Featured Seller - Pretty and Personal Papers by Tricia 16

Tricia of "Pretty and Personal Papers" has been selling on etsy for almost a year. She started out selling monogrammed notecards, like the one below, and the business expanded from there.



Tricia had been making the cards to give as gifts at birthday parties and wedding and baby showers. She was approached at a shower and asked to make a custom set. Hesitant at first because she really enjoyed making the cards for gifts, Tricia took the order, as well as the advice that she start selling them to others.

Tricia's favorite items are her journals, such as the one below. She leans toward bright colors and uniquely patterned papers.



The idea for these journals came from her own experience with making a little notebook to write down the funny things her kids said or did. Tricia was always telling friends or family about her kids and someone told her she should start writing her anecdotes down. After writing a few stories, she made up a little journal titled "the funny things you say and do" and started writing in it for her own kids. Her first one started as a boring journal found at a local craft store that she decided to bling out. Now they are completely handmade. The journals are her most popular item. Tricia especially loves working with moms on their journals to make them fit the children's interests and personalities.



Tricia belongs to the Etsy Greetings Street Team and Busy Moms Street Team. She advises that those new to etsy join a street team, as she has found them to be amazing and helpful, supportive and knowledgeable.

EtsyGreetings Street Team

Street teams are a type of community on etsy that enable sellers to network, share ideas and market themselves. I hadn't joined any until recently when I decided it would be nice to get to know some of the other sellers on etsy. I joined two street teams, etsymoms and etsygreetings. Etsygreetings seems to be an active, supportive community of sellers who focus on greeting cards, tags, invitations, etc. You can see the wares of team members by searching "etsygreetings" on the etsy front page. I did just that a couple of days ago and found some delicious paper goods. As a way of introducing myself to the team, I decided to do a feature on some of my faves. What's that, you say? I'm advertising for my competitors on my blog? Of course I am, you know how selfless I am. I am a giver, a kind and sharing soul. Actually, I'm a realist. Any traffic to etsy or etsygreetings team members is good for the entire community. We also all have our own niche, our own style, and this can't really be duplicated.

Here are five of my current favorite items found using the search term "etsygreetings." Be sure to check out their shops, as they have many more lovely things to offer. Try to take the time to do your own search as well. There are loads and loads of creative paper goods to be found.




This set of Rustic Chic Thank You Cards by waisze designs would make a great gift for yourself or a friend. They're simple, elegant and eco-friendly, as well as being handmade. The cards are left blank on the inside for your personal message. There are three cards with white envelopes in the set.




Some people, my sister-in-law included, are terrified of clowns. I don't get it. My grandfather was a clown and my sister and I were clowns for Halloween on several occasions. I'm quite sure none of us are evil or from outer space. Anyway, these gift tags are awesome and should be used on gifts for people who have no fear of clowns, or elephants, ladders or tricycles, for that matter. This set of "Vintage Clipart Circus Tags" from firefly notes includes six tags (You can view all six tags by clicking on the fist link.). They come with some cute polka dot ribbon attached.




"A Little Bird on a Branch" from Steph Jacobson uses a variety of materials and techniques to convey a "Happy Birthday" to your loved one. The bird, tree and wording are all stamped, while the bird is chalked and the leaves are bits of folded, textured paper. The border of the card is machine stitched. I always enjoy work that uses different textures.




This "Give a HOOT" gift tag set from Get Happy features one of my favorite animals: owls. The tags are made from heavy card stock and hand stamped with the phrase "GIVE A HOOT" and an owl. There are eight tags in the set and each one comes with waxed thread attached for tying or hanging. These could be used for scrapbooking, gifts or cardmaking.




This "mommy and baby boy" blank notecard is a gift in and of itself. Kelly at Happy Days Studio hand draws and paints each card individually. She is willing to customize the painting and the message. I think these are absolutely beautiful and would make a lovely keepsake for a mother-to-be.

Mother's Day Gift Guide-Part One

I know that I haven't posted in a little while and I need to play catch up. I have some Easter pics to share, a recipe and some potty training success stories. However, today I foud myself in the mood to browse around etsy. Since I couldn't justify just doing it for the fun of it, I decided to make an etsy gift guide for Mother's Day. It's just around the corner and, if you plan to order from etsy, you'll need to factor in time for shipping (international orders may take up to two weeks to arrive). While I will be posting some Mother's Day cards, as well as blank ones that would be appropriate, I'm not going to be lame and include my own stuff in the gift guide. I think I will leave the shameless self-promotion off of the blog today. I guess I'm just feeling generous...or am such a good person...or just think that if I am promoting etsy I am promoting myself anyway.

Mother's Day Gift Guide

This "Geranium Sage Vegan Cold Process Soap" looks good enough to eat. It comes from Long Winter Farm's etsy shop, which also features soaps with awesome names like "Bloody Lumberjack" and "Hippie Stink." I started to feature one of these, but could just see the look on the face of some mother when gifted with something called "Hippie Stink" on Mother's Day. I haven't smelled or used these soaps, but they look delicious. They're also cruelty-free, and you can't beat that with a stick.


The "Become Rose Garden Shawl Brooch" is from the etsy shop Melt'm Design Studio and is handcrafted from sterling silver. It's a beautiful piece and this seller is offering free shipping worldwide through the end of April.


I'd love to have the "Bee Bee Beautiful Bee Brilliant Green Trinket Dish" for my very own (you know how I love those little Bs). They come from My Mother's Garden, which features many treats for gifting. A percentage of the sales in the shop will be donated to kiva.org.


Stick this ACEO from Snap Dragon Studios in a nice frame and you've got a lovely gift for one of the mothers in your life. I admit to having a tree obsession, but who wouldn't love this? Your mother gets a piece of original art and you get to visit it every now and then.


This "butter cream birdhouse" from greenware design is actually a hanging planter for an air plant. It comes with the plant and some moss (mmm...did somebody say moss?). This reminds me of trips to Florida as a kid. My brothers brought some air plants home. We couldn't believe they didn't need the dirt!

Okay, I just renamed this post "Mother's Day Gift Guide-Part One." This is taking waaay longer than I anticipated. There's just so much to choose from on etsy. So, I guess I'll complete the guide in installments. This is part one with more to follow.

Playing Catch Up

Guess who's back? Back again.... I know, I know, that was really lame. I just couldn't help myself. As promised, I'm dropping by to post a real entry, not just one with my item of the day. Although I will be doing another one of those tonight. So, what's been going on here in Little B Bunny Land? Lots! LB has given up her Nuk and moved to her toddler "big girl" bed in the same week. I was excited about the Nuk, but apprehensive about the toddler bed. I know most kids move to their toddler beds sooner, but she never tried to get out of her crib. Well, that ended on Wednesday. So we immediately had to make the transition. I didn't think she would stay in the bed when we put her down, but, so far, she's been a real champ. They grow up so quickly....

My sister was over yesterday and bugging me about the secret. I didn't tell. I think she thinks she's going to get some dirt on me. She's always looking for that. I tried to tell her that it's not really juicy, but I don't think she believes me. So, anyway, here goes. I'm going to have to reveal the secret to protect my, um, good name.

Check out: http://www.babble.com/50-Moms-We-Love-to-Hate-Octomom-Sarah-Palin-Michelle-Duggar-and-47-more/index.aspx

(I tried and tried again and again to get the link to work. I guess you'll just have to cut and paste!)

An old friend from the New School recommended a site geared to parents called babble.com. (Thanks Zehra!) It has a lot of interesting as well as funny content. I came across the article linked above, "Celebrity Moms We Love to Hate," and just couldn't help myself. It covers everyone one from Sarah Palin to Nadya Suleman (I cringe every time she is referred to as the "octomom,") to "the stay at home mom with one child and a nanny (Why IS she afraid to be alone with her child?)." Here's the secret (some who know me well will say it's not a secret): I am a horribly judgmental person. It's something I've been working on quite a bit. My therapist even says that I save the toughest judgement for myself, so not judging everyone else might lead to easing up on myself a bit. So, there it is. I'm judgmental. I'm trying to stop. I'm doing pretty well. Then this article comes along. I couldn't help myself. I HAD to read it. I loved every last word. It was hilarious and (mostly) true. Come on, we've all wished Heidi Klum would say she had surgery after her children (whether or not it is true), wish Michelle Duggar would stop having children, are terrified of Nancy Grace, and, none, absolutely none of us, believe that Kelly Rippa does her own laundry and cooking! And last, but not least, of course we all hate moms who hate other moms. I mean, come on, give her a break! She's a mom. And we're all in this together.

PS-Don't you just hate the moms that tell you they know what you're thinking because you're a mom too?