Item of the day: Peacock Pedestal

I absolutely adore this sweet pedestal by catherinereese. In fact, there's nothing in Catherine's shop that I don't love! Her pottery is just amazing!

Etsy Feature: janejoss

I came across one of janejoss' fabric bouquets while searching for autumn decor a while ago - and I simply fell in love. These sweet sprigs of colourful leaves would look great in a simple vase or bowl - or maybe go for a wreath or potted plant? Here are my favourites:

Sweet Leaves in Claret Fields

Houndstooth Fabric Sprigs

Wonderland Potted Plant

Orange Harvest Wreath

Which bouquet is your favourite?

Item of the day: Smallest Branch Earrings

I love these simple little branch earrings by SarahHoodJewelry. Perfect for that fall to winter transition!

New Favourite Salad

I love salads - but I'm not so fond of preparing them. So much washing & chopping... So I try to keep things simple. This is my current favourite combination - modified to fit what I have on hand:

Celery, Radish & Pear Salad

Ingredients:

3 stalks of celery

5 radishes

1/4 onion

7 cherry tomatoes

1 pear

Creamy Cucumber dressing

Methods:

1. Chop all your veggies into bite size pieces.

Use whatever you have on hand - spinach or other salad greens are a nice addition. Any type of onion is good, but optional; the tomatoes are also optional.

2. Mix together with the dressing.

This is what I used - it complemented the bite of the onion & radish as well as the sweetness of the pear perfectly! Makes about 2 - 4 servings.

Enjoy!

Item of the day: Bunny Sling

One of my blogger friends, Cara, has a bunny - I remember her buying a baby sling on Etsy for her & thinking what a great idea that was. It's a nice way to cuddle with your bunny - they end up being all cocooned & safe in the sling. I thought this pink bunny sling by wilsons would be perfect for little miss Marigold!

Meet Marigold!

Meet Marigold - the newest addition to the family!

My parents haven't had any pets in the house since Rosemary disappeared this summer. This weekend, they finally decided to get a new little bunny. Marigold came from one of my dad's cousin's farm - she's a chocolate brown Poland dwarf. Isn't she sweet?! (Though maybe a little nervous on her first day home.) I can't wait to cuddle with her at Thanksgiving!

And the winner is.....

Jena aka marinebiochic07!

I'm glad Jena is our winner - she's an Etsy friend of mine & recently had her birthday. What could be more perfect than a free cupcake?

Reminder

I'm selecting a winner for my blog giveaway tonight - so don't forget to go sign up! Just comment on the previous post!On a school-related note, I'm presenting a paper in my pathology class today. It's been a while since I last presented ... but it should be ok. I think I'm ready. Going to go review & practice now. Wish me luck!

100 Followers (giveaway)!

Sometime over the weekend, my blog acquired it's 100th follower!

That means 100 kind readers clicked on that little follow button in my sidebar & can read my blog in their readers or rss feeds! How exciting!

As a small thank you, I'm giving away one felt bottle-cap cupcake pincushion!

Specifically, this light brown cupcake with peacock blue icing and purple sequin sprinkles is up for grabs.

If you want a chance to sink your pins into this cake, you can:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post telling me something you like & something you'd like to change on my blog.
2. Become a blog follower - leave a (separate) comment on this post letting me know you are.
3. Tweet about this giveaway - make sure to include @Ulixis - come back here & leave a (separate) comment.

That means you can have up to 3 entries - each comment counts as an entry, so make sure to leave them separately. Make sure you leave an email address or Etsy username so that I can contact you if you win.

I will randomly select a winner from all the comments Friday September 25 around 9PM, so you have until then to enter.

Good luck!

Item of the day: Piece of Cake

So I've mentioned my love of encaustic art before. And I've mentioned my fondness for bird art - and the fact that I have a wall full of bird prints (yes, I keep meaning to take pictures & share). So... when I saw this original collage by DearDodo... I just couldn't resist. It's going to look fabulous on my wall (though I may have to do some rearranging)!(And it's coming from Vancouver, Canada - doesn't get much better than that!)

Item of the day: Continuum

I love the simple design of this t-shirt by sealmaiden. The feathers remind me of a quail.I also love this word one. Which is your favourite shirt in this lovely shop?

Item of the day: Cloud Crane

I came across PetalMix in an Etsy Finds email - and I absolutely love this shop!!! The fabric flowers are stunning - this hair clip is my favourite:There are some gorgeous white ones that would look amazing in a bride's updo (which would be perfect paired up with some bridesmaid ones that match the dresses).

Item of the day: DIY cheese kit

I first saw these "make your own cheese" kits by UrbanCheesecraft on my friend Niki's (delicious) blog. I really want to try it out - I love cooking & making things from scratch!

Craft Show Results

So...... wondering how my craft show went? Not bad, but not great either. The venue was not the best for me - it was a garage sale/craft show and 98% of the booths there were full of garage sale junk. So people were not there for quality items - they were there for a deal. My mom & I had lots of fun though, I have my first show under my belt and I made enough to cover my tables & umbrellas - so I consider it a success.Plus, now I have experience setting up my tables! I loved how my table cloth signs looked (though the tables ended up being 7' instead of the 6' they told us...) and my aunt said they really stood out.On the "by Amanda Giesler" table, I had one "tree" of Christmas globes, my gramma's knit washclothes & hand towels, my terrariums and my sewn goods (purses, zippered totes, tissue cozies & bottlecap cupcake pin cushions). Only 3 of the 8 terrariums I made ended up being good enough to sell - the other ones had dead moss & a funky smell (despite the charcoal) when opened. But these 3 were lush green & smelled of fresh earth. They didn't sell though, so if anyone wants to buy one, send me an email (I'll blog about this later with pictures).My "Ulixis" table had 2 "trees" of globes, notebooks, tags & jewelry. I still need to work out a better way to display my jewelry, but it didn't look too bad. My mom brought these great silver platters that I set my earrings out on. Between my 2 tables, I had a taller "tree" (my dad made me these) with large globes dangling on it. (Sorry for the over-exposed picture - I didn't take enough photos, so this one will have to do). It was a little windy, so the globes danced around & really caught a lot of people's attention. I heard a lot of comments saying they were too expensive though ($10 for large, $8 for small)..... honestly, what do you think? They take over an hour each to make...

The wind forced us to take down the umbrellas I had - luckily, it didn't rain. Of course, it got really, really sunny right around noon, when the sun was beating right in my face. My eyes were watering behind my sunglasses it was so bright. And since it was supposed to be a cloudy day (and it's September) I didn't think of sunscreen. My first sunburn in years, and I get it in September!It only took an hour or two for my fair skin to burn to a crisp. Want to see the awesome tan lines on my face??? Oh yeah. HOT. Pat can barely contain himself. That was yesterday afternoon. It looks worse today.It looks worse than these pictures reveal (thank you crappy lighting). My nose is bright red (except right between my eyes) and hurts. My entire face feels like it's on fire. *sigh*

Craft Show

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

OK. So today's the day. My craft show - the Mohawk 28th Annual Garage Sale - is today, from 9 - 2. I'm SO nervous now... this is my first show, so I have no idea what to expect. I think I'm ready, though. Everything is in boxes by the door, waiting to be packed in the car.

I posted these photos on Flickr, but didn't blog about them... so here's a look at my table cloth signs. I sewed them up myself.

I'm SO pleased with how they turned out! I've also been getting really great feedback on them from my Etsy friends.... So I'm really considering offering these custom made signs in my shop. I'll just have to figure a few things out for the table cloth, since these purple ones are old bed linens.

OK. Wish me luck! I'm off to dry my hair and finish getting ready before waking Pat to help me load the car (and drive me there, then go get my mom at the hotel).

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Item of the day: House Lamp

I want this lamp by Hannahnunn. Not only does it feature a charming street scene (and I have a thing for little buildings) but some of the windows are even cut out so that the light shines through! Plus, the design goes all the way around the lamp, giving you 360 degrees to display!This shop is full of gorgeous lamps - which is your favourite?

Item of the day: Autumn paper leaf wreath

There's no denying it - back to school time, along with autumn, is already here. But that's ok - fall is my favourite season. One of the best parts? Pulling out all the fall / Thanksgiving / Halloween decoration! I'd love to hang this paper leaf wreath by HeyEmmie on my door this year (if only I was able to hang something from my apartment door!)!

Item of the day: A Reader's Diary

I'm definitely an avid reader (at least when I have spare time to read - right now all my spare time is going to craft show prep). I've always liked the idea of keeping track of the books I read, and although I've tried over the year to create log books, I've never stuck to one. This reader's diary by greenchairpress is perfect!

Nice and simple with a spot for the date, author, title & impression of the book.So I can remember whether the book is worth recommending or reading again!

Etsy Feature: Labor Day Sale

It's the labor day long weekend! Thank goodness - I have a lot of organizing and preparations to do for my craft fair next weekend. As a celebration of the long weekend, here are some shops having Labor Day SALES! Check them out and let me know in the comments if you're having a sale too!

Handmade daisy quilt - by thequiltedmushroom - $30 off

Tree of life earrings - by ThePlumTree - 15% off + free shipping

Caramel & Belgian chocolate covered apple - by nikid - free nut cluster with purchase of $10

In bloom ring - by Jenifersfamilyjewels - 15% off + free shipping

Harvest vegetables wash cloths - by ShesGotMoxie1 - 25% off + free shipping

Citrine drops - by adorned7 - 20% off

Snow White apple cookies - by TabbyCat13 - reduced prices on select items

Item of the day: Bird Stack

The last thing we did before leaving Niagara Falls was check out the bird sanctuary / aviary. This was probably my favourite stop - I love birds! The tropical ones are so exotic - I love the scarlet ibis, the toucans & the jacana. This bird print by JustinRichel reminds me of the wide variety of different species co-existing together.

Item of the day: Descent

While at Niagara, we did all the typical tourist-y things: walk behind the falls, white water walk, the aero-car suspended over the whirlpool. It was an awesome experience! This cascading necklace by helbent totally reminds me of the water, churning with a mind of its own, and represents our descent to the river.

Item of the day: Slot Machine

If you've been following my blog this week, you may have noticed a theme. I've been featuring items that go along with my trip to Niagara Falls this past weekend.

Saturday evening, we spent some time at Fallsview casino. Definitely not my thing, but Pat enjoys Texas hold'em. One thing there in abundance - slot machines. They seem kind of pointless to me... but they look super cute in silver dangling from a chain!

I found this in charms4you - a shop full of sweet, simple charm necklaces. There are so many to choose from, it's hard to pick a favourite! I, of course, love the little jack rabbit & the chocolate cupcake!