Believe me, I know. I've disappeared off the face of the blogosphere for a little while. And why? Well mainly because my camera broke and thus I was depressed and unable to upload photos. This shouldn't have stopped my Wednesday Wants, but it did. Actually, embarrassingly, my laptop died for a while there, too. But now I am back to being technologically functional!

I've been busy this week doing updates on my shop, since finally getting my camera back (it took ages, unfortunately) I've been able to update some of the things I'd been working on in the meantime. Here's my favorite:


This is my White on Red Button Journal. I was sorting through my buttons a while back and decided I really needed to make a journal with an assortment of white and clear buttons on the cover, and voila! I machine-stitched two pieces of bright red felt together, but then I decided to do a hand sewn running stitch all the way around the edge, just to make it really POP. The funnest by far was sewing the buttons on, though. I basically just grabbed a handful, blind, and dropped them on the cover, not fixing their positions any more than to spread them out a bit and turn them upside up. It's a little bit of a departure from my usual style, but I love, love, love it!

Check out my other new listings at the shop!

I also wanted to share with you a sneak peek at one of the two journals I'll be donating to the "I'll be Homemade for Christmas!" Auction for Support Stacie in November.


I know that looks almost like it's black, but it's really a dark navy blue, and the pages and thread used for the embroidery are the exact same color of WOW PINK. I mean, this is seriously pink stuff. Not for the faint of heart. ;)

I'll be working up one more journal for the auction, and hopefully doing some knits, too. Gotta love homemade stuff being bid on for a great cause!

I've just recently found out about the coolest community. You may have heard of this already. The Stone Soup Challenge is an idea Laura Bray of Katydid Designs dreamed up and put together. It's based on the old Grimm Fairy Tale about a man who came to a hunger-stricken village and offered to make stone soup - soon the various people added their various ingredients it became a stew that could feed them all.

The challenge is similar to this. Many of us crafters are trying to sell our wares online, especially now that fantastic venues like Etsy and ArtFire are available to us, but for the community to continue to expand and thrive, we have to support each other a little bit.

Laura has set up a place for people to pledge that they'll spend a certain amount of their crafting income (after expenses, of course!) on another artist, so that we can spread the soup around. And of course, the more that pitch in, the easier this is to do. So go on over and check it out, I highly encourage it! You don't have to promise to spend 50% or anything like that - no one expects that of you. But just help out someone else... and then maybe tell them about the Soup Stone Challenge, and maybe they'll help someone else out! Are you seeing how this works?

I love this idea! I mean admit it - don't you spend some of your income there anyhow? You might as well make it official. ;)

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P.S. Last chance to enter the Ad Space contest! Two full months free of your 125x125 add right over to the left here... Go enter now!

In an attempt at variety (I know I fail in this, apologies!) I'm going to steer clear of fiber artists this week. Not that I'm not tempted by lots of them... you know I am.

My first selection is just plain cute.


These are KBdesignCo's Chunky Toddler Crayons, basically melted down and reformed crayons that are big and easy to grasp by pudgy little toddler hands. I can't look at these things without imagining the cuteness that would accompany a kid plopped down on a big sheet of craft paper and actually playing with these... or maybe stuffing them in their mouths. Or both. Someday my kids will play with crayons like these.

And something a touch more sophisticated...


This CatNote book of Hattori's is just all kinds of lovely. This one picture doesn't do it justice, so go take a look at the others on the listing. I can't say much about this, because it really speaks for itself. If I had the money for this lovely I would snap it up in a heartbeat.

My last pick this week is a little bit sentimental for me. CherryBlossomCo was actually where I made my very first Etsy purchase, a year ago from Saturday, as a matter of fact. I didn't realize until just now that it's nearly my Etsyversary, but all the more fitting that I showcase C&B, now that I know that it is! I bought a Pomegranate and Rosemary lip balm, and it is fantastic stuff, keeps my lips nice and smooth. Starting to run low, too!


This is C&B's Grapefruit Shea Butter, as you can see. Grapefruit happens to be my favorite scent. Pretty much any citrus will do, but grapefruit is hands-down the winner, any day of the week. It's just such a light, happy smell, and the teensiest bit exotic. And, while this is starting to change, it's not exactly the easiest scent to come by when you're looking for bath products. It took me years to find a body splash. And here's 4 ounces of yummy grapefruit scent, full of body butter goodness. Definite want.

Finally back home. I have actually, in point of fact, been back a couple of days, but with the move going on, it's been a bit difficult to get to the blog and update! I've got quite a bit to tell you, though!

Firstly, I got home to a really lovely surprise:


I featured copperpot in Wednesday Wants a couple of months ago, and she asked if she could sent me a bit of roving... things happened in between times that have made both her and my life hectic, to say the least—though with more profound impact on her life, definitely.

I had all but forgotten about this, due to the move, and the daily struggle to let go of some of my material possessions, but this was such a delight to come home to after two long weeks on the road, and it's helping me to let go of some of my own things and let them go out into the universe, hopefully making it to where they're needed.

But back to the roving:


Here's a lovely 5.5 ounces of a colorway called Remington - I was really just expecting a little bit of fluff to play with! This is extremely generous, and prettier than I can make the photo look. The colors are richer, with a bit of a purplish tint to the red - according to copperpot's profile, she includes a bit of purple in everything she does! I love that she has a trademark! I can't wait to spin this stuff up. Means I have to loosen up one of my spindles, first, though!

Something else I was finally able to do yesterday, was list this lovely little journal:


I call it the Posie Journal, made with mixed blank paper in all different colors, and embroidered on the cover in a sweet little Posie design. When you open the cover there's a fourth little posie waiting to surprise you! I think this is my favorite of the journals I've listed so far - though I've felt that way about each new one that I list!

That's all for me tonight! Hoping to get Wednesday Wants up tomorrow. Until then!

Some weeks it takes some time to go through my favorites and find something that I really want to post about—that is not at all true this week!

Firstly, let's look at jesh's Pink Glow Drop Spindle. Is this lovely, or what? All of her spindles are lovely, really! I'm starting to think that maybe I've outgrown my run-of-the-mill starter spindle, and this is very, very tempting...


And what to spin on it, you ask? Well... step over here and take a gander at hobbledehoy's stuff!


Yummy, right?! This is her Lemon Zinger hand-carded batts. Gorgeous stuff! I've never spun from batts before, and would love to add that to my repertoir. These colors are just beautiful. Love that blend of oranges and yellows and greens.

And lastly, something that's as practical as it is beautiful:


This is one of lilypang's customizable laptop skins, this in particular is the Moonlight Owl. This is something I'm really looking forward to buying, just as soon as I make a sale that warrants it. I have a new laptop, and this is just what I need to keep my baby protected—and gorgeous, of course! I've seen a few at Fry's and Office Depot, of course, but I have an oddly-shaped laptop, and besides, what's the fun of that? lilypang's skins can be ordered to the size of your own laptop, and she even has matching skins for the hand-rest area! My only problem is deciding which skin I want, because all of them are utterly gorgeous. Go look for yourself!

I've been clicking "Refresh" a lot these past few days. I just can't help it the first days after I've listed something. But that doesn't mean that I've been keeping to my own shop all of this time. These are some of the things I've been falling in love with lately:


Gorgeous, are they not? This is the listing for one of immortallonging's Shakespeare Journals. (This one is Ophelia) It would do you good to read her profile page, because this woman comes with some very impressive accolades - her work is featured in some of the most prestigious theaters in the world, and these journals are available right at the Shakespeare's Globe shop - or here on Etsy! Her artwork is just beautiful, and really does give you the feel of the plays and characters she's portraying. Lovely stuff.

Next I have something that just makes my fingers itch to hold it:


This is GreenwoodFiberworks' Calypso Handpainted Merino Wool Roving. Look at all of those colors! This name definitely reflects the feel of the color palette. I love every single color here, they're so rich and warm! I think I would almost have trouble spinning this... I'd just want to admire it in the braid! ;)

And lastly... a true little indulgence.


Five Travel-Sized Scrubs from SpaGoddess. These just look decadent, don't they? There are eight kinds available that you can pick and choose to suit your own tastes, and besides being gorgeously packaged and such pretty colors, they have fantastic titles, too! And of course she's got a whole line of other products to compliment.

So yes, that's what's catching my eye this week on Etsy. Until next week's wishes!