Friday Feature: celestial items

Thanks so much to everyone who linked up with me this past week for my Friday Feature link up!  Here are just a few of the great finds that were featured.  Click on the photos to check out the item listings, blog posts, etc.

I got my blue celestial bracelet and earrings back in stock this week.  This is one of my most popular designs, and I decided to theme a Friday Feature around it.  Enjoy!

Beaded Bracelet - Silver Links - Celestial (Blue)

Blue Dangle Earrings - Celestial (Blue, star charms)

Children decor in blue for a nursery - wall art for a boys room - whimsical starry sky happy moon - 16x20 large format picture by Raceytay

blue celestial padded makeup jewelry bag by thevillagecrafter

Reversible Navy Blue and Celestial Print Half Apron with Pin by pockettes

Set of 4 Mug Mats - Candle Mats - Coasters Vermont Made Lavender Herb Scented - Blue Celestial Swirl by VTWICCAN

Dark is the Night Slouch Sweater by bonbiforest

Coffee Mug in Midnight Blue - Starry Night - Van Gogh Inspired by DirtKickerPottery

Celestial Constellation Tshirt by nonfictiontees

I don't like to make a lot of rules for my link ups, but if you link up, please visit and comment on at least one other post.  No one benefits from linking up if we don't all support each other.  Thanks! 

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Were you featured in this post?  Grab one of these buttons, too!

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Where else I linked up today:

2012 Bristol Renaissance Faire

Like many people, I have been spending more time away from my usual crafting routine and more time out with family and friends lately.  That's why we love summer, right?  As we get back into cooler weather and more indoor crafting, I'll have more in progress crafting pictures.  For now, you get a little peek into some other aspects of my life.

Jake and I have been to the Bristol Renaissance Faire since 5 or 6 times since we started dating more than ten years ago.  We didn't have the chance to go while we lived in Iowa, but now that we're in Wisconsin, it's an annual event again.  If you've never been to a large scale Renaissance Faire and ever have the change to go, I highly recommend it.  Whether or not you're into this particular scene, it is always a blast with fun shows, good food, lots of kid friendly activities, and numerous opportunities for people watching.

Two of the things I really wanted to watch this year were the torch work and glass blowing.

Click on this photo so you can see the larger version and admire the ship.  It's made entirely from torch work!

We love people watching at the fair.  This doesn't even begin to cover the wide range of costumes that you see there, which cover everything from chainmail to fairy wings to computer game and movie characters.

All of the shows at Bristol are free and include acrobatics, comedy, music, reenactments, and more.

I took a few pictures of Adam Crack's Fire Whip, but you have to check it out in action to appreciate the full effect.

 

Of course there are some mass produced tourist type items, but there are a lot of vendors with beautiful handmade items, too.

Last year we brought a friend with us to the fair.  He and Jake could have watched Vegetable Justice all day.  We were very excited that it was back this year.  There's a lot of background noise in this video, but you'll get the idea.

There are always events in the main arena.  This first picture is of a falcon demonstration.

Here's a final shot of our 2012 group (minus me).

Have you ever been to a Renaissance Faire?  Share your experiences!

[Edit 9:00AM CST: I've already gotten a number of comments about this today and need to clarify.  The Bristol Renaissance Faire is NOT free.  The shows WITHIN the fair are free.]

Newest article:
August Holidays and Special Days: Elementary Classroom Activities, Ideas, and Lesson Plans 
National Holidays in August: The Food Holidays

another edition of color combination inspiration

Welcome to another edition of color combination inspiration!  I hope that you're able to find something here that sparks a new idea of some sort for your creative endeavors.  As always, I've done my best to mix up the subjects that I feature.  You can pull color combinations from any source for literally any type of creative project.  Click on the photos to visit the original sources.  Enjoy!

Turquoise/Brown from Sharla

Lavender/Green/Turquoise/Baby Blue from Margaret

I had a tough time finding something with turquoise and baby blue, but this is pretty close.

Red/Green/Blue from Edi

Purple/Yellow from Ann

Black or Navy and a Metallic from Paige

Black With a Mix of Bright colors from Anne

Orange/Navy from Lynette

Turquoise/Yellow from Janet 

Let's keep it going!

What color combinations are you loving right now?  Have you experimented with any new color combinations recently?

 New articles:
What to Pack for Summer Vacation
Immersion Blender Recipes
Vinyl Records Art
How to Sell Handmade Cards

new product: magnetic business cards

Earlier this summer, someone from Signazon.com contacted me about trying one of their products and writing a review.  They originally asked me about trying one of their vinyl banners.  As most of you know, I ordered a new banner within the past year, but I wasn't going to say no to a free product.  I ended up settling on their magnetic business cards instead.

You can use one of their pre-designed templates, start with a blank template, or upload your own image.  I chose to create and upload my own image.  I used the Picasa collage tool to create my image.  The most important thing is to create collage dimensions that match the magnet size.  I already had all of the images that I wanted to use and simply had to re-crop one or two of them to fit this layout.  I've been using turquoise and red for a lot of my new promo materials, which is why I settled on this color scheme.

The ordering process was very straight forward.  The only thing that was confusing about this entire process was the shipping.  Signazon prints their magnets at a separate facility, which involves two separate shipments.  For some reason the company sends customers a tracking number for the first shipment.  I was worried when the tracking information had my package heading for Texas.  It turns out that's simply where the magnets were printed.  I think that the web site had tracking information for the second shipment to my home, but I never got a separate e-mail when the magnets left the Texas facility.  They still arrived in the specified time frame without any problems.

Aside from the shipping, I was happy with the purchasing process and am happy with the magnets.  My image was printed beautifully.  The magnets are a competitive price and quantity with similar online offerings.  I have wanted magnets for quite a while and am excited to start using them now.

In addition to vinyl banners and magnetic business cards, Signazon offers a wide variety of printing services including yard signs, car magnet signs, and A frame signs.

[Disclaimer: I received my magnetic business cards free of charge from Signazon in exchange for this review.  All opinions are 100% mine.  I have not received any other compensation.]

Do you have magnetic business cards?  Share your tips, thoughts, and experiences!

 There was a lot of interest in my sangria recipe that I featured here earlier this month.  It's up and running right here:
Sangria Recipe with Red Wine

Scavenger Hunt and I Heart Macro on Monday (7/23/12)

Welcome to another edition of the photo Scavenger Hunt and I Heart Macro!  Enjoy!

1) Wrapped

My brother and his girlfriend brought us some goodies this week from this place, including these date nut rolls.  Yes, they are as amazing as they look.

I'm also using this photo for I Heart Macro this week.

2) Time Together

While my brother and his girlfriend were in town this week, we took a tour of the Lakefront Brewery.

3) Tell Me a Story

I spent a lot of time during our last couple years in Iowa selling a lot of books through Amazon and eBay.  Most of them were textbooks, other books from undergrad and post-undergrad classes that we'll never use again, and duplicates of kids books that I've received over the years.  A lot of people were still worried that we were getting rid of all of our kids books.  That is definitely not the case.  We have two more shelves just as full as this one of almost exclusively kids books.

4) Love or Couple

Jake and I went to the Brewers game last Sunday as part of an alumni event for my undergrad university.  In typical fashion, we are both wearing shirts that have nothing to do with the current event (though in my defense, mine was from my undergrad).  At least they are from schools that we actually attended.  And yes, it was about 85 degrees and very humid so we were really hot, but it was still fun.

5) Duplicated

This is from our engagement picture session.  We were the first couple that he ever shot for this technique.

Check out Ashley's blog to see what other people submitted for the themes this week.






One of the Monthly Photo Challenge prompts this month is Animal/Insect/Pet so of course I'm using a new picture of Angel.

The Monthly Photo Challenge Update:

I'm still playing catch up with the photo challenge this month.  I've decided to fill in what I've done so far and then add the other days as I get them done.  Check out my board here: July Photo A Day Challenge.

Where else I linked up today: