Christmas in July Sale and Giveaway

July is here again!!! I am having a Christmas in July sale from now until the end of the month. All my Christmas items are marked down. There are many sellers on Etsy with lots of different Christmas in July sales. Come take a peek! http://www.etsy.com/

So the giveaway!!!! I will be giving away an assortment of 6 Christmas pocket mirrors to one lucky winner. I will choose randomly from all contestants. You get different amounts of entries according to the things that you do.

1. choose your favorite item from my shop and post it here (1 entry)

2. Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter and post here (1 entry)

3. Post about the giveaway on Facebook and post here (1 entry)

4. heart my shop and post here (1 entry)

5. blog about the giveaway and post here (3 entries)

Winner will be chosen on July 31st. Good Luck!!!!!

http://www.flirtbuttons.etsy.com

YOURTIME on ARTFIRE

My friend over at Yourtime body treats just opened up her artfire shop and it includes her bath and body products plus her wire wrapped jewelry. She is having a grand opening sale with 20% off!!!! Also, don't forget that if you purchase $10 or more you can get a free lip balm by typing LIP10 into the message to seller.

You may want to get some of her orange chocolate lip balm I got some in the mail this weekend and I have been wearing it ever since. it is nice and smooth and creamy. It is chocolatey without being too sweet. Smells yummy!!!! Okay, so maybe you need 2 of these. That way you can always find it.

She personally makes every piece of handmade jewelry you see in her shop, as well as each small batch of bath and body products. She uses the finest ingredients she can find such as pure Shea butter, fresh honey from her local beekeepers and extra virgin olive oil from Italy. She buys organic and sustainable supplies wherever she can. Most spa products are completely vegan, and everything is vegetarian.

I say go for it!!!!

CUSTOM WEDDING FAVORS

OHHHHHHH, I was so excited when I saw these posted on Facebook today. I had a customer order 350 4x6 muslin bags and I took her graphics and made a rubber stamp for just her bags. Funny thing is I did not even know they were for a wedding. I don't ask, I just make whatever people want, and happily send it to them. Then I got a phone call from Tudbinks asking about the bags, because they were filling them with some wonderful mints and other herbs. Finally I got 2 and 2 put together and realized they were for a beautiful wedding in Pennsylvania. Actually, quite close to where I grew up. Check out Tudbink's facebook page for more pics.

Here is their website for the property: http://www.helensway.com

Ohhhhh a Giveaway!!!!

Here is a very fun and crafty blog that is having a giveaway from my Flirtdeux shop. Please go check it out. http://sweettidings.blogspot.com/2010/05/sponsor-giveaway-from-flirtdeux.html#comments

Father's Day is on the Way

Gosh, I realize it is Mother's Day weekend already, but did you realize that Father's Day is right around the corner? It is Sunday June 20th to be exact. Fathers can be incredibly difficult to buy for sometimes. How many Lowe's gift certificates can you buy them? I try to make sure that I have several different designs of bottle openers in my shop specifically for men. These bottle openers are inexpensive and super handy. They come on a split ring (keyring) so you can hook them to your keys or hang them from a cooler. Maybe you could get Dad a new cooler filled with his favorite brew and then hook one of these cool bottle openers to it. He'll be ready for everything! http://www.flirtbuttons.etsy.com

ARTBYTRUDY woohooooo!!!!

I was trolling the forums on Etsy and came across a very fun artist named Trudy. She has the cutest avatar, a cat in a bunny costume. She was looking for someone to do some promotion for her. She is an artist and wants to spend her time painting, not selling!!! Which I can completely understand. So, I told her you go paint, I will sell your wares. I have to promote my own shop, why not promote someone else while I am at it. So, here is the deal, You guys go visit her shop and if you buy something, type ART5 in the message to seller and you will get 5% off your purchase!!! And she will know that I sent you to her shop!!!
Okay, so what is sooooo great about Trudy's art??? Well, several things. I love her colors. Bright and beautiful. She lives on an island in Florida and is surrounded with beautiful color all day everyday. She also has a very fun sense of humor and uses great quotes in some of her work.
What style of art is it? well, I consider it to be in the naive style, often referred to as primitive. An example would be Henri Rousseau's art. here is the wiki definition for it:

The term naïve art is often seen as outsider art which is without a formal training or degree. While this was true before the twentieth century, there are now academies for naïve art. Naïve art is now a fully recognized art genre, represented in art galleries worldwide.The characteristics of naïve art are an awkward relationship to the formal qualities of painting. Difficulties with drawing and perspective that result in a charmingly awkward and often refreshing vision, strong use of pattern, unrefined color, and simplicity rather than subtlety are all supposed markers of naïve art. It has, however, become such a popular and recognizable style that many examples could be called pseudo-naïve.Whereas naïve art ideally describes the work of an artist who did not receive formal education in an art school or academy, for example Henri Rousseau or Alfred Wallis, 'pseudo naïve' or 'faux naïve' art describes the work of an artist working in a more imitative or self-conscious mode and whose work can be seen as more imitative than original."Primitive art" is another term often applied to art by those without formal training, but is historically more often applied to work from certain cultures that have been judged socially or technologically "primitive" by Western academia, such as Native American, subsaharan African or Pacific Island art (see Tribal art). This is distinguished from the self-conscious, "primitive" inspired movement primitivism. Another term related to (but not completely synonymous with) naïve art is folk art.

Wedding Season!!!

It is that time of year again when my wedding orders start. I absolutely love making favors for weddings. In my new shop, http://www.flirtdeux.etsy.com/ I have many different designs to choose from for my muslin favor bags. I can also customize them with names and dates etc...

My first wedding order was 150 4x6 muslin bags with lighthouses and seashells on them. The couple is getting married at the beach and wanted to put their goodies in a nice, simple, natural bag. These bags are cotton that has been grown in the United States and then woven and sewn in the United States. That was a big plus for me.

Okay so you like the bags and now you want to know what to do with them. Well, they can be used as just a regular old favor bag. You can put all sorts of little trinkets in them. Candy bars have become popular at weddings, tables full of all different candies. You could have these bags for the guests to take their candy home. One couple is buying bulk tea and filling the bags with that. They have picked out a special quote for me to stamp on the bags. Did I mention these bags are food safe? They are also good for sachets of lavender or herbs.

I sell them in a 4x6 inch size but I have recently ordered 3x5 and also 5x7. If you have any questions you can contact me at my Etsy site. If you look in my profile there, you can find my email address. If you prefer to contact me that way. I have bulk pricing on everything I make, just ask.

Very Cute Muslin bags!

Just wanted to post some more of my 4x6 inch muslin bags. I am having great fun making them. These are perfect for Easter. You can find them and more at my new site: www.flirtdeux.etsy.com Thanks for checking them out.

Guess what I did?????

Hey everyone! I have been on a creative streak for the past 2 months and decided to go wild and start a new shop!!!! Now I am running 2 different shops on Etsy. My new shop is http://www.flirtdeux.etsy.com/ Deux means 2 in French, so it is like an annex of sorts. This shop is all about gift tags, bags and anything else I decide to take a rubber stamp to!!! Or cut on my new Cricut machine. I am out of control with ideas, so please keep checking back on http://www.flirtdeux.etsy.com/ I will be adding to the inventory almost daily. I have been especially working on Easter goodies, because I just adore all the wonderful Easter symbols. Bunnies, chicks, eggs etc.. Everything is just too cute!!!

Meanwhile http://www.flirtbuttons.etsy.com/ is rolling along smoothly and I am adding new goodies and moving things around.

Here is a sale code good for either shop: FLIRT10

Just write that in the message to seller and I will refund your entire purchase 10%, excluding shipping. Good any time you order this year!

New Series of Pocket Mirrors

Hey there,

I decided to make a new series of pocket mirrors. This one has a very antique feel with a touch of Paris thrown in for good measure. I bought several yards of a great antiqued scroll fabric and then stamped french handwriting all over it. On top of that I have stamped several different images, some of which are from my own rubber stamp designs. So far I have a cafe, a skeleton key, a cup of tea/coffee, a damask heart, a fleur de lis and a crown. There will definitely be more, I ordered more stamps!!!

Wedding Favors

I have several gorgeous new fabrics that I have been using to make pocket mirrors for wedding favors. I found this fantastic blonde peacock feather pattern and could not leave the store without it. The blue birds I originally bought just to have a nice all over bird pattern, however, I decided it is sophisticated enough for weddings. I always have my white and black damask and several other colorways of damask. Take a peek in my shop at my wedding section. Thanks for looking!

Valentine's giveaway of my mirrors, over on sweettiding

http://sweettidings.blogspot.com/2010/01/valentine-sponsor-giveaway-dozen.html

Snow in Atlanta, Happy New Year

Well, it snowed in Atlanta. I decided to put some bird seed out on the deck on top of the snow cover. There is a traffic jam out in the bird seed. the tufted tit mice and chickadees are having issues with the giant blue jays. One blue jay out there is the biggest one I have ever seen. My carolina wren just showed up. He hides under the grill and then darts out and gets seeds. 5 blue jays at once, never saw so many. and the cardinals have decided to get in on it. the lil guy, my son, is laughing and pointing. Our cockatoo is named "Sunshine" and he calls all birds, Sunshine. so he points to each one yelling sunshine, sunshine. the redheaded woodpecker just showed up!