Good Enough to Eat!

As most of my customers know, I save my ribbon and trim end cuts from my shop inventory, and when I mail out packages to my customers I often include these little ribbon samples. It is nice if someone can use the piece that I send, but I also want them to be able to see the beautiful quality and colors of the trims first hand. The other day I got a message from Kia over at http://www.aoisart.etsy.com/ or visit her own website at www.aoisart.com with a link to this beautiful little felt faux cake she created. She used the velvet ric rac sample I sent her as the icing on this delectable little cake! I have to say I think the sliced strawberry on top is my favorite, my mouth is watering right now! I have said it before and I will say it again, it always amazes me how I can look day after day at these fabulous trims, and still be surprized by the wonderful imaginations of others and how they see the same materials and how they can put them together in a new and totally different way! Visit Kia's shop now, I see from her announcement that she is going to be closed for a couple of months, and her creations are just heavenly! You won't want to miss them!!! I want to add that I used her photo here with her permission, beautiful details!

Lollishops, Lollishops oh lolly lolly......

I am so excited about my very first ad coming out in Somerset Studio magazine! It will be for the summer edition in a lollishop cooperative ad! I have seen the proofs and it is so much fun! Here is a little sneek peek at my photo for the ad.........think summer days, sandy beaches, fun in the sun...........

My Heart is Heavy

Tonight my heart is heavy. I know that I should not let things get to me, but sometimes something just hits you and you can't let it go. I have been selling on Etsy for 2 years now. I have seen my shop go through many tranformations, and as it has grown and evolved, I have gotten many wonderful compliments and met some fabulous people. Some people I was aware of before they ever found me. I have been thrilled to have a couple of celebritys shop with me. I have also been thrilled to count among my customers some of what I think of as "the big guns" in the mixed media/ paper crafting genre. One such person, I admired their store, their blog, and their "Style", when she came shopping, I told her how thrilled I was to have her a customer and how I was a fan of hers. She was nice and gracious, and I was so thrilled. Even more so when she came back! Imagine my surprise when I was checking in on some of my favorite shops (her's included) to find that she was now carrying the very products she bought from me! I know they are supplies, and I am buying them to sell, and that others have the same right. If she bought them from me, and then was selling them in another selling venue, now I get that, but to list them in direct competition with me in the same selling venue???? I was shocked, surprised and saddened. There are other people out there that have some of the same things that I have, some probably got the idea from me, but I cannot prove it. This person bought these exact products from me and is now selling them. I just have a hard time with that. It feels ugly. I have worked hard to find my products, to obtain a great variety, to keep looking for new things to bring to my customers. The other thing that bothers me, one of the products comes to me packaged in a certain way, differently than I sell them, I take apart the packaging and repackage them in a different configuration, and she is also doing the exact same thing. I mean direct copying. I just don't understand it. This is a person who is well known, and has her own following and customer base, I don't understand these things. I probably never will......

Third Time's a Charm!

Or so the saying goes. Still after being on Etsy for over a year, it is incredible to me that 3 times now in the last 30 days I have been featured in a treasury! The newest one is a springtime medley of fruit salad musings put together by the fantastic seller http://www.theendpeace.etsy.com/ !

My fun and funky lemon petite pom pom trim is featured with a host of other mouth watering items. Check out that watermelon soap, I can TASTE it!!! Here is the link to view this fun treasury http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=46217.

Twice in one Month!!!

I was so excited to be featured in a treasury a couple of weeks ago when I got the notification. Imagine my surprise when just two weeks later I got a message from Etsy seller www.fabricatedfamily.etsy.com that I was featured in her Treasury!!! Here it is http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=46480 amazing! Many people think that curating a treasury is an art form unto itself and I think that I will have to agree. First of all to have the patience to wait to get a spot, then to go through tons and tons of items to find the right things to compliment your vision, well THANK YOU!