Busy as a bee

Sorry for the cliche, but I thought it sounded cool. And bees make me think of hot summer days. Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been updating in over a week, I have been REALLY busy with school (next week is finals!), and I have been working quite a bit as well.
I'm currently working on a custom order for a friends mom for mothers day. Two projects, actually -- a pair of earrings and a necklace, one for a mother and one for her "pseudo-mom." I haven't done a custom order in awhile, so it's been fun. I love trying to create new stuff, although sometimes it's hard to be creative when my mind is stuffed with school-related stuff...

I also STILL haven't finished building my lightbox that I bought all the supplies for weeks and weeks ago, but I promise I will get it done soon and show the new pictures. Since next week is finals week, I'll finally be done with a lot of my stress, so I'll have quite a bit more free time. I'll be working more, but I won't have homework and studying hanging over my head all the time...

Have a great day!

Hedgehogs, Squirrels, and Mushrooms, oh my!

I'm so excited, I arrived home today to find a package for me in the mail! I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of said package since the day it was shipped out, so I had to control myself to keep from ripping the packaging to shreds to get to the contents.

What is this awesome package, you ask?? What could have me tearing at a brown paper envelope like a madwoman (although I will admit this isn't the first time I've been excited to receive a package in the mail)?

My new wallet!!!!

Isn't she adorable?

I had the awesome Etsy seller TeePetals make her for me as a custom order. I'd been looking for a wallet to fit in my back pocket for awhile now, but I didn't want a plain one like you can find at every department store -- I wanted mine to be AWESOME and UNIQUE! So I found a pattern I liked, and picked out my own fabric, and viola, I have an awesome wallet!

Here's a picture of the inside:


Although it looks pink-ish, the inside fabric is actually a vibrant red that perfectly matches the mushrooms, cherries, and apples on the main fabric.

Of course as soon as I got her unwrapped I proceeded to empty my old wallet and transfer everything to my new one. Now my new wallet is full and ready to go -- I just need to go shopping so I can use her!

(These pictures were taken from the listing on Etsy -- sorry I can't post any pictures of my own, my camera is on the fritz right now)

Stress...

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, it's been a looooong week. I only have a few more weeks left of school so I'm scrambling to get all of my final projects done. I'm trying to get my internship, classes, and work situation arranged for the summer (I'm doing an internship at a museum, woohoo!). I'm also having a few problems with my current roommate situation. Between eveything, I haven't had a lot of time for crafting lately :( I also bought a new game for my DS yesterday, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, but I haven't had time to play it yet... I only work one day this weekend, so I'm hoping to get time to play some games, and hopefully craft as well. I went out earlier this week and bought the supplies for making my own light box, but I haven't gotten a chance to put it together yet. I'm crossing my fingers that it will make my pictures turn out a lot better -- I will be sure to post some if they look a lot better!

Well, that's about it for now -- have a good rest of the week/weekend!

Winners!

I am happy to announce the winners of my "Critique me and win!" giveaway:

1st place, winner of the Devil Ducky earrings, is SpotlightDesigns
2nd place, winner of the Matchbook notepads, is BeaconBookmarks
3rd place, winner of the button bobbies, is anniepoo

I will be contacting the winners today and mailing out their prizes this week! Congratulations to everyone, and thank you to everyone who participated! I got a lot of really good advice, and now I have a list of all the critiques typed up, and plan on making LOTS changes in my shop over the next week or two.

I've enjoyed the whole giveaway thing (especially using random.org and seeing who the winners were!), so I'm thinking that I will have to have another one sometime soon -- perhaps the next one will be easier for everyone!

"Hump Day" featured seller - buffalonerdproject

It's Wednesday again folks, we've all survived to the middle of the week! So here we go again, another great Etsy seller, this one a nerd like me :)

Buffalo Nerd Project
"Science Geek By Day, Sewing Chick By Night"

Cooking up a bit of Genius geek apron part 2

When asked to tell a little about herself -- her life and history, how she chose her craft, what got her on to Etsy, and everything else exciting about life, this is what Lisa of buffalonerdproject said:

My name is Lisa. I grew up in Buffalo and moved downstate after I graduated with my Masters degree in molecular biology. I work in a biology lab as a technician during the day researching anything from autism to brain methylation patterns to congenital heart disease.... the list goes on and on! My two roommates are my cat, Angel Baby (I didn't name her) and my tarantula, Mr. Snuggles.

When I'm not at work or sewing like a fiend, I can most likely be found socializing, running, thrift shopping or scrapbooking. My scrapbook is like a huge book of collages (it's messier than a lot of the scrapbooks I've seen, no cute little cardboard cutouts or clean edges, lots of magazine tearings and clashing color motifs), and helps me to always remember the good times. :)

I signed up to Etsy when a coworker of mine told me about it. I've always been really into sewing but I never knew of a place where I could market my passion. The first time that I made a bag out of an old pair of pants that I had lying around my house, my coworker was like "you should sell those." Up until then I made things for myself or for Christmas presents (I had one winter where I made literally a dozen and a half patchwork scarves), but the idea of being able to make things without a specific recipient in mind was super appealing. I love to sew, but before Etsy, I wasn't exactly sure what I'd do with sixteen purses. Does one person need sixteen purses?

As far as choosing my craft, I usually start out making something I need, use it for awhile, and if I like how it came out and find it functional, I make more to sell. This has been the pattern with everything in my shop. I'm trying to integrate science into things because I love it so much, it's what I spend most of my day doing, and I think it puts a relatively unique spin on things. Plus, with the new Mad Scientists of Etsy team, I'm really getting fueled by other science-minded crafty nerds. GO NERDS! :)

If you stop to take a look at Lisa's shop, you can see how much her science nerd side has influenced her crafting. From aprons to ipod cozies, purses to scarves, buffalonerdproject has a variety of fun, creative, and geeky creations!

Check out this awesomely nerdy "Packing Heat in the Kitchen" apron:
In the item description Lisa claims that is apron mixes "mad kitchen skills with experimental flair!" I would say that this apron would make a great addition to any science nerd's kitchen!

Looking for a scarf? I know spring and warm weather are approaching here in the midwestern United States, but it's cold somewhere! If you're in one of those areas, or if you just like wearing scarves and looking cool, buffalonerdproject has some pretty nifty ones, like this fun black and white one:


Are you a science geek? Do you have science geek friends that love cooking? Take a look at all of the items in this wonderful seller's shop and show your support for nerds!

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*interested in being featured? email me or comment here with your shop name and email address and I will check you out!

Critique me and win!

Alright, so I REALLY need to work on revamping, organizing, cleaning up, and updating my shops. I've thought of lots of things myself that I would like to change, but I would like input from others as well. In an effort to get responses from people, I am making this in to a contest. Anyone who critiques either (or both) of my shops will be entered in a drawing to win one of three prizes. (*I will post pictures of the prizes by Tuesday afternoon, until then I will just have a description)

The Details:

• visit either or both of my Etsy shops (Tangerine Sunshine or Bohemian Kitty)
• critique the different aspects of my shop listed below
• email your critique to tangerinesunshine@gmail.com or post in the comments section
  
• critiques at least 5 of the points/aspects listed below to be eligible
• you will receive one entry for each shop that you critique
• be as critical as you want! I know that lots of things aren't as good as they could be, so you won't hurt my feelings!
• the contest ends on Monday, April 14th at midnight CST
• winners will be announced by Wednesday, April 16th, and will be notified by email

Points to Critique:

• shop banner
• avatar
  
• shop announcement
• featured items
• photographs (quality, quantity, etc)
• item descriptions
• item titles
• shop policies
• shipping (prices and policies)
• prices
  
• personal profile

Prizes:

• Devil Ducky earrings - your choice of pirate, red, blue, green, purple, yellow, or orange
• Matchbook Notepads - a set of 6 matchbook notepads in "far east" themed papers
• Button Bobbies - your choice of any set of button bobbies (many styles available)

Thank you in advance to everyone who participates!

Matchbook notebooks!

Ok, so I've seen those cute little matchbook notebooks all over Etsy, and they seemed like really fun, cute, easy-to-make things that I could use for promos, or to just keep in my pocket (I love making lists, writing random notes, etc, so it's convenient!). So I ventured to google to search for a tutorial, and found this one on greetingarts' blog.
I read through the tutorial, whipped out my supplies, and made one of my very own! I used brown cardstock, because I love brown/tan/other 'natural' colors, then stamped a red dragon on the front for decoration. Just stamping something on the front seems pretty boring, I know, but this was my first one! I have all sorts of ideas for decorating other ones :)


I only put twelve pages on the inside, because I'm not really sure how much my little mini stapler can handle. I recycled paper though! I have a huge stack of paper in my room, mostly from articles I have printed off for research papers or other random papers I have that are only printed on one side. I've been hoping for something to come up to use those for, and now I have something!


These little notebooks are so fun, I'm off to make a few more for myself before I have to go to class! Be sure to check out greetingarts' blog and take a look at the tutorial to make some for yourself!

"Hump Day" featured seller

I've decided to designate Wednesday ("Hump Day") as a day to feature my favorite Etsy sellers. So from today on, every Wednesday I will feature a different seller!

Today I'm going to start with a seller from my own town, JennaLou. Jenna Lou has some beautiful purses, wallets, wristlets, and pouches. Her products are very well made and durable, and she has some amazing fabric choices! Here's one of my favorites, one of her Pocket Pal wallets:

In addition to selling different sizes and styles of wallets, totes, purses, and more, she also has recently started selling the patterns for two of her most popular styles - the Fiona Handbag, and the Girls Best Friend Wallet. If you'd like to try your hand at making a wallet or purse yourself, these detailed, easy-to-understand, and well-illustrated instructions are a great way to go!


Be sure to check out Jenna Lou's shop at www.jennalou.com, as well all of the other great sellers on Etsy.com!

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* Interested in being featured? Leave me a comment with a link to your shop, and I will add you to my schedule.

Ugh...

Do you ever have those days where it seems like all the little things that could go wrong, do? And everything that DOES happen makes you feel 100 times worse than it should? That's the kind of day I'm having today, and I don't really foresee it getting better.
(I know, I should have a positive attitude, but I just can't help feeling pessimistic)
I felt sick when I woke up this morning, and really cranky. Then my lab class took way longer than I expected and I didn't get a chance to finish some things that I thought I would have time for. I did poorly in my bowling class, and when I came home I was going to punch some flower shapes out of paper (for scrapbooking and such... it sounds lame, but it tends to relax me), only to have my paper punch break on me. ARGH! And I'm trying to upload a listing to Etsy that I said I would post for someone, and either the site is having issues, or my computer just plain doesn't want me to go on Etsy. And to top it all off, plans are going awry for the Anthropology club field trip I'm supposed to be going on this weekend, and it's just... hectic. Crazy. Frustrating. Really all I feel like doing is crying, ya know? And I have to go to work in a few hours, which is just like the icing on the cake.

But I suppose I shouldn't be whining as much as I am, things could always be far far worse, right? I'm just having an over-dramatic day :(