Mothers Day

I experienced my first Mothers Day as a Mother last week. It was nice to be honoured for the time and energy that I've put into this new role, but felt at the same time odd to be 'appreciated' for something that isn't new in the span of history. Giving birth is a trial, but one that most every woman faces at least once in her lifetime. Raising the child you give birth to is just as natural an occurrence. Obviously, there are a multitude of mothers out there raising children they did not give birth to, and this is to be highly commended (I was raised by my biological grandmother).

I'm not attempting to down-size the magnitude of the job itself. It's obviously a labour of love and full of sacrifice, but when frustration sets in, only a few moments away from the Monster is needed to remind me that even though it's a difficult task, it's a beautiful one, full of reward and lots of slobbery kisses of thanks. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm not the kind of person who collects a large number of trinkets or collectables, but I do have a little affinity for the gentleness and quiet beauty of Susan Lordi's Willow Tree figures. I saw this one, and my heart leaped, one of my favourite moments is bringing the Monster (asleep in my arms) to his crib, or when he's had a good time playing with his toys and reaches up to me putting his head on my shoulder in an appreciative hug.

Pretty Lemony

I had wanted to do another feature such as the stapler one I had before, this time I thought I'd place the items in a treasury. When thinking of something to focus on, I considered the beautiful yellow sunshine streaming in my window, and was reminded of my wedding, where the quirky song that we choose to describe our realtionship, 'Lemonade' by Chris Rice. Here are the inspired items,

I had attempted to link to each item and shop individually, but once again Blogger is playing tricks with me. To visit these items and view these shops please see the actual treasury here.

Featured in a Treasury

FolkyDolky created a treasury titled; "Shopping Local" it's featuring a number of Etsy artists based in NL. Check out the Treasury!

Featured are works by; IslandSweet, TrinityRocks, Myself - Crysto, Dallied, SweetAppleStudios, RetroReality, OPdesigns, Gcuff, TheStoreNL, NF2000, KristinaTuck, and HandmadeNaturals.


Here's one of Folky's items that I'm particularly fond of;

"On The Street Where You Live" (Limited Edition Lino)

Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism New TV Ad: Ancient Land (2 min)

I'm in love with my province, and I was super excited to see this commercial during the 2010 Olympic broadcasting. It has a mystical air about it that you can truly feel standing on one of our mountain tops or at the edge of a cliff as the waves crash below.

Smothered Mother

I think I’m being smothered by hectic routine. The life of a mother, wife and business woman (ok, that last one is a bit of a stretch, but I do still conduct business on etsy and I’m also dealing with some real-estate matters), is a life plagued with the mundane day-to-day necessary tasks, as well as the random surprises that seemingly intend to throw you off your game, or at least affect your balancing act slightly.

This is particularly meaningful a reflection for me this weekend. Sunday I’ll honour not only my birth-mother, but also the mother who raised me. I hope to think I honour them every day with the person I have become.

It’s truly a sacrifice of love to grow a child in your womb as well as raise that child from infancy. Both of my mothers have done miraculous things for me, astounding sacrifices.

This is also my ‘first’ Mother’s Day. I do technically consider it my second since the Monster was in my womb at this time last year, but not everyone would agree. I’m a little psyched; just don’t let Hubber know that.

Now I’ll go tend to the other random things demanding my time. I’ll leave on this note, I dearly miss the Etsy gift guides (and yet appreciate the gift-guide-esque postings in Storque) and never look at the Showcase slots because they’re rarely pleasing to the eye and the few times I have looked, I’ve never seen anything that’s drawn me to click and investigate further.

Navy is Back

Apparently Navy is hot, H&M knows, Guess does too (I could continue with designers, but I'd have to surf through my favorites and I'm tired). It's all over the place for Spring, it's time for the snow to melt, and for everyone to jump onto a boat and dress in Nautical Marine styles. Ok, maybe I won't. I will take a few rides in my fathers boat this summer, and I'll wear navy, although I won't possibly take the trend to a totally noticeable level in my own budget conscious wardrobe. But, I thought that it would be wise to mention the Navy-Movement in introducing Alice.

Here's a new item in the shop. Well, I guess it depends on what you might consider to be 'new'. It's been there a week or so now. This purse, Alice, is one of a small number of Mini-Pixies that I've made so far. The inside fabric is a plaid that I've fallen head-over-hills for and only had a small amount left, so I managed to get two of these little handbags out my remaining stock.

Check out the listing for the specs on this purse.

As for my NL features, I'm sorry it's taking me so very long to get them all posted. Please stay tuned because there are still lots of lovely NL shops out there that you should know about!

Hope everyone's having a fantastic weekend! As for me, I'm retiring to my duvet for the evening, and sketch some new designs! Good Night!

Mother-Housewife.. but not the cliche

Imagine this, back again.

I have a question, those of you who’re out there, mothers who’re balancing etsy shops, blogs, websites, consignment orders, household responsibilities and children, how are you doing it?

I know you exist, I run across your posts in the etsy forums, I drop by your blogs, I see your sales. I can’t imagine how you manage it all.

Do you have extremely helpful partners? My husband works, all day and most nights, away from the house. My free time, which is while the 7 month old sleeps, is spent with dishes and laundry, cleaning and cooking. I have volunteer responsibilities (which I LOVE) away from home, these take me out of the house at least one night a week.

Please lend me your secrets.

On another note, I did promise photos from my birthday. We had a lovely dinner at the Dockside Inn & Restaurant, and it was delicious, as always.

The 7 month old Monster, Myself and the Husband. It's complicated eating out with a baby, but thankfully we had a dinner without incident. Monster was sleepy, which is why there's no smiles in this photo, and he slept till we were almost finished eating.

From a World Brought Together as One

My apologies, again? I did truly hope to find my way back here before now.

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I’ve spent the past 2+ weeks completely sucked into the Olympic drama and excitement, and now I’m suffering from withdrawal. This in the midst of laundry and dishes, feedings and diaper changes, volunteering and visitors, has all kept me from politely updating my blog. Sadly, the business of life, the various events and excitement are the best things to post about, and who really wants to hear about those things way after it has happened. So don’t worry, if you’re a sports fan, I’m sure you’ve watched snippets of the Olympic games, or read sports pages online, or like some of the Canadians I know, lovingly and obsessively glued yourself to the television, watching one channel (sport) while your PVR (personal video recorder, similar to tvo, but not nearly as cool) captured the action on another. In light of this, I won’t document my emotions while experiencing the past 17+days.

.Though, I will make mention of LeBreton who unfortunately compared Canadians and their ‘inadequate’ patriotism to Nazi Germany and the Berlin Olympics. I’m too passionate about this subject to start ranting and allow down the walls that hold excessive emotion from exploding all over this page. Although, something tells me that LeBreton will not escape this ‘rant’ of his own without getting ‘burnt’ by the backlash. I also wonder if there was something besides what LeBreton mentioned in his article that spurred him forward in a ridiculous claim that our Maple Leaf can be easily compared to the swastika. So, LeBreton, if you’re out there, I’m sorry if a Canadian somewhere, somehow offended your possibly sensitive nature. Please be aware that we were not simply throwing ourselves an outrageous party (though we do tend to get overly excited, it’s a part of what most of the world likes about us, our friendly excitability), and I hope you do at some point, though this process and publicity you’ve either intentionally or unintentionally thrust upon yourself, realize that Canadians are not as easily likened to Nazi’s as you first concluded.

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I think I’ll stop there for now, for fear of saying too much and speaking from anger and a desire to argue (its instinctive).

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I’ll return soon, with something more shop related, I hope.

Happy Birthday, have a sale?

One of Etsy's many unique features to enhance the shoppers shopping experience is shopping by Birthday. Every day in etsy's 'buy' section different sellers are featured because of the date they've entered as their birthday in their profile.
The idea is to make someones birthday a little brighter by providing them with a sale. Sounds good to me. I did not make a sale today. Sadness.
Anyway, there are listed 741 sellers whose Birthday's are set to Feb 7th. Of the 8 pages I sifted through, I found myself on the 6th page. I wasn't exactly expecting anyone to find me via this method anyway, but I am astounded a little, 741 shops.
If every day has that many shops featured we're looking at a total of 263,796 shops selling on Etsy!!
Yikes, I don't know what number I was expecting. I know not every opened 'shop' is selling.
Anyway, I'm not here complaining, or even ranting, just rambling. I thought I'd post a screen shot of my avatar in the Birthday section, since I won't see it there for another year.

(hmm, an after thought, if people actually DID shop using the Birthday section, couldn't shops/sellers change their birthday date on their profile to correspond with each day, to consistently be featured? I have no idea if Etsy has anything to prevent this. Just wondering)

Anyone out there ever purchase from a shop they found browsing Birthdays?

I had a lovely birthday, I'll post some pictures tomorrow. It wasn't overly eventful, but an event all the same.

Happy Birthday, have a stapler!

Tomorrow is my birthday, my third 25^th birthday actually. In light of the coming occasion I thought I’d feature some lovely red staplers. I’m not sure why, but for a number of years now I’ve been wanting a Red Stapler, not just ANY red stapler, but a shiny new Red Swingline.

I’ve a love for most anything red in colour, and give me something red, shiny and used to organize, I’ll love you forever (some conditions may apply).

I'm especially a fan of #3. It's a beautiful necklace. I know it's not ACTUALLY red, but it's a great photo and I'd wear a necklace like that with most anything.

So, celebrate with me, by checking out some of these stunning etsy items.

1. Still Life With Stapler (Office Space) $19 from jctebeau

2. Red Stapler PDF Cross Stitch Pattern $5 from Nrapture

3. STAPLER sterling silver necklace $60 from BallandChain

4. Blank Card - The Office - Red Jello Stapler $2.99 from SureAsBlue

5. Swingline Stapler $30 from Moxiedoll

6. Swingline Staplers $20 from TopsyDesign

NL Etsy Shop Feature: Made WithClayAndLove

This current Etsy seller is one of my favourite shops on Etsy. The colour and beauty of her pieces are striking, and I’m always had a soft spot for jewellery! She has a beautiful range from sophistication to cute and somewhat whimsical with the ‘World’s Smallest Sewing Machine’ or the ‘World’s Smallest Amp’ magnets!

With prices currently ranging from $8 - $28, there is something for most anyone with a desire for something beautiful at a very reasonable price.

Obviously, I’m a fan.

NL Etsy Shop Feature: MadeWithClayAndLove

Please tell my readers something about yourself, where you grew up, where you’re living now, affiliations, personal stuff.

I grew up in Newfoundland, in a rural community. After graduating high school, I spent several years travelling across Canada, staying for less than a year in different provinces. When I returned to Newfoundland, I lived in St. John's, and have lived here since then. I am glad that I travelled, but Newfoundland will always be my home. There's nowhere else in the world as safe and serene to me.

How long have you been creating?

I have always enjoyed creating, even as a child. I have tried plastic canvas crafts, sewing, quilt-making, and of course polymer clay and jewellery design. I tried polymer clay over a year ago, and have been hooked ever since. That led to the jewellery design, and I enjoy combining my love for the both of them, creating a unique piece of wearable art.
How long have you been selling on etsy?

I opened my Etsy shop one year ago today! [December 13^th] :) Happy Etsyversary to me! <:-) I started out slowly, unaware of all the work that has to go into an Etsy shop (eg. taking great photos, promoting, creating unique products, etc). But I worked hard and I am pleased with my progress in the last year. Do you sell anywhere besides etsy? Where? How long have you been selling via that venue?

No, I only sell on Etsy. :)

What inspires you to create? Where do you get motivation?

I get inspiration from anything... nature, a tv show, clothing. Anything that grabs my attention inspires me to create something. Most of my ideas and designs come to me as I am falling asleep, so I keep a notepad and pen next to my bed for that reason.


Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.

Usually when I think of a new idea, I get working on it within 24 hours because I am excited to actually see my idea turned into a reality. I don't have a schedule for anything. Everything is completely random. I create whenever I feel like it, take photos when I can, and list the item within a few days of creating it.

Do you feel like you’ve been affected/influenced by the Newfoundland culture in your chosen art?

In some ways, yes. Newfoundlanders are known for their hospitality and I always treat my customers in this manner, going above and beyond to make them happy. Also, this beautiful province inspires me to create some of my items.

What other activities occupy your time?

I enjoy spending time with my husband and my two kitty cats. :) I love decorating, so I am always changing my surroundings and redesigning. I also love to shop, both locally and online!

If you could recommend one book, one television program, one movie, one song what would they be?

Book - "The Notebook"
Television Program - any decorating show!
Movie - probably "The Notebook" as well. I'm not a huge movie buff, actually. :)
Song - my mind is completely blank! Sorry! :P

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?

I would love to go to France. It just seems so romantic and unique.

What methods do you use to advertise or promote your products?

I currently do not advertise, and the only promoting tool I use is a Facebook Fan Page. I find that word of mouth is great, and I have many repeat buyers as well. :)

Happy Day to the Groundhog

In light of the Groundhog, I thought I’d take a short break from the NL features and do a quick little feature on Groundhog items I found browsing etsy. It seems as though the groundhog isn’t one of the more popular crafted animals, but those who have chosen the groundhog as a theme in creating have done it beautifully. Check out some of these selected items below.

1. Groundhog Oversized Postcard Letterpress Handprinted. $13 from; http://www.yeehaw.etsy.com/

2. The Groundhog Ate My Peas 7, 1.7 oz of handspun wool yarn with a touch of silk. $15 from; http://www.feistywomandesigns.etsy.com/

3. Shadow Journal. $4 from; http://www.mammaroots.etsy.com/

4. Groundhog's Day Groundhog Amigurumi. $10 from http://www.moonscreations.etsy.com/

5. Brigid the Groundhog. $14 from; http://www.mammaroots.etsy.com/