Colors, Glass, and New Ideas

The Holidays have come and gone and I have to admit that I'm relieved. I truly enjoy spending time with both my family and the Boyfriend's family, but it is an exhausting experience. It's also been nice to have the traffic back to relatively normal again here by my apartment. Now, I can just sit back and enjoy all of the wonderful gifts that I received! Oh, before I get this blog started, I wanted to note that I often have links to sites throughout each post. Keep an eye open for these links in case you want to know more about the various products that I mention here.

For Christmas, the Boyfriend's step-mom gave me 14 skeins of yarn in various bright colors. I've never had so much yarn at one time! I've spent everyday since Christmas sifting through my collection of knitting and crochet patterns trying to find something epic to make. The yarn that she gave me is Red Heart's Super Saver yarn. It's worsted (4) weight yarn made totally from acrylic. The colors are freaking awesome, but the feel of the yarn is a bit...well, scratchy. It's difficult to make any wearable items from this yarn, which doesn't make it a bad yarn, it's just not a wearable yearn. Despite this I've already started making a scarf using pink, orange, and blue yarn. Oh yes, it's going to burn your retinas when you see it :)

Because each of the 14 skeins has 364 yards of yarn (that's like a zillion football fields), I asked everyone for ideas on stuff to knit or crochet and got some pretty good suggestions. While trying to decide on what to make out of all this new yarn, I've come up with some new ideas for knitting and plan to use my Hobby Lobby gift card to follow through with these ideas. My hope is to eventually get my hands on some bamboo yarn. I've been dying to knit with bamboo as it is super soft and it's a sustainable material. Also, I'd like to try to do more felting with real wool rather than the soy wool I've been using. Because my Rasta scarves get so many complements, I'm cooking up new ideas using the same color combo.

My mom got me way too much for Christmas, but I'm very thankful for it. Part of my move towards being more eco-friendly involves the conversion from plastic to glass. Mom helped me get started by buying me 4 beautiful glass bake ware/food storage pieces from Crate and Barrel. I'd love to link you to the pieces that I have, but I can't find them on the website anymore and think that they may no longer be available. Mom also gave me two glass milk bottles from Farmhouse Wares that I plan to keep filtered water and juice in. By the way, Farmhouse Wares has very pretty stuff for those of you that dig rustic, country, or French Provincial decor. They even have things like honey and tea. I used the cash that I received from family for Christmas to buy a glass canister for our sugar. Pretty much if it's normally packaged in plastic, I want to transfer it to glass.

Summer can't come fast enough for me. I have a topsy turvy that I can't wait to use and may even have the chance to make a composting bin (free soil, yay). Kaya will be happy if I can successfully grow catnip again :)

With a lot of help from my family, I've now got several new items in my apartment that make it far more personal and less like a hotel. I'll save the details on this for my next post and will have some pics for ya.

What gifts did you receive during the Holidays?

Etsy Seller Friday (and a brief update)

My attempts at starting a regular Friday post have been just that-attempts. I'm still not sure that I will keep this as a regular part of my blog, although I really enjoy doing it. This means that at the least, you will see random Etsy seller reviews on this blog. Etsy is a crazy-fun website that needs more attention from the general public, not just from fellow crafters. I tend to feature sellers that make some really unique and sort of kitchy things that I adore, but there are plenty of folks on Etsy that craft unique yet fashionable/chic products. On a similar note, I intend to start blogging a lot more about eco-friendly living. I want to write about eco-friendly living in a tone that is not "preachy." Instead, I hope to share some knowledge and advice that I have learned from my personal experiences as well as get advice and ideas from my readers.

This review is going to be a bit different. Today I'm going to share a little bit about several different sellers and let you do the shopping. I tried to pick a theme that would tie each of the sellers together...so if you're into boho, rustic, Earth-tone chic, you will enjoy this review.

(Photo: Sparkle Philosophy by Flora Bond)

This first photo is a necklace made by Flora Bond. Pretty much all of her peices are "statement" pieces. Each item has a sort of vintage feel to it. Most of her necklaces would be perfect for weddings and other special occasion that call for getting all dolled up.



(Photo: Shabby Rose Corset Skirt by Patches and Rags)

This gorgeous patchwork skirt was made by Patches and Rags. These are some of the prettiest patchwork skirts I've ever seen. They could be both casual or dressed up with the right shoes and jewelry.



(Photo: Grey Ruffle Tank by Sue Bradbury)

Sue Bradbury (her seller name is ellainaboutique) makes all sorts of clothing and accessories. Mostly she has tops, skirts, and handbags in her shop. You'll find plenty of warm, Earth-tones in her Etsy shop. I love that Sue Bradbury's tops look great with a pair of jeans or with slacks. Go look for yourself!

Oops

My bad. I goofed and forgot to do an Etsy seller Friday blog! I'm not sure how this happened, but I do know that it makes me think that I need to change the day that I do these reviews. Especially since there is a chance that I may have to work some Fridays and will totally blank and forget to write a blog. Perhaps I will change it to Wednesdays.

Something that I've been wanting to do for a while is reviews of eco-friendly products. This would include things like household cleaning products, personal care items (I would limit this to things such as lotion or shampoo), and maybe even clothes. I use many eco-friendly products on a daily basis and would love to share a little about them. Oh and while I'm on this topic, I have been searching for a new daily moisturizer. I like the kind that I'm already using but I hate the brand as it is not eco-friendly or cruelty free. I've tried Alba's daily moisturizer but found that it clogs my pores. What daily moisturizers do you ladies use?