I ♥ Your Blog

A HUGE thank you to Debra over at Needlesfabricandthread for this award!! It really made my day!

NOw I am nominating 7 other blogs.

These are just a small samplin of the blogs that I read regularly. Some are etsy. Some are friends. Some are Book Club.

1. True Tales of a Hairwrecker

2. Papergirlproductions

3. Sew-Gracious

4. Jen the Mom

5. Fabriquer

6. Home is where your pillow is

7. Libraryqueue

Here are the rules for the nominees: 1) Add the logo of the award to your blog 2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you 3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs 4) Add links to those blogs on your blog 5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs!

Thanks again Debra!

An Utterly FABULOUS give-away

Sew Gracious is having a giveaway.

Be sure to check it out!!

You can win THIS tote bag.

Just go to her blog post HERE, read the directions and leave a comment.

I already own one of her tote bags and it is FABULOUS. This is a giveaway you dont want to miss.

I get compliments on it just about every day.

I also have my eye on her BUDS tote.

So get on over to Sew Gracious and check out her blog, her etsy shop and her giveaway. You wont regret it.

She is amazing!!

ETSY, It's all about YOU!

1. I was sad to learn about the closing of etsytools.
There is always one idiot who has to ruin it for someone.
So whoever sent the death threat because you couldnt get your way on a FREE site, you are an asshat and I hope you get hit by a bus.


2. I am listing some of my photocards on Blueboygifts. I have one listed but will be listing more.
They are a 5x7 card with envelope. They can be framed or used as a card in general.
they sell for $4
Blank on the inside they are a wonderful all occasion card.

3. Why is it so darn hard to snag a treasury?



4.I found this little number from momscott over at etsy. Isn't it FABU?!?!?!? I put it on my fave's and am watching it with an eagle eye. It is Hill Tribe silver. I can see this on my wrist for casual, dress up and every day. I LOVE this bracelet. You can see the listing here.


5. Please buy 68$ worth of products from me so I can buy said bracelet. HAH!




6. Sew Gracious has done it again. I am sitting here having purse lust. I LOVE the purse I bought from here back in February. I take it everywere, I get compliments on it every day. I want one of each. So beware Sewgracious, you have a customer for life. Listing for this little beauty is here.


7. Now go buy $40 worth of products from me so I can buy said purse.




8. Check out The Storque. Their Etsy Success Stories are very inspiring. Makes us realize we can ALL be etsy success stories. They featured Moop, and I am ready to go gung ho!



9. No go buy all my stuff so I can be an etsy success story!

P.S. On a personal Note, HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY to my brother Patrick (sunshine)

ETSY and Martha Stewart

WOW! Another GREAT promotion for ETSY!!

On Leap Day, Rob(founder of etsy), was on the Martha Stewart Show, talking about etsy and what a great showcase it is for artisans around the world.

With him he had brought a large number of items from various shops and stores, and helped show the world exactly what etsy is and what we stand for as a whole.

ETSY: a worldwide marketplace for sellers to sell their HANDMADE goods of every kind. Of course there are the vintage and supplies categories, but generally everything on etsy is made and crafted by hand. There are over 100,000 sellers on etsy, and over 750,000 members total. They sell an average of 15,000 products A DAY.

I will say I have done both ebay and etsy, and I vote ETSY all the way. ebay is overfiltrated with junk and mass produced crap and people are only trying to score a deal. They may charge you 99 cents for the item and then 30$ for shipping to avoid paying fees. It is ludicrous. But on etsy, everything is handmade. shipping fees are generally actual shipping costs. You may pay a little more, but you know you are getting quality and something handmade, not mass produced. Many times when you buy an etsy item you are getting a one of a kind, not to be found anywhere else item.

Here are 2 things I have recently gotten from etsy:

This awesome totebag/purse from sewgracious

I LOVE this bag. I had a whole post devoted to this bag awhile back. I get compliments on it wherever I go, and I DEFINATELY could not have found it in a department store.

This boro lampwork glass pendant called "daisy".

Thanks to flamekist for this AWESOME pendant. Sterling silver bail fused onto a a gorgeous daisy pattern lampwork glass pendant.

the packaging it came in was almost as pretty as the pendant itself!!

I am in love with this pendant, and am off to the jewelry store today to find a silver chain on which to hang it.

Watching Martha, and seeing all the talent on her stage, I was really proud to be a member of etsy.

I am Blueboygifts, where I mainly sell polymer clay pendants, jewelry, greeting cards and crochet items. It took me a full month to get my first sale, I felt really bad about myself and my crafts. I didnt realize that I needed to promote my items and my shop and that posting does not equal sales. So I started participating in the forums more, offering free shipping in promotions on certain items, relisting and renewing regularly and the sales started coming. Then I responded to a forum thread posted by Matt from admin. He liked my story and asked me to be a featured seller. It was a huge blessing to be featured , (September 2006) which really helped me gain exposure. To date I have sold almost 500 items as blueboy.

Then in January of 2008, I decided to open my SECOND shop Thebalmshoppe.

Granted I have to get my name out there(AGAIN) but it is totally worth it. I have bath and body products, balms, salts and more. I currently have several batches of soap curing that I cant WAIT to list!!

So thank you to Martha Stewart, for helping get the name of etsy out into the public. Thank you for showing america that they can buy quality, beautiful and unique items from artists and crafters all over the world and not mass produced junkyard crap you find on OTHER sites.

It was funny to me as I was watching: As the camera's panned over the items I was telling my husband "Oh Look, thats Black Apple!", "Oh there's Littleput!" or "I recognize Janine King Designs anywhere!" and "Don't you LOVE those popsicle soaps by LoveLee??" I have come to recognize many etsyans by their products and by their style and flair.

Thank you to etsy as well. Being a member has given me the chance to step outside my comfort zone and succeed where I didnt think I had a chance. It has given me focus and a goal. It has helped me define who I am as a crafter and what i want to be as a businessperson.

It has shown me that I can achieve anything I want, if I put the work into it.

It's mine Mine MINE!!! Thanks to the pictures.

HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THIS TOTE???? Well ladies and gentlemen it is off the market. This beauty was purchased by me this morning. Jealous, aren't you?? I can hear you saying to your self "Oh, how cute! I want that too!!" Well you cant, it's mine. (sticking tongue out in taunting fashion)

but in all seriousness: Do you want to know why I chose THIS particular tote?? (apart from the awesome colors and fabric that are totally my personality) There are MANY talented purse and bag makers on etsy, but ultimately the deciding factor to chose sewgracious was her pictures. The bag is AWESOME, her shop is clean and her pictures are bright. There were other bags I liked as well, but the pictures were too dark and I couldnt see exactly how bright and beautiful the fabric was, and the different views of the bag. Sewgracious has it dead on perfect. She shows you the front, back, inside, pockets everything. Her descriptions are thorough, her pictures are bright and beautiful and you can see just how professionally sewn her bags look. You can see every seam, every line, every inch of her bags. I Like that. I think most people appreciate that, and if pictures sold purses, she would be a millionaire.

I wont lie I spent a good 48 minutes and 27 seconds perusing "tote bags" and "Amy Butler tote bags". There were PAGES and PAGES of totes and purses and handbags (along with tag abuse items that I immediately flagged. Thats right! I'm in a flaggin mood this morning kids!) I favorited several new sellers, I compared, I hemmed and hawed. This purse was more expensive then 2 others I really liked. Usually I am an advocate of "on sale", "Clearance" or "cheaper". However, in the end, I decided on this beauty from Sewgracious because of the wonderful pictures. They HONESTLY were the deciding factor.

Then my next battle was to choose WHICH bag from Sewgracious. seriously, her shop is to die for. But when I die I will be buried with this bag, so grubby paws off ya vultures!!

http://www.sewgracious.etsy.com/