Everyone 50% off

Hurry in, time is running out for my 50% off sale.

 

Support etsy sellers

It's Small Business Saturday, what better day to support etsy sellers.  Check out Amy's Treasures for some beautiful finds. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/amystreasures?ref=si_shop

An update of sorts....

I wanted to post an update before I got lost in a sea of organza for the next few weeks.  I'm gearing up to put my organza peonies in a shop across the street from my work, that's like a craft mall, the owner supports local artists.  When I went in there a few weeks ago and looked around, I started talking to her and as we talked I got excited about the prospect of having my things in there.  I didn't feel the same way about the place closer to my house, and knew this was where I needed to venture into the world of renting shop space.  In addition to that, my friend is planning on having an artist holiday open house at her place in last November/early December this year.  So I've been busy focusing on making peonies (well steps one and two of it) for over a week now.  I've gotten a lot done in terms of cutting my old stash of fabric, most of that is gone and phase two of the process is almost fully finished with that first stack of cut fabric.  I'm going to finish those up tomorrow (probably) and then start cutting more fabric, probably finish up the old fabric before I move onto the new one.  So that I can finally get all my old fabric finished. 

In addition to the peonies, I talked about putting my wine glass charms in there.  I might hold off on those for now though, I feel like I'm spending all of my paychecks before I get them.  Although I've only gotten one so far, but still; if I want to go to my cousin's wedding thanksgiving weekend I'm going to have to cut back on my spending.  So I'll probably pull the wine glass charms from my shop and put them in that store for starters. I'm looking forward to moving onto phase three of the peonies though, but for now, I'm trying not to feel impatient when cutting fabric so that I don't burn myself out before things really kick into high gear. 

In addition to all of this, I'm learning the updated software for our lighting console at church and because we're adding more LED lights every week or two, it's starting to take longer to do the programming.  Which means two weeks out of the month I have to go in to church on Thursday nights to get my base looks programmed (if not more) when worship team is rehearsing, and then make any tweaks on Saturday so that I can get back to doing more dynamic lighting. 

There are other, some what minor things, but they aren't as important.  What does all of this mean for my etsy shop you ask?  Well after I list the last two peonies from the six I made last week, I'm going to take a break from making and listing new things for there until close to Christmas.  If I even start listing anything new by then that is. 

With that I'm going to leave you with an email I got from my friend last night, Romance Novel 2011

He grasped me firmly, but gently, just above my elbow and guided me into a room, his room.  Then he quietly shut the door and we were alone. He approached me soundlessly, from behind, and spoke in a low, reassuring voice close to my ear. "Just relax." Without warning, he reached down, and I felt his strong, calloused hands start at my ankles, gently probing, and moving upward along my calves, slowly but steadily. My breath caught in my throat. I knew I should be afraid, but somehow I didn't care. His touch was so experienced, so sure. When his hands moved up onto my thighs, I gave a slight shudder, and partly closed my eyes. My pulse was pounding. I felt his knowing fingers caress my abdomen, my ribcage. And then, as he cupped my firm, full breasts in his hands, I inhaled sharply. Probing, searching, knowing what he wanted, he brought his hands to my shoulders, slid them down my tingling spine and into my panties. Although I knew nothing about this man, I felt oddly trusting and expectant. This is a man, I thought... a man used to taking charge. A man not used to taking 'No' for an answer. A man who would tell me what he wanted. A man who would look into my soul and say...     "Okay ma'am, you can board your flight now."

Christmas in July

Christmas in July sale, enter coupon code ATCIJ15 to save 15% off all items. Sale ends July 24, 2011

Amy's Treasures

Something Needs to be Done

As most people know, sales are non existant on etsy these days so I'm going to give my artfire account a try.  Right now I only have two things in there but I'm going to be listing some peonies in there to see how things go.  I haven't promoted my artfire shop at all and only have a free accont.  So this will be interesting to see.

Baby Shower Blanket

As some of you know, there's more to me than making jewelry and flowers, I am also crafty at other things.  A couple weeks ago I got an evite from an old friend, someone I've known for a good 30 years.  It was for a baby shower/house warming party. I took one look at her baby registry and said "I'm making something."  The reason for this was two fold, one I'm out of work and can't afford to spend much, and two, I just didn't see anything on her registry that I wanted to get for little money.  So I decided to make my money go further by giving her a handmade blanket. 

Since I can't sew a straight line to save my life with a sewing machine, I decided to do a handmade blanket, fleece to be exact.  Rather than tab the edges of the two pieces of fleece to attach them, I went with a blanket stitch.  A quick search on youtube and I found this video:

I watched the video twice, once the day I looked for it and then again the next week when I actually had the fabric and was ready to sew.  It was a super easy stitch, I just didn't know how to add an additional length of thread so I stumbled my way through it the first two times, which resulted in two bad stitches but by the third one I had thought ahead and managed to make it look seamless.

in progress

in progress

finished

finished

All in all, it took a little over 2 hours to stitch together.  Trimming the fabric so that they were even took less than a half hour, I asked my mom to do that for me because I can't cut a straight line anymore and didn't want to ruin this.

As for the results...  it was a huge hit with the ladies that were sitting close and paying attention to what was going on, including my comment about it being handmade.  Not only did my friend love it, but she kept wrapping herself in it.  I kept reminding her that was was for the baby, not her, but she was so cold (the air was on in the house) that she couldn't resist.  As I was walking to my car I once again teased her about the blanket being for the baby, I told her I'd make her one if she wanted. 

The Hunt is on!

Looking for some fun and bargins?  Well look no further, or should I say, there's a scavenger hunt going on!  Find the coupon codes and save, sale ends Sunday 3/20/11.

Classic Admin Quotes

With the changes to the forums I thought I'd dig out this file and post the quotes for posterity.  A few weeks ago I ran across an old thread that someone started (sorry, can't remember who) of quotes that admin said when closing threads. 

Enjoy!


*way off-topic, and kinda flame bait-ey
* This thread is turning into Samuel Beckett prose
* Move along, folks. Nothing more to see here.
* Please play nice. If you are having a hard time being nice, please think twice.
* Yay for Admin bashing
* OMG WTF?
* QUESTION MARK?
* Those are some... interesting... insults.
* Don't call out other users in the public forums -- aside from being against the rules, it also promotes the gum disease know as GINGIVITIS
* This thread got hijacked like crazy by BANDITS. THREAD BANDITS.
* STOP VIOLENCING
* Evil is bad!
* No. Bad.
* Flamebait is bad
* flamebait response is bad too i guess
* Stop -- wait -- and relax...
* I dunno where this came from, but I know it ain't productive or positive. ;P
* I don't even pretend to understand, but I'm pretty sure it's not kosher.
* increasing etsy's capacity for love
* Smokey the Bear says: Only YOU can prevent forum fires.
* from the delightfully abysmal 'Batman and Robin'
* Don't worry, Haim’s working on it
* Please use fewer drugs when posting on the forums.
* Don't hate, collaborate
* Instigation isn't cool.. what would the Care Bears do?
*You guys are copying the person that started the first argument -- expect a call from their patent lawyer.
* It ain't the end of the world...
* Chill out folks, we handle 'em when we see 'em.
* I'm trying to eat a sandwich!
* Use your inside voices
* Not even Superman can impress and satisfy everybody -- just ask Frank Miller.
* quickly developing into a flamewar
* Take it easy, everyone. We all have different ideas of what is appropriate and what is not
* Skinny fat or in-between, fighting is not becoming
* Holy smokes, we might be violating all three of the forums guidelines here!
* It's okay to ask questions, but let's ask them nicer
* In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the delightfully abysmal 'Batman and Robin', "Chill out."
* Weird, I always though "SS" stood for "Surround Sound"...
* Love and Peace!
* Too much mud-slinging today, folks -- it's too hot to get all worked up
* If something you read upsets you, feel free to stop reading it.
* Designer bickering
* From now on just send hate mail to support@etsy.
* Be nice -- it's Father's Day!
* No more nastiness toward one another, please...
* What did I say about drugs before?
* stop the violence
* Uhhh... I don't even know what to say for this one.
* Please stop this.
* Confucius say, "Let locked threads die."
* Be nice.
* This isn't really a thread *per se* -- let's try to keep things on topic
* Veering off-topic like a skiier on an icy pond
* Constructive criticism is welcome, but bickering ain't.
* Fighting makes us cry.
* In the words of Johnny Storm, "Flame off!"
* Spring cleaning
* play nice, kids
* That's not a bug...
* Let's keep our threads a little less racist
* Peace out!
* It's time for everyone's tea and coffee break!
* Die spam, die!
* Instigation is not a virtue.
* Fighting is no fun.
* We are impervious to eyelash batting.
"A'ight now
* ::THREAD NEGATIVITY THRESHOLD HIT::

::APPLYING SONG LYRICS TO INCREASE LEVITY::

-Malcolm solves his problems with a chainsaw
-and he never has the same problems twice!
*On behalf of the race of nerds and the country of Etsyania, I delare war on this flamewar.

 

Wooo we won!"