MIssed Me?

I am sorry life took over and i had to take a break from all the pressure and stress of being on the web . I am back now and doing much, much better.

It has been a long and wonderful summer without pressure of work or stress of making mosaic tiles and mosaic art.

Just relaxing summer days, swimming in the pool, sunbathing and working in my flower beds and garden. Visits with my folks and playing scrabble once a week with my mom has made me realize how fast my life is passing by.

But back to the daily grind of work lol, slowly getting back into my studio and making mosaic tiles, but i purchased a used Singer Serger machine and have been getting back into my sewing, i did not realize how much i had missed it until i finally purchased one. So will be taking breaks from tile making and doing some sewing for my mom and myself.

Hope all my friends and readers have enjoyed my writings or postings.

Enjoy the rest of the summer fall is coming in with a roar.

Some photos of our summer bounty and my gardens.

2nd Annual Yart Sale June 10th-June 14th, 2009

The “2nd Annual Yart Sale” will be held from Wednesday June 10th-Sunday June 14th, 2009. This year the “2nd Annual Yart Sale” will be sponsored by the Etsy Supply Street Team (Team ESST). Although not an official Etsy event, it is Etsy supported as evidenced by the Storque article.A “Yart Sale” is an artistic spin on the traditional Yard Sale: Art + Yard Sale = “Yart Sale”. There are many art museums, artists, and groups that have Yart sales annually to raise cash. All Etsy shops are invited to participate. Choose to participate in your Handmade Store, your Supply Store, or your Vintage Store. If you have more than one shop you can participate in all of them. To join the sale, simply post the following Yart Sale Announcement in the Shop Announcement section of your Etsy Shop and please include a short description of how you will be participating in the sale:“I am participating in the Yart Sale on Etsy sponsored by Team ESST”.Team ESST invites you to come, post, chat and shop on the “Official Yart Sale” thread in the Promotions Section of the Etsy forums. A new thread will be posted daily at 7:00 AM EDT beginning on Wednesday June 10th by the Etsy Supply Street Team with the forum title:“SECOND ANNUAL YART SALE sponsored by Team ESST – June 10th, 2009”Participating in the daily forum thread is a way that shoppers can find your shop. Simply post what you are offering. You could also encourage visitors to search “Yart” in handmade, supplies, or vintage. Even if you are simply offering a discount, it would be to your advantage to place Yart somewhere in at least a few of your titles or tags in your shop to draw those searching for items to your shop.If you are interested in changing your avatar to reflect the Yart Sale you can create your own, or use one of the following. This year fellow Team ESST member Misosoup has created two which are available for your use:We look forward to your participation in the Yart Sale. It is a fun event with much enthusiasm, energy and creativity! So get ready and we will see you there! If you have any questions please feel free to contact Team ESST!

Gardening in Flower Pots Hits the Spot!

Our yard is so small not quite 1 acre, we don't have much room to garden , and with so many shade trees it is hard for me to plant and grow anything that loves full sun. So i have decided to grown my vegetables in flower pots this year. I did that the last couple years and it has been so much fun I have decided to go even bigger this year. So i made a trip up to the locals Lowe's and purchased 6 tomato plant's called Better Boy, a sure fire growing tomato that my folks and grandparents grew. Bottom photo shows them off to a great start. Later you can see how much they have grown. Some reaching pass the 5 ft bamboo stakes i have added to the pots to tie the tomatoes to as they grew. Today as i write this they are taller than i am and i will soon need to look around and find some taller stakes to add to the pots. I am 5 ft 8 1/2" tall . All 5 tomato plants are thriving and growing really well. I lost one of them when it just out of the blue started to wilt. I finally pulled it out and dumped the soil to check to see what type of bug or vermin was killing off that tomato. I found 1/4" small white bugs growning in clumps in the potting soil. Sprayed them and killed them. So now i only have 5 plants. Two other pots have Bell Pepper plants growing in them. I feed with miracle grown and water regularly. All 5 plants are thriving and lots lots of tomatoes on them from dime size to golf ball size. Bacon , lettuce and tomato sandwiches here i come.

Will have a new photo to post tomorrow.

Highlights

OK i have been busy i know, but life is always that way. I found this bird making a nest in my hanging basket filled with a spider plant. The little wren has laid 5 eggs and i have been checking them each day, being careful to not disturb the nest or the eggs, taking photos as the eggs hatch. Last time i checked there were 3 naked little birdies in the nest with big bug eyes and just bald without a single feather. Next day mom bird sat on the nest and it was a few more days before she finally left and I got to take a peek into the nest again , all 5 eggs hatched! 5 pretty pink birds are sleeping. Here's a photo of first hatched birds. Is this cute or what?

ETSY EXTRAVANGA SALE STARTS May 7th

May First Weekend Shopping Extravaganza
The SALE officially kicks off today and there will be over 100 shops participating May 7th thru May 10th. You will be sure to find some GREAT DEALS on everything that you need.

come in and check out the sales and shop on etsy this weekend.

check out my shophttp://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=75852
The Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST - is proud to announce the "May - First Weekend Shopping Extravaganza".The May event will run from Thursday, May 7th - Sunday, May 10th, 2009. ALL ETSY SHOPS - HANDMADE, SUPPLIES AND VINTAGE - are invited to participate by placing an announcement in your shop and joining in with promoting on the "Official" Promotional thread in the Etsy Forums.This will be a “Shopping Event” similar to a Public Marketplace. There will not be a "Overall theme" since Etsy is a Global Marketplace hence, the seasons, cultures, holidays, etc. can vary quite a bit. Although not required, we do strongly encourage shops to have a feature, theme or sale as this can pique interest and help you to draw people to your shop.You do not have to participate for the whole weekend simply join in when you can on the Promo thread in the Etsy Forums. You can search for the official thread - “MAY FIRST WEEKEND SHOPPING EXTRAVAGANZA MAY 7TH-MAY 10TH”.The only requirement is that you have a shop on Etsy and help promote by joining in and bumping the thread throughout the weekend. Talk about your shop and what you have to offer our shoppers.

VOTE for my "Summer Roses" PieceMakers Mosaic Artists Challenge

http://piecemakersmosaics.blogspot.com/2009/05/summer-challenge-time-to-vote.html

This is my piece for the "Summer" theme challenge ,
I used a 8 " Terra cotta flower pot, glazed it and fired it in my kiln, it is no longer porous. Easy watering . Made all the tiles you see on the flower pot. All are made from moist clay and kiln fired, all tile expect for the border rose tiles are hand painted by me. I wanted to do a rose garden , since i love pink roses, so made them a little thicker than i normally make my sculptured roses.

I have 27 hand sculptured roses and rosebuds on this piece , 3 bluebirds, 13 small 3D flowers, and 46 3D leaves not including the flat ones.

We start voting May 1st. Link will be added later.

Please check out all of our pieces.

Thank you
Carol aka CMKSculptures2

http://piecemakersmosaics.blogspot.com/2009/05/summer-challenge-time-to-vote.html

Shop for Craft Mixed Media and other Supplies with TEAM ESST on etsy

WE have 100 members in this group,
this list is not complets

Shop here at our TEAM ESST members shops for all your Mosaic Supply needs.

http://judysnow.etsy.com/
http://cmksculptures2.etsy.com/
http://cocomo.etsy.com/
http://artfulmosaicsupplies.etsy.com/
http://mosaictiledesigns.etsy.com/
http://artsyhandpaints.etsy.com/
http://doodlesmosaictiles.etsy.com/
http://glassshack.etsy.com/


Shop with these TEAM ESST members on etsy for Buttons!

http://gramsvintagebuttons.etsy.com/
http://rosesbuttons.etsy.com/
http://craftily.etsy.com/
http://tinyark.etsy.com/
http://buttonjars.etsy.com/
http://thebuttonshop.etsy.com/

Shop with even more TEAM ESST members on etsy for Jewelry/Beads/findings

http://cardoncreativedesign.etsy.com/
http://gerrysjewelbox.etsy.com/
http://artisticjewels.etsy.com/
http://beads4you.etsy.com/
http://plurfection.etsy.com/
http://kiwii.etsy.com/
http://viragocreations.etsy.com/
http://mountainshadowdesign.etsy.com/
http://mermaidstones.etsy.com/
http://thedestash.etsy.com/
http://windspirit.etsy.com/
http://leslietsy.etsy.com/
http://matursuksema.etsy.com/
http://busybeading.etsy.com/
http://mrsmagooty.etsy.com/
http://originalfindings.etsy.com/
http://alycnwonderland.etsy.com/
http://thebeadeasy.etsy.com/

Shop with these TEAM ESST members on etsy.com for Fabrics, Sewing Notions
http://beesquarefabrics.etsy.com/
http://tliss.etsy.com/
http://ellahound.etsy.com/
http://fabricsamples.etsy.com/
http://fabricsbythesea.etsy.com/
http://woolenmore.etsy.com/
http://livinonthefringe.etsy.com/
http://lcscottage.etsy.com/
http://iloveyoyo.etsy.com/
http://nakpunar.etsy.com/
http://greendepot.etsy.com/
http://theheydayshop.etsy.com/
http://northernwarmthings.etsy.com/
http://spiceberrycottage.etsy.com/