Looky What I Helped Name!

Some time ago Miss Ellen of EllenKatherine (a fellow Etsy Knitter's Team member) asked for help in naming her new socks I decided to take a look and see what I thought would be a good name for them.

Living in the southwest, I knew that these socks had all of the colors of our nightly sunsets (they are so gorgeous people, you must experience them for yourselves sometime).  I suggested the name Native Sunset and found out yesterday that she decided to go with my suggestion!

Cute socks, no?  They can be yours, just click here to find out more.

Amber Alexander's Dreamy Animal Paintings

I came across amberalexander in my Suggested Shops and I am so glad I did!  I love the dreamy quality of her work, I love that animals are her subjects and that she uses personification to bring them to life and give them humanistic qualities.

Looking at her shop and examining the paintings and prints really makes me want to bust out some paper and water colors even though I'm not a painter.  I'm sure I can find something around the house to paint with...

With Our Powers Combined We Are...!

Part duck, part beaver, part snake, part alligator, the Platypus is kind of an odd creature.  After posting a necklace featuring a platypus the other day, I was curious as to what other kinds of platy-wear I could find.  And of course, Etsy did not disappoint:

1) Platypus Flash Drive by hemingwayfun
2) Cute Little Platypus Needle Felted Figure by LittleElfsToyshop
3) Platypus Dictionary Pendant by TripleNerdScore
4) Platypus Stuffed Toy Pattern by FunkyFriendsFactory
5) The Platypus - Nature's Non Sequitur Pin by beanforest
6) ACEO Signed Print - Platypus with Hat by poordogfarm
7) Platypus Print by berkleyillustration

Guest Post!

Hey everyone, I would like to direct you to ScoutieGirl's Blog today, I have a guest post over there!

Circuit Board Nerd Sign by banished

I talk about the link between creativity and science, trying to show that creativity isn't just a 'right-brained' luxury :)

The Cutest Necklaces I've Ever Seen

I love animals, I love silver jewelry. marymaryhandmade puts the two together and she does it in such a cute way!

How can you not fall in love with these critters?  That baby sloth has been in my favorites for ages! 

I love the way she uses simple but colorful backgrounds, it really makes the pieces speak for themselves.  Not to mention, she also makes inanimate objects cute and smiley!

Its All Coming Back!

There will be a MASSIVE shop update through out the day today.

All of my knitted items are coming back to the shop!

All of my hats, my scarves, mitts, bags, and other et ceteras will be added to the shop and finally available for purchase again :)

Who else is excited?  (Obviously, I am!)

A Beautiful End To The Day

Here is our sunset from yesterday, gorgeous no?

I love all of the colors that you can see in the sunsets of the southwest, it kinda makes up for living in a place that looks like a cat box ;)

Lockets

Lately I've been crushing on all kinds of lockets.  I like the fact that a pretty pendant can be more than a pretty pendant, there's something on the inside.

I like the big ones with long chains, the small ones with short chains and everything in between, check out some of my faves from Etsy.

1. Rose Locket with Watch from amazingcollection4u
2. Turkish Treasure from Sparklepeach
3. Honey Bee from Cosmicfirefly
4. Bird, Moon, Swirl from MStevensonDesigns
5. Butterfly Vintage Pocketwatch from trinketsforkeeps

Custarddiary

This shop has been in my Favorites for a while and for obvious reason!

The photos are phenomenal, so inviting, so colorful and the detail shots are fantastic.  And the clothes are too cute and so very functional.

I can't wait to add one of their dresses to my collection.  I would live in sundresses in the summer if I could!

What's your favorite outfit, theme or color for summer?

New Mexico Knitters! (And Wannabe Knitters!)

I'm teaching classes this Saturday!  I will be teaching beginning knitting and continental style knitting :)  More details here.

I would love to meet you and you're friends so be sure to sign up today!  Sign ups close soon, so don't hesitate.

Just Trying To Help

I know that I am not alone when I say that the oil spill going on right now in the Gulf literally causes pain in my chest.  It is an awful, awful thing; so many animals, ecosystems, and people are being affected by it and I wish that I could help.

White Whale Scrabble Tile Pendant

There are a number of shops on Etsy that are donating part or all of their profits to organizations that are helping get through this disaster, and one shop in particular is completely dedicated to helping clean up the oil spill: HelpTheGulfCoast.

Sensory Perception

I'm sure many of you have heard of this shop before, but for those that haven't, I encourage you to check it out.  If you need to find gifts for birthdays, weddings, parties or other events, check this shop first!

Fine Silver Bouquet Pendant

Artists are donating their items to the shop and all of the proceeds go to help Oxfam America and the National Wildlife Federation.  So far they have donated thousands of dollars to each!

Tree Hugger Shirt

We can't all go to the coast and help scrub oil off the birds, but we can each donate a few dollars to help in the relief efforts, can't we?

Dolphin and Sea Shells Soaps

A Cute New-to-Me Jewelry Shop

I stumbled across redchuckstress yesterday while checking out my Twitter (don't follow me yet? you should ;) ).

I not only think the designs are cute, but I also really like the backgrounds!  They give the pieces in her shop some personality and make it stand out from other, similar jewelry shops.

The Soda Pop Stop

After watching the video Cat posted over on her blog about the Soda Pop Stop, we decided we just had to try a few new sodas.  Now, normally, Matt and I aren't soda drinkers, neither of us really likes all the carbonation and HFCS companies put in them, but we do like supporting small businesses and trying new things.  So when our box arrived the other day we were so excited to try all the new sodas!

We got 8 sodas altogether, 2 rose sodas, 2 cherry, 2 mint julep, a vanilla cream and a cucumber.

First, Matt tried the Cherry.

It was so good, so cherry-y, and very sweet.  It had a bit too much carbonation (probably from being jostled around a mail truck for a day or two) and may have exploded a small bit when we opened it.  But it was gooood.

I tried the Rose first.

What does a rose soda taste like?  I would have to say, like how roses smell.  Its hard to put into descriptive words because it really does just taste like rose!  I highly recommend it and will definitely be ordering more ;)

Next, we tried the Vanilla Cream.

Matt is a fan of cream sodas, I am not, but this one was good, it kind of tasted like homemade, carbonated, vanilla ice cream. 

We tried the Cucumber Soda when we were enjoying our 4th of July fireworks and we both really enjoyed it, we should've ordered two of them instead of just one because we fought over it a little haha.  I know cucumber soda probably doesn't sound good, but give it a try and then try and tell me you didn't like it, you won't be able to!

The mint soda we tried yesterday.

I don't really like super minty things (peppermint, spearmint gum, toothpaste, etc) because they make me feel nauseous, but this soda was sweet and just under too-minty status.  It tasted like how I believe all mint chocolate chip ice creams should taste (they seem to be turning into mostly vanilla with green coloring - there is no mint flavor!). 

So, if you haven't tried the Soda Pop Stop yet, I highly recommend it.  And even if you have! Go back and try something new!

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes.

I know many a female who have more than enough pairs of shoes to supply a small army. 

When it comes to finding vintage shoes in various sizes however (especially smaller sizes it seems, imo) the task of finding new footwear can be daunting.  I love the james rowland shop for this very reason, it is stocked with only vintage shoes and they are categorized by size! 

Not to mention you can find all kind of cute, fashionable and functional styles.

Personally, I am a massive fan of wingtips, and these come in my size!  How cute are they?

And ever-fashionable Starr Crowe, over at A Thought Is The Blossom, recently posted that clogs are the pair to have.

Finda a pair in your size! There are tons to choose from :)

Which style is your favorite?

Animal XRays

I stumbled upon Strawberryluna when this print caught my eye:

Even before realizing that its part of an alphabet series,  I loved it.  Elephants are my fave and I love the way this is kind of cutesie-morbid. 

Check out the rest of the alphabet series, what's your favorite letter?