Ready for the summer?

Is everyone ready for the summer and the pesky mosquitoes?  I love being outside, but the mosquitoes eat me and my daughter alive.  We come in the house with so many bites, we look like we have the measles.  My husband doesn't get many or any bites.  It irritates me. 

The only thing I have found to get stop most of the mosquitoes is Burt's Bees Mosquito repellent.  It doesn't keep all of the mosquitoes away, but it does help.  At least we don't look like we have the measles. 

I have made some citronella container candles that will help with keeping the mosquitoes at bay.  Set these candles around the area people are going to gather and light them.  The strong citronella scent will help repel those pesky mosquitoes.  The more citronella candles, the better at keeping the mosquitoes away. 

Stop by my shop at http://www.artfire.com/users/shymousee_handmade_clothes and check out the citronella candles along with the other nicely scented candles I have listed.  You will like what you see.

and the winner is....

Two Artisan Sisters won the candle.  It is a nice pillar candle.  I hope they enjoy it.

Turquoise beads dangle from a spiral design silver colored bead, all on surgical stainless steel fish hook earwires.

These earrings have a casual, Southwestern feel to them, with a classic combination of turquoise and silver colors. Each earring has three round 6 mm turquoise beads suspended from the silver spiral bead with black accents. These earrings are 2 7/8 inches long.

 This old fashioned handmade lavender soap has shea butter added and is lightly scented.The recipe was formulated to be a gentle cleansing and conditioning soap, with tons of bubbles and a creamy luxurious lather.This soap has no gluten.
This soap weighs at least 4oz.
To help make your soap last as long as possible, keep it dry between uses.I have soap dishes for sale should you need some.
Thank you for stopping in!!!
Forget Me Not Soap Shop

 Hand painted Brown Bear
Titled, "Dozing"
This piece is done on 9x12 Canvas Board. Using Acrylics, Metallics and Artist Pens. Finished with a Matte Sealant. Ready for Framing or can be Framed Up Larger using Matting. This would be Cute hanging in a Cabin!

Pinks and Purples

Take a look at these handmade items. 

These lovely earrings were created from 17mm x13mm purple luster glass czech nautilus beads.! I wrapped them to sterling head pins, and then hung them on sterling earwires. Thanks for looking at my earrings, and please check out my shop for more handcrafted jewelry and supplies.

Rose quartz hexagons have been paired with wood beads hand painted in shades of blue and cranberry and blue lace agate beads to create this charming and romantic pair of earrings.

The ear wires are sterling silver and the earrings measure two inches/50 mm in length from the top of the ear wires.

This bracelet is made from wood beads which I have handpainted in deep purple with hot pink polka dots. The beads have been sprayed with a glossy acrylic sealer. Square silver tone beads are used as spacers. The beads are strung on heavy elastic. A removable flower charm is attached.
Fits up to 7".

 A reusable gift card pouch I made from a charming purple and pink floral fabric that will easily fit several credit card sized gift cards. Dress up your gift card giving with this very unique gift bag. If you give a gift of cash or check, this eye-catching ‘envelope’ will really make an impression.

The inside is fully lined with white, and the end is tied with a striking pink ribbon through eyelets. Your recipient will be able to reuse the gift card wrap for their next gift card giving.

This stunning gift card bag measures about 4.75 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide. Be prepared for ‘WOW’ factor in your gift giving with this ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before’ packaging.

This bubble gum pink beaded ring is as pretty as a carnation. It has 2 shades of pink - a light pink on the outside and a dark pink in the center. This ring has been revamped from a vintage clip on earring that had lost its mate. I carefully removed the earring backing and attached it to an adjustable gold toned ring base using industrial strength glue. Measures approximately 1" (2.5 cm) in diameter.

All of my jewelry comes packaged in ribbon tied clear boxes - gift wrapping available upon reques




This beautiful necklace was handmade by me! Using Sterling Silver wire, I wire wrapped a single 15mm amethyst crystal teardrop (CRYSTALLIZED™ - Swarovski Elements). Add some gorgeous sparkle to your outfit!! This color also just happens to be February's Birthstone! ;)

Hangs beautifully from a 16 inch Sterling Silver cable chain. All Findings are Sterling Silver as well.

Crystal dangles approximately 3/4 inch.
I wire wrapped a single 4mm amethyst crystal by the clasp for a little added sparkle! :)

check out these items

Look at these beautiful handmade and vintage items.  They can be found at www.artfire.com.   The pictures can be clicked on and you will be taken to the artist's shop.

 

Great Handmade Items

Here are some items from Artfire.com.   They are very beautiful items.   This is just some of the great items you can find on Artfire. 

 

contest

I am giving away a candle to the winner of my contest.  To enter the contest you must follow my blog.  From the people who follow my blog, I will draw a name and they will win the contest.  The contest ends May 20th.   The candle is a butterscotch color with a very strong carnation scent.  Good Luck!!!

Don't forget to visit my shop at http://www.artfire.com/users/shymousee_handmade_clothes.

100 item goal

I have been working hard at getting more and more items in my shop.  Right now I have 90 items and my goal is to get over 100 this weekend.  I have a few more candles to create and post.  There are some that are ready to be posted, but haven't posted them to the shop yet.  I just finished making some chardonnay scented candles.  I should have them posted this weekend along with a few more. 

Some of the candles I plan to work on this weekend include some citronella scented candles.  Just in time for the summer mosquito season.  Instead of just having just the citronella scent, I am thinking about adding some other scent to the citronella.

new candles listed

In the past few days I have listed quite a few candles to my artfire shop.  Some of them are very unique having multiple colors on the outside making it look like there is a marble effect.  Some of the mare just plain candles with color and scents.    There is a wide variety of candles listed.

I am going to upload some more pictures of candles in the near future.   There will be banana nut bread, fresh bread, strawberry, very vanilla, chocolate milk, and mistle toe just to name a few.  To view these candles visit http://www.artfire.com/users/shymousee_handmade_clothes.  You will find something you like.  If you don't, email me with your request.

new items listed

I just listed some new items on my artfire shop.  There are a lot of unique and beautiful candles listed.  Some would make great gifts for mother's day or easter. 

These candles are made of a blend of soy wax and paraffin wax.  They have a lot of colors in them to give a marble or a drizzled color look.  The scents range from soft to very strong.  Most of the strong ones are the cinnamon and the soft ones are the rose and honeysuckle. 

more candles coming to my artfire store

I have more candles ready to be added to my artfire store. 

Some of these candles are very unique candles.  They are highly scented and will fill a room full of scent. 

One candle has butterfly embeds in it.  The embeds are a different scent and color than the candle.  The embeds show through the top of the candle and the side.  Another candle is of two colors and scents.  None of these candles are the same.  Some have more color, some have more scent, some are different scents mixed together, some are different colors mixed together.  Each candle is unique from the others.  There is one candle that has colors drizzled down the inside.  It is still in the mold and I can hardly wait for it to cool down so I can see what it looks like.

these candles are made of a paraffin and soy wax blend.  They give off a nice scent.  Sometimes the scent is very strong and sometimes it is very subtle.  These candles can be customized to anyone's liking. 

new unique and interesting candles

My daughter has me making all these candles for her to sell.  Since she started this, I have started creating some candles of my own.  One thing I did was to make a candle and then put whipped wax all around the candle.  It has an interesting look. 

I had started making the candles because my daughter liked some of the ones I had made previously for the house.  After making some, she asked if I could list them for her to sell.  Now everytime we make candles, she will tell me to list it.  Some of the candles have not been listed.  They didn't turn out the way they should have, so they get placed in the bin for either gifts or for us to burn ourselves. 

My daughter has even gotten my husband involved.  He has said he would help out when needed.  It's hard to believe that a little girl has gotten a whole family involved into making something and posting it.

added new items to my store

I recently added some new items to my store at artfire.  They are candles.  My daughter helped with some of them.  She wanted to make some and sell them so I added them to my artfire store.  My store is at http://www.artfire.com/users/shymousee_handmade_clothes.  Take a look at everything there.

 I like working on crafts and so does my daughter.  This store is for both of us to add our finished projects to.

listed in a collection on artfire

One of my products have been featured in a collection on artfire.  It is one of the rompers that I have made.  Check out the collection http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=9953.  This was a nice surprise for me.  It was not expected.  This is the first time I have been in a collection or anything.

My artfire shop is listed at http://www.artfire.com/users/shymousee_handmade_clothes.

handmade holiday

This year I am planning on making some of the gifts I am going to give.  One thing I am going to give is the animal pet pillow I am working on.  My daughter wants one so the I thought I would make her one and give it to her as a Christmas gift.  She may get it for her birthday instead since it is close to the holidays. 

For a few friends, I intend to make some tree skirts and some blankets or towels for their pets.  Pets have to celebrate Christmas too. 

My daughter and I are going to make Christmas cookies to give to Santa when he comes.

artfire store

I have an artfire store and an etsy store.  I am beginning to like the artfire store more and more.  It seems to be easier to navigate, less restrictive and paying only $5.95 a month is better than the listing fees and the fees that have to be paid when the item is sold.  I have read some of the posts regarding the bills that some people in etsy have paid and I could not believe the amount they were paying.  Some of the fees were in the hundreds of dollars for a month.  Granted these are people who have listed a lot of items or relisted (the only way to stay on top of the list), but that is still a lot of money.  Some of the items could be listed for a long time before they are sold.  Based on this, any profit that is made would be lost in fees. 


I have not had any sales on artfire or etsy.  Both of them are relatively new shops so I figure it will be a few months before I start making any sales or money.  I am hoping this will start soon.

A link to my shop on artfire is http://www.artfire.com/users/shymousee_handmade_clothes.  I am working on a few ideas to add very soon to the shop.  One of them as mentioned before is the animal pet pillow and the other is pajamas with feet in them. 

The animal pet pillow should be ready for posting this weekend.  I have the pattern worked out.  I just need to assemble the animal pet pillow. 

As for the pajamas with feet in them, I am still working on finding some material for the feet.  I don't want to pay a lot of money, but I don't want poor quality of the material either.  This wouldn't work too well for my customers nor me.

animal pets

The pattern is coming together for the animal pets.  I am currently looking for a pattern for making bat heads, pig heads, cow heads, and maybe a snake head for the animal pets .  I think these will be interesting.  I haven't seen any of these in the stores and have thought people may like something a little different.  I am hoping to have one animal pet listed by the end of the week.  It may not be a cow, pig, bat or snake, but it will be something.  It will be made of colorful material on the top and either a tan or white on the bottom.  I thought about making the animal pet one color, but didn't think that would look right.  It would also be boring.

ready to make animal pets

Now that the costumer for my daughter is done (well sort of), I am ready to start making animal pets.  These are animals that are made from pillows.  I have a pattern in mind and am hoping it works out.  I plan on using various colors to make the animals look unique.  Something that would not normally be found in the stores. 

new shop

I have started a new shop on both etsy and artfire.  My etsy shop is http://www.etsy.com/shop/shymousee and my artfire shop is http://www.artfire.com/users/shymousee_handmade_clothes.  I make mostly little kids clothes, crafts, stuffed animals, tree skirts, etc.  The clothes vary in size from size 4 to size 14.  I can also make adult clothes. They are all hand sewn. 

One item I am thinking of adding is a little animal type pillow.  Some of the ones I have seen in the store don't look very well made and a lot of them have had rips on the seams and the stuffing was coming out.  I want to make something that will stand up to normal wear and tear and will last for years.

My goal for my shop is to provide well made clothes that will last and stand up to normal wear and tear.  I'm tired of clothes, stuffed animals, etc that are in the stores that are not made well, fall apart quickly and are all the same.