Sugar*Sugar

And The Winner IS... ME!

OH, I am just, so, speechless!

Seriously!

I am sooooo blown away at all of the wonderful comments and congrats from all of you!!

I could hardly wait until today to post this blog!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

How about you all come to CA for vacation and hang out at my place! I'm sure we would have a ball! :0)

So, this week has been looonnnggg. But I did make it to 100 sold items on Monday, Thank you FIFI!!

((see her AMAZING (and I'm NOT kidding!!) blog here... Chez Fifi!))

I started my blog and opened my etsy shop, Sugar*Sugar in March of this year... and, no kidding, it has changed my life!

I was going thru a real funk, you know, and it seemed there was no way out.

I wrote this to a friend this week...

One night morning at about 2am, I had insomnia and was sitting at the computer searching for "chocolate... pink... vintage" or something...and then I find a link to Etsy. I'm a craft gal so I was IN HEAVEN! I saw links to all these TO DYE FOR BLOGS and it was all over with... I WAS joining this group of people who I knew would 'get me'!!

*WINK*

I decided (almost immediately) to quit my part time web/marketing job to do this. I was instantly a new person. My kids could tell, my husband was like, "You're smiling!"... but most of all I knew I was getting better...I had some hope... this would be part of my recovery/process.

and it has been.

It's been helpful for me to focus on what I love, instead of what I hate....

So, there you have it, that is why I'm here!

and I'm happy!

Now for the moment we've all been waiting for.........

Time to reveal the winners of my little giveaway!

Check out all of these entries! Yes, I sat and cut each one...while watching my favorite show ever, THE GOLDEN GIRLS! HA! They are just too funny!

My daughter helped me this evening to pick our winners...

Winner of GIFTY NUMBER ONE is...

Congrats CATHY of Cranberry Cottage!! I hope you enjoy your new Aqua and Pink jar of goodness!! :0)

Winner of GIFTY NUMBER TWO is...

Congrats Julie of Jane's Apron!!! You won the Pink and Green Bag of Sweet Vintage Treats!!

And Finally the Winner of GIFTY NUMBER THREE is...

Congrats Bren of Brenda's Little Cottage!! You won the Pink and Aqua bag of Sweet Vintage Treats!!

I hope you are all inspired by the use of your creative giftedness! May it bring you joy, hope and contentment!

Thanks for playing everyone!

*BIG HUGS*

~Analise~

My First Give Away!!

As I am approaching my 100th item sold in my shop, I am preparing a celebration!

There is no better way to celebrate than to GIVE AWAY GOODIES!! YEAH!!!

I just want to say THANK YOU to all my faithful customers! You are the sweetest and best! Also, to all of my blog friends...without your constant encouragement...well, where would I be??

So, here's how to win..... just LEAVE A COMMENT! (ON THIS POST!!)

It's that easy! Please leave a link to your blog or your email addy. so I can contact you if you win!

If you need to open an account, do so! It's simple, free and easy! I would *love* to hear from ALLL of you!

I will draw the winners on Friday Sept. 21st!

(please one entry per person)

Okay, the prizes!

Gifty Number 1

A *SWEET* little Aqua jar of GOODNESS!

Just little bits and pieces of this and that in my favorite colors PINK and AQUA!

I have literally STUFFED this little jar with little bits of lace, trim, sequins, buttons, stickers, fabric, sheet music clippings, oh, all kinds of itty-bitty items that will work on all of your collages, cards, tags, scrapbooks, etc.

Gifty Number 2

Pink and Green Bag of Sweet Vintage Treats!

Embellishments include: Vintage buttons, Baby Pink seam binding, pink lacy umbrella, green tickets, vintage playing cards, vintage millinery roses, a vintage greeting card and MORE!!

Gifty Number 3

Pink and Aqua Bag of Sweet Vintage Treats!

Embellishments include: Vintage buttons, Baby Pink seam binding, vintage green umbrella, pink tickets, vintage playing card, vintage millinery flowers, a vintage greeting card and MORE!!

I wish I could give away a prize to everyone!

Maybe we'll save that for 1000 items sold! ;0)

love to you all, *MUAH*

~Analise

scrappy bundles

These ***sweet as can be*** scrap bundles are in the shop today! I just added them! They are so fun and sooo pretty!!

These little bundles are made from my REAL sewing scraps! All are vintage linens with the prettiest designs!

I've added a small bit of Martha Stewart Bakers Twine and a vintage clothespin wrapped in pretty satin ribbon!

Perfect for adding some sweetness to your projects!

Click here to see my shop, Sugar*Sugar!!

Remember to stop back by this weekend! I will giving away some goodies!

just... ya, it's all good.

Hi friends! Things have been a bit crazy around here lately. As I mentioned before, I am taking on the Children's Pastor position at church...to add to my chaos! Yeah!

So far things are good. I just have to really manage my time...I don't want to take away from the time I am spending on my shop and other crafty ventures...

and my blog.

I have said this before, but I'll say it again for my new friends. I began this little adventure to help out with the $$ side of things, just practically, so I could go thrifting or buy the kids something extra or have a White Chocolate Mocha Extra Mocha without feeling like I am taking away from something else needed. But also, having my shop and blog have brought me to a new place in my personal life.

Since my blog titled "THANKFUL" (see below) I have had SO MANY people email and send messages of love and encouragement. Really, THANK YOU. I have been overwhelmed with sweet and sincere comments from all of you.

I know you are all real people, with real lives, with real families, and real problems... just like me. Blogging is such a great way to connect with each other. So, thanks again for being a listening ear about the GOOD and the Not So GOOD! :0)

Also, I feel really privileged. To be able to do this, every day, is a gift. Really. I know there are people out there who would kill to be able to sit in there jammies, sip coffee, make crafts and take photos and connect with an awesome circle of friends...every day!

Wow. It hits home now that I put it out there like that. I have friends who work ALL the time for their families. It's hard, and I know it is.

I could be doing that too. But, I'm not right now. Yes, I drive a hoopdie min-van that has taken my family across the country 5 times. My clothes are not fancy, I cut my own hair...(so what if it's a little crooked!! lol) and it is a treat to go out to eat with the whole family.

But it's worth it. My emotional self is MUCH happier, and we all know that is most important. If Mama's not happy....you know the rest.

Okay, enough of my thoughts,

I think I'm rambling a bit...

hmmm.

Well, let me show you a few things I've been up to this week.

Heather at Bluhm Studios is hosting an art retreat called Art*Play this weekend here in California. She is giving out goody bags to all the participants...so I was lucky enough to sponsor a little something for each gal!

I wish I could have attended! Have a great time Heather!! *Hugs!*

I wanted to show a little sneak peek of some swap goodies for Cerri of Little Pink Studio. She has the greatest little shop, Little Pink Studio, where you can find oodles of goodies and pretties! Stop by her shop and pick up something wonderful!!

Here are a few of the sweets I am sending her way.

Enjoy Cerri!!

This sweet little sugary bird wanted to sneak his way into EVERY photo!

Rascally!

Well, I think I'm getting close to a give away.

*YEAH!*

In my shop, Sugar*Sugar I am close to selling my 100th item! WOO HOO!

So, I thought I would arrange a give away on my blog to celebrate!

I will post a blog this week with more details, so check back in this week!

Love to you all,

Analise

Thursday Thrift

I realized that with all of the hub-ub ( is that a word??) around here, I haven't been thrifting in a loooong time.... at least 2 weeks! I was feeling the draw of the musty smelling shops. I have these 2 small shops that I am in love with. They are tiny, locally owned and run...mostly by older ladies who love to "throw stuff in" for free.

You know I *LOVE* that!

For the most part, I enjoy thrifting. I like to find the small, out of the way shops... where I like to imagine I am the only one who knows about this shop! :0)

Believe it or not, there are a few things I DON'T like about thrifting...

1. When you go on the same day as the rest of the bargain hunters, you fight for space in the isle. I try not look rude when I barrel around the older, overall wearing man looking at tools...(he's deciding if $2.50 is too much to pay for a belt sander...???)

2. It's HOT and SWEATY because most thrift shops are on a tight budget...they like to torment me with oscillating fans and huge wind blowers that take my breath away. Blowing around all of the hot body odor.... nice.

3. I feel like I need to bathe after thrifting... so much dirt, so little space... sometimes gives me the heebie jeebies.

4. My 4 year old son must be pacified while thrifting...so we have a HUGE toy box FULL of 10 cent toys that are either straight out of a Happy Meal or a broken toy that some other mom MADE her kid donate...I think I have all of their discards. We have like 12 broken Buzz Lightyears and probably 23 robotic/transformer/futuristic action figures...that are missing at least an arm or leg.

5. Sometimes the shop owner REALLLLY likes their merchandise, and items are NOT THRIFTY at ALL!

Okay, enough complaining. I actually did have a good time thrifting... :0)

Here are the very nice and very lovely items I came home with...

A sweet happy couple

Lots of my favorites...

Vintage music featuring "Embellishments"....

baby rick rack

vintage satin ribbons on spools...

yummy!!

pretty pink embossed cards and vintage laces and trims!

I just LOVE these colors SOOO much, I can't resist!!

gotta run!

sweet treats

Oh, dear friends...I am so happy today. Just look at these gorgeous roses from my garden...they are so perfect and sooo fragrant!!

They totally light up my living room!

I have so many blooming roses right now, I can't keep up with them! I'm going to have to clip more tomorrow, enough for maybe 2 more arrangements!

I think I'll let my angel watch over this arrangement for today... she really is a watchdog...she usually keeps my fabrics safely tucked inside the vintage pie safe Jeff surprised me with for Mothers Day.

This week has been slow. Not much going on in the "fun" department... so I was so happy to get a sweet gift from Karin at Creative Chaos! I had totally forgotten that I won a little drawing she had at her blog!! I NEVER win anything, so this was such a fun surprise!

Just look at these beautiful tags she made...so glittery and foo foo...

I *LOVE* THEM!!

Thank you Karin!!

Also, I've been wanting to show off one of my very favorite ETSY sellers. Ellen of OneRipePeach.com is so amazing! You can find her etsy shop here, oneripepeach.etsy.com.

She offers some of the sweetest and simple goodies for all kinds of creations! Here is what I recently found in her shop...

Vintage seam bindings in delicious colors and vintage PINK velvet millinery leaves.

 

Love Love Love her shop!! You are the bestest ever Ellen!! *hugs*

So, that's a small update for now.

I am feeling much better than I was last week. So, hopefully I can get back to work on my shop. Oh, I've also recently taken on the Children's Pastor postition at church (temporarily), so we'll see how that fits in to my already busy life... :0)

Am I crazy?

Thanks for dropping in gals! Talk soon!