Name That Theme

It's time for another of my random collections of items that caught my eye from the team. Let's see if I can find a theme out of these...

I love finding handmade soaps and such. It amazes me that people can make these things themselves, and I bet they smell so much better, too.

Chai + Green Tea Natural Vegan Handmade Organic Soap by Blooming Tree Designs 

I think I need a feather quill. I've never written with a feather quill.

EAGLE'S Wing Ink Dip Porcupine Quill by Saber Shores

Now that I got my hair cut, I keep running across all these great hair accessories.

WooDLanD Faery PRinCeSS Hair Clip by Wild Mountain Wreaths

There's something about this necklace. I don't know what it is. Perhaps it's part of the theme?

Hammered Arrow Necklace by Fait Main Designs

I like the simplicity of this.

Men's Marbled Eternity Ring and Black Leather Necklace by Love Your Bling

And I like the complexity of this.

Elephant Book Locket Pendant by Delicate Industry

Too much jewelry. It must have a place to live, right?

Dream Catcher Jewelry Box by Starr Joy 16

So, theme? I've got nothing. But it was kind of a fun trip.

What do you think? What sort of theme do you think goes with these items?

Hello, Spring

This week's challenge--show us something that makes you think of spring...

The Crafty Nana says:

I love making stuffed toys. These birds remind me of Spring when the birds return.

Handmade Stuffed Birds

KOCO & VIKING says:

We created our first custom "flower girl" necklace when a customer wanted something special to give the flower girl in their wedding. We played around a bit and eventually came up with this sweet heart, filled with a cute flower texture, and the flower girl's first initial. We painted the necklace to match the Spring wedding's colors and the bride was ecstatic! Ever since then, it makes us think of Spring blooms and everyone picks pretty pastels to be painted onto their custom creation.

Custom Flower Girl Initial Necklace

Pink Pianos says:

Fine Art print of a Dogwood Tree blooming in my native Kentucky in Spring!

Pink Tree

Printable Motivation says: 

With spring comes beauty everywhere. The trees are turning green, flowers are blooming, and the sun is out. I wanted to make something to remind people that beauty is about perspective. A dandelion can be considered a weed, but if you look close, it is beautiful just like many things in our world :)

Beauty is about perspective - Entry Way Art

Jeanine Designs says: 

With Spring comes new life and the beginning of wedding season. I started making these boxes because I needed something for the jewelry and embroidered items I sell. So many people loved my packaging and suggested that I sell it - so I have recently made some of my specialty packaging available in my shop. As with all my work, I use recycled materials as much as possible. It is my goal to make things that are new and fresh from what would have been discarded. I think starting off a new life together in an eco friendly way is perfect. I hope you like it.

Wedding Cake Favor Box

What makes you think of spring?

Pinterest for Beginners

A while back I posted an infographic about how Pinterest is the one social network site that has the longest longevity. That is, something posted there might generate interest six months to a year later, whereas Twitter's influence lasts about 18 minutes. (Apparently the infographic has disappeared, but that site has more posts about Pinterest that may be of interest.)

This was the first post of my social networking series.

So, just this weekend a discussion about Pinterest began on the team's discussion boards, and I thought now might be a good time to revisit the topic.

Pinterest explains itself thusly:

Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.

I like to think of it like an online visual bookmarking tool. When I find images that I like, Pinterest is the place where I can store them so I can find them again.

As a social media site, Pinterest lets you share what you pin. Sure, you can make some of your boards private, but that negates the social part of the platform. The whole idea is to share what you find with others.

To find pins from others, you can follow them or some of their specific boards. They can also follow you. You want to follow people who have similar taste to yours, that way you can find images you might not otherwise find. Likewise, you want people to follow you...hopefully back to your shop.

A word of caution: make sure when you pin things to pin from where the image originated. It's a copyright thing. Also, that way you can find where the image originated again if you'd like to find the tutorial that goes along with the image or the shop that goes along with the image (or whatever else the image links back to).

(If you're pinning something from a blog, for example, make sure to click on the specific post, not the full blog. If the blog is updated regularly, the image will fall off the front page, and if you go looking for the image months later, you might not be able to locate it again.)

Some people pin images and then link them back to spam sites, so when you repin, be careful. (I tend to "like" images before pinning them to my boards. Only after making sure the image links to a real website do I pin it.)

Of course, the purpose of Pinterest is to have some fun. Finding images. Curating images. Looking at stuff. (Why do we love to look at stuff?)

What's your favorite thing about Pinterest? What have I missed? Oh, and make sure to add your Pinterest link so we can all follow you.

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Seeing Green

This week I challenged the team to show me their green. Here's what they came up with...

Think Eco² went more figurative than literal, giving us this carrier made from reclaimed wood:

Craft Beer Bomber Six Pack Carrier

From Fait Main Designs:

Minty Fresh

The Crafty Nana says:

I crocheted these pot holder sets to help to celebrate St Patrick's Day. The square white and green set has the shamrocks embedded into the white piece. It is all crocheted as one piece. Both sets are double thickness, so that they can serve as hot pads as well as pot holders or just decorations.

Shamrock Pot Holders/Hot Pads

Pot Holder Set, Shamrocks

Ohmay Designs says:

The knitted stitch is called the Linen stitch, which gives the yarn a woven linen fabric look. It makes a gorgeous textured background to highlight the darker green trim and leaves.

Fingerless Gloves aka Texting Gloves

Bobbles By Carol says:

Gemstone Necklace. Subtle green for St Patrick's Day... When you can't scream holiday, like at work...

Kashgar Garnet Beaded Necklace

From reVetro:

Kelly and I collect empty bottles from local bars, restaurants, events (friends and family, too), and repurpose into eco jewelry. I cut, fire, grind, sand and polish the glass into beads for our jewelry line. GREEN WISHES!

Jameson Irish Whiskey Ring

Jameson Irish Whiskey Bangle

From KMalinka Vintage:

1960s Mini Dress Mint

Fabulous 50s Needlepoint Leather Bag

And of course, I just had a little something...

Zizi Rho Designs says:

I knit these shamrock shapes, then felted them. I just love turning knitted/felted pieces into earrings. They turn out so light...

Shamrock Earrings

Some fabulous finds from the team, just in time for that green day coming up in just a week and a half. (Yes, it's that soon!) Make sure to check them out (and snap them up!).