Spring Weekend Delights!

On this past dreary Sunday morning, I found complete happiness in snapping a few early blooms off of some trees as I walked my pooch. But the true delight came when I dust off all of my bud vases and display them in the corner of my kitchen. So mi casa es su casa. Rather, mi alféizar es su alféizar:

"Hey lady, that's a nice lookin' sill!"

And later in the afternoon the one bud that is with the mini daffies bloomed! I thought it might have been a Magnolia, but I have no idea what it is but it is truly gorgeous.
Note: None of these beauties were stolen from any hardworking neighbor's garden.

And for years, I've been wanting to steal some of these guys out of the stone wall on the other side of the block. So I finally did it. I won't tell if you won't tell... :)

Have a wonderful week, all!
I'll be uploading new earrings this week, so check back soon.

Weird.

Well we have a few new things in our destash shop – Sugar Plum Tree – that are just plain weird. Stuff that you definitely will not find anywhere else. Have a looksie & heart 'em if you like 'em. Or buy them up because they are all pretty much one-of-a-kind.

L to R: A cool patch with a strange animal on it–maybe a long-tailed bunny? Super-large dreamy, creamy spaceship-shaped beads. A pretty in pink floral something or other–can maybe be made into a brooch or a fabulous barrette? Whatever the case, these are strange. No?

Thanks for reading & Happy Shopping!

Newly-found loves

So was making a treasury this morning & I stumbled upon a few shops that I absolutely adore from the tippy top of my head to the bitty bottoms of my feet. On to the sharing:

Helis - the purse & bag shop
Many Etsiers know her for the silly animal head rings, but she also makes the most simple, yet delightful, purses and bags. The precious lace and bits of embroidery detail just tickle me to pieces.

Dear Golden Vintage
Pleasant collection, pleasant photography and totally stylish. Plus, they have best vintage shoes on the block.

Sea Breeze Studio
Some of the cutest pouches I've ever seen. Ever. But I suppose I have an affection for teensy animals and rick-rack. I can't decide if the hedgehog or the ducky makes it to my Birthday list.

Cassia Beck Photography
Colorful and sensationally vintage, these prints completely embody nostalgic sweetness. The flower prints bring me to my old back yard, where I used to eat strawberries out of the fiercely overflowing patch. And it's not just the ttv that brings on the old school - it's the subjects she chooses.

L to R: Mustard Lace Antler Pouch, Helis. Ivory Jackie O Dress, Dear Golden Vintage; Hedgehog Pencil Case, Sea Breeze Studio; Crop of Sitting Pretty III, Cassia Beck Photography

Hope you enjoy my new visual treats! Show these shops some good ole Etsy love by buying up all their stuff! Or at least hearting them. Because that is all poor people like me can do until payday.

Playing Catch-up with my treasures. Or junk. Or whatever.

Wow, I feel like a busy bee these days! I suppose that is the way that it goes in the Spring – trying to get everything in when the weather actually becomes warm enough for outdoor activities. I really don't know how other creative people, especially ones with kiddies, get it all done!

So not this past weekend, but the weekend before (!), Red Heart 13 and I hit up the Flea Market and did some major damage.

L to R: Yeah, I made out in the chain department; frames & a fun matchbox; & my new gorgeous book of Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales.

My mission was to find a bitty plastic baby, a few tiny picture frames and some new items to shoot my jewelry on. I came out with all three (a big surprise!) plus some other incredible finds. I loaded up on vintage chains and kept my eyes peeled for lockets, because that is my new obsession (I haven't created them in a while, but trust me, I'm collecting). So rather than write about my finds, I invite you to have a looksie:

L to R: Embroidered linens for some unknown use, misc vintage bits for my jewelry-making, 70s pillowcases in a beautiful array of patterns, floral vintage bits for jewelry-making, keys & more keys, large beadcaps, some very dirty buttons that need a good warshing, and lockets and mini frames for more jewelry-making.

Thanks for checking this out & stay tuned for some shop updates - I have all these Spring ideas swirling around.

The Coolest Custom Portrait

Because of my new Twitter obsession, I have recently discovered a fun Etsy artist – Alex of Alex's Crafty Things, who does Sharpie portraits, among other craftastic and Comic-liscious things. Check it out - they're super cheap & fun & I must say that she is dead on. I sent her the first one & she returned this great portrait:

Hey and if you guys get your's done, share with me, won't you? Cool.

Sugarplum Tree: New Sweet Treats!

RedHeart13 and I are so ecstatic that our destash shop, Sugarplum Tree, has been such a success so far! We've sold more individual items this week than we thought we'd sell in a month - yay! And to keep our shop full, we've uploaded a few items that I want to highlight:

From Left to Right*: Rich Chocolate Fudge Beads, $2.25; Orange you Glad Beads, $1.25; Truffle Tray, $1.50; Sweet N Petite Charm School Charms, $4.

More coming this soon, so keep your eyes peeled!
Happy Shopping!

*Prices, quantities and items subject to change at any time.

The Buzz: New Items Just in Time for Spring!

I think that this fantastic Spring weather inspired a bit of jewelry mania in me this weekend. Not only did I avoid tending to my regular weekend duties, but I also avoided organizing my stinkin' tax stuff. Again. Regardless, thanks to my obsession, my customers have a whole mess of new little ditties, some of which I will share with you now:

*From left to right: Knotted Affection, $49.50; Little Buzzers, $12.50; Rose Tea, $16.50; Sweet Buttercups, $13.50; The Delicate Swallowtail Necklace, $21.50; Of Ocean and Sky Earrings, $21.50

Happy Shopping!

*Prices, names & items subject to change, 'yall.

Story of a Junk Habit: My Green State of Mind

For me and my tiny Etsy shop, Green is a state of mind. Even pre-Etsy days I suppose you should say I was shamefully green. Not because of my recycling, but because of my pre-creative and creative processes, where I consciously do as much as I can to reuse everything along the way. This comes pretty easy to me because I am a collector. A junk one. Big time.

I collect and save everything from bits of used fabrics and tissue paper to rusty crap that I find on the street when I walk the dog. Tickets, tags, wrappers, stickers, twine, buttons, string – all of this would go in the trash for a normal person. But for me, it all becomes part of my tackle box. And what I do not re-use goes straight to the recycle bin.

For packaging, I use discarded bedsheets, which I rip into pieces to wrap around the jewelry. I re-use ribbon as much as I can to tie each fabric-wrapped package together, and I hand-stamp my tags to save energy (and a whole lot of moolah). When the time comes to get set for mailing, I use whatever used boxes or bubble mailers I have lying around.

As for business cards, instead of using a pre-made (and very expensive) duplex card stock, I make my own. The top sheet is a leftover French Paper stock that I had used ages ago in college, and the bottom is always recycled — whatever we have lying around the office. Be it sample paper stock, old presentations or just printed emails, it actually gives the card a really cool look. And the card's thickness seems really professional.

The future of Spool hopes to be even more green. I've created hand stamps to promote re-use of packaging products, but these are currently incomplete because of total stubbornness: I have not found the right recycled mount for them yet, which absolutely has to be made of something that is second generation. But I think that found objects could work, too, so we'll see what I come up with. To save an entire sheet of paper per sale, I'm hoping that I am able to get a new system in place soon so that I don't have to print out packing slips. Right now I'm too unorganized!

I'd love to hear what you guys do to think Green. Or any suggestions – I'd love to think Greener.