Treasury of items

www.Etsy.com is a site where people can buy and sell hand made items. The site is constantly growing, and so is the talent available. Many of the artists are willing to customize items or make special requests.  It's a great place to shop and get one of a kind personal gifts. 

The Etsy community has buyers and sellers from more than 150 countries. Etsy sellers number in the hundreds of thousands.  This is a site worth checking out.  To get you started, I have created a treasury of items called Bang Bang Blues. Here you can get a quick glimpse of some wonderful items available on Etsy.  A quick click on the item and you can get more detailed information about the item.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dd4576af1f26d91d0742331/bang-bang-blues

Random Acts of Kindness

Random Acts of Kindness...  Even the name is fascinating.  I was surprised to learn that Random Acts of Kindness, referred to as RAK is common in the crafting world.  Especially in cardmaking.  Cardmakers are such a loving bunch of people, aren't they?  How nice to be able to do a little something special for someone, especially if they don't know who it came from. And what a nice surprise it must be to receive.

If your in the mood to perform a RAK, you've got to check out this site: (http://operationwritehome.org/index.html)  This is a great way to do something for our troops, and maybe clean up your stash a little in the process.  I just sent in a donation of 25 cards.

Since I love making the cards, this is such an easy RAK.  The organization has a few rules that you can read about on their website, but they seem flexible and appreciative of donations.  Cards can be for any occasion, and absolutely must be handcrafted. They request that your cards do not need any additional handiwork to complete.

I'm even thinking of having a few people over for a little RAK party just before the holidays.  Then everyone can have the warm feeling of doing something good.

Blog Hopping

  The thing that stinks about working for someone else is that you have to do what they want you to do, all of the time.  That leaves little time to do what you want to do, even some of the time.  I really missed all of my crafting and creative world while I was working.  I am loving the ability to wander and explore, and just hop around checking out what other people are doing.
  So... Blogs are great for this.  I have found some blogs that I could spend weeks looking at.  Here are a few of my favorites today:  
  http://northridgemedia.net/blogs/create/departments/tutorials/page/2/-  this blog is created for craft and scrapbooking enthusiasts from the people at CARDS, Simply Handmade and Scrapbooking Trends Magazine.  I know this is a blog because it says so in the subheading, but it is so polished and beautiful.  It looks just like a web site.  So, I'm wondering, what is the difference between this and a website?
  Anyway, this blog has wonderful tutorials and gorgeous photos.  Lots of great ideas for inspiration.  Since I am now on a flower kick, these paper flowers were particularly interesting:

  I don't know which one I like best, but I know I will be making several of them in the future. Aren't the tiny flowers in the center of the top left flower great?  And what about the top left flower with the button center?  Gotta love this stuff!

  I've also spent a lot of time of Paper Crafts' Blog  (http://www.papercraftsconnection.com/).  They don't just have one or two blogs.  And they don't just have three blogs.  That's right, Paper Crafts has four totally separate blogs. They have given me a lot to ponder... Lots of contests, giveaways, and tutorials.  Lots of photos that make me want to try projects. Lots and lots of inspiration.  Thanks guys!    

  But look at this tutorial from their blog:

                    

  Another paper flower tutorial...  And this one looks soooo easy!  Maybe because most of the tutorial is photographed, and we artsy types are visual people.  Or, maybe its just easy.  I don't know-- I don't care.  I'm going to try them all.  There just isn't enough time in the day.  Thank goodness I am not working anymore.

  And last, but not least, my newest flower.  Ok, my new flowers are not paper.  They are made of fabric, and I am still changing their looks around day by day, as well as my method of creating it.  But this is my latest creation:

I used three light blue flower shaped beads and several tiny seed beads in the center.  I'm just loving all of these flowers!  Well, I've got to go now.  I've got a lot more hopping around to do.