Free Printable Gift Tags

Love these adorable gift tags! And the best part they’re free for you to print yourself!

Just visit How About Orange for more tags and lots of other freebies!

Dogs Are a Vendors Best Friend

I came across a great tip today that I wanted to share with everyone. I’ve been trying to share some ideas recently to help make craft shows as successful as possible and I thought this sounded like something that could really work. If you are going to be a vendor at an outdoor show that allows dogs consider bringing along a dog bowl with fresh water for them. On a hot summer day on the pavement the dog will appreciate it and so will the owner. Also it will give them an excuse to stop by your booth and browse while their pooch is having a nice cool drink. You might even want to consider having a few dog treats onhand and you can ask the owner if it’s okay to give their dog one and start up a conversation. Sometimes something simple like this is all someone needs to make them stop and fall in love with something on your table.

I would love to hear other creative ideas like this to encourage people to stop by your table so please take a minute and share!

Demystifying RSS Feed Readers

I don’t usually write posts about anything related to the technical side of blogging but today I realized that this is a topic I need to address. If you’ve been following me for a while then you know that a couple of months ago I switched from using Blogger to WordPress to publish my blog. The only thing I missed about Blogger was the straightforward way for people to choose to follow me. When I left Blogger had been quickly gaining followers. Since using WordPress I have noticed my pages views increasing drastically but gaining followers has been slow. Last week I was chatting with a few friends and they told me they don’t know how to follow a blog that doesn’t have the “follow me” choice that blogger has. A lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that if these friends want to follow my blog but can’t figure out how then how many other people out there don’t know how to either. So I decided I needed to write a post with some basic tips on how to follow blogs. This isn’t my area of expertise so I will keep it simple and brief!

Prittyfy Yourself

Today I’m excited to introduce Inessa from the Etsy Shop Prittyfy. I met Inessa through the Promotional Frenzy Team which we both belong to and have been a fan of her jewelry since I first saw it. Inessa has been creative all her life and in 2008 started making jewelry. Inessa is a Civil Engineer by day and in her free time has many hobbies from taking classes to cooking to working with animal rescue. I’m impressed she finds time to create such beautiful pieces of jewelry! Inessa loves to travel and that is where much of her inspiration comes from. Take a look at just a few of the gorgeous pieces you will find in her shop!

Beautiful Crochet by HogansHandiwork

I’m so excited today to introduce you to another talented Etsy seller. Denise Therese runs HogansHandiwork with her sister Erica Marie. I had a chance to talk to Denise today and here is a little look into her creative life.

Have you always been a creative person?
I guess you could say that of both my sister and me! We love to write novels, and I personally love scrapbooking. But crocheting is definitely my niche.

Have a Hoot with NobleUpcycling!

I love it when I can feature a fellow Etsy Artisan who is also local to me! Today I’m excited to share a little look into the creative world of Leanne from NobleUpcycling. She’s a wonderfully talented Etsy seller who focuses on using upcycled sweaters to create beautiful items. Enjoy! ♥

How long have you been creating handmade items? I have very clear memories of always choosing the crafting option on elementary school electives days—remember those plastic do-hickies that you hooked yarn on and a long piece of knitted goodness came out the bottom?—loved those. As an adult I’ve been working with upcycled felted wool sweaters for about one year. It began with a fundraiser that a friend and I organized for Haiti, where I sold my handcrafted mittens and slipper socks. After raising $500 for the cause, NobleUpcycling was born!

Why do you love to be creative? Being creative is just so darn good for the soul. When I’m in my craft room, snuggled down in a lovely heap of the softest felted wool, I feel like my authentic self. With CBC Radio 2 on my vintage radio and a steaming cup of tea at my side anything is possible in my craft room.

Handmade Pay It Forward

I’ve been trying for a while now to come up with some way that I can use Sea Flower Studios to help spread a little joy and here’s my plan!

I’m almost certain everyone knows the Pay It Forward concept by now, well this is a Handmade Pay It Forward. If you don’t know Pay It Forward, basically the concept is that you do something nice for x number of people and in return each of those people do something nice for the same number of people and in a short amount of time the number of good deeds grows rapidly.

Well in this version we will be spreading some joy with handmade gifts. I will start this off by sending something handmade to the first few people who contact me (that number will depend on the response I get at first) and in return each of those people will agree to send handmade gifts to two people and so it goes!

So let’s say I send out 5 gifts, each of those recipients send 2 so that’s 10, each of those send 2 that’s 20, each of those send 2 that’s 40, each of those send 2 that’s 80, each of those send 2 and that’s 160….WOW that number starts to grow fast! I’m going to need your help promoting to make sure I have enough addresses to keep this going as long as possible!

Who’s on your “Nice” List this year?

The holiday shopping season is upon us once again. If you’re like me you love to find interesting and unique gifts for the special people in your life. You could spend hours scouring stores and malls trying to find something that will be one of a kind….or you could consider buying handmade. There are so many reasons to shop handmade that I thought I would remind you of a few. 

• Handmade products are more then just an item. They are made with creativity, love and uniqueness and often come with a story about they were inspired or created.

• Buying handmade shows the recipient you made special effort to make sure you found a wonderful gift that was chosen with them in mind.

• Often it means the gift is more environmentally friendly because there is usually less packaging and less waste.

• Buying handmade means support local artisans and crafts people instead of large corporations and chain stores.

• Many artisans use sustainable, chemical free, organic, local and recycled products to make their items.

• Handmade items bring so much joy to everyone. The artisan loves what they do and enjoys making their product. You will enjoy the shopping more because you can avoid long lines and busy stores and it will be a more personal and fun experience. The recipient will love that you spent the time and effort to find them a perfect gift and be proud of owning a one of a kind piece.

• The money spent will stay in your own community.

• If you have questions about how the product is made or what it’s made of and how to look after it, the creator will be available to answer all those questions.

• Buying handmade often means you’re getting a better quality product then something that has been inexpensively mass-produced.

• Handmade items can often be customized to make sure the gift is perfect for the recipient.

• It rewards, encourages and makes us more appreciative of craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and creative thinking.

These are all excellent reasons why you should consider buying handmade this Holiday season. Even if you bought just one or two of your gifts handmade think of the benefits! To help you get some gift giving ideas between now and Christmas I will be featuring the work of some Artisan’s that I admire and am inspired by. Happy Shopping!

Vintage Finds

Whenever possible I love to give old things a new life and use them to make something new and wonderful. It’s amazing how much you can do with a little creatively and a touch of paint. Because of this passion I love spending a couple hours at a great antique market digging through all the wonderful and odd things that are collected together. This is exactly how I spent this past weekend. I went with a few things in mind that I wanted to find but there is never anyway to predict what you might come home with. I came away with only two things but both have inspired new projects for me. The first item that I found was a great old frame that I plan to paint and fix up in a way that I will be able to use it as a display for earrings at upcoming craft shows. I need some outdoor space for that project so it will have to wait for the weekend and I will be sure to let you know how it turns out! The second item I found was a vintage silver necklace. It didn’t look like anything special but I was able to take it apart and repurpose all the silver jumprings and make 6 new necklaces. If you’d like to see what I created you can see them on my website on the “Necklaces” page. Enjoy!
My little tip for the day is this. The term vintage has become very popular lately in selling and buying jewelry. What you need to know is that sometimes things will be labeled vintage that are actually brand new reproductions. What the seller should call it in this case is ”vintage inspired” or “vintage feel” but are wrongly giving incorrect information.  It can be difficult to know if what you are buying is truly vintage or not but know that if it is truly vintage that means it is a minimum of 20 years. Unless it has been kept in its original packaging or wrapped in a drawer its whole life the jewelry will show some signs of wear. Metals will likely have some tarnish and clasps will almost always show some wear. If it looks brand new then it’s likely a reproduction piece. If you aren’t sure by looking at the piece then be sure to ask the seller. If you are buying from a reputable store or antique market they will be knowledgeable about the age of the item and will answer any questions you have. On the other hand if it’s an inexpensive piece and you’re buying it only because you love it then it really doesn’t matter the age so by all means go ahead and buy it!

Where to Shop

Since my last post I have had a couple people ask me where I find the best selection of beads. I’m happy to share this with you. First I must say I’m not advertising for any stores this is just my personal opinion. I live in the Niagara Region and have the entire time I’ve been beading. I prefer to shop at local stores over shopping online simply because I like to see and feel the quality, size, weight and true colours of the beads. Pictures can be wonderful but they will never tell you exactly what the bead will be like and I have found that out first hand. I have two favorite bead stores in the Niagara Region. First is Serendipity Beads located at 13 Duke Street in St. Catharines. They are a small store with a huge selection of beads. They also offer great classes and the staff there is always willing to help answer questions. My other favorite is Bead-Dazzled located at 211 Martindale Road in St. Catharines. This is the store that I tend to visit most often. Again the staff is absolutely wonderful and is always willing to help make sure you are getting what you need. Also they are now offering a lampworking studio although I haven’t yet had the opportunity to try it out. Walking into any bead store can be very intimidating and overwhelming the first time. Many of the beads are sold individually in these two stores. They provide you with a tray and baggies to package exactly what you need. The prices are always very clearly priced per bead and you just fill out a little slip of paper with how many beads you have and the price per bead and put it in your baggie. There is no need to leave without what you have gone for so be sure to ask the staff for help and they will answer any questions!
When I need a certain item and can’t find it in those stores then I do sometimes make a purchase online. The place I am most likely to turn to is BeadFx.com. They are a Canadian Company run out of Scarborough so still fairly local for shopping online. They have a great selection of everything you could need. They offer fabulous project ideas on their website and also have several great classes. Orders have always arrived promptly and I am always happy with what I receive. The other online resource I would like to mention is Etsy.com. Its a great online resource for everything handmade and the supplies to make those things. Also they have some great vintage finds that would be difficult to locate anywhere else. The last place I will mention is somewhere that I’m sure everyone has accessible….yard sales, flea markets, thrifts stores and antique shops. I love searching to see what great old jewelry or buttons I can find and give a new life to. If you do this you will be certain to have a one of a kind piece of jewelry when you’re done!
There are so many other wonderful places to buy supplies that I would be here all night if I tried to talk about them all. If you have any favorite stores you would like to let us know about please feel free to make a comment here for everyone to read.
Happy shopping!