2012 Rings In Our January FEST Blog Giveaway

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TheWoodenBee for our January FEST Blog Giveaway. Bee started it all with a love for the environment and partnered with Busby Cabinets recycling pieces of wood and other materials to make her wonderful art and product lines.


We are delighted to offer, as this month's Giveaway, the beautifully fashioned Wall Hanger seen above. It's made from reclaimed cherry wood with a merlot brown stain and would be perfect for organizing keys, necklaces, belts, pet leashes, aprons and much, much more.

Each item is one of a kind and requires "following the wood" to unlock the beauty within and create masterfully finished products, giving reclaimed materials new life. You will find Wall Art, Bulletin Boards, DYI Wine Cork Kits, Mirrors with Hangers and a myriad of interesting finds in Bee's Etsy Shop.

You can visit Bee at her Etsy Store to see more of her unique and original wares at TheWoodenBee. Find the perfect item for your home and save the environment too.

HOW TO ENTER: Enter to win this versatile Wall Hanger by visiting TheWoodenBee or any of the FEST member shops listed on the top of our Blog Page. Find your favorite item, share it with us and tell us why you love it. Remember to add your email address or contact info so we can contact you if you are the Winner! Winner picked on 02/05/12. Simple and Easy!

January's Em-Power Days

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If you are not familiar with Ellen Whitehurst then you should be!
Ellen Whitehurst is a Better Living Expert and is recognized as the country’s premier expert in Feng Shui and other empowering modalities.
If you would like to know more about Ellen Whitehurst, you can subscribe to or read  her website .
And as part of this month activities, we would like to share our picks from the Florida Etsy Street Team to help your Shuistrology for this month!

JANUARY 1 - Mercury squaring off against Mars makes for a whole lot of aggressive energy out and about on this day.  Steer clear.  Literally.  Stay off the road even for that one rad rager.  If you must drive, do it defensively and with a clear quartz crystal as your co-pilot.

WeAre1

JANUARY 6 - On the Feast of the Epiphany let’s encourage the Universe to gift you with one as well.  In keeping with the zeitgeist of this holyday burn some frankincense incense and tune in to that still small voice within.  Forget the myrhh, the inspirations and ideas that come to you now will be golden.  Your silence, however, won’t be.  Write them down, paint them, create them in some tangible way and then take them out into the world.  Recognition and rewards are yours.  Oh baby, take your talents on the road and your gifts will be applauded and appreciated!

Paintingsbygretzky

JANUARY 7 - Mercury the Messenger whispering sexy somethings to foggy Neptune but Neptune can’t seem to get a grip.  With Mercury entering practical Capricorn today too you might be finding it hard to stay grounded too.  Play middle C and high C in harmonic convergence/together at the same time on any musical instrument.  Known in sacred music circles as activating ‘Thy Rod and Thy Staff’ this secret sacred sound will activate meridians both back and front and give you the grounding you need.

craftyhag

JANUARY 8 - Busy, busy, busy Mercury trines generous and joyful Jupiter while squaring off against impulsive and unpredictable Uranus.  This is an alchemical day filled with pure magic and bliss.  Don’t believe me?  Just start it by saying (nine times aloud) … “I look with wonder at that which is before me.”  Yes, yes, a wonder-full day indeed!

kari1121

JANUARY 9 - Sensitive, emotional Full Moon rises in security conscious Cancer.  Tender.  Vulnerable even.  Feeling mushy, gushy and good.  You love everyone and everyone loves you.  Each time you eat or drink anything today imagine that you are swallowing LOVE.  Breathe LOVE.  Consciously take a moment and breathe in LOVE.  Smile.  Share love.  Show love.  XOXO

bluestarfishstudio

JANUARY 12 - SUPER STELLAR DAY!  First of the New Year!  YAY!!!  SUPER AND STELLAR AND BRAND SPANKING NEW!  YAY!  You know what to do – click on the link in the free monthly newsletter because that’s the ONLY way you can have access to this life-altering info!  WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE NOT A SUBSCRIBER?  Hop right on over and subscribe to Ellen Whitehurst Website!

AspiringImages

JANUARY 13 - Venus conjunct Neptune and romance my friends is in the air.  Want to bring it into your bedroom?  Red sheets!

iDoArtsyWeddings

JANUARY 14 - Venus entering Pisces while SEX-tiling a jubilant Jupiter.  All that romance that was burning up the charts yesterday returns with a renewed heat quotient today!  Speaking of amped up hotness – burn two pink candles in the ‘ROMANCE’ sector of your bedroom.  The room with the bed with the red sheets.  Let the candles burn all the way down.  You, my friend, will be burning UP!

PAMELAJ76

JANUARY 19 - Uh oh.  Sun squares Saturn.  Uh oh.  Stay on the straight and narrow and invoke (three times!) Archangel Jabriel to clear your path, light your way, make it easy every day.  Can I get an ‘AMEN?’

RobinMariaPedrero

JANUARY 20 - Sun enters Aquarius and Venus SEX-tiles Pluto and love just makes the world go round.  Speaking of round, there might be a ring in your future if you are looking for commitment.  Put the DOUBLE HAPPINESS symbol above the headboard of your bed and sleep tight.  Soon enough you’ll be sleeping for two!

MieleMelograno

JANUARY 23 - New Moon in Aquarius!  Lunar Chinese New Year!  Mars goes retrograde!  Don’t start anything new unless it’s putting an image of a water dragon next to a moving water fountain in the power corner of your living room.  That’s the corner that’s diagonal or catty corner to the front door.  A fountain.  A dragon.  A lamp or light. GUNG HEI FAT CHOY!

ClassyCookAprons

JANUARY 28 - Mercury sextile electric Uranus.  And it all starts NOW.  Expect the unexpected in every possible way but prepare for some positive programming as well.  Good communications are all over the place.  Tweet!  Text!  Email.  Just reach out to someone.  And don’t forget to surround your responses/replies with a pink light sent straight from your heart.  You’ll infuse the nuance with so much more than just joie de vivre.  Expect the unexpected with some surprising communiqué that has money attached.  Ooops, hope I didn’t ruin the surprise!

brownleeartstudio

Happy Birthday To You!

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Happy Birthday wishes going out to the following

Noajordan on January 3
http://www.etsy.com/listing/59346051/needle-felted-mushroom


MySirenaDesigns on January 6
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74130172/red-coral-white-snow-quartz-and-blue


Danelichicjewelry on January 7
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62561965/cranberry-mobius-cowl-eternity-chunky


Bethsteamspiritgems on January 8
http://www.etsy.com/listing/86596829/garnet-and-black-cuff-bracelet


Hope ya'll have a Wonderful Birthday!
ReneeBrownsDesigns

In My Corner with Bead Lover Korner

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So I must amit that I am a little jealous of Bead Lover today. She has a whole ROOM to craft in.  Although it gave me hope for the future because she did tell me that she started with only half the room until her sons moved out and she gave her husband's desk (which was really a pile of papers he never touched expect to pile more papers on) the boot.  HEHE.  At least she didn't have to act on the threats of throwing his "important" papers away. There has been a time when my husband has found an old newspaper in that pile of "important" papers. 

I am shaking my head as I write that. 

These two pics are where Bead Lovers Korner operates nearly every single day of the week, 12-14 hours a day and I must say she must love what she does to be so dedicated.

These shelves hold boxes of products that need to be photographed still, and the little pink crate holds orders that are pending for payment or backorders waiting on shipments. What a great organizing system I am still trying to find the best way to organize already made items though I must admit jewerly is probably easier to store than clothes. 

Bead Lover sells items she has made as well as Biagi Beads and clasps.She sells these and Landmark beads to people who have the Pandora and other style Euro bracelets. 

Here are a couple of storage racks like I mentioned in my space, she got one at ACE hardware and the other at Lowes and all the little bins are perfect for storing different beads and things.

She had everything in bags stored in boxes and it would take her forever to find what she  was looking for! Now look how organize it is with labels. I bet she never has to look though multiple drawers to find what she is looking for again.

When asked what she couldn't live with out she exclaimed her computer.

Especially since all of her sales are done on several different venues online and she has to constantly move items from one place to another, make sure the pictures are really good, answer emails and print all her postage labels. A couple of years ago her husband got her this huge monitor for Christmas because he kept seeing her right on top of the old monitor and he said he didn't want her to go blind! She also can't do without her coffee cup, it's probably hard to make out but it is one that she  bought from Paintings by Gretzky that has a picture of herTailess Black Cat silhouette.

Across from her desk is her beading table, for years it was way back in the bedroom which left a mess around the house when she beaded. 

Now she have her own space and she can leave things out and it doesn't matter! " You know how sometimes you aren't finished with something or want to "sleep on it" before you make the final touches?" she said. Oh yes, Bead Lover we know.

Where does she get her inspiration from?
"Well, I have a ton of Bead Style Magazines, Fire Mountain Gems catalogs and others for visual references and sometimes I get idea from those. I really don't ever want to copy another design so I just use them to spur ideas. What really makes me think are the Team Challenges and the Etsy Merchandising lists. Those two things help me formulate ideas on what I can make from what I have."

 One of the many reasons this team is so great for us!!!!!

Lastly, here is her storage tip. Her husband is an avid fisherman and practically has a bait store in his closet (can she say Hoarder again?). Anyway, one time he came home with some of these really neat little partitioned storage containers that he got at Walmart to hold all his Lures, worms, hooks, etc. and he only paid a few bucks for them. She had seen really cool bead storage units in the different bead catalogs, but they cost more than she  ever wanted to pay. So one day she went to Walmart and found this cool tackle box that came with three large partitioned boxes and two little tiny ones. And it had space in the top to hold other important fisherman stuff, it was pretty cheap really (She thinks it was like $15-$20.00). And guess what? Now she have two of them, LOL!!

What's missing that is the kiln and torch that she bought and that Bead Lovers Korner carries over on inventory every year. She did beading and all sorts of crafts when she was kid, but really took off with this about 10 years ago when her husband took a lampworking class. He had done glass blowing in school (back when they used to have real SHOP for guys) and he wanted to take this class. Meanwhile she wanted to hang something pretty and decorative in her car and had some beads someone gave her. One thing led to another and then her hubby took her to the bead store where he took the class. So she started beading and selling about 6 months later Bead Lovers Korner was born! She bought the kiln thinking he would make beads she could sell, but that portion of the plan has yet to really happen. She keeps thinking she will learn to do that, but she stays so busy all the time with what she is doing that already she hasn't had time. Every time she mention the words sell and kiln in the same sentence her husband insists that he is going to start that soon!! That sounds like most husbands and to do lists. My husband's is getting pretty long, it may be reminder time again....hmmm. 
Well I was so glad to see Bead Lover's area and she gave great tips for us all. I am sorry this was a little late the holiday season gets the best of you.
Enjoy,
Barbara