Traveling Pendant is on the move again...

Back in January I wrote a post all about a good online friend of mine Cher and her traveling pendant. The pendant was created by me, of course, and she takes it on road trips/plane rides/to rugby games, etc. It's a lucky pendant! Below is a photo of it with her at a rugby game in New Zealand!!! Isn't that amazing? I am so jealous! And isn't she just so stinkin' cute wearing it! Love ya Cher!

Charity of the Month!

I love giving. It makes me feel good. I think it makes most people feel good. I have been trying to give a bit of my sales every month to a new charity. I keep coming back to animal welfare charities. It's where my heart is. For the month of August I am giving 15% of sales to the Woods Humane Society in San Luis Obispo, California. Lets give together! ♥

Etsy Front Page!

I am proud to say.... I was on the front page of Etsy today!

Sorry I haven't been around lately, I swear some good stuff is in the works!

Time Flies!

I cannot believe its been a whole month (exactly) that I have written on here. So sorry to my followers! Please forgive me!

I have been pretty busy, and thats good! I have had lots of custom orders as well as getting my work into a few new shops across the US! - which I am very excited about! I was so scared to take that step forward and try out consignment and wholesale - but now that I have, it is so easy! I urge anyone who is struggling with stepping over, to just do it! Check out the Etsy Forums for tips on how to approach a shop, how to set up your wholesale prices, details on consignment do's and don'ts, comparisons between wholesale vs. consignment, etc. And if you can't find an answer you're looking for, I suggest posting a question, and I am sure people will respond. It's a whole new world, but I think its a great opportunity for us small business owners/crafters/creators!

Here is where you can currently find my work:

1. Anna Maria Island, Florida: The Hive Creations 119 Bridge Street

2. Philadelphia, PA: Slingluff Gallery 11 W. Girard Ave

3. Kingston, Rhode Island: The Gift Emporium at URI 99 Fortin Road

4. Lee Vining, California: Mono Lake Gift Shop Hwy 395 at Third Street

5. Philadelphia, PA: VIX Emporium 5009 Baltimore Avenue

And there is more coming soon!!! I am very excited about this and you should definitely check out these awesome shops/galleries if you are anywhere close to these areas! Cool stuff in them, for sure.

Conscious Living

Earth Day is tomorrow!!! Of course, we should be conscious of the earth everyday, but tomorrow is a holiday directed towards spreading awareness everywhere!

As you read in my last post, I am a big tree hugger! I try my hardest to do all I can to not hurt the planet. It's all we have to live on, its our home. We need to be aware of what we are doing and how it is going to affect the planet. I know its a lot to think about, but its very important - mostly for future generations. I hear people say, "ahh, who cares, we won't be here anyway!" - well, I care. It's important to be conscious. It's great to feel that what you are doing is good. My motto is to treat others as you want to be treated... and that counts for future generations that I will never meet, too! Maybe some of you might think I am going a bit far with this. Oh well. At least it makes me feel good, and thats what matters most.

In celebration I am joining in with EtsyVeg with their Earth Day ExtraVEganza to donate 15% of sales to Earth Save International from 4/22 - 4/24. I also wanted to offer my special customers a deal! Buy any item, get the second 40% off! So a sale and a donation, all in a three days time!

I hope you all will learn something, share something, and feel happy about your decisions you make on this wonderful Earth Day 2010!

The 3 R's!!

I have this huge love for rubber stamps these days. I just bought one the other day to help spread the three R's... Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - which is another one of my huge Loves. This stamp was designed by a wonderful Etsy seller Maggie Hallam. I, myself, am a big tree hugger. No joke, I am a NUT about this kind of stuff. Every time I send a package out to a customer, I think to myself that I hope they are either reusing the packaging I send them, or they recycle it, at least! I had always wanted a way to remind them of the importance of the 3 R's. Then I thought, "hey, it would be nice to stamp it onto my packaging." So I did a little search (on Etsy, of course!) and found a variety of stamps for recycling but the one made by Maggie Hallam stood out because it reminds others that there is not just Recycling to help Planet Earth, there is also Reducing, and Reusing!! All three are equally important. And I love how the stamp can be put anywhere to remind others and it makes me feel good that hopefully it saved the packaging from going straight to the landfill without a chance of being reused or recycled.

I always reuse packaging, unless its totally unusable - then it goes in the recycle bin, of course. I also try to reuse older cardboard and other stuff that would otherwise be deemed "trash" to wrap my items up safely and protect them from breaking during shipment.

I hope to spread the word of the 3 R's and hopefully help others learn the importance of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling. I also hope to encourage others to spread the word! It's important for our planet - the amounts of waste in landfills is ginormous! Plus the amount of trees cut down everyday for paper production is unnecessary causing an environmental impact. I could go on and on about the importance of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling. Check out Earth911.com for tons of info on all kinds of recycling and its importance!

If you're interested in your own 3 R's stamp, Maggie Hallam sells them in her Etsy shop, along with other nature-iffic stamps with animals, trees, mushrooms, leaves, etc. She is a wonderful artist! Here is one of the backside of a snowshoe hare!


She also creates handmade boxes to store you pencils, pens or other stuff! Pretty neat and there are many different colors/designs to choose from!


Planet Earth is our home, and its our only one... Please reduce your impact on it, reuse what you can and recycle what you can't. And if you are sending out packages regularly, I highly recommend you getting your own stamp and help spread the word of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!

Happiness

The following inspires me and makes me happy.

Happiness is never stopping to think if you are. ~Palmer Sondreal

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time. ~Edith Wharton

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet. ~James Openheim


My Youngest son - Chester-Woo and I.

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. ~A.A. Milne

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~Abraham Lincoln

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy. ~Anne Frank


My oldest son, Leroy-Grey. He fell asleep on my book, it was adorable.

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. ~Frederick Keonig

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour. ~Author Unknown

A happy thought is like a seed that sows positivity for all to reap. ~Miriam Muhammad

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank


This is me and my husband about 6 years ago. We truly were happy right at that moment. The sky was beautiful and check out the rainbow behind us!

Be Happy. Right now. For the future is unknown.