Thursday, October 29, 2009

It's Time For the FEST November GIVEWAY!

This month our Giveaway is sponsored by Cory of AquarianBath of Daytona Beach. Cory makes wonderful and delicious natural soaps, specialty salves, natural perfumes, hand sewn lavender neck pillows and grows her own herbs for her organic products.

This Giveaway is her scrumptious “Yin Ylang Soap” scented with organic, wild harvested Ylang Ylang-Extra, Frankincense and Cedar wood essential oil. Oh so Yummmmy!


This especially lovely, cold-process soap is rain forest and Orangutan friendly; no palm oils are included. The bar is approximately 4.5 oz.

All of Cory’s items are made from scratch and formulated by her and are either unscented or lightly scented with pure essential oils.

You can visit Cory at her Etsy Store to see more of her luxurious wares at: http://aquarianbath.etsy.com/

HOW TO ENTER: Enter to win this fabulous scented soap by visiting AquarianBath at her Etsy Shop or any of the FEST Team members listed to the left on this page. Find your favorite item, share it with us and tell us why you love it. Remember to add your email address so we can contact you if you are the Winner!

Entries accepted until November 20th.Winner picked on 11/25/09. Simple and Easy!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Sept Team Challenge Winner!

Congratulations Zizzybob on winning the Birthday themed Sept. team challenge! My Birthday just happens to be in Sept and I would have been beyond happy to receive a Zizzybob Bday postcards in the mail!

These mini quilted works of art make just saying “Hello” or “Thank You” a special treat! Stop by the Zizzybob store and pick out postcards to keep on hand for every occasion. You can get these unique cards for about the same price as a fancy (but not nearly as cute or handmade!) card from the store.

Postcards aren’t the only things you’ll find at Zizzybob. Check out this adorable little gobbler! Tom the Turkey is dying to be a part of your Thanksgiving dinner (pun intended ;))! And for only $17, you couldn’t find a more perfect or less expensive center piece for your Thanksgiving table.

Barbara, the talent behind Zizzybob, also hand crafts coiled fabric bowls. This traditional craft is finding a new place in modern décor and she has lots of styles and designs to choose from.


Find more Zizzybob handiwork on her blog: www.justalittlezizzy.blogspot.com

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Interview with AquarianBath

Meet Cory of AquarianBath


Who are you?
My name is Cory Trusty. I'm an herbalist, soap maker and gardener. I like to grow wild craft herbs and grow herbs organically. I am originally from the Seattle area where I studied Biology at the University of Washington and Traditional Chinese medicine at an herbal college.
I give community herbal workshops, consultations, and teach community herbal classes in St. Augustine at Maggie's Herb Farm.
***
I have a five year old daughter who I am home schooling. She and I take care of five hens who free range in the back yard and give us high quality eggs. My husband is very supportive and encouraging of my business and designs Solar Powered Computer networks called SolarNetOne.
What do you create?
I make a variety of natural soaps and body products from scratch with all natural ingredients. I also make herbal remedies with home grown and wild harvested herbs, and sew lavender flax neck pillows. Recently I added natural perfumes to my etsy store. I also make jewelry, but I haven't had time yet to set up and market a new etsy shop for that.
How did you get started?
I had two years of professional herbal training which was primarily lectures and book learning. I taught myself the hands on aspects with the help of various books, websites and herbal communities. I think it helped that before that I worked in a biology lab as a research technician for a number of years. Calculating concentrations, converting units, using scales and formulating is relatively easy for me.
What is unique about your products?
All of my products are made from scratch and formulated by me, so they are unique by definition. I don't use melt and pour bases or premixed oil blends. All of my products are also Orangutan and Rain forest friendly which means that they do not include palm oil or sodium palmate. .
What other interests do you have?
I volunteer in a community garden called Fair Share once or twice a week (http://wedigfairshare.org). The purpose of the project is to create sustainable local food sources in our urban communities. Right now I am selling raffle tickets for our fundraising event we are having called Hallowgreen, which will be a free family event held at the City Island Farmer's Market in Daytona Beach on Halloween morning. We are hoping to raise enough funds to dig a well for a large cultivation area on which we will raise food for low income families in need. At this time we have a demonstration garden in which we grow vegetables, give free workshops focused on how to grow organic vegetables and use herbs.




Where in Florida do you live?
I have lived in urban Volusia County near Daytona Beach for the last six years. My husband is a Daytona native. It is nice that we have his family here in town. I love the beach and have the feeling that I'm on a permanent vacation.
What are some other sites to find out more about you ?
My main website is AquarianBath.com.
On it you can find :
My blog
What was you worst crafting disaster?
There have been a few disasters for certain. One of the worst was a couple of years ago when I made a batch of Dark Stout soap with some Guinness that had not gone completely flat. When I added the sodium hydroxide to the beer, a caustic volcano erupted in my kitchen and poured down my counters and onto the floor. Yikes!
What makes you laugh?
My five year daughter brings a lot of joy to my life. She has so many amazing observations and cute ideas. I can't help smiling and laughing about many of her antics or clothing choices.
What was an embarrassing moment in your life?
I was at a show selling as usual, when I accidentally sat in a container of cheesy nachos. What a shock! I felt like an overgrown baby who needed a diaper change, but it was a great excuse to buy a fancy new lavender dress from the vendor next door.
Need to treat yourself to something special or get started Christmas shopping? Visit AquarianBath!

The Etsy Video Promo Winner!

Etsy hosted a contest to choose a great video to promote their site.
The theme was "Handmade Moment" and it could only be 30 seconds long.
The top entrants are visible on youtube after you watch this winning video. They had a difficult time awarding only one winner and will be using all these films to promote ETSY in the future!

My favorite is "Mr. Squid's Handmade Moment" - 3rd runner-up!
Which one is your favorite?

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Vote For Your Favorite "Spooky" Artwork!!!

The poll closed and we have a winner, CreativeArtCenter !
Look for a feature article about this artist in November.

We have an unbelieveable group of artists!!!
Halloween must be a big favorite because 17 Members jumped into the "SPOOKY"challenge. What a variety of items!


"Halloween Handbag" by iWunder




"Boy's Halloween Mummy Longalls" by Kid's Fashions






"Black Magic Clarifying Charcoal Soap" by AquarianBath


"Halloween Headband and Clippie Set" by FlyByNiteCreations



"Spooky Halloween Fabric Postcard" by zizzybob




"Mini Dracula Plush Monster" By Handmade3D



"Spooky Halloween Silver Cocktail Ring" by RecreationalArt



"Bite Me" mosaic by Acenal

"Silver Eyeglass Holder with Spooky Cat" by Angeloco


"Skeleton Domino Pendant" by QuirkyDolls


"Witch Is Me" art doll by FringeArtst


"Witches Brew" by CinfulArt


"Lil' Halloween Tote - Sparkly Spiders" by JeniLuScraps


"PSpooky Halloween Hat" by CreativeArtCenter
The Winner with 66 votes!!!!!!


"Halloween Romance Necklace" by GreenHeathTreasures



Halloween Lampwork Bead Set ..............by Fragiacomoglassart

Thursday, October 8, 2009

SPARKLY Winner QuirkyDolls!!

And the winner of the SPARKLE challenge is… brrdrdrdrr (that’s a drum roll of course!)… a FEST blogger extraordinaire, Terry of Quirky Dolls!

Terry’s creativity is evident not only in the design of her quirky dolls, but also in her item descriptions. The stories in each of her listings make me want to meet these little characters for myself. Allow me introduce you to the sparkly beauty who won this challenge, Julia:

Julia loves her hip hop classes and recitals. I think it's ALL about the costumes! She lives, eats and sleeps in costume decora! This harajuku fashion and makeup is her absolute FAVORITE...Ask her anything about Japanese fads and trends... she knows it all!
Julia is a 12 inch soft body doll wearing a satin lavender "Hello Kitty" and dragonfly trimmed dress. She is adorned with an eclectic mix of cute charms, ribbons, flowers and beads.
Her gorgeous face is painted with glitter, gems and petite geisha lips. Add a fuzzy blooming cushion and she's "over the top" with Japans favorite fashion!
Not safe for children under 6.

Terry is keeping it quirky with her latest addition, domino pendants. Check out this super cute elephant design. Click on over to her shop to see some really great Halloween themed pendants as well (I hope we’ll get to see one of those with this month’s SPOOKY challenge!).


Terry’s attention to detail, beautiful handiwork, and imaginative combination of materials is sure to make the Quirky Dolls shop one of your favorites!

See more Quirky Doll goodness on the blog, twitter!


Tuesday, October 6, 2009

We Have A Winner!

Our September Challenge winner is the
" Fabric Happy Birthday Postcard" by zizzybob! She just joined our team in August! Well deserved and thanks to all who entered.
Our FESTies are some very talented people! We look forward to reading the feature article all about zizzybob, here in November :)

Take some time to visit our member's shops by following the links on the left sidebar. Recently all updated with many new active busy members and
WOW !!!we have a FANTASTIC variety of artisans here in the SUNSHINE STATE of Florida!

The October Challenge is currently underway, accepting entries through October 15th, in the etsy forum . Follow the link on the left sidebar.
The theme is "Spooky",Whaaaaaaa Haaaaa!