For those in the States, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
We sure did! We had a feast! We always cook for an army no matter how
many show up. We hosted the big event here. Brian cooked the turkey and
it was fabulous! I even used the owl napkin rings that I made. Tutorial here.
I will not be shopping this Black Friday because I will be working. Not sure I'd be out in the crowds anyway. But I will be celebrating Black Friday through Cyber Monday at my shops with sales. Let the Holidays begin!
Turkey in image above is from my Halloween & Fall Clipart Set which can be found at my Etsy Shop, Teacher's Notebook Shop, Meylah Graphics Shop.
This facebook hop is now closed but you can still get my freebie on the FREEBIE page of my website HERE.
In the short time I've been selling at various Internet shops, I have come across the best people in the world! Many think of other sellers as their competition, but it doesn't have to be that way. I've made quite a few friends and have come across some unbelievable talent. I've also been inspired by many of them as well. I thought it would be fun to "share the love" and introduce you to some of them. There are quite a few on my awesome people list so I thought I'd start with two's.
Trina makes the most beautiful cake toppers for all occasions. She gets a lot of custom orders and I can see why. The incredible detail she puts into these little cuties is just the beginning. She will customize your cake topper to fit your guest of honor's personality, hobbies, sports, pets, anything. I have seen some of the requests she has gotten, and some are challenging as well. She delivers exactly what they want with a one of a kind item they won't ever get any place else. Definitely a keepsake to treasure. My personal favorites are her animals. They have the cutest faces!
Trina's blog
http://trinastrinketts.blogspot.com
Trina's Etsy shop
http://etsy.com/shop/trinasclaycreations
Next we have Della. The things she does with shells will amaze you! Most of her pieces, with the exception of the masculine collection, are so soft and feminine looking. She has a unique way of pairing beads, charms, and other fun things with the shells to create these beautiful jewelry and accessory pieces. Every time I see a new piece of hers, I can just imagine what kind of clothing it would look great with. A lot of her pieces are so elegant, they remind me of something you would only see in a high end store in the city. In the piece above you will see what I mean when I mentioned how she has the unique talent of putting just the right elements together.
Della's blog
http://delsshells.blogspot.com
Della's Etsy shop
http://etsy.com/shop/DelsShells
Have you ever made mug rugs? They are so much fun! I thought I'd make a couple so I can list the patterns in my shops, but now I can't stop. All this hand applique I've been doing is nice, but machine applique is so quick.
I have come to a couple of realizations while making these. First, the more you machine applique, the easier it gets and your skills improve very quickly. Second, the soft minty colors are so pretty and make a nice final product, however, they photograph like crap. And thirdly, I'm going to have to get online and order some more bobbins and another bobbin holder.
Oh yah, Punnkie helped me make them...
Since I mentioned that I've been on a major creative streak a couple of my friends have asked me to share some pictures. We'll you asked, and now I shall show!
Remember last year that I came up with the idea to have a Sweet Shop Theme for my dining room? It was cute too. The tree was decorated with nothing but candy and cookie ornaments. Surrounding my tree was a lot of peppermint and other sweets, real and fake. Last year I came up with all the ornaments which are on my blog as free tutorials (link at the top). I also designed the tree skirt and the stockings.
I took it a step further this year with the addition of the gingerbread girl recipe holder, new ornaments, napkin rings, a tree topper, and a garland.
So I can't wait to see my dining room this year! And of course I'll post pictures!
You can make all these items yourself because all these patterns are available at my Etsy Shop, Website, and Craftsy Pattern Shop.
Have you ever stopped by All Free Holiday Crafts? Well, if you haven't, you are missing out on a whole bunch of fun craft projects!
I have a couple of items on their site (Christmas Tree Advent Calendar, Lollipop Ornaments, Felt Candy Cane Holder Ornaments). They approached me not long ago and asked if they could include my Lollipop Ornaments in an E-Book they plan to publish this Holiday Season. Of course I said sure!
The book has just been released and you can pick up your free copy HERE.
It has nine fun ornament patterns. And I am definitely making that Chocoholic's Dream Ornament!
Many of my readers are probably familiar with our little Bubba and his previous problems. For those who don't know, he's been blocked (bladder) twice, and had two emergency surgeries. He almost died when stones got stuck in the urethra, but he survived what many dogs don't. He gets bladder stones and even though he's on prescription food for that, they still come back. They aren't nearly as big as they once were, but they are still causing the little guy problems.
When I said in my previous post that life gets in the way, this is one of those obstacles. For the past week, he's been having off and on difficulty urinating. It breaks my heart to watch him struggle during those times. The vet had to catheterize him twice last week. I took him to work with me everyday because if he wasn't urinating, we could help him before I took him home. This is one advantage of working for his vet. Unfortunately, and of all times, Doc is out of town! We do have a substitute doctor, but he doesn't handle emergencies or surgeries. If Bubba has more problems, we might do another surgery when Doc comes back that will reroute his "plumbing." It's good answer for this type of problem and is very successful.
I bought some training pads and some special spray and I'm trying to get Bubba to pee on them but he shows no interest. Not only is this a way to keep watch on his medical problem, but I hate taking him outside, especially after dark. We have coyotes and other animals that would not make nice with my Bubba! Our winters are also pretty rough and it would be quite nice to keep him inside since I follow him in the yard in case of furry intruders.
So, I'm looking for advice. Has anyone had success using the training pads on an older dog? I'd really like for this to work for so many reasons.
I think it's official. I should be inducted into the Bad Blogger Hall of Shame! My postings are not as fruitful as usual, and I haven't been doing a lot of visiting others. Sometimes life gets in the way and you have to set priorities. Plus, life has just been busy!
I'm still on that big creative streak so I've been doing a LOT of creating in the graphics department and the pattern department. I recently added a whole bunch of clipart, papers, and printable to my graphic shops. I'm actually putting the finishing touches on a pattern that I will be releasing in the next couple of days.
I'm also happy to say that sales at most of my shops have picked up quite a bit so I've been busy trying to get my books organized. I'm also creating a business plan with actual goals and plans. I created some new spreadsheets to help me keep my items organized as far as what shops I've uploaded what items, as well as what items are selling at all the shops combined so I know where to concentrate my efforts. I'm also looking at some new accounting software to start 2013 with. Right now I'm using spread sheets that I created myself.
I'm doing so well on my healthy changes and am proud to announce a 30 pound weight loss! It feels good to be back on track with my healthier (most of the time) eating and my commitment to exercise.
So, I do have more to tell you but I'll save it for another day. I hope you are all having SPOOKY HALLOWEEN!
Images above are from my "Funky Halloween" papers and clipart images that can be found at my Etsy Shop, Website, and Clipart Shop.
Many of my friends are probably wondering where I've been the past several days. Well, I'll tell you! Brian and I just returned home from a well needed vacation in Las Vegas. We had a great time! I won't bore you with photo after photo, but I did make a collage of some of my favorites.
We stayed at the Paris Hotel which was quite nice. Yes, we went inside the M&M store. I was in HEAVEN!!! We saw a great show, had some delicious food, did a TON of walking, and enjoyed ourselves every minute.
We aren't big gamblers so we didn't leave a nice chunk of change behind. I was down a wee bit but decided to play one more time on my favorite slot machine, and won it all back and then some. I cashed out immediately and headed back to our room for some sleep before our early flight.
I'll be catching up on all my friend's blogs in the next couple of days. See you all soon!
Is it just me, or are the Fall colors more vivid and beautiful than they've been in years past? My usual 25 minute drive home today took about 45 because I had to keep stopping to take pictures. But I did manage to get these beauties! Oh how I love the Fall! Are you enjoying the beautiful Fall colors in your area?
