Pink Dyson Contest

I love gadgets. And what I love more than gadgets are gadgets companies that donate to good causes. Dyson is donating $40 to help Breast Cancer Research from each Pink Dyson Vaccuum Cleaner sold. How awesome is that! I could use one of these, I have thread bits and a cute but long haired dog to vacuum after.

Today is the last day to enter the contest to win won of these sweet pink Dysons. So head over to the Domestic Diva blog and get all the details and buttons. Spread the word.

I pledge to buy handmade...

The holidays are fast approaching and its time to start organizing your gift list. So why not take the pledge to buy handmade this year. Buyhandmade.org has kicked off this holiday season with a one-two punch to the big box stores. Buyhandmade.org is a collaboration between Etsy, Craftster, indiepublic, Craft Magazine, Interweave, Burdastyle, The Austin Craft Mafia, Design*Sponge, and The American Craft Council. Nine giants in the handmade/indie design realm.
Pluses to buying handmade are unique, one of a kind gifts, avoidance of mall crowds, quality... I can go on! So go to the Buy Handmade website, take the pledge and pass the word.

Below are some great resource links from the Buy Handmade site:

http://www.coopamerica.org/: Co-op America is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1982. Their mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.
http://www.sweatfree.org/: A Network For Local action against Sweatshops.
http://ilsr.org/: The Institute For Local Self-Reliance. The Institute’s mission is to provide the conceptual framework, strategies and information to aid the creation of ecologically sound and economically equitable communities.
http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Issues/Business/Allegedly_Unethical_Firms/Wal-Mart/ :
See what Walmart is up to in your community.

Now that you are informed and ready to do some shopping from handmade/ indie designers, check out some of these crafty peeps!

I feel the luv!

I can't help but always wonder if anyone is out there in internet-land, at least looking and hopefully liking what I'm making. Web counters such as Stat Counter show if someone visits your site (and I check once a day!) but it can't tell you if they like your site. Where as Etsy has a feature where a person can "heart" your shop or a particular item you have for sell. I use this feature a lot as I have a long wish list for Christmas and will directing loved ones to it this year. :-)

In the past couple of months, while my main website has been down for updating, I've been leaning heavily on my Etsy shop. I checked early this morning and saw that 85 people have hearted my shop.

This brightens my day and hopefully is a indicator on how today will go. :-)

An abridged look at my etsy "hearts" items.

Etsy Buy Handmade soleilrouge

Needles and thread

This time last weekend I was soaking up new sewing techniques and drooling over new sewing and craft gadgets at the Sewing and Quilt Expo in Northern VA. If you ever had a interest in sewing, quilting or fiber arts, this is the Expo to check out.
One of the 9 classes I attended was a class in crochet. I've crocheted a little, mainly just making knots, but had always wanted to learn properly. Below a picture of my crochet project in the same state as started the day of the class. I hadn't moved any farther than about 10 rows until I got back home Sunday.
and about Wednesday...
Behold! A finished scarf!!!