Alliecatbeads + Owl Silhouette
Thanks to a super sweet new friend on the etsy website, I had a perfect subject to paint for the owl contest starting tomorrow over on ebay! She found out I was doing an owl contest and asking for opinions on what type of owl painting and she began telling me about the great picture she snapped. Imagine this…it’s sunset and you are looking outside…you see an owl swoop up and land on a wire…the owl, pole and trees are in silhouette. Well, that’s the scene as she captured on film!
Here’s the finished piece, which be an entry in the contest:
If you are interested in some lovely bookmarks, jewelry, cards and other adorable items, please check out her shop by clicking here: alliecatbeads
Thanks so much Gina for the inspiring piece! I absolutely loved recreating that scene!!
Beautiful Steal of a Deal
During my time on etsy, I have met some really great friends. This particular post spotlights a lady who’s been a rock for me! Her name is Bette and her shop is called lvsbeadsnthings. (Just click her shop name to go straight to her shop.)
One new creation she has is such a perfect and affordable Mother’s Day gift. Her new birthstone rings:
How gorgeous are these? I love them! Plus she makes them herself, so they can’t be found anywhere else. They can be special ordered by just contacting her and they are only $12.99 each!!! What a BARGAIN!
Such a beautiful idea from a beautiful lady!
Awwwww Foohy!
Being from the South, we have some quirky sayings and exclamations. One of the funniest to me is when something doesn’t quite go my way, I might say “Awwwww Foohy!”
Imagine my delight to find a seller on etsy named “Foohy” with all sorts of wonderful goodies. How cute is that name and please, please look at her avatar – so perfectly cute. Who says there’s not innocent fun anymore!?!? I have visited her shop multiple times and she’s become such a dear friend. She actually has another shop in addition to her Foohy shop called “Mootsie“. Both of them are equally as fabulous. Foohy sells all sorts of wonderful supplies – paper, vintage, beads, charms and more. I am consistently inspired when I look through her things!!
Some petite pink pearls (imagine the possibilities!):
And some vintage brass lockets:
Then, Mootsie has so many lovely things like this Sense and Sensibility bracelet:
and this shabby/cottage/chic banner:
This lady is super nice and you will be oh-so-happy with anything you get from her. I happily sing her praises because she is so very worthy!
Love you Audrey!!
All photos courtesy of Foohy and Mootsie. 
My Luck Is Changing??
I have always had no luck at contests and usually never win anything. This past week, though, I won a beautiful pair of earrings from JaniesJoli on etsy. She is such a dear friend to me and I met her almost a year ago, around the time I started with etsy. Just look at them:
They look almost black, but they are really a deep garnet color – so pretty! I love her jewelry AND her beauty/bath shop, too. She is oh-so-talented! Please visit her jewelry shop called JaniesJoli and her bath and beauty shop called BubblySensations. This lady is truly a sweetheart and such a joy to work with. You won’t be disappointed in anything you get from her!
Treasury Feature
I am so incredibly honored to be in treasuries. Any time it happens, it absolutely makes my day!! I need to start showing you those here, so I can remember who did what and repay them in some of my future treasuries, as well. I always try to include some of my friends, some people I don’t know, and some people who have featured one of my things, when I can. I think it’s just the right thing to do
Here’s the latest one made by acottagehearth:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=39351
She features a treasury all about laundry and called it, appropriately, “Off Balance”. This is the item from my shop that she features:
Thanks so much, acottagehearth! It is adorable!!
Truly Inspirational
Just last week I mentioned getting my google reader full of the blogs I frequent. I absolutely LOVE this feature and highly recommend it to cut so much time off your day if you are physically going to each site. This allows me to see things sooner and easy – I am so diggin’ me some google reader!!
That brings me to my reason for this most wonderful post. One of the most inspirational sites I have discovered has to be one from a lady named Analise. Now, I don’t know her, but I feel like I do. She seems like such a sweet and wonderful lady. Click here to see her blog. Just looking at her pictures makes me so excited and inspired to create pretty things.
Here’s a little sampling of those things that just inspire me to no end:
All of these pretties and sooooo many more things that you will just swoon over are located in her shop leesiebella on etsy.
Black White Beautiful
I am up to it again!! My treasury is on the front page of etsy and I couldn’t be more thrilled!! Here’s a shot of it:
I realize this may be too small to tell much about it, but it’s also on my flickr. You can see it better by clicking here.
I’m so excited about it!! YAY! Happy Friday!!
It happened!!
I can’t believe it!! I was featured on the front page today around 12:30 p.m.!! The treasury I was in was made by one of my sweet etsy friends kimiko611 and was so pretty. It was an honor to be chosen by her for the treasury and then just a cherry on top to be on the front page. Here’s a shot of it (thanks lvs!):
What a way to start a month!! Happy December!
My Birthday
Thank you all for making my birthday so very special!! The warm wishes, the wonderful compliments!! I tell you – you sure do know how to make a girl feel good…and you know how to make her forget that her age is on the steady incline!!!
Using the random number generator to choose a number, it chose the winner of my blog birthday contest!! And the winner is:
lv’s beads n things
Here’s a copy/paste of the winning number generated:
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
6
Timestamp: 2008-11-10 23:08:27 UTC
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
I just had to share one of the gifts I received from Charles for my birthday. A while back, I had this little fellow on my wish list and was soooooo excited to see him in person today!! How adorable is this:
He is positively the cutest thing and is going in my new studio when I have it up and going. To see another one like him and maybe snag something adorable for yourself, check out this most adorable shop on etsy called fioretta.
The stitches on this little owl are perfection, as are her color choices and the overall design. I just love him!! Hats off to the lovely lady who created this little guy and thank you for being able to part with him!!
Pretty Glass Connection
Earlier this week, I found some super cute glass tiles from a lovely etsy seller “The Glass Connection“. Click here to see her shop. And, please note, if you buy something from her, the shipping is SUPER FAST and her items are nicely packaged!! Here’s what I found:
After a little time with me, they are completely ready for the Shabby Chic/Cottage home! Here’s a couple of them now:
How sweet they turned out!! My biggest problem is letting go of these things that I’m working on. Isn’t it terrible that I want to keep it all? LOL – I’m soooo not kidding!!
Happy Sunday dear friends!
Etsy Spotlight – dandyapple + Yummy Pizza
A Milan etsy seller recently found me on etsy using the shop local feature and I couldn’t be happier that she sent me a convo.
She has the most adorable shop called dandyapple with some of the CUTEST pendants you’ve ever laid eyes upon!! Here’s a little sampling of her GORGEOUS work:
I was reading her blog a few days ago and she had blogged about cooking pizza and she has a nice little step-by-step recipe on there. Now, I didn’t use it yet, as I was more lazy and used a mix for the crust, but here’s my little pizza:
I made a pepperoni pizza with lite sauce and it was sooooo good!! Now, it wasn’t as good looking as Miss dandyapple’s, but she sure did inspire me to make this one and I’m thrilled that she did!!
Givin’ A Hug
A little over a month ago, I purchased some items from a super sweet etsy seller julscrafts who included a sweet little plastic canvas framed poem entitled “Hug”. It makes me giggle every time I read it…it just makes me happy. I thought it would be a fun idea to share it with other people, too. The first person who either emails me or leaves a comment here for it, gets it next. I only ask that you display it for a month and then pass it on. What a wonderful thing to think of all the places it might go and how many homes it could live in! Plus, the smiles it would bring!
Here’s a picture of what it looks like (displayed beside of my sugar canister in some of my new open shelving in our newly remodeled kitchen):
Happy Saturday!!!
Lovely Tags Have Arrived
Back on August 10th, I blogged about a lovely crinoline tag swap I had signed up for. Click here to see the ones I made for this fun swap. What fun and creativity it sparked!
Then, yesterday, I received my tags from all the other wonderfully talented ladies. How pretty are these:
(left to right: M, Maija, Tiffany & Amy)
(left to right: Jessi, Margie, Sadie Lou, Andrea)
I am so inspired by each of them and am so happy I participated in the swap!! Thanks Andrea for this wonderful opportunity to be involved with these super sweet ladies!
Finding a Happy Lake
Have you been to the happylake etsy shop? If you haven’t, please click here to see her gorgeous creations. I met Elizabeth (happylake) on etsy and she is such a wonderful person! One might be tipped off as to her talent by knowing she’s been on the front page of etsy more than once…and she has also been in the Etsy Finds newsletter. How cool is that??
This is one of her handsome leaf candle holders:
And, this is one of her stunning bowls:
one of her lovely vase sets:
and this gorgeous covered jar – look at all that texture:
With the holidays fast approaching, these would make very lovely gifts for the special people in your lives. I know I have already received several from her, too. They are so well made – you won’t be disappointed in the quality of this award winning artist!!
My Latest Etsy Shop Infatuation
There’s a super lady who featured me in her blog recently whom I adore. On etsy she has two shops – one of them is brand new dsignsbymelissa and the other is her supply and destash shop melp1979. I really have to talk about her because she has always been so super sweet to me AND she has the cutest little creations!! Look at this super cute button bracelet of hers:
I am going to HAVE to get one of those bracelets really soon – they are toooo cute not to own!! I should definitely put that on my “things I want for Anniversary/Birthday/Christmas list”!!
I have bought several things from her supply shop back before she had her jewelry shop. Some were supplies – mosaics and gems. BUT, my favorite purchase? A super sweet button ring that I love! It’s so cute and so eyecatching. It never fails that I get compliments on it when I wear it. Here’s a photo of it:
I hope you get a chance to shop in one of her lovely shops. Not only are her pieces remarkable, she is also a wonderfully sweet and fun person….not to mention interesting!! This super talented young lady is also starting her own interior design business. How cool is that???
Surprise Packages – Want to Win??
What is it? I’m not tellin’!! At least not until the winner has received it! This will be fun! I don’t know about you but I’ve always loved surprises – it’s like being a kid again…and I try to live like a kid as much as I possibly can!!
Something Else That Makes Me Happy….
Here’s a close-up pic of this super cute little necklace:
This came all the way from Singapore and a lovely little shop called natureautumn. Click here to see her fun shop. Thank you NatureAutumn!! I am in love with this necklace!!!
A Beautiful Mud Hutt
Let me tell you, when I opened up the package, I squealed with delight! This is the cutest thing and I have it specially placed for my most important piece of jewelry – my wedding rings!! What a precious place to keep my precious rings! You have to check out Jen’s “Mud Hutt” shop and see what she has going on. She has the most adorable things and I’m certain you’ll find something you just have to own, too!!
Thank you Jen!! I love it!!
A Beautiful Necklace
It came in a couple of days ago and I have to tell you – it’s better than I ever imagined! I have heard so many compliments on this lovely seller’s shop and I knew her work was gorgeous, but until I opened that package and looked at the necklace in person, I had no idea how gorgeous!!
Here’s a picture of what I’m so in love with:
Click here to see the gorgeous shop called voleurdebijoux and browse through her lovely and unique pieces of jewelry.
Until you have one of these in your hands, you have no idea how very special it is!
**picture used by permission from voleurdebijoux (her photography style is soo nice)
Appreciation to My First Customers
My second customer has such an adorable shop! Bearly Time to Scrap (click here to see her shop) has a nice mix of things from buttons to beads to tags and these little tear bears that are to die for:
I am giddy over those little fellas and their sweet little faces – too cute!
My 3rd sale went to a lovely shop called Wonderfully Sew Knit who has lovely goodies like bags and aprons. Click here to see her shop. Look at this sweetie:
More Goodies Arrived Today!
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A sweet chocolate glazed donut
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A sparkly sugary donut (the pic doesn’t do this one justice – it’s sparkly and pink)
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A key lime pie slice (look at the teeny lime slice on top – tooooo cute!)
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Two chocolate chip cookies
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A slice of carrot cake
Today, I also received some of the sweetest soaps from YappsCottageDecor – click here to see her shop. She already has so many wonderful things in there and has some more goodies coming soon to her shop. Look at her shop announcement for details! The soap smells so good and such lovely packaging. Look at this:
There’s pink sugar, lavender, lemongrass, and two white soaps that seem to be unscented. I’ll find out for sure on those. She has really great prices, but the big thing is they are sooooooo cute!
More Sneaking Peeking & My Mama
The goodies just keep on coming in…you know…the ones my first five customers are going to get for FREE with their purchases??
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A cute Grocery Bag Magnet with so many miniature items inside like drawer liner, cereal, a newspaper, fruit and more!!
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An adorable bag of potatoes magnet. I have had one of these for YEARS that she made for me and I love it so much. They are so very adorable!
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A precious red and white lollipop that has the clear protective wrap on it.
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A sweet tiny sundae in a clear sundae cup. Look at the tiny straw (for when the ice cream “melts”)!
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And, my personal favorite, a teeny-tiny miniature pink and white lollipop. It’s so very cute and sweet and adorable and lovely! Just like my Mama!!
Here’s a picture of them:
There’s more to come and those will be in soon, I’ll keep you posted on that. Also, don’t forget to look here tomorrow evening for things that I’ll have for sale in the shop on Saturday!
Gift Items Starting to Arrive & Sneak Peek
The clock is ticking fast as I’m getting everything ready to be opened by Saturday morning. I hope not to disappoint anyone!
Be sure to check back to see more sneak peeks of what will be available on Saturday!! 
