Wonderous Wendy

Last summer I fell in LOVE with Wendy's Eco ~ Hand Dyed ~ Southern Girl Etsy Shop, Creole Collection, and have been addicted ever since. Check out my interview with Wendy from last summer - creative inspiration indeed! Yesterday my latest purchases arrived and I had to share...

It's just darling in person! Love Wendy's sense of color and style and the extra special touches like the lace at top...

Lucky for me, Wendy has become one of my special Etsy friends - what a wonderful world of creative people out there! Check out the sweet eco hats she made for my girlies...

And the necklace for me... all from recycled clothes and trims! Amazing!

I have many more goodies from Wendy that I will share in with you in the future - betcha can't wait! Wendy has opened yet another Etsy shop for our collective enjoyment (yes, I'll share!) Creole Sha - be sure and check it out. And I hear she's doing her first show in a few weeks so I will post the details as soon as I know more.

XOXO Molly

Whimsy House Yart Sale

Yard + Art = YART

The 2nd Annual Etsy-Wide Yart Sale is on NOW! Woo Hoo! Running June 10th to the 14th, now is the time to snatch up some awesome deals on Etsy... be sure to start with Whimsy House :) 30 items marked down and put into our Yart Sale Section for your shopping pleasure.

An added discount bonus for all my dedicated blog followers...
Simply mention "WH Goodness" in the "notes to seller" box at check out and receive FREE SHIPPING too!! That's right, unlimited free shipping on ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING at Whimsy House so shop to your hearts content and save, save, save! I will refund your shipping costs through PayPal or you are welcome to wait for a revised invoice.

Watch for new sale items daily! I love to get a good deal... love to share them too!

Cheers! xOxOxO Molly

Meet Amy at The Peach Tree

Buell - Necklace by The Peach Tree

I met Amy early on in my Etsy days. She did an interview with me for her blog, The Peach Tree Brooklyn, last summer which is the biggest reason I was brave enough to jump into the blog world myself. Amy is very supportive and encouraging - Many thanks, darlin'! Check it out as she has a quick wit and super eye for Etsy treasure.

Amy's Etsy shop, The Peach Tree, is chock full of high quality, inspired design... you won't be able to resist her fabulous style. Enjoy the interview and stop by to say "Hi" to Amy soon.

1) What is your craft and what led to you to take it up?

I'm a jewelry designer and lover of stones :) I think the latter being why I took up creating pieces in the first place. I had built up such a lavish collection of rocks and minerals that I just stopped and looked around me one day, putting together how I could make this a feasible hobby!

2) What part of your work do you enjoy the most?

That's so hard to say. I truly love it all. From the minute new strands arrive in the mail, to getting them into inventory, then laying them out and seeing who wants to be friends with who (little crazy, but you get where I'm going) and then someone picking out that jewel to call their own. It's all such a fulfilling cycle!





3) What part of your work is the hardest?

Seeing the pieces that sit in the shop the longest, I'd say. I have a hard time not getting a little emotionally attached!

4) A top ten list of your favorites

...handmade possession...

An afghan from my childhood. It's a trio of the bold orange, brown and mustard yellow from the 70s. Love it

...item in your shop...


The Marrakech Necklace ...it's downright sexy!

...item in your favorites list...


Eggplant Purple Ribbon Party DRESS at AnthologiE

Swoon!

...Etsy purchase...

SUCH an unfair question.... I've picked three but there's SO many :)


Lace Bag by Tortilla Girl


Custom Train Case from GetReadySetGo


My new Summer Dress by Kaylim

...Etsy shop...

Another mean questions. Let's see. It would have to be GetReadySetGO. And not just because I love her to death, but because of her brilliance in design and renaissance spirit.

...item you’ve sold...


Ah, my Stardust Necklace :)


...blog or website...

Red Otter is one of the first blogs I really got into following

...source of inspiration...

Nature. Or what little bit of nature I have right in front of me here in Brooklyn! Which is probably why the are around my desk is similar to a greenhouse :)





Fir - Sunset - Perennial - Terra


...piece of advice...

I recently did an interview with 3FUN and she sited the best quote from Kurt Vonnegut:

“I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center.”


...rule to break...

You know, I can't even think of one which makes me think I really must not play by any!


Rosemary Bracelet

Inspirations and Beginnings

"There is no place else that I'd rather be but I can't just be right here.
An enigma wrapped in a mystery or a fool consumed by fear."
- For You by BNL sung by Ed Robertson (who makes me smile!)

I love this song - the melody, the words. I think this quote sums up where I was in my life when I started my Etsy shop last spring. Let me give you a little back ground...

My husband and I purchased a fabulous piece of property in October 2006 - two acres close to the city yet just far enough away to feel like country. The most fabulous part, and likely the biggest sway in our decision to buy, is the 150 year old stone house and beautiful old white barn that live on the property. Oh, the dreams! Being an interior designer by trade and with a handy husband enamoured with quality and detail it felt like this project was meant to be. We put our existing house on the market, survived what felt like hundreds of showings and finally sold 8 months later. A blessing - we made it out of the faltering market just before things became really shaky. So we moved our family of four into a two bedroom town house with our many belongings (Oh, the stuff!). Said family included, at that point, our 3 year old Elle and preemie Sophie. It was a chore of mammoth proportion although I have no doubt that every move, of every size, feels the same.

So we settled in and began our journey of life in much closer quarters. On top of having two small children, my husband and I both ran our businesses from home. It quickly became apparent that ALL these "tasks" were not going to bloom in the new digs. (Is it possible for a town house to shrink?!) The office of an interior designer has loads of stuff, from paint swatches to fabric samples, catalogs for furniture, art and accessories, files on this client and that client and piles of ideas for someday. I was only able to unpack a teensy bit before my new title "stay-at-home mommy" emerged and my brief life as a career woman was put on hold. Preemies are a lot of work... 3 year olds are even more! My contact with the people outside the house, namely my clients and reps, slowly faded and my familiarity with Dora, Ruby and Max, Monkey George and the Wiggles skyrocketed. I adore my babies - truly, every little part of them, every daily discovery, every inch of daily change. I also, with a tinge of guilt, love design and decorating, contact with people, the feeling of concrete accomplishment.

Do you see where I'm going here? Back to the song lyrics... "there is nowhere else I would rather be but I can't just stay right here..." Etsy answered my prayers - solved my dilemmas! And I'm quite certain I'm not the only mommy counting Etsy in her daily blessings. I've since thought I should have named my store "The Sanity Shop." So, I continue to unwrap the enigma (mommy hood without losing mommy!) while perpetually tackling the mysteries of the computer world and wading through my fears (not sure I can shake the "fool" part though!).

Since Spring 2007 I've met so many awesome Etsy shop owners and truly wonderful customers. I hit 400 sale this week, am 3 shy of 800 "hearts" and have just over 500 100% ratings. When I "opened my shop doors" with a dozen felt brooches I promised myself I'd be happy with just 1 sale, just 1 thrilled customer. I still do the happy dance EVERY SINGLE time a sale rolls in, a convo comes through, a rating is logged. I love it - Etsy validates the part of me that I felt I was losing... make that the people I meet THROUGH Etsy - they are my angels! Thank you!!!

If you're a stay at home mommy hoping to jump into Etsy, I would love to chat! Drop me a line, post a comment - I'd love to help in any way I can. Cheers!

x0x0 - Molly