Cyber Monday! Shop! Shop! Shop!

Today is supposed to be the biggest internet shopping day of the year. And of course, since I spent all day yesterday putting up our tree and packing stuff away in preparation of moving soon, I am soooo not prepared! :) Well that is not totally true. The other day when I figured out that I was going to be busy almost every day this month, I made up a bunch of Selection Collages, including one for today. So here is your featured Selection Collage for Cyber Monday! (And yes I know this is not technically what Cyber Monday means, but I thought it was cute!) ;)

Computer Harddrive Clock by pixelthis	Ctrl-Alt-Del Three Pillow Set by diffractionfiber
Floppy Booky - basic (black) by contexto	Pentium 2 Circuit Board Necklace by Mechanimation
icard - orange set of 3 by cadizcards	Uptown Girl Crochet Laptop Case by jenvecc

So happy shopping (and selling!) to all and to all a good Monday! :D

Later!

Yum Turkey! :)

So now that the turkey coma has lifted, I'll let you know what I have been up to the last day or so (when I wasn't running around like a mad person trying to clean the house). I posted some more vintage pieces! This time it was some vintage kitchen items; namely pot holders!

2 Vintage Crocheted Floral Orange Citrus Potholders - Circa 1940s

I have three sets listed and one single piece. They are all from the 40's and I think they might have all been made by the same person. I think these are from my mom's personal collection, but I'm not sure where she got them from originally. Really cute if you have a vintage kitchen!

Later!

So for those of you wondering why I didn't post anything today...

Today is Second Thanksgiving! We'll first Thanksgiving if you are going by the food being eaten (we had pasta on Thursday). Alright now that you are confused, let me explain. Rather then have to go to two different Thanksgiving dinners in one day, usually we eat at my mom's on Thanksgiving, then have my husbands family over on Saturday for "Second Thanksgiving". So today (as per usual) I was awaken by the sound of the smoke detector going off, and the smell of turkey and stuffing wafting from the kitchen (it's not really Thanksgiving until the smoke alarm goes off). ;) Since then we have been scrambling around trying to clean up the house before my in-laws get here. We are now pretty much ready, so I'm taking a moment to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving again! And since my in-laws will be here any minute, I guess I will have to skip today's feature (again). I have tomorrow's feature all set up though, so see you then!

Later!

Happy Black Friday Everyone

So who among you went out before the sun came up to snag some great deals on hot items? Well I sure didn't! You couldn't get me up that early if you paid me! I'm not a morning person AT ALL. :) I'm sure my mom did though, and I'm pretty sure some of my friends did as well. And, as I usually do this time of year, I would just like to add this public service message about holiday shopping: BE NICE TO THE SERVICE INDUSTRY PEOPLE.

That includes store employees, wait staff at restaurants, gas station attendants, etc. Basically if the person is being paid to help you, you need to be nice to them. You need to remember that while you chose to get up and drive to the mall at 6am, they have been there since 5am and would rather be in bed. But since they have bills to pay, here they are working in retail (or the food service industry) at the worst time of year to work in retail (or the food service industry). And as someone who worked at the mall for 10 years (4 of those in a Christmas store) and in the food service industry for 4 years, I can say that peace on earth and goodwill toward men is one of the nicest things you can give your cashier or store employee this time of year. That and patience; you will only be in line for another 10 minutes tops, your cashier has another 5 hours till their shift ends. So be nice and have a happy shopping...I mean holiday season! :)

No back to our regularly scheduled post! Which just happens to involve shopping as well! I figured since today is the second biggest shopping day of the year (in real life, not online) that I would use this opportunity to "pimp" my friends and family's Etsy stores. :) So here we go, a Selections collage of my friends and family (and me!).

Shades of Blueberry Crocheted Hat by TheCrochetedCat	Ocean of Violets Necklace by jayceecarmeljewelry
Goomba from Super Mario by DigitalMushroom	Clare the Fall Knitted Kitten by thewanderingknitter
Sewing Charm Flower Ornaments by Gilliantwo	Custom Initial Holiday Ornament by Autumn2May

Happy shopping everyone!

Later! :)

P.S. For more information on my many family members' Etsy pages, please check out my Etsy profile here => Autumn2May's Profile

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am thankful for all the blessings God has given me!

• God's love and grace
• My family (as a whole)
• My husband and kids (especially!)
• My friends
• That I have a nice place to live
• That my husband has a job and I can stay home with my kids
• And of course that we have good food to eat!

And on that last note, I give you a special Thanksgiving edition of my Saturday Selections (even though it's Thursday). Today's theme is the center piece of most Americans' Thanksgiving dinner: the turkey!

Thanksgiving Dinner by duncanrag	Oven Roasted Turkey Plush by Midnightsnack
Happy Thanksgiving Card by AJKArtistry	Thanksgiving Roast Turkey Magnet by Autumn2May
Felt Turkey with Stuffing by bugbitesplayfood	Miniature Roast Turkey with Trimmings by dolliesalamode

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful weekend!

Later! :)

Drat!

I totally forgot I had a dentist appointment this morning, till my mother-in-law called to see when she needed to be here to watch the kids! Sigh... Well since tomorrow is Thanksgiving I am going to run a Saturday Selections post instead of a feature. Which means today's featured seller is now going to be Friday's featured seller! I think this holiday season is making my brain melt out my ears or something. It looks like I had better start writing stuff down in a place I will see it. :) Well I guess I better go brush my teeth!

Later!

Featured Seller of the Day 11/24/2009

Today's featured seller is an artist in the traditional sense. He is a painter who works with watercolors and his shop is called:

artwork by d. scheirer

And before you ask, no I didn't plan on featuring him on Tuesday on purpose, it just kinda worked out that way. :) So what is so unique about the artist's watercolors that it caught my eye in the first place? Well I would like to say it was his beautiful, realistic still lifes (we'll get to those later), but actually it was a cute little whale. :)

Whales Series - Kelp Print

This little guy stole my heart as soon as I laid eyes on him! He looks so curious; so intent on whatever it is he is looking at. And not only is the little whale cute, but he is living in a beautifully alive underwater world! I must say here, that painters amaze me. I have a fair amount of drawing ability, but as soon as I bring paint into the picture things go south VERY quickly. The fact that the artist could create such a simple yet complex piece with just a few colors is completely incredible to me! It's hard not to imagine the fish swimming in and out of the kelp, that is slowly swaying in the deep ocean currents. And I'll admit, I'm jealous; both of the painter for being able to create this cool underwater world, and of the whale who is able to live in it. :)

And if you like this little guy, the artist has created a whole series of paintings of him and his other whale friends. Here is one of the other paintings in this series that I love.

Whale series - 'Hot Air Balloon Festival' 8x10 Print

I am afraid of heights, but ever since I was little I have always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon. I don't know if I ever will, but I do love watching them fly! Apparently after watching all of the balloons take off, the little whale got bored (or hungry) and decided to see if anything interesting was going on below. :) You can just see his tail about to slip into the briny deep. I love the colors in this one too; the green and the blue set each other off perfectly!

Now after discovering this cute little whale, I went and check out the rest of the artist's shop. I might have come to the shop to see the little whale, but I stayed to see these still lifes.

Shells and Sea glass - Framed Print

This picture is stunning! I lived by the beach in New Jersey for main years, and this still life looks exactly like what you would pull out of your pocket, after a successful beach combing trip! My sister actually collected sea glass for many years, though I'm not sure if she still has them all or not. When I look at this piece, I can almost smell the salt air and feel the grit of sand on the table. :)

One more before we say adieu.

Japanese Lanterns - Original Watercolor

This piece reminds me of the fall. Even the way it's lit brings to mind an afternoon in autumn where the daylight is fading quickly and a chill is starting to creep into the air. The lanturns seem to be almost weightless, just like a crunchy fall leaf that can be quickly blown away in a cool light breeze. I will add, as a side note, that those Japanese Lanterns do (in real life) make really cool crunching sounds when you squish them, but your mom will probably get mad at you if you try it. :)

Tomorrow's seller makes cute little animals. ::Hint - She uses felt and polymer clay!::

Later!

P.S. For more information on today's featured seller, please check out their Etsy profile here => studiotuesday's Profile

Busy, busy, busy!

I am currently working on tomorrow's featured seller of the day, so I know it will get done on time! :) But I had to show you the other project I have been working on.

3 Felt Sushi Rolls with Pickled Ginger and Wasabi Pincushions or Display Pieces

I've been working on these piece off and on for a couple of weeks and I decided yesterday I was going to finish them today come hell or high water! And I finished! I think they came out cute. :) Okay back to work before the kids wake up!

Later! :)

Vintage?

I started out on the internet, selling collectibles with my mom on the AOL message boards before Ebay was invented. When Ebay came on the market, so to speak, my Aunt, who also sold on AOL, tried it out for a year and then we joined her. We sold collectibles and vintage pieces on Ebay for years. I finally had to stop when I got pregnant with my twins 3 years ago and was put on bedrest for most of the pregnancy. I started selling crafts on Etsy this year as something to do to keep myself sane while sitting watching Nick Jr. television shows all day. When I joined Etsy I had no idea they also sold vintage pieces.

Why am I telling you all this? Well because for the last 3 years my mom (and our relatives) have been finding (and saving) things for us to sell on Ebay when we got the time to do it again. So my mom has boxes and boxes of cool stuff just waiting to be posted! But I was thinking, maybe it would be fun to try posting some of the stuff on Etsy and see what happens. So I did! Last night I posted a cool vintage Lucite purse!

Vintage Marbled Lucite Box Purse with Clear Carved Lucite Top

I actually have another one of these. Well not exactly the same, but same kind of style. You can see pics of it on my flickr here along with some more pics of the first purse.

I've heard that vintage sellers can do very well on Etsy, and I guess we shall soon see. I actually have a whole box of stuff my mom gave me to work on. I'll see if I can get some more posted before Thanksgiving. Oh and once again, I'm sorry about missing my today's feature. My life seems to have run away with me! I'll do my best to get some awesome sellers posted this week!

Later!

Two missed in one week, new record!

Well obviously I missed yesterday's featured seller. And it looks like I'm going to have to bump today's Saturday Selections to Sunday (so I guess that's really three I missed). But I have a good reason...the seller accepted our offer on the house we were looking at!!! :D So now we just have 3 agonizingly long business days to wait until we are officially under contract! I'm so excited! :) So now I have to start thinking about packing and moving and painting the new house. Not that I'm complaining, per se, but I have no idea why I thought house hunting right before the holidays was a good idea! I can't believe I'm going to be packing my whole house and decorating for Christmas all at the same time! Wish us luck!

Later!

Okay then...

So apparently at least once a week something comes up where I am unable to post my featured seller. Sigh... Today's crisis involved us house hunting. We are bidding on a house and trying to get all kinds of paperwork in order, and it's driving me crazy! :) I don't want to jinx it, but so far it's going well. So hopefully my next "I didn't get a chance to post" post will be something along the lines of "Yay! We got the house!" :) So anyway, assuming nothing really good or really bad happens before tomorrow morning, I should have today's seller posted for tomorrow.

Later! :)

Featured Seller of the Day 11/18/2009

Aaaah! Today's artist's pieces are almost too cute to post! Their shop is called:

Crochet!

See even their banner is cute! :D Okay, okay, I'll get on with it. With all the adorable pieces in this shop, it was actually kind of tough to narrow it down to just a couple items. But this first one was a no brainer.

Safety Cone is There for You

Meet Safety Cone! He is constantly on patrol to make sure you stay safe. He might be small but he has a big heart! :) And while the original Safety Cone is cute all by himself, he has some friends I'd like to introduce you to as well!



See I bet you thought you couldn't get cuter then a crocheted Safety Cone; but you were wrong! Introducing Safety Cone wearing a sombrero and Snow-Proof Safety Cone! :D The best part about these two is their hats are removable, so you can turn them back into regular Safety Cone, just like that! There are many more of Safety Cones friends to collect and play with, but I must move on.

Since Thanksgiving is exactly a week away, how about we look at some turkey day food next?

Crochet Smiling Jellied Cranberry Sauce right out of the can

This little guy reminded me of Thanksgiving as soon as I saw him! :) When I was young, I thought that cranberries were shaped like tin cans. And I could never figure out why it was called cranberry sauce when obviously it was some sort of jello. Of course I now know that cranberries are round, but it does seem that my family is not the only one, to have a plate of can shaped jelly on the table every Thanksgiving! :)

And what Thanksgiving would be complete without some Pi!

Pi - Crochet Plush

I know mine wouldn't, but that's cause I married (and am related to) a bunch of math geeks! I'm sure you probably have the more traditional "pie" on your table and so do I. My pie just happens to be baked in a pie dish with 3.14159265... written around the outside edge! XD Silly math geeks. :)

Okay, while I have to say that I am in love with most of these cuddly creations, I would be neglecting my duty as a reviewer, if I didn't show you this last piece.

Spiced Apple Cider Owl Soap with Crocheted Scarf

Along with the cute crocheted creations, our featured artist of the day also makes adorable owl soaps, complete with little crocheted scarves! :) This one looks like it smells especailly yummy! Apple cider is one of my favorite fall foods...er...drinks. :) As a matter of fact, you can't see it, but I'm drinking spiced cider as I type! ;)

Tomorrow, we head away from yarn arts for a bit, and move on to paintings. ::Hint - Tomorrow's artist works with watercolors!::

Later!

P.S. For more information on today's featured seller, please check out their Etsy profile here => EternalSunshine's Profile

Featured Seller of the Day 11/17/2009

I thought, before I start today, I would just take a moment and explain what exactly it is I am doing here. For those of you who are just joining us, I started this blog awhile back to talk about what I was doing in my shop and life and things like that. After doing that for awhile, I decided my life was pretty boring and I needed something else to talk about besides my own crafts and issues. :) So I thought, "What else would be fun to talk about on an Etsy blog? How about my favorite sellers!" I took a look at my favorites list and it was long enough (33 pages at the time) that I figured if I started with the first person I hearted back when I opened my shop in June and worked toward the beginning, then I would have something to talk about everyday for a very long time.

It turned out to be pretty fun! It's neat revisiting my favorite shops and seeing what their latest projects are. And it's lots of fun (to me anyway) to try and pick out a couple of my favorites from their shop, and tell everyone else why they are my favorites. It's like show and tell everyday! :D So anyway, I thought that would give you guys who have recently started following me an idea of why I keep doing this. And I guess the answer is, because it's fun! :)

Okay enough of me talking, on to our featured seller of the day! Today's seller works with both polymer clay and yarn, just not at the same time. :) Their shop is called:

The Incredible Inedibles - Custom Crochet Designs

Since the last three featured sellers have been crocheters or knitters, let's start out with a look at one of the artist's crocheted pieces.

PLAYTIME DONUT DUNKERS

Donuts are one of the downfalls in my life. If there is a box of donuts anywhere I can see or smell them, then I am going to have one (or two, or three)! These delicious looking desserts however are completely calorie free! And they are likely to last much longer then a similar stack of their baked relatives. I think the tan donut with the pink icing is my favorite. I'd like to think that it was a vanilla donut with strawberry frosting, but I guess it's up to the child that plays with it which flavor it will be! :)

If that got your mouth watering, then you might want to turn away, because the next couple of pieces are even more delicious looking!

SWEETHEART CAKE PENDANT

Now this piece is obviously one of the polymer clay creations. But if you didn't know it was clay, I bet you would have thought it was real! And if it wasn't sitting on a fork, I bet you would have thought it was a lot bigger too! Yes that is an actually fork used for eating! This cake is actually a pendant, the perfect eye candy (or cake) to wear with your sweetest outfit. :) I love the little kiwi slices, they are too yummy!

And if you aren't hungry enough to eat a whole cake, then how about a cupcake?

SWEET CAKE PENDANT

Who among you could resist this scrumptious mini cupcake, complete, with a cherry on top! The chocolate frosting looks so real, that it seems like you could take a finger full off the edge when no one was looking! Yum!

Alright enough food! This post is making my tummy rumble. :)

124 Cupcake Lane - The Town of Sweetsville

This piece is just as sweet as the others, but in an "Aww! How cute!" kind of way instead of "I could eat about four of those!" kind of way. :) It has all you could ever ask for in a cupcake house:
- Gingerbread door, for easy access to the interior.
- Frosting covered chimney, to let the steam from your baking out.
- Red and pink striped roof, so you always know which house is yours.
- Pink shutter on the window, in case of freak powdered sugar storms.
- And a beautiful candy flower bush, to add beauty to your home!

While a cupcake house might not be for everyone, it does have one advantage over regular housing. You know for a fact, that you'll never go hungry! :)

Tomorrow, we will feature our last crochet shop for awhile. ::Hint - They make amazingly cute animals and food!::

Later!

P.S. For more information on today's featured seller, please check out their Etsy profile here => pukashell's Profile

Yeah so today nothing happened.

Yes you read that right NOTHING happened today. I didn't get any work done, or cleaning, or even blog posting. Pretty much today has been breaking up fights between my kids or changing diapers. So I apologize, but once again today's featured seller is going to instead, be tomorrow's featured seller.

I did get some cool fall pics posted to Flickr last night though. You can find them here, or just click on the Flickr widget in the side bar of my blog. :)

Okay time to get dinner started before naps end!

Later! :)

Featured Seller of the Day 11/15/2009

Just a quick update before we start...it's only 40 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS! I hope all my fellow Etsyians have got your shops stocked and your shopping started! :) Okay now onto today's Featured Seller!

Today's seller is also a very talented crochet artist who makes equally cute plushie characters. Her shop is called:

A hook, a skein, and a wild imagination!

So what kind of cool and cute creations can be found in this unique shop? Well how about a slice of toast with his own blog! :)

The Original Mr. Toastee - Crochet Bread and Butter Plushie

Yes, this beautiful slice of crocheted bread is toasted to perfection and proudly displaying his pat of 100% pure butter. But not only is he handsome, he is also a talented web author! You can read about his adventures at The Adventures of Mr. Toastee and Friends! Mr. Toastee is also available in rye and whole wheat, for those of you who prefer a healthy alternative to white bread. :)

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and I'm sure our next guest will be at most of your homes this year.

Mr. Turkee - Plush Turkey Leg Keychain

I love turkey legs! They are the best part of the turkey; hands down! Growing up there were three of us (until my twin brothers were born) and as you know turkeys only have 2 legs. This ALWAYS posed a problem. I have never figured out how, but my middle brother Steve ALWAYS managed to get one of them. Leaving me and my sister (and later my younger twin brothers) to fight over the remaining leg. To this very day, Steve always seems to walk away from the carnage of the family buffet with a turkey leg proudly displayed on his plate. And I always hate him for it. :) This cute keychain is perfect for those of us who love turkey legs, but never seem to be fast enough to get one. :)

Well so far we've covered breakfast and dinner, how about some dessert?

Happy Happy Ice Cream Cone - Lemon Sorbet

This ice cream cone is very happy. Why? Because he is made of yarn and won't ever melt! Now granted he probably doesn't have to worry too much about melting this time of year, but it won't be winter forever! Besides what color is sunnier and happier then lemon yellow? Definitely a very yummy (and happy!) treat. :)

Tomorrow's featured seller creates sweet treats! ::Hint - They crochet and work with clay!::

Later!

P.S. For more information on today's featured seller, please check out their Etsy profile here => yummypancake's Profile

Another Mini Update

I haven't had a lot of time to update my shop lately, as my husband and I have been looking at houses. We are actually in the process, of starting the process, of bidding on a house we like, and I would just like to say, that house shopping and everything that it involves, TAKES FOREVER! It's been a whole week since we looked at the house and decided we wanted to bid on it, and we haven't even been approved for the mortgage yet! Well at any rate, hopefully we'll get the mortgage part settled at the beginning of the week, then put a bid on the house. Keep your fingers crossed that, if we get to the bidding part before someone else does, they accept our offer! :)

In crafting news, I promise you (and me) that I will get my sushi rolls posted this week! :) I also need to finish that Hufflepuff ornament that I started FOREVER ago. Okay time for bed.

Later! :)

Saturday Selections! 11/14/2009

Today's Saturday selections will feature a harvest decoration that goes back hundreds of years: dried corn. Maize or Indian corn has been around for centuries. And every Thanksgiving season they are used to decorate homes all over the country. Let's take a look at some beautiful examples of crafts featuring this harvest staple.

Indian Corn with Gourd, Original Oil Painting by lamgallery	Project Hybrid Corn Series No.3 (Cran-Orange) by GoBuggy
Indian Corn and Bowl of Walnuts by BeadSmyths	Indian Corn - Handspun Fleecy Art Yarn by Jazzturtle
Indian Corn Fall Harvest Beauty by maclancy	Harvest Indian Corn Magnet by Autumn2May

Have a great weekend everybody. I'll see you tomorrow, with our next Featured Seller of the Day!

Later!

Featured Seller of the Day 11/13/2009

Today we go from knitting to crochet. Which to me seem very similar, but apparently they are VERY different! According to the knitter I know, my cousin Amber (thewanderingknitter), it's impossible for one person to know how to knit and crochet. I find this a little silly, but my mother-in-law Anne (TheCrochetedCat) seems to agree with her, so I guess until I meet someone who can do both I will have to assume they are telling the truth! :)

Sorry I'm getting side tracked; back to today's featured seller, who's shop is called:

Prim and Plush

As a geek by association, I love the world of geekery! I know a lot about bits and pieces of it, but mostly rely on my geeky friends and family for the really in depth stuff. However I do not need their help to fall completely in love with the creations in today's shop. What could be so cool, cute, and geeky to have such universal appeal? The answer: plushie molecules! :D

Mrs. Methane V2.0

I bet for a split second, before you saw this picture, you thought that I was kidding didn't you? But, it's true! Today's artist has melded their love of science with their love of crochet to create adorable stuffed molecules! The piece above is Methane (CH4), which (according to the description) is "the simplest of all organic compounds." It is also pink and blue and purple and adorably cute! :D

Mr. Ethanol (drinking alcohol)

This is a cute version of ethanol (CH3CH2OH), or drinking alcohol. It's hard to imagine that this cute and cuddly little molecule, is the cause of so much pain and suffering, for those of us who on occasion get slightly carried away with its consumption. As a non-drinker myself, I would actually find this to be a great gift to give to someone with a hang over; but then again, I can be pretty snarky at times. ;)

Alright I'll leave the geekiness behind for just a second, as I need to show off one of the cute non-geek pieces this seller has to offer.

Lots of Love Bear

Along with amazingly cute molecules, this seller also makes amazingly cute teddy bears! :) This one is my favorite! I love the little "loves" surrounding the bear, and the big pink heart she is squeezing. I'm also slightly partial to this one, because one of my favorite teddy bears as a kid was a polar bear. :)

One more molecule before we go. This one is my hands down favorite. Drum roll please!

Cup of Water

It's a cup of water (H2O)! :D This is one of the coolest geekery pieces on Etsy! And on top of the idea being super cool, the execution of the water molecules and even the mug are perfect! This one is on my Christmas list! ;)

Tomorrow we'll be looking at another crocheter. ::Hint - They make cute food plushies!::

Later!

P.S. For more information on today's featured seller, please check out their Etsy profile here => Primandplush's Profile