The World Is Yours

And to that, a fantastic New Year awaits!

Glitter Presents for Everyone!

I think I went a little nuts with the Christmas glitter picks from Michaels. Every package I wrapped got one. They were 70% off and I just couldn't resist! So much glitter. It's not Christmastime unless you are covered in obnoxious specs of glitter. ;) Also, I don't know how to make a multi-looped bow that doesn't look floppy and sad.

Happy Holidays! ><

My Daily Companion

This winter has been hard on Catty. In the summer he was free to roam up in our sweltering attic, and he could also go out into our sunroom and smell the fresh air through the screened window. Now that it's super cold outside, I have to keep the doors to these two areas closed. This makes the cat more bored than usual and in turn, he requires more attention and becomes more...needy.

I bought him a heated cat bed to keep him warm during his daily sleeps during the winter. I feel he has a love/hate relationship with this bed, as he is either happily sleeping in it, or gnawing on it and tossing it about the room...

Thinking he now despised his heated cat bed, I brought down his other cat beds from the attic for him

to use. 

He rotated between a few of the beds before returning to the heated bed - except for taking it out of his cat house.

His final bed is our bed. 

He shows up to our bed at the same time every night, right on schedule.  He has a little routine:

-Hop around on top of the bed covers while I read before bed

-Jump on top of the chest of drawers and leer at us until we turn off the lights

-Leap onto the bed from the chest of drawers (preferably landing on someone's guts)

-Meow in my face loudly while scratching at the covers

-I lift up the covers for him to get under, he runs away

-Right as sleep is upon me, he returns, meows in my face, I lift up the covers

-He climbs under the covers, meowing the entire way

-Purrs loudly, then begins to snore. 

[repeat 2-6 times a night, every night]

He also seems to be whinier than usual...

Why we have a mattress/boxsprings in our dining room, the short version: Got new mattress, wanted to store old mattress  but old mattress didn't fit through the doorway to our attic or basement.  Didn't know where to put old mattress.  Left it in dining room and now too lazy to move it to the garage or take it to Goodwill.

For the first time ever, Rasputin will be boarded during Christmastime. This will also be the first time we've made the 1200 mile journey home to Georgia to celebrate the holidays without the cat.  I'm excited, because this eliminates a lot of hassel we encounter during this yearly trip (sneaking him into hotels, trying to coordinate getting food, etc.) but I am still worried about Catty being happy while we are away.

Unkempt with a Side of Snow

Wow.

To say that I've been busy lately would be almost laughable. I've been crazy occupied the last month!  That's what you get when you combine working in retail + holiday shopping time, so I'm not necessarily surprised. This is my fourth holiday season as an Etsy seller, and each year is just as awesome as the last.

However, I'm now burned out.

With the F*CKING HOBBIT coming out next week, this quote from Bilbo Baggins comes to mind and resonates with how I currently feel:

"I am old Gandalf. I know I don’t look it, but I’m beginning to feel it in my heart. I feel thin, sort of stretched like butter scraped over too much bread. I need a holiday, a very long holiday. And I don’t expect that I shall return. In fact, I mean not to."

While I shall return (aka: reopen my shop after the holidays), I will definitely be limiting my work load. I think I'll be taking about 20% the amount of orders that I'd regularly take. I need to decompress after the fullness of the past few months.  There are some plans I've had for the shop that I have put off for years, [years!], simply because I really haven't had a nice chunk of time to work on anything new. (Also, I need to get some of my guts tinkered with in January, and will probably need a little time to recover from that).

While I finish up the last batch of holiday orders from 2012, I'll leave you with some photos of my past few months:

 Light snow in October.

Catty being terrible.

Myself with Brother and Mim, stocking up on crap for Hurricane Sandy, even though we were only subject to windiness. >< (A stranger volunteered to take our picture, lols. We are from Georgia after all!) 

 December 1 Snow

 On my way back from the Post Office (I walk most days).

 My new phone case, engraved with a photo of my late grandmother. ♥

Leather dye disaster.

 Catty Bear/Poops MaGoops/Rasputin in his winter den.

Husband guy carrying a mannequin home on the train - at my request.

Our Thanksgiving meat. Our oven doesn't maintain a constant temperature, so I didn't want Husband Guy to have to deal with cooking a turkey in an unreliable oven (I was working most of the day and couldn't help him. He's such a dream boat!)

So...my plans for the shop for next year are a little up in the air. I admit, it will be nice to have more time to tend to the house: to have a clean house and clean clothes and clean dishes and a clean catty. I'll see how it goes from there.

Junebug Weddings Giveaway

While I'm not taking custom orders through the shop for the rest of year, there is one way to get a set of customs tags - and for FREE!

Junebug Weddings is holding an amazing giveaway full of fabulous "honeymoon & travel treats!!" Please check out the giveaway here.  The winner will receive 2 custom leather tags stamped however you'd like (along with a ton of other neat products!*).

*

-Custom thank you cards from Wedding Paper Divas

-Premium photobook from Shutterfly

-Maxi dress and robe from Plum Pretty Sugar

-Perry tote from Sosie

The giveaway ends on November 26th, so mosey on over and enter to win! :)

The Most Unoriginal Coupon Code Name Ever

Today is the last day to place orders for 2012 (and thus, the upcoming holidays), so here is my evil catty-bear with a small gift:

Yep, enter FREESHIPPING during checkout at the shop to receive, you guessed it!, FREE SHIPPING off your entire order, no minimum purchase required. I'll be closing the shop after today, November 12th, to work on holiday orders, but will this coupon code expire and be invalid when the shop reopens in January 2013?...



....probably not, as I get quite excited when I notice that someone has used a coupon code! Like, I put that coupon code out there, and someone took it. I shared something with someone...kind of. There was an exchange of information going on!  ::Amazed::

Perhaps I'm over thinking coupon codes...

It's That Time Again! (+ Some Inspiration)

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, that means the next lil' bugger of a holiday is quickly approaching as well! Perhaps most people don't see those holidays as being that close, but retailers like myself are all too aware that the holidays will be here before we know it (and thus, we gotta produce!).

A week remains to place orders for the holidays and the rest of 2012 for custom leather tags and keychains.  I'll be closing the ye olde shoppe on November 12th (well, November 13th at 12:01 am) and will reopen in early January 2013.

While I can't guarantee that orders placed today through November 12th that will be traveling outside the US will arrive by Xmas, US orders placed by November 12th will arrive by December 24th.


If one might be looking for some inspiration, below are a few recent favorites:

 Wee sentiments.

Celebrate a journey of a lifetime.

 Don't let them forget that special place!

A large keychain spells out the essentials. 

A tiny message in the corner speaks volumes. <3 p="p">

And for each, a quote!

MR AND MRS

It appears a new trend has developed in recent orders I've received for luggage tags. Featuring MR and MRS on the tags seems to be the new 'thing to do' and I love it! It adds a little bit more formality to the travel experience, which I think is lacking these days.

Sadly, I have yet to receive an order for some MR and MR [or] MRS and MRS tags. :( Maybe one day!

Halloween Masques

In two weeks my lovely Mother and Brother are making the trip up from Georgia to visit me in Massachusetts. I am beyond ecstatic. While Mother has visited once before, Brother has never been to visit me since I moved to MA over 2 years ago. I am excited to share my adorable town with him, and let him see how different New England can be when compared to the South.

These folks are visiting me during the week of Halloween, so I'd like to make sure they have a fun time (and thus encourage them to return!). Whilst wandering through Target the other day, I found some things that I felt would drastically enhance this upcoming visit. Looking back, this logic was probably nonsensical, but at the time, it seemed quite important to my cause. Cue the fabulous Halloween masks!

Holy crap! I saw these masks and just HAD TO HAVE THEM! They are so fun! And they were cheap as hell, too.  $12 each for the two large masks*, and just $8 for the smaller white mask. And they have so much detail! I see us donning these lovelies with a fancy Halloween drink in hand while taking part in happy conversation and giving out candy to trick-or-treaters.  :)

*Update: NOW ON CLEARANCE FOR $7!

I tried to pick out masks that would work for either Mother or Brother or me. I personally love this silver beaked mask!  There are two pieces of elastic in the back that are joined with velcro - so the fit can be custom to each individual's head.

I was thinking of Brother when I picked out this gilded mask.  While it does have rhinestones and lace,  I feel the shape is so masculine that it could work well for him.

I thought Mother might like this dainty mask.  I still cannot get over the detail for only 8 bucks!

Husband Guy refused didn't want to pick out a mask to wear for the Halloween festivities as he wears glasses and didn't feel like having to deal with glasses + mask.  However, he did kindly, briefly model a mask for me while he was also cloaked with a white Sphynx scarf (it's heated!).  <#<#<#


I hope to get some fun photos of us in the masks.  I guess I should be wearing some type of costume as well... Pretty much the only thing I have that is not 'normal clothes' is my Old Reliable Dress - but I won't complain about having to wear it! I like to bring it everywhere, just in the off chance I'll get the opportunity to put it on.

Yay! I'm so exited.

Apparently, Ask & You Shall Receive!

A month ago the conversation above transpired.  After it was over, I didn't really think much of what was said (except for the bit about buying whole coffee beans - I am STILL annoyed about that...).  Then, about a week or so later, this face was looking up at me from our mailbox.

Oh mah gawd! I know that face! It is the face of an Etsy Queen! But why are they sending me mail!?  This is odd...and yet so welcome.

And then I opened it. Oh yeah! I told Husband Guy I wanted this. What a surprise! (For reals though. Even though I did ask for exactly this item, Husband Guy has practically never just bought me something when I requested it out of the blue.)

I LOVE this quote.  Before I met Husband Guy, I was kind of a Jane Austen junkie.  I would read this beautifully romantic stuff in her books, just so I could mope around and be depressed about it later - "real guys aren't like that! What bullcrap..."  And then I met Husband Guy, and I found that there are guys out there that are even better than Mr. Darcy!*

*I hope Janites out there don't think this is sacrilegious. :)

 Working from home = I can't fathom the idea of wearing make up (or spending money on make up). Sorry Husband! ><

Yay!  Since receiving this lovely scarf, I have worn it every time it's been nippy out - which has been quite often here in Massachusetts.  Plus, it is nice to be able to wear something out that reminds me of Husband - besides my wedding rings of course. ;)