Brilliant Business Plan!

Today has been a rough day. I just don't want to be at work, I need to be handing out resumes and getting my next job rolling. Not even that, I just don't have my heart in my work anymore! But it was cheered up with the delivery of a raspberry yogurt thingy which totally made my day. One of the girls here at the office got it for me...so sweet!

I love raspberries! They make it feel as though summer is here. When I was little we used to gave raspberries and ice cream at my Nana's house in the summer, so I think it all stems from that. I planted raspberry bushes (ok, twigs!) in my garden last year so I hope they have a couple more berries on them this year!

Ok. Business Plan #1: There's a company here in town that individuals can present their business plans to and if they approve them, they will fund you for 54 weeks of pay while you get set up. They will also fund for business cards, rent of office space and start up supplies. One of the girls the other night suggested that I try doing this with my wedding planning stuff. I'm really considering trying it! If it doesn't work, well at least I spent 54 weeks giving myself a head-start, I can always get a job and keep trying the wedding planning on the side.

We'll see how it goes.



I love this pictures. It's by Irene Suchocki. You gotta check out the rest of her store too...it's amazing!

Etsy Furniture!

The hubby and I have been looking for new furniture for our living room. We're in the renovating mood and need to do some updating! I decided to look on Etsy for something super unique and funky...and look what I found! And CANADIAN too!! Lunar Lounge Design is a seriously awesome Etsy store based out of Winnipeg. The pictures I've posted are just the tip of the iceberg so go and check out the rest of the store!

I was cruisin' through Flickr, just minding my own business..well actually no, I was minding other peoples business because that's what you DO on Flickr...and I came across this great profile and set of pictures by Art4Friends. There was a link to their Etsy store so I clicked and checked that out too. The art in this shop is so amazing!! Everything is funky-modern. There's cards, there's mirrors, there's buttons...go look! You'll be impressed!






Oh, and I've also added another creature to my Etsy store (: Vincent is up for sale!

I need labels. I don't have any for my bags or toys (Yay! I'm a toy-maker-person!) yet, but I neeeeeed to get some. Here's some funky ones I came across in Etsy (where else?). The Dancing Needle has some great labels...custom made so you can get exactly what you're looking for!

The Creation of Beaumont

I made several new toys this weekend! Beaumont is my favorite so far. I don't know what it is about him that I like so much, but he's super cute (: He's up for sale in my Etsy store now! I'm working on another guy like him and he should be up by tomorrow (:

Beaumont has a zipper for a mouth and it opens into a pocket that is the size of his body (9" tall x 7.5" wide). His ears can be used as handles. His eyes are two buttons and he has a striped tail.

So on my other blog, EtsyAlberta, I've asked for people to send me their pictures of crafts or something that represents Etsy.

I'm going to do the same thing here!!

If you have a pic that is crafty, send it to my email with the subject "Etsy Picture" and I'll feature it on this blog! If you have an Etsy store, I'll link your name to it for more exposure (:

The picture can be anything from you crafting, your workspace, your newest crafts, a craft fair you recently went to...be creative!

I can't wait to see them!!

Day of Projects

Today I've been super busy. I woke up dying to craft. I had so many ideas in my head, so many fabrics I wanted to work with, so many bags that needed to be made! It was so annoying to shower, it was going to take up all my craft time! (I did shower, don't worry :)

I'm doing a joint-effort project with another Etsy seller, Jenny Keith Hughes. She's painting several of my bags with her great art work, and we'll both be selling them, either in our Etsy shops or otherwise. I finally had time to work on making more bags for this project today and finished most of them...thank goodness! Here's the first bag we did together.



But my biggest pride today is the toys I made in the below pictures. Pika and Poko. They're bother and sister, the love buttons and safari's and they're always bothering each other. I wasn't able to get a picture of them both together, Pika was ticked off at Poko because she had told him she didn't like his tail. So separate pictures it was! These cuties and their cousins will be for sale soon in my Etsy store!

The Weird Bug Lady's store is so adorable (: I have a little niece I'm going to have to get one of these things for!! Aren't they cuuuuute?

One of my newly Hearted stores in Etsy is A Stitch in Dye, a super colorful and energetic store filled with super unique fabrics (they'd HAVE to be unique! She does them herself!) and other funky items sure to get you in the mood for summer.

Make your newest projects eye-catching and warming! Check out Stitch!

-katelynjane

I've added a lot of hearts to my Etsy store lately...I guess thats normal for me (: If you want to check out all my faves just click..HERE! You can view either my favorite items or my favorite sellers.

This seller, Trove Designs, is so addicting! Their items are bright, clean and elegant. I picked their studs for this blog entry, but there are many more items that will trill you (:

Our family is very musical. I, unfortunately, thought I was "too cool" for piano lessons at the age of 13 and decided against them. Despite my bad example, three of my siblings have started or continued to take lessons and are constantly blowing me away with their talent. One of them, my 13 year old sister, wrote a song last year that she (unwillingly) played for me. She's shy and doesn't like to be the center of attention. As she started to play her song I started to cry. She honestly has a talent beyond her 13 years, beauty of the song was amazing. Of course she was embarrassed by my tears but I didn't care, I was so proud of her!

Here are some other amazing bits of talent from Etsy. Each one of them captures the beauty and strength of the instrument. Enjoy!



Photolena




Jengs Shop




Cherry Berry Designs

Charity Elise Designs




Jennifer Rydin Designs



Khermsen Photography


Winter brings mixed feelings for me. Being Canadian and in living in the North, there are few things I appreciate about the cold winters. I love curling up in front of the fire with a book, roasting chestnuts, Christmas and the feeling of family surrounding me around that time. I think that's where it stops (: I do love the crispness of winter. Not so much the crisp air, but the crisp white that covers everything. It makes it all look so clean.

The beauty of Winter, the pictures, the romantic images, is what I appreciate most about winter. Pictures of a thick frost, a deer in deep snow, trees laden with loads of powder, capture the beauty if it all. That I can appreciate. What I can't appreciate is actually being there, freezing my buns off, my camera not working because the batter is too cold, wind blowing through my multiple layers of clothing...

I really do love reading in front of the fireplace though. I've just finished reading the Memory Sorrow and Thorn series by Tad Williams and now I'm moving onto Skystone by Jack Whyte.

What books are you reading in front of the fire this winter?