Wow! One month since my last post! Busy time of year but just not much to say! So, here is a photo of my little doggie with the new grandbunny!

No, I didn’t say my brother has a fat head! Fatheads actually contacted my brother about adding his fine art photos to their fatheads available for sale. Yay Keith! Anyway … apparently they are branching out to fatheads other than just sports. I am adding a link to his site which contains the info on his new Fatheads. Check it out! Would be a great idea for Christmas!

www.keithdotson.com/Fathead.html

I joined Artfire a couple months ago. http://www.artfire.com/users/TrinketsAndDreams 

I put a handful of items on there in hopes of someone finding my work. And, today I made my 1st sale! Yay!

This is what I sold …

I called this “I’m A Little Teapot” Silverware Wind Chime. It is my favorite of all I have made!

Now, I feel inspired to add more to that site -http://www.artfire.com/! Free to list, free to sell! All handmade! Love it!

Looking for a great gift? An interesting conversation piece? A chime that sounds beautiful? I do make special orders as I am able. Do let me know what i can make for you!

I came across this website, allcraftsblogs, when searching for the absolute very best site to sell my handmade items on. Yes, I have an etsy account, an artfire account, an eBay account, etc. But, I would love to have a one stop place to coordinate all my activity! I started a website. Anyone who has done that knows that it is very hard to get traffic to a new site. Then today, I logged on and found all my photos were moved around. I would think I had done something wrong if I didn’t try to fix them to no avail and if they hadn’t been just fine yesterday! Site glitch? My glitch? Either way, as my post title implies … it’s frustrating! Anyway, back to this site … it suggested I start a blog for business and that I could even have my etsy items put on the blog, too. Great in theory! But, as I have now found out – it is a wordpress blog AND I already have one of those. So, did I mention I am frustrated! Does anyone have any great ideas? 

And, to leave you with something positive … some eye candy! I have posted this before, but I never get tired of seeing it! So pretty, so colorful! My very favorite flower, a pink daisy! Rescued from the clearance bin at Lowe’s! Ain’t she pretty? (My 12 year old would scold …Ain’t isn’t a word!)

I am finally getting my website up and running! I have lots of work to do. But, I would love to have your suggestions and comments either here or on our website guestbook!

Visit us at Trinkets and Dreams! If you happen to find something you love, mention you found us by my blog and receive a 20% discount!!

I also welcome any link exchanges!

I have a variety of glass bottles that I have been collecting for a bottle tree. I have already removed the labels from some of them. Some still need them removed. It is going to be a while before I can have a bottle tree, so I need to part with some of these to make room in my garage.

So, if you are looking for colored glass bottles – look no further! I have a variety of greens, browns, clears and blues. Unfortunately, I have not been able to come across any reds, pinks or yellows. You could use these for craft projects, too.

$1 with label still on, $1.50 if label is removed. Buyer to pay shipping. We do accept paypal. E-mail if you are interested in photos of specific colored glass bottles. Be sure to include zip if you are interested in shipping costs! Thanks!

This is only a small sample of the bottles that I have available!

I did not do very well with my for sale item of the day. But, I am back with a great find!

Salt and Pepper Shakers fashioned from Corona bottles. $5.99 for the set.

The cap is not as light as the close up photo. It is more the color of the other photo, a darker blue.

I have actually had a set of these since about the early 90’s and I love them! They are a great conversation piece – even if you do not drink Corona. And, they do not have to be refilled often! That’s a plus for me!

Can pick up locally or will ship at buyers expense. We do accept paypal, check or money order. (Will hold until cleared)

Comment here if interested!

Today, I am listing my handmade breast cancer awareness ornament.

I made this when my friend was first diagnosed with breast cancer. I was not happy with it because it was a little off, not quite perfect! I know! Handmade is not supposed to be perfect. I remade one almost identical to this one that sold for $24.95 on eBay. Today, I am listing this one for $5.95 plus exact shipping to your location. Just e-mail me with any questions or if you desire to purchase this one. Thanks!

Now onto a different note … I had often wondered how my boys could exercise for 45 minutes to an hour on the elliptical without stopping. Today, I discovered how. But, I’ll get to that. Being forced to move my exercise room into our garage when we moved, I had put off getting going again due to the heat. But, I began my back to school exercise program today as my youngest son trudged off to school and as I realized I had once again peaked at my highest weight. Having gained again everything I had lost, I grabbed my son’s mp3 and headed to the garage. Now, I am not a music person, rarely even listening when I drive in the car. But, I put on those earbuds, pushed play and felt my motivation spike! I pushed through 37 minutes of intervals without much thought. Who would have thought that Skillet could be so motivating! But, now I know!

I haven’t posted in a while. Life has just gotten in the way with kids home from school, moving and vacations. I am sure anyone reading this can relate to any or all of those things. So, on to my topic today. I have recently been listing items for sale on multiple venues …artfire, etsy, eBay, webs.com, and here. I have used them all before with some success on each one. But, now I am trying to decide which site is the best for traffic for each different type of item, including home decor, arts and crafts, vintage items, collectibles, sports memorabilia, etc. So, I am going to do a post with a different item for sale each day just to see if anyone finds something they like.

Today, I chose a couple items from the home decor category.

While technically 3 items, these all have an Italian kitchen theme.  1 Giftco Decorative Oil Dispenser $2.00, Napoli Pasta Container $3.00, Corner Grocery Parmesan Shaker $2.00 or all 3 for $5.00. Can be picked up locally with cash payment on delivery or will ship at buyers expense (exact shipping to your location, no hidden fees!) I can accept paypal payments.

These items were used as a decoration only in my own kitchen and are in good used shape. Any questions, please ask! Feel free to e-mail for more photos. Thanks!

Welcome to Part 2 of “Name Our New Venture”

The Voting

In part one of our contest, we went to our friends & family / neighbors / blog readers and asked them to suggest a unique, catchy name for our new website and to use when opening up shop in the various on-line store fronts, such as etsy, art fire, etc.

Now, in Part Two, it’s up to you to vote. Please choose your 1^st and 2^nd favorite names for us to use from those listed below. Then post your choices in a comment at the end of this post. Voting begins May 20^th (I opened up the vote a little early due to no new submissions in the past couple days) and ends May 24^th at midnight.

1. Generation Gap

2. Funky Junk

3. A Cup of Art

4. Sunshine on The Wind

5. Diving Design (with the idea of dumpster diving for treasures in mind)

6. Re-Purposed and Re-Used

7. The Same As It Never Was

8. Trash to Treasure

9. Trash 2 Treasure

10. Oldies But Goodies

11. Art Is Us

12. Life As Art

13. Venture’s Unique Art

14. Down The Rabbit Hole

15. GinAllie Designs

16. Metro Retro

17. Wistful Brushstrokes

18. Artful Past Time

19. Timeless

20. Allie Oops Boutique

21. Allie Oops Unique Boutique

22. Artcycled

23. Mad Hatter Mediums

24. Art for Art Sake

25. Art & Art Again

26. Oh For Art Sake

27. Last Chance Art

28. His and Hers Art

29. Unique Impressions

30. What Goes Around Comes Around

31. Wonky Art Expressions (Wonky means twisted or askew)

32. Junk Into Funk

33. Trash Rehash

34. Picture This

35. Picket Fences

36. Things Remembered

37. New Beginnings

38. Allie Oops

39. Mad Hatter Sundries

40. Jangly Doo

41. Trinkets and Dreams

42. Another Man’s Treasure

43. Past, Present & Future

44. Something from Nothing

45. Somethin from Nothin

46. Sumptin from Nuttin

47. Junque Unique

48. Junk Unique

49. Junque Worth Having

50. One Lump or Two

51. A Spoon Full of Sugar

52. Down to the Last Drop

53. Down to The Last Bite

54. Rediscovered Discoveries

55. Rediscovered Recoveries

56. Rescues Treasures

57. New Point of View

58. New Perspectives

59. Thrifty Treasures

60. Rekindled memories

61. Recovered Treasures

62. Mystic Art

63. Allie’s Mystic Art

64. Mystic Expressions

65. Dazzling Art

66. Dazzling Expressions

67. Rusted Dreams

68. Tomorrow is Yesterday

69. Unique Impressions of Tennessee

70. Past 2 Present Emporium

71. Past 2 Present Treasures

72. Oops We Did It Again

73. Buried Treasures

74. Razzle Dazzle

75. Second Chance Recyclables

76. Timeless Treasures

77. Newfound Beauty

78. Recycled Beauty

79. Remolded Remnants

80. Spiced Up Stuff

81. Creative Treasures

82. We Craft

83. Let’s Go Craftin

84. Let’s Get Crafty

85. Two Gals and a Craft Room

86. Crafter’s Express

87. Crafty Paradise

88. Craft Paradise

89. Chinny Chin Chin

90. Lucky Ducky

91. Allie Bo Ballie’s

     

     

    In case of a tie, Allie and I will choose our favorite from those names involved in the tie. Keep in mind when voting that Allie (my son’s 18 yr old girlfriend) is a great artist using all mediums. I like to make art out of junk. So, we are combining those talents to create interesting pieces of art. So, try to vote for the name (in your opinion) that most matches the venture.

    The person who submitted the winning name will receive one of our handmade creations (pictured below), valued at $24.95. The winner will be contacted and the winning name submission announced after I return home June 1^st from an unexpected trip out of state.

** Please note that we have the contest posted on several websites for voting, so counting votes here will not give you an accurate count of the winner **

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to cast your vote!