Sold: Vintage E.O. Brody Emerald Green Swirl Glass Urn-style Vase

Excuse me while I do my happy dance.  Believe me, you're better off not seeing it.  It's a cross between bad disco, the cabbage patch, and a seizure.  Not pretty....

This is the very first sale in my Etsy store.

And then there were two.  Items in my shop, that is.  I have several more items to be added.  Also, we may be diversifying good old BettyBee.  My husband and I have been tossing around an idea that fosters his love of good food.... More details to follow as we figure that one out.

Stay tuned!  Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel!

Inspiration: Lincoln Park Conservatory

A few weeks back, we visited the Lincoln Park Conservatory.  The sun was bright, the day was warm, and we wore shades....

There were some beautiful plants in bloom, some so stunning that I had to snap a picture.

An explosion of bright yellow in the shade

Intense pink blushing stars

Shy, pale violet clusters

Gutsy orange and red

It was a stunningly gorgeous day!  All too soon, it will be just a memory in the snow....

Work In Progress: Renaissance/Elizabethan Costume for Bristol Ren Faire

The original goal was to get this costume finished before we went to Bristol Renaissance Faire in July.   Didn't happen.  My machine hated the bodice inner fabric, so I spent probably 100 hours hand sewing every channel, reinforcing stress points, and stitching boning into place.  I ran out of boning and boning caps on top of going through a bit of disappointment-fueled sewing burnout.

So, I barely touched the costume for a week.... which turned into two weeks.  I sewed briefly that following weekend, but it was a busy one, and I was too tired to stay up into the wee hours to work on it.

This weekend I decided to jump back into it.  Enough is enough!  I won't let this costume, that I've put sooooo much effort into, go unfinished.  Saturday, my husband was tolerant of my begging to go to Vogue Fabrics in Evanston to pick up bias tape, boning, and more boning caps.  I was hoping to pick up some trim for the hem of the skirt too, but they didn't have enough of the trim I was in love with.  A little disappointment there, but I did manage to buy the boning and bias tape (the caps needed to be ordered from the warehouse).

Away I go again!  I hope to have this finished before Labor Day weekend.  Wish me luck :)

Blog input overload!

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

Oh my gosh, I just attended my first Etsy Virtual Lab.  The topic?  "Crafty Blogging."  soooooooo necessary!

Despite minor technical difficulties and some sound issues, there were some great tips about social networking forums (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.).

The biggest benefit to me was the opportunity to "meet" with other bloggers on the Interwebs.  Sharing blog addys was great.  As of the time of this post, I now have 5 new followers via Google Friend Connect, and hopefully lots more following independently as well.

I also had the opportunity to follow links to many other peoples' blogs and am now following them all!  They're all so beautiful and unique and creative... I could just gush on and on and on!  :)  gosh, I'm such a girl sometimes.

Good night, all!

Disclaimer:  All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  I gotta put this here since I'm a Trademark Paralegal in my 9to5 :)

My first Etsy treasury list - sweet nectarines

Anyone that knows me well is aware of my weakness for summer nectarines.  Maybe weakness isn't quite the right word.... intense love might be a little closer to the truth.  I love the scent of yellow flesh nectarines mid-summer.  The sweet and tangy fragrance makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

After a binge of 3 nectarines in one sitting last week, I created a treasury list on Etsy to share this with the community.  Click here if you'd like to take a look...