Treasury Thursday :: Red hot southern day

We are back for another round of  the Treasury Thursday challenge, and this week, in the midst of spring starting to pop up for some, rain finally arriving where I am, today’s treasury fast forwards us to the red hot southern days of  summer.  I know, kinda crazy, right?  I am bundled up in a sweater with the fireplace warming the room we are here to talk red chili hot!

Today’s challenge suggestion comes from Rebecca over at an uplifting and cheerful blog called TrueBlog!…life in Louisiana and all things Woolmerhof.  I have got to hand it to Rebecca – a native Aussie living in Louisiana, what a big leap of a difference. I would know, I’ve been to both places!

I work on a college campus where I get to meet students from all over the  world. Just today, I talked with students from Ethiopa, Ukraine, South Africa and Germany. It always amazes me how they leave what they know; families, language, customs, favorite foods and more and how they find a way how to not just get by in a whole new country, but they are here to learn a completely new subject.  Oh, and these students I was talking to? They were all scholarship and award recipients!   And to think how frustrated we get when Facebook makes it’s infamous changes.  :-)  So, Rebecca, hats off to you for finding your way, and making a great life for you and your family in a whole new place!

When I posted the challenge again on my Facebook page this week, asking for a word, phrase, color, concept, etc. and I would then choose one idea to create a Treasury, and give them a shout out here, here is what Rebecca wrote:

Chili! As in red chili… It’s a southern summer kind of day here and I have all things Cajun in my head!

This was fun for me; I would not have normally sought out red chili or all things Cajun. Especially with the rain pouring down all around me!  Which is why I love these challenges. It gets me out of my own comfort zone and leads me to new sources of inspiration.  So, I went in search of all things red, hot and Cajun. Whew!  The irony is that I am a total wimp when it comes to spice – I am not afraid to admit that I cannot take the heat.  But, it’s such a bummer, now that I know this:

‘We found that consuming red pepper can help manage appetite and burn more calories after a meal”

Be sure to stop by and say hello to Rebecca at her blog and tell her {PaperKeeper} sent ya!  I hope you enjoy all of the great hot work here! If you live somewhere cold, maybe this will warm you up a bit.  As always, I hope you find inspiration among these fabulous artists, crafters and creatives.  If you do, share, stumble, tweet, pin, post this collection, because after all, we all need a little warmth in our lives.

Rebecca, thanks for the hot topic this week!

Think you might want to play next week, leave a comment with an idea for next week’s Treasury Thursday challenge!

{ go out and be hot! }

Red Hot Chili Pepper Purse bottegabizzarr… $65.00	Sundance: Beaded Leather Wra… GoingTribal $39.50	Red Art – Brazilian Hot Chil… VitaNostra $30.00
Chili Pepper Capsaicin Molec… LLTownleyCeram… $30.00	10 Chili Pepper Crystal Hair… ArtisticEditio… $20.00	Sweet Chili – Handmade Swaro… NatBJewelry $29.50
Best of Louisiana Cuisine Wo… designedbydall… $40.00	Chili pepper orange- red han… lavendersugarp… $5.00	Bayou Service Cajun Church- … ellenmccordart… $19.75
New Orleans SAINTS Nawlins N… tomboyART $175.00	Mason Jar lids/ Ready for yo… littlechicklet… $100.00	Black Bird Letter Tile Neckl… vassap $18.00
30s Schilling Chili Powder S… VintageGypsies $8.00	Red Flower art Flower Print … CarlChristense… $30.00	Chocolate Chili – Hand Craft… mmmallows $9.00
Organic Red Chili Pepper Wre… elegantholiday… $60.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Me and my shadow

There have been so many years [like this year...] where I missed the boat on sending out holiday cards and I reassure myself, ‘oh, it’s ok, I can always send out a New Year’s card…there’s still time…‘. But then, somehow in the post-holiday crumple of exhaustion, I miss that opportunity too. So then, I find myself under the delusion that I didn’t completely blow it.    I can’t tell you the number of times I found myself giving serious consideration to this idea: “well, I could always send out a Groundhog Day greeting – no one is expecting that!“

Photo courtesy of Etsy Sthop bewilderandpine

So, here we are, it’s Groundhog Day!  Did I get cards out…no. Sigh.

There seems to be conflicting news reports of whether we will see an early spring or six more weeks of winter this year.  What do you think?    And have you ever sent out a Happy Groundhog Day greeting? If you are thinking it might be fun to try, check out all the adorable groundhogs in today’s Treasury Thursday.

{ oh, and by the way…happy Groundhog Day! }

Groundhog Day Figurine – Min… bewilderandpin… $24.00	Keep Calm and Look For Your … ThoughtsToPrin… $10.00	What’s up… Groundhog c… letterarypress $4.00
Groundhog Day Linocut with D… minouette $26.00	SALE: Punxsutawney Phil Grou… kayscountrycra… $25.00	Phil Connor Presents: A Guid… HeroDesignStud… $50.00
Groundhog’s Day, prognos… gobsmackd $4.50	This Groundhog Takes No Chan… Sporkshop $3.50	Groundhogs Day Place Setting… KaransPotsAndG… $120.00
Punxsutawney PA Postmark Mai… terbearco $12.99	Groundhog 2 Printable Wall A… BitsyCreations $5.00	Groundhog 3 Printable Wall A… BitsyCreations $5.00
Groundhog Day Printable Wall… BitsyCreations $5.00	woodland art print: groundho… doodleandhoob $20.00	Belt Buckle Punxsatawney Pen… decembermoonde… $29.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Friday Foto Fun :: Open to Interpretation

What comes to mind when you see this image of my {crazy} cat?

Ok, so I just couldn’t resist sharing this for Friday Foto Fun, and almost didn’t. But two, yes two, people encouraged me to post it. But, up one side of  my brain and back down the other, I still cannot think of a title, caption or comment so capture the mood of this photo. So, today, it’s open to interpretation! What comes to your mind when you see this photo?

Please leave a comment and share, I’d love to hear your interpretation!

{ enjoy & have a relaxing weekend! }

Get Your Creative On

{personal image}

Friday Foto :: First Friday of the New Year!

{personal photo}

We live near one of the two rivers in our community and this was taken New Year’s day on a family outing.  TGIF and enjoy your  weekend!

Treasury Thursday :: Good Car-Ma

As an new Etsy shop owner, I am here to tell you that it is a fantastic feeling when someone finds your shop, or one of your listings and ♥’s it! It’s as good as someone walking up to you and saying, “Hey, I like you!”.  Imagine for a moment how that would feel…

In the spirit of paying it forward, setting up a Treasury on Etsy is a fun, easy way to tell people you like them. Well, their handmade goods that is. But for handmade goods makers, it’s kinda the same thing. Trust me.

If you have never set up a Treasury, it may seem a bit tricky, but with Etsy’s help it can easily be done.  And to make it even easier, I will show you how.  Right here, right now!  And, at the end, I’ll share one of  my recent Treasuries with you. If you are  Pinterest fan, it is very much like pinning!

Ready?  Set. Go!

{personal photo}

Get Ready

1. Log into your Etsy account
2. Click here to get started on the Etsy Treasury page
3. You will see a long list of Treasuries that others have already created – take a look at a few to get an idea of how they look
4. When creating a treasury, you will need a theme. It can be a color [red!], an item [watches], or a combination, [purple jewelry?]. The idea is to create something you are interested in, items you ♥ and to try to make it fun and creative.
5. When you are ready, head over to the right side of the page, in the box titled ‘Curator Tools” click the link to create a list.

Get Set

1. A page will appear where you have fields to enter a list  name, description and tags.
2. On the list name, get as creative as you can.
3. Tags are keywords or short phrases that relate to the items and theme. Be sure to enter a few!
4. The next section is marked “Privacy” with options of Everyone or Only You. I will comment on that more a little further on.

Go!

1. Now the fun begins. Start creating your Treasury!
2. I like to open two browser windows – one where I am logged in [so I can create the Treasury] and one where I am just on the Etsy site but not logged in, so I can browse happy.
3. Go to the Etsy site and in the search box, type in a word that relates to your theme.
4. A page will appear with hundreds if not thousands of items. Wow! When I typed in “purple jewelry” it shows that there are 162, 989 item listings that match that description!  There is a place for everyone!
5. Start shopping, uh, I mean viewing items and when you find one you ♥ click on it!
6. After reviewing the listing and you decide it’s Treasury worthy,
7. Scroll to the very bottom of that listing page, below the shipping info; and there you will need the item’s listing number
8. Highlight and copy the listing number [you don't need the # symbol]  and go back to your logged in Etsy window to the page with your Treasury in progress.
9. In one of the 16 boxes/squares, copy and paste the listing number where it has grey text saying Listing URL. You can also copy the URL from your browser’s address line if that is easier for you.
10. Click “ok’ and watch the image of the item you ♥ suddenly appear. I know, you are hooked already. I have good news for you. There is no limit to the number of Treasuries you can create. But, you get only 16 spots per Treasury, so choose wisely.
11. Continue on, filling up the 16 seats of your Treasury, following the same process: search, find, copy, paste, and wha-la!
12. If you don’t have time to finish it all in one sitting, that’s ok. These are big decisions after all, and you wouldn’t want to rush it!  Just remember to save before you exit the page.

Item Listing #

Wrap it up

1. You have to enter at least 4 items to save your Treasury.
2. This is where the Privacy button comes in. If you want to mark it private until you are done, you can. Just remember to go back and share it with “Everyone”. That’s the whole point here – sharing the love.
3. You can always go back to edit your Treasury Lists. You can add/delete items and rearrange the order of the listings.
4. When it’s ready to share, consider sharing it with your other networks: Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.
5. And, remember to check back periodically. Others will start seeing your Treasury, making comments, clicking and well, it’s just cool when others like what you like. Shop owners whose items you feature will likely express their gratitude for being selected. You will get to be part of that warm fuzzy sharing thing I was talking about!

So, below is a Treasury I created recently.  A few weeks ago, my car was stolen from my driveway while I was home sleeping. At 6 in the morning. My husband left for the gym and the car was there. When he came home, the car was gone! So, in the spirit of spreading some good “car-ma”, here is a Treasury List featuring a variety of items relating to the car, or travel.  You can view it in Esty here.

Items featured in my Etsy Treasury titled: Good Car-ma

Keep in mind that there are a few guidelines for putting together a Treasury List.

• You can create a list of items for any purpose.
• Be diverse! No more than one item per shop.
• Don’t include your own items. Spread the love!
• Make it beautiful.

Have fun creating a Treasury.  Be sure to share it with your social sphere to really really share the ♥ !

I’d love to see what you come up with – add a link here to let me know what you create.

– OR –

Give me a Treasury Challenge! Give me a word, a phrase or a concept and see what I come up with. I will feature your challenge in one of my Treasury Thursday posts! I promise. Because I know how cool it is when others say, ‘hey, I like that.”

And, it’s just good karma.

Peace.

Ps…an update on the car. It was found.  That’s a long story for another day!

There’s a place for everyone…

I’ve always known I was the creative type; it just manifested itself in different ways along the years, I realize now, looking back.  Crayons. Wax paper. Markers. Paper [when I was 7 I thought I would grow up and be a 'book-maker'].  Stickers and stamps. Jewelry. Photographs. Flyers. Websites.  Even so, I always envied, and still do, those who could paint, draw, sculpt – what I viewed as ‘real art’. I differentiated my ‘art’ because it didn’t fit into the narrow definition of art that I allowed for myself.  Over time, I slowly came to see that creativity, and art, can take many forms and that there is room for all of it.  There is a place for all of us.

What would your bubble have in it?

It is amazing to watch how others express themselves through their art and creativity.  As I begin this new adventure with opening a shop on Etsy.com, I am thrilled to see the myriad expressions; there are styles, items, mediums, materials I have never seen or heard of before. It’s inspiring to me,  to see all these spaces that other creatives have carved out for themselves.  I dig that others value what they do and bring it to the marketplace.

There are creatives among us, and sometimes we never know it. I made something recently and posted some photos of it on Facebook. Many of my friends know that the creative vein runs deep in me, but I found it surprising when a dear friend commented on my post, “Didn’t know you were so talented….what a beautiful idea!“  I realized then that not everyone can see this in us.  I know that for me, sometimes expressing myself with words is sometimes difficult,  but when I create something, you can be assured I have just shown myself to you.   I was happy that through that post and photos she came to know me a little bit better.

As I was thinking about this earlier this morning, I realized that we often mis-read people, or cannot see them fully. Sometimes this results from their shyness, or insecurities perhaps. It could also stem from our own blinders, busy lives, or, our own insecurities.  A fun image came to my mind while pondering this. I got this scene in my mind of a busy city sidewalk, where each person walking by has a bubble above their person, and in their bubble is their signature creative expression – so that as they pass by, we see them fully, we know who they are and what they have to offer.

On Etsy.com there are over one million item listings in the section called ART.  There are at least 30 other categories, each with thousands of listings. You might not like it all, but I guarantee you will find something you love.  There really is a place for everyone.

I will leave you with this quote, and visit the Etsy shop theinksociety to see the creative behind it :

‘the earth without art is just eh”