Leaving on a Jet Plane...and Leaving you with FAB Kiwi Shops!

We are flying south for the winter to the land of my ancestors....New Zealand!! That's right folks...I'm a Kiwi Half Breed. Chad and I are so excited to go and I thought I would leave you with a little shopping inspiration while I was gone.

One of my very favorite ways to shop Etsy is to search by location. That is how I came across these lovely Kiwi Sellers with fabulous wares. If you miss me while I'm gone, buy something from them and you'll miss me less. That's right...shop out your feelings!

First I bring you IGottaHaveThat from Auckland. Not only do I love the name (because seriously, I gotta have that...ALL of that!), but the sweet vintage accessories are to die for. This crafter creates origami out of fabric....FABRIC!! I have issues with origami out of paper so for me, this is just too inspired and too cool.

So please, visit her shop and drool...with so many items to choose from, it was so hard to pick just four!

Our next seller comes from Christchurch on the South Island. Her shop Sigmosaic is completely beautiful.


For an Etsy shop to feel like you're walking into a crisp white gallery that is brightened by the colorful art pieces, you have to have talent!


I especially LOVE the mother of pearl items that have such a sense of elegance. Put it on my birthday list please....all of it.

And last, but certainly not least, I have found the COOLEST New Zealand themed slippers! Nothing like getting me into the traveling spirit! These fantastic little guys are made by FunkySlipper who has an Etsy shop and also their own personal little webshop, Crafted in Nelson. Such wonderful little things to look at and love. Possum fur is the softest of the soft...you just have to order and find out for yourself! I want to slip these on for my trip across the big blue ocean!

So I will miss you all but while I'm gone, boost the economy and have a looksie loo at these fabulous crafters.

Happy Etsying and I'll see you in February!

3 Months and LOTS of Etsy Sales!!

Oh hello blog. Nice to see you...it's been too long. How am I? Well fantastic, thank you for asking! Where have I been the past three months? Well I'll tell you...

October: Halloween. What a fun fun night! Chad and I (in our homemade costumes) visited Arlington where we caught up with some incredibly creative friends. My costume is below...I went as Flo from the Progressive Commercials which gave me the perfect excuse to buy a BumpIt...because let's face it. Everyone needs a BumpIt whether they claim to or not. Don't be a hater...BumpIt!

Next to me is my good friend Chelle who went as the Autumn Solstice. Soooo clever and super cute. My other good friend Alina went as Old School Batman. Her POW sign is a purse....Genius!!

November: As tradition, my family, the Archibalds spent Thankgiving together with the exception of my brother who is still serving in the Peace Corps in Cameroon. So everyone came to us for the holiday celebration. And of course what Thanksgiving would be complete without Darcy having a Turkey dress! This year I made a simple pinafore out of a super soft pinwhale corduroy. The Turkey was backed with a light iron on interfacing and handstitched on the front. The pinafore is designed to be double sided with side ties. I must say, it turned out rather darling but then again, it's hard to make Darcy look anything but adorable.

And no Berney Thanksgiving could be without a fantastic fried cajun turkey. Chad made this Berney family recipe for my family the first Thanksgiving we were dating. It was then and there he was welcomed into the Archibald family with open arms and full/happy tummies!

December: LOTS of Etsy Sales! Which is such an accomplisment in my mind. I did several custom orders but was really thrilled when several of my original designs went all over the globe: Austrailia, British Columbia, Cleveland, California. After all that sewing, I'm exhausted!

As for our holiday, no Christmas tree this year because we were traveling all over the place. However this is the tree at the breathtaking Jefferson Hotel in Richmond where we spent the weekend. So I guess technically, this WAS our Christmas tree!

I wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year!

Crafty Quote of the Day: With a Thankful Heart

"Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed." Mark Twain

I think Twain is saying that if it weren't for the foolish, we'd have no basis of comparision for the brilliant. However, I personally am very thankful to be a fool. I think the life of a non-fool would be very boring indeed....and besides, wacky, out there ideas have to come from somewhere, right? Perhaps my completely lack of fear when it comes to failure is not such a good trait....but then again, how was anything remarkable ever created?

Every year we are thankful for those around us and all the good things in the world. Perhaps we should start including in that list something we have never embraced about ourselves....maybe I never become anyone or anything truely great. This year, I am going to be very thankful for what I do have: a completely foolish idealism about life and creativity....one that keeps me busy, smiling and pretty darn happy.

Now we're ready for some turkey and a 4 day calorie coma. Bring it!

Seven Years of College Down the Drain....

Oh my. How I love Halloween.

This is Chadson's costume #1 and may be his only one judging by how fantastic it came out! Just goes to show the power of simplicity.

Now you can buy this tee shirt but the easiest thing to do is track down a blank (this was $7 at Target) and iron on your own letters ($3 at a craft store). It really is that simple!

Halloween: Make it Original

Last year I did a post about my favorite Halloween costumes that people I know have MADE. I am of the school that for Halloween, regardless of your sewing skills, you do not buy a costume. It's the perfect excuse to come up with a crazy idea and do your best with cheap and creative materials to execute your vision.

So this Halloween I challenge all of you to forgo the ridiculous trip to the crowded and crazy halloween/costume shops. Besides, what are you going to find there? For women it's a bagged costume of every animal imaginable only "sexy." For men, it's the line of inflatable penis jokes or a caveman. One word: LAME.

So please: Just Say No to the Un-imaginative. Even if you don't have mad sewing skills (I'm living proof of that people!) you would be amazed at how far a glue gun, a trip to Goodwill and a little creativity will get you!

Take for example my brother. He is stationed in the Extreme North of Cameroon volunteering to make the world a better place. That's Africa people. It takes him 3 days and a series of motobikes, overcrowded bush taxis and trains to get to a major city....as you can imagine, there is no such thing as a costume store and I'm pretty sure anyone who shows up as a "sexy nurse" would be run out of town.

But in the true creative spirit of this fantastic holiday, he and his fellow volunteers threw a costume party. After sifting through the pictures, I'm amazed! With nothing around but a few local weekend markets, the pictures show a Bunny, a Greek Goddess and my brother, The Castaway complete with Wilson the Loyal Sidekick. Awesome.


So again, I encourage your originality. Take a chance and try to make something with your own two hands. Better yet, get your kids involved and have them try to make something with their own two hands. It's the one day a year you can look ridiculous and get away with it....why not be able to take full credit for it?? Poo poo for PreMade. Hip Hip for Handmade!

The Sweatshop Makeover: Part 1.

Anyone who crafts understands the constant battle to get and stay organized. I'm usually pretty good at existing within chaos but when I looked around this weekend and realized that I couldn't walk into my craft room let alone finish Chadson's elaborate and totally kick ass Halloween costume, it was time for reform.

Since we've moved in, I've tried numerous configurations for said room and nothing has really worked. My brother calls my crafting space "The Sweatshop" in reference to the fact it always looks as though Martha Stewart ate a fabric store and then did her best Exorcist impression, projectile vomiting flotsam everywhere.

The one thing that HAS worked is my fabric storage solution. The closet in this room has a slanted floor which is ever so practical. So my very handy husband and father installed this lovely Rubbermaid shelving system and voila! A few $2.99 Target crates and on a good day, you can actually FIND fabric. Deeeelightful.

So what prompted this sudden spurt of cleanliness? Well, it was 3 giant plastic tubs of individually wrapped Utz pretzels my office purchased for a fair. Say it with me everyone:

"REDUCE, REUSE AND HOLD ALL MY CRAP!"

Now I have one for ribbon, one for fabric scraps and one for trims. I plan to track down one more and use it for my sweet little wooden men that will someday become a clever checkers set.

Closet? Check. Scrappy tubs? Check Check. Space for all my books? Darn.

I had another piece of low budget black and silver furniture hanging out in my closet housing years worth of promotional tee shirts. I thought, this piece of crap furniture has a higher calling! Presto: I have a crafty reading nook and the perfect spot to do a little stitching. I need to upgrade the chair but I also need to paint the room...all in good time. The plan is to have it be a lovely steel like grey with sunny yellow accents and a pretty ikea chandelier.

And now my sewing table isn't quite so cluttered. All I need is a shelf in the middle to hold numerous mason jars full of colorful buttons, glue on rhinestones, beads, pearls and anything else that needs a home.

Presto Chang-o....and Eat that Martha!

Happy Birthday Blog!

I made it!

That may sound silly but if you look back at my first posting, I was not convinced that I could keep this up. But I have a year under my belt that included becoming an Auntie, decorating a new house, a holiday reflective of the current economic situation, a wedding, several living room redos (the latest of which I have yet to post), LOTS of gifts, LOTS of ideas and my Etsy shop of which I am exceedingly proud. I also just finished my paralegal certificate...yay me!

So today I'm patting myself on the back and reliving a year of crafts. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something! To celebrate, I have a new addition to the Sweet March collection...and I rather like her.

So for those of you following along...thanks. It's been fun and I promise more crafty to come!