Grace in Small Things 25.365

1. Beach-themed charms

2. Scrabble tile pendants

3. Aloe

4. Twenty minute conversations about Star Trek

5. Twitter!

Grace in Small Things 24.365

1. The ability to get sunburned in February

2. iPhones, even though I do not have one.

3. Spot's greetings at the front door

4. A1 chicken

5. Michael Westin

Grace in Small Things 23.365

1. Cat vs. man snoring contests

2. City Place

3. Balloons

4. Barbecues in February!

5. Pelicans

Grace in Small Things 22.365

1. Coffee with whipped cream on top

2. Perpetually blue skies

3. Bead catalogs

4. The library

5. Learning how to make wire wrap rings

Grace in Small Things 21.365

1. The cat snoring at my feet

2. My dad's hilarious comments here

3. Rainbow stamp pads

4. Almost two hundred visitors to my shop today!

5. Reorganizing my crafting area so I have more space to store things

New stuffs!

You guys, I posted so much stuff on Etsy today. Much of it sparkles:


Abalone makes me drool.


I really like these because they are so much funkier than anything I could pull off. The main bead is amber in the middle, with green edges. I used a prepackaged combo of Swarovski crystals for the bottom half, and I really like those colors together. Plus! They are all wire-wrapped, which means they were a huge pain in the rump. But they look pretty!


I enjoy seeing things in pairs.

Grace in Small Things 20.365

1. Peppermint hot chocolate

2. Bender, the alcoholic robot from Futurama

3. Any line uttered in The Princess Bride

4. Odd coincidences

5. Cinderella's Castle

Grace in Small Things 19.365

1. Nathan Fillion

2. Well, the entire cast of Firefly, really.

3. Polka dots

4. Faeries, especially those with glittery wings

5. Tattoos

Grace in Small Things 18.365

1. Custom orders

2. Two-hour marathon of Scrubs on Comedy Central (even though I watch it all day whilst I bead).

3. Knowing how to spot Floridian locals.

4. (We wear hoodies if it is under 80 degress.)

5. More Swarovski crystals than I know what to do with

Grace in Small Things 17.365

1. Danny Boyle is kind of adorable winning his Oscar.

2. Being inspired by movie star jewelry

3. Root beer

4. Flowy sundresses

5. Kate Winslet. I mean seriously.

Grace in Small Things 16.365

1. Sequins!

2. Montages!

3. Musicals!

4. Singing!

5. ...Exclamation points?

Grace in Small Things 15.365

1. Throw blankets

2. Hearing the bell on the cat's collar

3. Ghosts

4. Owls

5. Left-handed guitars

Grace in Small Things 14.365

1. Winning at Risk (twice!)

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

3. The new beads I ordered

4. The color pink

5. Wedding pictures

Oops

Yeah so, I'm a teensy bit behind on Grace in Small Things. I had a bit of a rough week, but things are looking up so hopefully I can start being a little more grateful!

//

You guys, I got my stamp from Blossom Stamps today, and it's GLORIOUS. It's small, but so intricate! It's a fairy with butterfly wings and lots of flowers around her. I can't WAIT to use it. I might even do it tonight, even though it's already getting kind of late.

I really love shopping at Etsy. I know how great it makes me feel when I make a sale, and I love feeling like I could have made someone's day with my small purchase. And who can complain about having something that is one of a kind (or OOAK, as they say there)?

I'm off to get some things done. I hope to have new items listed in the shop very soon!

Grace in Small Things 13.365

1. The awesome randomness of Futurama

2. I have an interview tomorrow!

3. I made a few cute sets of cards today, which I will probably put in the shop tomorrow. :)

4. Tiny new star charms

5. The stamp I ordered from BlossomStamps.etsy.com!

Grace in Small Things 12.365

1. Winning a game of Risk!

2. Much needed rain

3. A sparkling clean dining room table...I honestly didn't know it could get that clean.

4. Guitars

5. The possibility of a February thunderstorm

Grace in Small Things 11.365

1. The amazing blue water in Miami

2. Family request for jewelry from my shop!

3. Root beer

4. Valentine's Day hand towels from my MIL

5. Christopher Titus on Comedy Central

Grace in Small Things 10.365

1. Remembering to label this post already

2. Being at the right place at the right time

3. Barbecue chicken pizza

4. Being asked to be part of a fundraising auction

5. Twilight on the cover of Entertainment Weekly (I know, I know.)

Grace in Small Things 9.365

1. A freakishly snuggly, snoring fat cat

2. The return of 80-degree temperatures

3. Textbook pictures of lightning and flowers

4. Having new jewelry to photograph...All my staring at beads finally paid off!

5. Every season of Scrubs on DVD

Grace in Small Things 8.365

1. The awesome goofiness of pelicans

2. dive-bombing the water, seeking fish

3. in a hidden estuary in my apt complex

4. (complete with tiny crabs

5. and, of course, palm trees).

Google Analytics

I signed up for Google Analytics about a month ago; basically, once you sign up, you put a code on your page and it gives you visitor stats. You can see where people clicked from both Internet-wise (sometimes they just click right into the shop, and other times people come from my Twitter account or random places that I haven't head of) and geographically. I kind of forgot that I had it for awhile, so imagine my surprise when I checked yesterday and had visitors from all! over! the world! Countires include: well, the US, obviously, Canada, Honduras, Argentina, Vietnam, Thailand, India, China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Japan, Sweden, the UK, Italy, Netherlands, and Greece. AWESOME.

Google Analytics provides a TON of info, and I'm pretty sure that I don't understand most of it yet. But it's pretty exciting to see how many people are viewing my page and where they are from.

Grace in Small Things 7.365

1. DIY Valentine's Day cards

2. The deep purple blooms on the trees around the lake

3. Etsy Chat, for giving me a boost when I need it

4. Watching airplanes getting ready to land

5. An updated resume

Grace in Small Things 6.365

1. Shells that already have perfect-sized holes drilled into them.

2. Turtles sunbathing on the fountain in the lake in our apt complex.

3. The cat hunting ducks from a balcony three stories up.

4. Coffee.

5. 77 degrees in February. I will never, ever get sick of it.

Mmm, shiny.

I know, I know. Try not to look directly at it.


Made with sparkly black, clear, and pink Swarovski crystals (even the crystals on the spacers are Swarovski!). You can find it here!

I don't want to set the world on fiiiiire...

So I've been working on this complicated (for me, anyway) three-strand necklace that uses turquoise beads and large white shell beads. I still can't get one of the strands to sit quite right, which is SUPER annoying, because I don't know how to fix it and I'm really proud of this necklace and I want to show it off! My perfectionist tendancies preclude me from photographing it just yet.

I do, however, plan on finally taking some pictures of the sparkly pink and black bracelet I made the other day so that I can post it on Etsy. I hope it sells quickly so I can justify making more, because I love it!

//

The Fallout soundtrack is making my brain cells rot. That is all.

Grace in Small Things 5.365

1. A fellow artist (hehe) complimented my large silver flower necklace, hurray!

2. I have my volunteer interview tomorrow at the animal shelter tomorrow, and I'm way more excited than nervous.

3. Turquoise beads

4. My inspiration board, which houses cards from my sister and my best friend, pictures of friends and actors, and things from fellow Etsians.

5. Wood Wick candles, which smell and sound delightful.

Grace in Small Things 4.365

1. FINALLY attending the volunteer orientation at the local animal shelter so that I might talk to cats who are not my own.

2. Meeting a dog who was more calm in a large social setting than I am.

3. Hours and hours with no obligations, just playing video games with my hubby.

4. Seeing several twins of my cat, one of whom I named Buddha.

5. Moving the plants back outside because it does not stay cold here in south Florida. :)

Grace in Small Things 3.365

1. The hubs working from home today

2. Fresh clean sheets and comforter

3. Making a pretty bracelet that turned out the way I wanted it to

4. My guinea pig's giant bottom teeth

5. It being just cold enough outside to warrant wearing a scarf here in south FL

Grace in Small Things 2.365

1. Janitor rants on Scrubs

2. Shiny beads with blue and white stripes

3. The satisfaction of adding new things to my shop

4. Creating wire wrapped shells (free materials!)

5. Dr. Cox rants on Scrubs

Grace in Small Things 1.365

Because we can all stand to think a little more positively, I've (finally) decided to do Grace in Small Things, created by Schmutzie.

1. My fat cat (perhaps I've mentioned her?) is snuggling next to me. She's my own personal space heater.

2. The guinea pig cage is clean, and I feel like a good (pet) parent.

3. The palm tree outside is swaying violently in the wind, which means it catches my eye every six seconds.

4. I have a new light box with which to take pictures for my shop!

5. My parents just visited, and I am so lucky to be so close to them.

Etsy Chat Team

Oof, sorry for the blog slacking. My parents were here for a week and I couldn't take pictures of my stuff, so I was highly unmotivated.

However!

My light box arrived, and it is GLORIOUS. I got it from ThinkGeek, a website I could pretty much live at. The light box itself folds into a tiny little compartment in the bag that it comes with; I was worried that it would be super small, but it expands quite a lot when you unfold it! Somewhat unfortunately, it becomes about the size of the cube my cat loves to sleep in...She jumped into the light box twice within seconds of my opening it. I really hope she doesn't ruin this one, so I'm keeing it folded up (even though that means it's a bit wrinkly).

The lights that it comes with are also very handy; they have built-in stands, so it's very easy to position them. They are much brighter than the lamps I was using previously, so hopefully that will save me some editing work in Picasa!

In other Etsy-related news, I am now part of the Etsy Chat Team! I'm very excited to be part of a team, especially one with people I have already gotten to know and whose shops I truly love and admire. I'll be linking to these shops in a blog entry very soon, once I get myself a bit more organized!