many thanks

Those of you who read what I post (and I thank you, as I know it may get boring!) have probably seen that a dear friend of ours recently left for Afghanistan. As a member of Soldiers' Angels, I am no stranger to sending care packages to the sand box, but I've never had to send one to someone as close to me as this. So I decided Etsy was a natural choice in searching for some great deals on items to put into care packages. In the process, I ended up with 3 really great items, from 3 super awesome people! I wanted to give a little shout out to them, as a thank you for being so kind & generous in your offers!

First up is countrymunchkins, who stepped in to offer some yummy suckers at only 50 cents each! Wow! Our friend is a big fan of sour candy, so I ordered some sour apple suckers for his packages :) You can check out country's shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6931041

Next up is scrubsfordirtcheap, who generously offered a trade in exchange for an awesome felt checker board! Lightweight & portable, this will be awesome entertainment! You can check out scrubs' shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7301302

Last but not least...sygnetcreations. She convo'd me & we ended up chatting via convos for a while, and she shared her blog with me. She comes from a military family and understood completely the challenges we face as friends of a soldier :) She generously offered a trade for a fabulous neck pillow (I chose camo, natch lol) and you can see her shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243668

A special thanks to all of you for your kindess & generosity :)

who loves earrings?

I would love to get rid of some earrings to make a little room in my shop :) I've posted my sale in the shop announcement, on forums, even in the BNR I'm a part of...no bites yet, though!

I'm offering 20% off all earrings! All you have to do is put "20" in the notes to seller at checkout, but don't pay--let me invoice you the updated amount :) Be sure to check it out!

Also, I wanted to let all you Etsy peeps know about this great BNR I'm a part of. We are the Booty babes (fun, right?)! It's such a wonderful group of people and I love being a part of it. It's my first BNR and so far it's been so wonderful meeting such cool people and supporting one another. I encourage you to check it out & join us, you can find our thread here:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6224167

A special shout out to MonkeyThreads, who found me in a chat one night & got me to join! You can see her shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5098017

Hope to see y'all soon!

it is what it is

Hey everyone! Hope all is well in your worlds. I've been hard at work coming up with some new pendants that will involve old keys, as well as some bead bowls...more to come on that! Gotta get something worth picturing up here first :) I had a mad rush on Etsy around my birthday and that quickly died! Traffic to my shop is slow, and I'm not sure if I am doing something wrong or if it's just that way every where?

Anyway, tonight my heart is heavy. A dear friend of my husband's & mine is headed to Afghanistan for his first deployment. I'm trying to be strong for my hubby, who is much more upset than I am. He had to sign as a witness on his will today, and it just really hit home for him. Our friend has asked that we keep his spirits high by sending packages regularly as soon as we are able...so I have posted an alchemy request on Etsy hoping there are some kind people out there who are able to offer some goodies to round out the packages for a small price...we'll see :) I know times are hard, but it can't hurt to try, right?

Godspeed my friend & come home to us soon! We love you!

at last...

...I finally have some new items up! Two of them are the magazine bowls I've been working on; trying to do each in one color :) I think they've turned out pretty & fun so far! Let me know what you think. This has--to be frank--been a horrible, horrible week...so I haven't gotten as much done as I wanted. I'm still working on more of the single color bowls and am thinking of putting together gift baskets in them as well. Thoughts? Comments? I like to hear from you!

just wanted to say...

...it's my birthday! Wow :) I can't believe I am 27. Not old, I know, but it has gone by sooooo fast! I truly feel like it couldn't have been more than a year or two ago that I graduated h.s.--ha! Time flies...Hope everyone has a great day! I hope to have some pics of the new magazine bowls soon!

keywords...

So forgive me, because I forgot whose blog I was reading...but someone posted on how funny the keywords were that directed people to their Etsy shop. So I had not ever even LOOKED at mine, and thought...hmmm. Not all of mine are as funny, but they are...interesting. I'll keep the original spellings/grammar/punctuation/etc. Makes me wonder if my tags actually serve a purpose lol :)

1. 1980s pleats
2. screw cancer
3. shhh its a surprise
4. beside the white chickens
5. cookies "eat me" alice wonderland (REALLY? what the heck)
6. drop crotch knit pants
7. hamburger eraser
8. knee high leather boots
9. pin up bathroom
10. virgin mary plaster mold

work(s) in progress...

While the hubby is away, I'm trying to be super productive in my crafting...unfortunately I think I've done more laundry and dishes than crafts! lol :) Anyway, I've decided to make a few smaller magazine bowls in certain colors...so instead of doing random colors or just newsprint style bowls like I have in the past, I'm going to try to stick to one color. Last night I made an adorable little bowl in greens that turned out super cool! (the camera is dead for now, pics coming!)

My philosophy behind doing this is two-fold: first and foremost, the single color allows it to fit more into someone's home or gift theme; secondly, I'm able to make them smaller which means less expensive...so hopefully, *more* sales! I've only ever sold 2 of these bowls...They are quite time consuming to make and require lots and lots of glue and Mod Podge and PATIENCE :) I'm also debating making them into small gift baskets--the bowl, a bar of soap, maybe a pair of earrings...we'll see. I'm open to possibilites, so if any of you have ideas, Share!!!

sale! sale! sale!

Hey readers! I'm having a sale in my shop, today thru 11:59 p.m. on my birthday--7/13! Take 13% off your purchase of $10 or more (before shipping)! Just put "birthday sale" in the notes to seller! Go shopping! :) Nothing better than birthday sales, right? I'm also in the process of marking down more items! Have a look :)

booth

Here's some pictures of my little booth space at the local shop where I have my soap...It's taking shape, slowly. I welcome your comments, as well as any ideas you may have on improving it visually! I just got my first check today for sales, and while it was tiny, I must say it's quite gratifying as well!

about me!

I realized not only has it been a while since I blogged (I'm super slack, pardon me), but I've never really told y'all much about me :) So here's some random tangents that may or may not make complete sentences (but do further illustrate 'me' lol) about myself...

I am southern, born and raised in Greenville, SC and live within 5 minutes of both the house I was born in and the one I grew up in. I am married, and I love my hubby with all my heart. He's my rock. Supporter. Confidante. Best friend. I am: stubborn. fiercely loyal. left handed. natural born redhead (yes, I got the temper too). creative. a spaz. a handful (according to numerous friends). my mother compares my energy & talking speed to a whirling dervish (google, friends). sarcastic. an only child that is loved a lot but definitely is not and was not ever a brat. a nerd. former band geek. bookworm. clutterbug. still best friends with perhaps the first 2 friends I ever made in my life (think toddler age). I love: cheese fries. ranch dressing. grapes. Dr. Pepper. pink. the beach. loud music. football. cars. reading. crafting. creating. driving. road trips. Charleston. hearing drums. animals, especially dogs (I have 5). summer nights. thunderstorms. Vera Bradley. pink punky things. taking pictures. God, above all else. I am terrified of: any and all bugs. not much for frogs either. heights. the idea of being pregnant (mucho kudos to every mother out there!). losing someone I love. My pet peeves: too many to list (I'm anal like that). My role models: my grandmother (love you MaMa). my parents (married 41 years and counting).

I could probably go on for days. I hope this paints a vivid picture for you! More to come...