Welcome to the world of Etsy. Slowly.... but surely!

I have done it!  I have finally opened up an Etsy shop.  

People were always asking me what I do and once I explained they would say, "Do you sell on Etsy?".  My answer was always no for many reasons, but lately I didn't really see any feasible reason not to have my own Etsy shop.  It has truly been a painstakingly loooooong process and at this point I only have 5, yes I said 5, items in my shop.  But there they are, waiting for the rest of their button buddies to join them.  Why is it taking me so long?  Well, if you aren't familiar with the Etsy process, you have to understand that it is pretty darn time consuming just to get one item up, let alone the several hundred that I have available.   I have to take 5 pictures of each item, rotate and crop, write a description, add all the bells and whistle details and then proof read the whole thing again so that it not only makes sense, but makes someone want to buy my product.  So it will be done, the shop will grow.  Remember the whole "If you build it, they will come" thing?  That's kinda what I'm hoping for here.  I still need to add the rest of my inventory and of course, get the networking train rolling, but at this point I know that if I overwhelm myself it will never happen.  So I will shoot for 5 new items added each day and wait for my first sale to roll in.

Please head on over to my shop and browse for a minute (right now that's pretty much how long it will take).

Oh and please tell your knitting, crocheting, sewing and button loving friends.

All Things Sweet

Thanks!

Ranch Tuna? As a tuna purist, I simply cannot.

I was accepted for another sample share courtesy of Crowdtap.  This one was for StarKist Tuna Creations.  Ranch is the new flavor they are debuting and I was asked to give it a try.  Those of you not familiar with StarKist Tuna Creations, it's basically tuna in a pouch that requires no draining or refrigeration, so its super handy for keeping in your desk at work or for on the go.  I was excited to get my sample share in the mail.  I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it though.  I use tuna two ways... Sandwich and casserole, and I generally use Solid Albacore in Spring Water.  This was chunk light (I'm totally grossed out at this point and thinking about cat food) but I figured maybe it would make a good sandwich since it already had flavor and wouldn't need a bunch of fixings.  I opened the pouch and decided to give it a taste first.   Nope, not eating that stuff.  It wasn't horrible, it just wasn't for me.  I won't be buying the Ranch flavor anytime soon, but I would still like to try the Hickory Smoked and possibly the Herb Garlic, although I am still a bit grossed out by it being Chunk Light.  Guess I will be sticking to my Chicken of the Sea Solid Albacore for now, until StarKist comes out with a solid version.... Your move StarKist.

Let's talk about bums.

I was recently chosen to do a sample share of Cottonelle through Crowdtap.com.  What is Crowdtap and what is a sample share?  Crowdtap is a fun site where you, the consumer, get to share your opinions, test and try new products and give feedback and WIN PRIZES.  A sample share is just that...a company wants to know what you think of their product so they send you some samples to share with friends and you write a report on your experience.  This sample share is for the Cottonelle Flushable Cleansing Cloths. 

 I am always excited to find a package on my doorstep.  

This one included one full size Cottonelle Flushable Cleansing Cloths Dispenser & Flushable Wipes pack and two on-the-go travel packs to share with friends.  The dispenser is sleek and fits into any bathroom decor and the Cleansing Cloths, themselves, have a pleasant fresh scent.  We have always kept baby wipes in our bathrooms at home because, hey, nothing beats a clean feeling, but I have always wondered what that was going to do to the plumbing down the road.  So to get my hands on a product that clearly states "flushable" made me sublimely happy (that's the plumber's daughter in me shining through).  So my overall rating for this product?  Love it!  I highly recommend Cottonelle Flushable Cleansing Cloths.  They are portable, fresh scented, soft, versatile, flushable and I can't wait to take them camping!  

The craft shows are coming, the craft shows are coming.

The air is crisp, the leaves are browning, the sweaters are making their way out of the back of the closet and, alas, the craft show season is upon us.  I have registered for two this year and it would have been more but I didn't even think about it until last month.  Shame on me.  My first show is at Brentwood Eelementary on Saturday, October 26th all day and the second is at Ron Nunn Elementary on November 20 from 5pm-8pm.  Now that I am working 30 hours a week it's been harder to get my butt in the craft room, but there is nothing like an approaching deadline to turn myself into my own personal sweat shop worker.  I have managed to make some beautiful new bows and am focusing on doing some local sports teams and school colors.  I am going to try to get pictures of each and every item I sell and post them on my facebook page as well as here. And though this is not the kind of website that you can order from, people can always contact me on facebook to place an order.  

So with that being said, I've wasted enough time in front of the computer for today.

Happy Craft Season!

The apple doesn't fall far.

So apparently my offspring has acquired my talent for staining clothes.  I'm sure it doesn't help that her favorite food accessory is Italian dressing.  I should know by now, if dressing is in the mix = throw an apron on the kid, but I just don't listen.  Someday... someday.    Anyway, she has this adorable little pink dress that got the royal Italian treatment and I just knew she would be heart broken if I told her it was ruined.  What is a mom to do?  Um, duh.... E-6000 and buttons!  Yes, a few strategically placed buttons and some super strength glue. She LOVES it!  All the buttons even stayed on through the washing machine and dryer!!    Have a look, be inspired and stop tossing out stained clothes.

I'm late to the party... but at least I made it.

I made a pretty dang fantastic discovery the other day.  I know I'm not the first but I am glad that I figured this out on my own and it wasn't something I found on pinterest or something. 

 I have been purchasing embossing folders for a while now, you know, the ones you use in machines like Cuttlebug, Sizzix, QuicKutz to name a few.  I mainly use them for making impressions in clay mostly because I use clay more than anything else and because I don't own the proper machine to put them through to emboss or die cut paper.  I also don't do a whole lot of scrapbooking or paper crafts so I hadn't even given the idea of buying a machine much thought.  I just got some free embossing folders delivered from Overstock.com...(free courtesy of Crowdtap.com) and I was just fell in love with the floral design on each folder.  So much that I actually wanted to see what it would look like on paper.  I looked to my left, I looked to my right, I turned and cracked my right hand on my pasta machine. 

  Why is a pasta machine in my craft room?  We have to head back to clay for the answer.  A pasta machine is perfection for rolling out and conditioning polymer clay. Turns out it is exactly the right tool to feed an embossing folder through!   

 Now it doesn't work for all folders (Spellbinders folders are a bit thick) but it is perfect for Cuttlebug folders and probably others as well.  Anyway, that's all.  I felt pretty clever and wanted to share.

Dinner Timesaver.... I'm serious, Super serious.

Now that I am back to work for half the day I often find myself an hour from dinner time stressing about what to make.  Chicken is kind of my go-to quick fix but I often forget to thaw it out in time and I am a bit grossed out by microwave defrost on poultry.  Here is a little time-saver for the long run in the chicken department.

I generally buy the large family pack of chicken containing 6-8 breasts.  When I get home I get my "chicken station" supplies ready:

Cutting Board
Sharp Knife
Plastic Wrap
Aluminum Foil

Each breast gets trimmed of all visible fat (I'm super picky like that) and then gets sliced in half into two thin breast pieces. Then I wrap each half in plastic wrap followed by foil.  Nice, neat little flat packages.  I will then place all the wrapped chicken in a container and freeze the whole lot.

Now I can plan dinners in a pinch by pulling out as many portions as I need for each meal.  They thaw quicker and because they are half breast portions, I am getting 16 servings instead of 8, stretching my well earned dollar to the max!

You can take a permanent marker and date each portion, but in my house chicken goes quick so I don't need to do this.

Enjoy!