Winter Wonderland

Currently in Texas with family for the holidays.

It's been a great white holiday season.

Actually snowing right now and its a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!!

Pictures to come.

Internet connection likely to fail.

Happy New Year!

Kreativ Blogger Award

December is kicking my behind!

Last weekend, I stumbled upon the Tradeaholics Trade & Stay event on the Etsy forum.

I had such a blast following the thread all weekend, making new Etsian friends, and trading with great Etsy sellers. I've also had the pleasure to visit the post office quite a few times this week because of all the trading fun. I've even started to receive some awesome wares in the mail (will blog about all that in the next post :) It's like Christmas alllllll month for me.
 
So yesterday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I been passed the Kreativ Blogger award from a very talented Etsian, Ume Origami. Thanks so much for thinking of me. I am so honored!

The award came with some requirements in order to receive it:

• Copy the Kreativ Blogger picture and post it on your page
• Thank the person who gave it to you and link back to their blog
• Write seven things about you that we don’t know
• Choose seven other bloggers that you would like to give the award to
• Link to the bloggers that you choose
• Let the winners know that they have the lovely award.

So seven things about me that you may (or may not) know:
1. I'm a craft & art junkie. I love it all - scrapbooking, jewelry, painting, drawing, photography, ceramics, etc. I want to learn how to crochet next !!!
2. I've been married for 1.5 years to my best friend of 7 years (who was also my first and only boyfriend)
3. My pet family is large: 1 dog, 1 hamster, 1 super goldfish from the OC Fair (still going strong after 5 months!), 3 geckos, and a hognose snake. My husband and I joke we should charge admission when people visit.
4. I was homeschooled for all of middle school and skipped 9th grade.
5. I want to go to Europe so bad it hurts.
6. When I was younger, I raised and breed Bearded Dragons. Super cute little guys - check them out. They make great pets for kids.
7. I love food. Love it. Love it. Do you follow any awesome cooking or recipe blogs - send it this way please!

Seven blogs that I am recommending for this award are
1. Bathgasm
2. Burningmoon Products
3. Indie Fixx
4. The Long Thread
5. Kim Le Photography
6. Akane Designs
7. Gramkin Paper Studio

Very talented bloggers. I love all their postings and I hope you do too. Check them out now!

Show me some Treasure Tesoro!

I am a Craftopolis Addict! The first thing I look at is always the Treasury Clock. I check that thing maybe 3 times a day.

I have been lucky enough to snag a couple of Treasuries over at Treasury West but today, I snagged a Treasury at the actual Treasury Main. I was sooooo excited! I was working at the time that I was waiting for it to open so when it did open, I was so hurried I didn't really think about titling. I picked the first thing that came to mind - Whimsical.


I'm so glad that I "didn't think at the time" to get Whimsical because I had so much fun putting it together. I started an Etsy forum thread asking for whimsical items. After browsing many shops (so fun!), here is the finished product:

Don't you love it? I just loooove the collection of items I found. Go check it out for yourself here.

Have you recently created a Treasury or in one? I wanna see. Post it below. 

We have a Winner!

Last week's giveaway - for any item valued up to $20.00 - from Tesorojewelry.etsy.com ended last night with a total of 76 comment entries!

After plugging in the numbers, here's what the random integer generator over at Random.org gave me:

Sooooo congrats to commenter Spamgirl for being the 22nd poster. Perfect for the week that just passed, her post was all about what she was thankful for!

Thanks so much to everyone who commented! For participating, I'd like to offer you 10% off an entire order in my store.

Enter the code GIVEAWAY in the "message to seller" when you check out with your Paypal account. I will refund you the 10% back via Paypal.

Thanks again & have a great week everyone. Oh, can you believe tomorrow is December? Are you ready for it? The start of the new month means a brand new special at Tesorojewelry.etsy.com.

Wait for it....wait for it....

For December, every purchase at Tesorojewelry.etsy.com is 25% OFF! (I will refund your Paypal account within 24 hours of purchase)

Psst...for those that entered the giveaway, you could get 35% OFF an entire order at Tesorojewelry.etsy.com. Just for ya!

:)

Black Friday Sale - FOR THE WEEKEND!

Tesorojewelry.etsy.com is having a 50% off sale for the next 24 hours weekend. 


Now that our bellies are full - its time for shopping before Round 2 tomorrow, right?!?!!


I actually did some Black Friday shopping today - on Thanksgiving - at Old Navy. They had some great deals and the crowds were minimal. I might brave Target and Best Buy tomorrow. I don't know - it could be dangerous.


Anyways, back to the savings at hand!


From now until 11:59 midnight PST Sunday, November 29th, every item in my shop tesorojewelry.etsy.com will be 50% off - just indicate BLACK FRIDAY in the "message to seller." (Please note: The current monthly special, BOGO, will not be in affect during this time). Refund will be via Paypal.

Who do you have on your shopping list? Do you have mom, sister, daughter, girlfriend, fiance, wife, best friend checked off?


Also, Thanksgiving Giveaway is still going on until Sunday, November 29th at 11:59pm PST.  Check out  the details at http://tesorojewelry.blogspot.com/2009/11/its-time-for-giveaway.html for a chance to win any item in tesorojewelry.etsy.com valued up to $20.00 for FREE!

It's time for a GIVEAWAY!!!

Happy Sunday! I am sooooo excited for a very special meal coming up on Thursday - are you?

I LOVE Thanksgiving Dinner. I have lit-ra-lee been salivating about Thanksgiving dinner since before Halloween so no one bring up gravy, mashed potatos, cranberries, or stuffing okay? it's just cruel.

So I figured it's a special week, let's make it even more special with a giveaway!

For this one, one lucky winner will win ANY item from Tesoro Jewelry valued up to $20.00.

What's $20.00 and under you ask? Here's a couple visuals for ya.

Howlite Ring

Ruby Quartz Row Ring

Two Hearts Bracelet

Etched Wood Pendant

You can check out make items for $20.00 or less at tesorojewelry.etsy.com.

This giveaway will end Sunday, November 29th at 11:59pm PST.

How to enter - please include your email address in every comment you make:

Mandatory

1. Follow my blog and let me know in 1 comment.

2. Go to my Etsy store, tesorojewelry.etsy.com, take a look around and tell me in a comment here what your fave item is.

Optional for extra entries!

3. Heart tesorojewelry.etsy.com - 1 Entry

4. Buy an item from tesorojewelry.etsy.com - 10 Entries (psst...November is BOGO month at tesorojewelry.etsy.com so if you buy one item, you can choose another item from my shop for equal or lesser value for FREE)

5. Twitter about this giveaway (@Tesoro_Jewelry) - 1 Entry per day

6. Blog about this giveaway (include link to post on blog) - 1 Entry

7. Post a comment about this giveaway on your facebook - 1 Entry

8. Become a fan of TesoroJewelry on facebook - facebook.com/tesorojewelry - 1 Entry

9. Comment on what you're most thankful for! - 1 Entry

That's up to 18 entries!

The winner will be picked by random # generator on Monday, November 30th. Check back then to see if you have won!

This giveaway is open to US & INTERNATIONAL participants.

GOOD LUCK!

Ellie's Escapades: 

Ellie's been settling in reallllly well. It feels like we have had her for years, not just 1 week.

Last night, Ellie discovered Jersey the Hamster. She stayed like this for quite some time. I wonder what she was thinking right?

Ellie's Story

* Name change alert. I felt Nyla didn't fit her so she has been officially renamed Ellie *

These past few weeks, the Hubby and I have been itching for a dog. We thought it would be easy to find the perfect canine addition to our family but we had a few road blocks. It was really hard to decide on size and breed. Since we live in an apartment with only a patio, we decided on a small to medium dog. When we have a bigger place and a yard (oh the luxury of having a yard) we would like to get a collie, blue heeler, or shetland sheepdog. We adored a Schipperke and Shiba Inu (first time seeing and actually playing with the breeds) at a pet store but since we were fairly certain they were from a mill and the cost being the equivalent of a car's down payment, we decided to adopt. Also, I am mildly allergic to some dogs so only certain breeds were in the running. Our work was cut out for us!

We had visited a few shelters but was excited for the Petsmart's Holiday Adoption Event that was this past weekend.

FRIDAY
I was sooo psyched that I was up bright and early to get there when the stores opened.

We arrived at one Petsmart and found...nothing :( No puppies, no dogs, no cats, no rabbits...nothing.  I found out that they weren't setting up until 11 AM - the event was supposed to start at 9 AM! We didn't want to hang around for so long so we went to the next Petsmart and they only had one agency up with ONE dog - a huge St. Bernard. He wouldn't be able to turn around in our place. 

Hubby had to go to work soon so we decided to head back home for some lunch. We live right next to an animal shelter so we thought we'd swing in and see if they had any new pups (we go at least once a week). We spotted a cutie (named Jenna) and she was so affectionate when I pet her through the bars that we asked to visit with her. I really liked her and she was a poodle mix so I didn't think I'd be allergic but I wanted to wait until my dad, a dog trainer, could come check her out. 

We went home and when my dad told me he couldn't make it out I was bummed. I was even more bummed ( I think I cried) when I called the shelter to see if I could put her on hold and they told me someone had already done so. Mind you, only about an hour had gone by. I was holding on to the thought that they might not adopt her but the shelter has a good turnaround with adopting dogs out  :(

SATURDAY
We repeated the previous morning but called the Petsmarts ahead of time to make sure that they were participating in the adoption weekend and that there were dogs there right now. They all said yup and yup.

1st Petsmart - Got there at 11 AM but they weren't even set up. UGH!

2nd Petsmart - There were no tents outside and the place didn't look very busy. We went inside anyways and found one agency in a corner with ONE adult dog. One, again?! She was super cute but we wanted variety. The agency lady (who was not very friendly and answered our questions with a not so slight 'tude) said that the dog had 8 week old puppies and that her partner was at a Petco a few miles away with them. Excited about seeing some young-ins, we thanked her, gave a last pat to momma doggie, and hopped in the car to venture over there. Guess what we found? NOTHING! A Petco cashier said that the agency was supposed to be there but never showed up, didn't even call. At this point we were seriously annoyed. Hubs kept saying he just wanted to see some darn puppies. We were cracking jokes the whole time and were having fun but we were very disappointed. We assumed that there would be a more apparent effort by all of these OC pet adoption agencies to get the pets adopted out. 

We killed some time and grabbed some delicious Krispy Kreme donuts (mmm!) before heading back to the first Petsmart we went to. 

Back to 1st Petsmart - It looked like all 4 agencies were set up but only 2 had animals out to visit with. We visited with some pups but none of them caught our eye.

3rd Petsmart - Only 1 agency with some Chi pups and a really cute Cairn Terrier but the agency lady was talking with her coworker and didn't acknowledge our presence. We asked her a couple of questions but then she went right back to talking.

We called it a day after that but not before stopping by the animal shelter again to see if Jenna was still there. AND SHE WAS! It was still early in the day but they said to check back at the end of the day to see if she had been adopted. I called right at closing and they said she had not been adopted and she would be available first thing in the morning.

SUNDAY

My dad came over first thing and we were at the animal shelter 10 mins before they opened. I saw a family with young girls and secretly hoped they didn't want to see the cute poodle mix Jenna. We immediately requested to see her and after a thorough inspection by dad the dog trainer - we adopted her! As we were leaving, we overhead someone else asking to see Jenna. I bet that if we hadn't gotten there first thing, Jenna would've been adopted out today. Of course she would, she's super cute right?

So... meet Nyla ("Neigh-la," had to rename because Jenna is also the name of my sister in law).P.S. She loves loves loves Nylabones. Ellie (she has been officially renamed Ellie).

She's doesn't have a lick of obedience in her but she's very smart and can almost sit every 3rd time I ask her. She's a huge cuddler. She's also pretty protective and quite a barker if anyone comes within 10 feet of me or DH (we'll be working on that). Haven't had any allergies around her so that's awesome. DH says that she's a good combo of me and him - low key & mellow like me but also energetic at times and silly like him.

I think she's perfect.

Meet Nyla!

We just rescued a cutie from our neighborhood shelter. Meet Nyla! (pronounced Neigh-la). They said she's a 1 yr old Poodle/Terrier mix.

She's asleep right now after her exhausting and exciting day!

 

We had a crazy canine-filled weekend. Will tell the story in a bit but right now, I think DH and I are gonna take a cue from Nyla and nap!

A Treasury, a Blog Review, and a Blog Featurette - Oh My!

This past weekend, I was super stoked to find that Tesoro Jewelry had 2 items featured in 3 places. Woohoo!

Etsian BurningMoon reviewed my cute Turquoise and Gold Nested Ring in her Holiday Guide on her fabulous blog Burning Moon's Inside Advice.

Fellow Etsian Little Prettlings has a wonderful blog where she posts Weekly Featured Products. My Two Hearts Bracelet was lucky to be apart of it this week.

And last but not least - I love me an Etsy Treasury! Etsian Vivilian was feeling the love this weekend and created a treasury about just that where she included my Two Hearts Bracelet! Check it out here!

I love Etsy! It is such a great community of artists. Thanks to Burningmoon, Little Prettlings, and Vivilian for giving some of my products some face time!

Coming up for air

I think I'm back.

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. The Halloween Haunted House my teens group was putting together went off swimmingly and everyone had a great time (ie. had their pants scarred off!). Then, because I'm an idiot, I read the Twilight Saga series - again - and have pretty much been in that world for the last week. I'm ready for the movie.

Love it. Hate it. Cried. Laughed. What is it with that series that makes so many have PTD, "Post Twilight Depression"?

Anyways, I just read Hunger Games to fill the gap. Great story, definitely recommend!

Ya know, PTDalso makes you want to write a novel. I can't imagine sitting down and writing a story but I would love to create another world. I feel inspired!

Next year, I want to try NANO's National Novel Writing Month, which is always held in November. I think its a great motivator for closet novelists. Wanna do it with me?

I think I need an idea first.

Joolwe.com's Free Jewelry Loyalty Reward Program

I just came across this amazing offer by JoolJoolwe.com Online Jewelry Store on the Giveaway Diva blog. Have you heard about Joolwe.com's Free Jewelry Loyalty Reward Program?

Once you make a free account you can start earning points toward free jewelry.

Check it out – it’s free jewelry we are talking about here!

Also if you blog about this amazing program, you can get 30 gold points!!! So right off the bat, you are automatically able to cash in for an item on Joolwe.com for FREE. 

Additional Ways to Earn Reward Points: Besides making purchase at Joolwe.com, additional reward points can be earned by the following methods:

1. (1) Write Review on Items you have purchased. No reward point will be granted to reviews on items you have not purchased - 3 Gold Points
2. (2) Subscribe to our newsletter - 3 Gold Points
3. (3) Blog about Joolwe.com and our reward program. (see Submission form for more detail) - 30 Gold Points
4. (4) Be a guest writer for our blog (Original article only). - 10 Gold Points per article

Check out all the eye candy at Joolwe.com here!!!

I want theseeeee.

Sterling Silver Diamond Cut Embellished Cosmopolitan Hoops

Opportunity to WIN $200. That's right, I said $200 smack-a-roos!

I just entered a super easy giveaway by LuShae Jewelry - another great giveaway listed on the fabulous Giveaway Diva.

All you do is go here, copy a button, and paste it on your blog or social networking site.

I'll say it again, you could win $200 in cash to spend however you like. 

By keeping the button on display, you'll also be entered each month.

Alright, go enter! 

Barbecue Ribs: SUCCESS!

I've been a slow cooker fanatic this last week. When I left my day job, I chewed myself out that I had let DH and myself become so dependent on fast food and take out. I told myself that we would start eating at home more - for our health and to save money.

BUT, since my art classes and tutoring sessions don't get me home until about 7 at night, the slow cooker has quickly become my best friend.

Let's see, we've had sour cream chicken (pretty good, would do it again), chicken and stuffing (awesome), spaghetti (i've made this before, MIL's recipe, ridiculously good), and my latest triumph - barbecued ribs.

These were so simple I could have done it in my sleep. You must try it! Just get some country style pork ribs (I used pork spare ribs), your favorite barbecue sauce, salt and pepper, and you're set.

Check out the recipe here but really, it's so easy! Barbecue Ribs

Want a visual?

Mmmmm!

Snickerdoodle. FAIL

I know I haven't written in awhile. I feel like I've been around the world twice in the last couple of weeks. I hope to write about it soon but for now, I need to boast my bad cooking kills.

I don't know how I did it but I was able to completely botch this highly recommended recipe for Snickerdoodles.

I've been craving snickerdoodles all week and I just reallly really want one.

All the reviews said it was super easy but I still messed it up.

I'm still running the batches as we speak and DH says they are fine but they are flat as a pancake and NO softness what so ever. I can't even bring myself to take a picture for you.

So. Snickerdoodle. FAIL.

Falls in full swing!

My Etsy Friend @Bathgasm made her first Etsy Treasury today. I must say, what a fine job she did!

I just love fall colors. Beautiful colors and great collection. Isn't my Carnelian Bracelet such a cutie up there!? Thanks Alyson!

You can check out Alyson's Handmade Bath & Spa Products at
http://bathgasm.etsy.com
http://www.facebook.com/bathgasm
http://www.twitter.com/bathgasm

In other news, just had a crazy 4 day weekend full of lions, tigers, and bears + massive amounts of cleaning. Great combo right?

My last day of "official" work is this week. Hope to get with the season and get my productivity going full swing! Get it?

- Jess

Two for Two

Got a shop lift and added a new listing - all in one night!

First

I got a spontaneous shop lift tonight! Awesome Etsian Vickinator was kind enough to offer a free banner to one fellow Etsian. Well, I was all over that so I said please! and ta-da...got not one but two awesomeeeely put together banners.

I love them. The warmer one is up right now for the lovely Fall season.

Vickinator, in addition to offering graphic designs, also sells quality buttons and pins at her Etsy Shop.

Thanks Vicki!

Second

I've spent the last few days hand shaping little hearts and designing some rings and bracelets. While I should have many things to show you after so much blood, sweat, and tears (ok, there really wasn't that much blood, sweat, and tears. There WAS however, a lot of wire used unsuccessfully, let me tell you!) I only have one to show you. (I know. I'm slacking.)

Two Hearts Bracelet by TesoroJewelry

Hey, I felt like showing some love :)

- Jessica

Treasure Eye Candy

Ready for something sweet?

I tried to get my own Treasury this morning on the Etsy Treasury but I stupidly kept refreshing and missed it.

But Etsian Schiersknits cooked up a sweet Treasury of her favorite color - Turquoise.

And guess what! My cute little Turquoise and Gold Nested Turquoise was featured in it!

Isn't it lovely? Isn't it grand?

Happy Friday everyone!

- Jessica

Featured!! How cool is that!

So this morning, I was thrillllllllleeeeddd to wake up and see a sweet tweet from twitter friend Jackie (@EtsyToday).

My little Onyx Eye of the Beholder Ring had caught her fancy and was being featured on her awesomely fun and chic website, Etsy Item of the Day.

You can check out her featurette here Etsy Item of the Day - Onyx Wrapped Ring

Jackie regularly features great items from Etsy Sellers via her blog and twitter. I definitely recommend following her tweets and blog - you won't be disappointed!

Thanks again Jackie!

- Jessica

Guac-a-mole!

How was your manic Monday?

Mine started with a overly hectic 5 hours at work (T-minus 10 days - more on that later) and when I left, I had a suzie homemaker itch to cook dinner. But not just cook dinner (I love to cook but I don't cook a variety of things) I wanted to cook something I've never cooked before.

I thought about...called the DH for ideas....and decided if I wasn't going to cook, I'd want On the Border's Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas. So that's what I cooked :) Well attempted....

Usually if I want a recipe of a dish from a chain restaurant, trusty Google always delivers - but no luck. It wasn't even listed on their menu anymore.

I searched Recipezaar, Martha, and AllRecipes but found the winner on a random forum.

I spent the rest of the afternoon coupon cutting, filling an order, ran into DH on his way in and my way out (perfectly timed right?), braving the post office, and doing a grocery run.

Once home, it only took about 50 minutes from grocery bags to the table. Even DH helped as the official green chili chopper - except he cheated. He busted out our never used wedding gifted mini food processor. I can not believe we have not used it in the 15 months we've been married. It is awesomely efficient.

Once DH discovered the processor - we instantly had chopped chilis, guacamole, and pico de gallo. Who knew right?

I took a couple of pictures of everything but really, enchiladas in a 9 x 13 do not look visually appealing so I will only subject you to

Guacamole!

Dinner was pretty good I think - a bit spicy but DH really liked it! The sauce was the best part!

Things to remember for next time - don't listen to DH and do fry the tortillas beforehand, less green chilis, and get cotija cheese!

In case you were wondering - the recipe I used is here. I tried to copy and paste it here but blogspot won't let me :( The recipe is in the 2nd response from the top by member: NightFlier.

Enjoy and let me know how it goes if you try it!

Awesome Artists GIVEAWAY

Yayay! I'm apart of the Awesome Artists Giveaway Edition II.

Check it out here Live Breathe Dream Etsy: Awesome Artists Giveaway !

You could win 1 of 5 giftbaskets (totaling $260.00)

My Chunky White Rock Crystal Ring is included!

I wish I could enter the giveaway. The gift baskets are awesome! :(

Over so soon?

I think it hit me for the first time today. Summer is officially over..... sad face :(

I won't lie, there have been clues.

• Halloween, Thanksgiving, & Christmas decorations at Michaels (can you believe that, a little over 3 months away)
• Its getting darker sooner
• Seasonal allergies :(
• Starting to look for flights for the holidays
• and the biggest - MORNING TRAFFIC. Its like a thorn in my shoe that increases my morning drive from 30 minutes to 50-60 minutes.

And now, the real kicker, its getting colder.

On Wednesdays, my nephew comes over and he and DH go swimming in our complex' pool. Usually, I go swimming too or hang out and watch - and by watch I mean throw the kid in whenever I get the chance :0

But today, I opted not to swim even though the water was a toasty 84 degreesand had to adorn a light sweater. Can you believe that? A light sweater is so final.

To top it off, all I wanted to do was sit in here.

Well, bye Summer! We had a great run - birthdays, Vegas, first wedding anniversay (woohoo), Montana. I'm going to have to blog about all those to relive the memories!

Hello Fall! Can you beat Summer?

WINNER - Blue Lapis Ring Giveaway

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

I want to say a huggee HUGE thank you to all those that participated in my first every giveaway. I think it was a great success and I loved reading all of the comments.

Thanks to Random.Org, the winner is........*drum roll*.....

Wonderful commenter Kylie B - I'll be contacted you shortly!

Again, thank you to all the participants and please check back often. I'll be doing another giveaway in a week or so.

Loving the love!

Jessica

Comment Malfunction

So sorry to recent Giveaway commenters but it seemed that my new layout (like the 3-columnness?) did not allow for Embedded Posts Below.


I panicked but discovered that it could all be easily fixed by setting comments to pop up window mode.

Commenters that contacted me directly will be added in order of receiving them after the 52nd commenter for the Giveaway.

Hope your enjoying your weekend - off for some Shirley's Bagels (aka. best bagels in SoCal!)

Hear Him Roar!

The other day I was doing my "don't think about it routine drive to work" and thought what a great idea it would be to do portraits of "Kings" as in Kings of their jungles!

Soooooo this is my first painting in the series. I really hope to continue this series because I love the concept.

I'm thinking painting #2 will be that big Rock Iguana in one of my previous posts. What do you think?

Twitter Feed testing

I'm diving into the world of TWITTER.

I just signed up for twitter feed. This is a test

GIVEAWAY!

So in honor of my very first time on the Etsy Showcase (check it out here http://www.etsy.com/showcase.php).

I'm also going to do my very first Giveaway here on my blog.

I'll make it simple - leave me a comment here on your favorite item in my Etsy Shop http://tesorojewelry.etsy.com/ by Sunday, September 13th, 11:59 PM PST and I will pick at random a winner (thanks to Random Integer).

Winner will be announced Monday, September 14th.

Want to know what you'll win? Of course you do!

Semi Precious Faceted Blue Lapis stone with anti-tarnish silver wire.

Ok! Show me some love! 

(Please leave me with some way to contact you - email address, etsy shop name, etc. If you are uncomfortable leaving your email address as a comment, please contact me on my blog)

Proud parents!

The North American Reptile Show was at the Anaheim Convention near Disneyland this holiday weekend.

DH was excited (that doesn't even do it justice, you'd think he was a kid going to Disneyland for the first time) and we were there bright and early Saturday morning!

I've always been into animals - wanted to be a vet for most of my childhood. I even had Bearded Dragons (eight of them!) as a kid and bred them. They were so cute!

So I was excited too!

There was so many people there and soooooo many reptiles, snakes, and even creepy crawlies. I can't do the creepy crawlies. I'm cringing just thinking about all the hissing cockroaches, scorpions, and spiders I saw. No thank you!

He was the show stopper. So many people were taking pictures of this guy! He was pretty mellow and awesome looking. He was probably loving the attention or maybe not.

They look plastic.

Cute right?

DH's favorite - little hog nose snake. I have to admit he is really cute.

We have 2 female Crested Geckos at home and DH has been thinking about breeding them like 3-4 months down the line.

We walked around the place about 4 times and then decided that it would be more cost effective to get a male Crested Gecko now. Plus everything we needed was all right there. So we circled the place another 2 times looking at all the males and then decided on this guy.

Meet Leo! I think he's pretty cute and I think the girls think he's pretty cute too!

Giveaways - Read all about em!

I really want to do a giveaway so I've spent the whole morning reading article after blog after website about how to go about doing one and where to advertise it. I'm not quite ready to do one yet but this is what I've found. Enjoy and please let me know what else you've found!

EtsyGiveaways They twitter and have a fan club of over 700 people. I looked into some of the contests and a BRAND NEW blog (started 9/5) had 48 comments on their giveaway post. Amazing for exposure!

Where do you advertise your giveaways? Older post by Etsy shop ShinyAdornments. Pretty impressive list of sites, blogs, and threads.

TheGiveAway Diva This is an extremely popular blog for giveaways. One of the #1 sites I ran into.

Sharing Etsy Knowledge

When I get into something - I get into it. It's bad. I go to sleep, dream, and wake up thinking about it. Nothing else gets done. Food loses its taste. Colors fade. Ok, it doesn't get that bad. But it does consume a very good portion of my life.

But I'm not just getting into something this time, I'm making it my job. I am leaving my cozy office job to pursue my creative urges and explore artistic opportunities. Starting in October, I will be teaching, tutoring, painting, creating, ahhhh...I can not wait!

I have many many To-Do's until then but right now...

Current project - ETSY!

I've made pieces, taken photos, set up shop, and spent hours and hours scouring Etsy forums, threads, random blogs, trusty Google for everything and anything about advertising, promotion, shipping, pictures, and so much more. In just one week I've absorbed so much information that I feel bloated. That's right I'm bloated!

I have to share this information with everyone so get comfortable and be prepared to do some bookmarking

Piddix Unofficial Guide To Etsy - This is a pretty awesome site that Etsy shop Piddix has put together. You definitely have to check it out - you're going to learn so much helpful information on pretty much everything you need to know about selling on Etsy.

Product Advertising - courtesy of Etsy shop Nerd Girls Unlimited a very extensive list of sites of advertise your products on. I personally have not checked them all out because I started and stopped on Google Base and then decided to do this blog spot for the benefit of the people.

US Sellers - Shipping Domestic and International - Nice writeup from Etsy shop GoTo

Don't Be Afraid to Ship Internationally - Blog post by Etsy Shop Tinahdee about shipping sold items internationally. This was my savior when I had my first international shipment. I did every thing they suggested and had no problems. I would just like to add that when you fill out the Customs Form 2976 the attendant said to mark it "Other"

Great deals and freebies - Awesome blog spot about getting great deals and freebies from Etsy Shop BurningMoon.

How to set up a mailing list without having a blog - Etsy Forum Thread

How to make an Etsy Treasury - Courtesy of The Storque on Etsy

Etsy Renewing Experiment - This blog post is extremely helpful in you want to try something to boost your Etsy hearts, views, and sales. When my shop is where I want it, I plan to follow this blogger's advice (Etsy Shop ShopSomethingBlue)

I plan to post more goodies I find in my many searches in the future so check back!

Coming up short

So I didn't quite finish my list. I'd say I worked on the first 5 and the fruits of my labor are as follows:

White Agate Chunky Ring

Picasso Jasper Stretch Bracelet

Gradient Carnelian Hoop Earrings

Sterling Silver Cone & Sea Cluster Earrings

Vibrant Blue and Green Chrysocolla Ring

Translucent Red, Brown, and Gray Ocean Jasper Ring

Bowtie Wrapped African Turquoise Ring

White Rock Crystal Gold Wrapped Ring

Check them all out at my Etsy shop Tesoro Jewelry

More to come!