Monday Moodboard

I reaaally have to get my gears going... That "to do" list starts to look like a book.

1. silkstory
2. stephmel
3. bidesign
4. Lamercerie

More moodboards here: Star of the East

Magic Mushrooms

Noo... these are not those mushrooms that make you crazy high or whatever.. these are magic because yesterday, they weren't and today there they were in my garden! What a lovely surpise! I have no idea what kind of mushrooms these are so I'm not planning to eat them although they look pretty edible to me...Don't they? Anyone wanna try them first?
I think it's wonderful how nature blooms in the least expected places.

So my enthusiasm showed in Etsy too as I quickly created this mushroom treasury - by the way, check out the shmetsy tools, they are true lifesavers for a treasury maker :)

'All the mushrooms I could carry' by Baghy

Five Enchanted Fore... SecondChants $10.00	Red Mushroom Marble EmergentGlassw... $20.00	Sm Amanita Magic Mu... sdegasperis $29.00	Crochet Red Mushroo... meekssandygirl $20.00
Amanita the Sitting... ALittleCharact... $25.00	Toadstool Hand Pain... luxfish $10.00	Forest Mushrooms Si... BagNoir $58.00	Pottery Mushroom - ... wolfartglass $14.00
Mini Felt Mushroom ... ilovehearts $3.99	The Bright Forest p... marisolspoon $32.00	A3 Print - Mushroo... PeaPress1 $15.00	Fairy Toadstool Red... FantasyCreatio... $16.95
Three Mini Red and ... jadeflower $9.00	Mushroom - crochet ... ch1306 $4.30	Mushroom fairy hous... moonforest $16.00	mushroom salt cella... lbegley $30.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Secret Conspiracy Unveiled

So... as you know I have quite an addiction to buy stuff from Etsy. I received recently a new package with goodies and there it was... another Werther's Original candy! It is like the third time that I receive this particular type of candy in a package with handmade goodies.. from totally different sellers! I wonder, is there some kind of secret agreement between Etsy sellers that I don't know about?  Is there a Werther's Original commercial that says "the best candy for the handmade addicts?"
Now don't get me wrong, these are one of my favorites candies, so keep them coming!

Have you ever received something surprising along with your handmade purchase?

finally, an A!

I remember, during primary school, that all my grades were A, except at the calligraphy class... I always failed to succeed... my mom tried to teach me "make them like beads on  a wire"... My letters were all chunky and had a lot of corners. But in time I tried to overcome this defect and now I can proudly paint initials on my books. A lot of customers ask for this service and are very happy with the outcome. It's true, while I monogram them,  there's no room for errors so everybody has to walk on eggshells around me... or else!

Mmmmm Vanilla

I love real vanilla flavor in just about everything... Where I live it's pretty expensive but I bought some on the internet and made vanilla essence out of it. The recipe is pretty simple - just add vodka and lots of patience as this little miracle takes a few months to be ready! Just store in a dark place and shake the bottle from time to time. I'm not good with measurements and following complex recipes and quantities but I am fairly sure I put more vanilla then the recipe states so it's gonna be a strong flavored essence. This vanilla is so perfumed - it is called Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla and it has a stronger flavor as opposed to the Tahitian one that is a bit fruity and goes best for drinks and such (just my internet digging, I have no idea how Tahitian beans smell)
Here it is, my magic potion... I guess around Christmas I'll be able to offer little bottles of essence to my family and friends :)

Vestige - Leather Journal with Vintage Ornaments

This is one of my favorite journals so far - I have a passion for really old metallic stuff and I was lucky enough to find these two pieces of ornaments at a local fare. I haven't changed their look at all - these is how I bought them and they seem to come from a really old piece of furniture or such. They have a wonderful patina and I used them as a part of my design, creating the appearance of two doors.

The leather I used for this journal's cover is a beautiful sturdy matte leather. I think it goes great with the metallic gate.
I engraved a wood pattern on it and painted it with leather pigments. I've just uploaded it in my artreasury.etsy.com shop and already got two appreciation hearts :)

C'mon Baby Light My ArtFire

Artfire has a wonderful deal these days! Only 5.95$ a month for a Pro account!
I recently set up my Baghy shop at Artfire - I hear it's a wonderful community with helpful folks.
There are two types of accounts - free (basic) and pro. Neither accounts have to pay for listing items and there are no fees for selling through them. The Pro accounts holders have to pay a monthly subscription which is currently 15.95$ - which is less then I pay on my Etsy monthly bill. And I even sold a journal even though I haven't taken much care of this shop yet. But now they have this awesome deal for 50.000 people tops. Thing is, you have to opt in for this deal and only if at least 20.000 people sign up, then the offer becomes official and only then they cash in your 5.95$. So I opted in now and have to hope lots of people sign up too. Till now, 3212 people have signed up, and I think they only started yesterday. You have to sign up for a basic account first.  So come out, come out wherever you are... Hope to see you there :)