Homefront Market at 1000 Markets

As you may know, I opened a new online shop at 1000Markets.com.  You may not know that many of the friends I made on Etsy, who are also military spouses, have also opened shops on 1000 Markets.  One of those amazing sellers, SmocksNStuff, took it upon herself to ask for a Homefront Market - a market made up of military family members who create beautiful handmade items - and her wish was granted.   The Homefront Market on 1000 Markets is absolutely gorgeous and we invite everyone to shop on by to take a peek and do a little shopping.  Support our military, support our spouses....We keep the homefires burning.

Taken from Homefront Market's Grand Opening blog post - 

"What is the Homefront? Who we are and what we do is a little bit harder to explain than the average person. From the outside this group might just seem like a group of people that just all love there artisan work and are trying to promote. On the inside it stems much deeper. We are a group that are from all walks of life, but are bonded by something much stronger than most people could ever imagine. We struggle with a life with many daily challenges the average person does not face; Living life with uncertainty and fear, but only showing pride, is our way. We deal with deployments, duty, disaster preparedness, exercises, training, emotional strife and severe traumatic experiences, wills, powers of attorney, and even the worst in the possibility of death. This is the life we have willingly entered. The service to our country and our family and unimaginable strife is what bonds us. Take care and appreciate all the tiny moments in life that make every hard moment worth it! We have gotten to live in amazing places, and see amazing things. There is a also a huge sense of camaraderie to people you've never even met. It is not an easy life, and we have sacrificed many things, but we are a close knit family, and we are proud. There is no sugar coating. We live life the best we can every day at a time!"

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...

It is Friday again and I decided to give you a few more of my favorite things. Maybe this will become a weekly installment!

LittlePinkPosies - this adorable shop is run by a mom with 2 kiddos. Her shop's name was a play off her daughter's nickname, Little Pink Princess, since as she says "the child was born to wear pink!" The shop carried gorgeous hair clips, for both big and little girls, but what caught my attention were the posy girl(TM) pendants. Each pendant is 2 inches tall, hand painted and finished with varnish. You can even customize your own posy girl and choose her hair color, color of her dress and the letter on her little necklace! Adorable for those little girls on your gift list - check out LittlePinkPosies and happy shopping!

Ulljas - COOKIES! Need I say more? Well, how about we let the picture speak for itself? These are Ulljas personal trademark shortbread cookies that are shaped like ice cream scoops. They taste thick and almost fudgey.

Ulljas is run by a professional pastry chef who has a European Pastry and Bakery Shop in central Texas. There were so many requests for online orders, Ulljas.etsy.com was born! I ordered the Raspberry Margarita package for my mom for Mother's Day - 4 delicious raspberry chocolate chip shortbread cookies and 4 key lime cooler shortbread cookies. Mmmmm....Now wipe up that drool and visit Ulljas!

SheerWhimsy - I entered a giveaway contest on the Downtown Boutique's blog and I won!! How great is that? And this is what I won - the mushroom gadget garb! These tiny little pouches are just big enough for your cell phone, ipod, or small digital camera. They are made with the utmost attention to detail - there is a layer of ultra thick batting to protect your little tiny technology, beautiful coordinating material, a vintage inspired button on the flap, a hand appliqued mushroom (or blow dryer, tree, cupcake, paw print, etc...) AND a tiny little sheerwhimsy label on the inside. I am in love with my gadget garb - it holds my cell phone, keeps it safe, makes it easy to find at the bottom of my purse and it is just so cute!! Check out SheerWhimsy's shop and you'll agree, the shop name fits.

These are a few of my favorite things....

I've had bloggers block and haven't been sure what to write about lately. Today while browsing through my favorites on Etsy I realized my favorite shops and items are so colorful and so fun that I wanted to share them. You'll probably get a little glimpse of my personality through these shops. I hope you like them as well. And if you have any colorful and funky favorites, send them my way!

TheFlashBulb - this shop is SO COOL! The artist behind this shop lives in Austin Texas and has her items in a couple of stores. She specializes in sewn art! Her shop is full of some of her originals along with prints and notecards of her originals. What a fun and funky shop! If I ever have another little one I might have to get some sewn art for the nursery.

Gracie Designs - the shop owner behind this store is married to an etsy artist and her sister is on etsy too. She makes the neatest mini wallets, check book covers, business card holders, coffee cup cuddlers and ice cream cuddlers as well! She also makes aprons and headbands and hair clips but my favorites are the "organizers" like the business card holder, mini wallet and checkbook cover, Plus they make your purse insides really pretty. :)

CurlyQCuties - okay, how cool is a shop filled with fun and funky plush toys and monsters? These cuties are made by a mom in central Texas who started making cuties for her kids and has branched out and started offering them on Etsy! She has all sorts of monsters and cuties AND tooth fairy pillows that you hang on the bedroom door at night with the tooth in the pillow's back pocket and the tooth fairy can easily access the tooth and put a couple quarters in it's place.

I'll leave you with these 3 shops to check out. There are so many wonderful shops on Etsy and such talented artists. I am always browsing to see what new shops I stumble upon. It's wonderful being an Etsy artist but sometimes it is even more fun being an Etsy shopper. :)