Twitter Tuesday!

Today's blog is to feature the Etsy Twitter Team's Shop of the Week! Sumiko Shop



The shop features a lot of great jewelry and hair pins! This owl and tree necklace is one of my favorite pieces from the shop, but there's much more to choose from :) Like this awesome Red Tree Pouch that is fully lined inside! So take a moment and browse through Sumiko Shop, I'm sure you'll find something you'll love!

Click Here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5938259 to visit this adorable Shop!

Monday Musings

So, it's raining yet again here in Massachusetts! I believe we had 3 total days in June that had "more sun than clouds". Seriously, enough already, please! And all of those rainy days aren't including April or May (when we usually have rain here!)

So, because it's raining again, I have begun working on some new items for my Etsy Shop! I will be introducing a new eco-friendly line of cards that I'm very excited about! The cards and envelopes are 100% recycled material, and the company that makes them uses wind power as well (more about that later). Also, I will be offering checkbook covers as well as some other items.

I really just want the rain to stop so I can get out of the house and play with my camera, work in the yard, get more of my veggies planted, etc.... but for now, I'm stuck inside so I may as well be productive. I look forward to sharing my new goodies with everyone soon :)

Sunday Sampler

My Sunday Sampler for today is this adorable tote bag by BuggaLove from Etsy! "Promote With a Tote". A lovely tote bag personalized with your shop information! What a great idea to help advertise your shop as you are out shopping! I need to get me one very soon...as soon as I get Nicolas to come up with a design for me :) I don't have enough totes for shopping yet, so these will be perfect!

Here is the item description :
This listing is for a lightweight, 15"x16", natural colored tote bag. This tote will personalized on ONE side with your logo, shop name, website, banner, tagline or any other promotional feature!

Any colors can be used! Logo, banner, etc. must be provided in jpeg format. I have many fonts to choose from. We will communicate frequently as you share your vision for your promotional tote and I fulfill that vision for you!

These totes can be used around town to promote your website or Etsy shop or as giveaways at craft fairs and festivals. They are a great way to get your brand out into the world.

The design shown has been "washed out" intentionally on the bag. Bright colors will come out bright! Please feel free to browse my tote bag section for color examples!

Please take a moment and check out BuggaLove's Etsy Shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5872266

(Ooops! I never hit the Publish Post button before crawling off to bed last night!)

Starting over!

OK, so I'm a very bad blogger I'll admit it! I hadn't touched my blog in months, until today that is! I spent the morning deleting almost every old post so I could start from scratch. My goal is to keep up with it this time...we shall see... I have high hopes :)

I'm hoping to do daily themes, that way, I will have something to shoot for each week! My thoughts at the moment for themes are:

Sunday Sampler-Showcasing samples from shops I adore from Etsy & Artfire

Monday Musings- Just random :)

Twitter Tuesday- Posts about the Etsy Twitter Team's Shop of the Week!

Wordless Wednesday- A favorite photo from the week (not necessarily mine!)

3 For Thursday- 3 of my favorite articles, photos, blogs, quotes, etc. from the week

Friday's Find- This could be anything from a great article to a great deal!

Silent Saturday- I'm usually too exhausted from work & want to spend time with the family so I'm thinking my Saturdays will be silent here on the blog :)

OK, so there you have it! I've posted for all to see, now you all need to keep me on my toes so I stay on top of it. (Pretty please? With sugar on top?)

One other request...if you would like to be featured in the Sunday Sampler please let me know! Now I'm off to start my first Sunday Sampler, hope you enjoy it :)

It's HERE!

I am so happy for Nicolas! His Jeep arrived yesterday while he was in school! He wasn't expecting it until this morning so it was quite a surprise :) He's been saving for so long and had to pretty much empty his bank account for this big purchase! Dad lent him $200 so he could keep his account open at least. Now for him to get some sales or find a job so he can pay him back :)

The Jeep is black, his favorite color! It needs work, but we have time, thankfully, as I'm not sure I'm quite ready for him to be driving :( They grow up much too fast....

He has grand ideas for what he wants to do with the Jeep. Like doing a digital camo paint job! Now THAT is going to be quite an undertaking :) He wants bucket seats (who puts a bench seat in a Jeep? There's no way 3 people are going to fit in the front seat!)

The other good news yesterday was his progress report! If he continues completing his homework, he'll make the honor roll again! This is excellent news for me. He was always an honor roll student, but started faltering. It was depression. He has overcome so much the past 2 years and it's so nice to see him caring about things again, smiling again, having goals again. I couldn't be more proud :)

The Jeep

When I opened up our shop on Etsy I let everyone know that any of the proceeds from Nicolas' sales would be going towards his purchase of his first vehicle. He has had his heart set on getting a Jeep and has been saving every little bit he makes and has been searching Craigs List and Ebay for months. He won't be driving for a few more months, but he found "the" Jeep! It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow! He's around $200 short, so we're lending him the money to cover it. Hopefully he can make a few more sales to pay us back :) I'll be sure to get pictures tomorrow of him with his new toy! I'm also trying to add more of Nicolas' photographs to our Etsy shop, he looks at things so uniquely!

Beautiful, Cheap centerpiece!

OK, so I'm a terrible blogger :) I'm not very good at updating!

I have a super easy, adorable, cheap centerpiece idea! You need:

Red Wine glasses
cranberries
votive candles

1. Put some cranberries in the wine glass
2. Add your votive candle
3. Add more cranberries around the candle
4. light and enjoy!

I did this for Thanksgiving and plan on doing it again for Christmas. I thought cleaning the wax would be a nightmare, but once it cools off it hardens around the cranberries and comes right out! Also, you can put it in the fridge to harden the wax quicker and it chips right off :)

Does anyone else have any neat centerpiece ideas?