Random Acts of Kindness in July/Remember When...

This is reprinted with permission from sisterjinx.etsy.com:
Remember When...
You had only just a couple of sales? Remember how hard it was to get from 0 or 1 or 3 to 5 or 10? Well these folks know that struggle. Let's support these wonderful etsy artisans and help them reach that magic number 5.

I compiled this list of etsians with under 5 sales to help them reach that goal. Will you help me to help them?

lazyfish.etsy.com photography, banners, sewn goodies
capitalcitycrafts.etsy.comjewelry
owlbot.etsy.comCards
malamoosephotography.etsy.comphotography, cards
appleoranges.etsy.comjewelry
signcerelyyours.etsy.comsigns
theledgecollection.etsy.comminiture clay figurines
mistym03.etsy.comjewelry, hair items, crochet items
tcpjewelry.etsy.comjewelry
polkadot61.etsy.comjewelry
thatdirtydog.etsy.comtowels
candaradesign.etsy.comphotos, cards, jewelry
snaplifeimages.etsy.comphotography
simplesurfer.etsy.comJewelry, jewelry boxes, crocheted items
vintagefairretrorare.etsy.comvintage
juliejongleuse.etsy.comjewelry
mycreativepaper.etsy.comgreeting cards, scrapbook pages, notecards, labels, tags
beadyeyelass.etsy.com (ME!)jewelry and felted friends
beadedoriginals.etsy.comjewelry and pillows
jamijewelry.etsy.comjewelry

Have fun shopping! :)
to share this list with your friends you can direct them to this blog hcdreams.blogspot.com/2008/06/random-acts-of-kindness-july.html
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If you have a spare moment, check out all of the talented new etsians from the list! There are some awesome pieces, great prices and a ton of talent!

Froggy Friday

Here are my felted frogs that I've been working on this week. My oldest nephew asked if I would make him a frog last weekend and I had to oblige! And since I hate felting just one thing in the washing machine, I made him some buddies to go swimming with.

We don't have much planned this weekend. I think its supposed to rain for most of it (wish we could send some of our weather out to California right now!!!) and we're having our friend from Washington DC stay with us next week, so I'm thinking we're going to be doing a lot of cleaning this weekend. Once we've picked up the livingroom, I really want to work on some wire wrapped pendants. I've been stockpiling wire and cabachons for that for months!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Turtle Tuesday

Here are my latest cuties! Laverne and Shirley are the ladies with the beautifully beaded backsides. Laverne is the larger lass. Dottie is my first attempt at using needle felting to decorate my felted menagerie. I was going to add different colors of polka dots, but Eric suggested having a series of turtles with different colored dots.

While we were up visiting my in laws this weekend, I took my yarn with me to make more animals. My neice fell in love with the tiny striped one I was finishing, so I gave it to her. The boys were pretty fascinated as well-- the younger one more so with the ball of green yarn! He's getting a turtle out of his favorite green, and the oldest was asking what else could I make? So I told him rabbits and turtles, and I have a frog in the works. He wants a frog. I'll give him my prototype when I'm finished with it. Of course, my neice wants a frog now too...

New Idea, What Do Y'all Think?

Ok, so I'm still having a great time making turtles and I've managed to change my pattern to make them even tinier. I've been wondering though: do you think there would be any interest in personalized turtles? I was thinking I could put people's names or initials on the turtle shells either with beading or with needle felting. I just started needle felting and its pretty cool! Perfect for embellishing my amigurumi animals and still be toddler-proof. I'll be listing Dottie, my first needle felted turtle this week, along with Laverne and Shirley, two beaded turtles.

In other news, we bought a new laptop this weekend. My laptop died last year, so Eric and I have been sharing his. Now his laptop is dying. So, new laptop. Its very light, under 4 pounds and way faster than Eric's laptop. The cool thing is, we bought it at Best Buy, where we have a rewards zone card (you get gift certificates for a percentage of what you spend), using gift cards that we bought through the grocery store (where you can get up to 50 cents off a gallon of gas on 4 fill ups) and using the credit card that has cash back. So, we basically tripled up our rewards, and we'll save a ton on gas next month. Which is good, because we're driving to a wedding in DC!

St Louis Puffins!

This weekend we visited St Louis with our friends Harold and Megumi. I lived in St Louis for a year during my residency. Its a really cool city with tons of stuff to do and it only takes about six and a half hours to drive to from Columbus. Anyway, when Eric and I moved out there, Harold helped us move (yes, we shanghied him into helping) and while he was there, we took him to the zoo. Harold was mesmerized by the puffins. So, a few Fridays ago, Harold mentioned that he wanted to go visit the puffins, and since I had a day off, and we hadn't been back to the Lou in a few years, we decided to tag along, split the gas and hotel room. We had a great time revisiting old haunts, going to the zoo (yes, puffins!) the Boathouse in Forest Park, the City Museum, and stocking up on Schaflys Hefeweizen. Am I too old to go on a beer run? Apparently not!

Some Projects I'm Working On

Here are some projects that I've been working on lately. You'll notice the curl has grown, I have one more color left to do on it, and then cleaning up the sides. I still have no idea what to do with it when I'm finished with it.

More turtles, I changed the pattern a little on the wee one, so instead of just crochetting tighter, he really is smaller. I'll be beading both of the turtles, and I'm thinking of naming them Laverne and Shirley. I can't remember which one was the tall one, something I'll have to look up before listing them.

The copper bracelet was a for an order last week, two of those in different sizes, A pair of Jade Peas earrings and two Green Pebble bracelets.. I managed to track down enough green irridescent beads for them, and hopefully for another one.

The silver/aqua strands are going to be a bracelet. The feedback that I've been getting since I've started showing off my jewlery has been great. One of the suggestions I got was to do more bracelets!!! So I'm trying to oblige.

Lastly, this is my Ladybug necklace. The center bead and the two surrounding the silver ladybugs are some of the Lampwork beads I made last summer. I think they go perfectly, don't you? And I couldn't resist the clasp for it-- how cute is that?

Today I'm thinking of moving all of my beading supplies to my "studio" (aka the spare bedroom) instead of the living room. I think Eric will appreciate that, since it will give him more room to play Guitar Hero. Yes, he bought Guitar Hero on Sunday. Ever since our visit to New Mexico where he got to play it, he's been talking about buying it. I'm still trying to figure out why you need a plastic guitar when you just bought a really nice acoustic guitar, but if it makes him happy, and gives me time to work on crafts, then its okay with me.

New Listing: Ladybugs!

I just listed this necklace on etsy. The whole inspiration for this piece came last summer when my mom was visiting and we took a workshop in Lampwork beadmaking. I made three beads that looked like ladybugs. And yes, it took me practically a year to get around to making the necklaces! I actually like this one a tiny bit better than the one I made for myself with my lampwork beads-- I went a little crazy with the length on mine, so I'm thinking of redoing it. This one is a good length for most people, and who doesn't like ladybugs?

I also took the time and redid some of my pictures that didn't turn out quite as well as I'd like. We have a beautiful sunny day today, so the colors should come out nicely.

While I was at it, I took some pictures of the front garden for posterity before the bunny family completely desecrates it. They're working their way from my neighbor's side over to mine and they aren't afraid of anything. The really exciting thing is our tree we planted a year and a half ago is blooming for the first time! Its a tree lilac and smells divine.

Got your back

Many things have happened last week. I had my first etsy sale! Shelly and Timmy were adopted on Friday. So, I guess I'm official now! I also sold a few things in person and have a few orders placed. I have a quest to find similar beads I bought months ago for two bracelets. I think I'll be stalking the aisles of Joann's this week. Good thing too, they're having a sale on beads.
Eric bought an acoustic guitar last week. It was his anniversary present to himself. So I have been merrily beading while he learns chords. He keeps asking me if he's driving me crazy yet. Most of the time, the strumming and the tuning (and re-tuning) don't bother me too much. Its the asking me if I'm crazy yet that does. I'm beginning to wonder if he's actually trying to drive me nuts.
We celebrated out third anniversary last week of wedded bliss. The traditional third anniversary gift is leather. So, I got a leather purse, and he got a guitar stap and a gift certificate for new shoes. I don't know what the theme for four years is.
Yesterday we went to Cedar Point. I love going on roller coasters, and the weather was perfect! The park wasn't overly crowded since most of the schools get out this week. My favorite ones are Maverick and Raptor. My least favorite were Mean Streak and Mantis. The Mean Streak is a huge wooden coaster, but I think they make it overly rough on purpose. Every hill jars your back! I can barely move today because of that. The Mantis is a stand up coaster, and on some of the loops, it switches direction so fast your head hits the side of the shoulder harness. Nothing like boxing your own ears! Despite those two, we had a great time!
So, I'm pretty sore, and not inclined to move much. I hate feeling like I'm getting old!