love it. Preserving memories, looking back to what we'd been through, is priceless. Scrapbooking is more important to me now that we have a son who is growing up so quick. So when I 'meet' Colleen, I said, "Gotta love this gal". Lol. Let's get to know her a bit more, shall we? Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make? I am a newly wed and when my husband and I moved to Florida for his job I needed something to do. So I started my etsy shop. I make scrapbooks pages, custom scrapbooks, jewelry, and things out of duct tape. I started making things out of duct tape when I was about 13 and I used to sell it to other kids. Then I started making jewelry when I worked at The Pot & bead, which was a beading and potter studio. Finally I started scrapbooking for my boyfriend (now husband) when I was in college.

  Why scrapbooking? My father was a photographer so photos were always a big part of my life. He took pictures of everything. When I got to college no one was taking my picture anymore, so I became the friend with the camera and I took pictures of everything. I made my boyfriend a scrapbook because we were going to be apart for the summer and I never stopped adding to it. I think scrapbooking is a great and unique way to preserve photos and other memorabilia.

What is the story behind your shop name?

I wanted something that incorporated my items, and I like the idea of everything starting with the same letter. Scrapbooks and Stones was the result. 

Which part of creation process that you like to do the most? I like the planning process. I like coming up with an idea and sketching out a scrapbook page, or laying out beads and seeing what looks good together.

For us who love to travel, could you share a bit about your beautiful town/ city?

I live in a small town on the east coast of Florida. It is in-between Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. I’ve only lived here a few months so I haven’t discovered all of the cool things to do, but the beach is always nice. 

How do you balance your personal and work life? This is pretty easy. My husband goes to work all day and I work on things while he is gone. I know sometimes he gets annoyed that I am constantly checking the computer, but I figure it’s a good opportunity for him to check on sports.

What is your favourite tool that you cannot live without? 

Tape. I use tape while scrapbooking, I use it to tape off one end of a string while I’m beading, and then of course there is duct tape.

How do you promote your shop?

I have a facebook, twitter, and tumblr that I use regularly. I’ve also just started a chime.in and digg. I do a lot of promotion through those but I also am a part of lots of teams and participate in challenges, giveaways, and blogs. 

Stay-tuned for tomorrow's giveaway!

Sweet Silver Giveaway Winner

Happy Friday! Happy Remembrance Day! Amy from Sweet Silver has picked a winner

randomly. 

Congratulations, Vicki! You've won a beautiful pair of purple fluorite earrings set.

Thank you so much Amy for sponsoring the giveaway. I thank everyone who entered. Stay-tuned for more artist features and giveaways!! Support Handmade!

BzzAgent Review: Scrubbing Bubbles

As a busy mom who has day job, Etsy shop to take care of and a house to clean, I need to be effective and efficient. Finding the right products that helping me do the job is very important. 

So when over a month ago I was invited to join the Scrubbing Bubbles® One Step Toilet Bowl Cleaner campaign of bzzagent, I said Yes!

 A kit was sent directly to my house and I got my chance to try out the Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Toilet Bowl Cleaner. When I opened the package, I was hesitant about how to put the kit together.  It looked complicated but when I read the instruction on the side of the box, it was actually VERY easy. And that's my friends, I know things will just get easier from then. 

 I have 4 bathrooms and one kit. So, I choose the bathroom that we use the most and see if it works well. How does it work? First, I installed a refill can of cleaner into a base on the floor beside the toilet. It has a white tube cover that gives the clean look to it. Then the base is connected to a sprayer. I clipped the sprayer to the toilet bowl. It's very easy as I said. The step-by-step instruction has pictures to follow. Make sure you get a clean toilet bowl, to begin with, and it will maintain keep it clean. So here is the deal, one step twice a day and it keeps the toilet clean. It features a 360-degree action sprayer that covers the complete bowl, even under the rim. All you need is to step on the foot pedal for one second. Soon after that, you could smell the freshness. The cleaner has a Fresh Mountain Morning scent, a smell that is not too strong which I like. My little one is my helper. He's so happy for being useful, stepping on the pedal and seeing the spray in action. 

The retail price is about $10 and the refill is about $5. No batteries are required. Refill cans last up to 30 days which come to think about it, it's worth your 30 minutes/ month from bending, scrubbing, cleaning the dripping mess you make, and gritting your teeth. I'll buy more kits for the other bathrooms and refill cans with coupons that I receive.

Gratitude

Happy Sunday! Hope you've been enjoying your weekend. I had one of most relaxing weekend for the longest time. I had to run a few errands but still, being able to stay at home on weekdays have given me sometimes to do house chores when I want to instead of when I need to. I even had some laundry folded. Ha! I made this Thank You Card a few weeks ago. I love the phrase: Gratitude is an action word. Isn't that simply beautiful?

Holiday Gift Card Holders

Sweet friends, Christmas is fast approaching. It's one of my most favorite holidays and I'm sure for most people as well. What not too love? The festive feeling, the bright and cheerful decors? Totally, right? I'm going to get ready earlier this year for it and that includes making some Gift Card Holders. This set as a starter which is already listed in my shop. Of course more to come as they are fun to make.

Pumpkin Patch

Autumn is so beautiful.

The change of leaves' color.

The crisp of dry leaves.

I realize I appreciate this beautiful nature more and more as years pass by.


We went to Pumpkin Patch a few weeks ago. The weather was perfect. It had not been raining for a few days prior. The sun was shining. All of us, Ethan in particular, had so much fun and I'm sure he would have enjoyed a little bit more if he was not under the weather.