(Whenever I don't post for a long time, I feel the need to apologize for my absence. So sorry, all two of you who read. =p)

It's St. Patrick's Day! We'll all wear green, but what we really get happy about today is it's my dad's birthday. Wish he was here to celebrate it with us. (No, he's not departed, he just lives on the other side of the world.)

Some other random green musings:

•  I made a fun treasury for my Etsy team. Click on this link to view it.
• There will be no green beer for us today. I'm watching my sugar and my awesome hubs shared a shamrock shake with me yesterday, so I'm trying to recalibrate things today. Not to mention, green beer is just gross.  
• I'm a big fan of Marvillosa Jewelry and this is my favorite piece in that shop right now. It's not Irish, but I'm more into the Scot thing anyway.

• St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD.
• Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

August 7

The new guy. Julian has named him Joseph, which is funny considering that's what I wanted to name the baby if it was a boy!

Yeah, this is pretty much the gravitational center of "cuteness'.

Catching up on some correspondence. It's been a bit of an exciting, but lonely summer.

She's found her fingers, not her thumb, but her two middle fingers. Can't complain about a self-soothing baby though!

A life lived really, really well.

Jason's pick for birthday his celebration. My phone camera just would not function in the "mood lighting" so no people photos. J received some very interesting gifts!

Here's a few photos from this weekend.

Tampa Upcycle getting pretty for the party

Some of our awesome Crew

Had a great time making Morse Code jewelry with old & young (Photo courtesy of www.minhphoto.com)

Wish I could've done many of these! (Photo courtesy of www.minhphoto.com)

Two years ago, I never ever would have thought that starting an Etsy team would end up like this! My only thought was that this area is full of artist and creative types and yet there was no really active team for us on Etsy. I wanted to be able to talk to other people in the Etsy and handmade selling world, but not just online, as some of the online friendships I'd struck up in the past had turned weird. I wanted to be able to talk face to face and be able to network in a way that would help my business locally. So I started an Etsy Team and spent the first 3-4 months scouring Etsy and looking for people in the Tampa Bay area and inviting them to join the team. That yielded about 300 members and then people started finding us. We kept it on the Etsy site primarily. 
About a year in, I ended up asking another team member to help co-lead. Shortly after that our very first meet up happened. I was so nervous about that, but it was a nice small get together and I could see getting together happening on a regular basis. 

Later that year, we hosted the annual Etsy Crafty Party. It was a smashing success and I knew we needed to add more leaders. So we did! At this point we do monthly meet ups and larger events several times a year. We've got a very active Facebook discussion page and our membership numbers somewhere around 1,050. We were granted our very first Fellowship from corporate Etsy just a few weeks ago. There's a lot to celebrate! And we want our community to celebrate with us. Really that's what it's all about- community, both the artists and the general public that values handmade and vintage things. If you'd like to be part of the festivities, you can sign up here: https://www.facebook.com/events/188927091250206/

That last entry was soooo long, thanks to those who took the time to read it!

So all the holiday festivities are officially over and we're attempting to get back to normal. Really that won't happen until school starts but we can try. The Christmas stuff starts coming down today. I kind of hate that- everything looks boring without the lights and Christmas tchotchkes. I've had a few art pieces waiting in the wings to go up so now would be a good time to get those hung. At least it's something fun and new (to me- it's all vintage so none of it is really "new"). Maybe I'm feeling a touch of the post-holiday blues. Anybody else feel a little lost this time of year?
One of the paintings I'm hanging up:

September 21st~ Happy birthday, Drago! My little buddy turns 12 approximately today. When I got him I was still finishing school. He was the cutest fluff of a puppy ever. It was love at first sight. He's been my furkid ever since. It hasn't always been smooth sailing; he's had terrible allergies from age 4+. He's been twice attacked by German Shepherds. He's also had some pretty significant eye injuries. He's had to weather a baby, then grabby toddler for a brother. Still, at this very moment, we've got the allergies better controlled, his eyes are healed, and his fur is thicker than it's been in years. Things are going well for the old boy. I remember people saying we'd get rid of him when we had a kid. Boy, were they wrong! 

Drago enjoying a birthday treat

9/9/2012~ There's nothing like being at another church to make you miss your own! I have a bunch of random thoughts along those lines. The day was full- baptism, birthday, group, etc., also eBay photographing and listing, oddly enough...

Auction starts 9/16

Auction starts 9/16

Floral one piece- new!

Retro one piece- new with tags!

Children's Chinese Outfit

Thai caftan top

August 11, 2012~

Happy birthday, Luke! Get your bowl on with your buds!

July 31, 2012~