Black Friday

This is a reminder that all paper items in my shop have free shipping through Monday.  And, yes, Internationals, I'll even ship free to you.  

Have a fabulous weekend!

BESTeam Feature: Hipchic Designs

Cynde of Hipchic Designs is a mother and avid sewer from Grant, Alabama.  As a fellow southern girl (though I may live in Portland now), I love her patchwork designs in colorful, light fabrics.  How could you not love this Whimsical Christmas Patchwork Skirt shown above, $36.00, or the Do Polka Dotted Hens Lay Polka Dotted Eggs? skirt shown below, $25.00.  I love her titles almost as much as I love her clothes!
This is fashion for the bold, artistic child who wants to make a statement.  Your daughter, your sister, your niece, or your friend will enjoy the Extra Twirl Swing Skirt shown below for $20.00.  She can spin, and the skirt spins with her.
The weather is getting colder, and Cynde has hats, like this Simple Elegance in Brown, $18.00, for the chilly winter days.

Her work makes me smile, and I hope it makes you smile as well!

Want more?  Follow Cynde on her blog, Hipchic Designs.  Be sure to check out her tutorials!

Crises averted...

The past few weeks have been insane, and I have spent much of my time out of town.  Now I'm back, just in time for a very busy Thanksgiving, and an even busier shopping weekend.  Even if my Etsy shop doesn't get the traffic I hope it will, I anticipate the pottery studio will be swamped.

For those of you who follow my blog and my facebook and my twitter, I will tell you now that all orders placed between Friday, November 26 and Monday, November 29, will have free shipping on all paper items.  Unfortunately, I cannot extend the offer to include pottery, but for those of you looking for a journal, order this weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving, to those of you who will celebrate it.  I know I'm looking forward to our cheesecake!

BESTeam Feature: Mya Bruce Designs

Make a special occasion even more so by ordering a custom designed announcement or invitation, $15.00, from Mya Bruce Designs.  Based in Arizona, this shop has plenty of customizable options for designs that you can print from your own computer, so you can print as many as you need without worrying about leaving someone off the mailing list.  I particularly love the Elephant and Polka Dots Baby Announcement, $15.00, pictured below. 

For the person who has everything, consider giving a Photo Collage, $15.00, this holiday season.  Not only will your photographs be arranged to suit the theme, but the photos themselves are altered to make a cohesive picture, with just the look and feel you need.

Don't forget to say Thank You, $15.00, with a personalized card.  Not only will you show your appreciation, but you can spread a few smiles in the process.

Thanks to Mya Bruce Designs!  

For more, you can like the shop on facebook!

Thursday Treasury: UNLOCKED

Because I have a million other things to do, I made a treasury.

SteamCon, the steampunk convention, is in Seattle next weekend, and my roommate and I are going.  She's making all the amazing costumes, and I'm looking at pictures online for inspiration.  

Speaking of treasuries, how are all you cool people linking back to the items from the treasury picture?  I had to take a screen shot and crop it to even get the treasury to show up in the blog!  I feel so technologically challenged some days...

BESTeam Feature: Sandy's Handmade Soaps & Things

This week's team shop is Sandy's Handmade Soaps & Things.  Based out of Connecticut, this New England shop is stocked with the perfect items for pampering yourself.  Indulge in one of her "melt and pour" or cold process soaps, both beautiful and stimulating for the senses.  The Lavender, Oatmeal, & Honey bar for only $5.95 is the perfect way to finish of a long day, cleansing your pores and your spirit with soothing scents.

The Brown Sugar Scrub Soap, pictured above, $4.95, looks good enough to eat.  Acting like a pumice stone, it is made to gently exfoliate on one side and moisturize on the other.  Or try a Lavender Bath Bomb, pictured below, $5.95, to add a little color to your bathroom until you're ready for a soak in the tub.

ABOVE: Knitted Sock Monkey, $25.00.

For the children-at-heart, try a classic sock monkey or Harry Potter inspired stitch markers.  Brighten your sitting room and your knitting projects!

ABOVE: Gryffindor House Stitch Markers, $8.95.

Take a break and stop by Sandy's Handmade Soaps & Things!

For more about Sandy and her shop, visit her blog!

Business Notes: Short and Sweet

I am getting real custom orders from real people I don't know!  Exciting!  It's a great feeling to build business relationships with people all over the globe.  It does, however, remind me that I do indeed own my own business.

That's really amazing!  I am one of the Small Business Owners of America!

Which means that when it is time to do my taxes...  

So before the holiday season hits and hopefully we are all swamped with orders, let me pose a question:  How do you deal with your finances?  Do you have Quicktime?  Do you hire a CPA?  Or are you just really organized and great at math?

Have a crafty weekend!

Finishing orders for the week.

My goal for the day is to finish two of the three orders I have in progress.  The coptic stitch journals should be done in the next hour.  The kits I need to buy needles for and make the instruction cards.  The lined journal (components pictured above) is sewn, but I have a few things to get before I can finish putting it together.  This will be my first journal with lines and pockets!  I'm pleased with how the picture turned out as well.  

In order to prepare for the holidays, I will probably re-photograph many of the items in my shop.  I am also working on a few examples of customized coaster sets, to be listed soon.

BESTeam Feature: love, elycia

Self- proclaimed engineer-turned-crafter Elycia is my feature for the week.  I have to say that her shop is perfect for my NaNoWriMo mindset.  Elycia's shop, love, elycia, is whimsical, fun, and full of character.  She even includes original drawings of her muses.

Above: Every Girl has a Story - Derby Print, $5.00.

Elycia's shop is a comfortable mix of vintage and handmade items.  Recognize the one below?  It's her Say Anything - CUSTOM Word Bubble Headband for $12.00 that was featured on the front page.  Make a statement, and be cute while you do it.

For those of you who love vintage, the vintage clothing is just as much fun as the handmade pieces.  I particularly like the dress pictured above, Frills and Lines, for $30.00.  I find it rare to stumble upon great vintage pieces at that price.  And who loves the roller-skates in the photo?  I know I do.

Above: CUSTOM Headband Incognito v.2 - Moustache Headband, $10.00.

Let's be serious for a moment.  Elycia is participating in a cool event this November--Movember.  Movember is that time of year when men around the globe are encouraged to grow mustaches to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer.  Ladies, don't feel left out: You, too, can rock the 'stache this November, and a portion of your mustache sales will go towards Prostate Cancer Canada.

I love a good crafter supporting a good cause!  I wish I were technically advanced enough to put a little heart here for you, Elycia.

For more, find Elycia on facebook, twitter, or follow her super cute blog.

Treasury Tuesday

~Dancing in the Rain~, curated by soycomfort

When Rita sent me a message this morning telling me she had included my journal in her treasury, she wrote, "Let's pay it forward and share it with others!"  That got me thinking.  I may not have many sales under my belt, but I have been fortunate to have many supporters of my shop--friends, family, and kind strangers who feature me in treasuries and on their blogs.

The theme for today's treasury is "Pay It Forward."  Let's all take a moment to appreciate the people who appreciate us.

NaNoWriMo

One of my primary missions with my Etsy shop is to encourage creativity.  This month is my favorite time of year for imagination.  Something exciting is happening all over the world this November: NaNoWriMo.

For those of you unfamiliar with the acronym, National Novel Writing Month is the time of year when thousands of writers worldwide aim to write (at least) 50,000 words in 30 days.  I'm doing it, and you can follow my progress on my (other) blog, How to Survive Writing a First Draft.  This will be my fourth year of writing madness, and I have a story I'm itching to write, so hopefully it will be a successful month.  I highly recommend participating.  Busy?  Even better!  I look forward to setting aside the hour or two for myself every morning to work on my book.  A cup of coffee, a bagel, and a blank page.

For those of you also participating (and I'm using the honor system--you don't have to send me a Word document of your novel), I'm offering 10% off all journals in my shop for NaNo participants during the month of November.  Just convo me with "NaNo" as the subject line.  If you sponsor my writing with as little as $5, you get the Good Citizen's Discount of 10% as well, and you get the satisfaction of knowing you helped a good cause.

Happy writing!