Can You Hear Me Now?? treasury

They say- Don´t be rude!

But there is no other way to say it:

There is too much time spent on the internet: promoting, chatting, tweeting, pining, commenting, liking and etc. I need to set a time limit, alarm clock even, otherwise I´ll go insane :) 

Biz TIPS for small sellers! # 1

Well, if you are serious about building an Empire  a business that will be profitable, growing and bringing you joy and making you proud, then you are, like me, looking for some tips on how to succeed.
So let´s share them.
So here are two articles that I´ve read and really liked:
One is from a blog- On the Dot Creations and it is addressing directly sellers on Etsy! Julie, who wrote this article, has a lot of other interesting tips for handmade sellers, so make sure to check her blog!
1. Secrets of savvy Etsy sellers

And a second one is an article from Online Wall Street Journal!
2. Make Social Networks Work for Your Start-Up

Please comment if you think that this was helpful, so that I can continue posting tips! :)

Dragon Feathers

Oh my dear Inner Dragon-Slayers!

This one is for you, people with great imagination! :)

Hand plucked cut felt feathers with embroidery. Love this egg white color of the cotton with bright felt. Hope you like it.

More description here in my shop.

My first treasury!!!

I was featured in my first (let's hope not last) treasury on Etsy!!!
It´s called Creativity for Kids by SakakiSins (she has a lovely shop by the way!)
And it´s  a perfect name for a treasury where I would want to see my items! Perfect!

Kids craft

These simple lanterns are perfect for children 3,5 years old and up! As long as they know how to use safety scissors (there are a lot of different ones for kids).

That´s what we were doing as our Easter project today.

We also cut out some cute bunnies along the way, so they can hide in the lanterns :) 

I glued and Vee colored the bunnies. Total of one hour + some dancing and singing = happy child!

    
 

Art and Nature: A Beautiful Pairing

This is one of the topics on Etsy blog that made me stop.

Unplug and go outside - that´s what I usually tell my hubby! We are so connected to gadgets that totally disconnected from nature! I think I just have to get this card for him now! :))

Curious finds

A little gingko for your notes :)

And then this tea diver, isn´t he cute? :)

And last for today, is this incredible design of vase molds:

These are the things that I want, even the mold to make vases (that I have no idea what to do with it at my house) :)

Easter is getting closer!

It´s practically right in front of me and I still didn´t even plan anything.
I do, however, have a great and fast recipe to color eggs that I want to share.
We don´t do different colors, I prefer one, but pretty :)
It´s a typical russian tradition.
Here is how we do it in our family:
You need onion peel, the more, the better. (just a normal onions that you cook with, but instead of throwing this light brown dried peel out, you save it. It doesn´t take much space and you can do it for a few months before Easter)
Actually it all depends on how many eggs you need to color.
So you take all your onion peels and put them to boil in a big pot.
First put in the peel and then add water, so that it will just cover the peel.
Boil it for a little bit, switch of the stove, let it sit for a while, so that it won´t be too hot, and then add eggs (boil them before in a salty water, as you would normally do to cook them, so that they won´t crack). Submerge the eggs and cover them with peel, so that they can get colored all over.
And leave it all to cool on the stove.
I usually leave the eggs for a few hours. And I do it night before.
And that´s it!
When taken out, dry them with a paper towel and cover with a little bit of olive oil for a shine!
The longer eggs sit in the onion peel, the deeper color they get.

You can also decorate the eggs (before submerging) with parsley leaves or other herbs that you have. That way the spot, where the leaf is, won´t get colored and will stay nicely marked!

    Very natural coloring!

If you will try to do this, please comment below!! :)

I am a MOM and I am proud of it!

MOM - a verb, used to describe an action that involves:

mothering

smothering with love and kisses

teaching to walk

feeding with healthy foods

breastfeeding

saying NO and sticking to it

following the routine

allowing to be loud 

teaching to express opinions and feelings

battling with your kid´s thumb-sucking/ pacifier sucking 

playing in monsters and princesses (sometimes at the same time)

running after and jumping with

telling stories and singing songs (that can be anywhere)

making bubble baths with peach flavors (not for myself)

picking toys

stepping on toys

learning how not to say bad words out loud when stepping on toys (especially on lego)

preferring to use high-heel-free shoes on a daily basis

sneaking in a cup of coffee now and then

taking photos to memorize all the progress/drawings/name writing/etc...

And since I am a stay at home MOM, that also involves (at least in my case):

house cleaning and grocery shopping, 

taking a KID to school/preschool/kindergarden/play dates/birthday parties/ school field trips 

arranging: play dates/ birthday parties/ family field trips

participating in all of the above!

And of course I am trying to jump start my own thing, which is SINIKETTU on Etsy and that just has to be squeezed in between of all of the above...

Now, of course my daughter is only (almost) 4, so the list will grow, but one thing is for sure:

MOM means unconditional love 24/7, whatever your child does!

xoxo,

Lena

New project

Have you ever started a project and then in the middle of it realized that it came up as something different than you planned? Well, it´s always like that for me! I don´t know when it changes but I am starting todo/cut/sew one thing and it comes up as something totally unplanned. 

For now a sneak peek:

      

GREEN is GOOD!

You can see it here in full: Green treasury from Etsy!
For me, as for a russian girl with a lot of relatives still living in Russia, this laptop cover is very close to my heart. I love russian shawls and I think they are the itchy-but-warm reminders from my childhood. I actually still use them in winter, for my neck, not for a laptop :))

Laptop sleeve by Goda

I also LOVE the colors on this geometric necklace. I don´t know why, but lately I am particularly attracted to all green and blue tones.

Bib necklace by Astrid R.

Blooming red 3D poppies

My blooming poppies under the spring blue sky pillow cover is now on Etsy!

No allergies to pollen, no need to water... perfect spring flowers to have on your sofa (you can even spray your favorite perfume on)!

My child likes to play imaginary gardening with her toy watering can. So cute!

I like how the grass came out. Looks very nice. Oh, and the hand-embroidered rolling clouds?! Did you notice that?

The rain in Spain, stays mainly in the plain :)

Oh this is so true! At least in Barcelona it´s rarely rains. I love rain! I love heavy showers and thunderstorms and lightnings! And the best part comes after the rain, when in a still gloomy sky you can see the rainbow. And the smell, oh, this fresh, grassy smell of just passed rain (deep sigh) ...  We certainly don´t get that here, in Barcelona.
I think some inspiration comes from desperation, don´t you think?

So this is my answer to this too-hot-eye-hurting-sunny weather : my GLOOMY pillow!

   

How many things...

one should know and learn about opening a shop on Etsy, it´s impressive!
Product description, tags, traffic, good photos... and all this goes after one simple rule: that your product doesn´t suck! :)

FAIRYTALE POUF

This is one of the last things that I´ve made and I have to admit that even on photos it doesn´t look as brightly colored as it does in real life! FAIRYTALE POUF

Seven seas pillow covers! A story of three!

In the Seven Seas, passing TSUNAMIs and BIG WAVEs on your sturdy SHIP, lie the Neverlands! Hug these pillows, close your eyes and just imagine away!

Officially on ETSY

So I made it official, Etsy and me are connected. And by connected I mean I opened my shop sinikettu on Etsy Very excited!

Talking about things that inspire!

I love trees and these are definitely one of the interesting ones! Did you know that there is a Dragon´s Blood Tree?!! How cool is that?!
Top 10 Amazing Trees

Seven seas

That reminds me of my dad stories, that he told me when I was little, about all his sailing :)
Still a work in progress!