Front Page of Etsy

I was featured on Etsy's front page!

Heartsy

      Hi again everyone! I know its been years since my last post (okay maybe not quite that long) but I suddenly felt the urge to come on and write another post. This post is all about Heartsy.

     Heartsy is a website like Groupon or Living Social that instead of offering great deals on large businesses, offers great deals for Etsy sellers instead.

      Features on Heartsy last 3 days with the first day being only for Heartsy VIPs and the other to days are open to anyone. In order to be featured you must first submit your "deal" information for the Heartsy community to vote on. Once this voting period is over they will then contact you within a certain number of days telling you whether or not you get the feature. Last month I tried for the third time to get featured and guess what? I am featured today! :D
                                   http://heartsy.me/shops/7691-2true

     The info:   My deal costs $10 for $21 of store credit. If you are a Heartsy VIP (which means you are paying Heartsy $10 a month for special privileges) you recieve $31 of store credit for $10. I am so excited to have this oppurtunity and hope you will stop by and take a look at my shop!!!!!! Thanks everyone and have a great Christmas!
~Maggie

My Giveaway!

The Giveaway is over! Congrats to Lacey Anderson! She chose this headband: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72590400/wide-womensteens-stretch-headband-cream

Congrats!

PerkyPosy

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite etsy shops; PerkyPosy! This shop immdeiatly drew me in with its bright sunny photographs and unique hair accessories. Kelsey carries a wide variety of flower clips in different colors and styles! Check out her shop! http://www.perkyposy.etsy.com

Fabric Flower Headband

Fabric Kanzashi

Rosette

Tutorial: Flower Clip

Make your own flower hair clips in 7 easy steps!

You will need:
 *A medium temp. hot glue gun
 *A cute button for the center
 *2" of ribbon
 *clip
 *A faux flower (you can find them at craft stores or WalMart)
 *Scissors

 *Optional: Sequin or Rhinestone

Step #1

Remove the flower from its stem and then take off the back as shown.

Step#2

Remove center of flower as shown. Then remove the part of the flower in the center from the center.

Step #3

Take the petal layer that was in the center and layer it ontop of the others. Then glue all of the layers together.

Step #4

Glue a button onto the center of the flower.

Step #5

Lay the clip onto the wrong side of the ribbon and glue as shown.

Then turnover the clip and glue to the back of the flower.

Step #6 (optional)

Glue rhinestone to center of button.

Step #7

Wear and tell everyone that you made it! :)

Happy Crafting!

Beach Photo Shoot

I had alot of fun doing a photo shoot/modeling session at the lake today!

It is finally spring! The sun is out, the birds are singing, and there were even a few wave runners out on the lake!

The girls had a lot of fun.

Laughing.

Posing.

And having a good time as friends.

TinkersCottage on Etsy

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Let's see. I never know what to say about myself... I am a marine spouse whose husband just deployed. I grew up the daughter of a marine and mom always hung the flag out every holiday and 4th of July was always a big deal for us growing up. We always went to the 4th of July picnic where the community would all get together, play games like gunny sack races, dads would do the tug-a-war and mom always made dresses for me and my sis that matched in red, white and blue. So, I grew up very patriotic and it transcended into my work.

What do you enjoy; other than crafting?

I enjoy picking. I am an antique collector and love taking off in the car with mom and seeing what we can find, also, I plan to open my own shop here locally at years end. I will add my own pieces of furniture I make and my signs. I love traveling, screenwriting, theater and traveling.

Describe your creative process:

My creative process is finding things that restore America's history. I feel we are losing the historical values we were brought up with. I know it's silly but if I'm at a baseball game or somewhere and the Star Spangled Banner begins, I always shed a tear - call me sentimental. I research old items and try to recreate some of that history the best that I can. I work best early in the morning but the saws and sanders can be a wake-up to neighbors.

Favorite material(s)?

My favorite materials are woods - especially recycled barn wood though hard to find. If it has old barn paint on it, even better. I love stains because they give the item a certain smell so when you walk into the room you get that primitive sense of something just made. I also like to add a cinnamon stick to all my items especially at Christmas time for that seasonal sense as well.

What do you love most about creating things?
The thing I love most about creating things is knowing how much someone who receives one of my items loves it. It's very hard sometimes to part with something I made but I do... you have to if you want to have a business.

What inspires you?

My mother inspires me because of her patriotism and her craftiness. When I was a little girl I use to watch her sew and then hand bead my skating costumes and they were gorgeous! As for starting my business, Glenn Beck inspired me to start my business of making patriotic items. I started reading many of the books he recommended like "George Washington" and many other old books. I was so inspired to make something of myself and spend everyday doing something good. I'm currently working with a charity organization for military families and a percentage of all my military inspired signs will be donated to this cause. Between Beck and my mother, I am driven to help as well as create.

I hope this sums me up. I really love what I do. It took some time... a LONG time but I finally found my niche thanks to mom and Glenn and of course my husband who taught me how to use tools. :) To vistis TinkersCottage and see her amazing items go to  http://www.etsy.com/tinkerscottage