Etsy Shopping - Again!!

I've been very remiss in keeping this blog updated but I've had some pretty good reasons which I won't bore you with (too depressing). But I have had a few minutes here and there to get some good old Etsy shopping going and I signed up for my second UK secret swap.

First up is this beautiful bracelet by the lovely lady that is Kezzaroo and a mini ninja escorted it all the way from Scotland for me :D


Then I had some cash come in from my stock photography just as Seaurchin listed this gorgeous unique pendant in one of my favourite colours. I just had to have this so I snapped it up without thinking too hard - I'd only have talked myself out of it or someone else would have got there first!!



Then this stunning pendant by DichroicDazzle - the photograph doesn't do justice to the vibrancy of the colours but believe me, it's a conversation starter :D



So I'm a happy bunny and my neck looks pretty too.

Tagged!

Thank you Coldcell for tagging me :)

Here are the rules which you must abide by if you are tagged.

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

So here goes - 7 odd/random facts about me

1. I've been reading since I was 2-3 years old - averaging a book a day until about 2 years ago. But only fiction - I hate factual books/autobiographies etc

2. I have a small scar in the middle of my forehead where I was hit by a pickaxe as a child!

3. I have freckles, 4 birthmarks and one dinky little tattoo

4. I can say hello, please and thank you, how are you and order coffees in about 12 different languages - including Swahili, Thai and Dihevi.

5. I love Maths - I used to find solving quadratic equations relaxing!

6. I talk to strangers - at bus stops, on trains, on holiday, in shops - my hubby says my day isn't complete unless I've had a chat with someone new :)

7. I collected postcards as a child and still have boxes of them I can't bear to part with.

I'm tagging the following lovely peeps (I know, I need 1 more!!)

Domino Effect
LAM Designs
Aria Images
Not That Jaded
One Eye Open
Risamay

Oooh er - There's a man in the house!

We have a new UK member who's rather put the cat amongst us pigeons! Not only is he a male (obviously) but he's into photography (so I like him) and what I call weird music (although Kezz likes the same stuff too). It's a bit hard to keep up with some of the unusual names he talks about but then I'm feeling pretty old and frumpy these days anyway so I just put it down to youthfulness and say 'yes, dear' ! So I thought I'd welcome him to Etsy with a little shoutout on my blog - 'helllooooo Coldcell'

Here's one of his lovely scenic images - wouldn't you just love to be in this beautiful shady riverside place on a warm day, with the insects a-buzzin and the fish lazily popping the water surface?

Look what Miss Bunny did!

A few posts earlier, I mentioned that I had swapped some lovely black high heel shoes with Bunny on Etsy. Well, she's finished customising them and listed them in her shop. Skullerflies! Who would have guessed! But how gorgeous are these?

I can't believe it's been nearly 2 weeks since I last posted - can't really stop and post a long one now but I'll come back tomorrow and fill in some spaces!! I've got some new prints, reworked some old ones and am thinking about a second website so I have been busy - at least, that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!

Peanut Butter Scrumptiousness :)

There's a rather nice lady on Etsy called Marmalady who makes the scrummiest, moistest, most delicious flapjacks I've ever tasted. Many of the girls in the UK Street Team are, to put it politely, addicted to them and keep Marmalady busy sending out food parcels.

Well, she only went on holiday for two whole weeks - the withdrawal symptoms got so bad, I had to make my own. I dug out an old baking recipe book but before I got to the flapjack recipe, I found our old favourite - Peanut Butter Cookies. During the usual mayhem chat that is the UK thread, someone asked about them so here is the recipe I use for those who want to give them a try.

5 oz (140g) plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 oz (115g) butter (at room temp)

5 3/4 oz light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

9 1/2 oz crunchy peanut butter

Oven temp. 350F/180C/gas4 - makes 24 large cookies

The original recipe says to cream the butter and sugar, then add the peanut butter, egg, vanilla essence, mix then add dry ingredients. Mix well then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up. Grease up two trays and use a teaspoon to gather a small blob of mixture, roll into a ball between your palms, plop on tray then flatten slightly with a fork. Put in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Leave to cool on tray for 2 or 3 minutes before transfering to a cooling rack.

I, on the otherhand, used self raising flour, no bicarb and a butter substitute, threw everything in together and left it to chill for an hour! Then I used baking parchment on 4 trays, rolled out small balls indeed and flattened with a fork as instructed.

Unfortunately, I have a narrow cooker so in putting 12 on a narrow baking sheet, I didn't leave them much room to spread even though I had made the balls smaller than last time (due to a scribbled note in my book!) so I ended up with nearly 40 smaller cookies.

Knickers Rule OK?

Friday nights the UK Etsy girls have a regular chat and so far, it's proving great for building my stash of great artwork. Now I've just got to get all these wonderful prints mounted and framed! Last Friday I managed to flog a pair of shoes I bought in lust but never wore. The wonderfully talented Bunny is going to work her magic on them and turn them into a really really kick ass pair of shoes. Have a look at her shop on Etsy to see what she does to them!

Not only does she customise shoes but she's also a really talented artist so when I had my pick of prints I chose her lovely Knickerville print. It was her entry to the UK Street Team Red Nose day challenge.

This morning the postie arrived with a decorated envelope so I sorta guessed who it was from :) but when I opened it, a mini stack of goodies fell out. Darling Bunny had added a couple of extra bits for me, including 'But I thought I was the prettiest...' a gorgeous print which I very nearly chose instead of Knickerville

So go have a look - you might find those shoes you've been looking for!

Another Great Trade!

Well, it's been quiet here but I did manage to pull off another trade this week! The UK Etsy girls chat on a Friday night and someone mentioned a trade. I was just about to type 'Me too!' when Alicub said that she was up for a trade. Well, I nearly did a dance on the spot - I've been eyeing up her Geisha print ever since she listed it on Etsy, so I jumped in and just asked! :) And she said Yes!

So, to give her a greater choice than is currently in my shop, I sent her a link to a little slideshow I've built and she chose this one which is the only tulip like this in my garden. It was obviously an odd bulb in the box!

Etsy Greetings - Featuring...

ME!

http://etsygreetings.blogspot.com/2007/06/feature-arty-all-sorts.html

I'd forgotten the date that Ahna told me I would be featured. Turned out it was the 24th and today's the 26th so 2 posts in one day.

Now all I need is a sale or two and I'll feel a lot better about everything!

My very first Etsy Trade :)

I'm a bit late with this one as well - I did a trade with Sakura over at Etsy last week and she has been kind enough to blog my cards but I've only just got around to photographing these gorgeous earrings that I received. Not only does she make the most exquisite jewellery and ink drawings but she also does photography and has set up a second shop with her boyfriend called CeruleanTide. Pop over and have a look, I'm sure you'll find something you love. I know I did!!

Midsummer's (well nearly) Resolution

I've been on Etsy now almost 3 months, started a blog in May and only posted a few bits. I've decided that's just not good enough so I'm making a Midsummer resolution to post at least once a week.

I heard a quote earlier today that goes something like "if You are bored, then YOU are boring!" and I thought, how can I possibly be bored when I have all my new Etsy friends to play with? So, I've kicked myself in the butt today and am full of determination to make this Etsy thing work for me. I'm confident that my photography is good and saleable, I just have to work out how to do the marketing side of things.

Just to mark Midsummer, here is a photo I took at our local Open Gardens for Charity event - I'm going to offer it as a print but also as a card.

UK Etsy Secret Swap goodies

Well this post is a bit late but although I wrote it 2 weeks ago, somehow I managed to lose it! I'm just not getting the hang of Blogger as I'm much more familiar with Vox. I sent a handmade calender to Allthosethrees with 12 of my own photos from my travels over the last year or two. If the number of exclamation marks in her email was anything to go by, I think she liked it!

Then I received my own package......

I was so excited. Part of the info we had to send Askey was which seller we would most like to receive our swap from and what sort of things we liked. Well, I'd seen Domino's stuff and thought it was so different so I put her down as my fav and here was a parcel from her. I ripped it open so fast my pendant went flying but luckily I didn't break it!

A beautiful pinky/purple pendant and a pink keyring - just the colours I would have chosen for myself.

This swap has been pretty stressful, I have to say. I had no idea when I signed up how hard it would be to choose something to send to someone I barely knew. I originally was just going to send a print (or two or three) but I felt that was so little compared to the amount of work the other girls would have put in to physically make something. Once I hit on the idea of the calender, I felt much better about it and just chose a photo from 12 different countries, each one different - a beach scene, cityscape or landscape.

Having said it was stressful, I'm still going to jump in on the next one 'cos I like receiving surprises too :)

New! Flower Notecards

I've been haunting my Mum's garden to get these beautiful shots of some of her flowers and they looked so good I decided to make them into cards. I've just listed the first few on Etsy but I had such a choice of flowers to choose from, I'm definitely going to do more.

This pink one is now my avatar, I like it that much but the lilac primrose is stunning in a large format as well as on a card (even if I do say so myself!!). I may have to offer some of these as larger prints I think.

The Postcard Game - all for a good cause

Just found a link to Jennifer's blog where she is organising a Postcard Game. Basically send her a postcard or two and she will allocate a number and post it on her blog so if you make your own postcards, it's a bit of extra marketing! She is going to donate $1 per postcard received to Ovarian Cancer Action - a UK charity trying to get the word out about ovarian cancer in the UK.

And if donating all that cash to the charity wasn't enough, she's also offering some wonderful jewellery as prizes.

Pop along and have a look at all the rules/details.

Update: the link for Ovarian Cancer Action is http://www.ovarian.org.uk/ - Ovarian cancer is apparently called the silent killer in that it is hard to diagnose and may be mistaken for menopausal symptons. This website has some good info that all women should be as aware of as they are aware of breast cancer.
say PANTS to Ovanrian Cancer!!

Etsy Addiction strikes again!

Why can't I just stay away for more than an hour at a time? This is not getting any work done or any cards made!!

Anyway, just a quickie post 'cos the other one is looking lonely! Here is one of the bits I've bought already. I fell in love with the whole series of ACEO's by Themerrymuse the first time I saw them but I resisted gamely for at least 2 whole weeks!The one I really, really wanted but hadn't worked out how to favourite it at the time I saw it, has been sold :-(

Etsy Rules...

most of my life at the moment, it's that addictive. The girls on the UK Street Team in particular, have been so welcoming, the goodies to look at are endless and I have never come across a forum as active as Etsy's. So now here I am, starting my second blog!

In case you are wondering, my first blog is over at Vox but that's mainly my stock photography friends and stuff so I didn't want to bore them all with continual ravings about Etsy. I'm planning on putting my Fine Art photography stuff here and also showcasing some of the amazing talent I've found.

I haven't worked out the nitty gritty of Blogger yet so I'll keep this short whilst I get my head around prettyfying (is that even a word?) my blog, joining the Etsy UK blog ring and generally having a change around!