A little Dr. Seuss for your Holiday

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  It came without ribbons.  It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes or bags.  And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.  Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.  What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.  ~Dr. Seuss

One Of My Favorite Things

Okay, now you may think I am weird, but this spatula is one of my favorite things.  I use it every day in the kitchen - I'll never use another type of spatula.  I was so disappointed to find out that my local grocery stores stopped carrying these, and was ecstatic to find out that they were for sale on Amazon.  I just stocked up on them so I have them for a long time to come. 

What I love about these Good Cook Touch Spatula Spreaders is that they are much more comfortable in your hand than a regular spatula, plus you have the whole length of the blade to scrape the side of a bowl.  I even use it in the frying pan to stir what I'm cooking.  The silicone is rated to 450 degrees, and it doesn't scratch the pan.  It even acts as a spreader for icings and such.  Give it a try, you'll never want another spatula again.

White Chocolate Raspberry Popcorn

It's almost Christmas and you may need to have some quick little gifts on hand to give to neighbors or co-workers.  This is a fast and easy recipe that always gets rave reviews.


White/vanilla candy melts or almond bark (these melt better than white chocolate chips)
Popcorn (I use microwave popcorn, the less butter the better)
Raspberry Flavoring (from your grocery store baking aisle)
Small (new) travel size spray bottle
Wax paper for counter
Large Bowl for popcorn
Double bolier or microwavable bowl for chocolate
*I found that one bag of candy melts covers 3 micro bags of popcorn.

First, melt your white chocolate either in the microwave or in a double boiler, according to the package directions. Set aside.

Pour some of your raspberry flavoring in the spray bottle. (Since the flavoring is water based, if you added it to the chocolate, it would seize up and not be pourable. If you happen to have access to an oil based raspberry flavoring, you can just add it to the chocolate once it is melted)

Pop your popcorn, and place in a large bowl. Drop several large spoonfuls of the white chocolate onto the popcorn and mix with two large spoons. Keep mixing until thoroughly coated. While chocolate is still wet, spray the raspberry flavoring on the popcorn and mix. Repeat 2 times.

Cover a large area of your counter with wax paper. Pour out your popcorn onto the paper, trying to leave any un-popped kernels in the bowl. Spread the popcorn out evenly.

Throw out the kernels, and begin process again if making more. Just add more popcorn to the previously made popcorn, and mix together. This is helpful if you happen to have one batch that has more chocolate in it, and by combining the batches, you end up with one evenly mixed batch.

Once the chocolate is dry, break up the popcorn into bite sized chunks. This is an opportunity for you to look for any kernels that may have made it into the batch, and you can remove them now.

Package up in cellophane or a plastic bag and tie with a ribbon or pipe cleaner. Add a cute tag with “white chocolate popcorn” on it. You could even put a warning on the label that it is very addictive.

I have tried this with regular milk chocolate and did not like the results. The white chocolate seems to be the best to go with the popcorn. You could probably experiment with other flavors, but I have found raspberry to be much loved.

Enjoy, and have a Merry Christmas!

"Words That Sell" Spices Up Your Etsy Listings

For those of you who sell your items on Etsy, Artfire, Ebay or even your own website, you know that sometimes it can be difficult to find just the right words to make your item sound enticing.  Or perhaps you are tired of using "cute" or "fabulous" on all of your items.

I found myself in the same situation, and wanted to see if I could spice up my listings and engage the buyer.  I wanted to draw them in and let them really feel or experience what it would be like to buy my items.  I began researching this topic and happened upon this book.  I have found it to be a very useful tool.  It is written with copywriters in mind, giving you lists of words for various subjects.  For example, there is a whole page of words under the title Fabulous.  Now I won't just have fabulous jewelery.  I might have something that is opulent, striking, unsurpassed, or even off the charts.

I know when I am rushing to get an item listed, I tend to just slap some words into the listing and get it posted, especiall when my creativity gene is still asleep.  With this handy reference tool by my side, I have thousands of words at my disposal, and I am ready to give my listing dramatic, spectacular and robust descriptions.

This book has received many great reviews on Amazon.   Check it out! 

Fall Fabric Sale

HappyBugDesigns is celebrating the arrival of Fall in Las Vegas! From October 6th - 8th all the items in the Fabric Sale section will be 10% off. This is in addition to the almost at or below cost pricing that is already on these items. I need to make room for Santa's elves to do some work in the studio, so this fabric needs to find a new loving home.

Go to the Fall Fabric Sale now

7 Steps to increase your sales using EtsyOnSale.com

For those of you who sell on Etsy, there is a fabulous new website which has an application that lets you put either your whole store or one section on sale all at once. No more changing prices, one by one. This is the simplest and quickest app you can imagine.

Here are 7 steps you can do to maximize your sales.

1. Set up your sale on EtsyOnSale.com.
2. On your Facebook fan page, create an event for the sale, using the same time frame as you put on Etsyonsale.
3. In the More Info section of the event you created in Facebook, add a link to your shop or shop section that is on sale.
4. Invite everyone to your event, updating your fans, and inviting your personal friends.
5. Go to the Etsy forum, to the Promotions section. List the sale, make sure the name matches exactly the sale name you used for your event on Facebook. Add a link to the event in Facebook. Add a link to the section you have on sale, or to your store.
6. Keep the forum post alive by commenting or adding photos or updates.
7. If you Blog or Tweet, make sure to mention the sale in each venue. Use the exact name you have used for all the other areas you have posted the sale.

EtsyOnSale not only places your items on sale, and removes the sale prices when the sale is over, but your items are also featured on their website as well.

Lettering Delights Dollar Days Sale

I absolutely love all of the fonts and graphics that Lettering Delights has on their website.  I love to make gift tags, cards and scrapbook titles with the various alphabets and graphics.  Lately I have been learning to  use their black & white doodlebat fonts with colors and I'm amazed at how great they look in color.  They also have a nice selection of samples to give you ideas of how you can use their products.
Right now, until Sept. 1st, they are having a dollar sale.  With the economy the way it is, I try to stock up during these fabulous sales.  Although I have hundreds of their fonts and graphics, I found myself going back and looking at their product with a new eye, thinking of new ways to use their graphics. 

Stop using the boring fonts that came with your computer and add some style to your printed work.