On Vacation... Sort of ;o)

Spring is coming; the sweet little birdies outside are growing in numbers and chirping their pretty little songs. We still have a little snow outside too, but it's quickly melting in the bright sun - Yay!

My girls have Spring Break holiday for 1 week - time off from school! I LOVE having them home.

I'd love to write that we'll be jet-setting off to somewhere fabulous... hmmm... Paris would be nice, or maybe somewhere tropical like the Bahamas. NOT! That would be nice, but it's not to be.

So what will we do? Well, we're trying to get our basement developed so the girls can have their own space to hang out with their friends. I did hire someone to do it, but his health issues have prevented him from coming very often, so things get done in little spurts - then nothing for a long while - sigh. All that being said, there are definitely a few things that we can do down there that are manageable, so that's on the agenda.

Spring around our house usually brings that feeling of wanting to re-organize and change things up a bit, as well as getting brave and finally purging all of those 'maybe I'll use this one day' things that we haven't even looked at in the last year, hehe.

So, doesn't all that sound exciting and fun? LOL

Actually, we do have some fun things planned too. James is taking the girls skiing for a day; they all love it - me? Nope - I just can't get used to the idea of putting slippery sticks on my feet and charging down a steep mountain. I tried it a few times and I'll probably give it another go at some point, but for now I'm quite content to wish them fun on their ski day together minus me!

There is much to do and see in our city and we plan to be 'tourist' for a day or two and enjoy some attractions. The 3 of us girls will probably do some shopping too, they grow like crazy and new spring lines are calling their names at the mall!

Have any of you ever seen the movie "Christmas in Wonderland" with Patrick Swayze, Carmen Electra among others? Not the greatest, lol - but it was filmed in our mall and the girls and I got to be extras in it. We were Christmas shoppers - we're in a couple of scenes, but if you blink - you'd miss us! AMAZING experience - we had sooooo much fun! Anyway, the mall is considered to be one of the world's largest with several indoor attractions such as a massive waterpark with numerous slides, wave pool and bunjee jumping. Also there's an amusement park that has rides and games you'd typically find at an outdoor seasonal fair. There are movie theatres, mini golf, bowling alleys, arcades, under-water sea world, skating rink - the list is endless. Of course, the shopping there is amazing too. So you see, there's lots of fun to be had.

I've taken all of my listings out of my shop and posted there that I'm on vacation. Since we're not going far, I'll be checking my emails daily and I'll probably post here at some point too.

My shop will be open again on Tuesday, April 7 and I'll be launching my new line of personalized labels and paper goods at that time.

Hope you all are seeing signs of spring where you are, see you soon! ;o) xoxo

PS: Help yourself to the images I've included in this post; they remind me of beautiful spring.

A Few of My Favorite Things... on Etsy

My 'Favorite' today is one that I am personally attached to. It's our new Team Shop on Etsy:

Inspiration Avenue

The shop consists of artistic creations that our sweet members donate. Proceeds go towards charities as well as operations of running the shop. I'm working on a digital art collage to list there in the next few days. You can find these lovelies following the current 'Sea Theme' in our shop right now.

Go have a look and 'heart' us as one of your favorites ;o) Then go back and check in often, because the ladies in this group are so talented and they each create such wonderful things!

Ok, I know - this one's been a bit of a 'shameless plug', lol - but I just couldn't help myself - I LOVE Inspiration Avenue!

For more eye candy, check out our Team Members Shops ;o)

http://www.angiekellydesigns.etsy.com
http://www.artangel.etsy.com
http://www.CoastalSisters.etsy.com
http://www.Coralseas.etsy.com
http://www.harmonyquestdesigns.etsy.com
http://www.LauraLeesTastyTreats.etsy.com
http://www.manamoon.etsy.com


Have a wonderful week everyone! ;o)

Graceful Wings of Butterflies...

I was going through all of my image files, pulling things from here and there to incorporate in to my new label line today. I am always drawn to my Butterfly file because I just love the beauty, elegance and gracefulness of them. There are so many stunning shapes and sizes of Butterflies and I am completely addicted to altering and collaging their graceful wings.

I thought I would share this little pretty with you; I created it some time ago and thought you might like it to incorporate in to your own lovely creations.

Do you have some time to create this weekend? I hope you do - me? Yes, I plan to make some time to create with my hands this weekend. Lots of time has been spent on the computer lately and I'm looking forward to playing with lovely bits and bobbles ;o)

Have a wonderful weekend full of what makes you happiest! xxoo

Monday's are 'A Few of My Favorite Things... on Etsy'...

Monday's... sigh, the weekend is over and it's the start of a new week. I like to spend some time on Monday mornings surfing around Etsy to see what kind of yummy things that catch my eye. I find it's a great way to get me in both a creative and business mode to start my week as I peruse all of the talent and wonderful things presented there.

I want to share with you one of my favorites each Monday.


Today I'd like to show you some beautiful findings and charms from Terri at:

Dime Store Emporium

I have purchased some pieces from her to create jewelry and assemblage treasures for my girls and me. I LOVE her selection; this is definitely a shop that I spend time looking at every listings page because I don't want to miss a thing!


A snip-it of Terri's Shop Announcement reads:

"I am always on the hunt for the most unique items, I have some great sources. Because of this, I am always updating my shoppe so please stop by often, I promise you won't be disappointed."


She keeps her promise... I've never been disappointed and even when I'm just being a looky-loo to see what's new, I'm always treated to lovely eye candy in her shop!




Go have a visit, her findings are a 10 out of 10 on my "Yummy" scale! ;o)




Etsy Shop Address: www.dimestoreemporium.etsy.com
Web Site Address: www.dimestoredaze.com
Blog Address: www.dimestoedaze.typepad.com

I have a question for you...

As I mentioned in the previous post, I will be adding Personalized Labels / Stickers to my Etsy Shop within the next couple of weeks. I have lots of different designs in the works, this label is just a mock-up sample. My mind is running around in circles as to how I should offer them; digital download or printed?

So if I may ask you clever sweets to think about this with me for just a moment:

If you were a potential customer wanting labels, would you prefer a digital download of them personalized for you so you could print them out on your own sticker sheets, etc. printing as many as you want, any time you want?

Or, would you prefer to purchase them printed from my color laser printer in which case you would be purchasing by the sheet with 20 or so per sheet?

I must admit, I am very fond of selling digital downloads as there is no shipping cost to the purchaser and it's as fast as a few clicks of a button. But, I'm also aware that there are lots of people who don't have quality printers that produce images, etc. that they're happy with.

Hmmmm, what to do, what to do. Perhaps the obvious answer is to offer both options.

Just thought I'd put this little question out there to see what you think, thanks so much for taking the time to answer. ;o)

Yummy Scroll Designs...

I just can't get enough of the ornate scroll designs of yesteryear. They are amazing to incorporate in to Digital Collage or just about anything else you create with.


I am working on a new line of Personalized Labels / Stickers that will be introduced in to my Etsy Shop within the next couple of weeks. I'm having so much fun creating them - lots of scrolly and poshy designs.

I was organizing my picture files and came across this little pretty I altered some time ago, I thought you might like to use it for your card making or scrapbooking, etc.

Hope you're having a wonderful week ;o)

Donation has been made...

A donation has been made to the Cruz family in honor of their sweet Zachary that included proceeds from sales of some of my listings as well as a little extra on my own behalf.

Listings have ended now. Thank you so much to those of you who purchased through these listings and please know that your kindness and generosity is greatly appreciated.

To the Cruz family: Our thoughts are with you.

Some Good News and Sad News...

I'll share the Good News first...

Through Victoria's efforts at selling the book marks, key tags and magnets at her school, she was able to raise over $70 to go towards the Water School Project! Yay for her! This is wonderful because for $50 a family can have clean water for life in Africa through this organization. She is so pleased and learned an invaluable experience about the gift of giving to others in need. I'm very proud of her, Good Job Victoria!!!! ;o)

Thank you to everyone who posted sweet words for us on this project!


Now the Sad News...

I learned through a sweet friend of mine, that sadly one of our own fellow Etsians lost her young son, Zachary Michael Cruz, last Friday in a traffic accident. The family is accepting donations to help with funeral costs.

Some vendors at Etsy have decided to help this family in their time of sorrow and need. If you'd like to purchase something that proceeds will go towards this cause, click here or type in 'Zachary's Fund' in the items search bar on Etsy and you'll find some lovely things there.

I have listings dedicated to Zachary and his family; you can easily find them under his name in the section area of my shop. Proceeds from the sales of these Digital Downloads will go to his family.

For more information, visit the Official Website for Zachary here.


Being a Mom, I can only imagine the depth of loss this family is experiencing. There aren't any words that will comfort. My thoughts are with them.