I finished a custom order for a wondeful Artfire seller and this was the completed project:


I think it looks great and I can't wait to get it to her! This is also kicking off the fact that I am no longer requiring a deposit for custom orders during the holiday season. So if you have an idea for something, let me know and I will see what I can do for you!

Well, obviously TP is one of those things that everyone has and has to use... But what do you do with it once the paper is gone? Well it can be a cheap and effective cat toy. You have to spend the money for rolls of the stuff anyway so really you aren't loosing any money. Here I will tell you what you can do to reuse the empty roll so you can have a fun toy for your kitties.

Step 1:
Use all the paper, I really don't need to get into details on that one....

Step 2:
Remove the empty tube from the holder.

Step 3:
Take it to the living room and carefully throw it on the floor.

Step 4:
Find the chewed, shredded and soggy remains a week later, most likely under the covers of your bed.


There you go, that's it. Reuse, Recycle, and Reduce. (since I will guarantee that the tube will have been reduce to shreds)

Have you seen the changes that are going on in Greensburg, KS since the F5 tornado ripped through? They have stepped up the efforts to make their city "green". The are incorporating all renewable energies and have been taking steps to preserve our Mother Earth.

I have been fascinated by weather and severe storms since I was a little girl. Even to the point that I chased storms and tornadoes. I wanted to see how these things formed and what we could do to better prepare for them.

When I started writing for HandmadeNews.org, I decided to share the important work that Greensburg was doing. I wrote an article for the Green Wise department about this city while it is still rebuilding. The article is called, Changing the Face of Energy and you can read the entire article here: http://www.handmadenews.org/article/index.php?id=853

I wanted to get the word out that even though this city was devestated, they still saw some good that could come out of these trying times. If we, as a whole in humanity, could take a few pointers from this single city, I think this world would be a great deal better. Let's all start giving back and maybe we will start to see some change.

Have you heard of HandmadeNews.org? No, well let me fill you in on exactly what it is.

HandmadeNews.org is pretty much an online newspaper. It is filled with interesting articles on just about any topic you can think of. If you want to read about tips to help promote your business, there's a whole section devoted just for it. Wanna learn a new craft, look in Craft Techniques. There are so many fascinating and fun articles for you to read. You can even find some awesome tutorials.

Sound like fun? Well it really is... Wanna know what else you can do? You can place ads for your own shop. Think about all that additional traffic. Plus, you can even write articles and contribute your knowledge to the site. The benefits are amazing.

So, ready to see what all the buzz is about? Then follow the yellow brick road....

Okay well maybe just my little dotted road.............................



handmadenews.org

Since I have not done a giveaway before, I have determined that now is as good as any to get with the program and do one. So from today until the 15th of May you can enter to win a pair of Chainmaille earrings.

Here's how it works:

What you can win:



These earrings are in my Twisted Flowers line. They are a mobius flower made with twisted wires. They are 2 inches in length. This particular style is pierced but don't despair if you need clip-ons, that can be arranged with no problem...




When will you pick a name:
The last day for entries will be May 15th. I will pick a name randomly on May 17th. This will give me a day to go through everything and put it into a generator to choose a name randomly.

How do I get an entry:
This is the fun part because there are several ways to get 1 and even up to 3 entries...

1 entry - Check out my Photography blog and leave a comment about one of my photos (I will be adding to it during this time.). There will be a maximum number of 5 comments/entries.

1 entry - Blog about the giveaway

2 entries - Blog about me or my shop

2 entries - Purchase something from my Artfire shop

3 entries - Since it's almost Mothers Day, if you purchase something from my mom's shop at frugalkitty.artfire.com you get 3 entries....

Plus, guess what, your entries are accumulative... so this means if you blog about me today and leave a comment on a photo on my blog tomorrow, you get the entry for each for a total of 3 entries... make sense...

How do I know if I have won:
This has the potential to be fairly tricky... I will announce the winner here on May 17th. However, please leave me some way to find you to let you know if you have won. Such as if you are on Plurk or Artfire, leave me your username. If you are not on these then leave me some way to get a hold of you... Any questions can be directed to me by commenting here or you can email me through my ArtFire shop.

What are the sites that I need:
Okay, here is the list of sites that you may need for the above entries,
My blog: goingphotographic.blogspot.com
My Artfire shop: nightmaiden.artfire.com
My mom's Artfire shop: frugalkitty.artfire.com

Blogging about me or giveaway:
If you do any kind of blog post, comment here with the link and I will credit you the appropriate entries.

It has come to my attention that May is Creative Beginnings month. Now this can have several different meanings to everyone but I thought I would take a moment and lay out an idea where this can pertain to everyone here.

Being artists and artisans, we all create works of art everyday. Let's band together and for the month of May try a little something special... For those of us with children, let your child choose something that they can do and then help them work on the project. When these projects are finished, I will have a place where we can post pictures of the projects and pictures of them working on it and the fun they are having...

If you don't have children, that's okay too because guess what you can do? Try a new project. It doesn't have to be big and expensive but just something new. Who knows maybe this will get all the creative juices flowing and you may find a new love... (Yeah, if you look at my shop I think you can tell I like to try new things...) Just remember this is for fun and it doesn't matter if the projects are perfect or come out just right.... As long as everyone has fun, that's what it is all about.

If you are interested in becoming a part of this, you can get a hold of me on plurk, artfire or just leave a comment here. Depends on where y'all know me from since I'm all over...

I finally have been able to get pictures of the new stuff I have been working on. I just did not have any motivation at all yesterday but I did get a few things done...

This is my pillow for nurses... I think it would be a great addition for anyone who works in a hospital or doctors office.


I also made one that has an amazing Zinnia pattern...


The next 2 have to be my favorites... I just love Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead and everyone should know that I am a serious Breast Cancer Awareness supporter...



I have so many pieces to actually get done as well as some amazing seasonal fabric too. I have Halloween and Christmas fabric. (Okay so I also have a cute Christmas fabric that I think more people will laugh their heads off at than anything else...) I have some novelty pillows coming too...

I have also been doing custom pillows too... My mom now has 2 new pillows that I made for her and a third is about to be started. She loves the pillows so much and I don't think she'll buy pillows from a chain store again...