Name That Stone!

Ok jewelry makers, lovers, and the all around knowledgeable - I am officially dumbfounded and need your help! Any idea what this stone might be? I'm *thinking* some kind of red agate but to be honest I really don't know. Any ideas are much appriciated!!

A Diamond in the Rough

Much to my delight as I checked my email this morning I saw the usual Pottery Barn message tucked between a few messages from Barack Obama and MoveOn.org. Ahhh a diamond in the rough! Not to say that I'm not majorly concerned with the election and all of that jazz, or course I am or I wouldnt be on democratic mailing lists... but this morning amist all of the school hype I just needed some good old fashioned computer generated window shopping!


I SO want this night stand! I mean, I seriously need it in my life! But at $229.99 dollars (marked down from $299.00!!) for a freaking nightstand there is no way on earth that I'll ever own such a thing - anyways, I can go to goodwill and pick up a crapper bedside stand and head on up to Lowes for some sandpaper and white paint and bada bing - I'll have the same thing for fifteen bucks... but hey, I need another project like I need a hole in my head .... which means I'll probally end up at goodwill this weekend :-)

Just thought I'd share a little mainstream inspiration for a small time weekend project with you all. ♥

In Full Swing... Again!

Ok, so just when I was beginning to get down on myself I found myself -or rather my Winged Necklace- in a lovely treasury, which I must admit perked my spirits quite a bit.

Big thanks to awesome seller Anna aka mknotr2d2!!

And of course - go visit the treasury by clicking HERE ♥

Inner Rambles of a Mad Woman

It's been a tough couple of days and I haven't been posting as much as I should have - sorry about that. Brayden officially had his very first day of kindergarten today and mommy was officially a nervous wreck. But everything went ok. I barely made it through today - how I'm going to get through 13 years of this I'll never know!!

I've been busy adding to my shop and tweaking it little by little. Something is still off though and I can't put my finger on it what it is quite yet. Sounds silly, but I have no idea how to market myself either! I've been in the swing of things now for so long that I'm not really sure how to begin all over again. I had a myspace for my other shops and joined the talent database but that was about it. I suppose my grand illusions got the best of me. When you're starting all over from scratch being a semi-seasoned seller previously really doesn't mean bunk.

I'm beginning to feel very very humble.

Jazz In Your Face

Tonight - or rather yesterday, it's after midnight now - was one of those amazing last few nights of summer. The kind of nights that you wish would last forever. Mike and I decided to go out for a little bit tonight, something we rarely if ever do. And by go out, I mean be back home by 9 because we have kiddos.

There was the perfect breeze outside and the temperature was just right. It was seriously one of those nights. Brayden starts kindergarten on Wednesday (serious mental breakdown for me ahead) and in some strange way I feel like I'm a child again and its the end of summer vacation.

Mike and I went downtown to Central Park tonight to one of the free summer concerts they have down there every Saturday. It's something we always say we want to do, but never acctually do, you know, one of those type of deals. But tonight we acctually went! Good thing too, seeing as this was the last free concert of the season. We spent an amazing night curled up together on a park bench listening to Jazz in Your Face - because seriously, what makes an end of summer night better than jazz?

It was such a simple thing. It didn't cost any money at all aside for the gas to drive the 10 minutes to get there, and we only stayed for about an hour because Gage needed put to bed, but it was just one of those perfect nights.

Ahhh. Summer is coming to an end.

Good thing I'm crazy about Autumn!

Movin On Up

The big move is going over smoothly. But still, I feel as thought I'm cheating on my other shops. Its kinda stupid I know, but its a feeling I can't help. I'm scared and excited at the same time.
I tweaked things around a bit and got a fabulous new banner!
And I even got some awesome new business/calling cards coming courtesy of the amazing
The Blue Petunia!!
Yes, I dare say, things are falling into place

Oh Mandie

Well I did it. I can't believe it, but I did it. I have officially closed my This Old Hen House shop. *Sigh* Its the end of and era!

I couldn't decide which of my shops to remain open and which one to close, I love them both so much! I've invested hours of my time, energy and love into both of them - but like I said before with 2 small children, I'm not physically able to devote that much of myself to etsy anymore. So one shop it is!

I've been torn as to what to do, that much is no secret. So I decided to start fresh. Brand. Spanking. New. Soon TwistThis will be closing too - I'm slowly but shorely adding my inventory of my two shops to my newest venture. Because really, what is life without a little spice?

So come on over and check my out and my new diggs people - Oh Mandie!
Why Oh Mandie? Because number one, my name is Amanda obviously, and number two, I was in a Barry Manilow kinda mood :-)

I still have a LONG ways to go, between listing everything and categorizing everything the way I want it, and getting new business cards and address labels made, but slowly things will fall into place ♥

Creepy Crawlies

Ahhh to be a mother of boys! My children are animal lovers - which is awesome. Brayden in particular wants every single animal/creature/bug/ect. that he finds to be his pet of the week. And by pet I mean he plays with it for like a day or two and doesnt take care of it at all and leaves all of the real work to mommy :-)

For over a year now, every single fly we ever happen to have haphazardly trapped in out jeep and buzzing around our faces has been Braydens pet fly, Cindy. There was once a real Cindy, but she didnt last more than about 5 minutes before being scurried out the window. Mike nor I had the heart to tell him, so from now Cindy just comes to visit us sometimes on hot summer days.

My husband is pretty much just a big kid too and he totally buys into the "lets catch things and keep them as our pets" way of like. Running down the runway at the airport that Mike works at we caught our newest addition, Brian the lizard.

Clean Water

My blogs are usually a bit whimsical and light hearted, but today I thought that I would change that up a bit and blog about something a bit more serious, and something that I think everyone should know about. Why, because I'd like to do my part in helping by getting the word out :-)

As I was applying my face today (aka putting on my makeup) I realized that I was almost out of my absolutely favorite, wonderful, amazing eyeshadow - which will not do! I've never been able to find a color similar to this one, and the shade is just perfect for me and anyways, I could go on and on and on, but the point is, I'm loyal to it.

Of course I immediately hopped on etsy and headed over to the amazing Mixology Makeup for some of the amazing mineral eyeshadow that I was craving and I discovered that not only was this awesome store helping me to save my skin from the crap-tastic chemicals that are in the makeup from your local mass-merchandiser, but that Rae is also helping to save the world! So of course I had to buy an extra jar! :-)

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"To celebrate the wonderful buzz Mixology is receiving, we want to share our blessings! Our goal is to be able to sponsor 1 clean water well in an African Village through Blood:Water Mission (www.bloodwatermission.com).

To do this, we need to raise $3,000, so we will be donating $1 per item Sold, NOT $1 per sale! If you buy 5 items - we donate $5! Our hope is to sell 3,000 products for the 1000 Wells Project by December 25th, 2008. Can we do it?

With your help we can, we are fortunate enough to never think about where to get clean water only what clean water to choose. Did you know $1 = 1 year of clean water for an African! The 1000 Wells Project is building 1000 wells and clean water projects in 1000 African communities. Businesses, churches, schools, artists and individuals are collecting funds so they can sponsor the construction of wells in Africa. In the process, they are learning about how HIV/AIDS affects African communities, and what it means to partner humbly with communities to pursue transformation.

Help us spread the word - Right now 3,000 products seems an impossible goal, but I choose to believe in Incredible things, not Impossible things!
Thank you for purchasing makeup so we can donate to Save Lives. Beginning Tally: 383"

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Awesome right? Now seriously, go there, buy makeup, look good, and help someone in need.

A Drumstick Please

Well boys and girls, I officially started my journey into the process of simplification. As you can probally see, my blog is a bit different, new banner, new family pics on the side, and alot less crapola in the ways of random widgets. Its more streamlined and reader friendly now - yay!

I'm also still torn as to which shop, if any I want to close, so I'm going to be doing a bit of experimenting. Currently I'm starting off slow and adding a bit of my ACEO's (here ya go for those of you who inquired when you'll be able to buy them!) to my Twist This etsy shop. So I suppose we'll see how it goes. Keeping my fingers crossed!

So I decided to be the good little southern girl that I am and cook a huge homemade dinner last night. Ok, so technically I'm not southern anymore, but I lived in Virginia for a large part of my childhood and I still consider it home. So I broke out my kitchen bible - aka Nigella Express - and made some Buttermilk Roasted Chicken with cuccumber salad, and double cheddar biscuits. It was scrumptious! I joined a cookbook club a few weeks ago (amazing!) and this was the first dinner I've made from the recipies so I thought that I would share!

Prepare to drool!

Simplify

For the past week and a half I've have lots of time to relax, reflect, and enjoy life. And I'll tell you what, taking a giant step back and looking at yourself and your ideals from the outside in can be life altering! I've decided to switch things up a bit here in etsy-land. I love crafting, I really do. But honestly as of late I've become a bit obsessive over the whole buisness thing so I've decided to detach a bit, so to speak.

I'm *considering* meshing my 2 shops into one. I've toyed around with this idea before as a means to lighten my load so to speak - but now it seems so much more feasible and much more reasonable.

I love etsy and what I do so much, and its a HUGE part of my life and who I am - but so are so many other things and I feel like they are getting pushed to the back burner. There really should be more hours in the day! Anyways, you all will see a bit of a refreshing of my shop(s) coming up very soon. Sitting on that beach last week with the blue water and the white sand really made me stop and think and see the beauty in what is around me. I just need to simplify.

Summer Time and the Livin' is Easy

Ahhh sweet sweet Flordia - how I miss you already!
♥