My new Janome!!!!!!

I'm so excited, I'm about to hyperventilate!
I complain at home and to friends all the time about my sad sewing machine. It actually belongs to my mother. She bought it YEARS ago at Big Lots. It was one of those super cheap Singer "specials" that they have sometimes. Anyhoo, she has left it at my house all these years. I don't think she has ever used it - even 1 time.

So when I started sewing again last year, of course I used it - because I don't actually have a machine. Or I didn't :)

Well, as thankful as I am to have a machine to sew on, it's a really crummy machine. Singer used to be the best brand out there but according to all the reviews I've been reading the past few days, that has really changed. Now they are not very reliable and poorly made. My machine won't even sew more than 3 layers of thin cotton fabric without having to manually manipulate the needle and pull the fabric through. It's very frustrating.

So every spring I usually do the Azalea Trails Arts and Crafts show in our area and I do really well at it. I had planned to use that money to buy a new machine. But I couldn't - and why you ask?? Because it snowed! The show was snowed out.

But my DH (who I love tremendously) has helped me scrap enough money together to get a new machine. I had exactly $400 to spend ($50 was a b-day gift from my in-laws - THANK YOU!)I did tons of research over the last few days, read a bunch of threads, looked at prices. I found a Singer with lots of bells and whistles but also lots of bad reviews from buyers who hated it. It was tempting to buy because who doesn't want bells and whistles? But I didn't want to get stuck with another crummy machine.

I finally settled on the Janome DC2010. There is a local store that carries Janome, so I went on by there this morning to check them out. And I bought it!!

It's so awesome! I'm so excited!! I got it for about $30 cheaper than the internet price PLUS I'm getting my old machine serviced for FREE (a $70 value). How about that?

I've got it set up but I think I'm almost too excited to use it. I'm going to take a deep breath and go thread my new machine. YAYYYYYY!!!!

1 more day left for my sale!

Only 1 more day left for my 15% off sale at Handmade Whimzy. All items in my shop are 15% off until midnight, Sunday night.

Also, I'd like to give a shout out to amberike who has included my black flower hair pins in her really pretty etsy treasury. Thanks Amberike! She has some really sweet hair accessories in her shop as well. Check her out.

Click the picture to go to the treasury.

Happy Earth Day!

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.

I've decided to have a sale to celebrate. What better way to celebrate Earth Day than by shopping? LOL

So I'm having 15% off all items at Handmade Whimzy. Sale goes until midnight on Sunday, April 25th.

It's Green in Texas by Gemuine Creations

Steph of GemuineCreations has been busy again! She is on fire with treasuries!

Her latest uses shades of green and features all members of Etsy Texas Crafters. Thanks so much for featuring my Funky Dots apron.

Please check out her treasury and click and comment.

I've been blessed with treasuries!

Clean as a Whistle from Beth at Corkycrafts.

Thanks so much for including my hair pins, Beth! You rock!

Lovely Treasuries

Handmade Whimzy is fortunate enough to be in 4 treasuries this weekend! YAY!

Thanks so much to GemuineCreations, AmysBodyDecor, Bellavioletta, and TexasEagle. You all made gorgeous treasuries with the use of COLOR and they all turned out great! Etsy admin's unfortunate use of the "shade" beige on the front age repeatedly is getting pretty OLD.
I would love to see one of these beautiful, colorful treasuries make the front page.

If you click each treasury, the link will take you to the treasury where you can click each gorgeous item, post a comment or mark some of the sellers as your new favs!

Blushing Beauties

GemuineCreations has created another lovely treasury. Pretty pinks and black and whites.

Thanks so much Stephanie, for featuring my Princess bookmark!

Your treasury is so pretty and definitely front page worthy.

Stephanie's shop is full of pretty handmade jewelry. I love these earrings from her shop.

You can view and click on Blushing Beauties here. Let's all give Gemuinecreations treasury some love!

What we did today

Someone got braces! Cute huh?

Ug. He needs a haircut really bad. But he's pretty excited about the new braces. They're like a new toy - for now. I'm sure in a few months, they won't be as exciting.

A sweet little card

A few weeks ago, I entered a blog giveaway at Etsy Greetings. A cute little card shop named Klow was giving away an all occassion card. It's the prettiest little card with oranges and turquoise and a little crocheted flower.

I just love it.

I was lucky enough to be the winner of this sweet little card. Thanks so much Etsy Greetings and Klow.

If you haven't checked out Etsy Greetings blog, it's definitely worth your while. They feature different team members each week and frequently do blog giveaways. I've found several new "favorite" card shops through them.

Klow has some really cute things in her shop, too. Like this Backpack note set - this would be a perfect gift for a tween who likes to write. She crochetes the flowers that she uses on her cards. You can find them in her other shop - sugaryarn.

I'm Groovy!

Well, I always knew it but now it's official - I'm groovy! LOL

My Amy Butler French Wallpaper Yoga Mask from Handmade Whimzy has been featured at Groovy Gal Designs Online as an April Groovy Find!

Thanks so much Jo Claire!

You can also check out the Groovy Gal shop on etsy. She sells paintings, Aceo's, drawings, graphic designs and more in her etsy shop. Jo has featured some really cool stuff in her Groovy Finds so I'm excited to be in such cool company.

Big Moving Sale

I love crafting but I have discovered that not everything I like to make is a big seller on etsy. I originally opened my Pink Pear Designs shop because I wanted to go in a different direction with my jewelry. I wanted to make vintage inspired romantic pieces. Unfortunately, the jewelry category on etsy is packed full, thus making it hard to get noticed.

So, in order to simplify my life, I've decided to close Pink Pear Designs and just have everything in one shop - Handmade Whimzy. But I'm also going to par down my offerings to just the things that sell the best.

In my Pink Pear Designs shop, I now have a Spring SALE/CLEARANCE section. I'm going to be adding all my necklaces, bracelets and rings to this section and they will all be marked down from 10-50%. The only thing that I will be moving to Handmade Whimzy are the earrings and hair accessories. Anything that doesn't sell before the listing expires, will be taken apart and I will either reuse the supplies or list them in my Whimzy Supplies shop.

This is a little sad for me as I had high hopes for Pink Pear Designs originally. But I don't feel that I can devote the time needed to both shops and it's just easier to have everything in one place.

So check out Pink Pear Designs for some great deals on really sweet, romantic jewelry!

Blue Rose VIntage Inspired Necklace - WAS $26 - NOW $20.80

Marked down 20% off!