First BNR treasury on ETSY!

OOOOOh how excited am I, I have made it into my first BNR treasury on ETSY. For those of you who aren't familiar with "Treasuries" it is a way of promoting other Etsians and their items. By compiling collections of 16 items the powers that be at Etsy choose treasury collections to go on the front page.

So when you go to the ETSY home page the items you see will be a treasury compilation made by one of the shop owners. The beautiful thing about this system is that you cannot promote yourself in these collections.

This is why I am so honored to be listed in a BNR treasury. BNR stands for buy and replace, so if anyone wants a real chance of making a sale they have to buy something from one of the featured shops then their shop replaces that from which they bought from.

So a big thank you to my Promotional Frenzy forum pals for including me!

'Out of Whole Cloth; Fiber-Lovers BNR ' by Giftbearer

Artists who work in Knit/Crochet/FeltThis will be Monday's Specialty BNR Opens 4:00 PM - 1 AMJanuary 31st$15.00 Buy-in MinimumFirst 4 buyers will get 2 spots! Please click, comment, and promote!

Slouchy Newsboy Cap - B... HogansHandiwor... $28.00	Heart Felt Multi Brooch SensoryFelteds $20.00	Chunky Heathered Red Et... bagsofblessing $38.00	Follow in my Footsteps ... crochetedbycha... $19.00
White Chiffon Trio of F... prendasbyenid $18.00	Purplelious scarf and b... IsabellesAttic $32.00	Swirly Twirly Scarf Blu... PowersOfLove $15.00	handmade wool felt bag/... sammi10 $30.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com.

What I will miss

As you may have read in previous posts, I am shortly going to be going back to Chamonix, France where I have been living for the past 12 years.

I am very excited to be going home to the prospect of being able to go snow boarding on my days off, I'm looking forward to start building our new flat. I'm excited to be amongst friends again that I have missed immensely.

But there is one thing that the UK has that I sorely miss when I 'm in France. Aside from the rest of my family and friends I have had since I was a little girl, the UK, no matter which town or city you visit, has a wealth of second hand, charity,thrift shops and they are so much fun to trawl around. I spend hours sifting though the treasures that you can find in them, from books to buttons, clothes to cottons.

For the past few years as I have been going back and forth to and from France and the UK I have bought only a handful of new clothes, most of my wardrobe now consists of items I have found in second hand shops. I even use some fabrics I find there in my creative projects.

I can't wait to go home but in the same breath I can't wait to be coming back to do the second hand shop circuit.

Check me out in this cool ETSY treasury

'My two favorites: Green & Blue' by toystorynutty

There's nothing on Earth more beautiful than things that are green and blue. Blue like my husbands eyes and the sky...and green like the grass and lush Pennsylvania meadows.

Sodalite Cluster Br... krystalsjewelr... $80.00	Blue Heart Crystal ... BijiBijoux $12.00	Sea shore acrylic m... NewCreatioNZ $26.00	Caribbean Dreams So... bagsofblessing $29.00
NEW Swarovski Eleme... galla15 $30.00	Swarovski pearl nec... Sabtisdesigns $43.00	3 Ruby in Zoiste Cr... SunnyCrystals $12.50	handmade cobweb fel... sammi10 $28.00
Laughing Fingers Am... Giftbearer $43.00	Green Grass Wool Wr... SeaFlowerStudi... $20.00	Button Bag gift bag... Toddletags $3.95	Emerald City Neckla... petitehermine $28.00
Panda Blue Moon Zen... laurali $12.00	Turquoise Circle Sc... HogansHandiwor... $18.00	A Blue Heart Bracel... prendasbyenid $12.00	32 Blue Ford Larrysartdirec... $175.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com.

Anyone getting married in the morning?

I would just like to do a little mini feature on this Esty shop krystalsjewelry I haven't quite figured out how to put her photo's into this post but i'm going to go and see if I can but you can still click on the link and it will bring you straight there.

 Krystals Jewellery has some fabulous glittery lovelies in her shop some of which I think would make just gorgeous wedding jewelry. If you are a traditional girl or a steampunk you will find something wonderful. She uses all manor of crystals, semi precious stone and sterling silver for a very high quality finish.

Based in southern California she ships worldwide. If you would like more information click here krystal's shop

I hope yo like browsing though Krystal's store I am positive you will find something that will tickle you fancy.

I'M GOING HOME!

view from our old apt in chamonix

So for those of you that know me outside of the cyber world will know that for the past two years I have been living out of a rucksack. Not the fun "i'm off traveling round the world" type ruck suck but more the "I really can't be bothered to load three bags of clothes into the van AGAIN" type bag.

My husband and I have been backwards and forwardsing between Chamonix France ( where we live) and Cornwall England for work. My husband is a carpenter and on the promise of building a bespoke house in a very special location, here we are in the Uk.

But it has taken years of negotiations with council and neighbours to get things moving. So after leaving our home in March 2009 we are still working on a site that should have been completed in six months!

Now all you creative readers out there and Etsy followers will appreciate how difficult it is to be creative when you are not settled. How awkward it would be to have to drag around all the gubbins it takes to make what we make.  And how challenging it is to try to promote a craft and shop when you only have an Internet mobile dongle thing that is slower than a tortoise who has had all his feet amputated.

Now don't get me wrong I am not complaining ( ok well may be a little bit) But I am just so excited to be going home!!!!! We don't have a home to go back to but at least we will be in the right country. I apologise in advance if it becomes all a bit quite on the western front but we will be creating our new nest.

Our new home

This is our new pad. As you can see we still have a few things to do before we move in.

I dream of having a kitchen again and heating that heats the whole room not just the square foot in front of the electric fire. I dream of being in a surrounding that encourages creativity not freezes it. Ah the luxury of being able to make a felt scarf on a table that is longer than the scarf not the other way round.

But I know how lucky I actually am I know there are many millions of people out there a lot less fortunate than me.

I am just so excited to be going home and I thought I would share it.

I featured in someone's treasury!! LOOK

'I just can't smile without you...' by arcoirisbundlesofjoy

Playing the European Street Team chain treasury game! read more about it:http://www.etsy.com/teams/5127/european-street-team-est/discuss/6738933/

christmas amieggs s... nayami $24.95	Bubble Gum LoliPop ... HanamiGallery $	Lavender sachet in ... JennyKarlsson $10.50	Tiny Giftcard tags ... KolibriKado $15.00
Florid Fine Art Pho... JulienDenoyer $23.00	Just a Nice Little ... bdbworld $6.00	Embroidery Hoop wal... ChoochMagooz $17.00	Teabag Cozy momfetti $6.00
Cupcake Necklace (P... mishibu $10.00	Hi Im Miepie pillow... NaomiKimhi $25.00	A touch of pink - b... momochas $28.00	Star Button stud ea... ChocolateMintC... $4.50
Felt Kitty Brooch G... derinmavi $8.00	Little Bird Bobby P... niandra $6.00	Amigurumi Fawn Patt... pepika $5.00	Felt, coral,and tur... sammi10 $37.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

How cute is this collection of items for sale from selected ETSY shops. I am very happy to have been included in this one, it is so sweet it  just has to make it to the front page. My item is the felt flower necklace in the bottom right hand corner. Please do click away.

What's your guilty pleasure?

So this is my first real blog post of the new year, of 2011. As normal you hear nothing but I'm giving up this and I'm giving up that, everyone chatting about their new years resolutions.

This is all well and good and I think it's a lovely idea but most of the resolutions get left by the way side in no more than a week or so. And as the nobel intentions fade into the distance we can take comfort in the fact that our guilty pleasures will always be there.

Now I'm a simple woman, I don't really obsess about shoes ( don't get me wrong I ve got a few pairs) I don't wear perfume it makes me feel sick. I don't wear make up and I make my own jewellery...BUT.

But I can't resist a button. There is this fab charity shop I found that has an enormous collection of buttons. I would tell you where it is but then I would have to kill you. At 10p each I thought they were a bit pricy at first but now I make excuses to go into town and every time I do I nip in just for a pounds worth.

It's like getting a 10p mix up i used to get when I was a kid, only difference is that there is no way I'm sharing my buttons with my brother. I like to think that my husband is a very lucky man.

So what I want to know is what are your guilty pleasures and are they as bizzare as mine?

My first ETSY treasury of 2011

'Rainy day blues and browns' by sammi10

Its raining again down here in cornwall so here are my rainy day blues and browns

This is my first ETSY treasury of 2011 I hope every one likes it. It's been raining here in Cornwall ever since we got back from our holiday...boooo hisss and my poor husband is trying to fit windows!

Copper Bangle Bracelet ... Prittyfy $22.00	Large modern abstract 3... Empwr $100.00	Natural Luxe Soap-Balan... crimsonhill $5.50
Chocolate Brown and Van... lindab142 $21.15	Blue antique gold vinta... Lbtoyos $8.90	10 Merci Chirps - Mini ... myhandmadecraf... $3.00
Hunter Green Mixed with... crochetedbycha... $20.00	ORBAL - The Whispering ... toystorynutty $9.95	Item of the Day: Light ... thechristmasco... $15.00
custom magnetic spice k... dellcovespices $15.00	oil painting / beer bot... artinspiredlif... $400.00	Fertility Tracking Brac... petitehermine $22.00
Adult size apron Embr... sewmeamemory $35.00	Long Chunky Eternity Sc... bagsofblessing $38.00	OOAK Teal Blue and Brow... momadonnas $16.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.