I can't believe the weekend is almost over...Really?

Tomorrow I am going to the most delicious brunch EVER. A hotel in town has the best buffet brunch ever with desserts to die over. I am so excited!

I joined a new group on Etsy. It's called EtsyBABY and they seem like a great group of artisans! I am super excited to really get involved and get to know some of these wonderdful ladies! This group caters towards babies and young toddlers. They are a very talented group of crafters who specialize in high end boutique quality items.Just search " etsyBABY team" (without the qoutation marks) and you will get a wide variety of great items for baby!

Ah school. What to say about school. I just have to finish this one paper, and my stress level will hopefully plummet. I am so burnt out, I need a long vacation. Thank goodness my dad is coming to visit in a few weeks, maybe then I can get some breathing time. Brooke will love having Grandpa Tom here, for he is one crazy, funloving Grandpa!

And now for some ADORABLE pictures of my daughter. Hard to resist, isn't she?

This is my monkey wearing some of my unsellable creations. She loves mommy's castoffs!

My daughter is a strange cookie. She's sitting in an empty laundry basket watching Sunday morning cartoon...haha.

One of her pretty face.

Going down the huge inflatable slide at one of friend's birthday party. Love the face!

She insisted that she needed her legwarmers on. (Purchased from Fategoddess from etsyBABY!!!)

And one of her beautiful, crooked, toddler smiles.

Close to my 100th Sale!

I am so close to making 100 sales! I just wanted to let everyone know that who ever buys the 100th item, they get 30% off their whole order! My sales are at 95 right now, so if you buy 5 things, that would bring my sales to 100 and you get 30% off the WHOLE order, not just that one item.

I attract natural disasters...

So I can't get through a weekend without some sort of excitement. Last weekend it was helping to deliver a baby, and this weekend the volcano here in Alaska finally erupted. We've been waiting on this things for the past few months and it finally blew Sunday night. I got a bad feeling around 11 P.M. Sunday night and went to check the AVO (Alaska Volcano Observation) website and saw that it had erupted 40 minutes before. Now I won't sugar coat it, but I was FREAKING out. I have never lived near volcanos, so how was I supposed to know what was going to happen? The first thing I did was check all of the news sources online to see if the ash cloud would be heading towards Anchorage. The next thing I did was call all of my friends here in Anchorage to give them the heads up. Needless to say, I was up until around 2 A.M. and was hoping that school would be cancelled the next day. Not with my luck. So I headed to class off of 4 hours of sleep. The volcano has erupted several more times in the past 4 days, but none of the ash is heading this way. Before volcanos I was in hurricane land...what is it with me and natural disasters?

(Picture taken from the AVO website. The picture is dated March 23, 2009)

On a happier note, I finally got my bad! Andrea of WatermelonWishes on Etsy put my bag together so fast I barely had to wait. But the time I did wait was full of impatient anticipation. When I did get it, it was perfect! It was even better that it looked in the picture. The workmanship is VERY high quality. If you like pockets, then this is the bag for you! Since taking it out, I have gotten a lot of compliments, so thank you Andrea!



(My daughter is checking out the inside of the bag :) )

I learned how to crochet about 4 months ago. Since then I've just crafted booties and beanies. They're fast, easy, and adorable. I have shied away from afghans because I'm a instant gratification type of person. I love to see my work finished in a short amount of time. But then I saw my friend Jenn and the afgan she's been working on, and it looked so neat when she was making it, so I decided to give in and try one. Well, I didn't just stop at one, I started two. One is pink and green, and the other is green, rose and black ripple pattern. I will have to post pictures later to show you what they look like.

The end of spring break...

It came way too soon. I have had so much fun this week hanging out with my daughters and spending time with my friends. I haven not done my homework and am kicking my self because now I have to cram it all in the next couple of days. My daycare had the sickies on Thursday, so I had to keep Brooke home. There went six good hours of homework time. :(

Last night I went to a wonderful get together with some friends. It was a pajama party full of toddlers, food and Rock Band on Wii. I tried the drums and really stunk. Its hard! Tomorrow I'm doing a brunch with the same friends at iHop. It should be a good time.

I've been on a bootie kick lately. I am trying to build inventory for the upcoming craft shows this spring, summer, and fall. I am listing them on Artfire and Etsy and if they don't sell, I'll suspend them to take to the craft shows and if they don't sell at the shows, then I'll relist them. I don't know how many I should whip up, but the double strap booties (below) are a lot faster to make. The loafers are super cute, but I have three other patterns like this that require you make two soles, then sew them together and make the body of the bootie from there. It's really time consuming and you have to match the size of the soles perfectly or else they don't sit right. Maybe if I get faster they won't seem so time consuming. For now I'm just going to play around with different color combinations for the double strap. I need to make up some boy booties next.




I am now contributing to the Artfire Cafemom Team Blog. I wrote the last post on St Patrick's Day. There are a lot of talented crafters in our guild on Artfire. To check out the variety of items, go to Artfire and search for "Artfire Cafemom Team." There are pages and pages of listings from our guild crafters.

I really like Artfire and would eventually like to completely switch everything over to their site, but it just doesn't have the same traffic as Etsy does. I have so many sales on Etsy as well so my reputation and feedback is lost as well. Maybe once the traffic picks up I'll be able to redirect everyone over to my Artfire shop.

That's my new Artfire banner, do you like it? I love it because it matches my Etsy banners so they look great in my Cafemom signature.

Brooke and I got to talk to Eric on web cam the other day. It was really nice to see him for those few minutes. Brooke was all about talking to daddy and she didn't seem too confused on why daddy was on the computer. She kept pointing to things on his face and naming them. It was too cute. It was good to see his face after three weeks and to see for myself he was ok. I haven't heard from him in a couple of days, I'm guess their internet is down. Their phone lines have been down so I haven't been able to hear his voice. It's been hard. I've had a couple of those days where I just feel blah. But then I get a hug from my daughter and I'm strong once more.

Cafemom Etsy Black Friday Sale!!!

Please check out my fellow CafeMom's who have sales in their Etsy stores on Black Friday! I am in there as well. 15% off everything plus free shipping for orders over $25!

CAFEMOM ETSY MOMS
BLACK FRIDAY SALE
_________________________

20% off of one item and Free Shipping off of orders over $40!
http://www.hopscotchsquare.etsy.com/

15% off of all items
http://www.turtlemommy.etsy.com/

Free shipping on all: Sensory blankets, Twisty Towels,
Baby Bibs, and Cloth Wipes. Black Friday Only.
Shipping will already be adjusted.
http://www.mamaslittlemonkeys.etsy.com/

Free shipping on all single flower pens. 20% off pen bouquets.
Black Friday only. Prices will already be adjusted.
http://www.fleurdeink.etsy.com/

15% off entire store
http://www.createmeacanvas.etsy.com/

20% off entire shop. Free shipping on orders over $50. Value packs
will be offered this day only on my Boobie Brigade Collection: Buy a
nursing cover, get a FREE pair of bamboo lined nursing pads milk minders
with paid order.
http://www.jazzyjemz.etsy.com/

Black Friday Sale. 20% off all items in store and
free shipping on orders over $50.
http://www.childishthoughts.etsy.com/

Free Shipping!
http://www.beautifulbowbaby.etsy.com/

15% off my entire store and free shipping for orders over $25
http://www.bowsforbaby.etsy.com/

Free shipping!
http://www.keepsakesbyjanell.etsy.com/

Free shipping on all orders!
http://www.stitchnlove.etsy.com/

For Black Friday Only: 20% off of all items. Free shipping on all purchases over $40.
http://www.ohhsopretty.etsy.com/

15% off everything in my store (even deeper discount on SALE items) and get a free
surprise tuxedo bow with every order! Must put CEM in the message to seller upon
checkout and wait for a revised invoice.
http://www.shelleybeansboutique.etsy.com/

Free shipping on everything and then 10% off of $50 order
http://www.outoftheboxx.etsy.com/

10% off of everything in my store and free shipping on orders over $25. Use code
BLKFRI in the message to seller at checkout and wait for a new invoice.
http://www.tarastieups.etsy.com/

Free shipping on all orders over $20. 10% off entire shop. Black Friday - Sunday only.
http://www.seemommysew.etsy.com/

Black Friday only: 40% off everything in both of my shops. No minimum purchase required.
S & H not included. Must enter promo: Black Friday in notes to seller at checkout for discount.
http://www.jacquijcrochet.etsy.com/
http://www.shutterbuys.etsy.com/

All earrings are only $4. Plus bracelets are on sale too, and everything comes gift-wrapped.
http://www.brocklee.etsy.com/

15% off of everything. Shipping not included, must put CEM in message to seller and wait
for revised invoice.
http://www.donotdisturb.etsy.com/

Free shipping as always. 10% off of everything on Black Friday. Please mention when
ordering to get discount.
http://www.madebyjade.etsy.com/

10% off total order not including shipping (wait for revised invoice). Plus free bow with
every order.
http://www.beacreative.etsy.com/

20% off all items in store. Prices will already be adjusted.
http://www.luminiousmom.etsy.com/

Free Shipping! 10% off total order on Black Friday.
http://www.jesscreations.etsy.com/

Black Friday Only. All sock monkeys, sock plushies, and more will be ON SALE!
http://www.eleganthobbies.etsy.com/

15% off entire store. Black Friday only!
http://www.momofmak.etsy.com/

Black Friday sale. 20% off all items, not including shipping.
http://www.tjb1127.etsy.com/

15% off all in-stock items. Free shipping on ANY order over $29.
http://www.dawnberries.etsy.com/

Buy 2, get the 3rd half off.
http://www.mommyslittlehelper.etsy.com/

Free shipping
http://www.1maddieandme.etsy.com/

Buy two, get one free
http://www.ollieollie.etsy.com/

Hair pretties, children's jewelry, & key fobs. Black Friday sale. Take 20% off total purchase
(excluding shipping) and FREE shipping on orders over $10. Order between midnight the 27th until noon the 28th to receive the discount. Amount will be refunded after payment is made.
http://www.sweetsoutherndesign.etsy.com/

Black Friday Only! 10% off my entire store, and FREE shipping on all orders $40 or more (before shipping)
http://www.smox.etsy.com/

25% off listed prices AND free shipping on all orders over $50
http://www.hecates.etsy.com/

15% off all items and free shipping on orders $25 or more.
http://www.preciousangelbows.etsy.com/

10% off all items and free shipping (within the US) for orders $25 and over. CEMBF in
in notes to seller.
http://www.cozycabinmom.etsy.com/

Black Friday Only. 10% off my entire store, and FREE shipping on all orders $25 or more (before shipping).
http://www.shopdavinia.etsy.com/

20% off and free shipping. Prices and shipping will be adjusted to reflect sale price
and free shipping.
http://www.queenbeebows.etsy.com/

50% off all full size Puzzle Ball Christmas Ornaments (sale does not apply to mini-puzzle ball
ornaments) 50% off all pocket mirrors and keychains.
http://www.donnapool.etsy.com/

Black Friday 11/28- Receive free shipping (US ORDERS ONLY) and half off international shipping. Please wait for an updated invoice before paying! *Bonus* Receive a free clip set with minimum $10 purchase in addition to shipping discounts.
Saturday & Sunday 11/28-11/29 - Free clip set with any purchase of $10 and higher.
http://www.manda5462.etsy.com/

Spa sets are back! Just in time for the holidays! For Black Friday only, these sets will be listed for $15! (Will be $25 after that)
http://www.bigblueeyes.etsy.com/

10% off (excluding shipping)
http://www.time4muzic.etsy.com/

15% on all orders! Free shipping on all orders over $50, before shipping. Free matching barrette with any tutu order.
http://www.bundlemeboutique.etsy.com/

Free shipping on orders over $20.
http://www.frecklesgalore.etsy.com/

Free shipping on orders over $50 (before shipping. Free shipping to Silicon Valley everyday)
Buy three, get one mystery bath bomb free.
http://www.magnifique.etsy.com/

25% off and free shipping on orders over $50.
http://www.kenziewenzieboutique.etsy.com/

20% off entire order (excluding shipping) Black Friday thru Cyber Monday
www.tiarastutus.etsy.com

Black Friday only-Free shipping in US. Half off shipping International shipping.
www.lovetostamp.etsy.com

Friday 28th & Sat 29th - Buy one, get one 1/2 off all items, including custom orders. Excludes gift certificates.
www.starwalkerboutique.etsy.com

10% off all items, excluding shipping. Please wait for a revised invoice.
www.badcatjewelry.etsy.com

Man oh man.

Today was a pretty uneventful day. I couldn't go to class because Brooke is sick. I brought in my Psych quiz because I knew I did well on it, so I wanted it to count towards my grade. So I brought Brooke to campus with me and she was so overwhelmed by all the people on campus.Well, I checked my answers online tonight, and I got a B+ on it!!! I only missed three, but I'm going to contest one, because I think it's wrong. I mean, I think I got it right even though it tells me it's wrong. 

I thought Brooke's fever had broke when she woke up from her nap, but I took her temp before she went to bed because she felt warm again to me. It was 101.4. She was drinking better today which is good news, but poor baby. :( 

I finished my custom order today. It looks so cute! I hope she likes it.

Tonight after Brooke went to bed I wanted to make another bow. I had some colors in mind and I think it really looks nice. I'm going to list it tomorrow to see how it fares. I really like it because it's a lot bolder than my other ones. What do you think?

Alright, I really should get going. I have some things to do before bed and I have a long weekend of homework. :) Leave me some love!!!

So much too do in so little time...

So. My house smells because my daughter found a piece of paper on the floor, ate it, then puked it all up. Along with her breakfast. I knew the house smelled all day, but I didn't know what from. I took the garbage out thinking it was that. Nope. It wasn't until last night when my husband tells me Brooke had thrown up on the floor. The only time I could think she would have done it was when I was in the shower...Oh baby. No now...the stink residue is still there. ::sigh::



I've been trying to promote my bows. It hasn't been working very well. I've had a couple of orders, but it's pretty pathetic. I know I don't make ugly bows... I've seen some bows where you just go "wow, that's bad" and they have more sales than me!!! What's their secret??? I have so many different styles and I keep my prices VERY competitive, cheaper than most! Especially for the quality. I mean shoot, , how cute are those?! (I did those last night because I was super stressed...watching 90210). Someone send me some business! I LOVE making them, and love to see other kids wearing them even more. I am determined!

I'm in my second week of school. My classes are kicking my ass. Well, all but one. History, humanities and psychology are really keeping my busy. So much reading and taking notes. Holy cow. I have so much to do this weekend. The husband better keep the daughter entertained!!! Haha.


Alright. I should go and try and get this stink out of the carpet. SO GROSS.