Cool Gift Tags!

Hi all! Sorry it's been a couple days since my last update. I've been a little lazy. ;)

Monday I went out for lunch with a friend, and then to a movie. It was the first time I have ever eaten Buffalo Wild Wings, and wow was that good. I got sauce everywhere! You know there are some days I consider becoming a vegetarian and then..... I taste something like that. Kudos to anyone who has the discipline to stick to a vegetarian diet.

The movie was the Adventures of Tin Tin and it was really well done. It was very imaginative and adventurous, but better for kids ages 8 and up since there was drinking and violence in it. I would think an 8 year old could understand if someone explained to them it's just a movie and not something that is OK in real life...

So the other night I was looking at Top Hatter (which is a special auction site that has handmade items and supplies only. Pretty cool actually. Check it out, it's http://www.tophatter.com you can just buy or even become a seller. It's always good to have a few extra options for selling especially if craft shows are slow right now) Where was I? Oh yes! I was looking at Top Hatter and there was these really cool handmade tags made by Jill from Whispering Rainbows. Well I was just learning about how it works, so I missed bidding on the auction. Jill also has an etsy store where I found an awesome deal and got 150 tags!

She has all kinds of shapes, sizes and colors, and they are great for labeling crafts and scrap booking. I picked this set because I love surprises! This is what I did with them.

Be sure to check out Jill's things on  her website, http://www.whisperingrainbows.com on etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/WhisperingRainbows and her facebook page https://www.facebook.com/WhipseringRainbows#!/WhisperingRainbows

That's all for now! I've got soap to make. :)

EG Bowers Craft Show

Well I'm back from the craft show so I thought I'd tell you a bit about it and introduce a couple of other wonderful crafters that were there.

It really was a beautiful day today but not too many people came out to the show and sadly the crafters were lucky to sell one item let alone make back the booth fees. The craft show was put on by the schools parents group and had been well advertised. It turned out that two days before the show, it was announced to the parents that three (yes 3) schools in Massillon were closing. Including EG Bowers. The students next year will have to be integrated into other schools, and plans for a new school are uncertain. As a protest to the schools being closed the parents boycotted the craft show, leaving us crafters unaware and caught in the middle.

Since it was so slow we all had a great time visiting with other crafters and getting to know each other. Any day you get to make new friends is a good day. Gains don't always have to be financial ones after all. ;)

Introducing Jim Register from V.J.I WoodWorkZ http://www.etsy.com/shop/VJIWoodWorkZ

Jim makes all kinds of really neat items, from cutting boards made with high quality wood and food safe materials to key chains (I'm thinking guys Easter basket gift!) and i-phone amplifiers. These are so awesome! You just put your iPhone or ipod in the little notch for it and thanks to the way Jim made it and to science the sound comes out of the circles in the front it makes it louder! No wires, no electricity! I should have gotten a picture but I didn't. I'm sure if you e-mail him he can send you a picture.  jimregiste(at)aol.com These are also great gift ideas for a man, say like your Dad.... (Father's Day is coming up faster then you think)

And Jody Lanham from Designs by Jody. Lanham1(at)gmail.com

Jodi makes beautiful jewelry creations with a combination of wire wrap, beading and semi-precious gemstones. (Check out these super cute peace earrings I bought from her) Jodi's art is an expression of herself and each piece is made with love and care. She also can do jewelry repairs and custom restoration. She told me about a broken beaded necklace that had belonged to a customers grandmother. She took the beads and made new jewelry out of it for her customer so she could still wear her grandma's beads. That is such a sweet idea! (And Mothers Day is coming faster then Fathers Day!...... With prices starting at $8 for earrings Mom can have a one of a kind piece of jewelry!)

Anyway, that's all for now. I want to continue my craft show day blogs like this and feature artists. other then myself. So if you like their things, e-mail the artists and find out what shows they will be at.

As for me my next show is at Hoover High School on March 24th with the North Canton Lions Club. They have an awesome raffle there! Who knows? You could win something. So come out and see me.

Thanks for reading!

Hi Everyone!

Hi, and welcome to my blog. I thought it would be fun to have a place where I feature the different crafts I do, could talk about my day, and have a type of diary so to speak. I'm not sure exactly what to say since I have never done this before.

I probably should introduce myself. My name is Alanna, I'm 24 and I love to make things. I love animals and have 2 cats, Murphy and Garfield and a dwarf hamster named Whiskers.  My hobbies include: Reading, playing the piano (beginner), crocheting, cross stitch, jewelry making, sewing, soap making, needle felting . I always love to try new things so keep your eyes open for the latest creations!

Here is how and why I got into doing craft shows, and selling my crafts.

About a year and a half ago I was working as an STNA (State Tested Nurse Assistant) when I started getting sick at work, my heart was racing and I was passing out while taking care of the residents. Then one night when that was happening I got a severe migraine, and double vision and finally had to go to the ER. Long story short I continued to pass out, had to stop working and driving, went from taking care of people in wheelchairs to having to use one myself, saw a bunch of doctors to finally being diagnosed as having a condition called dysautonomia. Whew, that's a mouth full. Basically what that means is the part of the brain that controls everything your body does without thinking about it IE: heart rate, blood pressure, digestion etc. doesn't work right in me. I have good days and bad days, on my bad days I use my wheelchair, on good days I use a cane that has a seat on it in case I have to sit down. I don't use those at home because I can feel when I am about to pass out and just sit down.

So here I was depressed, stuck in the house a lot with nothing to do. I started looking for an interesting hobby that I could do sitting down and I found soap making. I took the little money I had left and bought some supplies. Did some craft shows and bought more supplies with the money I made from the craft shows. It is really nice because I can make things on my good days and rest on bad days. No I'm not actually making "profit" or a living or anything, but it supports my hobby so I have something to do. The craft shows are wonderful since I can get out of the house and meet a lot of really nice people.

 Anyway that's all for now! Thanks for subscribing to my blog.

For now you can check out my facebook fan pages and my etsy shop at

Soap http://www.facebook.com/peachblossomcosmetics
Crochet http://www.facebook.com/lightnlacy
Needle felting (NEW!) http://facebook.com/sheepishcritters
Etsy http://peachblossomcosmetic.etsy.com

Feel free to email me too at peachblossomcosmetics(at)gmail.com Just replace (at) with the @ symbol. I don't put a link on to prevent spam. :)

HUGS!