Living things and secrets

There is something very magical about opening a Little Otsu package....I get all giddy when I start unwrapping the brown paper, because I know something wonderful is waiting inside, just for me....

Living Things Vol. 1 and 2 (here and here; or as a bundle here) and Quietly Sure by Jo Dery

My favorite page from Vol. 1, by Lizzy Stewart

Blog

Shop

My favorite spread from Vol. 2, by Jo Dery

And my 2 favorite pages from Quietly Sure. Love the hunter's hat and beard!

Lots of inspiration in a little package

♥ ♥ ♥

Today....

Let's seee......today, I work 10:30-5:30. Then there's something special going on here at the house in the evening (but I can't say what it is yet in case someone in the house reads this today!); and then... yeah, that's about it. I kind of want to make a few little bird bobby-pins later on. I have the supplies; its just scrounging up the motivation that's the problem.

Speaking of head-accessories, I've been drooling over these amazing nature-y crowns from Which Goose..... how awesome are these??

(images borrowed from her Etsy shop!)

I think I definitely need one of those to wear to the Rennaissance Faire, which begins at the end of this month....yayyyyy!

Now I just have to make some money so I can buy myself one of these...... so, hop on over to the shop and buy something! ;)

Saturday things

Today is going to be a great day.

I'm getting ready to go to a few yard sales, and then I'm meeting up with a very dear friend of mine, whom I haven't seen in months, to go to the 26th Annual Arts & Crafts Fair at Caledonia (which, everyone should know by now, is my most favorite park ever). I'm so excited to see Lauren; we talked on the phone last night for 2 1/2 hours. It was really good to catch up with her.

(That beautiful ring above is one that I'd had my eye on at the Goodwill for a few weeks now. I finally broke down and bought it the other day; and no, it is not going in the shop! Its mine, mine, mine! ;)

***

I'm so excited - I've had quite the little flurry of sales in both Crack the Sky and Quiet, Quiet over the past few days! So far, the new shop seems to be gathering some interest. This is very good, indeed.

***

I also just found out the a very sweet girl that I work with has just opened her own Etsy shop (and, I'm proud to say, I am the one who told her about Etsy, after she had asked me where I got my raincloud earrings last year! Haha!). She has some really pretty notecards featuring photos she has taken. Swing by her shop and have a look!

Twins!

Wow, check this out - I was doing some blog-reading, and I came across this post from Sarah Blank. I thought for a second that was my picture, from this post a while back!

How scary/awesome is that?!

**Edited to add that I've just bought the coolest necklace ever from Sarah Blank

Oh, and miss Blaze Danielle is also my twin! Notice her lamp and vase of peonies in this picture. Look familiar?

Here's MY lamp, and MY vase of peonies! Weird!

***

I found this personality test via this lovely blog. Here are my results (which are dead-on, I think!)

Your personality type:
Logical, original, creative thinkers. Can become very excited about theories and ideas. Exceptionally capable and driven to turn theories into clear understandings. Highly value knowledge, competence and logic. Quiet and reserved, hard to get to know well. Individualistic, having no interest in leading or following others. Highly analytical, they can discover connections between two seemingly unrelated things and work best when allowed to use their imagination and critical thinking.

Careers that could fit you includes:
Physicists, chemists, biologists, photographers, strategic planners, mathematicians, university professors, computer programmers, computer animators, technical writers, engineers, lawyers, forensic researchers, writers, artists, psychologists, social scientists, systems analysts, researchers, surveyors.

Today

So, I'm getting ready for work today... I really don't want to go. I'm so tired. But, alas, I'm also poor, so I must work my eight hours today. Sigh.

At least I have these to look forward to:

According to the UPS tracking site, they should be delivered today. I'll be wearing one of them to my friend Heather's wedding tomorrow; I'm just not sure which one. I think probably the blue one, because the theme of her wedding is Cinderella (yes.), and the blue one reminds me of Cinderella's blue dress. I'm mad though, because I just saw on the Forever21 site that the blue one is now on sale! I just ordered it a few days ago! That's not fair. I think I'll be calling customer service on that one.

I also wanted to share this amazing project I found last night (via ) by Yeondoo Jung. Check this out. Here's my favorite shot:

Etsy Love

I was searching for a camera case on Etsy yesterday (since I can't seem to find mine); and I came across this shop with the most lovely and useful bags. The best part is they're custom-made with the fabric of your choice, and the prices are amazing!

I instantly fell in love with this one.

Image borrowed from The Laughing House's etsy shop

This is the fabric my bag will be made in:

Image borrowed from her Flickr

I'm so excited! I think this is probably the coolest bag I've seen on Etsy. I can't wait to get it!

I also ordered another graphic novel on Amazon this morning. This and the one I ordered yesterday will be my first forays into graphic novels... I like the idea of picture books for adults.

And now, I must be off. I have to make a quick stop at the post office this morning and send out a few packages before heading to work. Have a lovely Thursday, everyone!

Mail time!

Chris and I made our way down to the junkyard earlier today. It was oh-so-satisfying to literally hurl the junk out of the back of the van and 'lighten our load'!

I'm hoping next weekend will be Round 2...to be continued!

*******

When we arrived back at home, I ran out to the mailbox to see if I had received anything exciting, and....what to my wondering eyes should appear?

2 lovely packages! Hooray!

The mailing label on the first package was a dead-giveaway as to who the sender was:

What treasures awaited me inside?

Why, its Scuppernong and Muscadine, along with the prettiest of postcards and a sweet little house button! I was so pleased to see The Button Collector turned into a little 'thank you' - see how she matches my blanket so? She's just meant to hang on my wall!

Thanks, Emily - Scuppernong and Muscadine was every bit as wonderful as I had imagined!

But what was in the second package?

That, my friends, is a secret surprise.... something for the shop, perhaps?

Hmmm.....what wonders await?!

Mine, all mine!!

Oh yeahhh.... I totally snagged those blue cat-eye glasses from Dulcet. And thankfully, in case I get them and I look like an idiot, they accept returns. Yesss! :D

I also grabbed up one of these adorable little comics from Miss Emily.... totally sweet. I was sad when I noticed there weren't any left in the shop tonight, when suddenly one appeared! And for only $6, quite a steal for such a whole lot of cuteness!

In other news, my car wouldn't start today. Hmph. Luckily my dad spent a few hours this evening figuring it out, and its something fairly simple and inexpensive (about $40), so that's good. Its probably going to be until Tuesday or Wednesday next week until he can get the part, however, so it looks like I'll be borrowing my mama's van all weekend or bumming rides to work with my sister! Oh well, it could be worse.

And now, I'm off to bed. I have another *exciting* day at work tomorrow. Hehe.

Goodnight!

Hmm...its payday....

You know what payday means? It means I'm soooo tempted to buy all of the nice things I've been spying on Etsy!

Lately I find myself daydreaming about what my future house will look like, and all of the lovely things that could fill it. So, here are a few lovelies from Etsy that I would decorate my house (or my self) with:

These adorable light-blue cateye glasses from Wicked Pen.... I've been wanting a pair, and these are smaller than the others, so they'd probably fit my tiny little head...hmmm..... If they're still in the shop tonight when I get home from work (and, ahem, depositing my paycheck!), I will understand it to be a sign that I NEED these.

Ok, so I don't have my own kitchen at the moment...but someday I will! And I will need these, for sure!

I need this for my kitchen, too.

And this cashmere pillow would look so pretty on my someday-couch...

And this little guy will surely look so sweet on my front porch, right beside his green cousin!

This is supposed to be a toy box, but I think it would be pretty cool as a shoe bench, or to hold linens, or something....

More stuff for my kitchen...

And of course, I just plain love this!

So, there you have it. Those are just a few of the many, many things I've been peeping in on now and again. Now, where is that paycheck....? ;)

♥ ♥ ♥

Yawwwn

Well. I arrived at my 2 o'clock class to find a hand-written sign on the door, proclaiming class to be cancelled. Boo, hiss. Not that I wanted to go to Atmospheres, no; I'm mad because my next class doesn't start until five o'clock! So I've been in the computer lab for... 2 hours. With an hour left to go. I am getting so sleepy! And my five o'clock class is Economics....bor-ing!

In my large amount of spare time, I did, however, find some very wonderful, inspiring things...

This amazing photo-documentary.... my favorites have to be "Showpieces" and "Grannies"... I don't know why, I just love the people in them! I also love the whole idea behind the project - that people have certain things in common, even if they think they're standing apart. I've often noticed this myself.

The work of Naoko Machida

There's something heart-breakingly sweet about the paintings....

(photo courtesy of the website of Naoko Machida)

This Spun-Cotton Piggy with Balloons by Vintage by Crystal

Little Peanut Bunny by Makeitawesome

I so desperately want this crewel kit from Project H

It would look so cute next to my thrifted pillow from last summer!

And now, I'm off to change around the color scheme here in the blog, and maybe get some coffee before Economics puts me to sleep at 5:00.

xoxo

Good morning!

Hello! I'm just sitting here, getting ready to leave for school, and I thought I should pop in and say hello...so, hello!

Not too much really going on today... I think I'm in for a nice, easy day at school. There are only a few days of classes left, before finals week, so most of my classes have really slowed down. Thank goodness!

I'm so happy to finally have a few extra minutes, here and there, to peruse the streets of Etsy once again. I've found some really lovely stuff lately...now, if only I had the funds! Haha.

Speaking of, I've had my first negative experience selling on Etsy. A customer purchased my Edie doll (a month ago!) and asked if she could send a money order for payment. I don't normally accept that, but I figured I could give it a shot. I received a handwritten note in the mail a few days later, saying that payment would be sent the following Monday. Ok. Fine. Well, I never received payment. When the buyer first contacted me, I had checked her feedback, and she had 1 positive transaction, 0 neutral, 0 negative. Well, I've tried contacting her twice to find out why I haven't received payment yet; and today, I re-checked her feedback, out of curiosity. The buyer now has 1 positive, 2 neutral, and 2 negative. The 2 negative, and 1 of the neutral feedbacks left all say the same thing: "I never received payment, and can't get in contact with the customer". Its funny, too, because all of the "purchases" were of dolls of some sort. How strange! Anyway, I'm quite sad now because poor Edie doesn't have a home. I'm going to wait until tomorrow before I re-list her, in case the buyer decides to respond to my messages...but I'm not holding my breath. It is disappointing, though, because that's less money in my PayPal account, which means less money in my Lunch Fund! ;)

Anyway, back to business - I think I'll share a few Etsy lovelies I've found these past few days, Christmas-style!

Paper Ornaments by Sprouthead

A Bunny Christmas print by At Whim

Penguin Card by Angels by Joan

Taipei Scarf by TriciaRenee

And now, I'm off to the post office to send these little sweeties to their new home - hooray!

Black Friday....bleh!

How was everyones' Black Fridays? Did anyone go shopping? I had to be at work at 4:45 this morning. Not fun. But it really wasn't as busy as I had expected (or management, apparently)... it was actually almost a boring day. So let's not even bother with it.
On to the fun stuff..... my Christmas list! :D

Winter Bird Brooch by thymbyldesigns

Anna ring by mylittlestore Siena Alpaca Cowl by Silvia66
Earrings by tashamck
Leather ring by scabbyrobot

Of course, there's much more to be added to this list...this is just the Etsy-portion of it (so far)!

Happy Friday!

Eww. Gross.

Hi. I've been a bit under the weather since yesterday - I woke up yesterday morning with a terrible pain in my right heel, and could hardly even walk on it. Apparently, a tiny little blister on my foot (that I only got on Thursday, trekking across campus wearing cute but maybe-not-so-practical maryjanes) is infected. Not in a gross, green-puss-flowing kind of way, but in a painfully swollen, aching, I've-got-a-fever kind of way. I took some Ibuprofen and went to work, and my foot eventually felt mostly better. But in the afternoon, the medicine wore off, and I had a terrible fever, and more swelling. My fever got worse and worse, until it was unbearable, and I went home from work an hour early....and then slept. I slept from 2:00 until 7:30 last night. I ate some dinner (mmm....steak with crimini mushroom sauce), and then went back to sleep until about 8:00 this morning. My fever wasn't so bad today, so maybe the infection's getting better (as I keep slathering it with Neosporin), but I feel terribly weak. I even took a little nap for about an hour today (like I actually needed more sleep?), and just laid in bed reading my books for school today. Needless to say I didn't go to work today. That would have been suicide...at least for my poor foot. Probably would have had to have it amputated.

Besides reading all day, I actually had some free time to browse Etsy (Oh, how I've missed browsing you, dear Etsy!), and have been trying to snag a Treasury all day, but with no luck. What's up with that? Its so frustrating!

In my browsing today, I decided that I really really love Matt Cipov's work, and I think maybe Chris would really like it too. I'm going to show him some of the stuff and see his reaction, because I'm thinking that might be a good Christmas gift.....he does love zombies, after all.

(I'm actually more a fan of his deep-sea dwellers, and owls, and unicorns.... not so much the zombies. But they're nice, too.)

On the store-front, I have a few new projects I'm currently working on... firstly, a kind of strange concept for a drawing I dreamt up the other day on my way to work at like 6:00 in the morning. I sketched it out today... I like it. I showed it to my mom, and she was like, "Uhh.... I don't get it. What's 'baroque'?" All I'll say is, if you know what Baroque (as in the Baroque Period...musical, art, etc.), you might like my new design. I do, anyway. Even if its a bit different from my usual stuff.

Umm....I guess that's about it. Sorry if I seem a bit foggy and uninteresting.... I think I might go back to sleep in a little while. I'm supposed to work at 6:30 tomorrow morning..... hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow and will be able to go. I can't afford to miss so much work!

Goodnight, everyone, and happy Sunday!

Oh! And if you didn't already, wish all of the grandparents you know a happy Grandparents' Day today!

Things I Am in Love With Today

I realized its been quite some time since I last showed you all of my favorite things (of the moment), and I'm not at all sleepy right now, so here it is:

Hedgehog Pin by Ity-Bity Bags

Owl Cameo Brooch by Dearest Inez

Deep in the Jungle notecards by Enfin, La Voila!

Songbird earrings by Georgi

Animal bookmarks by Magpie's Nest

And there it is! I think my favorite of all are the bookmarks.... they're just so darn cute! Perfect for back to school, hmm.......