L.A. Made on the Front Page

The tumbleweeds have been rolling through my blogs, Etsy shops and pretty much every other area of my life that doesn't involve a nearly three-year old little girl, some form of cartoon characters and cold medicine. I thought the older my daughter became the more time I would have to work on all of my fun projects. Nope. Instead my very talkative, demanding, creative child keeps my days filled with play dates, gym classes, ballet and Disney characters. Oh, and did I mention germs? It seems lately I have become a germ magnet picking up every nasty virus - including pneumonia - from every snotty kid that we come in contact with. It's been a real blast.

The last few months my treasury making days came to a complete standstill until yesterday when I just so happened to check in on Craftopolis and it just so happened to be within six minutes of a treasury opening up. Sweet. I used to plan out my treasury ideas in advance, painstakingly selecting each item for its design and theme. Not yesterday. Yesterday I went over to the local listings and quickly browsed through artists from Los Angeles.

There were so many incredible shops that this treasury was actually really easy to put together. It's like the puzzle pieces were shouting at me and within a matter of minutes L.A. Made was created.  I used to email all of the artists included in my design, but again between the haze of Dayquil and the energy of my kiddo, I didn't bother. I didn't have time to bother. In fact, I nearly forgot to check in on the treasury itself.

Thanks to Twitter and to Atomique47 who tweeted about her beautiful clutch being included in my treasury, I checked in. In fact, I just so happened to check in as it made the front page of Etsy! So, not only did I happen to snag a treasury at just the right moment, I also happened to be online to actually view my front page in real time - in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. Sweet!!

I'm taking it all of this "just so happened" luck as a sign that I need to make a little more time for my projects again. They are good for me and my soul. I miss them and this blog. Here's L.A. Made - this one's for you, Los Angeles!

Tick, Tock...

I don't know where time is going these days. The hours fly by and before I can blink, another page on the calendar has turned. It's almost time for turkey yet I am in disbelief that the year is almost over. Where did it go? Specifically where did the last month go and why haven't I updated this blog or snagged more treasuries lately? Oh yeah. It's that thing called time. That thing that I seem to be losing more and more of lately. With all of time honored clichés that I could spout off right now, I found it only fitting to create a treasury dedicated to this crazy thing that we never seem to have enough of.

So here it is… Tick Tock. If you can't stop time, you might as well watch it slip by in one of these whimsical clocks created by these incredible time keeping artists: 1byliz, IMOTIME, bethberg, finkgifts, zulasurfing, MantaWave, StarlingInk. DecibelProductions, thestapeliacompany, YOUgNeek, StJoshua, QuiteRightSlick

Striped

So I finally did the impossible. I actually talked my husband into going as Elvis for Halloween. Finally - after all of these years - he's going as the King himself and I couldn't be more excited about it. I failed to convince him that the white jumpsuit Elvis is pure awesomeness, but I did manage to talk him into a tamer, less flashy version – Jailhouse Rock Elvis. 

Surprisingly, it has been a fairly easy costume to assemble. He already has a black retro-ish jacket and black jeans so all he really needs is the striped prison shirt which I actually found with one little Google search. All that's left to finish his outfit off is a black wig with wicked side burns and that shouldn't be too difficult to find.

So this brings me to my latest treasury, Striped. I've had stripes on the brain lately since I just picked up the perfect black-and-white convict tee from Hot Topic to complete his ensemble. Not only has it been enjoyable to plan out his costume, but it also reminded me that stripes are fun and whimsical, bold and graphic – just like these incredible sellers. Enjoy! (Thank you. Thank you very much…)

The line-up: studiomme, KatHannah, onlygooddreams, NatureVisions, Zygopsyche, h00ked, nakarastyle, vivikas, larimeloom, StudioLeanne, jiajiadoll, maryjudy

The Storm

I've been missing-in-action the last couple of weeks due to a lovely flu-bug that knocked me for a loop. It wasn't the swine thankfully, just a good ol' fashioned dose of ick. I am just finally getting caught up on everything that seemed to pile up under my box of Nyquil. I started having treasury withdrawals so I waited up an extra hour last night just to snag one and get myself back in the game.

The weather here in Los Angeles has been very fickle. It's been teasing us with a glimpse of fall only to yank it away and return the blasted summer heat. We had two wonderfully gloomy days that were cool enough to pull out the sweater, turn off the air conditioner and open all of the windows.  The rain came down and autumn was in there air. But that was yesterday. Today it was a painful 96 degrees in the San Fernando Valley and the a/c unit was cranking once again. 96 degrees. That’s. Not. Right.

So here's my treasury, The Storm, in honor of fall and the few sweet days we actually experienced of it. And here are the incredible artists that contributed such dark and lovely items to my rainy day treasury. Enjoy! thelittlefox, mariterecr, HelenesDreams, DJVV, DeliciousHobo, starwillowstudio, SewMo, lewfoster, AnnaArtiste, craftycrowvintage, happyKATT, FiregypsyVintage

A Shining Front Page!

Making it to the front page of Etsy is every sellers goal. It's instant advertising and traffic to your shop and most of all it's a complete honor to be a part of a front page worthy showcase. I finally had the honor this morning thanks to JooJooLand's magical "Shining" treasury. Thank you so much for including me in your gorgeous design and for being an all around wonderful person.