We have a winner!

Congratulations are in order! The winner of my first blog giveaway is Jess of Lindy's Place . Thank you for participating and your earrings will be on their way this week....enjoy :)

While I am here, let me take a few minutes to tell you a bit about Jess-She has a shop on Etsy where she sells an eclectic mixture of items ranging from jewelry to handmade paper to all sorts of different crocheted items along with many other unique pieces. I am particularly fond of her rock star dangles, and a few other items that I will let you discover on your own.

Jess also has a blog where you can sign up to follow her adventures.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Hopefully, I will be announcing another giveaway within the next week, so keep tuned to this station ;)

XOXOXOXO

Cindi

Do you have an Idea?

Wow my articles are getting published faster than I thought they would! Here is my latest, and if you are getting a little thin in the memory area, this is perfect for you. It is something I have practiced for the last year. So instead of giving it all away here, I shall post a link to my Idea Basket. As always, please be sure to drop on by and leave a comment and a vote. This means a lot to our advertisers and keeps me in good standing with the editors.

It has been an extremely busy week for me, and here is what I have accomplished:

ClayItAgain is having a Christmas in July sale going on right now on Etsy and ArtFire. Those links will take you directly to the Christmas sale section. My most popular Christmas item of late has been my elves. I have discounted so much, I'm practically giving it away. And just for this weekend, I will offer an additional $10 savings on any wreath. With all the markdowns, they are 1/2 price now, and I would really like to get those out of here to make more room in my studio. Please feel free to share this info with all your rich friends :D

I also took the plunge and set up a fan page for ClayItAgain on FaceBook. My first goal, is 100 fans and when I reach that, I will have a drawing for a gift certificate good for anything in my shop. I also set up a fan page for 12MidnightOils. And I will also have a drawing for a gift certificate when I get 100 fans there.

Our garden has really kicked into gear now that the weather has turned hot. The 2nd round of lettuce is starting to thrive. I always thought that lettuce needed a cooler environment, but we've never had a shortage of lettuce...AS LONG AS WE KEEP THE SEEDLINGS WATERED ;) So maybe we will have something to donate to the food bank, after all, this year.

On Monday, I have a job interview. Yay! It's only for a temporary job while a lady goes on vacation. But heck! The $$$ I make in that 2 weeks could carry us financially for another month! So be thinking good thoughts for me on Monday afternoon.

Well I think that about wraps it up for this post. Don't forget to enter the drawing for my giveaway. There's only 2 weeks left til I announce a winner, and I think there are only 7 entries...incredible odds I must say!

FEATURED ETSY SHOP THINGSINSTUFF

Welcome to a world of dragons and faeries and fantasy. Stepping into the shop of Things'nStuff , you will find all kinds of magical creatures, pixie hoodies, and even OOAK artwork . This is a whole family of crafters. And how many of us can say this- "All items are original designs that are ecologically sustainable. The materials that we use are salvaged, reclaimed, or obtained at the thrift stores to be recycled. Our goal is to leave little impact and recycle and reuse goods to make enjoyable things 'n' stuff." What a great attitude to have toward our Mother Earth. I just had to find out more about this amazing family. Read on:

What is your favorite item in your shop? I don't have a favorite item...And so once again, I have spent hours trying to decide which item I liked the best. I picked "Pegasus" as I have always been fascinated with them.

What inspires you to create? Nature, and my boys inspire me to create. I could be washing dishes, or going to the bathroom(lol) and ideas come to me. Sometimes its hard for me to turn off the ideas.

And do you have any inspirational advice for other artists? I think by being open to the Universe, they ideas will come. Its hard sometimes to choose the right one to pluck out and create. Keep on trying, thats what I do.

Do you create in more than 1 medium? Its hard to stick to just one Medium. I love to sew, create with wool (needle and wet felting), Clay is very satisfying. I also paint and carve gourds, I haven't put any of them on etsy yet. My Husband and Partner Brandon, works with wood. He also is very talented in electronics and uses them to make unique toys.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? And why? Thats a hard Question, I love Oregon its such an unique place. I've longed to go to south America. I could see my Family and I living in a mud house(earth ship) with a Big Garden being sustainable, Crafting. Oregon, South America, maybe I could have a home in both. Winter in South America, and back to Oregon in the Summer and Fall.

What is your favorite food? I love Mexican and Chinese food and Sushi Rolls.

Favorite animals? mountain lions, unicorns.

Favorite colors? are Blue, Green, and Purple

Do you have a favorite quote you'd like to share? Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new....Albert Einstein AND this one: Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony....Mahatma Gandhi

You may find thingsinstuff on their blog and on flickr: melissa33brew

Thank you so much thingsinstuff for taking time to do this interview. Be sure to visit their fantasy filled shop where you may find a treasure waiting just for you.

Featuring Etsy Shop - BarbaraCrochetStudio

I became aquainted with BarbaraCrochetStudio when I decided to submit a recipe for an Etsy cookbook. It seems that recipe submissions were taking longer than the cookbook editor had originally thought. So a few of us began bumping the thread trying to get the recipes needed for the cookbook . One just can't help checking out another's shop when posting back and forth on a thread, and that 's when I saw this sentiment in Barbara's shop announcement:

"Every time I work on a project I think about the potential Customer who will be using it, about his/her personality, age, etc. Just like every handmade products, crocheted ones are loaded with a ton of heart and warmest feelings, which the crafter wants to convey to Customers."

I wonder how many of us in our day to day creating rush stop and give this much thought about who will end up with our creative endeavor? Is it any wonder why I wanted to learn a little more about who was inside of this unique store?

What is your favorite item in your shop? It's hard for me to choose, I love them all. However the thread crochet are the closest to my heart. Please feel free to choose your favorite. :)
I chose these Heart-Shaped Crocheted Doilies because they had a heart of gold in them, and I suspect that they were made with lots love in mind.

What inspires you to create? First of all the people - my family, my friends and my customers. And then the world around us - seasons of the year, Holidays, special events. I'd like to make people joyful and happy with my creations. I like to make special orders because this brings me closer to the recipient of my creation and lends a "personality" to my product.

And do you have any inspirational advice for other artists? Life is beautiful - expose it in your art!

Do you create in more then one medium? I do crochet and can knit. Recently crocheting has taken over knitting. I find crocheting more expressive. I like to crochet with thread the most (doilies, jewelry). But I also use other fibers - cotton yarn, acrylic, wool.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? And why? San Francisco, CA - location, weather, atmosphere, and the architecture. I would also consider my beloved hometown Krakow, Poland.

What is your favorite food? Strawberry ice cream with fresh fruits and chocolate syrup.

Favorite animal? Dog, I'm amazed with their fidelity and intelligence.

Favorite color? Blue, any kind of blue!

Do you have a favorite quote you'd like to share? "We may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion."- Hegel

BarbaraCrochetStudio also has a blog

Thank you very much Barbara for taking the time to do this interview and share a piece of yourself with us. Be sure to visit BarbaraCrochetStudio where you'll be sure to find some very special creations from someone who truly cares about each piece she creates.

Featuring Etsy Shop - JanEleven

I first came to know of JanEleven when I began posting on the threadkiller threads on the Etsy forums. Jan brings us the 'news ' every morning-quick one liner's encapsulating the day's postings on the threads. She is inviting and always open for a chat, and genuinely cares about the people and the shops she reports on. JanEleven's shop is a mixture of vintage and antique items and also showcases her watercolor paintings and ACEO's, which are inspired by many things...literature, the ocean, and fantasy. I began to understand even more about this artist when I interviewed her:

What is your favorite item in your shop? My personal favorites are the abstract paintings.

Jan let me pick my favorite and it is called "Under the Blue". I love this painting and I spent hours one day gazing at it; it takes me to another place in my mind where things are calm. The most fascinating thing I found about it, was that I saw so many images in it, no matter which way I looked at it. Since it is an abstract, it can be turned around and framed either vertically or horizontally.

What inspires you to create? I am inspired by many things - nature, fantasy, something I read or see.

And do you have any inspirational advice for other artists? I believe everyone has a gift and all gifts are equally special...the important thing is once you have found your gift, use it and work to make it the best you can.

Do you create in more than 1 medium? I paint in watercolors and I also like making collages.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? And why? I have always had an affinity for Japan - I absolutely love the architechture and the refined sense of beauty. I also think the kimono is one of the most beautiful articles of clothing ever designed for women, and I have a collection of them.

What is your favorite food? Everyone knows I love cucumber soup! For some reason I don't seem to have a sweet tooth at all - I would much rather have some macaroni and cheese than cake and ice cream, although I can eat the icing with a spoon.

Favorite animal? I love most animals and think it's amazing how they all fit into Creation.

Favorite color? I love Chinese red, but I use it most often in decorating - many of my paintings have the blues and greens and purples which I also love.

Do you have a favorite quote you'd like to share? One of my favorites is in my shop announcement:

If, of thy worldly goods thou are bereft

And to thy store one loaf of bread is left

Sell it, and with the dole

Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul - Edna St. Vincent Millay

I also like what Judge Judy says - "Don't pee on my shoe and tell me it's raining."

Thank you so much Jan for taking the time to share a little about yourself with us. Be sure to visit JanEleven on Etsy for vintage treasures and beautiful one of a kind watercolor abstracts.

Featuring Etsy Shop - KayzKreationz

KayzKreationz is one of my friendly threadkiller rivals on the Etsy forums. I first became intrigued with her shop when we began vying for a pincushion giveaway-{which, I might add, she still refuses to believe will be mine someday :) } Kay loves working with glass-whether it's mosaics, or fused or stained glass. She also loves gardening, nature, anything Texas, and has recently added a new section to her shop to feature her Mom's beaded jewelry. I had no idea her works could be found in so many places on the web. More about that later, but first, let's learn more about her:

What is your favorite item in your shop? Probably my mosaic birdfeeder. I just love making all my glass, so it’s hard to pick a favorite. What inspires you to create? I love nature, gardening and such. So usually when I look around at my yard, other’s yards or gardens, I see things I would either like to try to make in glass or to enhance by making something in glass to fit in/beautify it.

And do you have any inspirational advice for other artists? Just do what you love. Don’t worry about what others think about your art. The only thing that matters is what you think and what you need to do to make it your own. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There will always be someone who doesn’t like what you do, but there also will always be someone who does. Just make yourself happy.

Do you create in more than 1 medium? I have had a lot of hobbies in the past. Mainly I stick with glass now, although I do add some beadwork to my things. I also still love macramé (which I started as a teenager, while visiting family in California) so I still do some of that. I made a macramé guitar strap for my youngest son, who plays guitar, that he just loves. So then I made him a stained glass guitar with a mini macramé guitar strap for his graduation that he also loves and pictures his favorite pastime. In fact, I added my macramé to my glass work with the “Ocean Meets the Sky” suncatcher, which has a macramé hanger with some of the same seashells that are in the glass work.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? And why? Still in Texas, but closer to San Antonio. My hubby and I both love San Antonio and the riverwalk. We also really enjoy the Spanish/Mexican culture. And there we would be in a place we enjoy and with a culture we enjoy. In fact, we’re both working on our Spanish to improve it and be able to converse easier, since there are so many Spanish speaking people here in Texas.

What is your favorite food? Chocolate-if there was no chocolate, I wouldn’t have to watch my weight.

Favorite animal? Horses first (we recently had to sell our horses and I really miss them) and then dogs. I love my Blue Heeler, Cheyenne. She’s a great dog, but not quite sure what to do with herself, since we sold the horses, so she tries to round up us, our cats, the deer, you name it, she rounds it up. They don’t always appreciate it however.

Favorite color? Red or purple. I find most everything I do tends to lean towards those 2 colors or shades of them.

Do you have a favorite quote you'd like to share? Either ‘Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder” because it only matters whether we like it or not. Or-"A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else." John Burroughs Because it reminds me we all need to take responsibility for ourselves and what we do.

Now for all the diffferent places you can view Kayz current and past works plus other wonderful pictures of her life in Texas:

http://kayzkreationz.artfire.com/

http://kayzkreationz.mybisi.com/

http://flickr.com/photos/KayzKreationz

http://kaysglass.com/ Although my website just shows pics of things I’ve done or already sold. I’m getting ready to take a class on making websites so I can redo it and sell from it.

http://kayzkreationz.blogspot.com/ I blog about my family, glass, our Texas wildlife property and other great Etsy shops I find.

Thank you Kay for taking the time to do this interview and share a little more about yourself. Be sure to visit KayzKreationz on Etsy and see what favorites you'll find there. My personal favorite is the Pyramid Beach Sandscape .

Featuring Etsy Shop - Inkwear99

inkwear99 is another one of those shops sponsoring a threadkiller prize on the forums of Etsy. The prize for killing inkwear99's thread is your choice of a pair of shoes from their shop...and I have heard they are absolutely awesome! First thing in the morning I can usually find inkwear99 posting her Good Mornings to everyone on the Etsy forum threads. The good mornings are always positive and cheerful. One can tell that they enjoy what they do, and I wanted to share a little more about them with you:

What is your favorite item in your shop? My favorite item in my shop is the old school Panther and Dagger shoes.

What inspires you to create? We started Ink Wear because my step daughter, who is 12, wants to be a fashion designer when she gets older. We thought it would be a great thing for her and for us to do things with the whole family. The kids have a lot of input on the designs for the shirts and the totes. They actually wear some items to school and try to sell them to the other kids. We have a tattoo shop and were purchasing shirts for that, so we figured if we made them, it would be easier and much cheaper. We also get some people who don’t want a tattoo on their body, but do like the designs, so we thought what a great concept, tattoo inspired clothing for people who want to wear tattoo designs, but not necessarily have a tattoo for life. That is a huge commitment. There are so many different ideas that we keep coming up with and can’t wait to put the ideas on a pair of shoes or a shirt.

And do you have any inspirational advice for other artists? I think as an artist, you have to keep your mind open for new ideas and thoughts always. Some of our tattoo artist’s, seem to get in a rut of only wanting to do certain tattoos, although they can do anything. I really think any artist has to keep themselves inspired by what is around them in their lives and learning experiences.

Do you create in more than 1 medium? We create our art mostly on canvas, but not just a piece of canvas, the shape of the shoes can be difficult to work with sometimes. The canvas totes and cotton tshirts are fun to work on with the silk screen process.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? And why? If I could live anywhere I wanted, I think it would be somewhere by the ocean. Here in Colorado, we obviously don’t any big bodies of water and I love the ocean. Although, I really do like the changing of the seasons.

What is your favorite food? chocolate, any kind of chocolate. Favorite animal? Panda Bear, they are so cute. Favorite color? pink.

Inkwear99 can also be found on

Art Fire http://inkwear99.artfire.com/,

My Space www.myspace.com/inkwear99,

and Twitter www.twitter.com/inkwear99.

Thank you so much inwear99 for taking the time to do this interview and share your family business with us. Be sure to visit inkwear99 on Etsy and see all the tattoo inspired items they have.

Featuring Etsy Shop - YaffaDreams

YaffaDreams is the sponser of a 'threadkiller' thread that I follow on Etsy. A thread killer is one who posts a comment on a forum thread and then no one answers or posts a comment back. It can be a very lonely, crickets chirping, you just hitch-hiked yourself into a conversation without being invited, no one wants to talk to you kinda feeling. I know that's how it makes me feel, and I sure was happy to find the threadkillers on the Etsy forums.

When I say YaffaDreams is the sponser of this thread, it means she has offered a prize if you kill her thread. In order to 'kill her thread' you must be the last one to post a comment and no one posts after you for 24hrs. It doesn't happen very often when there is a prize involved. Mostly all of us posting are getting to know each other little by little everyday. Since YaffaDreams is offering the prize of any piece of jewelry in her shop, I suspect this thread will go on for quite some time. So I thought I would give us all this opportunity to get to know her a little better:

What is your favorite item in your shop? I really don't have a favorite. I love everything! Every piece is unique! So, I got to pick whatever item I wanted to feature, and I chose these beautiful peace sign fire red guitar pick earrings.

What inspires you to create? Perusing the shops and blogs helps me be creative. I don't copy work, but seeing all the talent out there makes me want to be creative. Usually, I just get an idea while sleeping and wake up and go create something from that idea. What I end up with is nowhere near what I start with!

And do you have any inspirational advice for other artists? Visit Thursday Sweet Treat blog. Every Friday the blogger posts a theme for following Thursday and you can create something and submit it to be posted. Really gets you thinking!

Do you create in more than 1 medium? I mainly create jewelry, but have been known to paint bags, jeans and t-shirts.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? And why? I would live right here in Dunnellon, Florida. It is awesome here. Very small town and everybody is sooooooo nice. I live in the country and want to spend the rest of my years here. For more info on this great place, look here: I Love Dunnellon

What is your favorite food? cheese! Yum, yum, yum and for that reason, I could never be vegan!
Do you have a favorite quote you'd like to share? I have many - almost all of my listings have quotes in them. But this one is one of my favorites: "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." ~~~ Albert Schweitzer

Is anything else you would like to share about yourself or your shop? The name Yaffa Dreams means Beautiful Dreams. My daughter's Hebrew name is Yaffa. I wanted to somehow name the shop after her, because of the joy she brings to me. And she is a beautiful dream come true. She has a section in my shop called "Fantastical Awesomeness". She creates the items and the money earned is spending money for her.

YaffaDreams can also be found at the following places:
http://www.redheadhomestead.blogspot.com/
www.flickr.com/yaffadreams
www.twitter.com/yaffadreams
www.myspace.com/thereisnonameleft

Thank you YaffaDreams for taking the time to do this interview and share a piece of yourself with us. Be sure to visit YaffaDreams on Etsy and see what other treasures she has in store.

Featuring Etsy Shop- Quiltingdiva

I came upon Quiltingdiva one night in the Etsy forums just minutes before the site was to close for maintenance. She had me ROTFL as each of us was trying to get the last word in before we got shut out completely. After the site was closed down that night I wondered if I would ever see her again in the threads I visit. Happily, I have seen her nearly everyday.

Quiltingdiva is a self professed fabricaholic and says she visits the fabric store almost daily during her lunch hour. She quilts with bright, cheerful fabrics, loves coffee fabrics and anything beachy. Her shop is filled with wall hangings, tote bags of all sizes and colors, and of course Quilts + so much more! She has enjoyed quilting now for over 10 years. She loves quilting, and it shows. Here's more about her:

What is your favorite item in your shop? My favorite would have to be my "fun in the sun" wall hanging. I have made about 12 of these in all different color schemes. I am a huge fan of anything beach, sunshine, yellow/orange, flip flops and of course quilting, so it's absolutely all my favorite things represented in one project. I should name it "the Stacy" lol

What inspires you to create? I just love to sew. I love bright colors, so often I will see one fabric and think it would be great in a tote bag or as a border for a cute wall hanging, so "voila" - inspiration!!

Do you have any inspirational advice for other artists? Do what you love! When your hobby turns into a "job" then it stops being fun.

Do you create in more than 1 medium? Yes!! I use mostly fabric for my projects, but have been getting into glass magnets, I made some flower pens for work, I just purchased my first "teach yourself to crochet" so I love anything that I can have fun and create awesome stuff :)

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? And why? I would live in Florida and now I do!! I lived in Maine for 29 years and recently moved to Tampa, Florida. It's the best thing I ever did. I still pinch myself every day (literally). I am so happy here

What is your favorite food? pizza

favorite animal? dog

favorite color? ORANGE!!

Do you have a favorite quote you'd like to share? Go for it! I know it's not too original, but I have to say that if you want to do something don't wait. We decided to jump in when we had our son and duh... that's the best decision we ever made. As I discussed earlier, I wanted to move to Florida since I was 5 and finally at 29 made the move. If you want something bad enough - make it happen :)

Can we find you anywhere else? My flickr name is quiltingdiva ...and my twitter account is quiltingdiva76.

Thank you Quiltingdiva, for taking the time to do this interview, and sharing your wonderful, fun quilted items. Be sure to visit Quiltingdiva on Etsy, to see all the colorful and fantastic items she has!

When it rains, it pours...Also a silver lining in this cloud

Oh my heck! As if things weren't bad enough for us right now. I was sitting in my favorite ($5 yard sale) chair on Friday night and the heater kicks on. And I said to the hubster "wow that sure smells damp and moist".
So I went down to the basement where the heater is, and discovered that we have a leak somewhere in our plumbing. Now, Mr. Clay ( as we all lovingly refer to, as my hubby) can't make the trek downstairs right now, on account of his oxygen and the open flame of the furnace. So it was up to me to figure out the situation. Mind you, I made this discovery near bedtime.

We have a small ( I mean COZY ) home. It is an old miner's camp house, only 766 sq ft on the main level....And then there is the basement (which I call the dungeon). Half of the basement is a big dirt slope and the other half I took over for my studio. On my side I painted the bricks white, wallpapered the ceiling in light colors, and put in a white linoleum floor over the concrete. Since I share my space down there with 'The Dark Side' (the wild untamed and not well lit, dirt side), I have approximately 57 spider traps so that no spider or creepy crawlie can make it past into my domain. It took me the better part of last summer to complete, and when the temperatures heat up, it is the coolest place in the house; everyone wants to be there!

Now the leak is coming in on the 'Dark Side', and the dirt is damp looking and dangerously close to my studio side. And of course there is all kinds of crap piled over there-not quite junk, but certainly not stuff I want to go poking around in-old tools and boxes and such. I went to bed with the words of Mr.Clay rattling in my brain "well I hope it doesn't break loose and flood the whole basement". So naturally I slept a whole 20 minutes that night!
Yesterday, Saturday, I got an early start and began removing everything from the dark side, taking it upstairs and outside to a trailer to be able to sort it later. It took me almost all day, and I still have a couple of heavy misc. items to take care of today. But I got it cleared out enough to know that the leak has made it more than just 'damp'; there are rivers and puddles, and mushy mud...I laid out boards to walk on.
I made it Mr.Clay's job to call a plumber-since he is the one who didn't take care of this plumbing issue years ago when I asked. Of course, it's Saturday afternoon, and no one is answering their phones...except one-and he is out in the desert riding horses...lol. Did I mention we are out in the country? Desert country :)
Now we have been quoted 6K, 8K, & 10K in the past to redo our plumbing; and there is no way that we have that kind of $$$ right now, but we can't afford to ignore this problem. So Joe plumber comes after his horse ride, and says the leak is from the water line coming into the house, and we'll need a back hoe to dig up the front yard and also to hand dig under our brand new sidewalk, and I'm thinking "Ka-Ching!" And says he can do it for $1,400 !! And that includes replumbing the bathroom and kitchen too...And he can have it done on Monday!
How lucky was that???
The leak however, has saturated the dirt so badly that I didn't want to take a chance on it running over to 'my sanctuary', so I filled 8 five gallon buckets of water, called the city, had them turn the water off, and we are now roughing it til Monday.
But oooh, I slept like a baby last night knowing my side would still be white when I woke up this morning :)

Now for some more goodly news- since I couldn't sleep Friday night, I was visiting the forums on Etsy , and there was a lady feeling generous-she wanted to make banners for 5 shops who have never had a sale or less than 5 sales. Since 12MidnightOils has never had a sale and was in desperate need of a banner, I jumped on the chance to grab a graphics designer to create one for me. And I absolutely love it! Her shop name is Drunce and I thank her 100 times over. Please visit her shop, and see if you find a treasure there for yourself. One of her specialties is making banners, and I peeked in at the other 4 shops who won, to see their new banners. All of them were fantastic! Thank you so much Drunce . There was definitely a silver lining to my 'leaky basement' cloud :)

Tsavo's Story

I found Tsavo (pronounced SAH-voh) while I was browsing through treasuries one day on Etsy. This cute little face is not the first kitty I have seen on Etsy, but there was something about his eyes that made me take a double look.

Tsavo's owners have a shop on Etsy called NightBlooming , where they sell hair sticks, jewelry, and other products for your hair. But also in their shop was this story that tugged at my heart strings. (Tsavo is the one waving at you-how cute is that?)

Here is Tsavo's story(as told by his owners):

We were so excited to get our Bengal kittens, Tsavo and Zerah, in early November. Sadly, though, we realized that something was wrong with Tsavo. While he'd chase a toy on the ground if you picked it up he'd treat it as though he was invisible- quickly we realized that he couldn't see, and had been tracking the toy by sound alone.

After waiting two months to see a specialist, Tsavo was diagnosed with birth-defect cataracts in both eyes. He has almost no vision in his left eye and only about 25% in his right eye. The good news is that he has a fantastic chance at gaining his vision back with surgery- a 96% success rate which should give him about 90% of his vision back.

The bad news, of course, is that the surgery is astronomically expensive, a conservative estimate placing it at a few thousand dollars without complications.

Many of you know I recently had cataract surgery; and the delays I faced waiting for that surgery because, I too, had to save up $$$ for it. Near the end of my waiting period my eyesight had gotten so bad that I could no longer see to drive, or even create art. I had completely lost the sight in one of my eyes. I cannot begin to tell you how great it feels to have my eyesight returned and how different the world looks with clear vision.

Can you even imagine the joy this little kitty will have once he can see? Just think how much wonder and amazement Tsavo will experience when he can finally see for the first time in his life! It will open up a new world for him

I am hoping that by sharing Tsavo's story, you will find it in your heart to help this little guy. In NightBlooming 's shop I found tiger eye pins to purchase in different $ amounts. Check in the right column and you will find a mini etsy with the direct links to Tsavo's donations, OR if you don't want to purchase contact NightBlooming and ask how to make a donation without purchasing as I did. Every little bit will help. Take a look at his little face again and tell me you could turn him down?

Tsavo's story touched me, as I could totally identify with his eyesight problem. If you have ever had cataracts or have someone close to you that has, you know the difficulty this problem presents.

Please help him now while it is fresh in your mind....
And watch how it comes back to you ten times over!

The gift of sight is precious for ALL creatures great and small...

Have a great Sunday everyone :)

I won the Sisterhood Award !!!

I am slowly but surely catching up with all my online obligations since my stay at the hospital with my hubby. When I logged onto my blog yesterday, I saw that I was awarded the "Sisterhood Award"...woo woo!

It's the first time I have ever gotten an online award, and I want to thank my very special friend Kay of KayzKreationz for awarding me with this honor. Kay's etsy shop has very unique stained glass items and I am particularly fond of these beach sandscapes . Be sure to check out her shop; I'm sure you'll find something that will catch your eye.
Ok, now I get to pass on the award to some other great blogs I follow; and here's the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 5 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.
Here's my 5 blogs and Congratulations on your Award:

♥ NatureWithMe

♥ CelebrateLife

♥ Pahavit's Universe

♥ ThursdaySweetTreat

♥ DZFANTASY

All of these blogs have a link to their Etsy store, except Pahavit's Universe and so here is the link to her store . Be sure to congratulate them on their award!

My Prize Treasury

Oh this was sooo much fun for me.

I got this idea to do a treasury with a secret theme. What is a treasury, you ask?

Well on Etsy there is a section called 'The Treasury" where one can showcase items from the shops of other Etsians. These treasuries only last 2-3 days before they expire and are gone.

Each time a treasury is created it is given a name/title. Usually, there is a general theme for each treasury such as a color, like items, etc...One of the objectives of a treasury is to get people to click on your treasury and THEN to get them to click on all 12 of the items you have featured. When an item is clicked on it takes the viewer to that item/store and you are able to see the full description of the item, selling price, etc...

In order to attract people to look into your treasury, I have found that a catchy title is the key and we are only given 31 characters for the title. So I titled my treasury " Guess the Theme of my Treasury"...inside my subtitle was "An Win a FREE ACEO card from my alter ego 12Midnightoils" (which is my oil painting shop on Etsy)


The rules were simple: the 1st person to post the correct answer in the comment field would win. The theme was a phrase and each item in the treasury represented one word(s) in the phrase.

The comments field below the treasury was where people would submit their guesses.


Here is what my Treasury looked like :
(and in case you would like to play along, I won't give the answer until the very bottom of this posting.)

And so it began...I got all kinds of answers involving peace, love, and harmony. Then I got real long drawn out answers where the guesser tried to tell a story and use the items in their story. Some of them had me LMAO.

On day 1, it was established that PEACE and LOVE were correct. Then the dove card that I had in box 3 sold and the link to that store no longer worked, I scrambled to find another replacement and then let everyone know that the DOVE had been replaced.

When people click on the items in a treasury, they usually click and go unless it is something that really catches their eye. So I tried to make it so that people would pay attention to the item being sold.

On day 2 I asked everyone if they had actually paid attention to the items, or just hurriedly clicked thru them, and reminded them that some pictures were not what they seemed. For example the little coffee and donuts are actually beads. I don't know how many guesses I got that had coffee and donuts in the answer! At this point I began to doubt my own memory and wondered if I needed to check with the author to be sure if I was indeed remembering correctly.

On day 3 people started getting frustrated. I started getting comments like "Is this just a phrase you made up or is it a common phrase?' I really wanted a winner, so I grouped all the clues together and told them that all they had to do was write it out. They already had PEACE, LOVE,DOVE and told them they were over-thinking the whole thing. Just write out what was in each box

SPOILER ALERT !!! SPOILER ALERT !!! SPOILER ALERT !!!

When it got down to the last 8 hours, I finally got a guess that was so close, that I let everyone know it was only missing two words. Within the hour someone guessed it perfectly and identified the author as Tommy Chong - Cheech & Chong. For those of you who are of the younger generation, Cheech & Chong were a comedy duo very popular during the 60/70's and they portrayed a couple of potheads that...did what potheads do...very funny stuff for all us aging hippie types. The phrase was:

peace, love, dove, bells, beads, light shows, incense, crash pads, Hari Krishna, right on , and power to the people!

When I said earlier that I had began to doubt my memory, I actually googled Tommy Chong and found he was on MySpace. Since I already had a MySpace I invited Tommy to be my friend, so that I could personally ask him if I was remembering something I spent hours trying to memorize. So if you look me up on MySpace and look at my friends you'll see Tommy is one of my friends now......still after all these years! Yeah, right... after all these years, he still doesn't know who I am, and he never answered me back. Guess he's too "busy"...LOL

A good time was had by all. I got so much positive feedback from this Treasury contest that I am looking forward to doing the next one.