Etsy Love

Oh Etsy, how I do love thee... I have been a member of Etsy for 7 years now.  It was a fantastic discovery when I stumbled upon it in its beginning days and I believe, even with the many changes it has undergone, it is still a fantastic web site.  I do know many of the stores I have marked as favorites over the years are no longer in business, but many still are and there have been many many more new stores created to fill in the voids.  Please take time to shop around on Etsy.  It is so huge, it can be a little overwhelming, but it is worth the time to get a feel for the site and I can promise you will discover many handmade goodies, made by individual hands, and people whose names you can see and who truly put their heart and soul into there creations.  One place to browse is the Treasury.  I just created a new treasury this week called Spring Romance.  Here is a glimpse:

My Soap Love

I have been using handmade cold-processed soap for a few years now.  I discovered handmade soap when I first fell head over heads for a website called Etsy.  It was around 2006 when I came across Etsy and fell in love with the Handmade Movement.  I also became really interested in trying to go more natural in the products I was using in my home.  I kept coming across some scary facts about the different chemicals found in the products we are constantly exposing ourselves too.  One thing that I found was easy to try and turned out to be a very beneficial change was body soap.  Something about knowing that the product I use was created from scratch from simple ingrediants by an actual individual who I can email by name gives me a sense of comfort.  Also, having tried MANY bath and body products throughout life, I honestly can say cold-processed soap is the BEST soap I have ever used.  I would like to highlight two handmade soap makers who I have bought many bars of soap from and have never had a bad experience.  One of these is a local Virginia soap maker: Old Dominion Soap Company.  The soap sold by this shop is simple, inexpensive, but at the same time, FABULOUS!   The SimplyPom soap is my favorite, but the olive oil soaps and specialty soaps are just as lovely.  And, my favorite product of their's is the hemp oil lotion, which has been a miracle worker for my eczema ridden skin.  The second shop is an etsy shop called KBShimmer.  This shop is full of lots of fun and wonderful products, all that I have tried have been awesome.  But the soap is so fun and full of scent and color, great as a gift, and so fun in your own shower.  Give handmade soap a chance.  Know where your money is going, know what less packaging and simple ingrediants can mean for our Earth.

Handmade In the Bathroom

I love handmade soaps.  Well, to be honest, I love not only handmade soaps but also handmade lotions bath bombs, body scrubs... the list goes on.  And a great place to shop for these is on Etsy.
I have bought from KB Shimmer and absolutely adored all the goodies I received.  Check out these from her store:

Top Picture: Pink Sugar Bath Bombs Set of 3

Middle Picture: Good Morning Citrus 9oz Jar Sugar Body Polish Scrub

Bottom Picture: Rosemary Mint Essential Oil Soap

Just a few of the pros of buying handmade bath products: 

Direct sales, straight from creator to buyer

Less packaging

A complete ingrediant list

Contact with the creator so all questions can easily be answered

Fabulous customer care

Shopping local to support local artisans

Handmade soaps contain glycerine

I think everybody should give handmade soap a try!

Crafting is my obsession...

So when the diynetwork had a run of handmade/handcrafted shows on during the day time hours a couple of years ago, such as B. Original and Creative Juice, I was completely glued to the TV, just soaking it all in.  So, thanks to that and my love of Etsy and youtube videos and crafting web pages, my brain is bursting with snippets.  And the problem with my snippets, they never have the pertinent info that makes it possible for me to locate the information again, ugh!  Like the name of the artist, or even which show it was on.  I once saw an episode that was on book binding, it was filmed at the artist's studio and she made incredible books and I loved her technique.  I want to try something similar, and I think I remember enough of what I saw to make it work, but I would LOVE to see the video again, just to have her name to show off her books to all of you.  I have searched Google, HGTV and youtube but no luck.  Oh, if only I could get paid for the time I sspend searching for things on the internet.  It really is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, only the haystack is the size of Texas!

PS Did you know Cathie Filian has a shop on Etsy?  How cool is that?

Who doesn't love a sale?

Have you searched "Sale" on etsy lately? It is a fun way to spend an evening Christmas shopping. So many fabulous deals on such amazing products! Check out these finds:

This fabulous pillow by floradora for only $10:


This gorgeous purse from ReFabulous on sale for $32:

And this stunning necklace by acornbeach, a steal at $20:

I hope you take a little holiday shopping time to browse etsy. The treasures are bountiful and well worth the extra effort to dig up.

Warning! Potential Cuteness Overload

Hey, I warned you, LOL. These are just the most adorable little faces!!! So much fun searching baby knit on etsy.

Links for images starting top, left corner:

• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17614996
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17614575
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17610118
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15889747
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17528547
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17603777
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17599784
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12824536
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16963845
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17484533
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17594980
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17294551
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17592672
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16608748
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17575413
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17177015

Birthday Goodness!!!

Well, my birthday was on the 16th so I think it is high time to give a report of the birthday goodness that took place. I do believe I had a fabulous birthday! I mentioned in the post before this that I got an awesome CD from hubby and kids, but I did not mention I also got cheesecake... yum!!! As for my picks on etsy:

I got this beautiful necklace from the fabulous accessoryalamode

I am getting it stamped with "Trust in the Lord" and a pink pearl in the middle.





I also bought myself this cute tote from Midnightcreations









And, one of my favorite gifts was from my mom, BUTTONS!!




And I used those cool vintage beads to make these earrings:




which can be found in my etsy store.

WooHoo! I won something!

Yay! I am so excited to win something! I won an awesome key fob from Sew Much Detail.
There are lots of awesome shops being shown off on the Fabulous Fun Finds blog. I highly recommend checking it out.

Buyer Show and Tell in Virtual Labs

I attended a virtual lab yesterday that was a Buyer Show and Tell. It was great fun to talk about wonderful finds I have found on etsy but I was upset more people did not show up. We created the above treasury by showing off favorites... which I love to do. I am finding it difficult to find a place to talk shopping on etsy. Things get buried immediately in the promotions forum. I can post finds here but I like to "talk" about things. I find that it is fun to make treasuries to show off my finds, but these days, with well over 1000 treasuries out there, it is difficult to even wade through that area of etsy.
I am definitely more of a buyer than a seller, but the etsy community seems to be mostly for the sellers.
So, if you like to talk shopping on etsy, and you have found a fun place to do it, let me know. Also, if you are a buyer, please check the virtual lab schedule and check out the next buyer show and tell. It is tons of fun to make a treasury and show off the really unique things you have found while shopping.

Poor, mis-treated blog

I have been a terrible blogger! The summer has been so hectic and recently I have been on a crafting hiatus, not really by my own choosing, just not feeling very inspired these days. Also, it does not help that my craft room is still turned upside down from some major redecorating and re-organizing that I can never seem to get finished.
As for the book Last Child in the Woods, I started it, and it is so good, but it brought me quickly back to my days as a Wildlife Management Major at Virginia Tech and my anti-textbook gene kicked in and I was immediately put to sleep. I don't know why things like dates and historical facts are an instant cure for my insomnia. But, I quickly remembered the many unfinished/dropped college classes and decided to try the book again later.
Instead, I have read Redeeming Love (which was one of the best books I have read in a while) and Sundays at Tiffanys (which was great light reading for vacation).
I am feeling the summer burnout and am so ready for fall. I am hoping the recent cooling spell we have had will get my crafting juices flowing. Also, I have two kids getting ready to go back to school. I hope that will help... but, then again, I have just applied for a part time job at my church, so that may completely turn my world in another direction. I just wish decisions were easier for me.

Buy Handmade: Etsy Cards

There is an amazing selection of handmade cards on Etsy.com, so I wanted to take a moment to point out four etsy artists who make amazing cards. I also want to encourage you to buy handmade cards as opposed to the mass produced cards available in the stores. You may ask: Why buy handmade?

Here is a great link for info on that: http://www.buyhandmade.org/why-buy-handmade

Also, on that site, you can make a pledge to buy handmade.

For me personally, it means so much to me that I am buying something that involved the hands of an individual, and that dedication and passion goes into each card. Also, when buying handmade, especially cards, you are buying individual works of art. The makers of these cards put a little of themselves into each card. You are not buying a cookie cutter illustration that has been over-analyzed and over-tweaked by industry people. you are buying something that comes from thew soul of an individual.

Another reason, the price of store cards continues to rise. Why pay such a large sum of money for a mass-produced card when you can get so much more for the same amount of money.

I have highlighted four card makers from etsy and I encourage you to check out their stores and buy some handmade cards.

twiddlestix designs

fresh line illustration and design

moonmum

pixiepaper

Please check out these terrific artists.

Attn Etsy Shoppers: Tonight is SNS Night!!!!

I love to shop on Etsy!!! I am probably more of a buyer than a seller seeing that I have 54 purchases and only 15 sales. I am obviously not breaking even here, LOL! So, I am always shocked at the fact that the SNS goes relatively unnoticed by buyers only. I am not speaking of all buyers, but I think quite a few buyers do not venture into the forums so I think they miss this awesome opportunity to shop handmade on sale. That is a shame because the deals to be had on the SNS thread are awesome!! And, if you venture into the SNS Companion thread in the Etc forum, you will find that sellers are actually giving away free things.... I'm dyin' if I'm lyin' (little Jerry Clower impersonation there). So, buyers, please come check out the SNS thread tonight and do a little handmade bargain shopping. I will come back later with the link to tonight's thread.
Come and shop the SNS Sale Thread!!

Free laughs on Etsy.com

I know when I talk about etsy.com to some of my friends, they just don't get it, including my husband. They think I am a tad obssessed. But, honestly, window shopping on etsy can make you laugh out loud. The people on that site are comic geniuses. These cards by GenObata are just amazing. First of all, his cat Lilly is so expressive. Her expressions alone make me laugh. But then her as a giant feature in these familiar tourist images just is so funny. I love everything about these cards and think they would be perfect for every occassion. Check out GenObata's shop and check out all of the places Lilly has visited in her travels.

Look what is coming my way!!

WooHoo!! I have been drooling over this for a while now. Then I saw a post by shellieartist that she was going to give away a free print with her 100th purchase. Well, that sealed the deal for me. Forget the buying freeze, I jumped off that wagon at a break-neck speed and headed straight to shellie's shop. I bought the above barn original and now I have a free print headed my way also!!!

Her work is gorgeous! This little ACEO I bought a little while ago:

was just enough to make me KNOW I needed more. I am so thrilled with it.

My front living room is decorated with a farm house theme and the barn original will fit fantastically. Also, shellie's work reminds me alot of my surroundings growing up. Here is a picture from the area around where I was raised:



As you can see, I am an outdoorsy type of girl, so shellie's work really speaks to my heart.
Check out shellie at her etsy shop

Awesome play food purchase

I have read and heard a lot of scary things about plastic over the last year. Also, I have been trying to simplify and make changes leading to a more simple way of living, including my children's toys. I really am finding that toys that do less encourage the children to do more. Well, the burger I purchased from handsewn has been awesome for the kids to play with. This is the best burger ever! The kids have had so much fun taking it apart and building different types of burgers. Each ingrediant has been created perfectly. The pickles and onions are adorable and the swiss cheese makes me giggle every time I see it. I highly recommend this toy for children!! Also, because of the fuzzy texture, they are so much more careful at "pretending" to eat. With the plastic food, they are constantly shoving it in their mouths, but with this burger and the ice cream cones I bought from handsewn they actually pretend to eat it. Please check out this store!!