Smu's Friday Finds: Of the Ocean

Hooray, my Friday Finds are actually getting posted on Friday this week! ;) I'm going back to my perennial favorite theme: the sea! Even though the summer seems a long way off, it's never to early to start dreaming of the beach!

Crustacean cocktail ring by pipertree

Lampwork Sea Star Focal from stephaniebeads

Coelacanth Purse by mousch

Sea Urchin Collection - Special Pink Flower Necklace by staroftheeast

Treasury Stalker! Birds of a Feather.....

My Treasury! EtsyTwitter Team Flocks Together

It isn't often that I have the time to stalk the Etsy treasury and snag a spot when it falls below 333, but last night all of the stars aligned and I was able to create this collection of avian items from the Etsytwitter Team! Please visit, comment and click away!

1000 Etsy Hearts = Time for a SALE!!!

SmuTopia has recently reached the milestone of 1000 shop hearts on Etsy and I thought to myself, what better way to show my appreciation for all that love than a sale!?! So, I've updated all of my items for FREE SHIPPING to all destinations :) The free shipping rate will remain in place through the end of February. Thanks for all the Etsy love!!!!!

Removing Obstables in the Creative Process

For me the creative process is spontaneous (and often messy). Since moving in our first house in November I've found that I'm spending a lot less time making jewelry. There are many reasons for this, first and foremost being that we have a house to take care of now :) However, after realizing that my overwhelming urge is to be in the same room as my hubby (hence our choice of a house with an open floor plan downstairs) and accounting for the fact that my craft room is upstairs (where we spend very little waking time), I decided to remove one barrier to my creative process by setting up a small workstation in my dining room along the half-wall looking into the living room area.

Now my tools and supplies are within reach when the urge to make jewelry strikes :)I've already made a bunch of new charms and a fantastic new necklace I hope to have pics of soon.

PunkyJane - EtsyTwitter Team Shop of the Week

If you look back through my old "Friday Finds" posts, you'll realize that I LOVE the work of this week's EtsyTwitter Team SOTW (shop of the week), PunkyJane! I find it very amusing that this post falls right on top of a post I started out with her "Rock Star" pendant :) Be sure to check out the full SOTW post on the EtsyTwitter team blog, and check out PunkyJane's sites: Etsy, Twitter, & Facebook

Starry-Eyed Surprise Saturday Finds

Time has gotten away from me--it's Saturday night and I'm just posting my weekly Etsy finds! Enjoy these star-themed handmade finds and check out the other items these talented Etsians have to offer!

PunkyJane: ROCK STAR hand stamped sterling necklace

ChristinaColwell: Star Catcher 8 x 10 Print

earthfirestudios: The Phoenix - Large Atlas of the Stars Locket Necklace

palepink: You are my star handmade bicycle inner tube notebook

nonfictiontees: Celestial Constellation Tshirt Astrology Star Map

dizzlePOP: The SQUEEZE - Night Sky - fabric coffee cozy

forbiddenfruit: Black Moon and Stars Pomegranate Soap

Messy Jessie Invades a New Space

Since moving into our new house in November, I have made very little progress in setting up my new craft room. What can I say, I've always been more motivated on the creative side of craft room activities--less so on the organizational side :)

With my first craft show of the 2010 season rapidly approaching (March 13th I'll be at the Designers Downtown Market in Raleigh, NC) it is definately crunch time to set things up in my new space so I can follow my normal routine and do a trial set-up to make sure my displays are ready to go before show day.

At least at this point (almost) everything is unpacked, and my jewelry for sale is either happily stored in my favorite piece of craft room furniture (a lovely jewelry armoire my hubby got me as a gift) or the lovely necklace roll my Mom made me for Christmas (see previous post about this to see photos!) Thank goodness some of the organizing I did before the big move (see the labeled plastic shoeboxes on the shelf in the second photo) have helped me find things amidst the mess in the interim before I get everything else put away!

Smu's Friday Finds: Heart of Etsytwitter

Today's heart-themed Friday Finds are all made by members of the amazingly talented Etsy Twitter Team! Be sure to click on the links to these items and check out the rest of the items for sale by this fantastic group!

Handmade Gift Tags - Hearts Aplenty by caelum

Solid milk chocolate heart lollipops by VintageConfections

In My Heart Valentine Art - Red Cross Haiti by brefour

Colored Heart Pendant Necklace by BellaTuJewelry

Crochet Valentine Heart Necklace Lariat by Jusshar

Treasury Love from NCTriangle

Treasury Love!