Merry Christmas!

Christmas Time, Rothenberg ob der Tauber, Germany
Originally uploaded by Batikart

Photo by LostonFlickr's


Photo by yukky on Flickr


Photo by Sometimes I'm Nicola


Photo by maskirovka77

Magic Kingdom - Cinderella's Winter Castle
Originally uploaded by Matt Pasant

All chocolate carousel in Disney World resort.

A blog Book Giveaway

"Beth's Book Review Blog" is currently running a giveaway for Joyce Meyer's "Hearing from God Each Morning".


Pop over to Beth's blog and check it out!

Home shows: my last show of 2009

It's been a mad dash to get everything together for my last show of the year, which was this past Thursday, early evening. This is the second year I've done a holiday open house. Now the funny thing, well, not so funny is that I had a pipe leaking behind a wall in my bathroom and had to call in a plumber that morning, just to find out that the walls had to come down and there is dry wall damage. What fun! And what timing!

Just lovely, isn't it?
Anyway....THE SHOW: It was a very low turnout. I did make a little money which is good and helps out, but not as good as last year's. I contribute this to 2 things:
One, the economy. People are not spending as much this year. And 2, I don't think I talked about it or invited quests early enough for them to plan ahead. I think last year I started talking about it a month prior, and this year, I waited until about a week and a half to invite. Oh well, lesson learned.
A home show IS a great way to sell; make money; have friends over; and offer a convenient shopping experience for others. I read an article in Step by Step Wire jewelry magazine last year where the author stated that she makes most of her annual sales at this one type of show.
While browsing the web yesterday, I found this blog article entitled, "5 tips for a successful Handmade Craft Shopping Party". She also offers good tips on having a home based show. She refers to another site, Selling Your Crafts at a Craft Home Party, which offer many more tips about offering customers to host a show, how you would do that, offering hostess benefits, and more. Another good idea.

Another great source of information in Rena Klingenberg, so stop by her site; there is so much to read and discover.
That's all I've got for today. Oh, please stop over to the poll in the side bar and vote. I guess I'll be back with photos of the new bathroom, (when finished of course!)

Etsy Blogger's features Calkat

It takes some time to check out all that Calkat has to offer. Calkat consists of a team of 2: Kathy and Carrie. Not only do they create unique jewelry items, but offer 3 other shops too.

http://www.calkat.etsy.com : a jewelry shop
http://Ametista.etsy.com : a shop for the "dark arts" and polymer clay items
http://TheClayShoppe.etsy.com : a shop of molds, and polymer clay
http://YogaFairies.etsy.com : This is a favorite. A must see.
These are busy gals that also have time to keep up with a great blog. Hurry over there as they are having a giveaway that ends on the 20th.
And here's just a taste of my favorites:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35670604


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35295567


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35214990


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26517325

Wow! There's alot to see!