Special Edition Mouse Received!

Our special edition Pippi mouse that I bought on Monday from Connie (Refabulous) was received today in the mail.

Here is Sparky the mean cat enjoying her new mouse.

 In this last picture, she's cleaning her ear with one paw and hugging her new mouse with the other.

I usually get her shaved around April of every year but I didn't do it this year.  She's almost 14 and the anesthesia and yearly shots are starting to make her sick, so we skipped those this year.
I know it's a bad idea to not get her shots and all, but she never goes outside and the only other animal that she's ever around is our dog who also never goes outside (unless we make him or he has to pee/poo).
We keep her food and water up on our dryer because our dog would eat it if he could get to it but sometimes she acts like she has trouble jumping up that high.  I think we're going to have to move it down to the floor soon and we're afraid that we'll come home one day and our fat dog will be stuck halfway in and halfway out of the cat door that's in the laundry room door.  It would be just like when Pooh got stuck in Rabbit's door.

I'll be sure to take some pics of that when it happens.  It should be really funny.

Thanks Connie - this mouse is adorable.  I hope Pippi can have her surgery soon.

50% off sale

My big 50% off Clearance sale on scented sachets and hair accessories is still going strong.  You can get some wonderful sachets for your closet or to tuck into a drawer OR perhaps pretty flowers for your hair.

They are all marked 50% off in my etsy shop.  No more will be added, as I'm discontinueing both lines, so shop now!

My pretty new bracelets

I love bead crocheted bracelets. 
They're pretty, easy to wear, and made with about a million tiny seed beads. 
And since I can't do crochet of any kind and have no desire to learn how, I periodically go searching on etsy for someone who does work that I like so that I can buy myself a pretty new bracelet.

And find such a person, I did.  Shortly before Christmas, in fact.  The name of the shop is Morning Sky Jewelry and that's where I bought this sweet chartreuse and white striped bracelet - not to wear for Christmas but because I LOVE bright green and knew it was something that I could wear all year.

Mary Ann sent me my bracelet and I loved it.  It fit perfectly.  It slips right over your hand so there's no clasp to worry about and it's a perfect little bangle.

Then, after Christmas (which was a tad more stressful than usual), I decided to treat myself again with this red "LOVE" bracelet I had been coveting in her shop.  I've worn it for 2 days straight.  I don't even care if it matches what I'm wearing, I just like to wear it.

Ignore the old lady's hands who are modeling my bracelets.  I have no idea who that is but she must have broken into my house and tried on my new bracelets and then taken pictures of them.  :)

So, thanks Morning Sky Jewelry.  My new bracelets make me feel pretty.

My Handmade Card

In my previous post, I showed you my sweet earrings that I got from Ruth (rhradcliffedesigns) for the Mother's day earring swap that I just did.

Well, I also wanted to share a card that I made for Tammy (earlybird454) who I sent earrings to. Tammy, Ruth and I were a 3 way swap - I sent to Tammy, Tammy sent to Ruth and Ruth sent to me. C0nfused yet? LOL

Anyhoo, I spent 2 days working on this card because I'm not very good at making complicated cards. I mean, I can make little, extremely simple, thank you cards and such but when it comes to the more complicated cards, I usually buy them from some of the great paper crafters on etsy.

But over a year ago, I bought this tablet of paper flowers that you punch out and put together and they make pretty paper flower bouquets. I got it really cheap at Tuesday Morning, mostly just because I thought it was cool and I wanted to play with the paper flowers. LOL Remember paper dolls? I LOVED those when I was a kid.

Well, I finally used it! I seem to have trouble with adhesives and paper. I'm sure all the scrapbookers out there know all kinds of secrets about how to glue this stuff together but for some reason, it escapes me. So, I used my really expensive glue that costs $7 (so it must be good) to make this card. I glued it, then weighted it down for a whole day.

So, here it is. Tammy actually used it in some of the pics in her shop, so I know it hasn't fallen apart yet. Maybe that $7 glue is pretty good after all.

P.S. Tammy makes really cute doggie sun visors. Check out her shop if you have a really cute doggie that needs a visor.

I made a large 3-D flower with a yellow button center and a cut-out butterfly. I used pre-sticky ribbon on the bottom of the card. Then I stamped the back. Pretty simple but it still took me 2 days.

And it was fun playing with those paper flowers. :)

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!

GrandmaMarilyns rocks!

I received my Christmas bracelet today that I ordered last weekend from GrandmaMarilyns.etsy.com during her really good Labor Day sale (which also ran over into ETC's 1st Monday sale).

It is gorgeous!! Way prettier in person than in the picture and the picture was pretty good.

It is very sparkly and I know it will be noticed many times as I wear it during the Christmas season. It is delicate and sweet, which is just my style.

Marilyn does bead weaving and has some really awesome cuff style bracelets in her shop. Like this one which is GORGEOUS. But unfortunately, I don't like to wear chunky jewelry - not even something I've made. I'm sure I'm in a minority with that as I see people all the time with chunkier pieces which are absolutely beautiful and very noticeable.

Although, that stained glass cuff in her shop is so pretty, I'm tempted to buy it just to sit on a table, maybe in a stand or something and use it as an art piece.

So, once I received my gorgeous new bracelet, it came to me that Marilyn should be making these in all colors, not just Christmas. I would love to see this in white with purple crystals, or aqua and green (which I LOVE). So I'm going to email her and badger her with my idea. LOL

She has other, beautiful styles in her shop, but I love the delicacy of this one. Please don't get too mad at me when I badger you Marilyn!

I LOVE my new bracelet!!

(please forgive my crappy pictures - it's raining and dark here today)

Delightful Divas in Business

A few weeks ago, I was contacted through my Pink Pear Designs shop by the Delightful Divas in Business - an online community that promotes, connects, and inspires independent business women. They asked if I might be interested in contributing to their Divalicious Sample Box for September. I was honored to be asked and am very excited to be participating.

Their Divalicious sample box will go on sale September 15th at 8 am. I'm so excited! Go buy it!!

You can click here to see all the great participants for September - and there are some really good ones. They are still receiving shipments from participants and will add more banners as they arrive.

My "sample" for the box was actually full size earrings. I called them "Little Pumpkins". They are either faceted orange glass beads or orange cat's eye beads with antiqued brass bead caps and olivine Swarovski crystal bead "leaves". They hang from handmade antiqued brass earwires. I wrapped them in tissue and my handmade pillow boxes with a business card attached that has a description of the earrings and a coupon for 20% off a purchase at Pink Pear Designs attached with a ribbon.

Thanks so much Robin and Penny! I hope it sells out fast.

Gift Swap Goodies!

I received my gift swap goodies on Wednesday for the Etsy Texas Crafters 3rd quarter 1-1 gift swap.

My gifts were made by Holly of EdenEssentails. She sent me 3 yummy smelling handmade soaps. I love handmade soap, so this was very exciting! Holly sells the soaps along with essential oils at her Eden Essentials etsy shop.

Thanks so much Holly! I love it!

ETC Promo Swap

Lori from the Paper Elephant, is our teams Promo swap coordinator. About 2 weeks ago, I got a swap package for our latest swap and boy! were there some great things in there. Many people sent small samples of their work including small achy packs, earrings, hair clips, cards, yarn samples, magnets and WAY more great things! Plus there were lots of great coupons, biz cards, etc.

So many wonderful things! My fall show customers are going to be getting some really great gift bags!

Inspire - Control by divine influence

My Serene Cameo Necklace from Pink Pear Designs has been chosen by ktmotif for her Inspire treasury. I'm honored to have made a piece of jewelry that inspired someone else.

Everything that she chose for her treasury is gorgeous. I love the Urban Flock by mariterecr and the cherries in the Only You Can Tell Me Apart print by tinateaspoon. All the images she chose are so vivid. Very inspiring.

Thanks so much KTMotif! Check out Kt's shop for custom scrapbook sets and pages. She has some really cute pages just waiting for your photographs.

Last Day to YART!

Today is the last day of etsy's YART sale! Don't miss these great bargains on all kinds of handmade things, from jewelry to furniture to photography and soap. It's not too soon to buy for Christmas!

Handmade Whimzy has a special YART section with 10-40% off all items plus FREE SHIPPING on all YART items. Click the pic below to go directly to my YART sale!

100 SALES

WOOHOO! Handmade Whimzy has reached 100 sales as of Sunday night! YAY - I'm very excited. It seemed to sit on the 99 mark for weeks.

Here is the lovely dragonfly bookmark that made my 100th sale:

I'm including a nice gift in the order when I mail it today for being my 100th sale. I hope my customer loves it! I hope my next 100 sales goes much faster :)

Also, don't forget my YART sale which has already started at Handmade Whimzy. It will go from now until June 14th. I have over 20 items marked down plus free shipping on all YART items!

YART SALE!

TEAM ESST on etsy sponsoring their second annual YART sale from June 10th throught the 14th. YART is a combination of yard sale and art = YART.

This year Handmade Whimzy is participating and I've decided to start my YART sale early. It will run from now until Sunday, June 14th. Check out my YART Section at Handmade Whimzy where discounts from 10% to 40% have already been taken. You will also receive FREE SHIPPING on the YART items.

HAPPY YARTING!

I can't believe I haven't blogged since Monday! And today is Friday! How did that happen?

This has been one of those weeks that are unaccounted for. Do you know what I mean? The kind where you were super busy, never sat down, but you aren't real sure what you did all week.

Especially today. I had planned to spend all day at home working on the skirt that I've been working on forever, starting my swap project, making a pair of earrings that I've had pictured in my mind all week, taking some pics and maybe doing some etsy and artgaragesale shop listings.

What did I do instead? I'm not sure. I did get my hair cut - YAY! I did some errands. Then, this afternoon, I had to take my son to swim lessons because DH got tied up at work.

Now it's almost 9 pm and I'm too tired to do any of my projects. There's always tomorrow.

At least I can show you a picture of my skirt project. I love my wrap skirts that I've been making but I thought I'd be brave and try an actual pattern. So here is the pattern and fabric on the day I was cutting out the pieces.

I had to redo the waistband but otherwise, it's done. I'll get pics up of it as soon as I can. I'm very proud of myself for following a pattern.

Featured Etsy Artist - AnnasTrunk

My blog feature for this week is Christine at AnnasTrunk.

I love romance and romantic things, which is why Annastrunk really caught my eye. AnnasTrunk is full of "romantic little treasures" such as historical reproduction accessories, stationary, and an entire line of items based on Jane Austen.

When asked about her design process, Christine says, "I get inspiration for my designs from any and everywhere! I do some pencil/paper sketching but I mostly use my computer to create graphics for my sachets and mini pillows. I'll go through my stash of vintage illustrations and ponder for a while until I come up with an idea. Many of my ideas hit me at weird times! The middle of the night, grocery shopping, etc. so I always carry a little notebook with me so I don't forget anything!"

Christine has been sewing since she was a child. She also loves to construct and design historical clothing, do needlework, painting, sketching, sewing, quilting, and creating memory books. Christine says that because of her passion for historical fashion and love of classic movies and music, she feels like she should have lived during another era. "I mean, I love things about 2009 (indoor plumbing springs to mind) but I really feel drawn to life in other time periods. I think that's why I create what I create-it allows me to experience some of the nostalgia and romance of those long ago eras." She currently lives in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
Thank you Christine and Annastrunk, for allowing me to feature you in my blog!!

LittlePods!

My Featured Etsy artist this week is Jen at Littlepods! She sells beautifully, handpainted children’s clothing. Oh how I wish I could have had some of her adorable shirts when my son was a baby. Especially, her retro train.

Jen also sells handknitted baby blankets and scarves. She says she has been painting children’s clothing for about 4 years and knitting for about half as long. Jen says, "In my heart, I'm a crafty person. So my head is constantly swimming with ideas. I'd love to sew, and make other types of clothing, and to crochet. But I haven't found the time to learn either trade, so for now, I stick to knitting and painting."

Jen says she is a passionate, loyal and stubborn person. She has been selling on Etsy since January of 2008. Jen and her hubby live in Pittsburgh, PA.

Thanks for letting me feature your shop, Jen! Your painting is adorable and your shop is too cute!

New Store!

Introducing the debut of my new store on the new, and still in beta, website ArtGarageSale.com. I've started another branch of my Pink Pear Designs shop. The url is http://www.ArtGarageSale.com/PinkPearDesigns.

ArtGarageSale is a very new site and is very different from etsy.com in that, the site is advertised, and they currently do not allow vintage or supplies. It's not a juried site at this time and they are offering free listing fees until June 2009. So, I thought I'd give it a try.

So far I've only listed items which I have duplicates of from my Pink Pear Designs etsy shop but I plan to list some items that will only be available at ArtGarageSale just as I will have some that are only available at etsy.

So far, I am the only jewelry designer doing this style of vintage inspired jewelry. I'm hoping that by getting in early, I'll make an impression and won't be buried, like I am at etsy.

Last week, I listed my first three items and by Friday, had sold my 1st item. YAY!

I hope everyone will check out my new store!

Our luck has flown the coup!

Well, we've been really lucky so far this school year. No days missed!!!!!! That is so awesome for my little kiddo.

But alas, our luck has flown the coup! It's stomach virus time. YUCK!

Hopefully, it will at least be sunny tomorrow so I can take some pics and get some stuff listed in my etsy shops while I nurse the sicky :)

Free Shipping and Free Gift Wrapping!

I'm offering Free (domestic) Shipping and Free Christmas Gift wrapping on all products in my Pink Pear Designs shop and on all items (except handpainted wooden items) in my Handmade Whimzy shop until December 15th!!!


The Gift Wrapping will be with one of my handmade pillow boxes, tied with a ribbon and with a handpunched tag attached.


Check my stores out for great holiday gifts for all the ladies in your life. My ribbon bookmarks make great gifts for coworkers, teachers, Sunday school classes, friends and anyone else who likes to read.

Free Shipping and Free Gift Wrapping!

Last day to get Free Shipping and Free Gift Wrapping from my Handmade Whimzy and Pink Pear Designs store!

Shop both stores today, Saturday, November 29th and get free shipping with any purchase plus I will wrap the items in Christmas wrap complete with ribbon and tags. Small items will be wrapped in one of my handmade pillow boxes.