Loads of Ribbon to Unload

Have you ever come across a great find that you didn't really need? You know, that bulk stash of buttons for a quarter or the 20 pound box of poly-fil for a buck? Yeah, well I had one of those and now I need to get rid of it. I have 600+ yards of lovely designer ribbon, all on rolls that I need to unload on some other person. lol, I have to make more room for different items in my craft room and my husband told me that I had to start either using some of what I have before I can buy more craft supplies, or I have to sell some stuff that I am not using. I was intending on selling the ribbon on my supply shop on etsy, and some of it has already sold. However, it is very time consuming to take pictures of each roll, since there are probably at the very least, 100 different rolls. And, on top of that, I am just tired of cutting the ribbon by the yard, only to discover that I still have 19 yards left of that one ribbon. So here is my proposal, I will bestow upon somebody all of my ribbon for $150 plus shipping and handling prices. That is a steal of a deal and really would benefit somebody who uses a lot of ribbon on a regular basis or somebody who can sell it even (and has the patience to do so one yard at a time). I am adding some pictures here, but if you need to see more, please comment here and I will add some more. These are just a few of the ribbon types that I have. There are many, many, many, many, more.

Monthly Challenge Feature

Congratulations to our winners! And also a hearty congratulations to all of the contestants for putting so much thought and effort into their lovely items. I sincerely hope that your customers will appreciate your work just as much.

And so, now we move on to the winners. Lindabutterfly.etsy.com and NanasNikNaks.etsy.com collaborated together to make wonderfully whimsical cards. Using a little of Nanas, creative cross stictching, Linda transformed them into cards. I know, I know, you have already seen the cards and now you want to see more. Well, I will not keep you waiting any longer. Behold, the creative works of LindaButterfly!


Linda is such a talented artist. She works in several mediums to create her artwork. I've seen pencil, paint and photos which have all been beautifully captured by Linda. The really cool thing about her shop is that she uses all of her artwork to make interesting cards- from greeting cards to post cards. She even offers mouse pads and all-in-one gift and card fixes.


Her photography and other artwork range from the beautifully serene (as seen above in this lovely Silver Dew greeting card) to the fun and whimsical (as seen below in this all-in-one gift and card set).


Would you have ever guessed that this adorable kitten on the card, easily detaches to become an everyday magnet to use on your fridge, in your locker or at your desk? Seriously, this is an awesome deal, considering how convenient and CUTE it is.



And I know that you just can't go on without seeing the wonderful works of NanasNikNaks as well!

Nanas works range in different mediums as well. She offers hand knitted treasures, adorably fun cross stitch pieces and even a few beaded works.

Every girl dreamed of being a princess at some point in time. Well now, they can get one step closer with this fun cross stitch piece. You could easily frame this and put it on a wall for a wonderful addition to your princess' room.


And everyone needs an angel every now and then. Someone to watch over us and catch us when we fall a little lower than we expected. This wonderful angel and others can be found in Nanas shop as well so go and check them out now!


(click pictures to be taken directly to them)

And the results are in...

I know it came a little bit late, but since we had some technical difficulties, I allowed the poll to stay up for another couple of days. That way, everybody had the right amount of fair voting time.

It was fun to watch the poll day by day, to see it waver back and forth between the entries. I have to say it was quite the close call.

So now that the results are in, do you want to know what they were? Of course you do... In third place was the collaboration between LindaButterfly and ElektraJewelry, with three votes. Great job you guys! In second place was Mary's Maids with a total of five votes! Awesome! And in first place, was the collaboration between LindaButterfly and NanasNikNaks at a total of 6 votes on the poll. Way to go you guys! (A feature on the winner(s) will be posted later today)

Congratulations to all of the contestants who brought forth such awesome ideas. Congratulations for completing the challenge and for really getting inspired by your teammates.

Monthly Challenge for September

The poll results are in and I am happy to say that we have a new monthly challenge for the month of September. The results were a favoring 2-to-1 for autumn colors. So collaborators, look out your windows at the lovely changing colors of the fall leaves (if you have any yet) and begin to get inspired and motivated.

Remember, you can comment here in this post to nominate a theme for next months challenge and we will vote as a team on it later in the month.

And check out the poll up top for the members challenges for the month of August! Be sure to vote for your favorite interpretation of collaboration.

And the contestants are...

Hello again all!

Today is the day that we have all been waiting for (hopefully). Today is the day that we show off a few items from our monthly challenge. Let me remind you all that tomorrow on the 1st day of the new month, I will add a poll to the top of this blog which will allow you to vote for your favorite item. You may comment on this post about each item if you wish to do so.

Here are the entries...

Entry # 1)
Marys Maids has provided for the contest, a lovely mermaid globe.

This item was inspired by ValerieEssentials sea scape gel candle


Entry # 2)

I myself (yes, I am not excluded from this just because I am blogging about it) a.k.a. KawaiiBuddies have chosen to create a bamboo resin and clay pendant.



This item was inspired by a photograph from LindaCaterpillar




Entry # 3)

Cherry Pie a la Mode and White Flowers Gift Card by LindaButterfly and ElektraJewelry

These two members really collaborated with one another to pair up a couple of their products that look well together.

Entry # 4)

Purple Butterfly, pink tulip greeting card made by LindaButterfly and Nanas NikNaks


This item was made using LindaButterfly's card making skills and photography skills as well as using a wonderfully cross stiched butterfly from Nanas NikNaks. They have a series of three more cards which are similar to these so be sure to check out their shops for more.


(click pictures for links)

As stated before, a poll will be posted tomorrow so that everyone can place a vote at which item is their favorite or the their idea of the best interpretation of the theme. Remember that the theme in collaboration and is all about getting inspired by other peoples items/crafts.

And don't forget to look at all of the awesome other items from our group members.

***I updated this entry because apparently my email box contains gremlins that eat my emails from certain people. If you have an entry and it hasn't appeared here, it is probably because my gremlins thought that your email was extra tasty. Please be sure to comment if I have missed something or someone. Or message me on CIC! Thanks for your patience as I work out the kinks.

It's the 1st...

It is both the first of the month, and the first of our team challenges.

To begin, let me remind you that you should read the details, timeline and rules of this themed challenge in the post before this one. And to briefly remind you that, as of today, you have until August 31st to send in your themed challenge entries. Also, beginning today, I will be accepting comments on this post only, for nominations for next months challenge theme. Whatever you want- nominate it. Rainbows, puppies, anatomy, fitness- whatever, just comment about it and I will make sure that it gets into the poll for next months theme.

And the theme is (drumroll please)...



Collaboration

Seeing as how, our team began on the definition of that word, we have decided as a team, to collaborate with our fellow team members. The general idea is to actually collaborate to be inspired for our new items.

Team members- Please choose another team member's item that you could feel inspired by. Be sure to ask for permission to make something inspired by that item. It is not a rule, however, it is only courtesy. Make something inspired by their item or something that would go well with their item. For instance, you see a lovely painting- create a fabric frame for it; you notice a gorgeous set of fuschia crystal earrings- create a scarf that compliments it; you see a bouquet of silk flowers- create a hat with similar silk flowers... You may also team up with one another to correspond your items even further! The possibilities are endless. You do not have to list your challenge item, although if you list your challenge item, I will be able to link directly to your shop via a picture here on my blog which could mean more hits, views, hearts and even sales. If you do decide to list the item that you have made, it would be nice to link to the other item that you collaborated with or that you were inspired by. In this way, if you made a hat that matches another team members purse item, you can link to their item and both of you could get some views, hearts or sales this way. This challenge does not encourage or excuse a blatant copy of another person's item. This challenge is to be collaborative and to be beneficial to both the inspiring member and the inspired member. I reiterate, in no way and under no circumstances are you expected to, or encouraged to, copy another item.

Viewers, Readers, Followers and Guests- You may nominate themes if you like. When polls are posted, you may also vote for your favorite theme or item. If you are interested in joining our team, Collaborators in Cahoots, please visit our team blog.

Now get to it collaborators!

Time for Motivation and Inspiration

I am on a constant apology spree for neglecting my blog and I apologize yet again. However, I have found a way to fix my neglectful ways! And in the process I will be helping my awesome team out. There will be motivation and inspiration all around!

So here is the deal. The team that I am a part of (Collaborators in Cahoots) has voted yes to doing a monthly challenge. The monthly challenge will sort of be hosted by my blog, in that all of the entries will be recorded here for all to see. There will be some other neat things going on with it as well so let's get into the nitty gritty of it all.

---------------------------------
Details

*This challenge will hopefully help to inspire our team when we have those ruts that we all get in. You all know very well what I am talking about. It's sort of like writer's block but for now we will call it crafter's block. We will be holding a monthly challenge which will have a new theme every month. The participants will hopefully be inspired by the theme and make something new, exciting, liberating, and maybe even other-worldly for all of us to see. We will have a monthly poll when all of the participants have entered their new pieces, to see which one, our readers think is the best. Whoever wins, will get a feature of their own in this very blog.

*Everyone on the "collaborators in cahoots" team is welcome to join in on the challenge but they are, in no way, obligated or forced to join in. This challenge is only open to "Collaborators in Cahoots" team members. However, you can play along and use the themes for your own inspiration, and as a reader, you will have the objectivity to vote in polls for the winner of each months challenge event. If this isn't enough for you, please feel free to contact the team via the teams blog to see if there is an opening in the teams members for you.

*Once a month, on the first of every month, I will announce here, what that months challenge will be. At that time, team members will have until noon (central US time) on the last day of the month to send me an email with the link to their item in their etsy shop, or a single picture and description if they choose not to list their newly inspired item. I will add these items along with descriptions and links to a blog post on the first of the following month. During this time, you as the reader or team members, may leave comments for what theme you would like to see next month.

*As well on the first of every month, I will create a poll of the items that have been entered into the challenge and have appeared on the blog. You as the reader will have the chance to vote for the item which you think is best. Team members are allowed to vote as well, but preferably only once. And please be honest with your vote.

*On the seventh day of the month, the poll for the best item will be closed. On the following day, the person whose item won the poll, will be featured on my blog. I will include a short blurb about their shop and pictures as well as links. If they are available for questions before hand, I will add a few Q&A pieces.

*As well on the seventh day of the month, I will post a new poll for the challenge themes that have been nominated. On the fourteenth day of the month, this poll will be taken down and the winner will be set for the next months challenge. If by chance there is a tie, I will call tie breaker.

--------------------------------
Timeline
* 1st- Monthly challenge announced
Poll of items entered in previous month will be posted
Will begin accepting comments for nominating next months theme
* 7th- Poll for item votes will be closed
Poll for next months theme will be posted
* 8th- Themed challenge winner is featured
*14th- Poll for next months theme will be closed
*31st- Monthly challenge will be closed at noon (US central time)
* 1st- New Monthly challenge announced, etc...

--------------------------------
Rules

*Participants of the themed challenge must be a member of Collaborators in Cahoots. All polls can be participated in by both members and non-members.

*Participants must email entries to beads_elegance@yahoo.com by noon (US central time) on the last day of each month.

*Entries emails will be required to have either a direct link as well as a single photo and short description or a single photo and short description of the item without the link if they choose not to list it.

*Entries do not have to be listed but it is encouraged to list the item for maximum exposure.

*Entry items need to be inspired by the monthly challenges theme. If there is obviously no link to the challenge theme and the item, a brief description of the link between the two will be requested from the creator.

*No vulgar, offensive or otherwise overly mature items will be shown here. Since this is my blog, I will still attach links, however I will not show items of the above stated content. I have the final say in this in all cases.

Awesome Pirate Treasure Hunt

One of the wonderful ladies in one of my teams from etsy decided to gather up a few swashbuckling volunteers and create a fun little scavenger hunt/treasure hunt style game.

Melissa came up with the idea she even came up with a really catchy pirate rhyme to explain the game and it's rules. To find out more about the game and how to play and have a chance at one of twelve great prizes, visit this thread

Also, if you want to see the actual prizes themselves, please click here

Good luck to all of you scalleywags(sp)- I say that word all the time but have never known how to spell it! lol

Long time, no see...

I am terrible sometimes about getting into a fad and then not following through with it. Myspace- been there, done that. Facebook- In and out in a flash. Twitter- still attempting to keep my sanity there.

Well, my blog was another attempt at a fad I thought. I let it drop after only a few elementary posts and am now realizing that I wish I hadn't. It is a great way really to show my personal and business life all at once. And it is hugely important to me to help promote some of the people in one of my teams from etsy. Therefore, I have to and want to pick this thing back up and dust it off. I honestly want to try. And with all of my hand written journals and diaries in the past, I would drop the habit and pick it back up over and over again. So bare with me here as I relearn, redidicate and probably redo my blog.

You know how you read certain blogs and you actually know exactly what the author means, how they felt, and such? You feel that way because they write it in a certain style that is familar to you or because they have written it in such a way to really use their rhetoric to it's fullest extent. I want to have that sort of witty and fun blog so as I stated before, there will probably be some full fledged changes.

I have been updating my shop a lot lately and for those of you who don't know, my two shops are almost completely seperated now, thank God!

You can visit my shops here
KawaiiBuddies for all things of a cute nature which are made by me

WhimsyWingsAndThings for supplies like ribbon and handmade charms

Hats are way behind in the designing department. However, I will be working on more periodically. I have just been too totally overwhelmed with my addiction to clay as of late. The good thing about that is I never stay on a medium for more than three months at a time. Someone once stated it as "I have multiple personality disorder when it comes to my crafting and art- I always changed mediums."

Here are a few of the clay things that I have been working on...

Forgetful as ever!

With the move and my birthday last week, and with unpacking, donating blood, and the addition of three sales within 2 days, I have been a little overwhelmed to say the least. And like nearly every time before, I forget to do something. This time, I forgot to announce who our winner for the tribble earrings is....

Ashley!

Ashley will be contacted by email and I will make the tribble earrings specifically for her!

I am thinking of a new way to do my giveaway and would love any input on rules, entry or even the giveaway prize/item that you would like to see next!

Love Always
Candce

Just a reminder...

That I am having a giveaway this month...

I am hosting my first official blog giveaway. The winner will receive a fun set of tribbles jewelry in a custom color of their choice. The set includes one pair of tribbles earrings and one matching hairtie.

The colors to chose from are as follows:
Red
Pink
Brown
White
Purple
Green
Yellow
Black

To enter into the giveaway contest, all you have to do is one or more the following:
*Post a comment on my blog (Qualifies as 1 entry) with the following information:
Your name
Email so that I can notify you if you win
Your color preference for the tribbles set
Your favorite item from my shop
Limit to one entry this way per contestant
*Post a link to my blog in your blog and then comment on my blog with the link to your blog and details to where the link is featured as well as your name, email and color of tribble preference (Qualifies as 1 entry) Limit to one entry this way per contestant.
*Post a link to my etsy shop in your blog and then comment on my blog with the link to your blog and details to where the link is featured as well as your name, email and color of tribble preference (Qualifies as 1 entry) Limit to one entry this way per contestant.
*Post a small feature about my etsy shop. It must feature a link to my blog, a link to my etsy, my shop name, a small blurb about my shop and a picture of something from my shop. Then comment on my blog with the link to your blog as well as your name, email and color of tribble preference. (Qualifies as 3 entries)

*Follow my blog (current followers will automatically be entered into the drawing) Make sure that you comment and let me know or else you may not be entered. (Qualifies as 1 entry)

The winner will be chosen bingo style (I will write all of the contestants entries names on a piece of paper and draw them out of a hat)

The winner will be chosen on my birthday, March the 18th. The winner will then be contacted on March 19th.

Ahem... drumroll please

Okie dokie- so as we draw nearer to the final bits of our highly anticipated move into the house it seems as though I am even more creatively hyped up than I am usually. This means that I have drawn a ton more designs and have yet to make them. Of course once we finish the move and get things situated, I will be cranking hats out like crazy. It will probably be mid to late April when I start and will probably make a new hat per day. So here are some of the designs if you would like to see them. I would love to hear your comments and such. So could we please have a drumroll until the new hats get made? lol

So first we have Artemis and Luna hat designs from the Sailormoon Series

And then Kon from the Bleach series- I don't know why, but this one makes me smile when I see the design. Can barely wait to see how the actual hat turns out!

Jack Skellington whom everyone loves!

Inspired by Sanrio characters. Can you guess which ones? lol

I was thinking of having a cute chocolate bunny available for the Easter season which is what inspired this little guy

Bender! Need I say more?

My cute lil devil guys

So ANGRY!!!!

Enjoy and let me know what you think! Honestly, I am an attention lover. The more comments I get, the happier I am!

More hat designs but where are the actual hats?

Ok, I have been so busy packing and moving, moving and packing that I havent had a lot of time to actually create. However, I have been sketching up ideas as they pop out of my head because if I dont they will be lost forever, or atleast until I think of them again 6 months later. lol. Anyway, it will be so much easier to create in our new place so I have just put a big halt to all larger projects until that time. Atleast you can see all of my designs though and know that I have great plans!

Everyone loves M&M's

Eevee hat would be adoreable. Maybe I will design and make all of the evolutions too!

Chocobos!

Hostess Cupcakes

Heartless hat that my hubby desperately wants me to make ASAP

And I think the half eaten gingerbread man is my fave. He just looks so adoreable and...*chomp*... tasty!

Yeeesh! Exposed and Featured!

Ok, so moving has been very hectic. Enough so that I have not accomplished all that I might have wanted to since the new year began. However, I have designed, if not created several more hats that will be posted in pics at the bottom of this post.

But, more importantly, I was featured on a radio show recently, last week in fact, on a Monday night. You can listen to the show by visiting this link http://clockworkcabaret.podhoster.com/ and then clicking on the episode entitled "Hats!" Even better, I was able to contact the sisters who host/DJ the show and they agreed to do a couple of giveaways for me, and promote my shop a little more. Their shows can be listened to via web stream on Mondays nights at 11pm EST to 2amEST http://www.communityradio.coop/ For me that starts at 10pm. It is a little late at night for some but you can always listen to the recorded podcast http://clockworkcabaret.podhoster.com/ at a later time of your convenience. Anyway, the first of the two giveaways was tonight and the second contest was announced tonight, however contestants will have until next Monday night to design and send in artwork of any kind for the hosts' new imaginary band. You can listen to details on the podcast for March 2nd-3rd when it comes out if you are interested in participating.

This is super duper cool for me because I have yet to be featured solely anywhere. I have recently been in quite a few treasuries which is nice, but I haven't really been in the spotlight any. So, I was very excited about it and still am. lol I would really appreciate it if everyone would check it out and help to spread the word a little via blog, twitter, forums, word of mouth, whatever. I would love the extra exposure right now!

And here are the pics:



The mummy hat will be done in a sandy off white color. And the Octopus is for a custom order but will probably still be posted in the shop in case anyone else likes him! ^_^ Let me know what you think please!

Featured Fellow Etsian Friday was late

Sorry to anyone who may have been expecting the Feature to be on here yesterday. I was too, but in fact got caught up in cleaning my new house that it completely slipped my mind. So here is my "feature for a fellow etsian a day after friday" post! lol.

Pastrystitches is a lovely little shop on etsy that I have frequented and bought from a few times now. She is a pleasant seller and has a fun sense of whimsicalness and kindness to her. Whether you are interested in jewelry, keychains, phonecharms or fleece hats- she can meet your fancy. I have asked her a few questions and she happily answered. Please be sure and read all the way through and visit her shop herehttp://www.pastrystitches.etsy.com/

Q) Please tell us a little bit about yourself, your personality, and how you got started doing what you do.
A) I am 23 years old going on 24 in April, I have been told to be cute, overly friendly, to nice for my own good, like a little sister to my friends (even when I am older than them), and goofy. I move around a lot and use to live in Texas for 13 years (I still call it home), but live in Ohio now. I am happy with my boyfriend that I have been with for six months that I hope to marry in two years.I use to go to conventions (14 total so far) and did a lot of cosplay (costume play for those that don't know), so I have been sewing for six to seven years. The clay is more recent though I use to do that in art class. My aunts are both on Etsy and told me about it... for months I thought over and over if I should or not. I broke down (thank god) and joined the group.

Q) pastrystitches seems like a fun name for a shop. Why did you pick that?
A) Well originally I was going to sell baked goods online, but then I found out I couldn't unless I had a license. I could have had an at home license if it was for us having four cats. Took me awhile to get my shop name since I am doing sewing and clay (and at the time still having the at home bakery in mind)... I was thinking of doing BakedStitches, but my boyfriend said that sounded like I was going to sell drugs. So I changed Baked to Pastry, which comes from the baking the clay part and then the stitches from the sewing I do.

Q) What would you say inspires most of your work, if anything?
A) My boyfriend, my aunts (who are also on etsy), and my love for anime and video games. It helps to be part of a family that's so much into the crafts and making things, it makes you want to try something as well. Both of my aunts are on etsy, so it pushes me to keep working at it and hope to be as good as them with the selling. My boyfriend inspires me to be more creative and to keep working, lol... he pushes me to keep trying. Now my love of anime and video games, those really inspire me to be creative and for ideas to make things. Also I got to say my Etsy friends inspire me a TON on ideas they talk to me a lot about the ideas I want to do and give me feedback on them. I love them to pieces~!

Q) What in your shop, do you have the most fun making?
A) Oh so hard to say. Probably my cat items as well as my mushrooms so far... they are easy to do as well as easy to make different sizes. Also it seems like people really, really love my cat items, so it makes me happy when making them that I know people love them!

Q) What in your shop, is your favorite item or something that you are the most proud of?
A) I got to say Domo and the Cat items. They are so cute and people like them a lot, so I am very proud of them.

Q) I personally love your items! Do you love your items enough to make them for yourself as well?
A) Actually yes, lol! I have made myself orange kitty cat earrings and made myself my own fabric flower... which I still need to make for my shop.

Q) Your etsy shop has only been open since Nov of 2008. Have you been making your goodies for longer than that?
A) Well the clay is new to me, but have been sewing for 6 to 7 years now.

Q) What stands out about your work? What do other people not have that you do?
A) Uniqueness? Cute and lovable? So hard to say... a lot of people make similar things, but not the same... I make some anime and video game items that other people don't. Also slowly working on bookmarks and hair clips of different themes including video games and anime. I haven't seen others having those.

Q) Do you have any current promotions or sales going on?
A) My V-day and Kitty cat items are already 15% off... added an addition 15% off on them until the day of Valentine Day. 20% of one item for a returning customer and also 20% off of the customers that are one of the 100 that hearted me for one item in a three month time.

Q) If you had to promote your shop right here, right now and could only type/write/say up to 25 words, what would you say? Come on now! Really sell it to us! Make us buy from you!
A) I'm cute~! Buy buy buy, lol. Just kidding. I make cute items based off of anything you like in earrings, key chains, phone charms, even hats!

Q) Anything else you would like to say or let everyone know?
A) PastryStitches is actually owned by two people: Justin (boyfriend) and Me (Noelle)... we both create clay items together.

Also, visit Noelle (Pastrystitches) at these locations too:
Blog: http://pastrystitches.blogspot.com/
Myspace: http://myspace.com/chibisub
Livejournal: http://pastrystitches.livejournal.com/
DeviantART: http://tsukiyonoomi.deviantart.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pastrystitches
Plurk: http://www.plurk.com/pastrystitches
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/PastryStitches/55280369041
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60539358487

Hope that you all enjoyed the feature.

Unfortunately, I have decided to go against my earlier statement about doing a feature every Friday. I will probably only do them once a month. You see, we are moving soon and it is hectic trying to update constantly and contact contestants while moving. lol. Everyone have a good valentine's day and a great weekend!