For a stylish way to carry your stuff go straight to TiLTcreations

When you're off to slay vampires, carrying your stuff in a fashionable way can be a problem. 

The Buffy B and Mr Pointy Red Messenger Bag, with hand embroidery available at TiLTcreations on Etsy, is a perfect way to be fashionable and functional no matter how many hours you put in. 

Some of TiLTcreations' bags and clutches may be used with your seasonal outfits. Her designs are varied, with clever shapes and sizes to make the browser think, "Whoa, I could carry my [fill in the blank] in that bag." 

The Painted Tree Tan Mini Duffel Bag, for instance is 21 inches long. Many traveling artists and crafters, teachers and students, could fill a bag like this with supplies. 

I've been to classes where part of the time is spent ogling the bags & cases people have to tote around their projects and supplies!

An Etsy shop for destash patterns, fabric and supplies called Tilttoo is also open. 

I got a kick out of the banglets. This was the first time I've seen them, and I like the name. 

From her description:

"Never heard of a Banglet? Me neither. I made it up. I thought calling it a wristlet was not quite right since it has a bracelet on the strap. This bracelet is also quite handy when you want to be "hands free". So...Bangle + Wristlet = Banglet."

Keep up with TiLTcreations, her life, her process and of course, her latest creations by visiting her blogs. You may be lucky enough to win something in a giveaway!

A purse in brown and green paisley would be fun especially on St. Patrick's Day.

If you're reading this on my Facebook Fan Page, you may also want to check out my blog.

Gathering Snowflakes

Growing up on the east coast, snowflakes sometimes meant an early weekday morning, sitting anxiously by the radio. You're in your boots and heavy winter coat and hoping, hoping to hear the announcer say that your school was closed due to the snow. Yippee!

You could build a snow fort or make snow angels or go get that metal saucer and slide down the hill. Maybe times like those are part of why I like snowflakes as a motif as much as I do. They're sort of like memories.

When looking for some pretty snowflake-themed items on Etsy, the hard part was finding just a few to feature in a blog post. You cold create a never-ending list of snowflakes!

The first one that caught my eye was a snowflake in name only. It's an original photo of a sweet white cat called Snowflake in the Window from Donnapool's Shop.

AStonesThrow has a corduroy pleated purse in pink with subtle snowflakes.

Spittintoad's Midnight Frost Neck Warmer features handmade snowflake ceramic buttons. The yarn used is a wintry combination of colors with metallic thread woven through for sparkle.

Finally, you can get a personalized One In A Million Snowflake Bowl from Elmstudiosonline.

So even if you've never made snow angels, never had snowflakes on your eyelashes or never had cold snowflakes tickling you down inside your winter boots.... You can still love the pretty images of snowflakes that artists create.

If you're reading this on my Facebook Fan Page, you may also want to check out my blog.

Bernard & the Genie: Take a peek

One of my favorite holiday movies for the past several years has been Bernard & the Genie. It stars Lenny Henry (as the Genie) and Alan Cumming as Bernard Bottle. The overall story is a familiar one.

A man is down on his luck. In this case he's really down on his luck. He finds an old lamp and polishes it. Poof! A genie appears to grant him wishes. Often the genie has as much of a story as the man, himself has and that's true in this film.

It's a charming and funny movie written by prolific British comedy writer Richard Curtis who also penned Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Bernard and the Genie is a 'feel-good' film for the whole family. Rowan Atkinson, perhaps better known as Mr. Bean, plays a somewhat unsavory character as Bernard's boss. The genie and Bernard are able to help one another at Christmastime.
 

Curtis wrote and directed Love Actually which has a great big cast and is another fun holiday film. He's also well known for other films and his part in writing the show, Blackadder.

What if Roald Dahl & Christian Dior made chenille pipe cleaner figures?

I have some old holiday-themed chenille pipe cleaner critters and always thought that they were cute. They're super-lightweight, can be displayed in many different places and they happily blend well with other little ornaments.

There's a nice shop on Etsy called Beckykazana's where you can find her original chenille pipe cleaner figures, known as the Pipettes.

These could be gifts themselves or could grace the outside of a fancy package, too.

There's also artwork, some in the form of greeting cards so you can share with others.

In her second shop, Thefabmissb, she carries unique vintage items. You'll find some nice vintage aprons. There's a show all about vintage aprons that's touring the country right now. The Fab Miss B is the Featured Etsy Blogger for November.

What do you do for the world?

The question posed was, "Sept. 11 is the anniversary of a very tragic event. To make the world better what do you do? Charity donations or support, volunteering, living green or ?"

I'd like to say that I'm spending weekends rescuing people from horrid situations (though we did rescue a homeless cat and I'm very proud of that. We did it when we said we just couldn't do it. It had to be done, so we did that and care for her every day.) I'd like to say that I'm doing something exotic and life-saving every day.

I have friends who are fire fighters and police officers. Very noble. My niece is the a doctor. I used to diaper a doctor. Sheesh. Amazing. The other niece is a teacher. They're making the world a better place.

The first thing that came to mind when I read the question was to say what I'm not doing. Maybe that's a cop-out. Maybe that's the right answer for me, though, because I'm actively, on a daily basis not doing things in an effort to help to make the lives of the people I come in contact with at least a little better.

As much as possible, I try to think of the other guy -- or gal. If someone cuts in line, wants that particular shopping cart or parking place or wants to fight for a store dressing room, they can have it. I've witnessed Dressing Room Rage and it isn't pretty. I'll come back later when I have more time if necessary.

It's not a point of backing down in situations. It means not turning encounters with family, friends or strangers into some kind of confrontation. Remember what's important. Every little thing is not a competition.

When that person is making a cutting remark or glaring across the room, I check myself before I get my back up. There's a mental image, a snapshot ready to replay in my mind.

I think of when my mother was going through some of her worst time with Alzheimer's Disease. I was her caretaker and there came a time when, thanks in part to major lack of sleep, I'd reached physical and emotional burnout point. I uncharacteristically snapped at people, strangers and friends alike regardless of the situation. I never stopped to put on an "I'm in pain & stressed because I haven't slept in days as I'm caring for my dying Mother" T-shirt.

These days, I'll count to ten, breathe, remind myself not to take it personally. They're probably going through something in their lives, too. A lot of problems are invisible. If they're going to get some kind of satisfaction from a skirmish with a stranger, that stranger isn't going to be me.

WWMD? What would Mother do? What would I want my Mother to see me do in the situation? Whatever it takes for me to keep it together and respond correctly in a given situation.

So yes, I do quite a bit of recycling. I do what I can to help the elderly, children and animals, and I donate to charities whenever possible. But maybe my main daily contribution to the world is a mindful attempt not to add to the stress, overwhelm and "life rage" that seems so prevalent in the atmosphere nowadays. The goal is to replace some of it with kindness.

A previous blog post was about anniversary reactions to significant dates.

Etsy Bloggers Treasury, Anniversary Contest Underway!

Etsy Bloggers Anniversary Treasury

Stressed out? Suffering from Icky Creeping Cubicle-itis? Why not try a shot at the Etsy Blogger's 2nd Anniversary Mega Give Away?! Over two dozen handmade items are about to be given away! Don't let that person in the cube next to you win everything.

** August 9th - August 14th. **

In my ImagineMDD Etsy shop, click on EtsyBloggersMegaGiveAway, the section link, to get more info on the earrings that we're offering. They're also in our Flickr account.

Christmas in July

It's early July and the June heat-wave is over at least for this afternoon. What better time is there to start thinking of Christmas? This is a good time of year to begin preparing for the upcoming holidays.

I used to collect Christmas ornaments and still have quite a few. Most of them are cats. Here's one by Irene Spencer in honor of our Siamese kittens. Does anyone remember the program Personal FX on the FX network?

When on vacation summertime or any time, a collector, like a beader, finds a way to scout out shops where they're visiting, places that might carry what they're passionate about. Nowadays, when I'm off on a trip, I ask if anyone knows of a bead shop, something like that near where we're going.

This is a good time of year to start making jewelry for sale at holiday shows and fairs later in the year. A friend and I are getting ready for a home jewelry and art party.

I sit with fans blasting as I work at the jewelry bench sorting, looking for just the right pearls. Sometimes I listen to some Christmas music for inspiration. Someplace I have Bing Crosby and David Bowie's singing Little Drummer Boy. It seems like just yesterday that we saw the Christmas Jug Band.

It's fun now to order special festive holiday bags, bows and boxes to use at holiday-time. If I focus enough, maybe we'll actually feel a chill even though it's getting into the triple digits on some days this summer. :-)

Etsy Treasury Feature!

Our shop, ImagineMDD, was lucky enough to be featured in a Treasury Welcoming New Members of the Etsy Bloggers Team! How neat is that!

Symbols of June, Adopt a Shelter Cat Month

I'm a proud new member of the EtsyBloggers Team! What a great idea for a team! This is my first post for their Blogathon, Blog Carnival. So step right up, grab a ticket, come on behind the curtain, don't be shy. I'll do my very best to get this right. :)

This time the Carnival suggestion was symbols for the month of June. They mentioned June birthstones, pearls and moonstone, and the flower, the rose. Wow. As a June baby myself, and a jewelry designer who adores pearls, this was the best greeting I could have received!

But then it said any other symbols associated with June so I'm going to stretch my June-themed carnival post to something else that I always think of once June rolls around, another passion of mine. June is Adopt a Shelter Cat month in the US. The San Francisco Examiner has an article with cats who are up for adoption and other local web sites most likely have done the same. (Image from their site. Cute kitties.)

I don't think people should ever bring a pet into your home without first giving it a lot of thought. But if you and your family have been considering it, this may be a good time to drop by your local shelter and see who might be there waiting for you. Cats are great companions, they can be stress-busters and they can help to remind us that we're all beautiful.

Our last shelter cat, a wonderful black kitty, we adopted in 1986 and he lived for 22 years, a few moves, a few different houses. We miss him terribly. They say that black cats are the hardest cats to place and they have to be most careful placing them.


It''s a big commitment. Once he was 16 we had images of Toonces, the cat who could drive a car. (Saturday Night Live in the early 90s) When he turned 21, we worried that he'd want to start drinking! It could be the start of a wonderful relationship.

June is a great month for pearls and roses and for cats. Meow

Ten good reasons for adopting a shelter cat ...