Etsy word: Gelid

Okay, so I had a little unplanned vacation from blogging. I didn't mean to - I just took a break from all the family, holiday, school stuff and I found it hard to get back into the swing of things again. Anyway, enough about that. Today's word is:

gelid \JEL-id\, adjective: Extremely cold; icy.

Oooh, how appropriate for the cold winter days! Off to dig around in Etsy to see what I can come up. As always, please post any of your finds as comments, and I'll group them all together in one post.

Christmas cards!

I'm happy to say that my Christmas cards are done!!! They're not all originals, mind you, but I do have a stack of 48 handmade Christmas cards. Now all I have to do is address them all...

Complement-ary Etsy finds

Okay, I have to admit that this was a difficult Etsy search for me. As soon as I read the word "complement," I got this mental image of Danny and Sandy singing, "We go together..." Once that was in my head, I couldn't seem to shake it.

And for anyone else who has thoughts of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John dancing around in their heads, someone has created a cute journal from a recycled Grease album cover:


Denise's interpretation of this word was much more appropo - yin and yang as perfect complements of each other. She found a number of good examples. (See her comments on my previous post.) I think the yin yang baseball is my favorite, though.


Once I was able to banish the singing Danny and Sandy from my head, I came up with these two items. The first is a pair of ceramic cruets that seem to melt into each other. Visually, they are complements of each other, but I found the artist's description to be particularly fitting to this word. She describes the pair as a couple, the strengths of one supporting the weaknesses in the other.

And speaking of couples, how's about the very first couple? Adam and Eve, that is. Check out this pair of earrings.

(Hey Adam, that's a mighty big fig leaf you're wearing....)

Today's Word: Complement

Okay, so I know it's not a highly unusual word, but it IS the word of the day at dictionary.com.

complement \KOM-pluh-muhnt\, noun:
1. Something that fills up or completes.
2. The quantity or number required to make up a whole or to make something complete.
3. One of two parts that complete a whole or mutually complete each other; a counterpart.

transitive verb:
1. To supply what is lacking; to serve as a complement to; to supplement.

I've got some good ideas for how to represent this word in Etsy items, but I thought it would be fun this time to wait a day until I posted my finds. What item(s) do you think best represent this word? If you've got something to add to the list, email me or post a comment. Then, I can post all of them together.

New Blog Feature

I'm so excited about my new blog feature! I thought it would be fun to feature a word of the day and then items from Etsy that somehow match the meaning or tone of the word. I'll take the word from Dictionary.com's word for the day.

There's so much stuff on Etsy that it can be overwhelming, and I find myself sticking to the same categories or themes. My hope is that this will take me out of my Etsy comfort zone and discover the wide range of artistic ability and interpretation that is out there.

So, without further ado, our word for the day is:

perspicacity \pur-spuh-KAS-uh-tee\, noun: Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment. (http://www.dictionary.com/)

Actually, that's the word of the day from yesterday; it's just taken me 24 hours to put this entry together, what with the end of the semester and all.

My initial thoughts on this word were things that were clear or transparent, something with a clean look. This wall sculpture totally fit the bill, with the added bonus of a lightbulb image which fits with the idea of insight.


Then, I thought about enlightenment which brought me to this pendant. The connection to the word is pretty obvious. I also felt the clean, simple lines of this pendant were in keeping with today's word.

Finally, this ring has such clean, clear lines and the circle element seemed fitting.


So, what items do YOU think match our word?

Stampin' Up Retirement List! (and my reactions)

Stampin' Up has published the list of stamps set to retire with the new catalog in January. These stamps will be available until December 31. After that, they're gone!

They also retire a group of accessories with each new catalog, and I've got that list as well. The accessories are available until December 31 as well, but only while quantities last.

Retired Stamp Sets List - will be available through January 1

Retired Accessories List - while quantities last only!

So, which ones am I saddest to see go? I think it would have to be Label Classics (JUST bought that one) and the Letterpress & Headline alphabets. I have the Letterpress and it's my go-to set for scrapbooking. My friend Janna has the Headline alphabet, and it's one of her go-to sets as well.

In the accessories, I'm surprised (and sad) to see the Perfect Layers tool go. If you like to scrapbook and like perfectly sized mats, you NEED this tool!

Which stamps/accessories will you miss the most?

Has anyone seen my motivation?

And if they find it, can they return it to me???

As soon as I can get these last papers graded, my Christmas break will officially begin. But what do I do? I sit at my computer and aimlessly browse Etsy. If I'd get off my rear and finish my work, I could get into my studio and actually MAKE stuff to put out there. But instead, I sit and I click.

The Rubbermaid gods have been kind to me.

So I just got home from getting the passenger window on my van replaced (''nother whole story...) and I get a call from someone asking if I want any empty rubbermaid boxes. Um, YEAH. I have a serious addiction to plastic storage boxes. My family refers to me as "The Rubbermaid Queen." So of coures I'm going to want some more, right?

The deal was, her car was already pretty full and she couldn't fit it all in there with her stuff. And they were loading a truck to be donated to Savers as we spoke. I'd have to get over there right away.

My grading productivity for the day already being tanked, I agreed. Now, I was expecting maybe one large box, some 15-quart-ers, and a bunch of random crappy plastic. Nope. It was all huge plastic boxes, underbed storage boxes, and even a couple of stackable pullout drawers. My friend told me that there had actually been more, but that she had pulled out only the clear storage boxes. Except for one ginormous silver one. Filled with other boxes.

Thank goodness we still hadn't put the back bench seat back in my van. It wouldn't have fit if it had been there. Hell, it barely all fit as it was. Wanna see? Look below.

A booger and a collage

First, the booger... Looks real, doesn't it? Actually, it's just the reason why my big mama-jamma tape dispenser wasn't working - the hugests mono-booger I've ever seen. So what did I do? Stuck the puppy on my nose and took a picture.



Now, for the collage. I played hookie from my schoolwork tonight and made this collage. It's been a long time since I've created just to create. Tomorrow I start grading final drafts of the last paper in the semester. Liv went over to Tony's mom's house tonight so the house was quiet. I suppose a more responsible person would have gotten a head start on the grading, but I took advantage of the calm before the storm and played in my studio for a while.




This collage is a departure for me. I'm usually so much more controlled, planning out and cutting and measuring and obsessing over colors. For this collage, I just messed and played until I got a look that I liked.


The heart is chipboard with UTEE and glitter. The backdrop is layered with white feathers, with fibers wrapped around it to create a focal. The frame is painted with pink and copper paint, and then stamped with copper paisleys. The "Cherish" is actually stamped on transparency which is glued behind the second layer of the frame.


The frame for this collage started out as some dorky desk art thing from the Dollar Tree. When you unclipped the frame, all the pieces came apart. These puppies are the best value for a dollar! The dorky picture is totally separate from the chipboard frame elements. It's totally ready to be altered. I'm going to go back tomorrow and grab a handful more. Yay, cheap craft supplies!!! (Just don't go buy all of them until I get there to get the ones I want!)

Etsy goals, and a new pair of earrings...

Okay, so my private Etsy goals for this month were to get one heart a day and to sell at least one item a week. I'm not doing so well on the hearts (would put me at 50 by the end of the month) but I AM doing better than my goals on the sales. This last item was the 5th one for this month, which averages to more than one sale a week.

I'm sure that most people would consider those goals to be more than a little less than lofty, but when I'm fitting my Etsy business in between being a mama and my other part-time job I didn't think it would be wise to expect, or even to try, to accomplish much more.

With this last sale I have about $30 in my paypal account that can be used to buy myself a little treat. Earrings, perhaps? I could use a new pair of earrings...

Woohoo!!! Here's to low expectations!

Lookie! I snagged me a Treasury!

The stars aligned just right and I got a Treasury spot tonight! Check it out:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=15106

And I wasn't the only one! I was on the phone with Denise counting down the minutes until the number of treasuries would sink below 222, and we both got one! (You should have heard the excitement when the screen changed to accept a Treasury name... You'd have thought we both won the lottery or something. Anyway, check out her Treasury too:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=15118

Coming soon.... a tutorial!

At the Holiday Stamp Camp this weekend, we made some little 3x3 money holders. As soon as I get through the birthday party tomorrow, I'll create a tutorial for you. Who knows, with my desk cleaned off I might do it today during little girl's nap.

Supplies orgy

We've been having somewhat of a craft supplies orgy this past week. Starting with the Leisure Arts warehouse sale ($77 worth of stuff for $12 - now to find something to do with 20 sheets of houndstooth print 12x12 paper...), then my 80% off closeout Sizzix dies (9 dies delivered to my door for $34, including tax & shipping), then my Stampin Up Holiday Stamp Camp, and now today my Hobby Lobby finds.

I was at Hobby Lobby gathering supplies for Liv's birthday party this weekend and found that they still had a few Halloween items at 80% off. I found some glitter glue, some flocking, and best of all, some black accordian albums for 60 cents each. They only had four left, and I snagged every last one of them.

My studio WAS clean at the beginning of the week!

Check out my latest Etsy listing: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7772363

Now you can subscribe!

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I'm in a treasury!!!

So I was browsing the treasuries on Etsy today, and all of a sudden I notice that one of the treasuries has a little gold star next to it. If you're an Etsy seller, then you'll know what that means - one of your items is included in the treasury. Turns out that Ekioart from the AREtsy street team snagged a treasury and used it to feature Arkansas artists on Etsy. How awesome is that???

Go visit the Arkansas treasury to see what other Arkansas Etsians have been up to. You won't be disappointed!

And check out Ekioart's Etsy store while you're at it. (She didn't include herself in the treasury.)

Coming up for air...

I still have about two more weeks of the hell-schedule, but I realized that I needed to take a few days and come up for air. I was feeling waaaay too stressed and out of whack. My two short days of "vacation" from the hectic schedule have done me a world of good!


I'm feeling the creativity starting to pulse again. I had this deck of vintage playing cards and it finally dawned on me this morning what to do with them. With a little fold and some cardstock and some ribbon, they became little top-fold gift cards. I know, I know, not exactly fine art. But it was a little spark of creativity and it felt goooooooood.


Oh, and here's a picture of little Elvis in her jumpsuit. It's technically still not finished - the cape is just pinned on, and the pants need to be rehemmed so they're not highwaters. But it got us through Halloween and that's what matters for now.

I wish you could see the back of the cape and the little blue inserts in the pants leg. We're going to dress her up again in a few weeks and take some more pictures. Scrapbook fodder.

Hello from the land of Lycra and rhinestones!

Progress on the Elvis costume was a bit slow last night, but we are making progress. It's now a week until Hallowween. That may sound like a lot of time, but we're going out of town this weekend, and I have prior commitments for tonight and tomorrow night.

So... last night I fell in love with my husband all over again as I watched him setting rhinestones on Liv's cape. What man would spend the evening at the kitchen table with a bedazzler and an Elvis cape? I can think of just a few other than my sweet sweet husband. This is what we ended up with:

We still have to actually sew the lining onto the cape and then figure out a way to attach it to the back of the jumpsuit. I'm thinking Velcro?

Finally, a listing!

It's been four days since I've listed anything new on Etsy. I was starting to go through mild withdrawal so I quickly photo'd some tags I'd just made and now I feel back in the game.

They're made from a roll of vintage contact paper at an estate sale this weekend. Etsy and estate sales are a dangerous mix! In addition to the contact paper, I also came home with two decks of vintage playing cards and a package of vintage ribbon.

Anyway, these are the tags I made.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7554598

I'm feeling like a goddess

I'm feeling a little bit like a goddess after reading Denise's article about me on her blog. Thank you, Denise, for such kind, inspiring words! I felt my butt growing smaller and smaller with each sentence.

(Denise and I have a joke about how Etsy is like an artist's version of "Does this dress make my butt look big?" meaning that posting your stuff out to a group of artists can simultaneously bring out your vulnerabilities and provide the validation that you really do have something worthwile to offer.)

Check out Denise's Etsy shop! She makes the most marvelous collages where she pairs vintage photographs with snippets from old books. Then she writes a story to explain the scenario that brings together all of the elements of the collage. I'm totally not doing it justice. You just need to see it all for yourself!

I don't have much else to post tonight. I've been knee-deep in Lycra for the last couple of days while I've been working on my daughter's Halloween costume. Olivia is going to be Elvis this year! I had no idea that it would be this difficult to make. First, I couldn't find a pattern. Then, no fabric that was both stretchy and shiny white. Once I had the fabric and pattern in hand, I had to alter the pattern to fit my tall, thin little girl. I'm finished with the basic jumpsuit, now I have to make the cape and put jewels all over both pieces.

Check out the picture we found when we were looking for examples of Elvis' capes. I'm not sure how one would go about making one of these!

Goal: Kill the critic

Two days into my blogging, and I'm already behind. Not because I don't find the time to write, or that I get busy doing something else and forget, but because my internal critic keeps telling me that I have nothing of any importance to write. The same critic who tells me that anything I create is crap, that nobody would want it, that any idea I have for success is really going to be the source of my downfall. So I continue to make little items and keep them to myself. Or get an idea for a terribly cool new approach to my art, but at the first experiment fails my internal critic starts laughing at me and teasing, "I told you so, I told you so!"

So as I think about my goals for my blog, my Etsy site, and my SU business, I'm scratching all my previous notes about promoting my products, telling friends/family, creating focus, blah, blah, blah. That's all sideline. My real goal is to kill my internal critic. Shut that bitch up once and for all. Send her screaming to her grave while I let my internal artist out of her box and give her crayons, or paints, or glitter, or anything else her heart desires. And see what she does.

So, anyone know a good hit man?

Look, ma!

Lookie, lookie, I made a blog, too! I guess I'm feeling the pressure to finally move my inner thoughts and rambling email messages out into the world wide web of it all. I don't actually even have a plan for this blog, but I suspect it will touch various aspects of my crafting life, and a little of my life life.

Lookie, lookie!!

[clicking "publish" before I chicken out]