Bustin' Makes Me Feel Good!

Happy Halloween!

Cleveland Handmade giveaway: spiral mug from SheaClay Pottery

Isn't this a gorgeous mug? It's from SheaClay Pottery and it's the current giveaway item from Cleveland Handmade. Handcrafted on the potter’s wheel, this stoneware cup measures 4″ H x 5-1/4″ W and holds 12 ounces of your fave concoction. It is dishwasher- and microwave-safe, as well as lead-free. Visit Cleveland Handmade and enter for this giveaway by noon on November 4. And while you're there, check out lots of other talented Cleveland crafters!

Featured in an Etsy treasury

My lavender eye mask is featured in an Etsy treasury by Unique Beads and More. This is the first treasury I've been included in and I'm ridiculously excited about it. There are some lovely items in this one - don't the slippers look cozy?

Cleveland Handmade custom necklace giveaway

Cleveland Handmade is hosting a giveaway. They're giving you the chance to win a custom stamped and domed sterling silver charm necklace generously donated by Cleveland Handmade member Lori Paximadis, aka virtuallori.



The necklace is lovely - a stamped silver pendant that can be customized with any name(s) or word(s) in all lowercase up to 14 letters around the lower edge of the circle. You can add dots or dashes between names, too. The disk is 1 inch (2.5 cm) round before doming; the final diameter is approximately 7/8 inch (2.25 cm). A gray patina is applied, and the pendant is rough sanded for a natural but refined look.

Visit Cleveland Handmade to enter; check here for full contest rules. Entries accepted until noon on Wednesday, October 28. Happy browsing!

New Halloween Decor

I've been in the mood for a Halloween sewing project and this pattern caught my eye. I've only done paper piecing once before and had a few false starts (the fact that I started at 11pm didn't help!) but once I got the hang of it the pillow top went together pretty quickly. The individual pumpkins would look nice on either end of a Halloween table runner, too. Maybe next year!

More items for the shop - lovely lavender eye masks

A few more items ready to be added to my Etsy shop. These are also lavender eye masks, minus the removable fleecy cover of the previous version. All the same good-smelling stress and headache relief benefits, outfitted in lovely cotton prints.



There's a teal-green swirl version, a colorful batik, light blue stars, a feathery sortof print, blue and turquois fern print, and a funky dotted batik.

New for the shop: Lavender Eye Mask

Putting the finishing touches on some new Lavender Eye Masks for the shop. These have a super-soft, zip-off fleece cover that can be washed, and they're filled with flax seed and organic lavender buds. They smell wonderful and they're great for headaches. I keep one stored in the freezer and use it when I'm feeling a little under the weather or just need a little extra help unwinding at the end of the day. I gave one to my mother to try and she's already given hers away and ordered two more for friends. She's my best sales rep! :o)

Like Father, Like Son

We visited a local greenhouse over the weekend to check out their Fall Festival. The Big Guy and the Little Guy had lots of fun with the Halloween displays...

Little Red Riding Hood

The Little Guy pointed out the other day that his daddy and I both have cozy bathrobes but he does not, and he asked me to make him one. How can you turn down a request like that? :o) So off we went to Joann's, sale flyer in hand, to pick out a pattern and fabric. This went together pretty quickly and I'm really happy with the end result. But even more important, the Little Guy loves it. He's showed it to everyone who's visited our house in the past few days, and models it every chance he gets.

Experimenting with product photos

So I'm discovering that getting good photos of products for my Etsy shop is harder than MAKING products for my Etsy shop. This is the third or fourth attempt and I'm getting closer to what I want. Natural light is definitely best, different color backgrounds make the shop more interesting to look at and I like the little touch of nature in this one.