Good wonderful Tuesday morning everyone!! I personally have been having a GREAT 2 days, and I even woke up this morning to find I had made a sale! Thank you SO much Ana! And guess what? Ana just happens to be my feature for today!

I met Ana when she fanned my facebook fan page a while ago. I had asked her to be a feature way back then, but she never answered :( Apparently it was because she wasn't familiar with the "fan filter" on her fan page, and didn't see it! (That's why I don't have the fan filter option on! I'd always forget to look at it!!) So instead of a feature 3 or so weeks ago, it comes to you today! I really hope you enjoy meeting Ana; she's a wonderful lady who's incredibly talented! All pictures are linked to their listings unless otherwise stated, so click away my friends!


1. Let us know a bit about you!

My name is Ana Brennan, and I live in Broken Arrow, OK. I am a mom of 4 boys, and a daughter in Heaven. I am currently in recovery from an eating disorder taking one day at a time. I am married and I work full time outside the home with the hopes of one day working from home as an artisan exclusively. I am an imperfect human who loves a perfect Lord. He has been in my life since my daughter was diagnosed with cancer right before her 2nd birthday. This is a subject I am very open about.


2. When did you start crafting? What/who inspired you to become an artist? Do you do different crafts than just what you sell on Etsy?

My father was an artist and so therefore I grew up with art being a very integral part of our lives. I think I'm more surprised by my siblings who don't express themselves artistically! Oh well, que sera! I have been drawing as far back as I can remember. In fact, the earliest memory I have were of me tracing all the Snoopy characters on my bedsheets with my finger as a child, then going to school the next day and drawing them all for the other children. I was in first grade at the time.

I started sewing, as all good girls do, in Jr high, and fell in love with fabrics and creating with this new medium. When I stumbled upon tassels, it was like a match made in heaven. I could hand paint and even create some sort of toppers, then incorporate different trims and ribbons onto them for a complete tassel. As for other crafts I make, yes there are these handy dandy coasters that I have made for family and friends, and the number one way I have always expressed what's REALLY going on with me, is sketching.

Pictures c/o AnasHouseDressing Works in Progress

3. What was the sole purpose of opening your shop?

To hopefully replace my income with this, a craft booth, and a shop in town. Not to mention my house was filling up with tassels and decorative pillows!


4. How did you decide on a shop name?

The shop name was easy, I just combined two great loves in my life, food and home decorating, and voila! Just a simple play on words, really.


5. What is your favourite item to create, and why?

It would be a tossup between tassels and sketching. Tassels on one hand are delightfully fun to shop for, to make, and to see each completed piece. Sketching on the other hand, is way way more intimate. I feel totally naked when I let someone see my art work.


6. What venues do you use to promote your work?

I have it all; a Facebook Fan page, a Blog, and Twitter.

I think they all work OK for me... I love to blog of course!

Pictures c/o AnasHouseDressing Works in Progress

7. Where do you see yourself in 5 years concerning your crafting business?

Definitely doing this full time and living the dream. I pray that is just continues to grow steadily, so I can one day quit my day job.


8. Is there any other information you'd like to share with us?

There is a giveaway for anyone of the tassels in my shop that ends at midnight on December 1st (Today!) All you need to do is leave a comment and a way to reach you at TheShabbyChicCottage-AnasHouseDressing.

As for any newbies, I think my best advice would be to find the thing that you would be doing regardless if anyone is buying or not. It's what has gotten me through the rough times.


9. Name a few of your favourite things!

A child's laugh, butterflies, my Bible, and my family.


10. If you had a super power, what would it be, and why?

To heal children, so there would never be a need for St. Jude's, or any children's hospitals anymore.


I hope you all enjoyed today's feature! I sure did - Ana, thank you so much for sharing with us, you're a true inspiration. See, this is why I absolutely love doing features, because I love finding out how much I have in common with my fellow etsians! Maybe I'm just nosey, who knows! Curiosity hasn't killed me yet :) Make sure you heart Ana's Etsy Shop, follow her on Twitter and her Blog, and of course, fan her Facebook so you can keep up to date as to what this crafter is up to! And of course, leave some comments as all etsians love feedback!

Have a GREAT Tuesday everyone!!

Good morning to you all! Today's feature is The Framed Frog, a fantastic etsian whom I met on Twitter!! She has a lot of really great products, most of which are geared towards children. I highly recommend checking out her shop for some incredible merchandise for any kids in your life (and perhaps for yourself as well!) So sit back and relax this Tuesday morning and get to know the talented, the wonderful, The Framed Frog! All pictures are linked directly to their listings on Etsy.


1. Let us know a bit about you!

Well, my name is Jeanette Foster (Frogster to my students) and I am an Oregon transplant. I moved here five years ago with my husband from Massachusetts. I taught junior high and elementary school for a few years before I had my children, who make sure on a daily basis that my life is full of chaos and adventure. The Drama Queen is almost four, the Beast is two and a half, and the Spud is one.


2. When did you start crafting? Do you do different crafts then what you sell on Etsy?

I have been crafting for as long as I can remember. Every year, my parents got me craft kits and books, and I remember making homemade soap, candles, yarn dolls, clothes for my Barbie doll etc. My parents recognized my drawing talent and bought me many drawing books and art kits as well. I practiced all the time! Most of what I sell on Etsy is my paintings, but I still scrapbook and crochet and do crafts with my kids. (In my spare time, ha ha! Whatever that is!)


3. What was the sole purpose of opening your shop?

I had been painting custom nursery artwork for friends as baby shower gifts for years, and they kept telling me that I should make it a business and sell them. I finally followed through when a friend told me about Etsy. My husband also really encouraged me to do something that was separate from being a mom to three crazy little ones.


4. How did you decide on a shop name?

As I mentioned before, my students called me "Mrs. Frogster" because I am slightly obsessed with the adorable little creatures. I have frogs everywhere in my house, and it's probably no surprise that my kiddies' room is completely decorated in a frog pond theme! I wanted my name and logo to stand out and to be easily identified with me. I decided on "The Framed Frog" and drew my logo to match what I was envisioning in my head. In case you're wondering, we still have no idea who framed the frog!


5. What is your favourite item to create and why?

Almost all my work is custom - and I love being able to create exactly what a customer wants and can't find anywhere else. Besides painting, I do enjoy creating my custom French memo boards. It's fun to blend colours and patterns and work with a different medium - fabric.


6. What venues to you use to promote your work?

I am learning to promote, promote, promote! I have two blogs: JFrogster and ScrappyFrog. I have somewhat fallen off the bandwagon with the second blog since it's the one I feature how-to's for crafts, and I just don't have the time to make all those crafts anymore. I have a Facebook Fan Page "The Framed Frog", and of course, I Tweet under "ScrappyFrog". I love blogging, but so far twittering has been the most beneficial to my shop. I just opened my facebook fan page, so we'll have to see how it goes. Please join up and become a Froggy Fan for Framed Frog news and exclusive deals!


7. Where do you see yourself in 5 years concerning your business?

When I first started The Framed Frog, I treated it as a hobby. When it took me almost two months to get a sale, I seriously considered giving up on the whole venture. Then sales started to really take off over the summer, and I began to expand locally as well. I am planning on making The Framed Frog a serious source of revenue for our family. I read books and research information on making small businesses successful, and my husband is becoming more involved in the shop as well. I need his nerdy skills to do the business side that I don't enjoy doing myself! I hope that in five years, I will be making a sale or more a day. I will have more time then to devote to the business because all my little darlings will be in school.


8. Is there any other information you'd like to share with us?

My advice for newbies is to keep at it! Just because you don't immediately see sales from twitter or blogging doesn't mean that they won't result in EVENTUAL sales. Also, customer service is key! I wrap my items in pretty paper and tie them with ribbon and give my customers a promo code to get a discount off their next order. It has brought me many repeat customers!


The Framed Frog is excited to participate in the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale on etsy this year! Almost all of the items in my shop will be discounted or have free shipping on those days! (And if you become a Froggy Fan on Facebook, you will get a special promote code to use on those days for extra discounts!)


9. Name a few of your favourite things!

I already mentioned my love for all things froggy! (I just counted and we have 20 different ornaments to put on our Christmas tree that are froggy!) I also love cake decorating, playing basketball and soccer, and being silly with my kids. I do enjoy reading, but have little time for it anymore: so most of my reading is saved for my Bible and my favourite blogs. Weird fact - I also occasionally play the accordion.


10. If you had a super power, what would it be and why?

My super power would be the ability to clean my house in an instant! I am so not domestic, and have trouble fitting in the bathroom cleaning and laundry in between my shop responsibilities, and my kids. If I never obtain that superpower, I will hope for the next best thing - enough income from The Framed Frog to hire a housecleaner!

Alright everyone, I really hope you enjoyed getting to know Jeanette! I'm very excited that I've met her, and been able to do this feature, as I love getting to know the person behind the craft! Make sure you visit The Framed Frog on Etsy for some amazing and cute products! And of course, follow on Twitter, her Blogs "The Framed Frog" and "ScrappyFrog", and of course fan her Facebook for exclusive deals!

Feel free to comment on this feature - all etsians love feedback!!

Have a great Tuesday everyone! Happy sales!

Good morning everyone! It's time for my Tuesday Feature!! And today I bring you, HDawnParratt, a fellow Canadian and amazing card/tag maker. I absolutely love everything she makes, it's all too cute, and I just want to buy it all! I met HDawnParratt in chats one night (there's the chats again! I met a lot of great people in there obviously!) quite a long time ago now. She's a ton of fun to talk to and just a really great person in general. So sit back and relax, and get to know HDawnParratt and see all of her amazing creations. All pics are directly linked to their listings, so click on kids! Click on!



I'm a 37 year old who's married, with no kids.  I love hockey, the Leafs, and Oilers :) and I love my dog and 2 cats. I work full time as an embroidery machine operator, and have been doing so for 12 years now. (God!) lol




I started cross stitching at an early age, took up beading, then crocheting, but not until 2.5 years ago when I took up scrap booking did I really get hooked on a craft! I started out with 12x12 layouts, then took up card making 2 years ago when I ran out of pics to scrap book. I get a lot of inspiration from my stamps. I can look at a stamp and then in my head know what papers, colours and embellishments to use. I am also able to picture the layouts of my ideas in my head. I'm addicted to ribbon and embossing!




The sole purpose of opening my shop was just to be able to do my papercrafting and to know my creations were being sold around the globe. And to have my shop pay for my addiction is a big blessing!




My shop name was no great accomplishment lol. H is for Heather, Dawn is my middle name, and Parratt for my last name. Nope, not much thought at all!




My favourite thing to create is mini note cards, as they are fun and fast to pump out. A regular size card requires more space to fill up.




I use Facebook, Blogger, and Twitter to promote my Etsy Shop. I think I like Facebook the best as I seem to get more comments on there than anywhere else. Twitter doesn't really get me the views I hear everyone else talking about.




I'm not sure where I see myself in 5 years, hopefully back in Nova Scotia near friends and family. But I just hope to still be selling well on Etsy, and hope to have a bigger client base than what I do now.




A few of my favourite things are hockey, paper crafts, stamps, my dog and kitties, and yes, I will include Hubby as well! LOL. Oh, and my cricut machine! :)




If I had a super power, it would be to know what people are thinking in their heads. Then I would know what is being said behind my back!


I hope you all enjoyed today's Tuesday Feature, and getting to know a bit about Heather @ HDawnParratt! Don't forget to check out her Etsy Shop, visit/follow her Blog, Facebook and join her on Twitter for updates on amazing products that you will all most definitely want to buy! If my purse strings weren't so tight, I'd have a whole stash right now!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!!

Good morning everyone! I am incredibly excited about my Tuesday Feature, Zeropumpkin. I have been a long time fan - I adore weird, "Halloween" inspired creations, so I immediately fell in love with everything in this shop! I first met Zeropumpkin in the Etsy chats (but that shouldn't be much of a surprise!) and have been stalking her ever since. So sit back and relax everyone, and meet the wonderfully talented Etsian behind Zeropumpkin! All pics are linked directly to their listings, so feel free to click away and find out more about these items.



My name is Pauline, and I am a freelance graphic designer who loves to create everything related to art, that happens to come out of my mind! I am Chinese Malaysian located in Malaysia in the Capital City, Kuala Lumpur.



I don't really remember when I started crafting, lol. A lot of things inspire me, from music (The band I listen to most of the time is "The Smashing Pumpkins") to movies (Tim Burton movies), the Asian culture, and everything that I like to see, gives me ideas!



The purpose of opening this shop is because I wanted to open a *real* shop a long time ago and sell my own designs, but I couldn't afford it! So, my friend in Australia sent me the Etsy link and asked me to join.



Well, the shop name comes from the band I like (The Smashing Pumpkins) They have a song called "Zero", plus the Tim Burton movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas" the ghost dog is called "Zero" as well! And, I love pumpkins! :p Ta da! The name is out. Well, I have had this name long before I opened a shop on etsy, I was originally thinking of opening a shop called "The Zeropumpkin Cafe" hehe.



I don't have a favourite item to create. As I've said, I create things that come out of my mind,even paintings and drawings. So I don't have a fave one. You could say all of my creations are my fave!



I use my Blog and Facebook, Twitter and even Myspace. I use Blog the most, but none of the sales has ever come from my blog. All the sales have come from Etsy buyers or sellers.



I really don't know after 5 years! :p Of course I want it to be good. I hope everyone likes my creations, and when I get sales, I'm always so happy! Because a sale means that people like, or love, my stuff!



I will probably be doing another giveaway soon. And as for advice for newbies, just do what you love!



Pumpkin goodies, Coke (collectable goodies), Music, graphic books, green tea (food or anything), sushi.



If I had a super power, I would want to save all the cute animals that are in trouble and need help, because they are too cute and harmful, and they don't deserve to die!


I hope everyone loved this feature as much as I did! Don't forget to visit and fan/follow or heart Zeropumpkins Blog, Facebook, Twitter and Etsy shop to see all the other wonderful things she's made! And feel free to comment on this feature, all Etsians love feedback!

Have a great day everyone!

(And just as a friendly reminder, have you all entered my GIVEAWAY for 10 Christmas cards of your choice?!)

Are you all ready for another feature?! I'm very excited to be doing a feature on Slumptown. I've always loved glasswork and I desperately wanted to take it in College, but alas, despite my best efforts, I never made it to the front of the line-up! I've been talking on and off with Slumptown for quite a while now, but can't recall how we originally met! I think it was through our Facebook Fanpages! So, sit back and relax this.. beautiful? Hmm, don't know yet, it's too early! Tuesday Morning and meet Slumptown! All images are directly linked to their listings on etsy, unless otherwise noted.




Hi, my name is Rebecca Kerr and I am the one-woman show behind Slumptown Glass, and some days it is a comedy of errors. I live in lovely Portland Oregon, also know as Stumptown, along with a few other nicknames. Which gives you a little insight into how my store got it's name. I live here with my wonderful husband of 9 years (today!) and our very particular cat, Beans, and a fraidy-cat dog, Oberon. We moved here from Michigan, so I could get a graduate degree in Architecture.





I have always been a person who makes things. I use to make gifts for my parents out of the stuff I found in the garage when I was little. My mother sewed and did various crafts while I was growing up. My grandmother has always been a crocheter and a quilter. My father has taught me all kinds of handy building skills. I had a very well rounded education in making things growing up. Aside from fusing mosaics, I have done stained glass, I sew, and I build and design simple furniture when I need it. I have reigned in a lot of other crafts in an effort to really work on my glasswork. Unfortunately, my table saw didn't make the transition from house to apartment when we moved here, and I do miss it.

A short history about how I got into glass. I have always been drawn to glass. I always tried to incorporate cold glass into my projects in college, without really knowing anything about working in glass. I took a mosaic class at the urban art institute in Grand Rapids MI and that is where I learned about fusing, as some of the pieces in our mosaics were manipulated in the kiln. Shortly after that, I took classes in fusing at Delphi, in Lansing MI. Which is where I bought my kiln a while later. I eventually started working there and got a really good education in cold, warm and hot glasswork.





Slumptown was started in November of 2008 with an invitation from friends to display some of my work for sale in their store. They were setting up a holiday gift section and are the suppliers for all of the bisque ware that I mosaic. When the holiday season was over, I started wondering if there was an outlet for selling my work. This is when I discovered Etsy. Having been unemployed in Architecture for almost a year at the time, I started looking into whether or not I could take a hobby and turn it into a full time job. I love running Slumptown and it has given me purpose and drive, and if you ever have been unemployed for a long period of time, you know how much this means.


Lizard Table - Sold - Copyright Rebecca @ Slumptown Glass



Slumptown was the idea of my husband, as we live in Stumptown and I slump glass.





I can't say that I have a favourite item to create. I make every item one at a time and that item tends to be the one I am most excited about at the moment. That said, the Mosaic Teapots do hold a special place in my heart. Each Tea for Cause is designed for a special purpose. I am an avid tea drinker and I love that the teapots are functioning pieces of art that give back to society. Right now, I am working on an endangered animal series.





Promotion is definitely something that I need to work on. Right now I use Facebook, so hop on over and become a fan! I have been included in many wonderful treasuries, a few which have had the privilege of making it to the front page of Etsy, many thanks to all the wonderful people who have included me in their treasuries! And this interview on Sassmowth's blog, a special thanks to Kat for that. Putting myself out there has always been a bit of a challenge for me.


Hope Teapot - Sold - Copyright Rebecca @ Slumptown Glass



In 5 years I hope to have a larger kiln so that I can fuse more than one piece at a time, which would really give the business a chance to grow. Right now I am a little restricted by space. Each piece takes at least 2 days, sometimes 3 in the kiln, not to mention if there needs to be extensive cold work done on the piece. Cold work is sanding, grinding, polishing, sawing, etc...





November I am having my very first giveaway! Anyone who is a fan of my Facebook Fan page will be entered to win a cast 9" bowl in shades of blue! If it doesn't come out (since I haven't made it yet and it's a bit of an experiment) don't worry, I'll make something nice for you! :)


Polar Bear Teapot - Sold - Copyright Rebecca @ Slumptown Glass



These are a few of my favourite things, Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes... Ok seriously, hot cocoa with amaretto and marshmallows, a good novel, a beautiful piece of glass, watching the snow fall, tea, and the list could go on.






Who says I don't have any??




There ya have it kids! I hope you enjoyed this Tuesdays feature! Please be sure to check out Rebecca's Slumptown Glass on Facebook and become a fan, she has lots of great pics on there, and hey, you can win one of her incredible pieces!! And of course head on over to her Etsy shop, as there are a lot more products then what you just see on this blog!And of course feel free to Comment! All Etsians love a little feedback!

And I just wanted to end this by saying, have you ALL entered my GIVEAWAY yet?!

Have a great day everyone!!