crafting and reading

March is National Craft Month.  To me every day should have some crafting included in it.  What have you been crafting lately?  I love to see others creativity.  Besides designing items for my Etsy shop, I actually took some time to design something for me.  I purchased this beaded Easter Angel banner kit from Herrschners.  I really like how it turned out.  Beading, whether for jewelry or something like item is quite relaxing.  Sometimes it helps me to think through a problem or whatever is happening in my life at the time and other times I'm just "in the zone". 

I have been doing a lot of reading lately.  One book I recently was quite appropriate for the so called National Craft Month.  The book was The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini.  I went to a library used book sale, saw the cover and just knew it would be interesting.  By reading it, not only do you learn a variety of quilting styles, but you learn about family dynamics.  One of the most fitting themes for me in this story is how to not let your family split up over nonsense.  You only get one family.  My family means everything to me.  We are very, very close.  However, my extended family...not so much.  Its really a shame how some people don't want family.  When I think back, my extended family started to deteriorate years ago over money and wills.  Some people can only see one thing and only want one thing and will do whatever it takes to get to that end. Very sad indeed!  Surprisingly I stay strong and its made my immediate family and I even closer and happier.  Can't knock us down!  A song comes to mind with the verse, "I get knocked down, but I get up again".   Yep!  So readers, if there is conflict in your family....try to fix it.  If you get rebuked, at least you can say that you tried and then go hug your own immediate family and be thankful for them.

Until next time....

Melissa

What has been happening at the Cozy Cottage

It sure has been a while since I last posted.  It has been a trying time at my Cozy Cottage.  My mother who had been in hospice since January of 2012, passed away on October 6, 2012.  We had been having difficulties in our relationship for over a year prior to her going into hospice.  I am happy that my daughter and I were able to have long talks with her and work through all of it before it was too late.   There were many visits that were very enlightening to us.  We had gotten close to many of the staff members at the hospice center, who were a great comfort to us, during her stay there and after her passing.  I hope my mother is now at peace as I truly believe she lived with untreated depression and spent decades living with an ongoing family situation that she chose to accept instead of acknowledging and changing.  It is a shame how things played out, but I truly believe in two things.  One, the truth always comes out whether it be in my lifetime or not....the truth will be shown.  Secondly, karma has a wicked way of evening things out. 

So after just focusing and dealing with my grief, I decided that working on designs for my Etsy shop would help me deal with everything.  Crafting is an excellent way to relieve stress and tension.  My husband, daughter, and I decided to vendor at a few holiday craft shows which we were successful at plus we met lots of other great crafters.  Christmas at my shop was very good!  My angel tree toppers were just flying out of my cozy cottage.  Excuse the pun.  LOL!  Now that spring is just around the corner, I've decided to do a thorough clean out of my studio.  I have a whole section of "Destash Supplies" filled with ribbons, fabrics, etc., and with a whole lot more coming.

It was nice finally visiting with you and I hope to visit more often in future.  I hope to see you at my cozy cottage.

Until next time....

Melissa

Once Upon A Time...

I recently designed a series of shepherd hook bookmarks inspired by the Once Upon A Time  TV show on ABC.  My daughter and I just love that show!  We can hardly wait for the season finale.  Hopefully, the Evil Queen/Mayor will get what she deserves!  I have always loved the idea of good winning over evil.  With so much horrible, horrible things happening in the world, its nice to get away to a place where good does come out on top.  Also, there aren't many girls who wouldn't want to be a princess at some time in their life complete with the castle, the gowns, the tiaras, and of course the prince.

Here is my line of Once Upon A Time bookmarks:

                                                         Cinderella

                                                         Snow White

                                                    Sleeping Beauty

                                                Beauty and The Beast

My Beauty and The Beast bookmark was recently featured in a very cute Etsy Treasury. The adult Belle costume is just gorgeous!

Beauty and The Beast Inspired Goodies by Teresa on Etsy


Until later,

Melissa

Last minute Easter shopping

Has this month flown by or what?  I can't believe that its nearly the end of March.  Usually by now I have our house decorated for Easter, but I'm still working on it.  Just a bit more to go.  My Mom has been moved into a hospice center, so things have gotten a bit chaotic at my Cozy Cottage.  Well enough of my problems....that is not the point of today's post.

Maybe you already have your spring door wreath, but you haven't thought about your dining room/kitchen or a room or two in your home.  Here is my selection of placemats, wall hangings, door knob hangers, and a table centerpiece.  All of these items are currently available at my Etsy shop.

I hope you have enjoyed looking through my spring/Easter selections.  Maybe I'll see you at my Cozy Cottage.  I'd like to wish all of my readers a very blessed and Happy Easter!

Until later,

Melissa

First Day of Spring

Yes!  Its officially the first day of spring.  I say, "officially", because in my neck of the woods we've had springlike and now summerlike temperatures for a couple weeks.  I'm hoping that the temps get back to a more normal range so that we can enjoy actual spring days.  This year, we've gone from wearing a leather coat to wearing t-shirts and shorts.  I so love this time of year with all of the new growth.  I find it so interesting how nature just knows when its time to wake up and show its beauty.  I discovered this morning that I already have buds on my bleeding hearts, plus my hyacinths are in full bloom.  I just love the scent of hyacinths!  I have an herb garden and the chives and garlic are up and green.  I also discovered that my rhubarb is coming up.  Such a pretty color!

With Easter being just a few shorts weeks away, here is my collection of spring wreaths:

                                               Colorful Spring Wreath

                                 
                                          Sweet Victorian Pansy Wreath

                                                        Simply Purple

                                          Bonnie Bunny Welcomes Spring

All of these are currently available in my Etsy shop.  Each of these wreaths offer a different look to any home.  Looks all the way from Victorian to simple elegance to just plain cute, as in "Bonnie Bunny".  I just love her!  What a sweet way to welcome guests to your home; especially on Easter Sunday.  How can you not smile when you look at her!

I also designed a religious themed bookmark that would make an excellent Easter gift, First Communion gift, a Confirmation gift, or even for someone who has accepted Jesus into their lives.  The aurora borealis finish on the pink and purple beads adds a sparkly touch to the dramatic cross charm.

I hope all of you have an enjoyable first day of spring!

Until later,

Melissa

Easter Treasury

My Easter wall hanging was featured in a recent Etsy treasury.  It is really a lovely treasury.  Well chosen items.  Check it out:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTE2MjU4NnwyNDY4Mjk1MDQ3/happy-easter-happy-spring

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Melissa

Celebrating National Craft Month

A month devoted to crafting.  How great is that!  I've been a crafter for most of my life.  When my daughter was old enough to do crafts, I got her started.  We would craft every Sunday afternoon when she was younger.  Great, great memories!  It didn't matter what the medium used, she loved it all.  Her favorites were working with Playdoh, beads, and of course glitter.  Now years later, she is 18 and has an Etsy jewelry shop and a clothing/accessories shop and our work tables sit side by side in our craft studio.  I've been continuing to go through my craft supplies and weeding out what my daughter or I don't need.  So far its been a great idea, as we've made some space in our studio and I've made a few sales in my fabric destash.

Here are some of the items I have for sale in my Etsy shop.  Maybe you'll see something that you could use to do your own crafting this month.

                                              Daisy Kingdom ABC Bears

                                    Dianna Marcum's Raggedy Ann & Andy

                                        Baby Big Bird and Cookie Monster
                                                       crib quilt panel

                                          Paddington Bear is Gardening

                                           Easter Bunnies and Jelly Beans

                                              Children's Fabric - yardage

                                           Debbie Mumm's Teddy Bears

                                          Flower Gardening by VIP Prints

                                 Pansies & Bows Applique Panel - VIP Prints

This is just some of what I have available and am still listing new items.  Between going through craft supplies, posting items, and creating/posting spring and Easter decor....I've been keeping fairly busy.

Something is always happening at my Cozy Cottage.

Until later,

Melissa

My shop now carries crafting supplies!

Yep, I'm selling crafting supplies.  My daughter and I have been going through our crafting "studio" and decided to sell the supplies that we aren't using and don't have any future plans to use.  Right now I have fabric, ribbon, and patterns, but will probably be adding jewelry making supplies.  The jewelry supplies are from our jewelry designing endeavor at our Etsy shop, www.JustUsGirlsStudios.etsy.com   We're considering closing it.  Its a very sad thought, as it is a shop owned by my daughter and myself.  It was our first Etsy shop.  My daughter has two shops of her own that she is trying to get going:  www.BlackOrchidJewelry.etsy.com and www.BlackOrchidFashions.etsy.com   I just don't know what to do with it anymore.  The sales just aren't there.  We've worked and worked on this and that, but nothing is panning out.  Our latest "try" is Vintage jewelry.  We recently sold a Coro jewelry set that belonged to my paternal grandmother.   She never wore it and it was in the original box.  We have a selection of 80s jewelry, including Anne Klein earrings.
Back at my shop, here are the supplies I've listed so far with lots more coming:
                       
                                               k.p. kids bunny fabric

                                               VIP Easter egg fabric

                                                       Easter ribbon

                                                  Easter applique pattern

                                           k.p. kids "Oh Baby, Baby" fabric

                                              k.p. kids teddy bear fabric

                                          k.p. kids Gardening Kids fabric

                                  Gardening Girl fabric by South Seas Imports

All of these fabric selections would be perfect for sewing or crafting.

Until later,

Melissa

Love is in the air....

February 1st is already here and that means Valentine's Day is just around the corner.  If you live in an area that has lots of dreary days, Valentine's Day is a great holiday to add color to brighten those long winter days.  So if you are looking for a new door wreath, new home decor, or even a bookmark for the holiday, then you've come to the right place.

Here is my selection of Valentine's Day items:

                                                     Roses Are Red

                                          Victorian Valentine's Day  (SOLD)

                             
                     
                                              Rosy Posy Wall/Door Basket

                                       Lady of the Roses Door/Wall Basket

                                               Valentine's Day bookmark

                                         Valentine's Day Angel door hanger

Thanks for looking at my Valentine's Day items.  I hope you enjoyed it!

Until later....

Melissa

Cyber Monday

Its Cyber Monday already!  I'm having a 10% off your entire order throughout today.  All of my wreaths are shipped in a box that you can use to store the wreath for many holiday seasons to come.  I carefully wrap all of my items and will ship directly to your special someone.  I ship out packages anywhere from three to five days during the holiday season and I always refund any postage excess.  I don't like paying anymore than I have to, so I treat my customers the same way.   I truly value my customers and want to show that in my customer service.

Customer service isn't always that way.  We went to Kohl's, as I received a gift card in the mail.  I was looking for a certain color throw for our master bedroom.  I had looked all over and finally found one there.  Then my daughter was looking for some things and wasn't having much luck.  The t-shirts in their junior department are just awful.  They are tissue paper thin!  She was also looking for some fun and funky socks that were in their ad.  All we could find was Christmas socks, so we went looking for help.  A sales associate finds us, as she heard us talking.  She begins to help us and this other customer comes up and says, "I'm looking for wool socks."  She then looks at us and says, "Sorry, but I've been walking all over looking for someone to help me."  Well, OK.  First of all, she probably wasn't that sorry.  Anymore that word is tossed around like "Hi!" and its not really meant.  I could be wrong, but going off of the customer's tone and expression, I highly doubt it.  Secondly, when the customer said that to the sales associate, the associate should have kindly said, "OK, let me finish helping these customers that I've already started assisting and I'll be right back to assist you."  Nope!  She just walked off with the customer and never gave us a second look.  OK, we're done!  We go up to the register with the throw and the bagger asks if we found everything alright.  I told her no and proceeded to explain what had just happened.  After telling the story, the cashier proceeds to laugh.  So I said, "Well I'm not finding it funny, but whatever."  The bagger said that no it wasn't funny and that they have new people, etc, etc, and expected us to walk around to another area to try and find these socks by ourselves.  My daughter hasn't really liked Kohl's and now I'm kind of done with them as well, as that incident wasn't the only thing that happened that day.  The associate working in the Christmas decor area was glaring at my husband and I, I guess because we dared look at merchandise and put the item back exactly where we picked it up from.  They sent me another gift card in the mail, but that one is going in the trash and probably every one that should arrive in the future.  The good news is that the throw was $43.00 on sale for $14.99 and I had a $10.00 gift card.  Worked for me!  This happened the week before Thanksgiving.  Doesn't it make you wonder what kind of assistance you would receive during Black Friday and the rest of the holiday season.

So back to my original topic of my Cyber Monday sale.  Here are some of my Christmas door wreaths.  The first two are my Victorian wreaths.

      I just love "Snowy"!  If you look closely, even some of the snowballs have faces.                                              



                    Here are two of my traditional Christmas red poinsettia wreaths.

                                "All That Glitters" really sums this wreath up!

Last, but not least, my Christmas Fabric Rag Wreath with a cluster of jingle bells in the center.

I hope you enjoyed looking over my Christmas door wreaths, as much as I enjoyed making them.  It really touches me when I sell my handmade holiday decor to know that it will be displayed in someone's home for many holiday seasons.

Until later......Happy Shopping!

Melissa