Updates on Life

This has been a busier week than normal, which is the reason for the lack of blogging, so I thought I would update on some things that some of you may be wondering about.

Sugar's Strabismus:
Someone asked how Sugar's eye appt went. She had an appt a few weeks back and we found out that her "wall-eye" is due to farsightedness so she's getting glasses! Last week we went and tried on some frames(cute little pink ones) and we've been waiting on the lenses to come in so that we can pick them up. They were supposed to come in towards the end of this week. I have NO idea how I'm going to get her to keep them on. Anyone have any suggestions?? I thought about e-mailing Kate from Jon and Kate + 8 to see how she got Aaden to wear his. :o) Has anyone else ever e-mailed either Jon or Kate? Did they respond?

The Puppies:
Well what can I say, they're getting bigger...and our backyard is not fit for human beings anymore. LOL! We're gonna work on that hopefully this weekend. I'm thinking about seperating a part of the yard and putting a fence around it...for the kids! That way they can have a sandbox, toys and poop free grass to play in. :oP Mr. Smarty Pants is playing with them alot more. Also the "boys" take them for walks. They really are sweet, but I'd like my backyard back now that spring is here. :o)

My Jewelry:
Yes I know this is supposed to be my biz blog. *sigh* Seems I can make lots of jewelry in my free time but can't get any pictures of them so no listings in my store. :o( After being sick, busy, etc etc, I finally had time to try taking decent pics again and of course the weather will not cooperate. Soooo after doing some research I am going to make my own light box this weekend so I can take pics whenever my little heart desires! I also need to do some reading up on my camera settings as I can't seem to get the closeups I used to. My spring collection is soooo late but will hopefully debut soon. Again, wish me luck on that.

Cub Scouts:
Lots happening with Mr. Smarty Pants Cub Scout pack. I got to take him to his first hockey game a few weeks ago. Our local hockey team had a Scout Night. Since I grew up watching hockey in LA(go Kings) I thought it only appropriate that I get to take him instead of Honey(who I introduced to Hockey when we lived in Dallas-go Stars). He seemed to enjoy it though he wished they had scored more. It was a low scoring game and a little boring at times so I'm glad it still held his attention. We've also been working on his Pinewood Derby car. The Derby is next week and is the 1st one for his pack. He just earned his Bobcat Patch and Tiger Cub Recognition Emblem plus 5 beads a couple nights ago and I'm also working on the packs website. Busy busy busy!

Fabulous Finds Friday:
Yes I am going to post part 3 of Fabulous Fabric Finds tomorrow. And yes, sadly, I missed posting about the Ginger Blossom launches on both ETSY and eBay the past couple of weeks. (I even bid and won some cute outfits for the girls!) You can still find listings on eBay and tons of listings on ETSY by searching for keyword "gingerblossom".

And since blog posts aren't nearly as much fun without pics, here ya go!



If I forgot anything I needed to update on just comment and let me know. ;o)

Fabulous Apron Finds Friday

Yes I know, posting late in the day seems to be becoming a trend. *sigh*

Anyhoo, today is all about aprons! :o) Have you noticed how much aprons have come back in style? It's not just for us "vintage apron fanatics" anymore. It's become soooo "tres chic"! I've always liked aprons myself. I have some vintage ones including one that is made out of a flour sack and hangs in my pantry. Hmmm, guess I should have taken a pic? :oP

So without further ado, here are some of my favourite new apron designers.

Heavenly Hostess has so many wonderful apron designs from halter to cocktail to gardening, you just have to check them out! Here is one of my faves which happens to be a gardening apron, however I don't have a garden and I'd buy it anyway. :o)



Sommer Designs doesn't have as many choices but what she does have is simple, classic and fresh. I find it hard to choose a favorite since most of her aprons are made from my favourite designer fabrics!



Another apron designer I love is Megan of Creative Outlet Designs! I've been coveting her cherry polkadot apron for some time now. Drool!




And last but not least is Carolyn's Kitchen. Carolyn West(as seen in Adorn) offers vintage-inspired aprons and matching glove sets. How fun is that! Don't miss the giveaway to win this fun Dorothy apron & glove set over at The Apronista!



Other places to find hip handmade aprons are ETSY & eBay. Have fun and have a fantastic weekend! :o)

Fabulous Charity Finds Friday

These next 2 months are all about charity & awareness!

On Monday the Boutique Angels Charity group on eBay began their 3rd quarter charity auctions and this time it is a BYOC(Bring Your Own Charity) event. I listed my 1st auction yesterday in support of The Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation and in honor of Scarlett who is a young lady who has Leukemia & Li Fraumeni Syndrome. Please check out Scarlett's blog to learn more about her.
I will be listing a few more auctions sometime this weekend. I do have the inlaws coming into town so if I'm not able to list more now then next week for sure. 100% of the profits go to Starlight Starbright.

Next week I will also be listing an auction in support of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance. September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. My mother passed away 2 years ago from Ovarian Cancer so this is near and dear to my heart.

Next month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the boutique eBay group Designing for a Cure BCA will be starting their annual charity auctions in honor of a little girl named Kayla who has stage 4-S neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer. Look for auctions to support the National Breast Cancer Foundations and CureSearch in honor of Kayla.

Here are a couple of auctions for the Boutique Angels. Pleae come take a look! We'll be listing next week as well.

This fall set by paintedbutterflystudio is sooo pretty and has handpainted accents! Wow!




Here's my own auction listing. It's not fall-themed but it is ohhh so pretty! This necklace & bracelet set called Cafe Paris was inspired by french cafe's.

Yup, Still Here!

Just a quick note to say....yup I'm still alive and kicking! :oP
This week has been filled with some family ups and downs and now I'll have to play some catchup with everything else. Can you believe I missed a Wordless Wednesday??
Anyhoo, I will resume tomorrow with Fabulous Finds Friday. I love Halloween so can't miss sharing some fun & spoooooky stuff I found!

This week was also supposed to be all about charities and cause awareness but that will have to wait until next week when I can devote more time to it. This weekend I'll be working on a number of designs to list for charity auctions this month. On Monday the 10th one of the eBay charity auction groups I'm in will start their annual auctions so I need to be ready! I'll try and post a Saturday Sneak Peak this weekend of some of the new designs. :o)

Btw, I'm listing clothing & baby gear resells from my kids closets so take a look at my auctions; you might see something you like!

Fabulous Euro Finds Friday

Today is all about Euro fashion! Yes I know summer is almost over, but I just love the bright Euro-inspired colors and wanted to highlight some great finds on both ETSY & eBay. Besides, it still feels like summer where we are and probably will until January or February. LOL! :o)

Here are some amazing Euro children's outfits and accessories for both child & adult I found on eBay.


This gorgeous set is by babyblubonnets. I think it has a faintly asian feel to it as well.




I found this fantastic hoodie set by gigglez-n-grinz. Euro-style hoodie sets are oh so hip right now!





Next up, gotta have a hip handbag right? So here is a fabulous Euro-inspired tote by prettyinpink320. Check out her scarves too.





On to ETSY where I found some lovely Euro accessories.

The first find is this really pretty pillow for a girls room made by vanessaandcompany.





I also adore these clippies made by adourcouture.





This Euro-colored flower by pamperingbeki would look great on a denim jacket or purse.




And last but not least is my very own Euro bling. A beautiful Swarovski crystal fringe bracelet made with those bright trademark Euro colors. These pictures really don't do it justice. Oh and it's on sale too so go check it out! :oP





Next week it will be all about Halloween BOOtique!! I just LOVE Halloween. This year will be so much fun since it's the first time my girls will go trick or treating! :o)

Back to School

Today Mr. Smarty Pants(my son) went back to school for his 2nd year. He was very excited! It's a brand new (just been built) school and one of his friends who lives on the street behind us is also in his class. He wore an appliqued shirt I bought for him, carried a new Pirates of the Carribean backpack & lunch tote and wore matching Pirates sneakers. He was smiling from ear to ear(I would imagine all day long). Here's some fun pics. :o)











Isn't this shirt cute? It was made by littledressmaker on eBay. If you knew my son, you would agree that this shirt is perfect for him. He loved it(my future "Jim Carey" comedian)! LOL!

Fabulous Finds Friday

Today is all about fabulous eBay boutique finds! :o)





I don't know if anyone has seen the new designer launch on eBay called Indelible but it began yesterday and consists of some of the most talented children's boutique designers on eBay. The idea behind Indelible(great name huh?) is boutique designs inspired by the newest fabric "guru" Joel Dewberry. Most of the clothing & some of the accessories have been made with his amazing & indelible fabric collections including Aviary, Manzanita & Chestnut Hill but there are also accessories inspired by and m2m as well.
So I thought I would highlight some of my favorite indelible designs. Enjoy! :o)


I love everything in this collaborative collection by nzbug, that*funky*boutique and lollipopjewels.




I think this set by willarie is wonderful! It's unique & sophisticated.





I just adore this beautiful tote purse by pinklemonadeboutique.





To find all of the incredible creations in this launch just search, what else, indelible boutique"! :o)





Another fantastic fabric launch that started earlier this week on eBay is The Chocolate Lollipop Launch by the boutique group TheChicks. These designs were inspired by the ultra-hip fabric designer Anna Maria Horner and her Chocolate Lollipop fabric line. Here are some of my faves. :o)


If I could get these birthday oalls by *mimisgirls* for my twins party next year I would snap them up in a heartbeat! So original!




I love this hip euro mix & match set by flowers*and*butterflies.





And yes, another great bag. Just call me bag-a-holic! teehee. This one is by boutiquenutmegdesigns.








Another recent launch on eBay is by a brand new boutique group called Anthology Inc. The group may be new but the designers are not. They are some of the best on eBay. Here's one of my fave designs by sweetfeetboutique to give you an idea of what this group has to offer.





To search for all of the amazing designs in this group just use the search term anthologyinc.

Happy eBaying! :o)

More Bird Finds Monday

Ok I took the weekend off. teehee. :o) So here are more bird finds including owls; thank you Erin for the suggestion! ;o) I did a search for owls and they are truly everywhere, but let's start with birds shall we...

I love this pillow by joom on ETSY. She has alot of hip bird-themed goodies and it was hard picking a fave.



Here's a gorgeous custom boutique girls outfit made by April of allforthekidds on eBay.



Kristin of spirited*style has listed another Tweet Tweet Happy Hobo on eBay. It's similar to the one I purchased and blogged about last month. I use mine all the time! :o)



I bought 2 of these sweet bird shirts for the girls(for next summer) at Old Navy. They were on sale and I just couldn't pass them up.




And now for the owls...

How darn cute is this owl bag?! Tinkybelle has 3 shops on ETSY but Hoooooooot is definitely my favorite.



Check out this "funky" custom boutique girls outfit made by Angie of that*funky*boutique on eBay. The auction ends soon!



There are lots of hair pretties with owls, especially on ETSY, but I'll just post one. These are owl fabric-covered button bobby pins made by Sarah of SweetSparrow on ETSY.



Amber of cherry*tea on eBay just listed this fun owl backpack. What a unique look for back to school!



And last but certainly not least, here's an adorable soldered/fabric owl bracelet by Erin herself(thevintagepearl on both ETSY & eBay). :o)




So with all these birds on the brain I was thinking about peacocks. Ya know they're really beautiful birds! Anyone up for making peacocks the next big bird trend....

Fabulous "Bird" Finds Friday

Yup, I'm finally posting my favorite bird finds. Sorry about the wait. :oP

So my guess is most of you have noticed a lot of bird-themed items have become popular lately including, fabric, jewelry, clothing, etc. Well, I have definitely been drawn to birds lately myself. I find I'm faving bird-themed items on ETSY alot. Sooo, here are some of my fave bird things on ETSY & eBay.
I received my bird sunhat from Tara on eBay and I really love it! It keeps me so much cooler out in this TX heat than I realized it would. I guess I need to wear hats more often. :oP I've already gotten a number of compliments on it.



I purchased this sweet sweet bird doorhanger for the twins room from Hazel of BlossomHill on ETSY. Isn't it precious? :o)



I have completely fallen in love with this vintage-style art nouveau necklace by Jody of 1ofmykind on ETSY and am waiting until it gets listed again and I have more "me money". All of her jewelry is amazing but I'm just drawn to this one for some reason. It's gorgeous!!



I just found this adorable bird stuffie by cornflakegirl on ETSY today actually. Sooo darn cute don't you think?



Take a look at these great bird coasters from P.D.A. Collection on ETSY.




Ok so stay tuned for Part 2 of fabulous bird finds, hopefully tomorrow. :o)

Tuesday Treasures

So I signed up for my first swap on Swap-Bot a few weeks ago. Anyone else done swaps on this site?? The 1st swap I joined was a bead swap...of course! hehe. Basically it was a destash swap where we exchange beads we already have on hand.
I had 2 partners I sent beads to and I received 2. I waited for the 2nd to arrive(yesterday) before posting the pics here. Soooo...here they are.

The 1st was from "Nana in Paris"(France that is). Yup, my first came all the way from France. How exciting! :o) Here's a pic:




My 2nd was from "BethAnne" who also has a blog. Here's a pic:




Most of these beads I can't use for any jewelry that I sell but the plastic and vintage pearl beads I can use in some costume jewelry for the girls so that will be fun!
Unfortunately I didn't take pics of the "good mail" I sent to my partners but I'm hoping they'll post pics when they receive them. I sent the beads inside colored tissue paper in round aluminum tins decorated with ric-rac, stickers and leaf-shaped tags. It was so much fun! I really hope my partners enjoy their packages as much as I enjoyed putting them together. :o)

I signed up for my 2nd swap today called "Just Stuff". teehee. Should be fun! :o)

I listed an autumn-themed bracelet yesterday for the ALTB Fall Harvest launch. I ws a little late listing but better late than never, right?



I'll be listing more jewelry either tonight or tomorrow on eBay.
I also listed a vintage pewter lion pendant necklace on ETSY.




I know I promised a post about bird finds last week but I think I'll save that for Friday. ;o)

Fabulous Friday

Usually this would be Fabulous Finds Friday but we're leaving this evening to visit family for the weekend and there's lots to be done before we leave so this is really a catchup post from this past week. :o)

I didn't participate in the BoutiqueCafe FFF this week as I haven't had the chance to take a pic in one of the only 2 hats that I own, plus I would be embarrassed to show those off anyway. I did just buy this fabulous sunhat from taradome on eBay:



I can't wait to receive it! Check out the bird fabric she used. It's from Moda's Summer in the City by UrbanChiks. Tara makes gorgeous things doesn't she?
I've definitely noticed an attraction to cool bird things lately. I think I'll blog about all the bird finds I've fallen in love with next week. You can also see some of them in my ETSY Faves.

So I've been trying to finish this bracelet design I started last week but something always seems to get in the way. I bought some Freshcut fabric(finally) last week from a quilt store that's right across from our neighborhood. It was my first time visiting and loved it. Super sweet ladies! Can't wait to go back and get more fabric. Anyhoo, I also bought a fabric button kit and began this design:



Some of the other things I'm planning on adding are freshwater pearls and possibly Bali daisy spacers on the flowers. Oh and you can't see them in the pic, but on the other side of the lucite flowers are round crystal-cut rose quartz gemstones. Hopefully I'll get this bracelet finished up and photographed properly next week so I can list it.
Let me know your opinions on this design and if you think it shouldn't have anything else added, what should be added, etc. That blue crystal btw is just a placeholder for another crystal in the correct color scheme, I had just misplaced it at the time of the pic. hehe. :oP

If anyone was wondering about the Wordless Wednesday pic this week, that is a pic of my twin girls all time favorite place to be....under my desk! Especially when I'm working. For some reason it is the "Holy Grail" of places to get to in the room. They get so excited when they overcome my leg blocking moves and make it under "there". What the fascination is I'm not sure. Then of course they have to get to all those wire goodies hanging from above! LOL!

Well that's it for me. I have lots to do while the girls nap. Have a fairy lovely weekend. :o)

New(ish) Auction Listings

So I haven't posted in almost a week and now I'm trying to play catchup!
Last Wednesday my dh took the day off to take care of the girls while my ds and I had some quality time together. I took him to see the Harry Potter movie which we both really enjoyed! Actually I thought he would be bored since there was a lot of storyline to cover and little real action until near the end. My son is just 6 so he needs lots of "POW" "ZAP" "ZOWIE"...kwim? Anyhoo, so in the car on our way back home I asked him what he thought of the movie and he said in dead seriousness, really slow and drawn out, "awwwwwesommmmme"! Whew! Then we had a little discussion about how everyone has tendancies to be both good & bad and it's the choices we make in life that matter, etc etc. This kid is 6???? Then he started making fart jokes in Patrick's voice from Spongebob Squarepants. Yup, he's 6!
Beginning around Wednesday going into Thursday the kiddos and I started to feel under the weather and I also got a bit depressed myself. Luckily it didn't last too long and we're all doing much better now. I was finally motivated to start working on some jewelry designs Sunday evening and am slowly getting things photographed(could someone turn off the sprinklers over Texas??) and listed on ebay & ETSY. I actually have 5 things listed on ETSY now. :o)
I've listed 2 new(ish) auctions for the Bellaluna BTS Launch and one for TheOasis Bon Appetit launch.
I really love how the set turned out for Bon Appetit. The pics turned out great too! She's the better subject of the twins right now but it still isn't easy. When it's not raining it is very hot & humid outside, plus the girls are always on the move so it's a chore getting either of them to sit still for any length of time. And then there's that dreaded "bow/clippie on the head" thing they started recently. They just hate anything placed on their heads right now and it's very frustrating! So after you look at the pics just imagine me sweating my butt off in humid 90 degree heat putting the bow on her head then trying to snap a pic(or 2) that I can't see in the camera viewer(stupid Sun) then grab the bow out of her mouth after she's ripped it off her head and then put her back on the trike to do it allll over again. Whoo, it is truly tiring!

Don't forget to check out the new(ish) listings in the right column. :o)

Back to School & Bon Appetit

Today has been kind of crazy with two eBay group launches beginning and the eBay groups community forums being completely overhauled...and not in a good way I might add. :o(
A lot of boutique groups are trying to decide whether or not to move. One has already made the jump. I don't like the new forums myself, but honestly I'm wondering if we shouldn't just give it a chance. If we all up and move some will go to MSN, some to Yahoo, etc, etc. We'll be scattered all across the net! Anyhoo, I'm anxiously waiting to see what happens. *sigh*

Ok back to the group launches which is so much more fun, right?
The first is a Back to School Guest Launch with the group Boutique BellaLuna. I've listed my 1st auction which is a primary color ABC-themed bracelet that matches nicely with all those Michael Miller Dick & Jane clothes & accessories. That fabric line is just toooo darn cute! I have another matching bracelet I'm planning to list that will actually use the Dick & Jane fabric. Yippeee! Plus I'll be listing a few other goodies so keep checking these auctions.



The 2nd is TheOasis Boutique Bon Appetit guest launch! I bet you can guess what the theme is for this one. :oP Again I have a few things I'm planning to list. My Saturday sneak peek was one of them. *wink* Today I listed a watermelon bracelet. For me summer and watermelons just go hand in hand....especially in July! :o)



Don't forget, I have some fabulous earrings that will be ending tomorrow! *hint, hint*