Look what I made!

I decided to try combining this

and this.



I wasn't sure how it was going to work out, but it did!




I have this one listed on artfire.

DIYscene Team sale!

Today the DIYscene is having our TNT sale. Thursday night temptation!
Search "DIYscene team" on Etsy.com to find lots of great deals.

To Artfire or not to Artfire?

I'm choosing to Artfire!!



Artfire.com is another new place on the web to sell your handmade, vintage, and supply items.
You can list 10 items for free or you can become a verified member for only $7.00 a month for life.
If you list one item a day on Etsy or relist for 30 days that comes out to $6.00. So paying $7.00 a month really is a great deal considering you get shop stats!!
Of course that is only being offered to the first 5000 sellers. After that it'll be $20.
I haven't been able to add anything to my shop yet, because of my broken computer. So I can't really say if listing is easier or not. There is one thing I'm not to fond of though and perhaps it's simply because of my computer, but I can't fit the whole screen on my monitor. I have to scroll to see everything. Minor, but yet still annoying.
You can also pay your bill through paypal. YaY!! I went ahead and signed up for the verified account. Maybe I should have tested it out a bit before I took the leap but I really think the site has potential. Plus at $7.00 a month perhaps it'll give me the motivation I need to actually do something with my shop. Oh and here's a plus if I can get 10 people to sign up for the verified account by the end of the year, I can have a free lifetime verified account. The odds of this happening? eh not very good but it's worth a shot.
If you sign up please SIGN UP HERE!!

Perhaps with a little competition Etsy will get their butts in gear and add the features that the sellers have been asking about for years.

Shop of the day!

Look!

I'm the shop of the day!! YaY!
I'm being featured on Neatostuff.com as well as in several Etsy shops and blogs. It's all part of the great marketing exchange that I've been participating in and today is my day to be featured.

Cupcakes!!

So how do my readers eat their cupcakes? Check out the results below.

www.sweetnshabbyroses.etsy.com

14 people rip off the cakey bottom, eat that part, then eat the frosting top!
(42%)

14 take huge bites of cakey bottom and yummy frosting top all at once.
(42%)

3 People lick the frosting off then shove the rest into my mouth.

3 (9%)

2 people eat them some other mysterious way.
2 (6%)

www.CrashCanStudio.etsy.com

Local Shout Out!

Time for another shout out!! Today's local featured artist is theCircledStanza. She makes beautiful jewelry and only joined Etsy a few months ago. So be sure and check out her shop. Read on to learn more about her.

Tell us a little about yourself.
I'm a "recent" college graduate (though May '08 growing less and less recent as we speak!) looking for employment and not finding it, and considering further studies in poetry writing. I worked at a bead store for a year or so while attend ing college in Iowa City, and that's where I learned how to do nifty things with beads.

Besides Etsy, do you sell your items anywhere else?
I'm looking at renting a space at Old Elbow School Shop, but do not currently sell my jewelry anywhere besides online.

What kind of items do you make?
There's a lot of variety in my jewelry. My (mostly) necklaces and earrings can be chunky or delicate, colorful or subdued, fancy or casual. I like combining materials that at first seem dissimilar, but surprise me by creating a cohesive whole. A lot of my pieces aren't simply strung on a single strand, but bloom into multiple strands with clu sters of this or that, or I will link them with wire. The idea is to create something unexpected--in shape, color, etc.

What/Who inspires you?
Well, working at a bead store was definitely inspiring, and I feel that I gained a good, well-rounded aesthetic from my coworkers, the owner, and customers. Sometimes one bead is all it takes to conceive of a plan; other times I treat the beads as paint, mixing and matching to create a "palette."

How long have you been crafting/selling?
I made beaded "daisy chains" when I was young, and hadn't returned to the craft until early 2007, when I started working at the bead store. Since then, I have been making jewelry for myself and for gifts. Recently (this past August) I've branched out and begun to sell.

Have any interesting hobbies?(besides making the items you sell)
My other "hobby" is writing poetry and creative nonfiction. The University of Iowa was known for its literary atmosphere, so I got to meet some esteemed authors and work with many inspired peers. I'm still writing and thinking about applying for an MFA degree--somewhere, somehow.

Have you always lived in this area? If not where are you originally from?
I've lived in Eau Claire since I was 3. For the past four years, I've lived in Iowa City, an amazingly diverse and artistic place which became very much like a second home. Now I'm back in Eau Claire, becoming reacquainted with "the north."

Describe your craft/work area in three words or less.
My craft/work area is: periodically in shambles.

What do you listen to when you are crafting?
I prop my laptop up next to my beads and listen to Pandora while crafting. The down time gives me a chance to explore new musicians.

The Great Marketing Exchange

A couple weeks ago I was on the etsy forums and I ran into this thread. It was asking if anyone wanted to sign up for a marketing exchange. Basically a group of us are going to be promoting each other. Every shop gets a day to be featured by everyone else.. either on their blogs or in their shop announcements or anywhere else they can think of. I'll be posting the shop of the day on the left side of my blog. Be sure to come back everyday and see who is the shop of the day and go check out their awesome items! Thanks!!!

Congratulations President Elect Obama!

You are welcome!

I feel proud that I helped to elect you. It is nice to vote for someone and actually have them win. I hope that you will at least attempt to change this country for the good. I hope that what you say wasn't just hype to get yourself elected. I hope that people will give you a chance before they start ripping you apart. If McCain would have won I wouldn't have been a sore loser. I would have still been hopeful that this country could change for the better. I hope that Obama and McCain will actually work together and show the rest of the country that if they can work together.. we can all work together. I thought it was interesting when McCain gave his speech.. mentioned Obama and part of the crowd boo'd and then Obama gave his speech.. mentioned McCain and part of the crowd cheered. I'm proud to live in a country that isn't afraid to elect a black man as president. I just wish people were more tolerable of same-sex marriage.

Political mail

This is half of the political mail I have gotten in the last week. I was just tossing it and then I realized they are all made of nice tag board. I thought maybe I could do something crafty with it.. or just collect it and see how much I can get before the election.
Oh and I haven't check the mail in two days I'm sure it is full of nice political ads again.

The Local Shout Out!

Our first shout out goes to: RockCreekCreations
RockCreekCreations creates beautiful bookmarks in a rainbow of colors. Infact her shop sections are mainly divided by colors. So if you have a favorite color you couldn't have an easier time shoppping. Her shop also contains other fun goodies including quilt patterns and hand woven yarn brooches. You can read her blog at: rockcreekcreations.blogspot.com

If you have any book lovers in your life I'm sure they would love a brand new bookmark.


I love these cute little paper clip ones.


This brooch is so fun and colorful!
(Each picture is directly linked to her shop.)

Thank you for checking out our first shout out.

New Items

Red button bracelet (Do you like the zebra background???)


Blue button bracelet


Orange and blue cuff


Soccer tshirt bag


Monkey tshirt bag

The Local Shout Out!

I have decided I can not be the only craft addict in my area.. so I'm starting a new feature called "The Local Shout Out!!!" I hope you enjoy the local crafters, artists, diyers that I find. If you happen to live in Midwestern part of Wisconsin and want to be featured, leave me a comment or send me an email Glitterstardesigns[at]gmail.com

It's Treasury Time!

Check out this awesome treasury I made it into. Thank you MsChrista!


That is my bracelet on the bottom right corner.

Hahaha

This picture makes me crack up every time I see it.

Perhaps it's because I live in Wisconsin.

New items

Here are the new items for today

Destash buttons


Button bracelet



and I made a listing for a made to order newspaper bracelet.

Just listed

Hey look! I Just listed some new items.
Some destash buttons.


and I just moved this necklace over to the new shop.

Twitter me baby

Because I don't already have enough to do.. I joined Twitter. Actually I joined about a year ago and did nothing with it. I recently started updating again and have now become addicted. Soooo.. If you want to stay up to date or even up to the minute on what I'm doing.. You can follow me HERE!
No idea what twitter is? Check out this video.

Glass beads are made of...

GLASS!!!

Really I hope I didn't have to tell you this.. but apparently I should have told myself. (Ok it wasn't a bead it was one of those flat glass marbles but I thought bead was easier to say.)

I see a couple of these things on the floor and one has a line through it. Without thinking (obviously) I grabbed it and snapped it in half. Instantly I realized this had to be the stupidest thing I've done in a long time. For some reason I didn't think it would break. haha It did! Right into my thumb. Now I have a centimeter long gash in the top of my thumb.



Ever since I was a kid I've had issues when I cut my fingers. I either get light headed or pass out. So I yelled for my six year old son to come done stairs. I told him I cut my thumb and he says, " You want me to kiss it?" I laughed and said sure. Then I asked him to get me a band-aid. It bled a lot but I was holding a piece of tissue paper on it. If I don't pass out when I get a cut.. I'll pass out when I take the band-aid off. I haven't cut my finger in 10 years so maybe I've changed. Lets hope. haha.. I want to take the band-aid off and put a new one on but I'm affraid to do it until my husband gets home. I wanted something to blog about tonight.. but this wasn't what I had in mind.

Cupcakes!

How do you eat them? For some reason after I created my poll.. the answers started looking really perverted to me. Maybe I am just a perv.. Anywho

I was at my sister-in-laws baby shower this weekend and they had some cupcakes. Some of us ate them one way and others did another way. I said I would post a poll about it and see how others eat their cupcakes. So if you like cupcakes go answer my poll! Thanks.

A quick update.

OK I really have nothing to update. I've been neglecting my online stuff.. but I decided I had to make a post about something! My washing machine broke so I spent three hours at the laundry mate doing 5 loads of laundry on Sunday. I spent $12.75. Hopefully we get our washing machine fixed soon. Not sure if or when that's going to happen. I'll probably be making the weekly trip for awhile. I'll have to make the best of it I guess. I'll try and stay positive. At least I have an excuse to get out of the house and stick my husband with the kids.. haha.. ok I don't really mean that. Now I have 5 loads of laundry sitting in my living room that I need to separate out into piles for everyone to put away. I draw the line at putting laundry away.. unless you are my two year old daughter.

I've been thinking about starting a new blogging section about local crafters. I'm just not sure how many people will volunteer so my "local" might have to be state wide.

Ok I better get off my butt and finish that laundry!

Remember this song?

I logged into youtube and this was under my recommended videos.. aaww memories..

Jealous?

I bought my husband this awesome Hawaiian shirt can/bottle cozy... Jealous?

DIYscene September Swap!!

I got my swap items in the mail a few days ago. Here is what I got from shellydelight.
A cute skull necklace, some mini envelopes, some beads, and starbursts! YaY!

10 quilting tips...

from someone who just made their first mini quilt aka baby blanket.
So it can go with out saying that I'm not an expert.. but I just wanted to share some things I figured out in the process.

1. Measuring and cutting squares is a lot easier with a rotary cutter and a cutting mat..

2. Cutting goes a lot faster when you cut through multiple layers..

3. Preplanning your layout on paper helps a lot. I gave each different fabric a letter and drew the layout on paper. Then I just put a letter into each box to represent the fabric. When sewing everything together.. it helps keep things in order.


4. When you get excited that you finished cutting your squares and you layout the design on the floor and then you realize it’s 1:00am and you should probably go to bed soon… but you don’t want to pick up everything you just layed out and re-do it tomorrow… Tape can be your friend.. I taped all of the mini squares together and then just picked everything up in order and kept it in a little pile.


5. Label at least one of each fabric square. ( see tip #3) Just tape a piece of paper with the corresponding letter to it. This will help keep track of which squares go where..



6. Sew two squares together.. Continuing sewing a couple more stitches.. Sew two more squares together.. And so on and so on.. You end up with a super long chain of squares but it saves a TON of time.. Plus it keeps everything in order especially if you made a handy little pile of fabric squares already in order to begin with…

7. If you want everything to square up and be equal.. You need to sew everything at the same measurement.
I sewed my squares at ¼ inch. I started with 3 inch squares and sewed at ¼ inch on each and ended up with 2.5.

8. Make your big squares equal to the size your little squares will end up being. NOT the pre-sewed size.. You’ll end up recutting them or sewing them at ½ inch on the big and ¼ on the small..

9. If you are lazy and don’t feel like pinning EVERYTHING.. Don’t! You may luck out and if you cut everything the same size and sewed at the same measurement.. They just might line up.. Might. I was lucky and they pretty much did.

10. Sometimes pins DO help.. I used pins on the edging..
(It looks a lot better in real-life.. the colors are really dull here)

That is all..

Hello

Hey everyone!

I haven't posted in awhile.. my bad. I just wanted to give a quick update about what I've been doing. Nothing too exciting. I started my new job at the fabric store this past friday. The first day was super busy. Even the manager said it was abnormally busy. So basically I got broken in pretty well my first day and I can cut a straight line like it's nobody's business... haha.. Not really but I am getting better at it. The cutting tables don't have any nifty grooves in it.. so we have to just eye ball it. Of course now I don't work for a week and a half and I'll have to get used to it again. Oh well.. It is fun to hear what people are making. I also find myself mentally shopping a lot while I'm putting fabric away. I'm trying really hard to not blow everything I make there.. because the goal is to buy a new car and I'm trying to save up for the down payment. Anywho.. That's what I've been doing. Oh! I made my first quilt. I'll be blogging about everything I learned about making my first quilt sometime tomorrow or the next day..or maybe after that.. haha..

DIYscene August Swap!!

Every month DIYscene has an organized swap amongst some of its members. We usually don't know who we are getting items from and that is part of the fun. This month I got some great stuff from Daddysgirl or Grenade on etsy. The theme for the month was mismatched colors.
I got this awesome shirt!!


This great little bag..


and some fun little goodies..

My first alchemy request!

I logged into etsy the other day and I had a new convo. Convos are always fun, but I was extra excited to see that it was a special request. I'm not going to give out the details.. but it was a request for a custom magazine wall hanging like this one.

I'm starting to collect the pages for it and sortting them out. We agreed on Dec 13th for it to be done.. but I'd really like to finish before then. It's awesome to know that someone likes my stuff enough to ask for something special! OK that is all for now. Hope everyone is having a great day.

I'm done!

For the past year I've been working on a project on flickr called "One object 365days project"

I found the group and took my first picture that night. My object was a light bulb.

Whose name eventually turned into Lighty.

I'm not really sure why I chose a light bulb. Looking back it probably was not the most ideal object. (he broke on day 220)

After a couple of days, lighty got switched to a bigger bulb because little lighty had disappeared.
Here are a few of my favorites...

Day 9

Day 82

Day 172

Day 354

and finally day 366 (leap year)

You can see the whole set HERE!
Let me know if you have a favorite.