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!