Pouncing

I'm definitely feeling fond thoughts for these wonderful finds, all new or "undiscovered" shops via Etsy's Pounce feature (undiscovered = no sales quite yet, but that was as of yesterday!)!















I am loving the wire sculptures in veracious' shop, particularly this wonderful hand!















Definitely in love with David Amos Photography's incredible photo of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in these phenomenal tones!

Brenda's Economic Stimulus Package

Geesh! I completely forgot about my wristcuff giveaway! Still time to enter!

Here are some great ways to support your fellow indie artists, designers, vintage sellers, etc. during these times of economic uncertainty, all under $25!!!



















I really love theVINTAGEcloset at Etsy. First, because I love Rebecca's photography. Second, because I want nearly all of the shoes in her shop (size 10, por favor?) (p.s., I think I owned most of those shoes during the 80's ...). And third, I love her blog! Her enthusiasm, joie de vivre and love for her family just jumps off the page. This very cute blouse, perfect for Spring, is a great deal!















Joanne from Shaving Kit Suppplies (yep, three p's!) at Etsy is a true treasure! Not only because her treasuries are phenomenal, often landing on Etsy's front page, but also because she's a tour de force for one liners and creative hijinks on Twitter, and also because she is one talented lady! I love love love my new heart brooch received just this week, which was a delight to open thanks to her unique and beautiful packaging, and a gorgeous surprise extra lavender mini pillow/sachet. And I love this brooch, Mothra Redux Rouge, another under $20 steal!



















I adore Nicole at Lillyella - a very talented jewelry designer and great friend! Nearly every lovely piece of jewelry in Nicole's shop is under $25, and if you follow her blog, you'll find lots of giveaways and blog specials for even more savings! She's also on twitter and very supportive of other designers and artists with features and hosted giveaways on her blog. AND may be tied with Joanne for being the Queen of incredible treasuries often on Etsy's front page.

I hope you'll check out all of these shops! I've permanently (during our recession/hopefully not depression) reduced prices for my soft neckwarmers ($25) and neckbows ($19.50); after all, we want to be warm and pretty, despite making a dollar stretch farther.

Some Valentines Picks

The special day for special someones approaches!















Calexandra's Etsy shop is filled with beautiful accessories, nearly any of which would be wonderful for Valentines Day. I particularly love this unique and lovely sequined heart!



















I love K is for Calligraphy's fun and hand lettered Valentines' envelope seals!



















I really love pink and gray together, so fringe's latest addition to her El Grande Cowl line is just perfect in my book!

On being a model

For as long as I remember (and I have a terrible memory, so I think this may really only extend back to high school), I've firmly believed I'm completely unphotogenic. But look at baby Brenda in her Swiss dot finery!



















I'm looking at old family photos and see that this isn't always true. I'm cute here on my second day of kindergarten! I seem to remember that this was a red plaid dress. (Mom, is that true?)



















Early 90's perm at a holiday dinner for my first professional-level workplace.

I think the theme here is ... I clean up pretty well!

I've been lax in that department ... time to spruce myself up a bit.

Anyone else up for a bit of a makeover?

Shop of the Day on Paper and Stitch

How fun! Phydeaux Designs is "Shop of the Day" on Paper and Stitch! If you haven't seen this blog, you are missing out - and if you haven't seen my online shop (items link right to my Etsy shop), check it out!

Paper and Stitch's online shop has a competition each month! The shop with most hearts wins a couple of very cool prizes. I'd love it if you'd give me a visit there and give me a little heart!

And I hope you enjoy the Paper and Stitch blog - I've found some wonderful artists and designers there!

The Chicken and the Egg

Which came first?














Do we create because we are addicted to (bright, shiny) supplies (yarn, paint, fabric, vintage bling, beads, etc.)?




















Or do we create because we have such (bright, shiny) supplies (yarn, paint, fabric, vintage bling, beads, etc.)?















Or maybe we create just because it's there? I sometimes wonder about the supplies/creation connection when I'm considering how to store yet more fiber, yarn, buttons, etc!!!

Anniversary!!!

Wow, one year ago tomorrow, I opened Phydeaux Designs! Took me a little longer to actually list things (first scarf on January 26th) ... there's a lot to learn at Etsy!

















To celebrate, I've marked everything down in my shop ('cept subscriptions) by 15%!!! Prices are already marked down! The sale will run through January 26th.


















I had a great three-day weekend and hope you all did, too! Enjoy the Inauguration tomorrow!

Doings

I've been one busy lady this week with lots of stuff going on at work, some new health oddities (so what's new), and life in general. So, new regular posts went by the wayside, but will hopefully re-emerge this coming week!

In the meantime, some fun and lovely picks to enjoy! I've always longed to create in clay, but just don't have the gift for it. I love the ceramic and porcelain creations that you can find on Etsy!

















I loooove everything that Felicia at Maid of Clay creates! I have several kitty vases (SO cute) and the most precious ever baby bunny sucking on a baby carrot on a tree trunk. If you love cuteness like I do, you'll appreciate the "awwww" factor in her work! This little bunny vase with the dangling heart is too cute.



















I just love these bowls' elegant vines in such a rustic design and exterior, from Myriad Design!




















Nancy at Round Rabbit creates lovely porcelain jewelry and buttons. I was hard pressed to pick one item - so much to love! - but settled on these Art Deco in Teal earrings. Gorgeous!!! I love the complex and ornate design with that lovely wash of teal and blue and green.

Lots of new goodies, and another giveaway!

I've been updating the shop with new creations! Honestly, a few of these were created pre holidays, and I'm just now getting photos taken. :) And there's more to come!



















I'm caught up on all non-custom orders! Well, I will be when I ship the last two packages tomorrow morning, but the knitting is done. :)
















I'm now working on custom orders!

And to celebrate, I'm going to have a giveaway! This giveaway is a little different than past ones, because it's for your very own, custom knit Phydeaux Designs wrist cuff. You can see my current inventory here, and I have several that will be listed in the next week, with more planned!



















To enter, tell us in the comments below what your favorite Phydeaux Designs item is. Here are the particulars:

• Previous winners won't be eligible to win this giveaway (sorry, but I want to be fair to others!).
• One entry per person.
  
• You get bonus entries if you (a) are a newsletter subscriber, (b) post this giveaway on your blog and/or other online venue, (c) refer another newsletter subscriber (but they need to tell me that you referred them).
• You must include your first name at a minimum and your email address/Etsy shop name - it's really hard to contact you without that!
• I may just use your custom cuff in the shop - with your name!

You'll have until Saturday, January 31st, 5pm Pacific Standard Time, and I'll announce the winner on Sunday February 1st. I'm going to be spreading the word, so take advantage of bonus entries!

Seven Random Tidbits

Thanks to Dennice over at Fringe Originals, here are seven random things about me, which you hopefully don't know yet (Kris and Mom, you both know everything about me ...):

1. I wrote short stories, science fiction and horror, in grade and junior high school all the time - well, by "horror," I mean along the lines of Ray Bradbury (possibly my very very favorite author of all time), not along the lines of George Romero.
2. I got my adult borrower library card at 11, a year before the "legal" age of 12 - I probably read everything in the juvenile section of our small town library (my brother and I still reminisce about some of those books, lovingly dog-eared by the both of us).
3. I don't think it's any big secret that I loathe zombie movies, but I feel the same way about sitcoms. Can't bear them. I run screaming from anything with a laugh track.
   
4. I bear two tattoos. A dot of india ink in the web of skin between my left thumb and index finger, from an accidental self-inflicted stab during art class in 7th grade. And a bit of pencil lead in my right forearm from a questionably accidental stab by a school mate in the bus on the way home one afternoon in Junior High.
5. I met my bff, Kris, at my first job at Baskin Robbins was I was 18 or 19, then again in drawing class in college, maybe a year later. In art class, she got good grades for being abstract and I didn't so much for being life-like. I dropped out in frustration, and she, being a very kind (and I thought kooky and weird) person brought me my portfolio and supplies. A year or more after that, we were regularly clubbing with mutual friends, and became the bff's that we are today. I was at the first date for her and her husband Rich! (I won't tell you how long ago that was.) Those were the days of Leo Swift in Sacramento, at the Oasis and Spanky's, none of which are still in existence, except in our memories. When boys had big bushy hair with lots of hairspray and wore more makeup than we girls. Ahhh, the '80's.
6. Thanks to Heather's husband, Phil, I spent a few in the late 80's/early 90's immersed in the Grateful Dead. I still have lots of tapes packed away somewhere! To this day, I am immediately nostalgic on hearing Terrapin Station or Scarlet Begonias.
7. I love love love to cook and was seriously considering preparing for an early retirement career (way early retirement) as a pastry chef before I immersed myself in Phydeaux Designs.

My chosen seven, who shouldn't feel they need to participate (but wouldn't it be fun if they did!) are:

1. Kris and Rich!
   
2. Jenna at Whimsy and Spice!
3. Nicole at Lillyella!
4. Bobbi at KittyGrrlz Spins and Knits!
5. Heather at Sew Happy Jane!
6. Jenny at The Painted Lily!
7. Becke at Ocean Avenue Silks!
   

Crafty Biz and Marketing Essentials Series

I decided during vacation (between Christmas and New Years, if you want to be precise) to create a little more structure for my little blog, including some regular series and elements. One of the keystones will be a business essential series for those of us in the indie/handmade line of work (though it should translate easily to those in the vintage and supplies biz).

I'm not necessarily an expert in indie biz management, but I am a business management professional in real life (seriously!) and have learned MANY new skills in my first year as an indie designer and small business owner. I'll get some guest bloggers to share their experience and wisdom, as well. I hope this will be something that we can all learn from, and also share our collaborative experience and wisdom.

I think one of the toughest challenges for indie biz folks is marketing. Particularly online marketing. Google analytics? SEO (search engine optimization)? Keywords? Craigslist without being flagged and shut down? Blogging? Blog advertising? It can be mind boggling and overwhelming! It's such a mystery to many, while so absolutely essential to our success, that this will be a series all on its own. So stay tuned!

Just a quick tip for Etsy shop owners in this post. If you haven't already heard, Etsy implemented Google analytics for our shops! This is the best thing ever! Without this, I would have never known my shop is getting regular visitors from a bl0g in Turkey! I can now easily see exactly how many clicks my online ads are generating, and which of those are doing more than looking at my site briefly before leaving. I'm in heaven.

Here are some links to really good tutorials on how to set up Google analytics for your shop. You absolutely absolutely want to do this! I'll be more than happy - delighted, even - to help you with the process or to interpret data!

How to set up your google analytics on Etsy or Artfire
Google analytics data

Back to the business of knitting right now! Have a great weekend!

Keeping a little quiet this week

1. First week back at work, and it's been a doooozy.
2. YAY, finished and mailed the last of my before Christmas orders!!! That's all I've been working on since I got home from my folks'! Just ask my poor girls -- they'll tell you all about how abused they've been. :)
3. Recovered from a big old back injury (that was fun) and an inflamed eye (simultaneous and equally fun).
4. Working on my post-Christmas week and custom orders (yay, really and truly fun!).

I watched Paper Moon last night, first time ever, and was completely enchanted! If you haven't watched this Peter Bogdanovich classic, with Ryan (o so young and cute) and Tatum (o my goodness, what a little spitfire) O'Neal, do!!! Talk about a bygone era. When dames and dolls had moxie (and that was a good thing). Before "gents" became "dude!" and still thought that dolls by name of "Miss Trixie Delight" were real quality ladies. :)

Now back to the 21st century. I'll have a big shop update this weekend, I hope!

The one word answer challenge

After enjoying this on Shana's and Dennice's blogs, I'm taking the plunge!

1. Where is your cell phone? dunno
2. Your significant other? hmmm
3. Your hair? scrunchy
4. Your daughter? someday
5. Your son? same
6. Your favorite thing? sleep
7. Your dream last night? forgotten
8. Your favorite drink? dietpepsi
9. Your goal? peace
10. The room you’re in? living
11. Your fear? zombies
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. What you’re not? short
15. Muffins? scones
16. One of your wish list items? confidence
17. Where you grew up? California
18. The last thing you did? sat
19. What are you wearing? sweats
20. Your TV? yep
21. Your pets? sweet
22. Your computer? inspiron
23. Your life? content
24. Your mood? frustrated
25. Missing someone? always
26. Your car? honda
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Favorite store? books
29. Your summer? hot
30. Like(love) someone? once
31. Your favorite color? green
32. Last time you laughed? today
33. Last time you cried? Saturday
34. Who will repost this? hmmmm

Happy 2009!!!

Wow. In 1979, I was listening to the Bee Gees and Andy Gibb during high school (I'm not too proud to admit this!). In 1989, I was hanging at Grateful Dead shows (oh, the stories I'm not going to tell ...). In 1999, I was going to school, working at the University in my fairly new job at the time, and preparing for the dreaded Y2K bug (seems like SO long ago!). What will 2009 bring???



















I hope 2009 brings health, love, happiness, laughter and fun to all of us. And a sudden burning desire to buy truckloads of handknit scarves. :)

We do have a WINNER for my gift certificate giveaway! Marigold's name was chosen via random number generation. I've emailed her and we'll give her a couple of days to confirm. If she doesn't, then I'll go to #2 on the random # list.

What great ideas and feedback you all shared! I love focus groups, so this was perfect. Thank you all!















Ideas I have in the works for 2009 include fingerless gloves/mitts (I need them for myself!) and maaaaybe hats (definitely for next Fall/Winter). I had planned to create some limited children's items, but with the dreaded CPSIA, I'm going to have to pass. We'll see how everything works out. I definitely want/plan to create more men's items, particularly gators (really close knit "cowls" that we first used for skiing, but now they're used for all sorts of things, including just staying warm!).

Well, back to work for me! Well, honestly, I may need to take a nap before work. My swing music is putting me to sleep, and that might not be a bad thing to do on the first day of a brand new year.

Last: I've updated the shop with several new scarves and more are on the way!