Oh Happy Mails

Receiving snail mails (with the exception of bills!) is pretty exciting!

I was patient enough waiting to see these goodies. They arrived months before me, so opening them all at once is just like opening presents at a Christmas day all over again. 

Be warned! I will show you a lot of amazing products. Please don't drool! Tee hee! And if you love them, you know where to get them. Links to the shops are provided below.

These stamps and washi tapes are treats for me. I have ton of stamps already and most of them are still unopened. But as one that has a serious hobby, you would understand, wouldn't you? 

I also bought myself a birthday present from one of the amazing jewelry artists, Aya of Aya Designs. I truly love her designs.  

Not too long ago, I purchased these cute necklaces and bracelet from my buddy, Zei of Pelhuaz by Red.

Check out this beautiful flower charm from Pelhuaz and adorable pink owl from Unique Creations by Tracy.

I was lucky enough to win this cute Wezen by J by G's giveaway, hosted at Pelhuaz's blog. I'm going to put it on my desk. I think it will do a very good job in cheering me up whenever I feel my day is not as good as I'd like it to be.

Networking with other business owners are rewarding. When you have a small business and your marketing budget is so limited, working with others is the best way to go. Interacting with others such as commenting their FB statuses, helps you to be seen as well. When they do a giveaway, you participate by entering and spreading the word. Who know, maybe you are lucky and you get to be the winner. 

This beautiful scarf is from Alesia of Green Barn Yarn and Gifts (previously known as Sew Accessible).

These pretty earrings are from Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs. Catherine is an amazing lady and her creations are one of a kind, beautiful and made with only high-quality material. Such a blessed to have a friend like her.

This cute monster plush is from Cody of Lu & Ed. It was made based on my little guy's drawing. Truly one-of-a-kind!

In addition, I received this goodies bag. What not to love? Such a pleasure being in this amazing community. These are from my favorite handmade shops! Some I come to know as wonderful virtual friends.



Now, who is not going to love Pedra, the lion? Kelly of Kiser Krafts is the amazing creator.



Pedra is so cheerful and a perfect companion for my little guy. He said she is pretty. :-)

Last but not least, look what I got in the mail the other day, a surprise bag from Violetsbuds. Pretty, pretty, and pretty!

I want to thank all these ladies for creating beautiful products. I'm honored to be the recipient. 

If you are looking for a gift for yourself or loved ones, I highly recommend those shops above. Their products are one-of-a-kind, created with passion and I guarantee you that you get superb customer service. 

Saturday Artisan: Andrea Designs

Meet Andrea, our Saturday Artisan! She is a talented artist and a proud owner of Andrea Designs. She is wonderful person that I am thankful to get a chance to work with. As the Master Guild of Crazy Train Riders, she actively promotes her team members. Truly, not only her creations are beautiful but her heart is so kind.

Let's get to know her, shall we?  

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

I was born and raised in Lima-Peru, South-America. My medium is fiber, I love to knit and crochet, I learned when I was in High School, I didn't do much after that, when I started collage, my dad bought a knitting machine to my mom, she didn't learn but I did, I loved it, I became a knitting machine instructor working for one of the Singer stores in Lima, I learned to make dresses, pants, baby clothing etc.

When I got married and came to United States (25 years ago), I didn't bring the knitting machine with me. I was working as a supervisor in a Call Center in Texas, and I started to think about to have my own business. I thought to start making sweaters or scarves in a knitting machine, I got the knitting machine and my journey to buy yarn started. I begun checking online where I could get the yarn, I was looking for specific fiber, I bought some yarn, but I didn't get the results I was expecting. I visited other online stores, started buying beautiful yarn that I fall in love, however I couldn't use them in the knitting machine because they were very thick. Again, I start using the two needles like when I was in High School.
I use fine yarns as Peruvian and American alpaca, Italian and French acrylic, French angora. I transform the fiber in wearable art as scarves, shawls, hats, ponchos, shoulder warmers, jackets, love to combine different textures and fiber that is soft to the skin, light, comfortable, elegant and breath taking. My goal is reached when my customer is happy with the product she has chosen and tells me she was asked... .WHERE DID YOU GET THAT? IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL.!.. I am in the Master Knitter Program to become a Master Knitter.


I am a proud member of The Artisan Group, a elite close-knit community of over 800 talented world- wide artisans, that gifts a collective sampling of handcrafted products to celebrities and members of the press at gift lounges, my products had participated in the 2012 CMA, at 2013 GBK's Annual Pre-Emmy Celebrity Gift Lounge 2013 here is a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxhYL8_Fajw where my display was shown, it is the scarf, this year my products will participate in the GBK's MTV Movie awards lounge gifting to the Press.

What is the story behind your shop name?  

It is my first name.

Who is your target market?

My target market is women of all ages, my items are liked by women and girls, also I have some male customers.

 

Which part of creation process that you enjoy the most?

 All of them, what in general inspired me is the color, type of fiber, or sometimes I have an idea in my head, I will draw what I want to do, that way I won't forget, and I will look for the materials, also I enjoy the process, if I am not satisfied with the result, I will start all over again, I want to provide a perfect item.

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

I live in Batesville, Indiana, we move here in April 2010, my husband was born here, we moved from El Paso, Tx, he was working in a Fort over there, he wanted, when he will retire to go back to his birth town, what we did. This town is about 6200 people, west 70 miles from Indianapolis, east 50 miles from Cincinnati, OH, south about 50 miles from Kentucky, it is a farm community, it has the 4 seasons, right now is the white season snow the whole winter, the hardest winter in about 20 years, spring, summer and fall are beautiful, everything is green, during fall the leaves turn red, it is an amazing and beautiful view like a postcard, it's a beautiful place.

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

I organized the yarn in plastic drawers with labels, I put them by color and fiber. The same with my beads.

What is your best seller?

 I have two best seller a scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves. They vary in color. I sell them a lot in person.

How does your day go in general?

In the morning coming down to my studio, is located in the basement of the house about 900 sq. feet, this is a new house so it has a lot of light, I have all my equipment like knitting and sewing machines, couple of tables and chairs, other knitting tools and a lot of yarn and beads, paper to create my own cards, printer and my computer, check and answer emails, check my studio for messages, prepare the post for the next rider, make collections, work in my creations, take photos, edit photos, post new items in the website.

You can find Andrea at:

Facebook
Blog
Twitter
Pinterest
Amazine
Polyvore

Stay-tuned for tomorrow's giveaway!

Would you like to be featured as a Saturday Artisan? Here is how to apply.

 

Giveaway: Everyday Circle Scarf, Turquoise

This week giveaway is sponsored by modestambition: a pretty Everyday Circle Scarf, Turquoise.

This soft versatile scarf is designed for hard everyday wear. It is crocheted from 100% acrylic and won't fade or shrink in rain or snow. The comfortable slouchy styling makes this a perfect choice for all day wear.

I encourage you to read her profile featured yesterday.

There are eight ways to win. Please make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry. How to enter to win:

Mandatory entry:

• Go to modestambition 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 get to know her more.
  

Leave a comment there (yesterday's post) on at least one the following: what you learn from her interview, what you want to see more on her shop, or any constructive feedbacks are always appreciated.

Come back here and leave 2 comments that you did, to ensure your entries are counted.

• 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, add "@adorebynat" in your tweet. 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 modestambition or my shop and earn 5 entries for each purchase. Don't forget letting me know by leaving comments :-)

Contest starts now and ends on April 17th, 2010. Contest opens worldwide.

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, April 18th by a random number generator. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.