Friday Finds; CreativityBugs

Meet The Creativity Bugs, two sisters (Sandy and Sue) from Wauconda, Illinois, who have a passion for crafting. What started out as making gifts for family and friends, is now turning into a business venture for them.

Their Etsy store had its grand opening January 2011, and shop items include paper crafts & gifts, handmade cards, paper craft kits and supplies, holiday gifts, doll clothing and accessories, plus a whole lot more.

Sit down with me and get to know them more...

How did you get your start on Etsy?
Sandy and sister Sue found that they were making more crafts than they could possibly keep or give as gifts, so they decided to try to sell their items at arts & craft fairs along with Etsy.

How did you choose your shop name?
Sue’s nickname around work was suzybee as she was always buzzing around making stuff happen. When she started her blog she decided to call it “Creativity Bug” as an acknowledgement to her crafty side and her nickname. When trying to think of an Etsy shop, these two sisters like the idea of calling it “the Creativity Bugs”.

What does a typical day look like for you?
Sandy is a mom to an 8 year old girl, so when she is not working as an analyst, she is taking her daughter to dance lessons, cheerleading practice, football games, and other kid events. With all that going on, she tries to squeeze in a few hours of crafting each week.
Sue is currently a freelance writer, so her days are spent researching, interviewing, and writing. She tries to leave the weekends for crafting and checking out crafting events.

From whom did you learn to craft?
The crafty gene comes from our mom. She started us off with making weaved potholders and craft projects before we started kindergarten. Slowly she introduced us to cross-stitch, needlepoint, and crocheting before finally showing us how to use her prized sewing machine. Of course, all this lead to other crafts such as stamping, papercrafting, and scrapbooking.

What is the one thing you would want to be remembered for?
Sandy wants to be remembered for being a loving and caring mom and wife. Something she attributes from watching her parents as she grew up. Sue wants to be remembered for being a loving, caring, and charitable Christian.

Do you have any family traditions that you hope are carried through to future generations?
When we were aged 5 & 7, our mom taught us how to make a bunny cake using two round cake pans, cake mix, frosting, and jelly beans. She continued this tradition with her granddaughter at age 4 and every year all of us girls make the cake together for Easter.

If you could be anywhere in the world for one day, where would it be?
Sandy and Sue both agree that they are exactly where they want to be and that is wherever their family is.

Concluding thoughts
Our company motto is "lovingly creating items for others to love & cherish". We guarantee quality workmanship as nothing leaves our "shop" unless it has been crafted with 100% craftmanship mixed in with creativity and a pinch of kindness & love".

You can also find Sandy and Sue on their blog and on Facebook.

Wednesday What's New: Psalm 23

This unique, gorgeous bracelet is made from various gemstones that depict the entire chapter of Psalm 23 phrase by phrase. Its many colors go with almost any outfit and it is meaningful to wear yourself or give as a gift.

Beads and silver tag may vary slightly from the picture depending on bracelet length and availability. I made the fine silver tag myself that reads "Ps. 23."

Can't wait to hear what you think. And this week only I am offering a special Christmas in July sale for 10% OFF this gorgeous bracelet as well as other jewelry in my shop - just use coupon code CIY2011.

Friday Finds: MossyCreekSoaps

Meet Michelle Rhoades from mossycreeksoaps, a certified soapmaker with the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild in Warner Robins, Georgia. She and her husband make natural herbal handcrafted soaps from scratch with olive and sunflower oils enriched with shea butter that are deliciously scented with essential oils of lavender, lemongrass, rosemary, and spearmint.

Sit down and grab a cup of tea as we get to know them better...

Tell us more about you.
My husband and I started soap making together when a direct selling company that I really loved when out of the direct selling business. Instead of starting all over with another company with a new product and I started making my own. Which means I have complete control over what goes into my soap. I love to cook and I thought well... soap making cannot be that much different? Right? It's true.. there is something so amazing creating, designing and formulating soap.

What's so special about homemade soap?
Well the answer is short... It's plainly better for you with out all the fillers of commerical soap. My soap is made with Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Lye and water. Basically thats it! You can add fragrance, you can also add color..but it's in the simplicity of the recipe that keeps most people coming back for more. I do believe most people do not know that their favorite beauty bar is not really soap? It's a detergent.. similar to the one you wash your dishes and clothes with. Allthough it may be mild and filled with lotion...it's not SOAP. Soap must be made with Lye in order to be called soap.

Name one thing that not many people know about you.
I used to be an airline flight attendant.

How did you choose your shop name?
I also own a Soapmaking Studio in town where I teach soapmaking. My business name came from a local creek that runs through my county.

What does a typical day look like for you?
There are no typical days for me..I could be running around town delivering wholesale orders, shipping out orders or making soap in the studio. Or I could be teaching a class, working on the internet, or doing nothing & enjoying my family.

What's your favorite season of the year and why?
I absolutely love spring because after a long winter I get excited about watching everything in the garden come back to life.

What do you consider your best personality trait?
My ability to teach others through compassion and understanding. I am a very passionate person concerning something I whole heartily believe in. For me it's total immersion which gives me the ability to teach others.

You can also find mossycreeksoaps on their website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Creating the Hive.

Friday Finds: Beautiful Parasols and Cute Bags

Hope you are having a wonderful week. Today I am featuring handmade accessories, parasols, gift bags, and glass bottles from kcdragonfly. Her beautiful parasols would make great wedding gifts!

Her purpose and passion in life is to bring you quality, hand-crafted designs that romance the soul and inspire your individuality to take flight. She desires for you to find inspiration in her offerings.

She says that images of dragonflies, the moon and water tell an ancient story inherent in our love for all creation. How dragonflies never rest and are always darting about their environment as if in an eternal search for something. She believes she is making the same search.

One of my favorite items of hers is this beautiful wedding parasol. This parasol has a compact design that would be lovely for wedding photos, close quarters and crowds at conventions.

I also like this sweet cat purse/bag. It holds lots of things, including cell phones smaller than a full-sized 'droid, your bluetooth, iphones, ipod, zune mp3 player, i.d., driver's license, money. It can be also become a gift bag for that special someone who loves cats.

You can also find kcdragonfly on her blog.

Friday Finds: YouAreMySunshine

Meet Nina from youaremysunshine in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. She specializes in handmade fabric flower brooches, fabric flower hair pins, rings, earrings, bracelets and statement necklaces in a rainbow of colors to bring sunshine to your day.

This beautiful woman was born and raised in the city of Marikina, MetroManila, Philippines in a very entrepreneurial family. She began studies to be a vet in college, but was always interested in interior design, the arts, creating. One of my favorite comments from her blog is this: "I always thought and still think that I could live in a cardboard box and it would be the most inviting and cozy cardboard box ever!"

Sit back and enjoy my interview with Nina:

How did you get your start on Etsy?
I started my shop in October of 2007, taking my first pictures, experimenting with photography. The results were terrible! I learned a lot along the years.

How did you choose your shop name?
When my sons were little, I would sing them to sleep with the nursery rhyme "You Are My Sunshine." Now that they are older, cuddles consist of discussions about anything and everything important to growing boys. Yet, as sleep overcomes them and their eyelashes finally fall onto their soft, smooth cheeks, their lips relax into innocent worry-less smiles and their ninja warrior/transformer gyrations settle into peaceful, lyrical sighs, I look at each one and still think, “yes, my love, you are my sunshine.”

What does a typical day look like for you?
I work a full time job so I do all my creating, listing, etc. on the weekends.

Name one thing that not many people know about you.
I love to sing, I love to eat.

Most people have something or someone they look to for inspiration - what or who is yours?
My inspiration is nature. I love color and the way nature always surprises me with its wonders.

What is the one thing you would want to be remembered for?
I would like to be remembered for what my children think about me when I am gone.

Do you have any family traditions that you hope are carried through to future generations?
I tell my kids I love them everyday. I vocalize what I feel and they in turn have responded in kind. I tell my mom I love you also which I never did consistently when I was growing up. I hope my kids will never be shy about saying those words to anyone who matters to them.

If you could be anywhere in the world for one day, where would it be?
I would love to be back in Paris for one day. San Francisco would be a close second.

You can also find Nina in her vintage Etsy shop, her blog, and on Twitter.

Friday Finds: plumbeadacious

Meet LeAllyson Meyer of Plum Beadacious in Severance, Colorado.

She has a beautiful shop on Etsy, and I had a chance to catch up with her and ask her a few questions. I think you'll enjoy getting to know her.

Name one thing that not many people know about you.
My parents won the family showcase on the old TV show, The Price is Right, in 1957. We were poor and at that time you entered the contest with post cards by mail and guessed the price of the showcase. My parents won a new "Hillman Minx" convertible car, diamond watches, perfume, and a leather photo album. My parents wanted to go to New York to pick up the prizes. So the family (4 of us) got on a Grayhound bus in St. Louis, MO and traveled to New York. We did a bit of sight seeing, took the new car to Niagara Falls and across into Canada, and came back down through Chicago. I remember purple money in Quebec and people speaking French. I remember riding in the car with the top down, making lunch meat sandwiches, sitting on the grass for a picnic, and wading in Lake Huron. This was a wonderful experience for me. I was seven and my brother was three.

How did you get your start on Etsy?
I discovered Etsy on the internet back in 2006. I had been making handcrafted jewelry for a little over a year. I opened a shop under my name, LeAllyson. In February 2008 I felt the need to come up with something more creative and to open a new shop.

How did you choose your shop name?
I was trying to think of something with the word "bead" in it that had not been used for a domain name. Not an easy thing to do. I just started writing down lots of ideas. Somewhere along the line, I thought of a saying that I thought I heard years ago on TV. No one but me can seem to remember this, but I thought Gomer Pyle would say on Andy Griffith, "Well, that's just plum bodacious!" I have no idea why this popped into my head. It's not like I was watching reruns of Andy Griffith. Anyhow, I thought, why not use "Plum Beadacious". I did a little research and found that plum can mean "extremely desirable" and bodacious can mean "remarkable". So I thought changing the word to beadacious was a fun thing to do.

What does a typical day look like for you?
A typical week day for me starts about 6 am. I get up and get ready for my day job. Before I leave I take a few minutes and sign on to my Etsy and Artfire shops to see if I sold anything. Then I go to work. Even if I sold something, I attend to it once I get home. After supper, I sit down at the computer and renew items, and then post something new if I can. I try to work on making an item or blogging also. I spend most evenings working on my little jewelry business. I do most of my photos on the weekend in my bedroom by the east window. I get good light there.

You can also find plumbeadacious on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Artfire.