Fires / Shop Reorganization

The other night, Mom woke me up after taking the puppies outside for their 3am "duty".  She got me up to check around outside with her, because she smelled smoke.  So, there we go wandering around outside with flashlights in our nightgowns checking for fires.  The grass and the trees and the shrubs, well just about everything, are crispy.  We could see smoke drifting past the lights, but after thorough scanning of the surroundings and the roof, we concluded that the fire wasn't close.

Once inside, I did some scouting around on the internet and found that the smoke we were smelling, was coming from a fire over 75 miles away.  The website I referenced, www.wunderground.com,  showed that we were in the smoke field from the huge Bastrop fire that continues to expand unencumbered by the intense work of the firefighters working so hard to save homes, property and animals.  Unfortunately, the website also showed just how many and how widespread are the fires in Texas.  The best we can do at this point is pray for those losing their homes, pray for the firefighters, and pray for rain.

As far as the shop, I thought I would try re-organizing the jewelry by color.  My thought was that it might give it a more pleasant, cohesive look.  If you get a chance, please take a look at my shop and let me know what you think.

Here are a couple of Treasuries featuring items from my shop.  The first was created by LindaB and the second by midnightcoiler.  Thank you both for including me in your lovely Treasuries!!!  So, have a look, enjoy....and have a blessed week!

Christmas in July

It's SO TERRIBLY HOT these days! A friend had posted this wonderful clip to facebook...



It seems the best remedy is to dream of those beautiful days of wintry chill (well, that and Air Conditioning!). A little nice music doesn't hurt either.

Anyway, as long as we are longing for cooler weather, I guess it's a good time to remember that Christmas is just around the corner! My goodness, this year is going by fast. I noticed last week that the local craft store (Hobby Lobby) is already putting their Christmas stuff out! So, I thought this might be a good time to start Christmas shopping. Here are some Etsy shops that are having sales right now...


RomanticThoughts - RomanticThoughts.etsy.com
- Offering a 15% Discount, just enter the coupon code BLOGJUNJUL11 when you check out.

MagdaMagda - MagdaMagda.etsy.com
 - Offering Free Shipping during the month of July.  No coupon code necessary.

Town and Country Vintage - TownandCountryVntage.etsy.com
- Offering a 20% Discount, just enter the code PROMOFRENZY when you check out.

Crystal Photography - CrystalPhotography.etsy.com
- All items tagged "Christmas in July", as well as bookmarks, individual greeting cards, and prints up to 5x7 in size are on for free shipping!
- Clearance Section: Buy one get one free of equal or lesser value. Please state the free item (from clearance section) in message to seller.

Powers of Love - PowersOfLove.etsy.com
- Christmas in July Sale. 20% Discount, just enter the coupon code JULYXMAS when you check out.

Bounty of Beads - BountyofBeads.etsy.com
- Clearing out  Polymer Clay Beads and Lampwork Beads sections.  "Make me an offer on the entire section sale"  - If anyone is interested in purchasing either of those ENTIRE sections at one time, I am entertaining ALL offers. 

Linda B's Jewelry - LindaB142.etsy.com
-  15% off any total purchases in the Christmas In July section of my shop over $12 (does not include shipping). Must use coupon code CAS711.



Here is this week's Treasury -

Treasuries

This week, I worked on building Treasuries. Treasuries offer Etsy members, whether they are buyers or sellers, the opportunity to put together groupings of items from various Etsy shops, displaying and promoting items that the Treasury curator appreciates.

Here are two of my Treasuries that made it close to the top of the Treasuries listing -


This one actually made it to the number two spot on the list of Treasuries...


Oh, I thought I would add just one more. Since the economy is not great, I thought that a Treasury of items on Clearance might be fun. There are some really nice items on Clearance. Here are just a few...


The creator of the spoon ring in the top row of this treaury sent me a message to pass on to readers of my blog. They are offering a 10% discount on anything in their shop. Just use the coupon code BLOGREADER10 when you check out. Their shop is called Revisions and can be found at Revisions.etsy.com.

Reminder: For those following my Blog, I have a coupon code that can be used in my shop . It is good for 15% off your entire purchase. Just enter the code BLOGJUNJUL11 when you check out.

Just have to throw this in - WE HAVE RAIN! It has been about 6 months since we have had rain! I am sure that there are many folks around here rejoicing this morning. God is GOOD! Have a blessed day!

Mixing Old and New

This week, I came across some old vintage jewelry that got me thinking about mixing pieces of old and new.  So far, I have been able to make two pieces - a bracelet and a necklace - that combine both pieces from vintage jewelry and new pieces.

The hard part was taking the vintage pieces apart!  But, I like how these two pieces came out.  The bracelet sold the first day it was listed.  Anyway, here are some pictures of these two new pieces:

If you would like information on these pieces or would like to see more of the 70 some odd treasures that I have listed in my Etsy shop, please come visit at RomanticThoughts.etsy.com.

Reminder - once I reach 100 followers on this blog, I will be giving away a bracelet to one of those wonderful first 100 followers.  I am having a similar giveaway on the Facebook Fan Page for Romantic Thoughts, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Romantic-Thoughts-and-Treasures-Etsy/144182138988286 .  One of the first 100 people to "like" the facebook page will also win a bracelet.

One last thing - I wanted to share my latest Treasury, "What Every Lady Needs" -

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dee5f6e4d128eef202fddbd/what-every-lady-needs

Thanks for stopping by - And have a GREAT DAY!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update - a couple of new items in the Old Meets New collection, combining parts from vintage jewelry and new jewelry components:

Choker that goes with bracelet, above

New bracelet