Winner is chosen!

We have a winner for the MayBeads contest - it is ardy22!

Thanks to all who entered - stop by often to check out the next giveaway!

Thrifty!

I grew up in a thrifty household. We only ate out on special occasions. Never got take-out. One Car. (can you imagine?) My Dad took the train to work, and my Mom drove him to the train station, raincoat over her pj's, lipstick on in case she saw somebody she knew.

Today, it's much more challenging to be thrifty, especially in today's economy. Especially with two teenage boys, one about to get his driving permit, who is already begging for his own car. (How in the world am I going to pay for that??)

We try to be - somewhat - thrifty around here. My husband drives the car that gets the better gas mileage to and from work. I work from home, so the SUV sits in the driveway a lot.

One of the best ways to be careful with your money is at the grocery store. Plan your meals for the week, use coupons, and take advantage of your favorite store's frequent buyer card. I go up and down the aisles looking for items that are on sale, but only things that I would be buying anyway. When an item is on sale, and you're not likely to stop eating it (your favorite ceral, for example), but a few of them.

So, I am off to search for blogs that tell me more thrifty tips. If you know of any, please let me know!!

FABULOUS GIVEAWAY!!! Toys From Nature!

Wouldn't you love to have this fairy? Isn't she just too beautiful?

Totally unique, special, fabulous. A little bit about the fairy -

She is made from wool roving and is about 9" long. She's tied with a pink ribbon edged in gold and is perfect to hang over a nature table, on a door knob, etc.

You can WIN her! Here's what you have to do -

1. Visit FAERIEREBECCA's Toys From Nature shop on Etsy.

2. Pick out your most favorite item from her glorious shop.

3. Come back here and leave a comment with your most favorite item.

4. Winner will be chosen at random on May 8th - that is one week from today.

For a peek at Faerie Rebecca's work - see my earlier post from April 14th.

Her shop has been a favorite of mine for a long time.....

Can I win??? Ah no, that would be cheating...

:0)

Featured

Yay! Buster and boo was featured on a blog today! Come visit

beautiful greetings. In addition to a wonderful article on MOI,

you can also check out her shop for awesome greeting cards!

Thank you!!

this was fun

I was just wasting time in the Etsy forums, and found a thread "make me laugh and I'll put your etsy mini on my blog". Being a desperate woman, I immediately tried to make the OP (original poster) laugh.
Guess what? I did!
Here's what made Chris laugh:

bumper sticker:A day without sunshine is like, you know, night

So check out Chris's blog !
Thanks Chris!!!!

Tagged again

Ozknits tagged me! this one is different from the last one:

4 THINGS
...4 JOBS...
Media Buyer
Knitting Teacher
Riding Instructor
Media Buyer (been doing this for a really really long time)

FAVORITE MOVIES ...
Sound of Music
Wizard of Oz
Fiddler on the Roof
Rent
4 PLACES I'VE BEEN..
Chincoteague Island
Martha's Vineyard
San Carlos Mexico
Dominican Republic
4 PLACES I'VE LIVED...
Geneva NY
Philadelphia
Bruce Springsteen's sound guy's house
Tucson Arizona
4 FAVORITE TELEVISION SHOWS...
Gray's Anatomy
American Idol
Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network
Anything news related

4 FAVORITE RADIO PROGRAMS ...
I do not listen to the radio anymore
When I still lived in Philly, I only listened to WXPN, UofPA's radio station
4 FAVORITE FOODS...
Home made bread
Home made brownies - I have the best recipe in the world
Home made shortbread cookies
Home made Chocolate chip cookies -
do you see a trend here?
4PLACES I'D RATHER BE....
Retired
On the beach
Retired living on the beach
Retired owning a beach this is exactly what Oz said, and I could not have said it any better

Now I have to tag 4 bloggers. It's your turn dogeatdog, thinkingmama, pamperingbeki

and another giveaway

How do you promote your online shop? How do you get known?

I'm trying different tactics, and one of which is doing giveways

on blogs. The readers of those blogs are not my readers - they

are new views. If they do not win, maybe they will remember

my shop for a future gift-need. The winner will wear her prize,

or give it away, and then I will reach new people.

Visit HERE for the pendant giveaway. It ends soon, so hurry!

ALL THINGS HANDMADE - THE BLOG

There's this THING about Etsy - it's the community. If you hang out in the forums, you will find the most wonderful people (maybe a few crabby ones, but that's ok). There are people that are willing to go WAY out of their way to help out.
The people that run this BLOG are some of those people. It is called "All Things Handmade", and it is this amazing space where you can advertise your shop, and the items in it, by having your Etsy mini on it. What is an Etsy mini? It is a thumbnail of your shop. Your etsy mini shows 4 pics of your products, with a link to your shop. It's arranged by category on the blog. My etsy mini's are over on the right hand side of my blog, showcasing my best work.
It's like a catalog of some of the great work on Etsy. Anybody can be on there! No treasuries, curators, choosing for the 'gift guides' - just your work, right there, for anybody to see.
The folks who run this site get no rewards, paybacks, kick-backs, commissions.
SO run, don't walk to this site. Again, it is called Etsymini.blogspot.com. Just click on the name and it will take you right there. Enjoy discovering new shops - and DON'T DELAY to get YOUR shop on there too!