More Wonderful Goodness for Etsy Mommies

85 shops 25 moms all brought together in the Spring Etsy Baby Shower this past April 18th - we're still showcasing these wonderfully generous and talented shops! below you'll meet 24 more shops of excellence and one more shop owner who agreed to answer a few questions for us.

Suzann from Grannyzann shared a little something about herself this post and her thoughts about the Etsy Baby Shower. Thanks Suzann!

1. how did you learn your craft?

I actually learned basic sewing skills as a child from an family friend and have been both self taught and taken every class I can in the last 40 years. I love to try new techniques and have sewn everything from the most basic of pillows to a wedding gown and all of the bridal party clothing. I have recently started making the "Granny's Little Blessing" dolls in my shop and I just love doing them and sharing a bit of the Lord's love with each one that goes out.

2. how long have you been creating baby products?

I have been creating baby products for the past 40 years as well with a renewed interest when my 1st granddaughter Kaylee was born. She is now almost 5 and has been sewing herself for over a year and just loves it.

3. what made you decide to participate in the etsy baby shower?

What could be better than a baby shower:) I just love them and to provide a special gift to a fellow etsian was just a joy and honor.

4. given your experience with th etsy baby shower would you participate again?

Yes I would love to participate again.

5. any comments you'd like to add?

This is a special thank you for you Annie! You had a big task with putting together the baby shower and it was sooo wonderful and now to be doing the blog for the shops is just icing on the top and I just wanted to say how sweet you are and how much it is appreciated. Thanks again for offering to featuring me.

1. GirlieMomma 2. BellaSymphony 3. Babesh

4. SavoieFairePhoto 5. ThePilaShoppe 6. KraftyLadyKreations

7. bijouxdesignsforyou 8. krispybanana 9. perfectlyprecious

10. SoapsRUs 11. BaresockCrafts 12. knitrgal

13. ThePinkZebra 14. sewinggranny 15. DaisyCreek

16. locoMOmomma 17. sugarvillage 18. WigglyToothFactory

19. LilyBugBoutique 20. roseprintsonline21. PolkaTods

22. TutuCuteandmoore 23. sweetcuddlecakes 24. birdandbean

FEED THE NEED - Unite For Hunger And Hope

I am honored to be among the Bloggers ALL over the World that are United today in an effort to bring attention to the plague of world hunger & to recognize the amazing organizations like Heifer International that are confronting this issue head-on. I'm going to focus on a small corner of the world - a little place I call home - THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - one of the richest coutries in the world and yet not exempt from the devastation of hunger - here are a few facts about U.S. hunger...

• For the price of one U.S. missile, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years
  
• In the U.S. hunger and race are related. In 1991 46% of African-American children were chronically hungry, and 40% of Latino children were chronically hungry compared to 16% of white children.
  
• The infant mortality rate is closely linked to inadequate nutrition among pregnant women. The U.S. ranks 23rd among industrial nations in infant mortality. African-American infants die at nearly twice the rate of white infants.
  
• One out of every eight children under the age of twelve in the U.S. goes to bed hungry every night.
  

Please join the efforts that are being made everyday on behalf of the hungry in your local communities and reach beyond your homeland borders to help the Worlds Hungry Famlies by donating to groups like Heifer International

PLEASE SAY YES TO THE PROSPECT OF HOPE?

Showering Etsy Moms

hello everyone - it's been a while, but all for good reason! i've been working with lots of wonderfully generous shops and some teriffic new & expectant mom's from the Etsy Community to celebrate their new and up coming bundles of joy! we had the Spring Etsy Baby Shower on April 18th - so i thought i would share some of the wonderful items etsy shops gifted to the moms. i'm going to be doing several of these posts over time because 85 shops participated and i can't see trying to jam so much YUMMY goodness into 1 blog post :)

a few shop owners were kind enough to share a little about themselves and some thoughts about the shower - MEET Jolene from locoMOmomma

1. how did you learn your craft?
i taught myself how to crochet when i was about 9 or 10 to fend off bordom--i was raised on a dairy farm in iowa and the only girl in my family. i also used latch hook, embroidery and macrame to make presents for my releatives when i was young. embroidery and crochet are still therapeutic past times for me. i fell in love with amigurumi the moment i saw it. it's super-cute and easy to make up your own patterns or personalize.

2. how long have you been creating baby products?
i have been making items for babies since our oldest was born 7 years ago. i started out designing my own amigurumi dolls for my kids and thier friends. the organic baby toys didn't come to me until i found some fantastic color-grown (not dyed) organic cotton yarn at my local yarn shop. this was right about the time when major retail stores were just starting to carry organic baby toys. i used the basic amigurumi techniques to create a variety of organic baby-friendly toys. since i'm easily bored with long, tedious projects, small baby toys are right up my alley!

3. what made you decide to participate in the etsy baby shower?
i cannot lie---the main reason i decided to participate in the shower was to get exposure for my shop, plus to network with other people that create baby/kid items. plus i just got a new computer and finally have the capability to participate in the chat room (my old one was way slow and out of date)!

4. given your experience with the etsy baby shower would you participate again? yes, i would definitely participate again. the timing this year was bad for me, b/c i couldn't chat as long as i wanted since i had a craft show the next day. but it was fun seeing/reviewing all the items showcased during the chat! plus, it's well organized.

5. any comments you'd like to add? i'm very grateful to all the coordinators of this event for all of thier hard work! i love learning from all the knowlegable people here on etsy, especially within the teams i belong to. they are truely inspirational!

AND FROM SOME OF THE WONDERFUL SHOPS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE SHOWER

1PixiePlace

BluJean83


CapeCodConsignments



ClaireandJanae

DecorativeLabels

JessEcreations

LLLDesigns

MomNmiaQuilts

MyMiniMocs

ProffittProductions

Reflections

SavvyStitcher

SewClassic

SewEdgy


TweedleBee

WHAT IS THAT WHITE STUFF DOING HERE?

happy monday everyone - or is it? LOL just kidding of course it's a good day - i keep that mantra spinning round inside my head as i look out onto 4 inches of snow and more piling on top of that! the tippy tips of my tulips are barely visible anymore! so today is MAUI MONDAY - that's right folks - i'm filling my head (& blog) with Hawaiian wonder - ENJOY!!!

Fine Art Photo - Sacred Beach 3 by interrupt

Tag the Wave Blanket & Plush Toy Set by myminimocs

Custom Aloha Petit Pillow by walkthetalk

See Turtles by myminimocs

Hawaii Holdall Tote Bag by tootsweethandbags

A Family of Seahorses by HulaBeachCeramics

Hawaiin Hula Girl Lampshade by fatcatdesigns6

Aloha Earrings by kmaylward

SUNDAY FUNNY & Awards Ceremony Ta Boot!

i want to start today by saying thank you - some of you have noticed i have not been around much this past week and your thoughtfulness has meant a lot to me - THANK YOU!!! i'm training in a new department at work right now and also have some family medical things happening right now so i will do my best to keep up with those blogs i follow and will always try to at least have a SUNDAY FUNNY posting - you know what they "laughter is good medicine for the soul" and i need a double dose these days!

i've received 2 blog awards recently - and would like to say thank you to

NunofaKind for the Sisterhood Award & Beadedtail for the Generosity Award

2 wonderful bloggers who i think are so creative and both are very kind!!! if you haven't seen their blogs yet please stop by to check them out.

i'll be back later in the week to post the bloggers names that

i will be passing these award onto

NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM...

Once upon a time, a perfect man and a perfect woman met. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, perfect.

One rainy, stormy Saturday night this perfect couple was driving their perfect car along a dark winding road, when they noticed someone at the side of the road in distress. Being the perfect couple they stopped to help. There stood the Easter Bunny and a HUGE pile of Easter baskets.

Not wanting to disappoint any children on Easter Sunday, the perfect couple loaded up the Easter Bunny and all the baskets into their perfect car. Soon they were driving along delivering Easter Baskets. Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and the Easter Bunny had an accident. Only one of them survived the accident.

The mind numbing question here is: Who was the survivor?

Scroll down for the answer...

The perfect woman survived. She's the only one that really existed in the first place. Everyone knows there is no Easter Bunny and no such thing as a perfect man.

Here's the same out come from a man's perspective...

So if there is no perfect man and no Easter Bunny then that means the perfect woman must have been driving which explains the accident in the first place.

hope you had a laugh on me!

SUNDAY FUNNY - (and oh so true)

GAMES FOR WHEN WE ARE OLDER...

1. Sag, You're It

2. Hide & Go Pee

3. 20 Questions (shouted into your good ear)

4. Kick the Bucket

5. Red Rover, Red Rover, Send the Doctor Right Over

6. Musical Recliners

7. Simon Says (something incoherent)

8. Pin the Toupee on the Bald Guy

SIGNS OF MENOPAUSE...

1. You sell your home heating system at a yard sale.

2. You have to write post-it notes with your kids names on them.

3. You change your underwear after a sneeze.

OLD IS WHEN...

1. Going bra-less pulles all the wrinkles out of your face.

2. You don't care where your spouse is going as long as you don't have to go along.

3. Getting lucky means the first time you look you find your car in the parking lot.
4. An all-nighter means not getting up to pee!

A FEW THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEKEND...

1. Wouldn't it be nice if whenever we messed up our life we could simply press 'Ctr- Alt- Delete' and start all over?
2. If raising children was going to be easy, it never would have started with something called 'labor!'

3. Brain cell come and brain cells go, but fat calls live forever.

PONDERISIMS...

1. I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes .
2. Garden Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
3. The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
4. In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
5. How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
6. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here and drink whatever comes out?'
7. Who was the first person to say, 'See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta its butt.'
8. If you understand less than 5 of the items in this post that's good news! the bad news is that it won't be long before you understand them all.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY AS WE GROW OLDER REMEMBER...

A Good Friend is Like A Good Bra: Hard to Find, Supportive, Comfortable & Always Close To Your Heart!

Triple Play Friday - March 13th

Let's "Play Ball" it's TRIPLE PLAY friday ~ check out this weeks entries for "this day in history facts" - "my Etsy finds" and "baseball fun facts"!!! TGIF ~

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March 13th - on this day in HISTORY

1. 1930 - Clyde Tombaugh announces discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory

2. 1965 - Beatles' "Eight Days a Week," single goes #1 & stays #1 for 2 weeks
3. 1991 - Exxon pays $1-billion dollars in fines & cleanup of Valdez oil spill

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March 13th - my Etsy finds ~ WIND CHIMES

i think these artists and their work are WONDERFUL!!!
i hope you think so too.
1.

2.

3.

1. windechoes 2. tksDesign 3. DinnerTimeChimes

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March 13th- Did You Know? ~ BASEBALL

1. In 1936, Tony Lazzeri of the New York Yankees hit 2 Grand Slams in one game for the first time ever in the Major Leagues. Since then, only eleven other players have achieved this feat, making this one of the most amazing and elite hitting feats in the game.
2. In 1912 National League player Casey Stengel played his first ever Major League game and went 4-for-4 at the plate.

3. In 1916 Sam Crawford of the Detroit Tigers set the record as the first and only player to hit more than three-hundred triples during his career.

Why Thank You!

i'm honored to have been given the coveted Kreativ Blogger Award not once but twice by 2 very wonderful bloggers that i follow and enjoy daily!

THANK YOU ELIZABEAR FROM THE BEAR BUNCH
& SANDEE FROM SEW MUCH DETAIL

List 7 things you love and then pass the award on to 7 people and let them know they won! You can copy the picture of the award and put it on your sideboard letting the whole wide world know you are KReATIV!


Since i have received this award twice i thought i would do my 7 lists 2 different ways - 1st will be 7 things i love in the truest definition of the word LOVE and the 2nd will be a list of 7 things that i love in the everyday sense of the word - you know like "oh i just love the way those plaid shorts look with those white tube socks" LOL so here goes...

7 things that define true LOVE for me...

• God
• my sweet hubby
• my whole family (270+)
• newborn babies
• a hug from someone you love
• words of encouragement
• smiling & laughing

7 things that i "LOVE"

• lattes with little extra foam
• salon facials & manicures *is that 2?*
• sheets dried in the sunshine on a clothesline
• song birds
• holding my husbands hand
• five star dining
• fine art

that was WAY harder than i thought it would be i could have done a list 100's of things long - but it was definitely fun and i thank you for giving me the chance to paticipate!


And lucky 14 are........................

1.) the 6 o'clock stitch
2.) Jangie Handmade by Angie
3.) kiddlebug
4.) CandyStickLane
5.) SimplySentimental The Blog
6.) Glitzer
7.) BeadedTail
8.) Lauren Alexander Art
9.) Mackin-Art
10.) Nun of a Kind...News from the Sisterhood!
11.) Lowell and Son
12.) Chichiboulie - Fun Little Things
13.) kitschen pink
14.) The Curious Rabbit

boy that was WAY hard too - i feel happy that i was able to pick 14 - Congrats to them and please stop by and visit these wonderful blogs

Mindless Monday

it's monday - not just any monday though - it's a monday after the first show of the year! all the hard work, time & energy that goes into preparing for a show is suddenly over and it leaves your brain feeling a little "empty" - it's just that feeling of DUH, what do i do now? the show was a wonderful success and a great way to kick off the show season. i have lots of orders to fill - but for today i mostly sat back & stared out the window and did nothing. i watched the birds that randomly stopped at the feeder and thought a lot of a few of the wonderful people in my life who help make these shows possible - my dad who is totally one of my #1 fans and always has just the right words to say, my husband who is there for me at every turn and absolutely my best friend and soul mate and my sister, my partner, my confidant, my encourager - i love you all VERY much!

hope you all had a wonderful monday and please come by our EtsyAngels thread to find out how you can help the families of those who gave their lives in the line of duty! http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6062197

TREASURIES OF HOPE

The following 4 treasuries have been dedicated by the Etsy Angels to the Answer The Call fund. When you make a purchase from any of the shops listed up to 50% of the proceeds will go to aid the families of the fallen heroes in the NYC firefighters, police officers, port authority officers and EMT departments who have been killed in the line of duty. PLEASE HELP THE ANGELS ANSWER THE CALL!!! You can help in three ways, either by donating proceeds or a portion of them from sales you make as an Etsy shop owner or by making purchases from the participating shops or by making a monetary contribution to aandt@myminimocs.com a paypal account for this months drive - remember that even a small donation in combination

with others can change a life.