Some wonderful Artist you should see!

We made our way to Asheville, NC last weekend. The weather was perfect and the changing leaves were beautiful! Along with some wonderful company and walking way too much I discovered some new and inspiring artists I want to share with you.

First we went to a huge craft show, The Southern Highland Craft Guild, which was going on in the city and then we wandering about to find some lunch and along the way found so many more great artists.

One of my favorite artists at the craft show was Holden McCurry. He make these beautiful pray towers along with Friendship Houses, landscapes and more. Check out his website here.

Another artist was Molly Dingledine. I was just in awe of her beautifully jewelery. Her booth was actually so packed I couldn't get as close as I wanted to look at all her amazing creations, but what I saw I loved!! Check out her website here.

Then there was Sarah Faulkner who I discover in another shop in Asheville. Her prints were beautiful and the style that I love. So soft and simple I loved them! Check out her website here.

Who have you discovered recently?

Gardening time

We headed to the Farmer's Market last Saturday ready to buy some plants and start growing our own vegtables. We picked up a few small tomato plants and decided to do the rest from seeds. With a handful of seed packets I knew we needed some way to remember what seeds we planted where.

Then I saw the colorful toothpicks in the kitchen and remembered something I saw on Samsstuff recently. Fun and colorful and complete with clear tape over both sides to keep them safe when we are watering, they are just want we needed. I still need to make a few more but think I'm off to a good start. I'm happy with how they turned out and now I just hope something will grow...What are you growing in your garden this summer?

Please let me know if you find me from a link-up party!

Linked up here.

and

I'm linking up here: A Soft Place to Land, The Tip Junkie, The Thrifty Home, Someday Crafts, Me and My Bucket, EverythingEtsy, The Virginia House, Life as Lori, Somewhat Simple, Fun to Craft, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Poppies at Play, Kojo Designs, The Shabby Nest and Finding Fablou$

You never know what you might see

Yes, you never know what you might see. This is why I always try to carry my camera with me. The weather has been just beautiful the last few days. I have been enjoying it with the windows up in the house and down in the car. The flowers and trees are starting to bloom and I have found more architectural work, or rather it has found me! I can't ask for anything more, well maybe just that it keeps on coming...

Yesterday at my weekly creative lunch meeting in the park with my friend we saw these guys.

Cool bikes, huh? But I have no idea how you would get on or off of them and I'm sure that if you were riding one you'd be praying the whole time you don't have to stop or that you don't fall over.

Have a great weekend!

Recent projects

Sometimes it's hard to get off the computer and do what I really enjoy: making things my hand! Here are a few things that I finished recently. A few new sets of glass pebble magnets for Shana's Shop. And do you remember these? I posted about them here. I had some left over fabric from my pillows which I used for my new fabric basket. I love it and have found it very useful!

I first saw the fabric baskets on EverythingEtsy and then posted about them here. The tutorial which is here came from Christina at The Sometimes Crafter and when I told her that I was going to try these she wrote to me and told me about leaving the opening in an inside corner instead of the top as she originally put in her tutorial. She told me she was going to update her tutorial but hadn't had a chance yet.

It was great advice and worked out perfectly. It helps give the top a smoother uniform finish just like she said it would. I've been using my little fabric box on my desk since I finished it and it has stayed full and has been very useful. I had to empty it out to get some photos so you could see the inside. Since I used scraps from the my pillows I actually only had to buy the batting. The only problem is now I have batting left over and need some more fun fabric to make another one! Oh, and also a new sewing machine because mine is broken!

What have you been working on recently?

Oh, and one more thing, are you looking for a swap? I just started a Magnet Swap. If you want to be part of it please check it out here.

I linked up at:

EverythingEtsy

Kootoyoo

Tatertots and Jello

Also I'm linked up here:

and here:

Cupcake ♥ Love

Here is my March scrapbook layout.
If you missed the last few months you can see them here:
January
February

Have you had a cupcake from Cupcake Royale? We had them while we were in Seattle last November and, yes, they were as good as we thought they were going to be.

They reminded me of Gigi's here in Nashville; only the icing wasn't as high. At Gigi's the icing is usually twice as tall as the cake of the cupcake itself. These fancy cupcakes are such wonderful treat. What's your favorite splurge when calories don't matter?


Hop on over to Everything Etsy for more great handmade items ...

Wednesday Wonderfuls

Today I want to share some fun things I found recently on Etsy that remind me of Spring time.

These beautiful vinyl wall stickers are just perfect for bringing the outside in. They are made by a team of talented designers with backgrounds in interior design, graphic design, and architecture. I love their style and that they are made in the USA! Check them out at Simple Shapes Wall Designs. What do you put on your Refrigerator door? Magnets, right? Well, check out these beautiful flower felt magnets by DashingEtc. I love sending cards in the mail, but love getting one from someone even more! I was so excited when I found Monkey Mind Design in Denver. This designer recently left the advertising world and is enjoying making these amazing creations. Who won't want to find one of these cards in their mailbox? So what makes you think of Spring time?

Tags: More important than you think

If you have an Etsy shop you know what tags are. I know a few people that have started up Etsy shops recently and just wanted to share my two sense. I don't claim to know any secrets or even how to actually make sales on Etsy. I think it is hard and something you really have to work at. I think great products are the first step and then being able to capture your products in great photographs are important. Spending time on your profile and descriptions of your items is important. Then I think relisting and marketing are some of the biggest keys, but those cost money and add up quickly.

I think the easiest and most important thing you can do to bring people to your shop is to use all your tags. You get 14, don't waste them!

When someone searches for a certain word on Etsy and one of your tags matches: bingo! They are more likely to find your item. Think about each item in your shop. So the first few might be easy...What category it fits under...What your item actually is... But then think of other words to describe your item. Who is it geared towards, men, women, kids? Where would you use it, kitchen, living room, bathroom? Is there free shipping? What color is it? Anything you can think of that relates to your item will help.

Just think, if I search for something in my favorite color for my kitchen and you have the perfect item in your shop, am I going to find you?

Image: wordle.com

Don't throw those letters away

What do you do when you don't have enough matching letters left to spell something out?

You might think your only option is to throw that sheet of stickers or rub-ons aways or buy another sheet to find the letters you need.

But wait! What about mixing up different styles of letters or upper case and lower case letters? Give it a try. It might turn out to be something better than you were expecting. Check out these examples from some of my projects:


So what do you think? Are you going to give it a try?

Wow!

ow! Thank you to everyone that stopped by for my big day! I was excited but never imaged the response I got. Thank you for all the wonderful comments and new followers!

I still haven't read all the comments (over 350!) but am enjoying them so much as I do. It is wonderful to meet so many new bloggers (new to me) and also for others that have been here before to stop by.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! Here in Nashville it is beautiful outside. With rain and snow in the forecast this week I'm enjoying it while we have it!

What a wonderful Friday!

I can't believe it! Today I am the featured blogger at The Secret is in the Sauce. Welcome to everyone stopping by for the first time and to everyone that has visited before. I discovered SITS shortly after I started blogging, a little less than a year ago, and have met so many wonderful women in this group. I'm so glad you are here and want to tell you a little about myself, but first, have you ever found yourself in a friend's house looking at what's on their refrigerator? I love to do that, and always think it is a great way to learn a little bit about someone. You can see where they have been, what they use to look like, or how silly they can be.

My refrigerator doors are a glimpse into my life just like my blog. They are full of some of my favorite photographs from trips, postcards from friends, recipes for inspiration and my magnets. I started making my own magnets after I made a huge magnet board for my living room and couldn't find any magnets that I liked. I make a few different types, but here are some glass pebble ones that I made last week.

I'm a 30 year old, scarf loving, globe trekking, kickboxing, inspiration seeking girl. My favorite quote is “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

Recently I took a 5 week trip to India and traveled around on my own. Because of my blog I made a wonderful connection in India before I left and was invited to visit a school in a small town which turned into three of the best days of my trip! Here I am dancing on stage at the school assembly I attended. I had no idea what I was doing but had the time of my life!

Here are a few of my favorite posts:

A great crafty photo project - Take your photos with you...

A funny true story - Attention customers

And a funny post about traveling in India - Warnings

I also do a post called Wednesday Wonderfuls most Wednesdays where I feature different artists and their wonderful creations. These are always full of some wonderful things I have found recently.

Since I love to travel I'd love to know where everyone is coming from. If you leave a comment here please let me know where you are visiting from!

I hope you will look around a bit and maybe find some wonderful inspiration for yourself! I am always looking for inspiration in the world and hope to inspire you today.

Hanging out with you...

My Creatvie space...
A card for someone special...hanging out with you....

is the Best part of my Day!

Check out more creative space posts at Kootoyoo!

My Favorites

My goal for 2010 is to do at least one scrapbook layout each month. Last month I made Searching the last day of January. This month I started earlier so I might be able to get another one done before the month is over!

This layout was inspired by a layout that Ali Edwards did in a recent issue of Creating Keepsakes. It is one of my favorite ones I've done so far.

What are some of your favorite magazines?

Wednesday Wonderfuls

Welcome to another Wednesday Wonderfuls! Today I want to share some wonderful things I found recently.

I instantly feel in love with these hearts when I came across LaurieMade. This artist loves to sew and I absolutely love her creations! These aren't just for Valentine's Day. I think they would look great hanging all year round!

I have been connecting with so many crafty and creative people on Facebook recently. When I connected with Debra of End of the Day Crafting and saw her shop I was so excited. Scrapbooking, cardmaking, craft supplies...she's got it all! Here are some of my favorite items.

Zany is a craft junkie and runs Zany Hoopla. She does a little bit of everything and always enjoys trying new crafts. On NPR the other day they were talking about a new about Mark Twain and ended the segment with a shorten version the quote below. Isn't it a great one?

Pocket size matchbook calenders, black print on brown paper, oh the simplicity. What could be better than that? Oh, and her colorful items are beautiful too!

Please take a moment and check out these wonderful shops!

Also my giveaway is still going on until Feb 14th so please check out the next post and enter!

Susan Sabo Photography

I want to introduce you to Susan Sabo Photography. Susan is an amazing photographer that I found recently. I love the feelings and emotions captured in her photographs.

All of the photographs she sells are original prints that she makes herself.

Last year Susan shot a series for an exhibit on Shelter Dogs. A portion of her sales on these photographs go to a different shelter every two months. This month proceeds will go to HelpSaveOne. Please take a moment to look at some of her photographs here and for even more wonderful ones drop by her shop here.

shelter dogs no. 1 shelter dogs no. 11

shelter dogs no. 22 shelter dogs no. 21 shelter dogs no. 20

What do you think? Do these make you want to go out and adopt a new dog or what?

Searching

January 2010 - "Searching for what will make me happy this year..."

The Time Traveler's Wife

Have you read it or seen the movie? I just finished the book and loved it. I have to admit I watched the movie in the middle of reading the book, but this wasn't completely intentional. On my last trip I didn't take the book with me because I was told what a tear jerker it was and I didn't want to be crying in the middle of the airport as I read the book. I was half way through the book, dying to know what happens, and they ended up showing the movie on my flight. Of course the movie was different, but I enjoyed it. I still wanted to finish reading the book and I'm so glad that I did. The whole time traveling thing is really what caught my attention and made me when to read book. I wanted to know what that was all about. Well written and beautifully developed characters made this a wonderful read for me. What about you? What did you think?