Giveaway!!

Giveaways should be fun and spontaneous..this one is not only those things...but it's all potentially delicious!!

Swing by Rik Rak Studios blog for a chance(more than one actually) to win a $25.00 giveaway to a delicious shop on Etsy!

Hurry!!

Falling for Autumn Giveaway!!

Apples and Pears have made their arrival in the Farmer's Markets, it's slowly becoming cooler outside and when you wake up in the morning you get that little dry tickle in the back of your throat.

All of these things spell out the beginning of Fall, at least they do for me =). With that being said I thought today (Labor Day) would be a great way to kick of the coming season with a giveaway!

You'll get to choose between these two gorgeous sets of handmade earrings. Our delicious Halloween cupcake lovelies which are dangle earrings, or our absolutely perfect pumpkin studs. Don't worry, if you lack the pierced ears you can enter as well to win the Halloween cupcake necklace!

So how do you enter you ask? Simple. If you aren't a follower of this blog yet click down there on the page to follow us, then head on over to www.facebook.com/TheEtsyClayCafe "like" us and go to the discussions tab click on the Falling for Autumn discussion and tell us what you love about fall, and if you aren't a big fan of autumn let us know what stinks about Autumn to you! hehe Have fun with it! After you follow these simple steps your name will be placed in a bowl and the winner's name will be drawn out by one of my kiddos.

This giveaway starts today and will go until Friday September 10th that everyone has a chance to get entered. Let your friends know! Even if you aren't big on jewelry these items make great gifts!!

The Clay Cafe

Tomorrow is the big Falling for Autumn earring giveaway! You'll have to check back in the morning for the details to be entered to win some delicious earrings!

I realized that we haven't updated the blog in some time and there have been quite a few changes. If you don't have us "liked" on Facebook then here's the news:

We are slowly moving everything over from Sinner's Sweets into our new shop The Clay Cafe. After long deliberation I decided on The Clay Cafe for the jewelry and we are going to hold off on Sinner's Sweets and keep it for our future bakery.

The link to check out the new shop is www.theclaycafe.etsy.com now we still have items at www.tiffeaddington.etsy.com and those listings will stay until sold or until they expire at which point they will be relisted into the new shop.

The facebook page is www.facebook.com/TheEtsyClayCafe and we'd love to have you as a fan! The facebook page is updated constantly and giveaways are announced there immediately.

Speaking of giveaways...remember to come check back with us in the morning to get the scoop on the Falling for Autumn Earrings giveaway and there will be a second choice for those of you with unpierced ears =)

Christmas is right around the corner at this point and all of our items make great gifts! We get a lot of great feedback from tweens and teens!

Sneak Peek!

New items coming to the Etsy shop this week and the days following!! I've fallen behind on my duties as blogger but all is well!





hehe this Hot Chocolate Lovin' necklace was listed today!!


I've been busy making new items, photographing, editing all that lovely jazz. So here is a sneak peek! Be sure to check the shop daily for new listings!


Who doesn't loooove strawberry shortcake? Especially in the summer time when the berries are sweet and fresh. This is a broach with all the makin's of a great strawberry shortcake. Light pound cake, rich whipped cream and sweet strawberries.







MmMmM...Banana Split!!! This is a mini banana split necklace, one scoop of strawberry one scoop of chocolate topped with hot fudge, whipped cream and a jumbo cherry on top!


Great way to cool off on a hot summer day, this necklace is fun to wear year round (and it won't melt and get sticky...always a plus!)

Tagging Virtual Lab

For those of you that were around the world of Etsy today you know that today was the Tagging Lab! I decided to post about that today because the virtual lab was packed full! I have never seen that many people in the labs ever!!

So in all my nerdy excitement I took a screen capture =) How crazy packed is that lab!!! I didn't get to stay for the full lab but I did get some good tips while I was there. I definitely urge you to go to all the labs you can!

I was in the lab for about 30 minutes of everything that was being said, by the time I left daniellexo was taking questions from the people there.

Here are the notes that I took for myself:

• Add more of your own tags, meaning don't use only subcategories that Etsy has available but be creative and come up with some of your own
• think like your buyer, add tags that you would search for if you were trying to find your item
• use your main material as a tag, this could be very helpful to the buyer as well, for me I would list polymer clay because that is the main material
• look for keywords in your description. I know for myself I always get stuck coming up with tags, daniellexo had a good tip, look through your description chances are you have good keywords in there
• think like the buyer!
• don't forget color! Color is a good tag as well
• for photographers use size as a tag
• always think like the buyer! (have I said that already?) hehe

I don't know if they're going to do another tagging workshop but I think it would be a fantastic idea. Again if you haven't been in the virtual labs they are extremely helpful!

"How do you get to the Virtual Labs?"

Okay, to get to the Virtual Labs log in to your Etsy account and then click on the Community tab (it's where the Buy and Sell tabs are) Then once you've done that click on the Virtual Labs tab and on the right hand side is a schedule of all the labs going on soon.

When I first started Etsy The Newbie lab was a great help and the Shop Critique labs are always a great help too. Another great feature in Etsy are the teams, I'm proud to say that I am a member of the Homefront Team which is an amazing team for military members, and family members you should check it out! I've had nothing but great experiences being a member of this team.

That's all for now Folks!!

xoxoxox!

I know I promised more posts about Autism Awareness and I apologize for not posting sooner. The way I see it..this cause should not be limited to a 30 day spotlight during the month of April, this should be something focused on year long!

Before we get going to far into this blog, if you like any of the items pictured here they are click-able and will take you to the shop where you can purchase them.

What I could do right now is start throwing statistics at you and different figures and a ton of medical jargon. I would hope that you would read through it but I know that those types of posts become dry and hard to read through because they don't grab you and pull you in. It's hard to understand any medical condition reading the medical dictionary definition of it.

I think the best way to help people understand Autism and its affects on people and family is to tell you how it has affected me.

As I mentioned in my previous blog I have a younger brother with Autism, to be more specific he has Asperger's Syndrome. I have other family members with Autism but they are a lot younger than me so by the time they came around and were diagnosed I knew what Autism was. This is why I want to talk to you about my brother. I had no idea what Autism was when we were growing up and I think it's imperative to explain my learning process because you might be able to relate better to that.

I don't know where to begin so bare with me. I can't remember too far back so I'll start where I remember. When I was about 5 or 6 and he was 3 or 4 I knew he was different than me and that he handled situations differently. I remember other kids being stand offish to him because he talked in such a high pitch voice and sometimes too fast to understand. He would throw tantrums when people didn't listen to him or couldn't understand him. When my Dad would leave (he was in the Army and went TDY often) his way of coping would be to bite me and so I was very angry because I didn't understand why he would do these things and why he couldn't just stop.

What I didn't realize was he is just like me, he is a person with feelings and emotions and he reacts differently. He handles his emotions in his own way, there is no book that says how we are supposed to be how we are supposed to react and feel about things. There is no book that dictates "normal".

When we were younger I didn't want to play with him a lot because when I did other kids wouldn't play with me and we were both picked on a lot. It wasn't until I was older that the protector role kicked in. I think I was 8 when that happened. I don't remember exactly what happened but I remember one of the older girls in the neighborhood saying something mean to him. He cried and started screaming at her not screaming anything just screaming with his hands over his ears and she started pointing and laughing. I grabbed his hand and stuck my middle finger up at her. (Mind you I had no idea what that meant, just knew that it wasn't nice)

It took my beloved brother a lot longer to learn certain things, like shapes and colors and reading. If he didn't want to learn it he refused for the most part to even try. He would tell people he couldn't read and wouldn't read when it came to school but he could tell you what a billboard about a movie said. To him that wasn't reading, he was looking at something he liked and just knew what it said. There were plenty of teachers too who didn't understand him and didn't bother to take the time to understand him. There were teachers who were downright mean to him, taking his lunch from him in kindergarten as punishment because he didn't behave the same way other kids did.

It breaks my heart to look back and see all the years he spent growing up being misunderstood because he wasn't "normal". He didn't have a lot of friends growing up but he didn't really seem to care either. He was just fine playing by himself, making up his own stories and going along with them. He would try to make friends but kids would shun him and turn away. He laughed at inappropriate times, obsessed over random things, wanted to hug too much...

Even as we were older and I started to become more familiar with the term Autism and what that meant there were things he did that would grate on my nerves. I would leave a pot of water on the stove to boil and ask him to check it as he walked through the kitchen to see if it was ready and he would stand there and keep saying ," Tiff, the water is boiling....the water is boiling...did you hear me? I said the water is boiling..are you coming to check on the water???" or when we'd leave the house he'd be afraid the door would be left open or come open and the dog would run away, he'd have to get out of the car and check for himself.

Some people would see these things as flaws but I see them as things that make him unique!

He may not be a whiz kid when it comes to Math and you might not catch him reading Shakespeare without a stutter trying to figure out what a word is or what it means but I guarantee you ask him any movie related question and he could write you a book. Movies are his thing and he is an amazingly talented writer! He writes his own unique awesome screenplays (with the help of spellcheck and some proofreading). I wouldn't be surprised if he went on to become a famous director!

He's not bad at all. If you actually took the time, patience, and effort to get to know him you would have the most loyal and loving friend you could ever ask for. My brother is not diseased, he is not broken he does not need a cure nor does he need to be fixed or adjusted to fit into this mold society has created.

If we sought to "fix" these people so many things would be different. Did you know Albert Einstein was autistic? Did you know Thomas Edison was autistic?? The list goes on and on...so the next time you meet someone who is Autistic think about those things.

I love my brother. I love my beautifully gifted Autistic brother. He is special, God made him unique..maybe we're the ones who have it all wrong.

Earth Day is Here!

April 23, 2010..it's Earth Day!!

Plant a tree! Recycle a can! Pick up the garbage you see laying around in your neighborhood! Plan a trip to your Farmer's Market! Or...browse Etsy and cart some amazing and awesome Up cycled items!

I'm still pretty new to Etsy (shh don't tell anyone! ;) ) so when I first saw the term up cycled I was a little confused as to what it meant. Up cycled is really just a catchy way of saying recycled and re purposed. Up cycled is like the designer side of recycling...it's a fun word.

The seller I want to feature today on Earth Day is an up cycling kind of gal who has lots of neat-o stuff that appeals to the geek in me and I want to share that with you. Her Etsy name is KatieAnnCreations...that's also her shop name as well =).

All of her products have been sterilized and have no sharp edges. Be sure to read through her shop announcement if you want to know more!

Her accepted forms of payment are Paypal, and personal checks. All payments must be cleared before she will ship your item! More on her policies can be found under the shop policies link in her shop.

To access her shop you can click on any of the pictures in this post and it should take you to her shop front.

If for some reason the linking is not working today (which would be my luck haha) then here is the link for your browsing pleasure!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/KatieAnnCreations

I for one loooove me some carbonated beverages conveniently packaged in a colorful aluminum can bearing the name of my favorites. I probably enjoy them too often but hey a girl can love her soda can't she? With all the bubbly goodness love there's no surprise as to why this shop caught my eye! The pop top bracelets are fantastic and for all you Twilight fans she has some that look just like your beloved Bella wore in the flick.

She combined two of my favorites in the Pepsi cupcakes you see at the beginning of this post. Are those not insanely awesome! Check out these Monster Energy Star shaped Earrings!!! I'm sure you know at least one person who loves Monster Energy Drinks.

Those are some pretty neat Ear Flare! Not only does she have jewelry she has hair accessories as well. That pop top and bottle cap hair clip is pretty neat too! I can honestly say I've never seen something like that!! KatieAnnCreations items are a fun and unique way to show off you're favorite beverages and at the same time show you care about recycling. Be sure to check out her shop!!

It's Earth Day!! Stop reading this! Go plant some flowers!! =) Get out there!

ArtTales LEFTZ

Earth Day is April 22nd for those of you who haven't glanced at the small print on those lovely calendars =) or if you scribbled over it for all of you busy bodies =).

With that being said I want to share one of my favorite Etsy Sellers with you! ArtTales is the screen name you'd look for over on http://www.etsy.com/ and adorable Upcycled Plushies are what you would be delighted to find.

If you aren't into searching for people via Etsy's search option just click here to go directly to ArtTales shop.

The plushies are playfully called LEFTZ (pronounced Le-ft-e's) and are eco-friendly plushies. Reading through her shop announcement you'll learn that the materials used are found in yard sales, thrift shops, and some come from family and friends. The adorable one eye is created out of vintage buttons and the animal itself is stuffed with plastic grocery bags.

One of these playful critters has even been nominated for Etsy's & The Daily Green's Trash to Treasure Celebration! I highly encourage you to vote for Peewee the Octopus! Click vote to help Peewee the Octopus win!

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than getting one of these absolutely adorable plushies for your bookshelf, they'd even make a cute addition to any end table. Because of the materials used to make these cuties they are not intended to a be a toy or to be used by children.

Make sure to read through the shop policies for all information on shipping, payment, etc. Oh and before I end this blog, I want to share my favorite LEFTZ plushie with you all!

Thanks as always for swingin' by and checking out what we've got going on today! Everyone have a rockin' week! Earth Day is right around the corner, it's a reminder to be conscious about what we do and the impact it may have. Try recycling for the first time if you haven't, or plant a tree or a patio garden!

Or swing by Etsy and help continue to support our Green Handmade/Homemade Artists =)

Thanks ArtTales! ArtTales Blog

Treasury Time Again!

YAY! I was just perusing through the chatrooms on Etsy and mingling with other sellers and discovered that Sinner's Sweets again has an item in a treasury! How exciting!

Kissedbyclover has created a fun fair theme which is perfect for this time of year and the Juicy Hot Dog Necklace is in it!

To view this awesome-tastic treasury click here

I'm working on some more posts about Autism Awareness so keep on checking back with us! I'm also working on new items for the shop as well =) Feel free to comment or e-mail me at any time!

Thanks for swingin' by! Have a great week everyone.

Nap Fail

I was sooo looking forward to an afternoon cat nap after I got the girls in bed! No such luck. The toddler (as he will be one next month..so sad!) did not feel the need to take a nap. I slept for maybe 15 minutes when he decided he was ready to go to sleep and of course after those 15 minutes the girls were awake.

The joys of motherhood! Hahaha I should've known there would be no naps in my future this morning.

Not only was nap a fail..but blogging once a day..fail. I'm such a procastinator! I will sit here knowing I really should type up a blog while I have the time and the kids out of my hair but of course I always find something else that needs to be done at that moment. I will still strive to do a blog a day but its apparent that won't always happen like I want it to.

Now onto some business stuff. =) Last night while the kids were in bed and the husband was studying I finished up some new pieces!

Keep an eye out for pictures but I'll tell you what I made (it was overcast earlier so pictures were a no go but its clearing up). Sinner's Sweets will soon have BLT studs, PB&J studs, a 3 tier wedding cake paper weight (which can be turned into a ring on request!), a hot dog necklace, and a hot dog charm bracelet!

Everything turned out great! I'm so excited to get the pictures done and these babies listed.

On another note. Some of you may not realize but Mother's Day is just around the corner!! Literally one month from today!! Starting the first week in May Sinner's Sweets will be offering 10% off all purchases for those who put 4MOM in the notes to seller! Be sure to snag something truly yum for your mum! Sinner's Sweets has delicious cupcakes and candies for Momma and Momma's to be to snack on or for those waist conscious Mommas we've got plenty of food jewelry to sport your favorite snacks.

Remember all Have a Rockin' Weekend! Keep your chin up even when it feels impossible to do!

Down to Business

I think I've been pretty lazy when it comes to keeping up on this blog. I've never really blogged before so forgive me if I'm not following the rules or standards of the Blog Gods..eventually I'm sure I'll get the hang of this.

So lets start over and see if we can't make this thing work! =)

I'm Tiff, I'm a student, Etsy lover and shop owner, and a crafty domestic stay at home Momma. I am without a doubt hooked on Etsy there are so many great finds and great people! The community on Etsy is very diverse and a lot of fun. My goal is to eventually own my own brick and mortar store front.

I will be using this blog to feature sellers/items that I think are fantastic! As well as give everyone the heads up when I'm going to be listing new items myself!

For all my fellow SAHM out there keep an eye out as I will be sharing some of my favorite recipes for everything from cupcakes to steaks!

So what should we do first? I'm going to share with you some of my newest creations for today =) Ooooh and before I forget..One of my hair bows made into an amazing treasury on Etsy! To see this treasury click here

Here's a taste of the new items

The cheeseburger and pancakes have been mounted on an adjustable ring!

Hope you enjoy them, they were a lot of fun to create. Remember to check back, my goal is a blog post a day =)