BESTeam Feature - Leo and Junie

Leo & Junie has handmade jewelry that is flirty and fun. A little modern with a vintage feel. Leo & Junie jewelry features charms, gemstones, crystals, sterling silver, brass, vintage & vintage inspired pieces. Each piece is designed to tell a little something about the person who wears it.   All pieces are handmade by Christine, in her teeny, pet friendly, smoke-free studio located in eastern Pennsylvania.  Christine loves finding one of a kind vintage beads and charms/pendants and is always on the hunt for them!

Christine has been making handmade jewelry and beaded hair accessories for almost 6 years. She worked in the fine jewelry industry for over six years and never lost her love of jewelry. She is a self taught jewelry designer and is  always seeking new adventures in jewelry design.

I have enjoyed poking around Leo & Junie's shop and here are some of my favorites but you should check it out as well and you too might find some favorites!

Cafe Latte Flower Hair Pins

I Fall for Leaves - Amber Glass Leaf and Sterling Silver Earrings

Vintage Moonglow Ring

Custom Swarovski Pearl and Crystal Bracelet

Like to see more of Leo and Junie?
Find her at the following sites:
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/leoandjunie
Blog:  http://leoandjunie.blogspot.com
Facebook page:  http://facebook.com/LeoandJunie

Great Etsy Finds!!

I have had some great Etsy finds this week!! 

My first one was found through a S.N.E.A.K. Attack this past Monday.  What is a S.N.E.A.K. Attack you ask? It's a way to support independent artisans who are trying to sell their wares online. Twice a week, new or relatively undiscovered ETSY shops are chosen as our lucky victims. Fellow Etsian's join together to 'sneak' up on the victims and POUNCE with sales and hearts. Our aim is to get the new/undiscovered Etsy shops a whole slew of surprise item views, hearted items, and business in a very short time. Thus, giving them a whole lotta love and encouragement!

One of the featured shops was Checkerberry Lane Studios  and I found these awesome Christmas cards and then custom ordered some Thanksgiving cards!  And not only are the cards themselves beautiful but these arrived in the most professional package that I have ever received from an Etsy purchase.  Each card set was in it's own acetate (plastic) box, which were carefully placed in a mailing box lined in tissue paper and carefully wrapped and sealed with a Checkerberry Lane Studio sticker.  And Kristine (owner of Checkerberry Lane Studios) had made up her own beautiful (as far as invoices go) and professional looking invoice which was placed on top.  And if this wasn't enough, she even included a beautiful handmade bookmark as well, to say thank you for ordering from her!
  

Oh Christmas Tree Card Set

Autumn Leaves Thanksgiving Card Set

And just to make me crazy...as I was writing up this blog entry...I decided to check out her shop again...and she has even more adorable stuff listed!!!  (You are killing me Kristine!!)  Fall is my favorite time of year, and she has listed some more great Autumn cards as well as some Christmas cards...all of which are just sitting in her shop waiting for someone (ME??) to buy them!  And she does invitation and will customize them as well...so go check out her shop!!


My other find was something that just caught my eye on the front page of Etsy the other day from Mary Jane's Tea Room .   I am a knitter, and enjoy making teddy bears and other knitted toys...and so when browsing the front page of Etsy I saw a listing for a pattern for some knitted rabbits that were beautiful.  The "Anika & Bo" pattern was the one that caught my eye...but then upon further investigation of this shop I found "Candy Bear" and immediately fell in love!!  Needless to say, I ended up with the "Candy Bear" pattern as well as a "4 Pattern Multideal" which includes the patterns of 4 rabbits and their outfits.  Within moments of receiving the patterns I cast on for my Candy Bear....as I am attempting to use up some stash, she will not be the exact colors that are in the picture of Candy Bear...but I hope it will come out just as adorable!



Anika & Bo



Candy Bear



4 Pattern Multideal - Oscar/BLUEBELL ^/Daisy/Primrose



Oscar







Daisy



PrimRose

If you are a knitter or know someone who is...and who enjoys making stuffed animals, you should check out this shop .  And you can also follow Susan (owner of Mary Jane's Tearoom) on her blog, which is also a beautiful site at  http://www.maryjanestearoom.com/

Little Logan arrives tomorrow!!

I am at the moment patiently (or not) waiting for my second little parrotlet to arrive tomorrow morning!!  He is a little yellow Pacific parrotlet boy.  I have been waiting for him to wean for the last month or so and finally I got a call saying he was ready to come home!  So I have been spending the entire afternoon moving Rory into her new diggs....and cleaning her old cage and getting it ready for little Logan.

This is one of his pics that the breeder took awhile back to show me how he was growing.  I can't wait to meet him in person!!

And here are a couple pics of Rory in her new house!  She has only been in there for about 15 minutes and she has already chewed on all her new toys at least once to check them out.  As well as to make sure her old favorites are in there too.



Can you find the adorable Rory??



Where's Rory??

Ok...well back to cage cleaning and counting the hours and minutes til I can meet little Logan in person!!

BESTeam Feature - Tescar

This week I am featuring one of our newest BESTeam members, Connie Tescar and she has been wire wrapping for about 3 years now. She has always been into some type of art her entire life from pencil drawing, to painting, to jewelry making. Although she loves making wire wrapped jewelry, her real love is design. She loves writing lessons and teaching and she looks forward to adding lots of tutorials in the near future! 

There are so many great items in this shop that you need to check it out for yourselves!  

Here are a few of my favorites!

Charming Sterling Silver Birds Nest Necklace with Fresh Water Pearls

Burnt Orange Carnelian 14k GF Sleeping Tree of Life Pendant

Pendant Tree of Life Copper Orange Carnelian with Chain

Freeform Spiral Copper Pendant with Chain

Authentic Czech Coin Pendant with Sterling Silver Bail

And the coolest part of her shop is that she offers tutorials on how to make some of her amazing items!  I am loving the Tree of Life pendants...and thinking maybe I have to buy her tutorial and see if I can do it too :-)

Wire Wrap Jewelry Lesson Tree of Life Pendant 

 

 

To find out more about Connie follow her on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fashion-Wire/164155947218

Or check out her blog at
http://connietescar.blogspot.com/

BESTeam Feature - Turquoise Angels

Turquoise Angels is a family owned, mother/daughter team specializing in hand made clothing for girls, babies and mommies.  They provide ever evolving, stylish printed and handmade apparel and accessories. Which includes hand tied tutus, cotton dresses, screen printed garments and hair accessories. They love what they do and who they get to do it with!  And their mother-daughter design team covers the generation gap by combining unique patterns and prints fashionable for all ages.

This is such an adorable shop, makes me wish I had a little girl to buy a tutu for :-)

Here are some of my favorites from checking out Turquoise Angels 

This first one is my absolute favorite!!  It looks so elegant and sweet!  And then there is the Stars and Stripes for patriotism!

Sugar White Orchid Flower Girl Tutu

Stars and Stripes Salute to America Tutu

And I just love the pink and chocolate combination....these bows just look so happy!

Chic Pink and Brown French Clip Boutique Hair Bow

 The little model looks like such an angel here....

Dream Angel Tutu Dress

 And if you don't have an adorable little Angel girl of your own....they even have tutus for dogs?!?!  Although by 70 lb Border Collie X Aussie mix would probably not be thrilled if I got him a tutu :-)

To see more of these adorable creations check out Turquoise Angels on Etsy.

Or follow their blog at http://turquoise-angels.blogspot.com/

Lack of Adventures?

I guess I have been a little slack on keeping up with the "adventures" of my life :-) 

Things have been pretty uneventful because I have just been busy with work....which is good!  The end of summer ended up being quite busy for pet sitting jobs so I spent a lot of time just traveling from one doggy/kitty job to another.  But of course that means new customers and new doggy and kitty friends, which is always good.

Another 'term' of HPKCHC (Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup) finished up during the summer. This is a group on Ravelry that I have now been a part of for 5 terms! This group has inspired me to try so many different projects that I probably never would have tried had it not been for the House Cup points :-)

Although this summer I was so unmotivated to do any knitting! It was just too darn hot! I have figured out that I am a 'fair weather knitter'.  So this was one of the first terms that I only did the minimum amount of projects needed.....and didn't even finish my proposed Care of Magical Creatures O.W.L.!  But I did manage to turn in a baby sweater and a few smaller items for some points for Hufflepuff.

The Mini House Sweaters were for swap partners....the 2nd mini Ravenclaw Sweater I made for myself cause just thought the first one was adorable....but then a call went out for an "Angel Package" (someone didn't get a package from there swap partner so "angel packages" are sent from others in the group so that the person doesn't get left out) and so off went my 2nd mini Ravenclaw sweater!  I must have made about 5 Ravenclaw sweaters and 3-4 Gryffindor sweaters in the last year or so....and still don't have any of my own!

Mini Ravenclaw Sweater

Mini Gryffindor Sweater

Mini Ravenclaw (#2)  Sweater

And this baby sweater is for a friend at church who had a baby boy in July...and well the sweater was a little late....

Baby Sweater for Baby Andrews at Church



So as far as knitting adventures went this summer....not so much...

But now it is fall and perfect weather to inspire my knitting....and another 'term' of HPKCHC has started and so there will be more updates as to what I have been working on....but first....I must take pics of them  :-)  

So stay tuned..... 

BESTeam Feature - Wayfaring Magnolia

This week's BESTeam feature is on a great little etsy shop Wayfaring Magnolia

Amanda is a recent college graduate, nature lover, artist, musician, lover of the world and a friend.

She is trying to teach herself to design clothing and any other crafty skills that inspire her.   Her shop currently has a lot of  vintage items as well as vintage inspired picture frames, some paintings and a collection of great buttons.  But don't be surprised if her shop changes often, because everyday she finds something new that inspires her!

She has also just completed a life long dream of moving to Music City, USA: Nashville, TN.  As a musician (as well, as a crafter) she has dreamt of singing on the Grand Ole Opry and working her way through the honky-tonks of broadway.

Here are just a few of the items that caught my eye while browsing her shop.  I love yellow and these items just jumped out at me.

Love Makes the Heart Young Frame

Vintage Set of 5 Small Plates

1950's Prom Dress

Beautiful Collage Frame

And just to get a better idea of some of the things you can find at Wayfaring Magnolia....here are a few more items.

Blue Flower Fabric Buttons

Peace thru Love Painting

Pink Heart Fabric Buttons

Find more great items from Wayfaring Magnolia at http://www.etsy.com/shop/wayfaringmagnolia  or find out more about Amanda by following her blog at http://wayfaringmagnolia.blogspot.com/