$10 CHRISTMAS SUPER SALE on Scarves!

This is my first Christmas on Etsy, and I wanted to try doing a really big blow-out sale, and in the process clear out some extra space for new inventory while hopefully earning a bit of cash to finish off my own Christmas shopping. So here it is, the $10 Christmas Super Sale on scarves!


Select scarves (over 30 of them total!!) have been marked down by 30% to 50% today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday) only! All scarves in this section are just $10 each! So take advantage of this excellent deal on some lovely Christmas gifts, either for friends, family, or your very own self!

Here are just a few of the scarves I have to offer for just $10 each as part of my Super Sale!

Fuschia Scalloped Skinny Scarf



Cool Camo Warm Winter Scarf




Sunshine on a Cloudy Day Scarf




Adorable Striped Maroon and Navy Blue Scarf




Soft Blue Winter Scarf




Strawberry and Cream Lacy Cotton Scarf



All these and more for just $10 each! This is my big blowout, so be sure to check it out here!

Eco-Friendly on Etsy

I stumbled across this wonderful shop, thecraftpantry, while cruising the Etsy treasuries this morning. The below tote caught my eye, and, upon clicking on it, I found that it is made from recycled cotton, and is priced at just $20!


This classic tote is available with many different print options; cruise the shop and I'm sure you'll find something to fit anyone's taste. I've just included a few of my favorites here.


This "lovebird" design is just perfect!


And who doesn't like owls?


The Craft Pantry also has a variety of beautiful cards available, all printed on recycled paper.

Love the colors on these!


As always, I have linked the above photos to their corresponding product pages, so it's easy for you to just click through to their Etsy shop for a closer look. You'll also find gift tags (printed on recycled paper) lunch bags (made with recycled cotton) and many other lovely items in the shop. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Something a bit more fun

I love making scarves, cell phone cases, and other things to sell in my Etsy shop, but making gifts for people I know is even more fun. This week, I got to make a baby blanket for a good friend of mine who's expecting her first baby. It turned out really lovely, and so, so soft!


I had some yarn left over from the blanket, so I couldn't resist trying a hat and booties too. They're so adorable! I haven't made hats or booties since I was just a kid (I used to make them for my baby dolls) but I followed a pattern that I found online, and it was very easy. The photo doesn't do them justice (it was so dark and rainy yesterday it was hard to get a good shot) but all in all, I've very happy with the way these turned out. I hope my friend is too; now to mail them off to her!

Seaglass, Anyone?

I've always loved seaglass, and I can literally spend hours looking through all the gorgeous seaglass jewelry on Etsy, without getting the least bit bored. That's how I came across today's featured shop, newsprout.


I admit it was difficult to narrow it down to featuring just one seaglass shop today (and I may have to remedy that with more seaglass posts in the future), but what really set this shop apart is that I wanted to favorite just about every item in the shop!


I love the simple beauty and elegance of these pieces. The glass itself is so beautiful, it pretty much stands on it's own, and I love that the artist allows it to do that.


These earrings catch the light so nicely.


In addition to seaglass, the artist sometimes uses vintage sea-smoothed pottery pieces, as in this bracelet.


I really like this style of two coordinating pieces of seaglass together as a pendant, and it's not something I've seen in any other shop.


Again, with the simple, elegant beauty!


These earrings are just gorgeous, and the excellent photography shows them off so nicely. As someone constantly struggling to produce presentable photos of my own products, I really appreciate good photography when I see it!


There are many, many more beautiful items in the newsprout shop (I didn't want this post to go on forever, so there were LOTS that I wanted to include but didn't). If you like what you've seen here, then be sure and go take a browse around for yourself. I've also linked each photo to its corresponding page in her Etsy shop, for your quick-click convenience.

Mini-Vacation

I got to spend some time with my family this last week, which was nice. I had some time off work, and my mom, my brother, my sister-in-law, and my little nephew all flew in to hang out for a few days. I had never seen my nephew in person (he's only 8 months old).


This was the only shot I got of him sleeping. Turns out that the sound my camera makes when taking a photo is loud enough to wake up a baby.


He was a litte cranky when he first woke up.


But brightened up very quickly.


At only 8 months old, he's nearly as big as his dad. That's my brother Deva, btw, of "Cuteness with Puppies" fame.


The kid also doesn't mind being turned upside-down, which I think is a very admirable trait.


And one more shot of un-adulterated cuteness.

Cuteness with Puppies

I came across these old photos on my little sister's Facebook page, and just had to share them.

My mom took these photos about 20 years ago, to put onto fliers to sell out Golden Retriever puppies. One lady calling about the puppies asked if she could buy the kids as well. My mom considered it, but ultimately said no.


My little sister hugging the big, fluffy puppy, with my little brother, Ryan, trying to get into the shot, as usual. Notice the plastic sword tied to his waist and the stick-weapon he's carrying. That was pretty much his everyday get-up.

More Pretty Jewelry

For someone who doesn't really wear jewelry, I sure do blog about it a lot. Here are some more pretties I came across on Etsy.

These are from the Etsy shop SusansJewelryDesigns, and are not only beautiful, but appear to be very well made. They're also quite affordable; most of the items in Susan's shop are around $16, with some earrings priced as low as $11 a pair.

These would be lovely to add just a bit of sparkle to an outfit.

I think these Tuscan sun earrings would look especially nice on someone with dark hair. There is also a ring in Susan's shop with this same design here.


Striking, while still being simple and classy


These look good enough to eat!


As usual, I've really focused on earrings in this post, because in any jewelry shop those are what tends to most catch my eye, but Susan also many lovely handmade rings, necklaces, and bracelets. You can take a browse by clicking here.

Simple "What's in the Fridge" Pasta

For me, cooking an actual meal is so rare, that when I do it, it's such an event that I have to blog about it. Today, it was this "what's in the fridge" pasta.


I boiled some pasta (they have this nice organic kind at Costco in yummy, chewy shapes) and thawed out a block of tofu that's been in my freezer since God knows when. Then I sauteed up the tofu with some fresh garlic, olive oil, and salt. For a change, I was careful not to burn the garlic or add too much salt. I had these 3 bell peppers (1 yellow, 1 orange, and 1 red) just withering away in my fridge (poor things) so I chopped those up and added them. Next, the remains of a bag of frozen spinach. When the peppers were almost done, I added the cooked pasta into the pot with the tofu and veggies, splashed in a bit more olive oil, stir-fried it all together for a bit, and voila, I have tasty, wholesome "real food" to eat for the next few days. It turned out super good!

The Ribbon Basket

I don't know anything about ribbon, and have never really used it in anything I do, but these photos really caught my eye.


When I first stumbled into this shop, The Ribbon Basket, I thought for a minute that these were art prints, rather than just product photos of ribbon for sale. They're just so nicely photographed!


So, just thought I would share them... Like I said, I know nothing about ribbon, but the prices seem very reasonable, and the ribbon looks lovely. I came across this shop through linkreferal.com, by the way, which is a link exchange site that I think has been pretty useful for me. You can read my blog post about my thoughts on linkreferal.com here.

Winners!

My Great Cell Phone Case Giveaway ended today, and the winner is.... drumroll... Mommy Kennedy! I'll be sending her the below cell phone case; the one she chose as her favorite.


Funny thing happened while I was getting the entries organized to randomly select the winner. A new message popped up in my inbox from Sadee at sadeeschillingstudio, saying I had just won her giveaway! I don't enter very many giveaways, but actually winning one really makes me want to participate in more! I got to choose any pendant from her store, and I chose this one:


Nice, right? I can't wait till it gets here! She's got lots more beauties in her shop, along with a variety of lovely art prints.

A Treasure Trove of Beautiful, Unique, and Affordable Jewelry

Now, I just spent all my recent Etsy earnings on a big box of new yarn, but if I hadn't then I would be sorely, sorely tempted to spend it all in this wonderful jewelry shop, nicholasandfelice. There are just so many gorgeous, unique pieces here, and each one is so very reasonably priced.


This is one of those shops where I had a really hard time choosing which photos to include in my post. There are just too many I wanted to include but couldn't, so be sure and check out their shop for lots more beautiful and original work.


I love what they do with metal! It must really take a lot of skill and artistry to bend it just right like that, with such a beautiful result. Most of their earrings are between $10 and $15 a pair, by the way, so in my opinion these are some really great deals.


These are some of my absolute favorites. I love beach glass, but being a bit of a nutty perfectionist, I've never actually purchased real beach glass, because the chunks are never perfectly symmetrical. I know, I know, it's part of the charm; it's uniquely shaped by years and decades of tumbling in the ocean. I appreciate that. But like I said, I'm a nut. Anyway, these "frosted glass" earrings and pendants are perfect for me; they have that beautiful, frosted beach glass look, in a smooth, symmetrical shape.


I also love the way the wire is wrapped around them, just around the edges, really showing them off, rather than caging them in.


Another example of gorgeous metal-working. Simple and elegant!


This is lovely; I've always loved marbles, the round smoothness, the small but dense weight, and the glowiness of them, but I never knew what to do with them once I got too old to play with them. This is a beautiful solution!



I just thought these earrings were so striking and sophisticated! I've included a lot of earrings in this post, as they are usually my favorites, but Nicholas and Felice also have a huge selection of beautiful pendants, shawl pins, and other ornaments. This was a really fun shop to browse through and I really enjoyed writing this post.

"Re-investing" my Etsy earnings

I've had a small flurry of sales in my Etsy shop over the last few weeks (yay!). So, of course, I had to go yarn shopping. Online yarn shopping of course. I tell myself that I'm "re-investing" and of course this is true. How will I keep my store stocked if I don't have yarn to make new items, I ask? But really I just like all the pretty colors.

Somehow my order worked out so I got pretty much everything I wanted and left exactly 2 cents in my Paypal account. Two cents! That's good budgeting! So now I've got a nice big box of yarn on the way, and am trying to ignore the fact that I have nowhere to put it when it arrives.

I wish I could take photos like these

I just love these photos from Your Willing Skin on Etsy. I really wish I knew how to take photos like these. But alas, I'll just have to be content with ogling them.


They just capture the golden light so beautifully. The photographer, Eadaoin, also has a lovely blog called City of Blackbirds, with many more gorgeous photos that you can see here.