February Feature Etsy Blogger

This month's Featured Etsy Blogger is…


Diana of Faerie Garden Fancies!

I stopped by her shop and found a few of my favorite things…

Magical Mermaid Art Doll and Treasure Box

Beautiful Mermaid Pin

Bunny on a Rainbow Dream Bookmark

 

And don't forget to visit her blog!

My Dream Vacation

Where would I go on my dream vacation? That's a very good question considering that I've traveled the United States pretty extensively. I've been to both coasts, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, the Bahamas, Mexico, and pretty much everywhere in between. Everywhere has had it's advantages and disadvantages. As time goes on I have learned that I don't really like large crowds or big cities. So trips to places like New York City wouldn't be very fun for me! I prefer natural places and I absolutely loved Yellowstone (although I was almost 8 months pregnant when we visited so I took it really easy). The photos below are from last years vacation.

But, what would my dream vacation be? It would probably involve a nice, cold glass of iced tea, a lounge chair, my backyard, and my family. What more could one ask for?

Summer Recipe!

My favorite summer recipe is fresh homemade lemonade! Yummy, refreshing & easy to make!

You will need:
· 4 lemons, peeled & quartered
· ¾ cup sugar
· 6 cups water
· Ice cubes & lemon slices to serve

To make:
1) Place the lemons in a blender or food processor with all the sugar and 1 cup of the water. Processes for a few minutes until the lemons are finely chopped.
2) Pour the mixture through a strainer into a pitcher. Add the remaining water and stir well. Add ice cubes and a few extra lemon slices before serving.
3) Enjoy!

Show & Tell!

Hello! I’m participating in another Blog Carnival as part of my Etsy Bloggers Team. I’m supposed to share my Summer Line. Although I don’t particularly have a Summer Line I do have a ton of projects going on right now! Over the past 4 months I’ve collected lots of fabric but haven’t had a chance to make anything because I was busy working in my mom’s tax office. Thank goodness that time of the year is over with! Now that I’m back home I’m finding that I have so much to do. I went through some of my fabric & wrote out or drew up plans/pictures that I wanted to make from that particular fabric. Then I hung up the fabric & pinned on the drawing to help me stay a little more organized. Here ‘s the line-up…


At the time it didn’t seem like there was too much there but I think it multiplied somehow. Anyway, any chance I get I’ll take down a hanger, iron the fabric & cut out the project, then I hang it back on the hanger & stick it in the closet until I’ve got the chance to sew…


I have lots of aprons (adult & child), cloth diaper covers, and a few sewing projects for myself in that mix.

So there’s my “Summer Line”! LOL :)

In other show and tell news, my basement sewing room is coming along nicely. All the stuff is moved out of the space. To save money I’ve painted the 2 concrete walls with this really thick paint that has sand in it. It’s supposed to seal the walls & give it a bit of a texture. It worked really well! The floor underlayment has been put down. We bought this stuff called Dricore… it has the wood on top & a molded plastic underneath which raises up the floor & leaves it breathable underneath which protects against moisture. Click here to learn more. We’re also closing in this part of the basement to make it look more like a room. The walls have been framed up & drywall is going up. Yay! There will be a door going in between the long wall (which faces the outside stairwell) and a closet is going in under the stairs. I think we’re going to paint the ceiling to keep it from feeling too closed in and to also save money. We’re also going to put down carpet. Once all the remodeling is done I can move in my sewing room & begin work on the baby’s room.


So that’s all for now! I can’t wait to have my sewing room put together so I can have the time to do all those sewing projects!

My Future Sewing Space

With the coming addition to my family my current sewing room is going to be turned into the baby’s room. So that means I have the huge task of rearranging all my stuff and creating 2 new rooms. My sewing room currently looks like this…

It looks a little “stuffed” in there probably because I have way too much stuff for the space. This room will be turned into the baby’s room. I’ve bought the fabric I’m going to use in a non-gender jungle theme. It’s so cute and I’m excited to get started. Anyways, I will talk more about the baby’s room later. Now I want to talk about my sewing room. My future sewing room will be moved into a corner in my basement. Well actually I should say I will have 1/4th of the basement to transform into whatever I wish. Currently it looks like this…

Nothing exciting to look at! I have tons of cleaning to do before I can even get started on decorating. My DH is helping me as he can and once I’m home again full time I’ll be able to focus strictly on this area. We’ve already moved our additional pantry/food storage shelves to the other side of the stair case. I’ve also got tons of books boxed up for donation. I inherited many boxes full of paperback books from my grandmother when she passed away. I’ve finally decided that there is no way I’ll ever read them all so it’s time to let them go. The next goal is to pick an area in the mess and de-clutter it as best as possible. I’ve decided the best thing to do is donate as much as I can. I don’t want to deal with a garage sale or attempt to sell thing online like I’ve done in the past. I want this done quickly with as little effort as possible.

The area is about 20’X30’, a big step up from the current 13’X13’ room! We’ll need to put up some better lighting (hopefully). I don’t know if a ceiling will be put it. Maybe it will look good or good-enough if it gets painted. The walls are concrete, which have been painted with a sealant. I’ve asked (read: begged) my husband to have drywall but he still hasn’t given in. The walls may get painted to a more decent color without drywall. If I want to hang pictures or anything I will have to hang them by a cord from the ceiling. I think I might be able to deal with that. The floors… I’d love to get those carpet tiles to put down. My parents have them in their basement and they are wonderful. I don’t think I’ll be able to handle bare feet on the cold concrete floor. Then once all that stuff is done I’ll be able to move my sewing room furniture down there and I will probably decorate as I go. I have no theme picked out. I’d just like functional and comfortable. This will probably be the beginning of finishing our basement. My husband has been talking about doing it forever and, well, the time has come. I am excited to get started and I will keep you up to date as time and progress goes on!

Talk to you soon!

~Heather

Spring is coming!

I can feel it in the air. The days are slowly warming up. The grass is slowly becoming greener. The birds are returning. The bull frogs are noisy. And I can’t wait to get out in my garden and get my hands dirty!

A Prayer in Spring

by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees,

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid-air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,

The which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Why Etsy? – Etsy Bloggers Blog Carnival

This month for Etsy Bloggers Blog Carnival we were asked several questions. “What made you open a shop on Etsy? What do you like about being a seller on Etsy? What don’t you like?” I’m going to answer these questions to the best of my ability & hopefully you’ll get a little peek into my life as a seller on Etsy.

I opened an Etsy shop as an outlet for my sewing. I love to sew & it made no sense to sew all these beautiful things & not share them with anyone. Plus my sewing room was getting a bit crowded, LOL! At first I opened an Ebay shop, at the encouragement of my husband, but the already high fees and then another fee hike caused me to shut that avenue down. I was so bummed! Ebay was not the best place for my items anyway. People who shop on Ebay are generally looking to pay the lowest they can, to make a deal, or to buy in quantity rather than quality. Trust me; my husband is addicted to Ebay. He’ll spend hours searching and looking for something (usually a vehicle part or something along those lines). After I closed my Ebay shop someone suggested I check out Etsy & try my hand there. Etsy deals mainly in handmade products. It was the perfect fit for the avenue that I needed! I enjoy making and selling things. It was slow at first but I hung in there this time. I’ve been able to buy a much needed dressform which will allow me to eventually expand my horizons and it thankfully pays for my fabric addiction. Yes, I own way too much fabric than is possibly good for me. Someday I will use everything! Etsy has been very user friendly in my book, the fees haven’t killed me yet, and all of my customers are happy with the items they bought! I’ve done fairly well & can be as active or inactive in my shop as I need to be. Christmas time was a good time for my shop but things are slow now, partially to my doing. Selling on Etsy becomes easier as I get more practice in listing, naming, and describing things. My friends on Café Etsy Moms have been a valuable source on hints and helps on everything from reviewing my shop & prices to advice on shipping overseas. Thanks CEMS!!!! I haven’t run across too many bumps in selling or buying on Etsy. The only thing I’m not sure I like is the feedback system. This can either hurt or help. I’ve not received any negative feedback but I’m still missing about 1/3 of my feedback from people who’ve never returned to do so. I’m sure one negative feedback could turn away a potential customer who would have been perfectly happy with their items if they hadn’t let the feedback influenced them. On the other hand, I do like how the customers can leave a complimentary photo of their item once they get it. I just recently had a customer special order a white chef’s hat & apron for her daughters Valentine’s photos, when she left feedback she also included a photo of her daughter. Oh so cute!!!

To sum it all up Etsy has been an excellent avenue for me as a seller. I wasn’t able to buy anything for this past Christmas but I’ve already been planning to do so for next Christmas! Etsy is a great place to find all kinds of handmade & vintage products in any price range. In my humble opinion: Etsy is awesome!!!

Bloggers Carnival *Autumn*

Autumn
By: Charlotte L. Riser

When the trees their summer splendor
Change to raiment red and gold,
When the summer moon turns mellow,
And the nights are getting cold;
When the squirrels hide their acorns,
And the woodchucks disappear;
Then we know that it is autumn,
Loveliest season of the year.

Memories of Autumn

Autumn is such a wonderful time of the year! Just look at all the beautiful colors God has created for us to see and enjoy. There are so many memories that I have of the fall time. I remember playing in the leaves behind our house and my brothers playing tricks on me like always. I remember my mom decorating the house. She loves to decorate for any season and any reason. I remember starting a new school year with new clothes, new shoes, and new school supplies. Now that I’m all grown up with a family of my own I hope to create new memories with them. I love to play in the crisp leaves with my son, smell the cooling of the earth, take walks in the crisp fall air, and decorate my own little home. This fall I plan to make as many pumpkin pies as I can, read a good book, sew some aprons, and enjoy my life!

Etsy in Autumn

It’s that time of year to find old projects and create new ones with all those lovely autumn fabrics! Here are the beautiful items I currently have listed in my store…

(Each photo is clickable and will take you straight to the store listing)

Daniel 2:20a-22

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
For wisdom and might are His.
And He changes the times and the seasons;
He removes kings and raises up kings;
He gives wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to those who have understanding.
He reveals deep and secret things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And light dwells with Him.

My Favorite Color: Blue (Blog Carnival- EtsyBloggers)

I am part of the EtsyBloggers Team on Etsy and every now and then I will be posting topics for them as part of their Blog Carnival.


This week the topic is “My Favorite Color” and I’ve chosen BLUE! My fabric stash reflects that this truly is my favorite color. I would say that I have twice as much blue fabric as I do any other color. When I go shopping for fabric I’m always drawn to the blues and somehow I always take a yard or so home (even when I shouldn't be buying any fabric!). I really need to use them up and share them around instead of hoarding them like I do. LOL


I have a few items in my store that have blue in them. Right now I have many more orange items because of fall and Halloween but then again I love all colors and have a wide variety of colors and items to choose from! Each photo is clickable & will take you straight to my store listing with more photos or you can click here to view my whole store. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! :)

Baby / Toddler Bibs

Crochet Hook Roll

Adult Apron

Child Aprons

Sweet Treats Halloween Candy Bag

Baby Quilt with Matching Bibs