Showing posts with label May. Show all posts
Showing posts with label May. Show all posts

Friday, May 29, 2015

Life Is What You Make Of It

"Life is what you make of it / so beautiful or so what." is in the inspiration for my latest treasury.


 I selected these items with late May / early June in mind.

https://www.etsy.com/treasury/NjEwMzAwOHwyNzI0OTczODU5/life-is-what-you-make-of-it

And these items via Pinterest...

http://www.brit.co/braid-accessories/

http://www.thecherryblossomgirl.com/giverny-claude-monet/21140/

http://www.lookbookstore.co/products/cut-out-crochet-top
 
http://www.bhg.com/blogs/centsational-style/2013/05/30/outdoor-room-series-patios-balconies/

http://theroadtodomestication.com/2013/07/19/got-color/
 
https://500px.com/photo/22440963/young-couple-on-the-street-of-the-city-with-umbrella-by-vladimir-nikulin-masson

Do you have any favorite late spring / early summer picks?

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

May Sponsor Love

We're celebrating the end instead of the middle of the month with a little sponsor love. I'll be back on track again next month. Please take a couple minutes today to check out these fabulous shops, products, and blogs.

 Are you looking for some final spring 2014 graduation gifts? Think about picking up some of Edi's personalized wooden keepsake graduation cards.

Angela of angleah
 This heart necklace is made from an old zipper! It makes me so happy.

Valerie of additionsstyle
 The silver and black combination is so perfect for these versatile earrings.

Deb of storybeader
 I had to continue with the zipper theme here. Deb shared a neat little story about zippers for her letter Z post earlier this month.

 It's not too early to start thinking about Fourth of July crafts / DIY projects. This star ribbon is so sweet.

Kristen of Milo and Molly
 Kristen shares my poor grammar pet peeve, which only intensifies as I further my writing skills. If poor grammar irritates you, too, you'll appreciate this post.

Are you starved to wear warm weather clothing? Paige has a round up of beautiful pastel picks.

I hope that you found some useful resources here today!
Are you interested in becoming a sponsor? Click here for more information!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

May Top Commenters and June News

Happy June!
Who else is so excited for the beginning of summer?

Biggest Announcement of the Month
Let's just get right to it because I'm so excited about it. I've been working really hard this past month to get my SmugMug account up and running. I have my pricing structure in place and a number of photo albums together. Of course I will keep adding more, but there is plenty to choose from already. Go check it out and spread the word!

Top Commenters
As always, I really appreciate all of the feedback that I get on this blog. It means a lot that so many people take time to share their insights with me.  Thanks to Catherine of Living the Gourmet for stopping by and commenting regularly! Check out goodies from some of my other top commenters who are selling their handmade items online.

 
 
 

 


 

Blog Sponsors and June Advertising
I have an awesome round of blog sponsors! These lovely ladies all have Etsy shops and/or blogs. Check them out on the left hand side of my blog under "Private Sponsors." Would you like to join them? It's only to advertise $3 per month or $10 for 4 months with me. Check out all of the details about it right here.


Bring It On June!
  • Jake and I are starting the month with a trip to Chicago to see the Book of Mormon (which will have already happened by the time this post goes live). We're following it up the next weekend with a Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert featuring the music of Mad Man and then Wicked in Milwaukee the following weekend. How can June possibly be a bad month?
  • Before the month even started, I already had a whole slew of freelance client jobs in place. I love having that work waiting for me and not having to scramble for jobs each week.
  • I kept my holiday traffic going strong on HubPages through Mother's Day this year, which was a considerable extension from Easter last year. My numbers are still about twice where they were this time last year, so I really can't complain. I'm anticipating a pretty decent Fourth of July spike. Otherwise I'll keep building my base through the summer.
  • Many of you who follow me on Facebook know that I've been able to get out with my camera a lot more since the weather got nicer. I'm taking considerably more photos than I've been able to share here in a timely manner, which is a good problem. I'm hopeful that June will bring a lot more great opportunities to take photos.

What is going on with your blog and/or business for June?

Thursday, May 16, 2013

May BBA Flowers Challenge

Some of you may remember this bunny family idea that I shared earlier this spring. While I still think that it is insanely cute, it doesn't really fit with anything else in our home. I'm not sure how I decided on flowers instead. I still had a bunch of felt and paper flowers left over from last year (more on those flowers over here), which meant that this project came together really easily. And it just so happened to fit the May challenge theme.


The biggest challenge was figuring out what kind of fabric I wanted. It's very rare that I use fabric for crafting. I intentionally don't keep much of it on hand because I simply don't need to spend the time and money building a stash of material that I will hardly ever use. This meant that I had to purchase something. I eventually settled on burlap.



Materials
  •  A set of embroidery hoops. I picked up a set of five in two different sizes on Etsy. I paid less than half of the retail value. If you scout a lot of thrift stores, you may be able to score a set for even less.
  • Felt rectangles and buttons of your choosing for flowers and leaves in the colors. Michaels has felt rectangles for less than 30 cents each. It is time consuming to make, cut, and glue these flowers and leaves, but they are very inexpensive to make. Again, you can read more about them here.
  • Fabric of your choosing for the hoop backings. I bought half a yard of burlap and used about half of it.
  • Tacky glue (for the flowers)
  • Nails (for hanging the hoops)

Even if you bought everything new for this project, you most likely wouldn't spend more than $30. I know that many people already have a lot of the materials on hand.


The assembly process is pretty self-explanatory. It's important to take your time stretching and cutting the fabric so you end up with evenly stretched fabric and closely cut ends. I used more tacky glue to attach the flowers to the burlap. As you will not be handling these pieces, it is not necessary to use a really strong glue like E-6000 or an epoxy.


I completely winged the hanging job and did readjust a few of the hoops in the process to get a look that I liked. I know that many people will do something much more sophisticated to get a certain aesthetic, but that's pretty much exactly how the hanging process goes around here.


I'm really happy with my little flower hoops. I've been slowly filling out one of the wall spaces in my office area of the basement, and this set is a great final touch.

One of the best aspects of this project is that there are so many ways that you can customize it. With different fabrics and colors, you could easily create a completely different aesthetic. There is no reason to feel limited to flowers either. After all, my original inspiration was the bunnies.

I used this project for the May 2013 Blogging Business Artisans Flowers Challenge. If you enjoy these types of challenges, love blogging, and are looking for a new team on Etsy, consider joining us.

Have you been working on any new home decor?

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

May Mid-Month Sponsor Love

I'm celebrating the middle of the month with a shout out to all of my wonderful blog sponsors!

Edi's wooden tree earrings would make a great gift for someone this spring.

 Jamie hosts a link up called I Heart My Blog every Monday. It's a great way to get your posts out there and meet some new bloggers.

Linda of PruittCreations
Linda's hair clips are perfect for girls of any age.

Angela of AngleAh
Are you looking for a teacher gift? Push pins are a great option. I love this daisy set from Angela.

Valerie of additionsstyle
 I love the way Valerie uses beads in this statement necklace.

Deb of storybeader
 Deb does a great job outlining realistic monthly goals at the beginning of each month.

 Paige has some great insight about modern florals in fashion.

Kristen of Milo and Molly
 Does anyone else feel this way? Check out Kristen's great post about this topic.

I hope that you found some useful resources today!
Are you interested in advertising with me? Click here!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

April Top Commenters and May News

Happy May!
I am so excited for a new month with more free time and hopefully some continuing warm weather (finally!).

Top Commenters
As always, I really appreciate all of the feedback that I get on this blog. It means a lot that so many people take time to share their insights with me.  Thanks to Grace of Dragon's Alley for stopping by and commenting regularly! Check out goodies from some of my other top commenters who are selling their handmade items online.







 


Blog Sponsors and May Advertising
I have an awesome round up of blog sponsors!  These lovely ladies all have Etsy shops and/or blogs.  Check them out on the left hand side of my blog under "Private Sponsors." Would you like to join the them?  It's only $3 per month or $10 for 4 months to advertise with me.  Check out all of the details about it right here.
 
Out With the Old Sale
 I cannot even tell you how happy it would make me to see even one or two of these older pieces go to new homes in the near future. I'll keep my Out With the Old Sale going through Christmas in July. Take advantage of these great deals on handmade beaded pieces while you can.

Bring It On May!
  • I am wrapping up with choir, handbells, and Bible study (until the fall) in the next couple weeks. I'm looking forward to purchasing a new camera lens (still looking at this one) and getting out with my camera a lot more often. I made a list of a couple dozen places that I'd like to photograph in the greater Milwaukee area between May and October and hope to hit one or two every week.
  • Significantly building my SLR portfolio is part of my plan to launch serious photography selling. I'll be sharing more on that during the next few months, but one of the first steps is that I'm planning to open a paid SmugMug account this month and get it ready to open to the public by early June. That may be too ambitious, but I'm pretty confident that I can get it open and running with a respectable amount of inventory this summer.
  • All of my hard work to keep both seasonal and non-seasonal traffic going on HubPages during a slower time of year is paying off. My traffic numbers have remained more than double what they were this time last year. I'm hoping that I can keep these numbers going through the summer.
What is going on with your blog and/or business for May?

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

May Top Droppers and Commenters and June News

We're already several days into June!  I'll jump right into things this month.

TOP DROPPERS:
Here are the top 10 for May.  Thanks so much to those of you who also take the time to leave me comments!

 



TOP COMMENTERS:
If you're new to this blog, you can check out my Top Commenters widget on the right side of my blog.  It's under my blog roll.  I will feature an item or give a shout out to everyone on that list in this monthly post.  I really appreciate those of you who take the time to leave me feedback!

Thanks to Ann of Ann's Snap Edit & Scrap and Anne of Small Town Mommy for stopping by and commenting regularly!  Here are some lovely items from the ladies on my list who have Etsy shops.
1) Root Beer - Brown Ceramic and Faceted Glass Beaded Antique Brass Earrings by BeadedTail
2) Horse artwork - Blaze - 5 x7 inch print of my original watercolor painting by tapestry316
3) Knit Coin Purse Zipper Pouch Wallet - brown and blue stripes by NFallonDesignStudio
4) Personalized Dog Bone Name Sign by memoriesforlifesb
5) Nostalgic Ruffle Zipped Pouch. Make Up Bag. Coin Purse. Pink Roses. Gingham.  Lace.  OOAK by PeriDotByDuni
6) SILK SCARF flowers, hand dyed, Summer Blossoms by SplendidLittleStars
7) Two Peas in a Pod Large Toy Plush Pretend Food for Babies, Toddlers, Children by MagnoliaSurprise
8) Handwrapped paper pumpkin beads by storybeader

Sale Items:
I still have a handful of items in my sale section that are 2 years older and more.  I would really like to clear them out so I have more room for my brand new items.  If you're looking for a good deal on a gift or a little indulgence for yourself, check it out.  These deals will be gone next month when Christmas in July starts so take advantage of them while you can.


Blog Sponsors and June Advertising:
I have an awesome round up of blog sponsors!  These lovely ladies all have Etsy shops and/or blogs.  Check them out on the left hand side of my blog under "Private Sponsors."

Would you like to join them?  It's only $3 per month or $10 for 4 months to advertise with me.  Check out all of the details about it right here.

Bring it on June!
  • Some of you may remember that last month I had sent in some new earring designs to Bead Trends magazine and was still waiting to hear back.  They did accept one of them!  It will be featured in October.
  • This past month I got accepted into the HubPages Apprenticeship program.  This was a much needed boost as I'm still fighting to build up views after my big dive traffic after Easter.  I started this month.  The program is 6 months long and among other things, will hopefully give me a lot of good tips for writing even better articles.
  • I currently have five acceptances for fall shows.  This year will be a continual effort to get ready for the holidays.
  • I got it into my head that it would be fun to put together a summer and/or open house with some other local artists in the Milwaukee area.  The initial response has been great.
  • I'm starting to get ready for Christmas in July on Etsy.  I've had a few ideas for it for quite a while now and now need to get them together during the next few weeks.
What's going on with your business and/or blog for June?

Where I Linked Up Today: 
Treasury Tuesday