CLOSED: Handmade Feature/Giveaway: My Little Critterz

We are super excited to share with you this fun and colorful etsy shop as our second feature for 2011!

My Little Critterz is full of crocheted and handmade hats, headbands and more!  We love all the bright colors and playful designs that shop owner/designer, Lindsay uses.  

Meet LINDSAY of My Little Critterz:

What does your life outside of Etsy/blogging look like?

When I am not working on listing items, renewing, photographing or shipping purchases for my shop, MyLittleCritterz, I spend hours at night crocheting my handmade hats, headbands and toys. What I sell in my shop is not made on a machine, so it becomes very personal to me when I am fulfilling my orders. During the day, I am a substitute teacher for my school district in southern California until they are able to start hiring full-time teachers. I enjoy going to different classrooms because I get a lot of great ideas and I love working with the various grade levels. When I’m not at school or “working” for my shop, I enjoy spending time with my loving husband (of almost two years) and my wonderful family. My niece and nephew give me a lot of inspiration through the television shows that they watch, and what I think they would enjoy wearing. I am a book enthusiast (just like some people are wine enthusiasts); I love reading!! I read all different genres and authors. Anything that is suggested to me I read, and I could spend hundreds of dollars at the bookstore if my husband would let me. I am also trying to enjoy working out and getting in shape, but it is difficult to say the least…(torturous, horrendous, time-consuming, exhausting, just a few more words to describe those experiences!!!) In the future, I would love to own a home with my husband, start my family, become a full-time teacher and continue to grow my shops while doing what I love.

Describe yourself (or ask someone else to do it!) in three words.

Loved, Creative and Intelligent (from my husband)

Beautiful, Patient and Giving (from my mom)

Fall piece you can’t live without:

This winter, I can’t live without my comfy boots and scarves. Even though it doesn’t get very cold in southern California, it is wonderful to get bundled up to go out!

Most recent fashion-related purchase:

I haven’t bought anything fashion related for a long time, but I can’t wait for Spring to come so I can go shopping for my trip to Hawaii in April!! I will be looking for light fabrics in great colors. Shorts, skirts, tank tops, summer dresses, swimsuits, sandals and so many more fun things to get…

Do you craft/make anything else outside of what’s in your shop?

 I am an endless crafter! Besides crocheting, I do needlepoint, sewing, quilting, I make my own jewelry (and sell it), and being a teacher allows me to share my creative side with the students I work with. As I mentioned, I have another Etsy shop, houseofjewelry.etsy.com where I sell my handmade and one-of-a-kind jewelry.

Any Pet Peeves?

 My biggest pet peeves are people who are late (my husband is notorious for this), being interrupted when I’m talking (it’s a teacher thing), and people who don’t know how to drive in California.

Bad Habits?

 Trying to take on to much at once and stressing myself out. I’m working on not sweating the small stuff.

Desert-Island food?

 Chocolate!!! (anything.) This is my down fall…..LOL.

Three bands/ singers you can’t get enough of:

 My musical choices vary greatly! I honestly like almost all music depending on what kind of mood I am in. I can’t pick just three…..so, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Sugarland (my country favorites), Armin Van Buuren, Cascada, Groove Coverage (my techno favorites), Evanescence, Linkin Park and Ill Nino (my other music favorites).

Another blog you follow regularly?

Unfortunately, I don’t follow blogs as much as I would like to, but I would like to create my own so that I can share my process of creating, my ideas and my stream of thought to my shoppers/buyers and whoever wants to read about it.

What made you decide to start a shop?

 I started my shops (both HouseOfJewelry and MyLittleCritterz) because I love making items for myself, but most importantly, I wanted to be able to share them with other people. I have always loved looking on Etsy because of the great handmade or vintage items that are available. So this was a natural progression for me. I will admit that it is stressful at first because you’re not sure as a seller what people will think of your products. However, with My Little Critterz, I have gained confidence in my creations.

Significance of your shop name?

Lindsay's Hoot! The Owl Hat

My Little Critterz has two significances for me. First, the Little Critters books were my favorite children’s books growing up, so I just adapted the name a little for my shop. Secondly, I think of my hats as my little critterz, my creations that children and adults alike will fall in love with and treasure as much as I do. Someday, I will be making them for my own children and grandchildren to enjoy.

Favorite item in your shop right now?

 My favorite item right now is my Hoot! The Owl Hat. It is available in three sizes:

 Newborn/Infants 0-12 Months

Toddlers/Kids 1-10 Years

Preteens/Teens/Adults

This hat is adorable with the big eyes; it is warm and practical with the earflaps and ties and can be customized with yours or your child’s favorite colors!!

Lindsay is offering a Hoot! The Owl Hat to one of our lucky readers!  

The winner will get to choose between the Newborn/Infants 0-12 Months size or the Toddlers/Kids 1-10 Years size and will be able to choose their child’s favorite colors to customize this hat (we will email the winner a color chart to select from)!  

Here's how to enter:

Mandatory Entry 

1. Follow our blog! Once you become a follower, just leave a comment below, telling what your favorite item from My Little Critterz is.  If you’re already following the blog and our twitter—simply leave a comment, telling us what your favorite item from My Little Critterz is!

Additional Entries
2. Follow Miskabelly (@miskabelly) on twitter…and again, just a quick comment to let us know you did (with your twitter user name) and share what your favorite item from My Little Critterz is.

3. Once we tweet about the giveaway, you can re-tweet to gain an extra entry!

4. HEART  Miskabelly on Etsy (leave us a comment to let us know!)

5.  HEART My Little Critterz on Etsy (leave us a comment again!)

 This contest will run until next Monday, February 7th.  The winner will be chosen through a random number generator. 

Good Luck!!

Manda &Jayme

CLOSED: First GIVEAWAY of the New Year: Six Little Hands

We're excited to be back with some amazing handmade giveaways for our readers in 2011.  We're even more excited that our first giveaway is from Six Little Hands, an all natural body products shop.

Meet Melanie of Six Little Hands

--What does your life outside of Etsy/blogging look like?

I am a wife to an amazing husband and mommy to three beautiful girls.  My husband and I have been married for 13 years, and our girls are 7 years, 5 years, & 9 months old.  I had a life in molecular biology research for years before having children, but I enjoy being with them so much that I no longer work outside of the home.  I stay home with the girls and home school our two older girls.  We have so much fun getting to travel around and play in Southern California!

--Describe yourself (or ask someone else to do it!) in three words.

Intuitive, introverted, compassionate (my husband’s words)

--Winter piece you can’t live without:

My jeans (any of them)

--Most recent fashion-related purchase:

This cute, lace dress that I love to wear over my jeans

 --Do you craft/make anything else outside of what’s in your shop?

I love to bake.  Cookies are my favorite.

--Any pet peeves?

Mean people (it’s the first thing that comes to mind)

--Bad habits?

Staying up way too late and over-extending myself

--Desert-island food?

Any and all sweets, no question about it!

--Three bands/singers you can’t get enough of:

Ooooh, I love all kinds of music.  To narrow it down, I’ll go with Gatlin Elms, Sarah McLachlan, & Kenny Chesney (random, I know)

--Another blog you follow regularly (link us!):

http://www.healthhomehappy.com/

(and my own blog which I’ve slacked on since trying to get the Etsy shop up and running: http://naturallivingsimplelife.blogspot.com/) 

--What made you decide to start a shop?

I wanted to make all natural soap for our family, and at first, I thought I could just gift and sell the rest.  Then it turned into much more than soaps!

--Significance of your shop name?

I named the shop for my three little girls.  The two older ones love to help me bake, so I knew that they would love creating bath and body items (they love using them, too)!

--Favorite item in your shop right now:

That’s hard, but I’ll go with the Pure Luxury Milk Bath Salts.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/66442116/10oz-all-natural-milk-bath-salts-with

Melanie is giving away a generous prize pack 
to one lucky reader!

 The Six Little Hands Giveaway Pack includes:

-Jenny's Organic Lavender sugar scrub

-Hana's Lavender Natural Castile Soap Bubble Bath

-Baby Cheeks Organic Body Butter

-Ella's Oatmeal Shea Butter Soap

-Morning Mimosa Organic Lip Balm

The items are safe for children, too.

Here's How To Enter (Multiple Chances to Win!)

Mandatory Entry 

1. Follow our blog! Once you become a follower, just leave a comment below, telling what your favorite item from Six Little Hands is.  If you’re already following the blog and our twitter—simply leave a comment, telling us what your favorite item from Six Little Hands is!

Additional Entries
2. Follow Miskabelly (@miskabelly) on twitter…and again, just a quick comment to let us know you did (with your twitter user name) and share what your favorite item from Six Little Hands is.

3. Once we tweet about the giveaway, you can re-tweet to gain an extra entry!

4. HEART  Miskabelly on Etsy (leave us a comment to let us know!)

5.  HEART Six Little Hands on Etsy (leave us a comment again!)

 This contest will run until next Monday, January 31st.  The winner will be chosen through a random number generator. 

Good Luck!!

Manda &Jayme

 

Baby C’s Nursery: DIY #5

It has been a while since I’ve done one of these posts!  But don’t let that fool you—I didn’t lose interest in decorating this nursery with lots of do-it-yourself touches.

When trying to put together a room, curtains are ALWAYS my downfall.  I can’t grasp what looks good.  So many lengths, weights, curtain rods to choose from!  (times like this I need my girl, Cole from Just Cole, to come put her talents to use!  Must remind her to blog about curtains for those of us who are interior-design-challenged….)

In the interest of saving money, I simply looked for a fabric that matched my color scheme and purchased 2 yards (from http://www.etsy.com/shop/imaginefabric).  At first I was looking for vintage fabric, but ended up caving and getting this vintage-inspired floral print.  I also purchased a yard of purple gingham fabric from Jo-Ann Fabrics to give my curtains some interest (ok….and because the 2 yards I ordered wasn’t enough to cover 2 windows!  Oops.).

First things first, I cut the floral fabric into 4 panels.  I then sewed the gingham to the bottom of each pattern to add some length (and to make them cuter!).

(photo 1- a sketch of the plan…or more like, a sketch of the LACK of plan and how to fix it!

photo 2- adding extra length by sewing a contrasting print on the bottom

photo 3- floral and gingham—a match made in baby nursery heaven!)

Next comes the most time-consuming part—hemming ALL edges.  I simply folded each edge twice and eyeballed it.  The gingham pattern worked as a great guide for straight lines!

(photos 4, 5, 6—hem and hem and hem….)

After all the edges were finished I folded over the top edge to make a space for the curtain rod.  To make it a little fancy, I measured down one inch and sewed a seam and then did the other seam and the bottom of the fold.  The rod will go in the lower of the two openings—this allows for a little bit of a “ruffle” on top, above the curtain rod.

(photo 7- measure the fold-down length, based on how long you want your curtains to be

photo 8- sew two rows, so that the curtain rod doesn’t have to go right at the top of the curtain—makes a cute ruched top detail

photo 9-final product should be two openings at the top.  Put the curtain rod through the middle one)

Lastly, IRON them!   Ironing sewing projects give them a much more finished look.  It smoothes out imperfections and gives curtains a much more crisp look.

(photo 10- take that extra step and iron!)

Here is the finished product—a happy accident of two-toned curtains!  I wish they were a teensy bit fuller and a smidge longer… but they are made with love and I can’t wait for little Baby C to see how hard I worked to make her room pretty!

Excuse the poor photo quality!  The sun shines into the room so brightly, but there's no light going out...so taking pics of windows is next to impossible!  I will try again once I do the final nursery tour!  Stay tuned...

xo

Jayme