Happy Halloween

from our door to yours...

i hope your night is great!

xoxo,

Shop Sale!

20% off in the shop this week only!

use code: BLOGFRIENDS :)

happy day!

xoxo,

Sponsor Love {Little Blue Feather}

Hi there!  My name is Michelle and I have a shop on Etsy called Little Blue Feather! 

In case you are unfamiliar with Etsy, it is a website that hosts individual stores for handmade businesses, making it easy for you to shop anything and everything handmade in one location!  With the holidays approaching quickly, I decided to share some tips with you when it comes to buying on Etsy.

The first thing I recommend when you find a shop you love on Etsy, is to take a look at their shop announcement and shop policies.  

Shop announcement:

Includes various information that the shop owner wants their customers to know about them.  A business description, lead time or networking sites are a few things that could be included in their announcement.

Shop Policies:

Includes information about that individual shops payment forms, shipping, refunds and exchanges, sales taxes and other important information regarding the sale of their items.  

The next thing I would look for in the shop would be the location of the business.  One of the great things about Etsy is there are sellers from around the world.  Not only can you find great product made locally, but also something handmade with the style and culture from someone half way around the world!  With that being said, international shipments can take up to 14 days to reach its destination depending on how far the package is going and the customs process for that country.  If you fall in love with an item in Japan, allow an extra week or so for the item to reach you!

Once you have looked over a shop and read their announcement and policies, you can contact (tab found under location) them with any additional questions you might have.  For example, if you would like a tracking number included with your order but do not see if they offer delivery confirmation in their policies or announcement, contact the owner to see if this is something they can provide.   The last step (and sometimes the most important for the shop owner) is to complete the feedback for the shop.  I recommend doing this once you receive your item in the mail.  If you had a pleasant shopping experience, love the product even more in person or just want to thank the shop owner, you can include that in the feedback portion.  You can also include an appreciation photo of your new product in the feedback section or through a private Etsy message! If the sale did not go smoothly for any reason please contact the shop owner and let them know any problems or issues before leaving negative feedback.  Hopefully any issues can be worked out or an explanation given to the customer.  Once a feedback (positive or negative) is left for the shop, it can not be changed!! I hope these steps make an easy and enjoyable Etsy shopping experience for you this holiday season!  There is an unbelievable amount of talent and creativity on Etsy and I recommend you looking there first for unique and quality items to give as gifts before shopping large corporate stores.  While handmade gifts might take a little bit longer to make, they are exciting to give and you know you are supporting small businesses that put a lot of love into their products! Thank you for reading my article!  You can shop Little Blue Feather and follow my blog by clicking on the links below.   Happy Holidays! Michelle LittleBlueFeather.etsy.com LittleBlueFeathers.blogspot.com

InstaFriday

yep, Target.

oh, and a silly and slightly disturbing face from Mr. Boy.

he was "posing" for the picture.

ironing in our wee apartment.

ice cold. shaken, not stirred. yum.

hot tea and cozy socks on a rainy day

a lovely rainbow to start a great morning! 

the beginning of something pretty.

have a fabulous weekend!!!

xoxo,

October Group Sponsor Love

All About {Fairly Fabulous}:

I'm Meagan from Fairly Fabulous. Mommy to 3 and 5 year old sassy girls and less than trophy wife to my hubby, Breadwinner. 18 months ago we moved our family 90 miles to the Southern California desert for a job opportunity with Breadwinner's company. God found us the home our our dreams with more than enough space to make so many of the crafts, projects, and ideas floating around in my head become a reality! From creating our 8ft by 4 ft chalkboard to refinishing every piece of furniture in the house (and then some!) to attempting fashion 'masterpieces' and making every effort to love on my girls, honor my husband, juggle the laundry, house keeping, and chores- well- it's a busy life! A year ago I decided to add to the madness and sell some of my wares on etsy! It's a wild ride, but I trust God won't give us more than we can handle...right? ha

.....

{Rags to Stitches} An Interview:

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in the biz of handmade.
Hi, my name is Alissa, aka "The Snuggie Girl." I blog over at Rags to Stitches and I have a little shop filled with Snuggies that are guaranteed to keep your iPad, E-Readers and Laptops all warm and well... Snuggly. hehe. I'm married to the love of my life and we've been together for almost 7 years. In that time we've had our fair share of adventures and I'm so excited for the many more to come. My career began as an elementary and middle school teacher and shifted after the birth of our beautiful baby girl Katelyn in 2008. Katelyn is now three and is one of the most precious joys of our lives. Her smile and laughter can brighten anyone's day. In late 2009 we were blessed with another bundle of joy, who we lovingly refer to as Buddy. He is my sensitive, cuddle bug and already looks up to his sister. Being 17 months apart, I'm not going to lie, they keep me on my toes, but I'd rather dance around on my toes all day, then miss a single moment with them. I love meeting new people and I hope you'll pop by my blog and say hello.

Rags to Stitches was started after my daughter was born as a way for me to stay at home with her and still make a little bit of an extra income. From there it has grown an evolved into the shop and blog it is now.
2. Where do you draw inspiration from?
Right now I'm getting a lot from bright colors. They make me smile and I have so much fun seeing all the colors intertwine when I'm sewing them together.

3. Can you describe your blog and/or shop in 6 words or less?
The life of a crazy mom! (Ok that took me many tries to write)

4. What does a typical workday look like? -this includes family/life ;)
I usually wake up with my kids (always good to have an alarm clock, right?) around 8 and while they eat breakfast, I get ready for the day and try to answer a few emails. I usually check my twitter before we head out the door too. We usually head off to run errands or a meet friends on a play date. I'm a stickler for nap time in my house and so when my kids go down at 1pm, office hours begin. I usually sew, blog and return emails between 1pm and 4pm before my kids wake up. We play outside, make dinner, do bath and bedtime routines, then I'm back to work. Since my hubby is an entrepreneur too we usually sit and catch up on our favorite shows while doing a little work till about 9pm. I know, my day totally sounds boring huh? It gets a little hectic around here, but I try to focus on spending time with my kids during the day and working when they are asleep.

5. If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Italy because I love the history, architecture and the food! I'm a pasta, cheese and bread girl to the core!

6. What is your favorite dessert?
Anything with chocolate (and no peanut butter)

.....

just for visiting these ladies want to give you coupon codes good in their shops. yay!
Fairly Fabulous Coupon Code: LOLLIPOPSROCKS  15% off
Rags to Stitches Coupon Code: RAGSTOSTITCHES 10% off

btw Alissa, we are going to have to go to italy together for the same reasons :)
and i am jealous, Meagan, re-doing your whole house like that, so inspiring!!

be sure to stop by Alissa and Meagan's blogs today and say hi!

xoxo,

What I Love Wednesday {No. 39}

i love thrifting!
ok, so i am pretty new to thrifting.
i tried it a long time ago, but didn't have the patience.
i have less time now, but more interest.
now i know what i want so that makes it worth while *fingers crossed*

i went through southern san diego beach areas yesterday,
and made the mistake of walking into two antique stores.
while i love almost everything in those stores i just can't justify the prices.
north county thrift stores here i come.
how about you? do you thrift? what do you look for? where are your favorite places to go?

via 1, 2, 3

font is learning curve :)

have a happy wednesday lovely friends!

xoxo,

<a href="http://www.lollipopscards.com/search/label/what%20i%20love%20wednesdays" target="_blank"><img alt="lollipops" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ9_XYUUYAXJiCLm3sQ3sWjgxnbKNG_nG4PYhheWlO07gp_NuIk-C6RL0OeY1driw_ZKR-9-LxCXLL2dFs7Acljw0DV_7eYiNAYm7k-98TqEjxh3lLswrOG-f60VLP4omnfP1AEhydyyRs/s150/DSC_0305_2-1.JPG" /> </a>

Pretty Clever with guest tutorial from Sew Beastly!

Hello there!!  I'm Citlalli from Sew Beastly,  and it is a pleasure to meet you all.   A huge thanks to Krystina for having me over here sharing some of the ways I put those dreaded fabric scraps to work.

If you sew like me, then you know how many scraps you can actually end up with every month.  {surprising to say the least}  They are all different colors, sizes, textures.....  There's just so many variables in them that it becomes extremely hard to come up with a plan to use them all up. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with fabric scraps, but I do get tired of having to look for a place to keep them until I find something to use them on.  I hate throwing fabric away, and I am running out of space where I can keep them.  I understand I can go ahead and throw them away, but I hate doing that....I mean, they are still good for something, right? I have used my scraps for a couple of things that do help with putting them to use. One way is to make tiny little pin cushions with them.  This is a great way to use up the scraps that are small, yet big enough to still be able to sew them together and make a pin cushion.  You can also stuff the pin cushion with these fabric scraps. {batting scraps work awesome for the stuffing}

This particular pin cushion is approximately 3.5 x 3.5 in. Another way I like to put those scraps to work is by incorporating them into my packaging.  I use small scraps to sew a ruffle to the handwritten notes I send with every order.

This is one of the ways I incorporate my "green" living into my business. These are both good ways to use fabric scraps, but they don't seem to even make a dent on that huge amount of scraps I am able to collect, besides what can you really do with scraps that are maybe 1 inch wide and 6 inches long?  I finally found a way to get rid of most of them...make a rug!! A rug?  Yes, you read right!  I pondered on this idea for a while, and this is what I came up with.. Plastic Mesh + Many tiny pieces of scraps = The greenest rug I have ever owned {or made} First step is to go to your local hardware store and get some mesh.  I recommend anything but wire. {you don't want to scratch your precious floors}  I found this roll of plastic mesh {which is more than I needed} for about $16.00.

Next, figure out where and how large you want your rug to be. I decided for my rug to cover the hallway that connects the vanity and the bathroom.  My rug will measure 3ft x 5.5 ft approximately....{can you tell I got ambitious??}

Now gather all your fabric scraps and weave away!!! Put one end of the fabric scrap through a hole, bring it over across through the neighboring hole, and tie it into a knot....

Repeat this hundreds {maybe thousands in my case} and you will have yourself a sweet rug.

Now this last one will have to be an ongoing process since I underestimated the amount of time it will take to finish it up.  Not to mention the fact that my hands can only tie so many knots before they become sore. The important part is that I will be able to not only make space for {more} functional pieces of fabric, but I will also have an awesome rug that will feel oh so good when I step barefoot on it...I can't wait!! So these are some of the ways I put my fabric straps to work.....how do you put your scraps to work? Thanks for having me over Krystina!

.....

isn't she pretty clever?!! i love this!

what can you share today?

show us your tutorial.

link up :)

thanks friends.

xoxo,

<a href="http://www.lollipopscards.com/search/label/pretty%20clever" target="_blank"><img alt="lollipops" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwHac_Cc42NxGo0GRwmSx10S4fNVW2-bKzaRw-1vb7QWU56Ns8p2KcQQSpFg8NqB-CNIkm4RW12to2KwW1aeNlgLBzQclbue4p-fWOIYVYOUSt-kV48qHJaRnGzKimZwxzkZwCtFHHYvI/s150/IMG_0239.JPG" /> </a>

call for November Sponsors

the holiday season is upon us,
a great time for advertising your shop as holiday shoppers look
for lovely goods such as yours.
with:

• 2 linky parties each week
• handmade holiday shopping guide
• new blog design

exposure is sure to grow :)
see low rates and packages here.
i love being a part of such an amazing handmade community,
and i love all the friendships made though sponsorships.

if you are interested please email: advertising at lollipopscards dot com

xoxo,

snails

this boy and his snails...

seriously? seriously.

it's true what they say...

"snips and SNAILS and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of."

the neighbors were so grossed out they very kindly gave him 

a hand-me-down big-wheel and a scooter

hoping to distract him from his "collection".

it's sort of working.

nothin wrong with a little curiosity and nature... right?

coming from a mom with 2 girls and THEN the boy, *sigh*

happy monday friends!

xoxo,

InstaFriday

fall decor on my mantle with my fairly fabulous hoot owl.

playing with glasses, making silly faces waiting at the car wash.

i couldn't see a thing, can you tell?

playing with the soap. it's a good thing... mostly

new print in the shop.

sparkly spiderweb from a drizzly morning

the last hair dryer i owned was vidal sasson -17 years old and it finally died.

i had no idea what to buy with so many incredible sounding features.

i got a remington fast finish 1875 watts

2 speeds, tourmaline coated, 3 heat settings, ionic, 

removable air intake filter, cold shot...

and guess what?

it blows air. (teheehee)

all these pretty colors of nail polish are so inspiring at Target. 

a poker and cookie date with my little Francesca.

we giggled so hard water came out of her nose :)

i am really liking cozy fall fashions :)

how was your week?

xoxo,