Awesomeness Via Pounce

While searching undiscovered shops i etsy I found THREE really FAB shops! I just had to share them with you all :)

First is beautiful photography at : http://www.etsy.com/shop/flowingmoments

This is my favorite, but all her work is beautiful!

Les deux pots



This one could have inspired Van Gogh:

Behind The Edge



The second artist has a totaly kick ass banner and shop name! You can vist them at http://www.etsy.com/shop/noplacelikegnome for great and reasonably priced terrariums. Some of them have little birdhouses, knomes, and mushrooms!

Gnome Terrarium with Bird House



The third shop is http://www.etsy.com/shop/karajanx The pictures will speak for the work! AMAZING! I am going to show you my fav dress, but the others are gorgeous also! The photos are amazing! I love the use of color, the shape, the pose, and the detachable bow! The pockets are totaly useful and hidden, but yet super cute!
I also like the banner- it reminds me of dolls somehow. Amazing work!

Morgan Bubble - yes these are all the same dress...













I wish Project Runway had some talent like this on this season!


Please take time to visit the wonderful new shops and show them some love! Forgive me as a blogger, because I haven't gotten done the insert link thing yet- so yes you have to copy and paste. I do have faith that you can handle it though:)
Have a wonderful day everyone!

Free Lampwork Beads!

I haven't written on my blog in awhile. My day job has been very stressful and seems to suck the energy right out of me. However, I am going to try to make a comeback and write more.




I am headed to bed shortly, but I wanted to share with you all a wonderful package I received in the mail the other day! I have fallen in love with lampwork beads, but am unable to afford most of them. I recently discovered this wonderful shop that makes lampwork and often sells out within minutes. http://www.etsy.com/shop/bastillebleu
She does amazing work!




Those are all examples of her work. Please take a moment and check out her shop!
I joined her fanpage on facebook and entered a contest she was having. I had a wonderful time looking at all her items. I did not think I would win. I don't think I've ever actually won anything before. Well, no that's not true. I DID win circus tickets when I was in grade school, but was unable to go.
Needless to say I WON!!!! I was SO excited!
I received these lovely lampwork lavender and blue polka dot (I LOVE polka dots) from her for FREE the other day! I just HAVE to show them off! THANK YOU!!
I'm not sure what I am going to make out of them, perhaps a bracelet. The colors are so spring and made me smile!
Forgive me, because my photos are not as good as hers and do not do her work justice! I assure you they are beautiful though!

Another Sale!

I went back to work on Monday. This means I won't have as much time to devote to etsy, blogging, and promoting. However, I am going to try to keep as much motivation and momentum as possible. My favorite sociology Prof, who is now a amazing close friend, always told me that changes happen often slowly and than pick up and start to move fast. I kind of feel like I may be on the right track and that I will be picking up speed quickly.


After some interesting things occurred I sold my Under The Sea bracelet! I am so excited. I am especially thrilled, because it was the VERY first charm bracelet I ever made! It was my etsy avatar for awhile. I just recently re shot the photos.
It is going in the mail today!



I started a fan page of facebook. I only had about 40 fans, but than a awesome etsy friend of mine showed me link love. Under the discussion tab is a list where sellers can add their links and show each other love and support by fanning the page, checking out the shops and blogs. Etsy is so wonderful, because it truly is a community. The people are wonderful and supportive. I am so happy I have joined and become more and more active. Within 2 days my fan page gained almost 100 fans! Not only that, but I saw a posting request for elephant themed items for a 13 year old who's birthday is coming. I am now working on creating a special charm bracelet for her! I will post pics when it is finished. In addition, it seems I made a new etsy friend :)

Yesterday my grandmother turned 71.

This is her christmas of 07 with a pillow i quilted for her.

While shopping for supplies i FINALLY found some Shepard hook bookmarks. (I ordered some from etsy, but they aren't due to arrive for a little while.) I bought the 4 or 5 they had in the store. I made my very first one and gave it to my grandmother for her birthday. I also got her a card that looks just like the love of my life.. joey blueridge!

Love right away!


She was so happy! My grandmother is such a amazing woman. I love her more that I could ever express in words.

her and I xmas 2007:


She raised five children on her own. She has had a hard life at times, but she- like i, truly believes that she is stronger because of it. She tries to find the positive in everything and in people. She is creative, loving, and truly inspiring. She has always been there for me and her family. When I was younger my mother worked full time and went to school. My father is a alcholic and my brother and I often took care of ourselves. My mother did the best she could to help improve herself and thus us. My mother is amazing and I am so thankful for her. I truly believe that it is because of my grandmother that my mother is such a strong, creative, and independent woman. It is because of my mother that I have become one also. My grandmother has started to think about her mortality as she has gotten older. It does not seem that she is over 52 to me though. I feel assured that when the time comes it will just be her body gone from the earth. I believe that she will always live on, because she is part of me. I am a atheist, however I think I have healthy beliefs in relation to death.

I didn't feel well much of the month I was off of work. I have a fractured bone in my large toe. This is due to a battery carrier slipping, and a large marine battery coming down and landing - corner first- on my foot at work. However I did get a few things done. I started my blog, a fan page, taught myself how to crochet, and got a few new items listed. Although I did not get as much done as I felt I needed to I made some progress.

I wanted to write about some other things, but I need to work on the elephant charm bracelet and take some photos.

Words Of Wisdom

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” ~Dr. Seuss

Amigurmi :)

I recently bought from this wonderful shop that has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I am SO impressed and happy with my purchase!
I ordered this beautiful yarn bowl.



It is the perfect size and weight. Even more beautiful than the picture shows! Although I must say her pics are FAB!
Def worth checking this shop out!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/DarriellesClayArt

I ordered it two days ago and it arrived today. The bowl was boxed for perfect safe shipping.
The yarn fits in her perfectly. It stops it from rolling all over the place and better yet.. keeps it from getting tangled!! As a added bonus I can toss my small items that I am always walking around with... ie: tiny scissors, stitch counter (my best friend), invisible thread, and what ever body parts I need to attach.
The piece I bought is here:
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=25469527
She also sells beautiful mugs, jewelry holder, etc.

A note on crocheting and amigurumi:

I recently feel in LOVE with so many of the cute amigurmi items on Etsy. I could not believe the prices though. $20 for a little 3 inch item? Why?
I used to crochet. This was limited. I made a really pretty granny square afghan when i was pretty young. It is purple, white, black, and pink with black linking them together. I'm looking at it now.. all these years later and i STILL love it!
I also went on a beanie hat frenzy about 6 years ago or so. Other than that my crocheting has been nonexistent. I did recall that once i started it was very easy.

So, I have been asking my mother to make me a little octopus or to show me how. I was asking and asking and asking for a couple months. Than one day she came home with a book... I must say i do NOT do instructions. My mother is always able to teach herself creative things (like knitting) by reading the book. I never seem to have any luck. I get easily confused, overwhelmed, and stuck. I than feel angry,and like a failure. However, I looked in the book and OMG there are these sea turtles that i instantly HAD to make. It is a large mama turtle, with two small baby turtles, and some eggs. The turtles fit in the eggs which than fit in the mama turtle! SO CUTE!!! I went and bought the yarn for the turtles right away...

Yet, we talked it over and i am so proud of myself bc i practiced the stitches and learned them first. (I tend to just jump right into things.) Than I decided to make a mushroom. I did this mushroom, literally, 20 times or so. It took days and days... Yet, I read the book by myself and taught myself! It's not real easy to read:
*1sc, 2sc in the next sc*
sk,sc, dec...
yoddi yoddi...
but it is now!

Beginning of a mushroom:


I haven't done the turtles yet, but i have so far made a snail, a couple pears, a apple, a mushroom, a koala bear, a bunny, and a dog hunter!
Some of these have turned out better than others, but with each piece i get faster and learn more. I've been learning about yarn and what types of yarn I like to use.

Finished mushroom:


Needless to say I now understand WHY a 3 inch item can cost $20!
I personally love the larger items. Looking forward to making some humanoid creatures, animals, monsters, and food.
The great thing is that although I've still only done a handful of pieces, I'm already able to adjust my items and am starting to design my own pieces.

This is Calvin the koala :)
I do need to re shoot him (hopefully tomorrow...) he has a tiny piece of black yarn on his cheek that was fixed...



If you would like to see some of my amigurumi please check out my etsy shop
http://www.etsy.com/shop/vee41dmb

A Quickie

I did it. I erased my writing. It was not keeping with the title of this entry.
So.. in order to keep with the title and also get some sort of sleep... it's 3:30am.
I will leave you with this.
This is a dodo...




not to be confused with a dildo....



i know i'm not the only one that links those two in my head...
on that happy note, good nite.

P.s please don't be offend, but if ya are this probably isn't the blog you want to read... just a heads up ;)

Big Crumbs, FREE promoting, and me!

I spent part of the early morning trying to tackle some of my 400 emails. While doing so i found a older etsy email. In it i read a article about www.bigcrumbs.com
The author said that his wife had a etsy shop and that helped him create this site. It is FREE to join. You can add your amazon, etsy, or ebay shop for FREE. Thus, increasing the traffic to your site.

This sounds a bit too good to be true right? Kind of, but not really. I went ahead and joined. You can indeed add your shop for FREE and it is VERY easy to do. The point of it is that you can than offer deals on items in your shop. It links right to your etsy item. These can be deals offered through big crumbs only, or sales you are having in your shop. There are NUMEROUS boxes to check for things such as : clearance, money off, free shipping, new customer, etc. You can set a date for how long the item will run as a sale too! Again, this is all FREE.

When you join they ask you for a referal. If you do not put one in they assign you to a person. If you are going to join please put me in as your referal. Vee41Dmb. also please go ahead and friend me so i can see what you are offering!



You do not have to buy anything from the site. However, you can shop the other etsy deals, ebay, etc. Along with brand name stores.. When you shop with them they pay you. I am not sure ezactly how that works yet, but it looked very simple. Again, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SHOP OR BUY ANYTHING TO JOIN AND PROMOTE YOUR SHOP!

This seems like a great tool! FREE advertising and it could be for things you ALREADY have on sale in your shop! I went ahead and listed 3 deals. My deals are going to run for a total of ten days. I made the exclusive to the site, because i want to see if i get any new business from it!

I have listed these three deals:
free shipping on this beautiful Luck Be A Lady Bracelet!
only 90$ for ALL THREE pieces in my owl always love you collection! free shipping
and ten dollars off of my Winter wonderland charm bracelet! free shipping



Check out the site and share your thoughts with me!
Please remember to list me as a referal. Also, if you already belong let me know!

Remembrance

I am pretty upset at the moment, much more than I'd like to admit. This is my first negative experience on etsy. I need to just write it and get it out. I'd also like to hear anyone else's thoughts on the manner.

Recently my younger cousin died. I made this beautiful necklace and wore it to his wake. I never wear any of the jewelry I am selling. I did however, consider keeping this piece. I probably would have done so, if I could bear to put it back on after the wake. I named it Remembrance and listed it on etsy.

Shortly after I became involved with hearts for Haiti. I was looking to start my own foundraiser event in the forums to help join stores for the cause. I even started my own thread, and than someone came in and directed me to Hearts for Haiti. heartsforhaiti.etsy.com where 100% of the donations minus paypal and etsy fees where going to doctors without borders. We have -together- raised over $25,000! This is after fees. I am on the admin team for facebook www.facebook.com/heartsforhait.
I also helped to list items and support the shop. If you haven't checked the shop out i HIGHLY encourage you to do so. It is a collection of over 1,000 items currently for sale that have been donated by many etsy shops. The person donating the item also ships it for free. There are items for every age, taste, sex, and price range. It is also GLOBAL!

I feel better now just writing about hearts for haiti and all the wonderful people who have pulled together! There own shops have gone neglected, their personal time nonexistant, all to help others. THANK YOU!

Even if you may not shop etsy (and my next question is WHY?? you ODVIOUSLY haven't seen the site...) perhaps you could join the facebook page and pass the word along!

So, back to the problem. Well, I guess it's not that important anymore. It is intresting to see how writing helps put things in perspective. However, now that i've started to tell you the tale.. I reckon I should finish it.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39810987


My dear readers, I donated my Remembrance necklace to hearts for haiti and emailed the lady who had marked it as a favorite to tell her. I never thought she'd buy it. I was more hopeful that she would check out the shop and pass the word along.
To my amazement and delight she bought it :) Thank you Mindielee. Her shop can be found here if you would like to show some love: mindielee.etsy.com
Such a sweet thing to do :) Thank you again!


I left the necklace in my shop and changed the listing. I wrote that it was not for sale, and why it was still in my shop. I felt it was a good example of my work and also would help draw people to hearts for haiti. I had over 700 views, and a bunch of hearts.

Today, while i was changing a few things I noticed that I only had 25 items for sale- not 26. First thing i felt was confusion. I'm not yet used to making sales, and it's not the first thing that comes to mind. I hate to admit that, but I'm being honest here. Than I was like "holy shit!! DID I MAKE A SALE!??!" So i rushed over to the good overfilled aol box and there it was...

Someone had BOUGHT my Remembrance necklace! I was a bit confused and wrote them.. THan i read the address and wrote them again. Apparently, they believe it is a "spam" listing...

here is the email and seller, because I won't post it in the forum.


Dear vee41dmb,
Congratulations on your sale at Etsy! You sold 1 item to xartic.

Message from xartic:
The buyer did not leave a message.

Here are the details about this transaction:
Item: Remembrance- SOLD SEE BELOW - HEARTS FOR HAITI (quantity: 1)
Transaction ID: 24890052
Item price: $100000.00
Shipping cost: $4.00


Total Sale: $100004.00 (USD)
Payment Type: PayPal
Shipping Address:
Upsetby Spamlistings
123 Getoutahere Pl
Leetonia OH 44431
Country: United States

If you would like to contact the buyer, send an email to etsyxartic@webcosmos.com
or start a Conversation (Etsy's internal messaging feature) with xartic.

If you have received this email, but you were not involved in this transaction,
please contact us at support@etsy.com.

Wishing you continued success,

The Etsy Team


Odviously, they have not paid for the item. I did go ahead and relist.
I just found the whole thing to be hurtful and mean.
Any thoughts are welcome here.

Also, this is a photo of my younger cousin.
You will be missed and loved.


http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#/group.php?gid=158336054954

I have recently recieved my first larger painting by my fav etsy artist. Brain collins. It reminds me of my cousin's parents when they were younger. I had just made my last payment when we heard news of his death. It reminds me of the three of them every time I look at it. Please check out Brians work at: briancollins.etsy.com

Out of Death Comes Life

Todays is the two year anniversity of my cousin "Big Mike"'s death. It affected my family dynamic in so many ways. I watch his little girl grow up everyday and i am so thankful for that. She is beautiful.

Drugs and alchol have always been a part of my life. They have always surrounded me, and often the way i feel was built around their influence. Although I have done a fair share myself (what does that mean? a "fair" share? what amount would be fair.. hmm... random thought on the common phrases used in english language here) it was often not their direct influence on me that affected me most, but instead the hold they have over others I love.

My cousin died of drug related causes at a very young age. He left behind miss Kyra who is now 7. It is sad, but through his death he has given his daughter, and other very dear to my heart a chance to truely live. I thank him for that.

He was always a bit of a brute. He wanted to be gangster and embraced ghettoness. However, I know this to be a front. I know what it's like to grow up feeling that you never truely fit in anywheres. He had to make himself larger than life. He threw his weight around and acted tough, because he had to. When you grow up ghetto there are few choices. You can either embrace the ghettoness, as many in todays culture are now taught to do, or you can feel the shame. I know for a fact that either way you feel the shame. The front is really just that- it's a way to not show the shame.

I remember our poker games. I remember going to the casino. I remember when we were little and when he'd come to my house we'd stay awake in our room while the adults played poker. Who would have thought that someday that would be us. Jack 7 all the way!

As for myself, I have straddled that line and struggled with it. I often felt that I did not fit in with the ghetto part of my life. I do not fit in with those who have given up hope, nor with those that embrace they are "from the hood". I do not want to see children raised that way, because their parents knew no better. I have always been the book nerd. The really smart girl who always felt like she was overlooked and stood no chance. The girl who hated that she was smart, because she just wanted to be left alone. The girl who never felt she had any options to do anything with her smartness. I am the girl who befriends the professors, who reads insanely, and who can't ever turn her mind off. I am the girl who drives her self crazy, thinking she is so, when really she's so sane it's unbelievable. It seems as though I have been resented, due to my intelligence. That to some I seem like I am stuck up. This is so far from the truth, and has always caused me much pain. When I am hanging out with the professors it is as though they could never fully grasp the other "ghetto" part of me. It is straddling a wall and trying not to fall. Remembering where you come from and why. Learning to grow as a person and embrace your intellect, and learning to use that intellect to inspire others. It is believing that although we are products of our enviroment, we are also products of ourselves.

Mike, I miss you. I am thankful for the life you have given to others. I feel you died for a cause, and yes I am grateful for that. Thank You.

The Begining

I have been putting of writing this blog for months now. I am a perfectionist and often it is dehabilitating. I have been wondering, as i often do, how to even start. Will I have anything to write about? What do I truely want to say? This may seem funny to those of you who know me. I always seem to have something to say, and it is often unconvential. I think in writing.
What I have decided is that I will make this a postive thing. Although, life is rough at times and there is always reason to complain, I truely believe it is a life worth living, full of wonder, amazement, and love. These are the things I would like to write about. I believe if you think postive than your actions will be also. I do not believe in that you should sugar coat things, or live a life of ignorance though.
In the last few years of my life I have been slowly, but surely coming into myself. I know I am a senstive, smart, honest, and strong woman. I know what I am looking for in a partner and a lover. I know what mistakes I have made in my life, where they have lead me, and why. I will not apologize, feel guilty, or displace my anger for factors beyond my control through self loathing and self hate.
This is my blog. These are my thoughts, random or not, but always honest. If you would like to read along on my journey of self discovery, and creativity you are welcome to. I do not have anything to hide, as I truely belive if you were more open and honest with ourselves and each other we would be a more productive, exploritive, and humane society.
Your comments and thoughts are always welcome, and I hope you feel comfortable enough to share them.
Welcome to my world.
Vee*