Wow, it seems time flies... I blink and then realize WOW I need to post on my blog!! :)
Lots of fun new things!!
1. I'm now a writer for Handmade Spark - it's like the Etsy Storque but better!! :)
2. I'm currently working on a cotton line of newsboys and slouch hats for spring and summer!!
I recently met this AMAZING photographer Laura! She took some beautiful pictures of the kids in Purdy Things... I must say she captured them perfectly. Here are some of my most favorite pictures!!
OH! And don't forget to check her out!! Laura Lynne Photography
I live in an area that is FLUSH with talent! So Fridays will be shop local Fridays!!!
I'm fortunate enough to be part of a great group Sacto Metro Etsy Team, check out the blog!
Here are 2 local designer artists that are awesome! So check them out!
GirlleeGoodz
I love this shop! There is so much vision in each piece!! Here is her self written bio:
I am a one woman shop creating cheeky and flirtatious, yet, sophisticated tanks, t-shirts, and jackets. Sewing and crafting runs deep in my bloodlines but it is through designing, embellishing, and hand embroidering that I have found my true passion. Promoting individuality while utilizing color, texture, and dimension. I want my customers to feel like a million bucks in my garments...exuding confidence!
Plum Dandy - by GirlleeGoodz
MrsTalbott
With great fabrics, and fun designs you will find things like this awesome crochet / knitting tool organizer, newsboy hats, aprons, and cute dollhouse furniture! Here is her self written bio: I've been hand-crafting most of my life in one form or another. I've been a living history docent at Sutter's Fort State Historic Park in California since 1980, and much of the crafts I do now are things that can be used at the Fort or that were popular in the mid-19th century. Give me natural fibers or materials to work with and I'm a happy camper!
Happy Planet Crochet / Knitting Tool Organizer by MrsTalbott
Happy shopping... more local to me sellers next Friday!
Yes I said it... Kermit LIED!
I've started a line of my crochet goodies using eco-friendly yarns.. I LOVE these fingerless gloves that will keep you warm and are made from 100% recycled yarn!
They are like snuggies for your hands!!
You can find them here:
Http://purdythings.etsy.com
This got me thinking... what other awesome Eco-friendly things can I find on Etsy??
Here are just two of the fabulous things I found!!! What can you find? Let me know!
Check out this awesome Bird House from : http://www.etsy.com/shop/Birdtiques
This is her shop annoucement: Birdtiques are little jewels of bird devotion. Combining salvaged wood and architectural cast offs, bits of tin turned to flowers or flying insects, a seussical whimsy and a knowledge of birds, each Birdtique is one-of-a-kind. Whether for chickadees, wrens, bluebirds, or titmice, you will find a respect for the birds in these houses: no naughty perches and plenty of drainage holes, clean-out doors and hole/house sizes scaled correctly to the bird, and finally, inside of each house, a printout telling you all about your bird. While Birdtiques are suitable for outdoors, chances are yours will never leave your living room. To learn more about Birdtiques or the birds for which they are made, visit http://www.birdtiques.com.
These beautiful candles are clean burning and naturally scented by: crystalwood
Description: These ECO-FRIENDLY, VEGAN candles are made with soy and other natural waxes, natural lead-free cotton wicking and premium quality essential oils for a cleaner-burning, longer-lasting candle. Produces significantly less sooty residue and chemical pollutants than regular paraffin candles. Naturally-scented with no toxic fragrance.
Lets see.. what are my resolutions this year?
First, I want to listen more, listen to God, my husband, my kids, and listen to the stories people tell of their lives.
I learned this year that listening to God is alot easier if you do it the FIRST time...
Before He has to hit me in the head with a brick to see it His way! The blessings are great when you follow what He puts in front of you. Sometimes the road is rough and bumpy, but it's so worth it! Remember God will never give you more then you can handle with HIS help!
Second, I want to take Purdy Things to a whole new level.
Third, I want to use my gifts to further the kingdom.
Fourth, I want to keep this blog ALOT more current!!!
WHEW! I usually say I'm not going to make resolutions, but I think I can do these, no I know I can do these.
This past year has been probably the BIGGEST roller coaster of my life.
But I've put all of my faith in God, and know that HE is in control. He hasn't let us down yet. Things haven't been the way we want, but we have been so blessed.
Wow what a month it's been! I've been on the biggest emotional roller coaster...
First, Right before Halloween, we found out my beloved adored and cherished grandma "Honey" had to have open heart surgery! She is doing well now, and on the road to recovery, but man the thought of losing her ripped my heart open!
Second Purdy Things has taken off!!!!
I have been SO busy making hats, filling orders, doing craft shows, making connections!! I LOVE it!!!
I've offered free shipping for Christmas!! All custom orders need to be in to me by Saturday so I can get them to you in time!! :)
http://purdythings.blogspot.com Check it out! Get your unique one of a kind Christmas Present this year from Etsy!
I have failed more times then I can count.... I'm not talking failing a test at school either. I have failed at this thing we call life. Then again so has everyone at one point or another right?? In the past weeks we have had a series called Fail at church. The bottom line is "Your life isn't futile, and your failures aren't fatal" You can always return home to those who love you. You can always pick yourself back up and keep going. Forgive yourself, let others forgive you, and be thankful that God is always there to forgive you.... NO MATTER WHAT!
The lessons learned in my failings, have made me the person I am today. I am proud of what I have overcome and accomplished. I would fall flat on my face time and time again to end up in the place I am now. I'm at peace with my failings, I'm grateful for my failings, and I expect to fail again. So what if we fail?? We live and learn. And that is the glorious journey we are all on.
I've decided to change this blog a bit...
I will still feature awesome handmade goods I find, and their creators! But I will also be sharing more of my life, more of the beautiful things in life, that just make me smile. Life is WAY to short to focus on all the ugly things in this world!
So I will start with what's new in my life...
I am now officially a homeschooling mom... WOW. I honestly never thought that declaration would EVER come from me! My middle son has dyslexia, and an Auditory Processing Deficiency. For the longest time I felt that the best place for him is in school, where teachers with degrees could help him, here is the not so purdy part. This year his teacher was horrible. The lack of communication ended up causing probably the worst blow to R's self esteem he's ever had. I would try to communicate with her, with either no communication in return, or very limited. Seeing my sons confidence suffer, seeing the dejected way he was going about learning, was heartbreaking. So I prayed for him, I prayed about the path I should follow. I started feeling God leading me in the direction of home schooling him. This came about when I sat him down and told him that God did NOT make a mistake when he was made. I reminded him of Psalm 139:14
"I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well". When I saw that it helped him, and that R felt secure in himself again, it was like God telling me, you can encourage him in ways a public school teacher NEVER can. We had a meeting with the teacher last Tuesday, her suggestion was that I write notes in his agenda if he has an issue with his homework. Wednesday he had an issue, so I wrote her. Got the agenda Thursday, no reply, wrote again, Friday NO reply. I was flabbergasted! Not 2 days after SHE suggested a form of communication she neglects it too!? I knew deep in my soul that there was NO WAY in good conscience leave him in her hands, even for another week! Saturday we had a meeting with my home schooling mentor, who helped me in the direction of what direction we will go.
*Here is the purdy part:
Monday was R's last day of "public" school. I had a meeting with the Principal Monday morning, to explain to her my decision, and it was AMAZING she 100% supports our decision. She was also shocked to find out that the lack of communication, she apologized for letting us down. I let her know I appreciated ALL she had tried to do for us. I do have 2 other children in that school! They have wonderful teachers. Soooo Tuesday was the first day of Adventure Christian School. It went pretty well, and he said that his favorite part about school is the Bible time. Today was day 2, and we had an amazing day! I saw his brain working, I saw his drive to learn, I saw him smile more then I have in YEARS while doing school work. It was a beautiful day. I know not all days will be this glorious, but on those days, I will cling to these days!
I am forever in love with buttons!! I love seeing the fun things people make with them!! These simple notions, have become the key to many styles! I Found a shop that has these awesome accessories with buttons, and of course MY favorite buttons also have polka dots!
PoorRobin - These button Bracelets are AWESOME!!
I met this artist in Etsy chat... yes I LOVE Etsy Chat! With my husband being out of town for work, it's a great outlet to chat with other artistic creative people.
When I saw Jocelyn's store FlowerLeaf the first time, I couldn't leave.. the colors she uses are amazing, she has a wonderful eye for the unique and has gorgeous jewelry! She also has one of the beautiful pieces I want for my birthday! LOL I've been hinting at something in her shop! To take a look and be amazed like I am!!!
Artist Bio:
I am a fine artist who loves to paint, draw, and photograph on occasion as well. I have been singing for as long as I can remember and for me, music plays such a huge part when creating art. I also happen to LOVE jewelry and making jewelry on a more consistent level is very new to me. I am so amazed by nature and I find myself always being in awe of how color and light react with one another, so I usually use that as inspiration for pretty much everything I create. Once I find something I truly love, I stick with it and try my best to make things as I have imagined them to be.
Shop:
| Etsy Buy Handmade Flowerleaf |
| Etsy Buy Handmade Flowerleaf |
Nikola of Ambientgirldesigns is one super creative lady!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE her shop!! I became a fan of her Facebook page... and LOVE looking at what she creates! You will to!
Artist Bio:
My name is Nicola, I'm originally from South Africa and moved to Canada in 1997. I am a stay at home mom to a beautiful little boy and enjoy crafting in my spare time.
I have a certificate in Art Fundamentals and a diploma in Crafts & Design majoring in glass blowing at Sheridan College in Oakville Ontario. I joined Etsy on April 15th of this year and I'm completely addicted!
The type of work I have in my store currently is handmade cards, gift tags, magnets, jewelry, hand blown and cast glass and giclee prints of illustrations that my husband created.
The work that I'm focusing on the most right now are hand made cards, invitations and gift tags. I have also done custom orders for jewelry cards and soap wraps for a couple of sellers. I am planning on launching a new line of wedding invitations, save the dates, bachelorette and bridal shower invitations in the near future!
Shop:
| Etsy Buy Handmade ambientgirldesigns |
| Etsy Buy Handmade ambientgirldesigns |
This isn't an Etsy chat find.. I didn't have to go very far to find this seller.. I have MANY of her beautiful pieces too. This is where I believe I get a LARGE chunk of my creativity.. it's in the genes people!! Yes PinkAWink is my mom! She's AWESOME and has a brilliant eye for color.
Artist Bio:
I was fascinated with beads as a kid. Approximately 21 years ago, I decided I could take on the challenge. I went to a bead store and bought everything necessary to make traditional Indian earrings and a book with instructions. I sat down and taught myself how to bead. The concept wasn't hard, but perfecting the technique, well now that's another story, as they say practice makes perfect. Some of my work has been published in a book, "Dancing Light". I make Mother's bracelets, wedding sets.... if you can dream it I can make it.
Handcrafted jewelry is something to cherish. There is so much work from the heart that goes into each item it becomes a part of us. That’s why it’s so hard for a true jewelry artisan to part with his or her creations. Joann
Shop:
| Etsy Buy Handmade PinkAWink |
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the classic vintage items in this shop!! Yes it's another chat find.. I realized that sellers become my favorites not just because of their shop, but because of who is behind the shop. This is just another example of a GREAT person behind a GREAT etsy shop! Chelsea's prints are so captivating and fun they make you wish you were there, she really does have a great eye!!
Artist Bio:
'm a 24 year old fashion-obsessed photographer living in Utah (?!) with my husband and our menagerie of pets.
I've been shooting for over 6 years, and have only in the last two decided to step into the professional photography world. Living in Southern Utah has made it a bit difficult to find the pieces I need to create the images that are in my mind...so I started making things myself. I have a small obsession with all things victorian/edwardian and I adore renaissance paintings. I also inherited far too much lace and fabric from my mom. The only solution? Make it into lovely collars, cuffs, and other accessories. I now have pieces to use for photoshoots, & I can share my style with the world (and Courtney Love!).
I also sketch, kayak, drink looooads of tea, and play in a band with my husband - Minor Birds.
All my pieces are completely stitched by hand, and all my prints come in practically any size!
www.newresolutionphoto.com
www.myspace.com/minorbirds
Shop:
| Etsy Buy Handmade LiftedIndustries |
| Etsy Buy Handmade LiftedIndustries |
One of my featured sellers DestinationDesign said that Leakhena was her favorite shop.. so in my Etsy Chat adventures I came across her... and told her that she was a favorite shop of someone featured on this blog. We got to chatting, and she's SUCH a great person, and her shop is AMAZING!!! I have one of her newest creations on my birthday wish list!! Not saying which one.. so it's still available for my hubby to get it for me... (hoping and praying) This is not only a talented artist, but a WONDERFUL person that I'm glad to call a friend now!
Artist Bio:
I’m 28 years old and originally from Sydney Australia. For the last 13 years or so I have been living in Northern California, mainly bay area. I have been crafting for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a big family. As a kid I was very fortunate to have two creative and loving parents who were extremely supportive of my artistic endeavours and enrolled each one of us in some sort of music or art classes. Probably, my fondest memories was crafting with my Grandma and my Mum.
In college, I worked several jobs to help pay for tuition since tuition was fairly high, especially for international students like myself attending UC Berkeley. One of the jobs I did beside being a waiter was making jewelry. I’ve also made jewelry for my family and friends and have received many great compliments.
In 2006, I lost someone very near and dear to my heart – the love of my life. I kept myself busy and contiued crafting. It was my way of dealing with grief and loss. Crafting has been very therapeutic for me.
I found Etsy last year in July and it has become my creative outlet . I don’t consider myself an artist. Maybe I’m still in the process of becoming one?? I do know that I am always learning something new and always improving. Aside from crafting I also enjoy cooking and baking ,working out and spending time with my friends. My shop is inspired by a mix of things.. cute and also elegance. Thank you for letting me share of part of my world with you.
Shop:
| Etsy Buy Handmade Leakhena |
I love cute things... I love purdy things too! HAHA this store has it all!! I love it!! You will too!
Artist Bio:
My name is Whitney Frey. I live just west of Richmond, VA. I am a full-time registered nurse, mother, and wife. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to craft!!! My 5 year old daughter, Shaelyn, is my partner in crime and we play craft all the time at home. I am pretty new to Etsy and this is my first attempt at selling my creations, although I have been making stuff for years for friends and family. I really enjoy putting a smile on someone's face with my creations.
Shop:
| Etsy Buy Handmade WhitAndWhimsyOnline |
| Etsy Buy Handmade WhitAndWhimsyOnline |
