Happy Halloween!

TocameMika: Absolutely fascinating!

It's no secret -- we love seeing our supplies in use.  So imagine our delight and amazement to see this gorgeous fascinator created by Mika of Madrid, Spain.  Dramatic, elegant, and with the most beautiful greens and reds together, this piece took our breath away!

Specializing in fascinators and headbands, you'll find a wide range of colors and shapes in Mika's Etsy shop TocameMika.  Thank you Mika, we love your work!

Caturday #1

Thomas, our favorite guest, enjoys the sunshine on one of his daily visits.

A Quote by Any Other Name

This was too cool not to post.  I find myself saying many of these on a daily basis.  Thanks to Gerard for posting this first.

New Scraps from England

Just in from Europe: New Blown Glass Beads

We've just received several new styles of blown glass beads and have them listed HERE in our Etsy shop.  Apart from new shapes, we're also stocking pretty new colors like aqua, deep teal, light pink, hot pink and even black.  I'm partial to the acorn beads in matte green and shiny brown and the bell shapes, shown below.

Have you started crafting for Christmas yet? I have ideas swirling around but haven't actually started working on anything yet.  I get both nervous and  excited to think that Christmas is less than 4 months away!

New Shop Additions: More Chenille Tinsel

We are excited to tell you that we've added 14 more colors of rayon chenille tinsel cording to our Etsy shop.  Beautiful color mixes just in time for holiday crafting: red with red tinsel; green with green tinsel; hunter green with silver tinsel; violet with silver tinsel.

I can't decide if my favorite is the snowy silver, the old gold, or the violet and silver.  And of course I LOVE the red, pink and silver mix -- very Valentine in a tiger stripey way!

The Cat Days of Summer

Nothing like a cool drink on a hot summer day.  Thomas digs in.

New to the Shop: Bouquet Holders from Germany

Also new to the shop are three different sizes of bouquet holders from Germany.  Best described as strong doilies attached to small cones with a split center hole to accommodate flower stems, these elegant floral embellishments are perfect for brides creating their own everlasting bouquets.  Above is a medium sized all white, and, below, a detail shot of its pretty edge.

The medium sized style below features a beautiful hand-tinted edge.  Color choices are pink, rose pink, green, lilac and yellow.

The small size below is available in plain white, gold foil or silver foil.  This size also looks wonderful on a Christmas tree with white lights stuck up through the holes.

New to the Shop: Crepe Paper Streamers for Halloween

Also new to the shop are two styles of crepe paper streamers from Germany.  Both feature Halloween designs and come in 32 ft. rolls.  Apart from decorating with these garland-style, they are wonderful for putting around the edge of a party table, embellishing cones, and making spooky rosettes.  Both are HERE.

New to the Shop: Dresden Cake Decorations

We're excited to say that we've added a range of adorable dresden foil cake decorations from Germany to the shop.  Each features a gnome scene with a different number, 0-9, on a food-safe wire.  And each number is available in red, fuchsia, gold, silver, green or purple foil.  You can also remove the wire and use these in card making, scrapbooking, as gift tie-ons and more.  Click HERE to see them all.

Christmas in July on Etsy

Christmas in July on Etsy begins tomorrow, July 14 and runs through July 24th.  If you're participating and are in need of a banner, avatar or both, please click HERE for a whole host of festive and customizable choices free for you to use.

Needle Felted Goodness

I love browsing through the needle felted pieces on Etsy and am always amazed by the expressions and character the artists give to their creations.  I couldn't resist sharing three of my all-time favorites with you.

The gray kitty above may well be real with his whiskers and sweet expression.  Made by Teresa Perleberg of bearcreekdesigns, she also offers kits for those wanting to try their own hand.

 It doesn't get much cuter than a polar bear in the snow.  Made by talented Latvian artist Inna Pavlova and available in her shop BinnieBear.

KaysK9s has such a knack for capturing the subtle nuances of her subjects.  I've been a fan for a long time, especially of her custom pet creations.

New Additions: Chenille & Tinsel Cording

We're very excited about this chenille & tinsel cording that we've just added to the shop.  Made in the USA especially for us, here's a look at the tinsel mixes. I'm partial to the copper, black and pumpkin orange mix below -- so perfect for Halloween projects:

You can see all 28 colors of chenille and chenille/tinsel mixes, HERE in out etsy shop.

The cording is not wired, it's loose and bendable, making it ideal for creating ornaments, embellishing packages scrapbooking and card making.  Which is your favorite color?

It's Starting to Feel a lot Like Christmas

There's been some major stockroom organization going on lately (hence the lack of posting).  Shelf installation, consolidation, rearranging and even a little discovery.

We uncovered a couple of boxes of vintage Christmas stuff all made in Japan: picks, glass ball clusters, millinery berries.

Everything has made its way into our Etsy shop.  We just love working with the sparkle!