Friday Finds: Goodies for 2012

Happy New Year Cards (by Karma Bee)

Hey there! Hope everyone has been having a spectacular holiday! Well, the New Year is upon us and I thought I would share with you some beautiful Etsy finds for 2012. Everything's in black and white, well, because those are my two favorite colors.

Paper Ornament Kit (by Paper Art by CNM)

Handmade Pillow Covers (by LynnesThis and That)

Metal Pillbox with Mirror (by Colors by Liza)

Pearls and Bows (by Passionand Paisley)

Black and White Bud Vase (by Cynthia Vardhan)

Black & White Sugar Cookies (by Sugar Sanctuary)

Ivory Cotton Jacket- Kimono Inspired (by Lilies O Valley)

Black and White Letterpress Print (by Happy Deliveries)

 

Friday Finds: Dreaming of A Green Christmas

Greeting cards by designsbybeccashop.

As a buyer of and seller on Etsy I am continually amazed at the incredible items I find on the website. This year I made a point of trying to find all my holiday gifts on Etsy. The purpose of that is three fold: 1) I want to support other artists/crafters; 2) I hate plastic and there's not a lot of plastic on Etsy; and 3) I wanted to purchase items made in the United States.

Fabulous Finds on Friday is going to be a regular feature on my blog because I want to help support American made, hand-crafted goods. I hope you enjoy seeing some of the wonderful and unique items. You can click on the shop name underneath the picture and it will take you directly to the sellers Etsy shop. 

Please note: I can't be held accountable for the availability of these items as they may already have sold by the time you read this. But do yourself and others a favor and check out Etsy. There is a search field and you can find just about anything you ever dreamed of on this site! Enjoy...

Girls organic twirl skirt in orchard blues by GypsyForest

Organic Nesting Bowls in Dusty Sage and Almond by EcoChicHandKnits

Oatmeal Baby Milk Bath-choose your scent by senchawellness

Organic Eucalyptus Soothing Soap by PiccoloParadiso

Small Bird Eco-Friendly Christmas Ornament by recycledparts 

   

Quilting Fabrics - New Fabrics From Liz Scott Collection

Liz Scott Domestic Bliss Kitchenette Eggplant ($10.45 per yard)

 As a quilter and costumer I am a fabric whore! You can never have enough fabric in my opinion and there are some new cotton fabrics out there which I just adore. Here are some that I would love to get and make a quilt...any excuse to purchase more for my stash!

Here are some delicious fabrics from Liz Scott that would make a most beautiful quilt! All available at www.pinkchalkfabrics.com. 

Liz Scott Domestic Bliss Lattice Garden Eggplant ($10.45 per yard)

Liz Scott Domestic Bliss Out Of Doors Pink ($10.45 per yard)

Liz Scott Domestic Bliss Time For Tea Eggplant ($10.45 per yard)

Liz Scott Domestic Bliss Beaded Curtain Eggplant ($10.45 per yard)

Liz Scott Domestic Bliss At the Table Eggplant ($10.45 a yard)

Road Trip Update

Back from Amelia Island and the Stop at Nothing seminar. What a wonderful week. Met executives from all over the country, Costa Rica and Frankfurt. Made some friends, laughed, and most importantly learned a lot about myself. I can only hope that I will be able to attend the second seminar in the series.

One of the nicest things about the week (aside from getting to walk the beach each morning and watch the sun come up) was the opportunity to be with other individuals interested in becoming more self-aware; thus developing the ability to be a better person. Stop at Nothing offered the safe space and professional facilitators which allowed some serious introspection.

I realized I've been living and telling some terribly self-limited stories about myself. Much baggage was unloaded and my back feels so much better!

The incredible graduates from the 12-2011 High Impact Leadership Seminar.

Room #15 at the Elizabeth Pointe Lodge, Amelia Island, Florida. My fabulous room with three windows overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

The beach...my favorite kind...deserted!

Proof positive I was there!

Sun coming up.

Resident pelican.

Another resident of Amelia Island.

Don't know the bird, but it's a cutie running around in the foamy waves.

Scary Santa in town.

Time Flies and a Road Trip

Holy Smokes! Where did the last two months go? I can’t believe it has been so long since my last posting. Well, if there is anyone out there reading this little diddy, my humble apologies.

Had a quick trip to Washington, DC to visit family. But mostly I have been working on opening and creating products for my Etsy shop. (There is a link to the shop on the right.) I knew opening an Etsy shop would be a lot of work, but I had no idea how much work! Plus, having a full time job makes it even more of a challenge!!!

Getting logos and branding materials designed and printed; writing text for product descriptions; learning to take pictures on the new camera (still working on this one!); uploading hundreds of photos; editing photos; uploading to the Etsy site. Not to mention designing product, researching and purchasing supplies for said product, and making said product. I’ve missed a million different things I’ve had to do in the last several months to get the shop up and running.

And I have to say, I am having a lot of fun. The shop still needs much work and I need to design and create more products...but I am moving toward that goal. Slowly but surely. I am trying not to put too much pressure on myself since there are only 24 hours in a day, but I am realizing it is a never ending process and there is always something to do. Thank goodness I’m having fun! And it’s a great way to learn, not only about entrepreneurship, but about one’s self and how I operate.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Elizabeth Pointe Lodge located on Amelia Island in Florida. Here is a picture of the bed and breakfast joint I'll be staying at:

Not too shabby and right on the ocean!

This looks pretty cozy! I think I could get a good night's rest here!

Dining room where I'll be eating breakfast in the morning. I hope they have really good coffee!

A lovely spot to relax and watch the ocean.

I'll be attending the High Impact Leadership Seminar put on by the folks at Stop at Nothing. It is, according to their website, "a one-week, small-group experience that opens participants to feedback and sends them home ready to lead themselves and others through change.

It increases emotional intelligence and reinforces personal relationships, lowering stress and enabling work/life balance. Participants return with a heightened awareness of leadership strengths and weaknesses that translates into measurable, bottom line impact."

I expect to get a tremendous amount out of this workshop and it is perfect for me right now since I am wading into the waters of business ownership. I am very excited and feel incredibly fortunate to be able to attend this workshop. There will be only 10 people in the group and I suspect I will be the only non-executive there! Should be VERY interesting!

Till later,