A Cool Contest on Handmadeology!

I don't consider myself a photographer, but since I opened my Etsy shop last year, I have been learning the ropes of how to photograph my items to the best advantage. Of course, I happen to sell items that half of their appeal is scent - and you can't smell them on a computer! (what's up with that anyway? Someone please invent a scratch-n-sniff feature!!) So, it's doubly important that I have good photos. I have had a lot of fun taking photos of my items for my stores, getting lots of help and tips from Megzy who IS a photographer ( http://tredlightphotographs.etsy.com ) as well as the Etsy forums. I think my photos have come a long way! So, whilst feeding my daily Twitter addiction this morning, I kept seeing retweets of this tweet: @tweetmeme Etsy Worthy Photo Contest! Handmadeology http://bit.ly/Eu9F3

I duly entered one of my favorite photos...you will see it above, so please head over there and vote for it! The winner gets and ad space on Handmadeology's site, which is usually $60! There are already lots of wonderful photos besides mine, and you can even add yours...let me know so I can check it out too! :)

http://www.handmadeology.biz/home/etsy-worthy-photo-contest

April Showers?

Hi again! This month is half over already, I can't believe it!! It has been very busy for my family...first of all, we traveled out of town for a 2 day Bible assembly. It was very upbuilding, and we got to visit with friends we hadn't seen in a long time! Hard on the heels of that trip, our annual observance of Christ's death, the Memorial, was celebrated on April 9th, which just happened to be hubby's and my wedding anniversary! Since he gave the talk this year, he was preoccupied and pretty nervous all week, so we waited until Saturday to celebrate our anniversary. It was our 15th, and sadly the first one in which Grandma Doreen was not there to have special time with the kids. We took them with us and had a wonderful family dinner out at a local steak house. (There is a new one opening soon so we are going to save our "alone" dinner for when that one opens!) Then we all exchanged presents, which is our yearly family tradition! The kids each got their first digital camera, and they are loving them.

The flowers above were one arrangement I helped make for the Memorial. A group of us got together on the 8th at our friend Debbie's house and had a great time! We had several bouquets around the Hall...and since I believe in Upcycling, many of the roses will become potpourri eventually! ;) Here is one of the Rose Bouquets:

With all of this activity, tax prep. kind of got shuffled, so now we are doing the last minute tax dash...but several surfaces in my house that I haven't seen in a long time are now shiny clean and free of stacks of papers!

Store News!

My store on Etsy has been busy with some custom orders recently finished and one in the works...yay! I made my first sale on ArtFire too! I hope my buyer loves my Starbucks Coffee Sugar Scrub as much as I do! I have another batch in the works, but this time I am using 90% Organic ingredients! Also, it will be scented with a hint of chocolate.....mmmmmmm!!! I will post here and Tweet about it as soon as it's ready...gotta finish Taxes first, ug!

In hopes of having some income to order supplies with, I am having my first ever BOGO SALE in my Etsy store! Buy any item and get another item of equal or lesser value 1/2 off!! This sale lasts through April 18th, so hurry!

Kids, Cats, Potpourri, and Other Stuff!

Yes, it's me...I'm still alive and kicking, and finally updating my blog after being delinquent these last few weeks!

I have busily been homeschooling my middle son, and after about 6 weeks, we are finally starting to get into a routine. Life continues to happen around us, of course, and we are slowly learning to deal with the inevitable interruptions...like grabbing work to take with us when my youngest's school calls to say they 'think he has Pink Eye and would I please come to get him'? It's a 40 minute drive round trip plus a stop at the store, so no quick trips for us! Fortunately, he didn't have Pink Eye(and I should have known that because he has had major allergy problems with his eyes the past couple of weeks!)

In other news, our mama cat, Lana, had her second litter of kittens two weeks ago, and they are sooooo cute! My daughter took this photo during their lunchtime the other day :) They are fortunately faring much better than her last litter, of which only 1 out of 6 survived. So sad!

And finally, Paradise Potpourri is beckoning...one of the many things I am learning to juggle in my new role as Learning Coach. Business is still good, so I guess people still like me! :) I have managed to squeeze in time to make new batches of Bountiful Harvest, Cranberry Orange, and Honeysuckle Rose. Accordingly, I took new photos of them all, and they are now adorning the Etsy store nicely! I am still working out a recipe for Margarita Potpourri, but I'm almost there! Also, new batches of Rainforest and Rose Garden are in the works due to popular demand! Speaking of which I want to give a very special shout-out to Carrie, aka lunastar, of Morning Star Natural Soaps, Lotions and Soy Candles....she has given me such wonderful incentive to keep plugging along, reminding me that there is a scent for everyone and buying me out of bath tea even though she has such amazingly wonderful bath products in her Etsy shoppe! When I have a chance to figure out the ins and outs, I will feature her here on my blog! Meanwhile here is a link...be sure to check it out! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5077777

Next weekend, my mother-in-law will be having heart surgery, so I don't expect to be blogging too much at that time...in the meantime I will try to post some interesting tidbits to catch up!

Discoveries!

Well, I was wrong about selling my very last Mocha Java sachet...I went to my workshop to start the new batch, and discovered 2 more large ones and 3 small ones! One of them even had a keychain charm on it, so I will be photographing that one and listing it ASAP! I still started the new batch, because I'm really excited about adding the red color to it. I know there are alot of fans of the "just brown" batch too though, so now I can have something for everyone! Feel free to leave me a comment with your personal opinion here if you want :)

I'm getting the hang of the photo thing!

I mostly cleaned house today, but I did so well that I rewarded myself with some long overdue photo-shoots of my potpourris. When I started my shop in February, I took all my photos in front of a dark green curtain that I had been using for photographing my ebay items. I got lots of compliments, and liked them really well, but I finally decided to try the all white background which is more Etsy-ish! :) As a result, I updated a couple of currently listed small ones, and re-listed Victorian Bride (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9919296) and Healing Lavender (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9874176). I had been using extremely antiquated photos of both, so now they are fresh and lovely, to match their scent!

Now if only Etsy could invent a scratch-and-sniff feature!!!!

Until then, check out my Sampler Pack...three scents of your choice in any color sachets for just $2.00 each!! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12839584 You can even choose bath tea!