Two Custom Orders!

Just a few pics today - Just finished two more custom orders! First on is for Etsy buyer, kbstew, for her daughter and some adorable stockpiled gifties! How to you think they turned out?

Second is a work in progress for my friend, Lisa! She commissioned me to make some BookWormz for all the lovely ladies in her family! This one really allowed me to get creative - here's what she was looking for:

1 - Vinje - my sister is very artistic works with kids teaching them art and sells her art around the Western Slope of CO.

2 - Anja - my niece is going to school in OR she is going in to the social service fields. She is big in to photography and animal rights.

3 - Hilary - my other niece loves skulls and the whole tagging (graffiti) subculture

4 - Julie - my sister in law she is a nurse in the birthing unit. Very athletic and outdoorsy. She loves India and is devoted to her four kids, 1 granddaughter and of course her husband :)

5 - Danielle - my niece is very into pop culture, love to read people watch Extra that sort of stuff. She has a daughter and is going back to school to get her teaching degree. She is also dyslexic but really puts effort in to being sure to read and self improvement

6 - Chrissy - my great niece is 8. Not sure what else to say

7 - Tanya - my niece in law is a nanny. she is from WY and is very nice. I of course know less about her then the rest. she likes dogs. stay away from kid stuff.

Here is what I've come up with so far. Can you match the BookWorm to the personality? Thanks!

Lets Open a Package Together!

Got this sweet lil package from Old Fashioned But Good, and I really thought you would enjoy opening it with me. Ready? Here goes! No peeking!! :)

How fun was that? I hope you enjoyed opening my package with me!! ;) Isn't this packaging just adorable? And I honestly can't bring myself to take the ring off. I'm looking at it right now, which is why my backspace key is getting a big workout today (typos)...

I've Been Featured!! Woo Hoo!!

Cute Valentine's day post from Blogger The Cutest Shops Online featuring my Valentine BookWorm ! Click HERE for the post! Thanks,AliciaRose22!!

Funny and Unique Find!!

While perusing Etsy yesterday, I was lucky enough to stumble across this AMAZING shop - dippylulu. Her shop literally made me laugh out loud! Now, I am not normally one who appreciates bathroom humor (I blame my Grandma Sue - she wouldn't let us say "fart" in the house haha), but dippylulu's products combine wit, literature and an acceptable amount of bathroom hilarity to allow me to properly enjoy this facet of humor... I'm rather proud of myself. :) Her Literary Lites seemed the most appropriate item to feature, since many of my friends tell me the only time they have to read is in the bathroom! I love that these lil gold-tipped matches are even designed to look like books. Too clever.

I had the fortunate opportunity to interview dippylulu, and here are her answers!
1. What inspired you to create the Literary Lites? It's a bit of a boring answer, really. I design books for a living and Etsy is my spare time fun shop so when I did come up with the idea I was baffled as to why it took so long. It seemed obvious to join the two together.
2. Do you sell on Etsy full-time? No. See above.
3. Tell us the craziest thing you've ever done. I left home at 16 and lived in a squat. That was crazy. And stupid.
4. What is your favorite ETSY shop (besides your own)? MincingMockingBird. I want his babies.

Check out dippylulu's shop above - honestly one of the funniest things I've seen on ETSY. :)

Missing the Beach

I'm loving the book I'm reading now - In the Woods, by Tana French. Two nights ago, while I was actively shirking all of my duties, I read a passage that made me long for the beach : WARNING - the next paragraph is a transcript of that paragraph - but it doesn't give anything away in the plot.

"We dumped our stuff at Cassie's and went for a walk on the beach. I love Sandymount strand. It's pretty enough on the rare summery afternoons, brochure-blue sky and all the girls in camisoles and red shoulders, but for some reason I love it most of all on your bog-standard Irish days, when wind blows rain-spatter in your face and everything blurs into elusive, Puritan half-tones: gray-white clouds, gray-green sea off on the horion, great sweep of bleached-fawn sand edged with a scatter of broken shells, wide abstract curves of dull silver where the tide is coming in unevenly."

Doesn't that make you long for a misty, beachy morning??? So that got me thinking about vacation (when is my next? Only time will tell), which got me thinking about my shop, which of course led to thinking about BookWormz, which lead me to create THIS! I love this one. Hope you do too! Any thoughts?

A Sweet Treat!

I've been running down to the mailbox every day ever since I ordered the item I got today! I'm like a little girl, pigtails, Rainbow Bright shirt and all! Except that I drink more wine than a little girl... ANYWAY - I got a SWEET surprise!






Etsy shop Polka Dot Candle Shoppe (check out her blog HERE)sent me an INCREDIBLE smelling set of 6 Votive candles. I chose her Butter Rum Cappuccino Highly Scented Votive Candles, which, in hindsight, was a huge mistake since all I could think about all night is Butter Rum Cappuccino. Honestly, I have NEVER smelled such an incredibly realistic and delicious scent from a candle. Come to think of it, I've never actually smelled such a delicious scent in real life... :) My husband and I compulsively sniffed them all night (I actually licked it, because I was REALLY hoping it would taste as good as it smelled. Unfortunately, it didn't). Please don't tell anyone I know about that last part.

YAY - my first FEATURE!

AND - it's by an awesome Etsy seller, Adorkable1! She's a Blogger, too, and can be found by clicking HERE for her blog and HERE for her Etsy shop! Anyway, she tells you a lil about me in this post... so CLICK HERE if you'd like to ch ch check it out! :) Thanks, Adorkable!

BTW - I'm totally lusting after this piece that she keeps taunting me with. Wouldn't it look so cute with a spring dress??? I need it. :)

REALLY cool Giveaway!

Check this out! Custom (& FAB) straps for your camera!! I need one of these. So Etsy Shop ShabbyStraps is giving away 3 of her awesome straps at the blog Simple Finds. The exact link to the giveaway is http://www.simple-finds.com/2009/01/same-ol-thing.html. Ch-ch-check it out!!! :)

First Custom Order Completed!

Last night while indulging in too much reality television and wine, I finished my first custom order from Amber with Boundless Collection! She's going to use these BEAUTIES as favors for her Book Club meeting this February! If you have a Book Club, and you live in the Chicago area, let me know - I'd love to come and bring my BookWormz- they make such an affordable treat. Here are some pics of the finished product.

Little Things

You know, it's totally the little things that make me happy. When I looked out my window today and saw that it had snowed for the 111th time this season (see picture from this morning) I wanted to take all of the snow, roll it into a ball, and put it next to a giant heater. But then the underpasses in Chicago might flood again, so that might backfire on me...
Tonight, though - all of the "snow stress" has "melted" away (hahahahahaha - I'm a sucker for puns). All with the visions of Cabernet dancing in my head (see picture from tonight!). There's nothing like curling up with a book (currently In The Woods by Tana French...excellent so far) and a big glass of wine and ignoring all responsibilities....

Lil Surprise! :)

Received this fabulous little bundle of love from Blogger and ETSY Shop Owner Times and Chimes last night! She said she had some extra buttons around and sent them off for me. So excited, as there are some real gems in there! Now off the find the perfect ribbon home for them! AND she included a sweet little note! I'm really feeling the love today!

"Oooops" Giveaway

So, I found this BEAUTIFUL ribbon, bought it, sewed it up and turned it into a BookWorm. Problem is, as I was sewing on the button, I discovered a very slight stain on the ribbon. I can't sell it in my shop BookWormz on Etsy because it's not perfect, but I hate to see it go to waste, so I thought I would hold a sweepstakes on my blog! All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post, and you'll have an entry! If you refer someone else to my blog and they refer to you in the post, I'll give you another entry! Thanks for stopping by, and good luck! Here are pics - the stain truly is barely noticable in person.

Twitter Lit!

Ok - just found the COOLEST thing!! http://twitter.com/TwitterLit takes you to a twitter site where they only twitter the first lines of books!!! Then you can click on the link, if you're intrigued, to find out what the book is. GENIUS!!!

What do you do with your old books?

I usually give them away, which is why my home library looks so BARE!

But I was thinking of hosting a book swap soon. I have lots of "reader friends" and we could combine a book swap with a book club! What do you think? Do you have a book club? How does it work? How many times/week to you meet? Do you ALWAYS drink too much wine, or just sometimes? hahahaha

I've been TAGGED and AWARDED!!!

Hooray! I have two new friends! Times and Chimes and Creative Nachos who have made me feel so *special* today!! :) I'm going to combine them, since I got two in one day. Times and Chimes tagged me, which means I have to reveal 8 random things about myself and then "tag" 8 other bloggers. Creative Nachos gave me the "FABULOUS BLOG" award, which means I have to share 5 addictions with you... (gulp) and then award 5 other blogs! When I tag you, feel free not to participate - I just feel like it's really fun! So here goes:

Addictions

1. Ummmmm...Etsy? Duh.



2. Blogging!



3. Creating BookWormz!



4. Red Red Wine



5. The ever popular, never gets old, always delicious CHOCOLATE!!!

Random Facts

1. I used to play the Tuba in High School



2. I grew up in a town of 1600 people that had 1 blinking stop light



3. I do a hell of a Bill Cosby impression!



4. I live in Chicago and I can't drive my car in the snow...and I'm in outside sales!



5. I've lived in 3 states, but only in two "officially"



6. When I was in 3rd grade, I won an award for reading the most books in the whole school, and I got my picture in the paper... glory days...:)



7. I love reading celebrity gossip blogs.



8. I have a passion for fashion!

Ok, so here are the blogs I Tag - you also have been awarded a FABULOUS BLOG award!! mwah!
The Cutest Shops Online (http://thecutestshopsonline.blogspot.com/) (ps. NOTICE ME! haha)
The Legendary Tiger Hero (http://legendarytigerhero.blogspot.com/)
Etsy Stalker (http://etsystalker.com/)
Book Club Girl (http://www.bookclubgirl.com/book_club_girl/)
Shine Your Hiney Soap (http://shineyourhineysoap.blogspot.com/)
White Plum Studio (http://whiteplumstudio.blogspot.com/)
Thursday Sweet Treat (http://thursdaysweettreat.blogspot.com/)
The Silver Dog (http://thesilverdog.blogspot.com/)

ahhhh, Hawaii....

My husband and I went to Hawaii in October for our honeymoon. I daydream about our trip all the time. No really - like, every day. It's almost cruel how much I think about it... Anyway, I'm watching the news this morning, and there's a commercial for Milk (just "milk", not a particular brand of milk...isn't that like advertising "bread" or "pens"?!) offering a sweepstakes entry to win a trip to the Grand Wailea in Maui! We stayed right next door for our honeymoon and actually snuck into a Huey Lewis and the News concert being held outdoors at the Grand Wailea. :) That was an unexpected treat... :) Hip to be Square... hahaha So, I thought I'd let everyone know about the sweepstakes, b/c I feel that EVERYONE should go to Maui!
Just log in to http://www.whymilk.com/ and register to win! Also, if you win, you're officially obligated to bring along a Hawaiian BookWorm (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20201031) to use on the plane and while sitting by the pool with your umbrella drinks... :)

Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster

I LOVED this book. Jen writes with the wit and humor that I would love to have, but haven't quite mastered. This book is basically about Jen's life in Chicago (hmmm, maybe another reason I loved it?), and her struggles with her husband, her diet and exercise, and her HYSTERICAL stories! Great lines: "I start to feel a bit stabby." (hahaah - can't we all relate to wanting, just a little bit, to stab someone we're talking to) ", when asked her biggest obstacle to losing weight she replies: "The problem is my self-esteem; it's too high. Even at (redacted) pounds, I look at myself in the mirror and think, "Damn, girl. You fiiiiiine." I hae a hard time with self-denial because I love me, so why wouldn't I treat my fabulous self to anything I wanted?"



After I read Bright Lights, Big Ass, I had the pleasure of meeting the author at a book club my friend Courtney invited me to. She was really funny, and it was really exciting to meet a real-life author! She was telling us all sorts of stories about wierdo people she met while on tour.



Honestly, almost every page made me laugh out loud. Highly, highly recommend this one. Have you read it?



Also, if you click on the title of this page, it will take you to a picture of one of my BookWormz on this book - just a fun little tie-in! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20215321

AAAAAHHHH - SOOO Excited!

Ok, so I got a request today on my FaceBook acct from a friend of mine. She asked me to make 10 BookWormz (style below) for her BOOKCLUB!!! What a great idea!! I can't believe I didn't think of Book Clubs as a market for these... what a dummy I am. :) Anyway, thanks so much, Amber! Amber, by the way, is one of the most well respected Marketing geniuses in the Promotional Industry. If you'd like to see some of her genius product suggestions, please take a look at her website!
http://www.boundlesscollection.com

Which Logo Do You Like??

So I got lucky enough to stumble accross Etsy user RASArtWorks in the forums a couple of days ago, and I bought his http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19020731, Brand Your Image package! He came up with some AWESOME logo options for me, and now I need your help deciding which one to go with!

Please take note of them in order and vote in the panel to your right! I'd love to get as much feedback as possible before I make my decision. I think I'm partial to #4, but don't let that sway you!

If you're interested in working with this great Etsy seller, please check out his site at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6581868

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Ok, so I'm currently reading this INCREDIBLE book (well, technically I'm listening to it on Audible)!!! For some reason I have a real stubborn streak - when I hear a ton of people talking about something, I always feel like a follower if I jump on the bandwagon. That's what happened with this book. Also happened with Facebook, which I finally joined, and now am officially obsessed with. :)

So anyway, I didn't want to read it because:
1. It looked really boring. Who wants to read a book about how to build a cathedral??
2. I had a ton of people reco this book to me, but no one went into detail about why they liked it. Hence the bandwagon syndrome I mentioned earlier.
3. It looked really boring.

I admit it - I judge a book by it's cover.

Now I'm just over halfway through, and I can't stop listening! It has all the great elements of a classic! Bodice-ripping heroines vs. corrupt knights! Evil Priest vs. Good Priest! The struggle for survival! True Love! Alcoholics! Family drama! Curses! Witches! The Devil! God!

Pillars of the Earth really is a great book so far - it combines great writing with a KILLER story. So far.... one hell of a book!

What do you think? Comment away! Have you read it? Planning on reading it? Anything you want to know about it so far?

About Me

Soooo, what to write....

I am a Newlywed! That's probably the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me... Our wedding was perfect, and our Honeymoon in Hawaii (Kauai first, then Maui ... aka TOTAL BLISS) was absolutely amazing! I'm very lucky - my husband is wonderful. He's probably the funniest man I've ever met, and he's very kind and thoughtful. Plus he's really cute. :) (blushes)

I currently work for a wholesale apparel company - I sell blank apparel (everything from tees to onesies to polo shirts and jackets) to people who embroider or screenprint them. I really love my job - I'm in outside sales, so I have the pleasure of driving aaaaaaalll around Chicago to visit my clients - many of whom I now count as friends!

I've recently discovered my "crafty" side. I don't mean sneaky-crafty, I mean cut, sew, twist, wear, sell crafty... :) I am on http://www.etsy.com/, which allows me to sell my handmade goods, and gives me the opportunity to meet all sorts of interesting people! Actually, fellow etsy-ers were the reason I started this blog! Hopefully someone will read it. :) I can definitely thank my MOM for giving me the gift of craft. She's one of the craftiest people I've ever met. It just took me a while to catch on to all of the fun!

I love cups of tea in the winter. I love curling up on the couch under a cozy blanket (preferrably with my Hubby). I love shopping (in real life AND virtually). I LOVE reading. I LOVE my http://www.audible.com/ account, which allows me to "read" hundreds of books while I'm driving all around Chicago. I love living in Chicago. I love dinner with friends. I love drinks with my ladies. I love discovering new things!

So far, I'm also loving blogging. yeesh - I never talk this much! haha

What the heck is a BookWorm???

Have you ever had a bookmark fall out of your book?

Are you a commuter who throws your book in a bag?

Are you looking for a creative way to package your books when giving gifts?

Bookwormz are a new, stylish way to securely save your page! They make great gifts - so get one for yourself and get another for the next time you give a book as a present!

My First Post!!

Hi All! Thanks for stopping by my lil blog! I've never blogged before, but I'm really excited (ok, and a little nervous) to get started! So the theme of this blog, at least at this point, will be to discuss books that I've read, get book recommendations from friends, and share feedback with each other about books, crafts, business - really whatever we want to talk about! I will admit from the start that I use excessive exclamation points, and prob too many smiley emoticons as well. I'll apologize now... :)

Stay tuned, and more to come! While you're here - check out my website! I make the coolest and most functional bookmarks you'll ever see! :)

www.BookWormz.etsy.com