Introducing.... Priscilla Peace!

Remember the little skateboarder that I made for Noli for Christmas? (Click the link and you can catch her again before she zooms down the street!)

Well, I was so excited that one of my Facebook friends, Krafty Max, wanted one of her own for her daughter!

So she picked her clothes and hair colors and I got my hooks clicking! She said that Aye loved peace signs and I was able to find some cute peace sign buttons and used a purple (Aye's favorite color) one on the shirt.

I heard from Max today -- she has entered a lovely post on her blog today with THE MOST FABULOUSLY EXCITED photo of Aye and Priscilla Peace! I am just thrilled with Aye's big smile! You just couldn't ask for a better smile than hers! (and isn't Priscilla Peace a great name?!!)

Go see, go see!! You'll love that smile!!

Max also has some great news for herself -- an honor for her beautiful Celtic Beaded Sun Catcher -- one of my personal favorites! Go see it and her other gorgeous designs in her ArtFire shop -- Crafty Max Originals.

Hmmm, I wonder if Max gave Aye a peace sign bracelet like this one for another time she was on the honor roll.....


Oh, and get yourself over to Max's shop -- she's got a freebie going on till the end of the month -- a pair of Swarovski earrings! Well, for any purchase over $20.00, but still... : )



♥♥

Foodies -- BBA Style!

Oops, I almost forgot! And I shouldn't because they are all such awesome artisans! As in Blogging Business Artisans....

I made this treasury a few days ago to feature my teamies and totally forgot to blog about it!

I thought it would be fun to see if I could make a whole BBA treasury using food in the titles, or in the item itself, and these guys didn't let me down! It was a bit of a challenge, but I found them!




So, if you follow along, we can go to the restaurant (taking our crayons) and choose from a very sweet menu (no veggies here!) of yummy delights, raising our glasses of wine to toast our choices, and finish off with cafe latte laced with sugar.

♥ Click on each one to see the full food name, and to go to each shop) ♥

♥♥

M&M's!!!

Look what I got in the mail!!

My favorite candy snack in a pouch! Maybe I'll have to sneak my M&M's stash in it!!

It's a cute pouch from Beadlove2211 who make these really neat pouches from various snack/candy/cookie bags. They are covered in vinyl, lined with fabric, and zippered. She also makes bigger ones out of chip and cookie bags. Absolutely clever!

I am really lovin' mine! I'm going to use it for a little pouch to carry all my Very Important Coupons and Notes in -- I'm forever having to dig for them, or I leave them in the car, or I leave them on my dresser... Now I can put them in one place and they'll be there when I need them!!

And it's just so cute!!

Thank you, Carla!!

Six More Weeks of Winter!!

Personally, I was hoping for Spring!

Here are some fun Punxsutawney Phil facts from the official website. Apparently Phil has been making predictions for 120 years (the same Phil) so he's pretty experienced in weather forecasting. We can count on Phil!!

While browsing Etsy, I found these cute groundhog goodies and had to share! There's a link to each shop, plus if you click on the photos, you will go straight to that listing.



Isn't this just the cutest groundhog you've ever seen? He's so chubby and adorable! (Punxsutawney Phil is so jealous) He is designed and crocheted by the artist. Check out the moonscreations shop and see the other wonderful amigurumi animals -- and particularly Moon Bun (just the sweetest bunny ever!) who apparently likes to play dress-up on occasion.



Since I love to embroider (but haven't in forever) this little groundhog caught my eye. Sara of The Split Stitch sells her patterns which are made from her own artwork -- and let me tell you, she is very talented! I really love one called "Bird Lullaby" with the mama bird singing to her babes; so sweet. And she's got a design for all you football fans .........

(insert GO SAINTS here -- that's me saying that...)

........that would be really cute embroidered on a little boy's overalls. Well, maybe not the spilled beer or the mug, but you get what I mean!



And this one from Laura at ClayCreationsbyLaura just kills me! I guess since Phil saw his shadow and there's 6 more weeks of winter, he'll be hitch-hiking to Florida. If you see him, give the little guy a ride -- his little legs are pretty short and he's really not too used to the highway!

Laura's shop is full of the cutest clay figures -- families, birthdays, all kinds of animals (love the elephants!) and dogs -- I told myself, "self, must remember the pug for a certain granddaughter!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ So, please check out these fabulous shops for some terrific handmade goodies! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

By the way, this is the kickoff of a weekly feature I'm starting called "Wednesday Wanderings, and the Shops Found Along the Way". OK, I know this is not Wednesday, but I didn't think Phil would wait that long to appear! I thought it would be fun to blog about whatever pops into my head and then find Etsy shops to tie in with the theme. Sort of a themed maze, puzzle, shopping trip. Should be fun -- so please plan to join me on Wednesdays!!

Brand New Etsy Shop!

Have a peek at this brand new Etsy shop! It's MaisonMagpie and the lovely Ginie is the owner. She resides in a small village on the edge of the Pennines, in the UK. Her shop has the sweetest things, they just make me smile...

This brooch is called "Warm Heart" and you've gotta love it's fuzzy sweetness! It's just the cutest! I love the way she includes a heart shaped box, so sweetly decorated.


And this one is perfect for Valentines Day with its cute red heart on top. And again the decorated box.

I absolutely adore this pincushion. It's so beautiful with its rosebud on top that I'm not sure I could stick a pin in it! I'd just have to sit there and admire it.

Can you tell I really love this shop? And you will, too. Trust me, go see for yourself.

Sunday Showcase

I happened upon this blog feature that runs each Sunday and features six different Etsy shops. You can check it out here on her blog or in the Etsy Etc forum. She's also in the Promos forum but I think it's easier to find her in the Etc one.

It's a neat idea -- she asks for participation from shops and posts a theme each week. The upcoming theme for the first showcase for January is "items inspired by the month of January. These items can be for New Years, be zodiac themed/birthstone themed, be calendars or organizational/resolution themed. There is no color specification." (Quoted from her forum)

Be sure to go to her blog because you must comment both there and in the forum to be featured.

This is a recent showcase from December -- the theme was Traditional Christmas.

1.kippyssomature
2.PlumpFairy
3.glamasaurus
4.Gilliauna
5.Littletwinklestar
6.CrownBindery

Pretty neat! And a good promo for your shop. I hope to participate another time -- didn't have anything that fit with the theme this time.

No-Gauge Custom Cloche Tutorial

I came across a wonderful tutorial for a no-gauge custom crochet cloche over at TimaryArt's blog. You must check it out!

I'm really excited about this tutorial because it makes finding the right size to make the crown of the hat so very easy. And that was what always gave me trouble. A hat would end up too big or too little and I'd have to start all over again.

Who knew that we'd actually USE that algebra we learned back in school!!

Pretty flower too, but you'll have to supply your own pattern for that! : )