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



 

Angels Around Us, Here On Earth

Do you believe that there are angels among us in our daily lives?  I do.  Recently, I met an angel.  She came in the form of a fellow vendor at a holiday craft show.  We got to talking and when she saw our booth, she said that she used to design items similar to mine (door wreaths, centerpieces, etc.), but no longer was doing it....she paints now........and wanted to give me her supplies........at no charge.  Can you believe it?  I don't think many people give things away to a stranger, with exception of the Goodwill.  So she is my angel and her name is Pat.  I am very thankful that she gave me her unwanted supplies, because as a stay-at-home mom, I try to spend our money wisely.  Free is very wise indeed!

In my Etsy shop, I've recently listed about a half dozen angel tree toppers.  I've already sold two of them this week.  They were well liked at the craft shows and now on Etsy.  I have different colors to work with different themes.  I have some more ideas in mind, its just trying to find the supplies to design them.

These angels are my wall hanging angels.  They look so pretty when the light is on them.  The ribbons just shimmer.  I have them in a light gold and a dark gold.

I hope you enjoy viewing my angels and I also hope you find an angel in your life.  You never know where you will find one....or rather one may find you.

Until later, I hope to see you at my Cozy Cottage, but until then I wish you and your families a very blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.  We all have so much to be thankful for.

Melissa

A Kitten for Christmas

Nearly two years ago, we had a kitten show up at our patio door.  It was during the Christmas holiday and bitterly cold.  Here is what we saw:

He was nearly full grown, sweet as can be, and had been hurt.  We knew that someone had hurt him, because part of his tail had been cut off.  The veterinary hospital where we take our cats takes in animals that have been found, but they wouldn't take him.  Why?  They never said, but we found out later that the only strays they take in are the ones found by employees or police officers.  Our cats had been patients there for a few years (still are as we love our vet), so we have given them quite a bit of money over the years.  It broke my heart that it was bitterly cold and a big snow/ice storm was on the way and yet they wouldn't budge.  In fact, I was down right angry.  None of the other organizations would help either, so what did we do...moved him into the garage.  Our vet has a "Feral Cat Program" where they will examine the animal, check for any disease and neuter/spay all for $120.00.  So we came up with the cash and took him in.  When we picked him up, they said what a sweetie he was, but that when we got home and let him out of the carrier, we would never see him again.  Wrong!  Nearly two years later and meet our Baby.

Isn't he regal looking?  He got the name "Baby", because when we were getting to know him, we would say, "Aw, poor baby." and the name just stuck.  Sometimes I'll even sing, "Yes, Sir, that's my baby" to him.  LOL!  So that is how we got a kitten for Christmas a couple years ago.

Speaking of a cat for Christmas, I currently have some cat themed door hangers in my Etsy shop.  A couple of the designs sold out at a holiday craft show we participated in recently.  I think they'd make an inexpensive, but nice quality stocking stuffer or secret Santa gift for a cat lover.

My shop is has been filling with many different styles of Christmas decor with a lot more to come in the next few weeks.  So, I hope to see you around my Cozy Cottage.

Until later,

Melissa