What I’ll Be Up To This Weekend…
Archive for the ‘Etsy’ Category
What I’ve Been Up To…
September 8, 2011Sew Mama Sew GIVEAWAY DAY!
May 22, 2011Welcome to everyone visiting from the Sew Mama Sew Giveway Day!
I’ve got two giveaways this week! That’s right…TWO! Scroll down or click the links below.
Anyone is welcome to enter to win. Entering is simple and there are plenty of ways to earn extra entries for each giveaway. Have fun! And, good luck
Two Florida Girls GIVEAWAY (Closed!)
May 22, 2011**THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! But…don’t worry! You can still get awesome stuff over at Two Florida Girls Etsy Shop!**
Welcome, Sew Mama Sew giveaway day friends! 🙂 This is one of two giveaways I’m hosting on my blog. Make sure you enter both! Check out the whimZy Bracelet Giveaway, too!
One lucky winner will win a super cute, summery coffee cozy like the one pictured here. It features Lilly Pulitzer fabric and a coordinating pink fabric on the back. The button and elastic loop makes it fit on 12oz, 16oz and 20oz cups. The included Insul-Bright lining helps to keep your beverage warm while protecting your fingers from the heat. If you prefer cold coffee drinks, the cozy works the other way too, keeping your hands warm while drinking your favorite Frappucino.
Ready to win? I’ve got lots of ways for you to enter! Lots of chances to win! 🙂
FIRST:
- Visit Two Florida Girls and let me know something from the shop that you love.
EARN EXTRA ENTRIES: You can earn an extra entry for any of the following. Be sure to leave a comment on this post for EACH thing you do.
- Mention this giveaway on your blog or Facebook. Link back to this post. Leave a comment letting me know that you did.
- Add Two Florida Girls as one of your favorite shops on Etsy. Leave a comment with your Etsy user name. If you already “heart” her shop, leave a comment letting me know.
- Become a fan of Two Florida Girls on Facebook. Leave a comment letting me know that you did. If you’re already a fan, leave a comment letting me know. (Here’s the link to the fan page–https://www.facebook.com/twofloridagirls)
- Visit my sister’s blog and enter to win her giveaway. Leave a comment here letting me know that you did.
- Tweet this and comment to let me know you did: Two handmade giveaways on @amykpaul blog! Check it out & enter to win! https://amypaul.wordpress.com/
All entries must be received by Midnight (EST) on Friday, May 27. PLEASE leave your email address if it is not visible on your profile. Winner will be notified on Saturday, May 28. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or another will be chosen. We are willing to ship internationally!
Check out Sew Mama Sew for an amazing list of blog giveaways! Tons to enter!
whimZy GIVEAWAY (Closed!)
May 22, 2011**THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! But…don’t worry! You can still get awesome stuff over at whimZy’s Etsy Shop!**
Welcome, Sew Mama Sew giveaway day friends! 🙂 This is one of two giveaways I’m hosting on my blog. Make sure you enter both! Check out the Two Florida Girls Coffee Cozy Giveaway, too!
Who doesn’t love a giveaway?! So fun!! 🙂
I can’t say enough nice things about my incredibly sweet friend, Kimberly. She is so kind, so cute and so creative! She’s the brain and beauty behind whimZy. Her shop has lots of incredible pieces at very affordable prices and there’s something for everyone.
She’s excited to offer this lovely Black, White & Silver Pearlized Bead Wrap Bracelet to one lucky winner…and she’s willing to ship internationally!!
This bracelet is composed of memory wire and wraps around the wrist 3 times. It features black, white and silver pearlized glass beads in 4mm, 6mm and 8mm. It is classic and classy.
What a fun addition to any outfit! Perfect for every season! 🙂
Now, let’s get to the good stuff…
Entering to win is simple…and just because I’m feeling generous, I’m going to give you LOTS of ways to get extra entries.
FIRST:
- Visit whimZy and let me know something from the shop that you love.
EARN EXTRA ENTRIES: You can earn an extra entry for any of the following. Be sure to leave a comment on this post for EACH thing you do.
- Mention this giveaway on your blog or Facebook. Link back to this post. Leave a comment letting me know that you did.
- Add whimZy as one of your favorite shops on Etsy. Leave a comment with your Etsy user name. If you already “heart” her shop, leave a comment letting me know.
- Become a fan of whimZy on Facebook. Leave a comment letting me know that you did. If you’re already a fan, leave a comment letting me know. (Here’s the link to her fan page–http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/whimZy/324571938242?ref=ts)
- Visit my sister’s blog and enter to win her giveaway. Leave a comment here letting me know that you did.
- Tweet this and comment to let me know you did: Two handmade giveaways on @amykpaul blog! Check it out & enter to win! https://amypaul.wordpress.com/
All entries must be received by Midnight (EST) on Friday, May 27. PLEASE leave your email address if it is not visible on your profile. Winner will be notified on Saturday, May 28. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or another will be chosen. She is willing to ship internationally!
Check out Sew Mama Sew for an amazing list of blog giveaways! Tons to enter!
2011 Homespun Chic Marketplace
May 4, 2011Back over in the comments on this post, sweet Cheryl asked how the 2011 Homespun Chic Marketplace in Winter Park went. We (Kati and I, with Two Florida Girls) participated in the inaugural Homespun event last August and signed up for the second one in April. We also convinced several of our crafty friends to participate too and that made it extra fun.
Ready to go!
Surprisingly, the traffic at the April event was much, much less than that of the August event. It was a beautiful day (whereas in August it started pouring down rain about halfway through). I guess that could have worked for, and against, us. Nice day = people want to be outside, on the water, planting gardens, enjoying the perfect day outside. Who knows. Regardless, we had a great time and still made a little bit of money. We gave away yummy cake balls, so that certainly made us popular with everyone. Rebecca, the organizer of the event, is working to plan another one in November. We will definitely be back for round three. 🙂
Part of our display.
Our fabric display (aka my nightstand). 🙂
We debuted our new "Florida Love" shirt design at the show. Now available in our Etsy shop!
Our full space, with a hint of Kimberly's table over in the left corner. 🙂
Kimberly is one of the “crafty friends” that we convinced to participate in the marketplace with us.
You can check out links to all the vendors from the show over at the Homespun Marketplace site, but here are links to all of our friends that participated…
Kasey with Autumn & Everything After
Kimberly with whimZy
Katie with KT Paints
Cathleen with TripleCDesigns
Kelly with Gongy & Squish
And, of course, you can check us out at Two Florida Girls. 🙂
Random Randomness
April 26, 20111. I’ve been such a slacker as it relates to this blog. I don’t know if I’m just over it or if I just don’t have much to say. Either way, I’m feeling blah about the blog. Maybe I’ll snap out of it.
2. I booked TWO cruises for this summer yesterday. Yahoooo! I’m taking a Carnival cruise to Key West and Cozumel in July for Matt’s 30th birthday. And, I’m going to Nassau and Coco Cay on Royal Caribbean in September with three of the Chanda girls. Can’t wait! I’m ready to start packing NOW.
3. On Sunday, I was presented with the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Russia in October. I asked a few trusted people what they thought and almost all said, “why not?!” It really is a great opportunity, and one that I believe God calls us to do. It’s the kind of thing I think we should step out in faith and do when given the opportunity. At this point, I’m just waiting for the “ok” for the time off from work before committing to the trip.
4. Good thing I realized my passport was expired. I sent it off last week to be renewed–complete with a photo that makes me look 12. What’s new?
5. Last week I learned that “true southerners” (which I don’t claim to be), eat their chicken and dumplings with mashed potatoes. What?! We’ve always eaten ours with rice. I made chicken and dumplings for Easter…and I must say they were JUST AS GOOD as my Mom’s! Yum, yum, yum!
6. Kati and I debuted our newest onesie design (Florida Love) at last weekend’s Homespun Chic Marketplace in Winter Park. It’s an idea we’d had for quite some time, but we were finally able to make it a reality. And, we are, for lack of a better word, in love with it. It’s so stinkin’ cute and shows our love of all things Florida.
7. Speaking of Florida, our family has a least four generations of Floridians–my mom’s mom, my mom, Kati & me, Paul & Cadence. I kind of wonder if there’s more than that. I went on Ancestry.com the other night, but got a little bored kind of quickly. I think it might be a project Mom, Dad and I should work on one night at the beach house. 🙂
8. If I want to keep this blog going, there are some things I should write about–Palm Beach Marathon Relay (from DECEMBER!!?!!!?!), Corporate 5K, my new money savings plan, my new cake ball trick. Just to name a few.
9. I NEED to finish reading Breaking Dawn. I mean, seriously. I need to. I need to get it off my nightstand and back to its rightful owner. Seriously. It’s time. I either need to finish it or give up. But I’m so close.
10. Why do magazines put in photos of super cute clothes and then not tell you where you can get them? I’m doing the Expedition Everest Challenge next week and my teammate found a really cute top in Fitness magazine. Too bad there’s no mention of the brand/where to get it. And too bad we’ve Googled soooo many variations of “yellow mesh workout tank top” and still haven’t been able to find it. Too bad I tweeted Fitness Magazine TWICE asking where it’s from and they haven’t responded. It’s kind of frustrating. It’s in our heads now and we WANT that tank top!
Random Randomness
February 1, 2011Well…it’s just fun to do a real random post every once in a while. Here we go…
1. Downtown Celebration is so nice. Today, I took a walk from my apartment to downtown Celebration. It’s about a five minute walk and I need to do it more often. I met a friend for lunch and then walked to Starbucks, got a hot chocolate and then sat out around the lake for a little bit. There were all kinds of people out and about. Some reading, some walking, some chatting and some just watching the ducks enjoy the sunny day.
2. I love that in each of my circles of friends there are long-time jokes that cause all of us to laugh even years later. For example, if I said, “Pink Pantster” to any of the Chanda girls, they would laugh and know exactly the event I was referring to from over ten years ago. The same would be true if I said, “Five Dollar Foot Longs” to Josh, Kami, Chad, Kasey or Matt. I love that.
3. Kati made me a pot holder from Lilly Pulitzer fabric scraps. She tried her hand at some new sewing methods in the process. It’s super cute and I love it.
4. Even though I see it every day at work, I will never get “used to” sick kids. You would think that seeing kids day in and day out who are fighting for their lives would become “normal.” After more than a year of working at Give Kids The World, I can say that has not been the case for me. While most days I feel happy, rewarding feelings knowing these families are making such incredible memories in a positive and hope-filled environment, I also have days where I find myself over and over saying, “Really, God?” I had one of those days a few days ago. There’s so much about childhood sickness that just doesn’t seem fair.
5. Speaking of Give Kids The World, if you don’t know much about it or if you just want to get a better glimpse into the place I work, check out this video. It originally aired on the Today Show, but I think it gives such a good overview of the Village. 🙂
6. We’ve added a new onesie design to our Etsy shop! It was inspired by our friend, and very loyal TFG fan, Babita. The “Playful Elephant” onesie is super cute and available in tons of different fabric options. We’re also still doing our Anniversary Sale in the shop (through Saturday) and there’s still time to enter our giveaway on Facebook.
Two Florida Girls Etsy-versary!
January 28, 2011Today, we celebrate the two year anniversary of Two Florida Girls. What fun it continues to be!
During Two Florida Girls‘ second year, we…
…introduced our divided heart & football onesies;
…added Florida Gators and FSU Seminoles inspired hair clips;
…organized the Etsy for Ava fundraiser to support a sweet family in our community;
…did our first onesie order for triplets. Super cute idea!
…offered custom initial onesies and shirts for the first time;
…designed a super cute “Surf’s Up” onesie;
…participated in the First Homespun Chic Marketplace in August. Looking forward to April for round 2;
…participated in the 2nd Annual Holiday Handmade Open House in November.
It’s been a great two years! We’ve had so much fun and “met” so many wonderful people via the Etsy community. We’ve had such a great time creating.
Kati and I are so excited that we want to let you in on the celebration.
SALE–All ready to ship items have been marked down at least 35%! Prices have already been changed in our shop to reflect the sale. No coupon code needed! Some items are as low as $1.95 (plus shipping)! Custom orders (like bean bags, pacifiers, onesies, etc) and items not marked as “SALE” are subject to normal prices. Sale runs from now through Saturday, February 5.
GIVEAWAY–We are hosting a giveaway for our Facebook fans. Not a fan yet? No worries. Click here and “like” our page. Then you’ll be able to enter to win any “ready to ship” item from our shop.
NEW PRODUCTS–We do anticipate introducing some new items soon. But don’t want to give anything away just yet. Stay tuned. 🙂
Thanks for a wonderful two years on Etsy! Looking forward to many more!
Making Homemade Vanilla Extract
January 9, 2011After seeing a post on Joy The Baker with instructions for making homemade vanilla extract, I decided I had to try it. It looked simple enough and I could only imagine I’d be pleased with the results. Now that my second batch of vanilla beans are sitting in the cabinet infusing their flavor into the vodka they’re submersed in, I can assure you I hope to never buy vanilla extract from the store again. This stuff is so good!
So…here’s what you need to.
1. Find yourself some vanilla beans and a Mason jar (or something that seals really well). I did lots of looking for vanilla beans online and there are plenty of options out there. You can also get them at places like Whole Foods, but they’re way more expensive than any online option I found. I got mine from Spider Camp’s Etsy Shop.
Too bad this picture isn't scratch and sniff.
2. Using a paring knife or kitchen scissors, cut lengthwise down the center of the beans, leaving about an inch at the top uncut.
3. Add 1/3 cup of alcohol per one vanilla bean. Seal tightly and give it a shake. I used vodka, but you can also use bourbon or rum.
Ready to go!
4. Exercise patience. Store the jar in a cool, dark and dry place for two to three months. Give the bottle a shake every week or so. The first time I made vanilla extract, I opened the jar to smell it every couple of weeks. I decided to use it when the vanilla scent was stronger than the vodka scent. My first batch took about three months and I used it for the first time when I was baking for close friends. (That way if it made what I made taste awful we could be honest and throw it out. That didn’t happen though!)
For More Info…Joy The Baker’s Vanilla Extract Post
Other Helpful Posts…
I Interrupt This Blog Silence…
November 11, 2010…to let you know about this…
Come see us in Oviedo on Sunday.
Guaranteed good time. Great food (including cake balls). Free stuff. Awesome gifts. Fun people. Stress-free shopping from these fabulous ladies:
- Kasey from Autumn and Everything After
- Kim from Bird’s Eye View
- Kelley from Gongy & Squish
- Vicki from Rusty Rooster Vintage
- Cathleen from TripleCDesigns
- Kimberly from whimZy
- …and of course, Two Florida Girls!
Hope to see you there. Pretty sure there’s a cake ball with your name on it. 🙂
amypaul.wordpress.com 