an outfit post?

I haven't been feeling real well lately which explains the quietness around here the past few days. I haven't had much energy to do anything worth sharing on here & even if I did, posting it seems to be taking more energy than usual. Which is why I'm sharing an outfit post from Saturday on Tuesday night!

I'm not one to do outfit posts. I hardly even know how to dress cute! But Saturday when I had worked up some energy we decided to go to Pittsburg, KS to walk around. I had bought this outfit right after Christmas but never had the occasion. I normally wear jeans and tshirts but felt like dressing up just because this weekend before it warmed up to much to wear it!

romper: charlotte russe
cardigan: rue 21 (I think)
belt: charlotte russe
tights: tjmaxx
shoes: walmart
necklace: cottonlane on etsy

rainbow swirls

I love browsing etsy for handspun yarns. I've never bought any. I wish I could buy them all though. I love looking at all the colors and fibers. Each skein is a new piece of art in my eyes. However I see a lot of yarns and forget about most of them but I favorited this yarn by SpunRightRound a while back and I can't stop thinking about it! I wish I had some extra spending cash but for now I will just continue looking at these beautiful photos. It's so pretty!

Rainbow Swirls handspun merino yarn

valentine swap

It is yet another snow day here! It is pretty crazy. This is the second week I haven't worked at the food bank. I feel like I haven't been there in forever. According the the weather channel it looks like it is supposed to warm up soon so maybe the mountains of snow will start melt so this town can go back to our normal schedule!

It hasn't been bad though. I have enjoyed watching the snow come down and how the town has seemed to have slowed down. I have spent this morning in my Grinch pajamas & red slippers, listening to some Jeremy Larson while doing some crocheting. It's been so nice & cozy!

A couple days ago I recieved my first package from the Valentine Swap by Strumpets Crumpets. I actually ended up with two partners, I'm not sure if it was an accident or not but it was fine with me!

This one is from Karla of The Itsy Bitsy Spider. She is a crocheter as well and she sent these cute little gumdrop mice! Aren't they the cutest? If you would like to make some of these for yourself, she is selling the pdf pattern for these in her shop here.

Remember that flag bunting I made last week during our last big storm?

It was so much fun to make that I have been making more triangles for more of them. Right now they are being blocked. I made the turquoise one out of one my handspun yarn.

I love the texture the handspun gives! I need to spin some more so I can make more flags!

hearted

I realize it has been over a week since I have last posted. I was feeling really worn out last week. I really didn't have much to blog about nor the motivation. I still don't have much to write about but I hate going this long without blogging! So I thought maybe you would be interested in taking a look at some items I have recently hearted on Etsy.

crochet bib necklace, ruffle layers in heather gray by acommonthread

meow mitts KNITTING PATTERN by TinyOwlsMagicAttic

i heart Missouri-Leather. by truche


Snuggly Owl limited edition print by AshleyPercival

Set of 3 hanging bowls in azure by vesselsandwares

flavors.me

I came across this really neat application today that lets your create some sort of a "homepage" for all your social websites. It's called flavors.me It makes it much easier to give this link to your friends or customers than to give them 4 or 5 different links to go to. This way they can find everything they need from you in one place.

Here is mine for an example. http://flavors.me/thatischarming

You can link your blog like I did here. It pops up right on that screen so they can read it from that page.

I also have my twitter feed come through on here.

I also have my etsy and flickr accounts linked on here but they have tons of other services you can link to on here.

This is perfect for those of you that have blogs, twitter, flickr, facebook fanpages or any other networking sites to go along your etsy shops.

I think it is so awesome! Have any of you tried this? Leave your link here if you do have one. I would love to see it!

Guest Post: Ali (ali crochet) - Giveaway

Hello, I’m Ali from Ali Croshaye.com. First I want to thank Carol for having me be a guest poster on this gorgeous blog. I am very new to the blog world and I’m learning as I go. This is my first guest post/give away ever! I’m super excited! So here is goes! I have a beautiful handmade granny square earring that was crocheted.

To enter:
All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Be sure to leave an email address so you can be contacted if you win!

The giveaway will end Saturday October 9, 2010. I will shortly contact the winner there after.

Happy Blogging and have a wonderful week! (:
Love, Ali
alicroshaye.com

Etsy Faves

Lately I have been browsing Etsy for inspiration. Everytime, I end up favoriting so many things that I thought I would share some of them with you every once in awhile. By the way, if you haven't looked at the suggested shops feature on Etsy, you must! It is so accurate and I find tons of new to me sellers that I adore!

Vintage Intarsia Patterned Sweater by Miscusi

Sangria Fancy Kitty Shirred Cap Sleeve by cathypeng

Cat Face by theboxofbirdsshop

Yellow Owl Necklace by birdqueen

Toby Tobagan Adult Hat by spoolofsugar

Mexican Folk Art Ceramic Bird by hollybeans

Itty Bitty Pumpkin

Today Seth & I are hanging out at Starbucks. Mocha Frappe. My favorite. Yum!

I wanted to show you an itty bitty pumpkin I made last night. I couldn't show you until today because it was almost dark when I finished it and my camera just wasn't going to take a decent picture. So I snapped a picture right before we left. Isn't it just too cute? It's so little!

I found this easy tutorial from Wee Folk Art.

I also want to show you this pretty hairtie that I am wearing today. It's actually a headband but I thought it looked cute as a side ponytail. I won it a few weeks ago on Chelsea's blog. It's by Rachel of Cucuco. She also sent me an adorable yellow hair clip with the same type of flower as the headband and a notebook with some fabric flowers on it. Her shop & blog is full of cuteness! Be sure to check them out!

Cucuco Shop

Cucuco Blog

The Handmade Marketplace

Tonight Seth & I went to Jefferson City to Hobby Lobby to pick up some stuff for his sister's wedding next month. We ate at Panera Bread which is delicious!! We will definitely have to go more often! Then we went to Barnes & Noble for some coffee and shopping. I bought The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin. This book caught my eye right away. I flipped through it and found info on things that have really been on my mind lately like branding and things like that. Also I noticed right away the illustrations in this book were by Emily Martin whose illustrations I absolutely love!

I can't wait to read through this! Have any of you read this book? Was it useful?

That is Charming Etsy Shop Reopened!

I'm sorry the past week has been pretty quiet around here. I have a good reason though! I have been working on reopening my etsy shop! There isn't much yet but I was too anxious to get things listed. Here are some of the things I have listed so far.

Please take a moment to check it out! Let me know what you would like to see in the shop.

Seablanket

I am back! We finally got our internet set up so I will be able to be around more again! My google reader is pretty overwhelming but I will get through it eventually.

During the week I did win a pretty awesome giveaway. Chelsea of Seablanket is one of my favorite bloggers. My favorite about her blog is all the amazing tutorials. She is so creative. Her etsy shop went live today and for her etsy opening she held a giveaway & I won! I won her beautiful Bobbie Ruffle Necklace. I cannot wait to recieve it! You can purchase this necklace and tons of awesome handmade & vintage accessories for both men & women in her shop!

I also won ad space on her blog. Be sure to check it out!

Seablanket Etsy Shop

Seablanket Blog

If I had $600 to spend

How perfect would this be? A giant doily rug. It was made without any hooks, just bare hands. Now that is amazing!

[ladiesandgentlemen on etsy]

Cori Dantini

...save...

I just blogged about a really awesome etsy shop over at The Nocturnal Nest blog. Click on over and leave some love!

February Feature: Jamie - Inspired Mess

Last month I featured Katja & I really enjoyed doing that so I have decided to do this once a month. This month I'm excited to feature my friend Jamie of Inspired Mess! I love this girl! She is so creative & fun to talk with! I'm going to be meeting her next month and I couldn't be more excited!! I had her answer a few questions about herself and creativity...



Introduce yourself and what you do.
Hi!!! I'm Jamie from Inspired Mess (http://inspiredmess.blogspot.com/). I'm a wife to Brian and a mom to 3 boys. I spend my days working in a law office and daydreaming about creating things. By nite, I craft until my heart's content while separating fights, checking homework, laughing at my kids and making up songs while dancing around the house.





How did you get started in crafts?
I've been a scrapbooker for a very long time, since my senior year of high school (nearly 15 years ago, yikes!). I sold Stampin' Up products for 6 years and would always be hosting "stamp camps" and teaching projects. I quit selling a few years ago and signed up for Elsie's first class and Rachel's first art journaling class. I fell in love. I found all these other things that I love to do and haven't stopped since!



What is the one thing you are most proud of that you have made so far?
My kids. Ha! Other than them (hehe), my family adventure nights. These are nights (or days) that I came up with that always have a theme. There are "missions" for us all to complete and then the night usually ends with a movie that goes along with the theme and popcorn in a fort that we've built in the living room. We've been to Neverland, Space, Treasure Island and been Superheroes. I'm looking forward to creating a book for parents, with an adventure for each month of the year. It's a great way to have fun with your kids and create memories that will last a lifetime!



Where do you find your inspiration?
Everywhere, as cliche as that sounds. I get most inspired and most of my ideas in the shower, while driving or right before I fall asleep. I have to have pads of paper and pens all over the place so I don't forget anything. Music, nature, God, my family, love, my amazing friends, other blogs and photos, commercials, magazines, books.... (I could go on and on...)





What keeps you motivated to keep creating?
I have to create. I always want to and if there's something I don't feel like doing, I just don't. Sometimes I get tired and just relax. Then I'm always looking forward to getting right back at it the next day. If I go too long without creating, something isn't right. I feel like I'm off balance. It keeps me sane and calm. It seriously soothes my soul. (as corny as I'm sure that sounds. ha!) I have a hard time just sitting and being. If I'm watching tv, I'm always embroidering, writing in my journal, crocheting or working on something.



Any advice you'd like to give to new artists who are just finding their creative side?
Just jump in and do it! Do it all! Find what you like and what you don't like. Try everything that appeals to you. When you find things you really like, keep at it. Even if you're not happy with it, if you like doing it then keep doing it. We're so critical of ourselves when we all just need to have fun doing what we love!





Thank you so much Jamie for your answers!
Everyone please be sure to visit Jamie at her blog at http://inspiredmess.blogspot.com/

You can also find her at her etsy shop at http://inspiredmess.etsy.com/ & happy mail at http://happymaillove.blogspot.com/

Flapperdoodle

Thanks to Diana of Our City Lights for blogging about this artist awhile back, I bought these 2 prints for my house!

Eloise in love - 4 x 6 art print

Eloise jumps in a puddle - 4 x 6 art print

Kate Gabrielle is the artist and Flapperdoodle is her etsy shop. These other prints are amazing as well! You should definitely check out her shop to see all her cute prints!

Eloise takes a picture of Ramona on her polaroid camera - 8 x 10 art print


Eloise and Ramona eating neapolitan ice cream - 4 x 6 art print

Eloise, Ramona and Clarissa dance the Charleston - 4 x 6 art print

Emma and her cats - 4 x 6 art print