New shop!

I'm so excited because I've just opened a second Etsy shop, Brooklin Girl! Its soon to be full of crocheted goodies to accessorize your home. I currently have coasters, dishcloths, felted bowls and napkin rings available for sale. I am looking forward to adding some afghans and throws, but my Bubblegirl shop is keeping me very busy. That shop has had quite a year, I've almost reached 1600 sales in 18 months which might explain why I haven't posted here since last March. I'm really enjoying making some different things for the new shop. I was so happy to see that my one of my felted coaster sets made it to the front page on Etsy only a few days after the new shop opened!!

I'm a finalist!!

I was so excited to receive an email from Lionbrand Yarns informing me that I'm a finalist in their Vanna's Choice yarn contest! There are 32 prizes to be won, and the grand prize is $1000 plus a trip to L.A. to attend a taping of Wheel of Fortune. Entrants had to submit photos of items made using Vanna's Choice yarn. I had three entries and my Chocolate Brown Earflap hat and Booties Set made it to the finals. I have to send them the actual hat and booties now, I'll let you know how I do.

Family getaway

This week, our family went on our first vacation. It took almost six years for us to get away, and it was only for a few days but we had a blast. We were lucky enough to receive a gift card for Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls. It's the perfect place for families, with an indoor waterpark, arcade, and craft room plus storytime every night in the lobby with the lodge's forest friends. There's also a spa if mom and dad need some time to relax too. We're already planning our next trip there in the fall.

The kids had their own separate "room" in our room with their own tv. They loved the bunk beds.

Here's the waterpark.

The kids with the Talking Tree.

The Falls were only 5 minutes away.

My Favorite Blog

I'm going to start posting some of my favorite things, hopefully weekly. I'm starting with my daily addiction and favorite blog, Jeff Chalmers' Photo Blog. It's basically a daily puzzle where you study the photo and solve the puzzle. Jeff is a Toronto area broadcaster and photographer, and he started his blog as part of a promotion at a local radio station, but he has continued it on his own. Originally it was just for fun, but Jeff has now started giving away prizes!! In Jeff''s own words, here how he describes it:

"We’re looking for song titles, album titles and lyrics to tunes. The odd time we’ll mix it up and throw in a popular expression, advertising slogan or phrase. You’ll know this stuff.

Every weekday, Jeff uploads an original photograph. The picture holds a clue to the puzzle. With the clues provided by the moderator and by the players over the course of the day, your job is to figure out the ‘phrase that pays’.

Enter your response into the COMMENTS section and check back to see if it’s been posted. Correct responses are held in moderation until the next morning while incorrect ones are posted throughout the day.

The more correct responses you provide, the more entries you have in that week’s draw."

Prizes include music cd's and dvd's and sometimes tickets to local events. I don't play to win, I love the challenge, but I did actually win a cd this week!

Here's an example of one of this week's puzzles. If you can't read the small print here, it's a song title...one word...2008. Can you guess the answer? You're probably going to need some help from Google, there are some great resources on the web. Give up? Click on this link to see the answer.

The group that plays each day is a great bunch of people, we're almost each other's second family. Jeff even organized a Blogger's Bash last in December so we could meet face to face. You can see photos of the Bash on his blog too. Jeff's always looking for more bloggers to join in, so try it out...but I warn you, it's addictive.

New year, new design

Happy New Year!! I ended the year on a high note by celebrating my 200th sale on Etsy. I'm pretty pleased about that since my original goal was to reach 100 sales in my first year. I opened my shop in May 2008, so I've doubled my goal in a little over 7 months. I'm now hoping to reach 300 sales by my 1 year anniversary. I spent some of my holidays working on a new baby hat design. It's a folded brim baby cap that's decorated with a little flower. I currently have 3 colors available in the shop.

Chocolate Brown

Sweet Cream

Pretty in Pink

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

Our family decorated the Christmas tree this past weekend. I actually left most of the kids' ornaments where they put them, I'm not as fussy as I used to be...once you have children, Christmas really is more for them. The tree is covered in 24 little white mittens I hand knitted 2 years ago. I got the idea from Martha Stewart when she had an "Advent Tree" on her show that had 24 mittens, each with a number counting down to Christmas. I wasn't ambitious enough to knit numbers onto the mitts, but I like them all white. The next year, I crocheted a "scarf" to use as garland. I started making that in June so it would be ready for December. I was far too busy this year to make anything new, but I'm thinking of knitting little caps for next year's tree. Maybe by then my kids will be a bit more adept at knitting and they can make them instead!

We also went to see the man in red on Sunday. We waited over 2 hours, which might explain why the kids look a bit worn out.

FREE SHIPPING!!!

I'm offering FREE SHIPPING all weekend long, from Friday November 28 thru Monday December 1st. Check out my shop for all your winter accessories, scarves , hats , mitts, and cute little baby items.