More Art...Now from krize

Well here is another cute little shop to feed my addition to art! Kristin Sabaite's Shop takes you away into her imagination. Her shop is filled with quirky people and fun animals. She is a children's illustrator from Lithuania but now resides in Spain. Again, I had a hard time deciding exactly what I wanted from her shop because each illustration is so unique!

Once again, I had to get something with a dog (is this an obsession or what?) and of course one of her quirky girls. I chose three! things in the end. I got the "Sea Theme Note cards, " "About Friends" and a mini notebook with a cute little pup drawn on the front. The sea theme note cards are great, but I'm being a bit selfish and am going to frame them instead of sending them to friends - they are too cute, can you blame me?

The "All About Friends" print fits me so perfectly..straight from Kristin's Shop.. "There are days, when you feel especially sad, hours - full of loneliness and gloom ...On these days you sit down and close your eyes. At least your best friend is here ... at least you are far away from everything ... Your friend doesn’t speak, because at this moment you don’t need words. You need his presence. Nothing else. If you have a friend like him, does the sadness really exist?
You rise and give him a kiss on his wet little nose and say "Let’s go my friend, it’s very cold here." And all that is left are a few footprints in the snow ... yours and your friends." After reading that how could I not get it?

Lastly I got the mini notebook with the dog drawn on it. I'm a sucker for notebooks & journals so when I saw a dog drawn on one, I knew it had to be mine!

Although I did not get anything from Kristin's second shop, It's full of bags and jewelry with her wonderful illustrations on them! I recommend checking both of her shops out, maybe you'll also walk away with some art of your own!

And the winner is...

panyizsuzsi! Congratulations!

I used randomizer.org and Zsuzsi's number got chosen! Zsuzsi chose the Nancy Bag, which I think just fits perfectly with her glass art!

There was also a secret to my giveaway! I let randomizer choose a second number to win a smaller prize, a wristlet! And the secret runner up winner is ingermaaike. She chose the Kelly wristlet. I hope both of these wonderful ladies enjoy their new bags!

I just want to thank everyone that left a comment on my blog. Maybe I'll do another giveaway in the future since this one had a good turnout.

Be Happy Now

I don't remember how I found Jenny's shop, but as soon as I found it I was in love. All her paintings and drawings are so original and definitely show her style. I was especially drawn to her work because it's not the typical things that are popular these days - deer, birds, cupcakes, matryoshka dolls, etc. Don't get me wrong, I like all of the above and think they're cute, but as soon as the fad is over then all these stuff just looks strange all over your walls. But then again, I do have an eclectic style.

I hearted many of her items, many of them selling out before I could purchase. Most of her artwork incorporates some kind of animal or monster, which I just love (I'm a dog lover myself). The colors are just so bright and lively, they really do make you Happy! I really had a hard time deciding what I wanted but I finally made my decision. I got "3 Monsters and a Dog" and "Just Be Happy." The Monsters and dog painting, I think is obvious why I got it and I got the Just Be Happy because I have many days when I need to be reminded to not take everything so seriously and Just Be Happy!

The shipping was fast coming from Isreal and Jenny even drew on the envelope (which I will probably cut the images out and frame too!) and sent me a little thank you with the work that I bought. I wish I had more room on my walls to buy more, but I guess I'll just buy some as gifts to make others happy :)

Left or Right Brained?

I found this on a fellow EST members blog. I always knew I was both left and right brained - love the sciences but I have also been crafty my whole life. I wanted to see which I was more...

You Are 40% Left Brained, 60% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

First Giveaway!

I will be moving into a new apartment July 1st so I need to clear out some stuff from my shop! Of course I already have a Sale Section where you can find some great deals, but I thought that I would make this a bit more fun!

Just leave a comment and a way for me to contact you if you've won. Let me know something about yourself, about your craft, or just a general comment about my shop or blog. The winner will be picked at random on the first day of summer, June 21st! The winner will be able to *select* one item that they want out of at least 20 items in my shop, so you can win something that you love!

Good luck to everyone!

My Second Tutorial - Coasters

So after I made my first tutorial I couldn't help but make a second. I kept thinking about it all week and decided to make a simple project of coasters but with a ric rac trim. I think they came out pretty well and will be listing the set I made in my shop sometime this week. The tutorial is for sale for $6 USD. I like how they came out - I'm keeping one of them for myself for my desk. The good thing about living in a student apartment and having only one room to yourself is that the only place that you could use a coaster is on your desk ;)

Although these tutorials are both for sale, I want to make a free tutorial to post here on my blog, but one that isn't too long. Something simple, but useful. Do you have any requests or things you'd like to learn how to make? Let me know!

Perfumes

So I have to admit that I never was really into perfumes. I was never a smelly person, even after a hard work out at the gym! Through high school I would use some popular chain store 'body splashes' but as we all know, they don't last very long. I started wearing a lightly scented french perfume, Lemon and Verbena, when I came over to Poland. I started getting compliments from many people that I smelled really good and that's when I got into wearing more and more. I guess positive reinforcement really works!

It started off slow, buying some perfume here and there of some basic scents, nothing too fancy. Then a year ago I found Etsy. That's when the real problem begain. I stumbled upon Modern Atelier on Etsy. I started looking through her shop and couldn't decide what to try out first. I ended up buying 4 of the sale scents to see how good the perfumes really were. I got them in the mail and you could smell the perfume through the envelope - and let me tell you that they smelled good! I was trying to go through a bottle of perfume I already had before I started anything new, but that didn't keep me from buying more! I ended up buying 4 more..some 'winter' scents and some 'summer' scents. I only got through one of my winter scents during the winter and now I'm using a summer scent. They all smell wonderful and I love that after my 1oz bottle is out I get to try something new out!

The next perfume seller that I have purchased from is The Starshine Company. They make both home fragrance oils as well as perfume oils. Since I am already addicted to perfume I thought that I would probably love home fragrance oils as well. I was right. I ended up purchasing 3 perfumes and 3 home fragrance oils. I use the home fragrance oils daily and they smell devine. The perfume oils also smell super but I haven't had the chance to try them out yet.

Both Modern Atelier and The Starshine Company shipped quickly and securely. I recommend them for any perfume that you plan on purchasing for yourself or as a gift!

First Tutorial Up for Sale - the market bag

I have purchased quite a few tutorials & patterns on Etsy myself, so I thought maybe I should make one too! I love handmade patterns and tutorials because they are completely original. You know that someone put a lot of time and work into their project and it shows through their work. I also like the step by step with color pictures along the way and the ability to email the author with questions or comments about the pattern. It's so personal! Being an advanced, but self taught seamstress, I sometimes find that I do not know certain 'tricks' or techniques that many have learned through conventional ways. That is one of the main reasons why I also by handmade tutorials, so that I can learn these tricks and techniques to better my skill set.

I have been thinking about making a tutorial myself for a while but kept putting it off. I wanted to make something that was pretty straight forward, something that may teach some 'tricks' to other seamstresses and of course something that I haven't seen made yet. I would say the most popular things right now for sale are small pouches, aprons, purses and of course things for children so in making this market bag, I knew it would be one of the firsts on the (Etsy) scene with it. The best thing about this pattern is that it can also be shrunk down or blown up and be made into almost any size that you would need! This project took me about 6+ hours all together with the sewing, picture taking, writing, and the designing of the pattern then putting it all together into a PDF. It can be found in my Etsy shop for $8USD and free shipping! I hope that those who purchase the tutorial can send me some pictures of your completed projects for me to post on here!

Summer travels

It's already June, the weather is warm (or at least here in Poland it is!) and the thing on all our minds? Vacation. I have already booked my tickets for some summer traveling. Last week I was in Berlin, at the end of the month I am going to London, and in July I will be in Barcelona, Rome, Malmo, and Copenhagen. That's a lot of traveling!

I am not only thinking about traveling though - I am thinking about all the great crafting supplies I can pick up along the way! I have already started to make a list of some great fabric/craft stores in each country that I will be visiting. I know it probably sounds crazy that I am looking forward to the traveling as much as I am looking forward to my fabric finds, but really, when will be the next time that I will just hop over to Barcelona to pick up some great Spanish fabric? Probably no time soon, so I am taking advantage of this opportunity!

I am also busy sewing up some great summer outfits. I have added four skirts and one dress to my wardrobe, and have ideas for many more floating around in my head. Now, only if University would end soon, so I could get to some more sewing ;)