Great Etsy Shop SmileyMoo

This fellow Etsian is known on the internet by many different names like Piparis or Piparue but at Etsy she is known as SmileyMoo. I can see why she chose that name. When you read her bio and visit her shop you can see that she has a big heart and cares deeply about her loved ones. ( That is cause to make anyone smile.) SmileyMoo is crafty and being a mother she has found a way to take thrifty to an upscale level. ( I have my eye on her Natural Peppermint Lipbalm. ) :0)  I love Peppermint!

This is a bio from SmileyMoo that was forwarded to me so I could post it on my blog so everyone can get to know a little bit of what drives her creativity.

"I am the wife and mother to a wonderful husband and 4 beautiful children. I live a very frugal lifestyle. With 4 children and being a stay at home mother...I HAVE TO! Creating and making things or my family is my one and true inspiration. It all started with me learning to sew so that I could make cloth diapers for my little one. Then I learned to make soap, shampoo, body wash and laundry detergent so that I could save my family money. From there I've branched off into a variety of crafts and crafting so that our family is pretty self sufficient! That is the reason my Etsy shop is a Variety Shop! :)


For the month of October I am running a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen Race for the cure. 50% of the proceeds from items in the "For the Cure" section pf my shop will go towards the Susan G. Komen Race for the cure. My goal is to raise $60 for my family to participate in the walk with a dear friend recovering from breast cancer. Additional funds will go towards a donation.


Below are some photos of SmileyMoo's favorits listed for sale in her Etsy shop.

(SmileyMoo) "I have been a longtime JRR Tolkien fan and these remind me of something you'd see in Lord of the Rings."

(SmileyMoo) "I also really love these placemats :) I use these in my own home. They're very heavy duty and reversible. They hold up very well with daily use and washing :)"

SmileyMoo's jewelry reminds me to belive that magic is held in the most simplest things.  Take the time to shop through her store. There are great finds on every page.

To get to SmileyMoo's etsy shop just click on the highlighted SmileyMoo anywhere in this post and there is a link that will take you straight there.

Great Etsy Shop thefrogbag

This Etsy shop owner has one hell of an interesting bio. Thefrogbag is one busy woman. I had a peek around her shop today and she has some very exquisite pieces of jewelry, and the patients she must have for working with those tiny seed beads. On top of this she is also a writer who makes graphic novels. (Um can I say I think I found my new hero.) Talk about talent. Thefrogbag had her first graphic novel published this year. What a great accomplishment.




Here is thefrogbag's bio straight from her own words. "I'm a zoo keeper by day, crafter and writer by night. I share my home with four cats, a dog, two birds, a rabbit and a brilliant illustrator. I have a passion for conservation, tapirs, frogs, and beads. Heathentown, my first graphic novel, was published in early 2009. My creations are available at www.thefrogbag.etsy.com , where I donate 20% of each sale to tapir conservation. This weekend I'll be at the Long Beach Comic Con with Gabriel Hardman, who illustrated Heathentown. We'll be at booth 74A."



I recommend that if you live in the area you should take some time and go meet her. It is not everyday you get a chance to meet a fellow artist from etsy in person. I can almost guarantee that the conversation will be interesting. I could only imagine the creativity wheels turning in her mind. ( I am going to have to put the word out to my family that I want her graphic novel for Christmas.)



Below are thefrogbag's pictures of  favorites listed in her Etsy shop.

This is the graphic novel Heathentown.

Frog Bracelet

beaded bottle

kitty toy

If you are unfortunate and can not make it out to Comic Con this weekend you can still vist thefrogbag on the web. If you click on her highlighted name (thefrogbag) anywhere in this post you will be taken to her etsy shop. You can also find thefrogbag on twitter  or her facebook page.

Great Etsy Shop ginaphoto

This Etsy shop is filled with gorgeous photos. I am in aw over how amazing these shots are. This is art in a true form. To be able to find beauty in the most common things that surrounds us. That says a lot for this day and age, where most people walk through life with blinders on. Ginaphoto brings us back to simple and leaves us with a since of serenity.




Ginaphoto has given us a view in to her life. Here is a small bio about ginaphoto and what she does.



"I am a photographer in the Chicago area and have been shooting photos for the past 12 years. I enjoy looking at things with a different perspective and capturing them in a photo. I love taking pictures of Chicago itself.” These photos shown below are just a few of the great finds that ginaphoto has in her Etsy shop. Below each photo is a comment from ginaphoto with how she feels about each one.

 

"In this age of computers, you can pretty much do anything using Photoshop. But I still like to do things by hand, like coloring. This is a photo that has been hand colored."

"I like to fill the frame with textures, like this one"

"This is a unique perspective on the famous Marina Towers in Chicago."

If you are a lover of art I highly recommend grabbing up one of these extraordinary shots to keep in your home or office. If you are interested in going to ginaphoto's Etsy shop just click on her highlighted name anywhere in this post and it will take you straight there.

Great Etsy Shop CraftyCrocheting

I just LOVE crochet blankets. The time and patience it takes to make a crochet blanket depending on your experience can take weeks to months and even years. This is truly made from the heart. You can not buy this kind of beauty in the store.


I love how CraftyCrocheting was taught how to crochet by her mom. She says "When I quit work my mom and I decided to crochet for relaxation and when we got enough items we would do craft fairs which led to Etsy." There is nothing like a friendship between a child and mother. Just the hours spent building their business together is more precious than anything. Craftycrocheting says "I am in my forties with 4 children, two out of the house, two still here. It still feels like I am a empty nester." I can't even imagine how it will feel when my two children are grown up and out of the house.

This awesome crocheting mama makes sweet crochet quillows. (I haven't even figured out how to make these yet.) She has taught her self how to read the patterns and also make graph Afghans, mostly special orders right now. Below are some of her favorites that she has up in her shop right now. (My favorite in her shop is Heavenly Angel Yellow Pillowghan. It is such a pretty stitch.)So please click on her name anywhere in this post to be taken straight to her shop CraftyCrocheting

Great Etsy Shop lindab142

lindab142 is a fantastic shop on etsy. I found her while searching the forums on etsy and her handmade jewelry is absolutely gorgeous. So I would like you guys to take a look around her shop and let me know which items are your favorites. Below is a bio from lindab142 and some photos of her favorite items in her shop.

lindab142 bio: "Hi, my name is Linda and I'm passionate about using colors and gemstone characteristics in my unique beaded jewelry designs. The majority of my items are one-of-a-kind. I've been beading for about 4-5 years now. I work full-time and find beading to be relaxing and fun. My bead collection is expanding and it's so fun to bring them out and choose what I'm going to make next. "

(Pictures above are listed left to right.) lindab142 favorites.

1. Swarovski Christmas Tree earrings

2.Twilight Inspired Earrings

3.Fall earthy necklace

lindab142 is offering a special offer for any of my followers for this weekend Saturday and Sunday only. If any of you would like to subscribe to her blog at http://linorstorecom.blogspot.com/ she will give you 10% off any purchase over $5.00. This is for purchases only and applies to everything in her shop. Please put "Blog" in Notes to seller and she will refund the difference via PayPal.

I agree with her. lindab142 has a unique quality to her jewelry items. I my self favor her Christmas tree earrings they are defiantly on of a kind. Just follow any of the highlighted links in this post to be taken directly to her shop don't forget to stop by her blog and sign up to follow to get your special offer.

Great Etsy Shop torik2009

torik2009 Is a great Etsy shop. This etsy seller is a mother of two boys. She has found her nitch and is paving her way on the web through her beautiful designs.

Not only does she make and sell great jewelry (my favorites our the pirate earrings by the way.) She also makes banners for your shop or website. This is a great feature. I spent weeks trying to make a banner for my etsy shop. I still think I'm going to have to break down eventually and have torik2009 make me a banner.(frankly my banner is looking rather sad.) She has custom banners. I love these super cute Halloween ones. Her pricing is unbelievable. Torik2009 makes it simple and stress free to get you shop face up and running. I highly recommend stopping at her shop and looking around. I know I will be back often. (I'm hoping I can pick up a pair of those earrings for a Christmas present to myself.)

Just click on torik2009 highlighted name anywhere in this post to be taken to her shop. I would like to thank torik2009 for providing the following pictures for my blog.

Home made crayons

I don't know if you guys are like me but my kids have a big tin can full of broken crayons. They hate coloring with the little pieces. So what do you do with them? Well you can just throw them away or you can get crafty. I get crafty.

First I bought a metal tin that is used for making mini brownies. Then I gathered lose broken crayons from around the house. After that we got to work. We broke up all the crayons into small 1/4" pieces. Make sure to spray the metal cooking tin before you put the crayola pieces in. Next you pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place different color crayon pieces in to each slot of the pan or mix them all up together to make fun new colors. Put the pan into the oven for 10 minuets or until melted completely. Finally take them out of the oven and set them on the stove to cool and harden. Once cooled they should just pop right out of the pan. (unless you forgot to spray the pan.)

This is a super easy project that your little ones can help with. They will also love using their new creations to draw pictures with. These crayons are chunky and the perfect size for little hands.

This can be a great money saver for those of you that are on a tight budget. I know that every year I buy my kids a new box of crayons for school. Now we have a fun family project and can save money while we're at it.

Robotics Poster Board Project

I spent all of my Sunday helping my nephew build a poster board for his Robotics team to enter into a school contest. Let me tell you I was proud of him when we were finished. I love to see creativity flow out of children and at his age I'm glad that he is so involved in his school activities.

His team's name is RAWC check out the link it will take you to their web site for robotics where you can learn about the robots they build.

My nephew spent all day with me yesterday working on this project. We finally finished at 10:30 last night. We started by taking the team colors and making a background. Then he used the paint program on the computer to make a logo. Next he printed out photos. Then used word to create headings and summaries for each picture. We cut out construction paper to make backgrounds for the photos. He listed all of the team officers and sponsors for the team. Finally we got to work arranging where everything would be placed on the board and then glued it down. For the corner photos we cut out poster board squares to add support then used Velcro to attach them to the main tri fold poster board.

At the end of the night we took pictures. We used last years board to compare the differences. All I can say is WOW he did a great job in design and layout.

My nephew started on his robotics team last year as a freshman and has already taken the position as driver for the competitions. He was also elected Vice President of the team. I think that it is wonderful that his high school offers robotics to their students.

His goal is to become a mechanical engineer and I will do anything I can to help him succeed. He hopes that he can win scholar ships for collage. He is a bright child and I believe he will accomplish that goal.

Remember that our children are our future. Please try to find time to get involved with the things that interest them. It will make a large impact in their life.

Fun family craft project.

I've got a great craft project that is fun for the whole family. Every one can get involved with this one.

I love to make my Pudgy Pals stuffed animals but I hate to waste the left over scraps of material that are to small. So I've been putting all my scraps into a bag hoping that some day I can find something to make out of them. Well now is the time.

On Thursday my mother in law two children and I sat down at the table and got to work. I told my boys that I would like to use the scraps to make little monsters. They were each given a piece of paper a pencil and and some crayons. I asked them to use their imaginations.

Once they were finished I got to work. I used the scrap material to make stuffed animals that resembled the pictures that they had drawn. I cut and hand sewed all the small details. Once I was finished with my step I then handed it over to my mother in law and she got to work. She took the cut out to the sewing machine and made magic. Once she had finished we all sat down in the sewing room and started stuffing our little creature. We used polyfill batting pieces.(the batting was left over from the blankets we make.)

It had taken us about two hours to make our first 2 monsters. Let me tell you it was worth the time. My boys were so proud of their monsters that they would not put them down for the rest of the night. They even took them to bed. My little one said that he was no longer afraid of monsters in his room because his own monster would protect him. How awesome is that?

Anything that gets my boys away from video games and makes them apart of a family project gets two thumbs up from me.

So if you would like to put your little ones imagination into high gear than try out this project. If your not good at sewing your self than you can check us out at ETSY. We take custom orders. You can send us a picture of your little ones monster and we will let you know if we can make it for you. Prices will very depending on size and difficulty.

The pictures shown above are just a few or the monsters that we have already made.

If you don't have an etsy account don't worry it's free and easy to sign up. Please let them know that lanakinbuddys referred you.

Final Fantasy Baby Gift Basket

I've been busy crafting again. All week I have been working on a gift basket for my husbands friend. It is his first child so we wanted to make them something special that would be more geared toward the things they like. His friend loves RPG games and one of his favorites is the Final Fantasy series. So I came up with this really cute gift basket for the baby. In side I put the blanket I made for him. (pictures are featured in a previous blog called final fantasy blanket.) Then I added a crochet Moogle hat and onesies with the characters of the video game on them. I also made a matching bib and burp cloth set and my own handmade stuffed animal. The stuffed animal is one of my pudgy pals creations. It is inspired to look like a Moogle. I put it all together in a basket with a couple of lullaby cds that have final fantasy instrumental music from the actual 1 and 2 video games.

It was the perfect gift tailored just for them and they loved it. His friend said that he couldn't wait to get his daughter all geeked out and take her to comicon.

I also have another pudgy pals Moogle listed for sell on my etsy if you would like to check it out. Please note that if you sign up for a new account on etsy please tell them we referred you. Our user name is lanakinbuddys. Thanks.

If you like the things I make and would like one of your own you

can log on to my etsy website and request a custom order. We can make things catered towards your favorite characters or themes. Just click on the request custom item button and convo me and we can discuss the things your looking for.

These are some cool links that I found. They are free crochet patterns for the final fantasy Moogle and the final fantasy Chocobo. just click on the character name to take you to the pattern.