My 15 minutes of fame

Audrey from Audrey's Country Crafts was nice enough to feature my Etsy shop on her giveway site. She did a very nice question-and-answer style interview and she's offering lots of ways to enter to win my new Spa-aaah Gift Set. Check it out at Audrey's Give Away Blog. And, of course, check out all her other great giveaways while you're there!

Sweet Tidings giveaway: Some very non-traditional fragrances!

Blogger Sweet Tidings is sponsoring a Valentine's Day giveaway for a five-vial fragrance sampler from The Poison Apple Apothecary. They have an awesome collection of scents with names like "Bloodlust," "Scorned," "Death by Sugar" and "Burial Bouquet." The full descriptions of the scents make a very entertaining read! These would make a great Valentine gift for your non-traditional sweetie, or even an anti-Valentine's day gift for yourself or a Cupid-boycotting friend.


Personally, I think I'm going to have to give this one - called "Gwyllion" a try!

Valentine's Day challenge: Shopping for a good cause

With so much in the news about Haiti and fundraising efforts, I did a bit of sleuthing on Etsy to see what other causes shop owners support. A search for "fundraising" brought up 1,771 results for products ranging from jewelry, t-shirts, and notecards to baked goods and teddy bear. And the causes and organizations they support are just as diverse: adoption organizations, support groups for parents who have lost children, Haiti relief, animal shelters, cancer research and camps for disabled children, just to name a few.


Closer to home, a co-worker is raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with her shop, Team in Training. That's her Curvy Pop-Tab Purse in the photo above. And fellow Cleveland Handmade team member JMT Glassworks supports a different animal rescue group each month through the sales from her shop.

With so many items and causes to choose from, I'll bet you could find a Valentine's Gift your sweetie would love AND support his or her favorite charity or cause at the same time!

At a loss for gift ideas?

This is a great post by Scoutie Girl: "A Dude's Guide to Shopping Handmade". It's written for guys shopping for Valentine's Day gifts, but there are some great tips here for anyone who's ever felt at a loss for unique gift ideas for any holiday.

Cleveland Handmade giveaway: felted scarf from Knitgrrl Studio

Every week Cleveland Handmade has a giveaway to spotlight one of their members and thank all their wonderful supporters and customers. It's a great opportunity to win some lovely items and check out the high-quality handmade art in their member shops. Entry is easy - full rules at the Cleveand Handmade web site.



This week's item is 100% one-of-a-kind wet felted scarf made from fine local Great Lakes–area wool, created by Knitgrrl Studio. Check it out!

Long overdue update

The holiday craziness seemed to spill right over into January. Whew! I feel like I'm finally getting back into a semi-normal routine. I made some shop updates yesterday and posted some new items. Any of these would make nice Valentine's Day gifts - drop a hint or two to your sweetie!


Spa-aaaah Gift Set includes a small herbal comfort pack, lavender eye mask, terry bath mitt and soothing Lavender Bath Salts.


Bath Salt Sampler/Gift Set - includes one 2-ounce container of each of my bath salt blends: soothing Lavender, energizing Citrus, refreshing Candy Cane, calming Lavender/Rose Geranium and Lavender Lemongrass. Each container is enough for two baths.


Bath Salt Mini Sampler/Gift Set - Your choice of any three bath salts in a 2-ounce trial size.

There are lots more new products in the works!

This week's Cleveland Handmade giveaway

Every week Cleveland Handmade has a giveaway to spotlight one of their members and thank all their wonderful supporters and customers. It's a great opportunity to win some lovely items and check out the high-quality handmade art in their member shops. Entry is easy - full rules at the Cleveand Handmade web site.

This week's item is a lovely pair of silver and brass hoop earrings from Jewelry by Francine.

Cookie-baking marathon

Spent this weekend (all weekend!) baking Christmas cookies. I got a recipe for lime cookies from my sister - she made them last year but somehow I missed out on the taste testing. Anyway, I made them this year and they are YUMMY. This is my new favorite Christmas cookie recipe: Lime Snowflakes & Ornaments.

Holiday Tradition: Men in Tights

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I saw our local ballet company's performance of The Nutcracker for the first time about 13 years ago and have been going to performances every year since then. I love the grand old theaters, the music and seeing all the little girls dressed up for the occasion. For a long time it was a solo tradition, but over the past few years it's evolved to include my Mom, my sister and my niece. Last Christmas we tried adding my Little Guy and my nephew to the mix, but at five years old they just weren't that impressed. They agreed the fight between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King was pretty cool, but neither of them could understand why the characters didn't talk. So we're back to our "girls' day out" today. Bring on the men in tights!

Memories and Giveaways

Remember the Hallmark commercial from a few years ago with the woman going through the box of ornaments in the attic and remembering when she got each one? That's me. Every year when we get out the boxes of ornaments, there are always those special few I've had for years that have to go on the tree first. For the past two years, I've been trying to explain to the Little Guy WHY they're special to me.



This ornament was tied to a present on my first Christmas. (I won't tell you how old that makes it!) My Mom passed it along to me when I moved into my first apartment. It's been the first one to grace the tree every year since then.


These two were made by my Grammy. When I was little, her whole tree was covered with beautiful ornaments she made herself - snowmen and Santas, beaded ornaments, crocheted snowflakes. She passed away three years ago and the cousins divided up all the ornaments so we'd each have a few that she made.



Snoopy was a gift from my Dad when I was 9. He loved watching the Peanuts specials with us; Woodstock was his favorite. This is our third Christms without Dad. I'm not sure it's getting easier yet, but the ornament always makes me smile.


And full circle from my first ornament to the ones that commemorate the year the Little Guy was born. The teddy is a "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament; the angel was a gift from a friend.

How about you? Tell me about your favorite ornament in the comments. I'll pick one commenter at random on December 15. The winner will receive a Luscious Lips Gift Set from my shop. Let's hear those stories!

UPDATE: And the winner (chosen by highly scientific random drawing) is... Vintage aka Vinty. Congratulations!