10 Random Things Friday...

Holy COW, did Friday get here as fast for you as it did for me?

1. Yesterday I went on a field trip with Darling and her class.  We went to Frederik Meijer Gardens which is one of the most gorgeous places you'll ever see in Michigan.  It's a large conservatory, outdoor gardens, sculpture park, and one of the largest children's gardens in the country. 

 Find more info HERE

2. Started my 1st hat for my 2nd Annual Baby/Kid Hat Drive- See more information in the tab above and feel free to spread the word!!

3. What my kiddo does INSTEAD of getting dressed for school in the morning: making a TP fort for her littlest pet shop animals.

4. Keeps me up till 12:30 every morning reading!!

5. I had to return a bracelet to J Crew at Christmas so I had a store credit... I got this bracelet instead.  Not only do I love it, when she rang it up it was marked down from $45 to $24.99!!  Win-Win!

6. Easy Peasy eye lift for $19.99, but wait, if you order now, they will DOUBLE your order!!

go here for DREAM LOOK

What do ya think?

7. I'd like this purse, it's on Amazon and it's just under $600... maybe I should get 2?

source

8. I LOVE this artist on etsy: Retro Whale.  I've been stalking the shop for a while trying to decide which piece I want in my home... actually I'm not sure I can narrow it down to just 1.

Love the colors and the style and the humor...

Find retrowhale HERE

9 Crackle finish nail polish...

good or bad?

10. Hope the weather holds up this weekend, because if it does, we're headed to the OCEAN... the Michigan Ocean, we call it Lake Michigan!  Ahhh, who doesn't look forward to a day filling every crack you have with sand?!

Have a GREAT weekend!!

Independent Fashion designers on etsy.

We're getting ready to go on our annual cruise soon (don't try to come steal my collection of Q-tips used by celebrity's, my parents are house sitting!).  This girl needs something to wear, because of course, I have NOTHING to wear and I HATE everything I do own!

So last night I was grazing on etsy and look at all these CUTE custom pieces!!

The shop name is below each item and will take you to their shop.  Go see... I am amazed that people can actually SEW like this....I can't imagine being able to make something like this!

RiverOfRomansk (I could have put every one of her designs on here...the way I dream of dressing!)

Penni Pops Designs (you had me at pink!)

Flutter (I know one of the designers at this shop, she is a doll! Go check their ruffled collars!!!)

ThongbalTaTong (this mix match style is my FAVE, totally me!!)

and then some store bought goodies (although just not as much character and style as the handmade!):

jcrew
So I'm headed out today to shop, it's always a challenge when you're 4' 11 3/4" short.  Wish I could buy some leg length!!!
Where do you shop the most?  I'll admit, TJ Maxx gets a lot of my clothing $, they have an odd assortment of items and I can sometimes find weird sizes.  Do you ever buy custom clothing on etsy (or anywhere else)?  Favorite items this season??  Least favorite items this season?  I'll tell you one thing i am NOT excited about...those little floral prints that were so big in the 80's, I was over those in 1989!
Happy Thursday!  We have a 2 hour ice delay this morning... 
Welcome to Michigan Spring!!

Big Changes coming...

I thought I'd share with you some changes that are coming to chinamommy... not the blog (well, maybe some) or the person (ok, I AM getting my hair done tomorrow) but chinamommy the etsy shop!  My shop has NEVER been a great success.  If we had to count on my income we'd be wrapped up in the bubble wrap sleeping in the shipping boxes.  It's always been more for fun, but suddenly it wasn't fun anymore.  I would make and make and make stuff and then watch it sit and sit and sit... It was like my shop saying to me "Hey, very few people like what you do".  I don't say this as "Poor Me", I just say this because it's true and I needed to DO something about it.  When you see people that are highly successful it's almost ALWAYS because they are doing something they are totally passionate about.  Although, I have always liked what I've made, I've always had a nagging feeling that if I had to make 5,000 of whatever it is I'd end up in the fetal position!  Last week when I painted that orange mirror for our bedroom,

Darling said to me "Mom, we (WE!) should re-do stuff like that for your etsy store".  Have I told you what a genius my daughter is?

So, that's a little hint as to what you're going to see coming to 

chinamommy

I love the hunt, I love dreaming up the color combinations and I love makin' stuff!

Tune in tomorrow for a really cute tutorial and then on Wednesday I'll have some sneak peak's of new items headed into the shop!

I wanted to

Thank everyone for reading my blog, sharing it with friends and making comments!!  I REALLY appreciate it!

~Happy Monday~

Random Friday...

now showing on Saturday, 'cause what's more random than that?

1. Yesterday my darling girl didn't have school so we headed downtown to see this:

Yes, they are real bodies from China!!  I wish so bad I could have taken a few pictures but the armed guards were everywhere!  Google it if you're interested.  Most of the bodies were male, Darling said she could tell because of their faces, I could tell because of the penis, but hey... whatever!

2. With our tickets we got a "free" carousal ride...

this was my favorite horse:

3. This is what I got for Valentines Day.  As it was handed to me this sentiment was spoken:

"well, it's not as bad as a vacuum, right?"

He's a heart breaker, let me tell you!

It wasn't orchids, but I LOVE my morning coffee and I wanted one of these, so I was good!

4. Let's talk about me (duh!) and the fact that I placed in my age group at the 5k last weekend... who's going to be living off that glory for the next 25 years?!

Now let's talk about the fact I got a MEDAL yesterday in the mail with a note saying some of the times were off AND it said I was 2nd (NOT 3rd) in my age group!!

 

Hey, look at that hot air balloon overhead, oh wait, it's chinamommys giant ego floating over the west side of Michigan!!

I'll pretty much be wearing this everywhere I go from now on, or until the ribbon gets so dirty around my neck that I have to remove it before i get an infection.

Yes, that's me, right here behind my MEDAL!!!!!!

5. Have I ever mentioned I am the TRUE inventor of the Snuggie?

and Yes, that is an "orb" in the top right corner of my photo.  Could you call Ghost Hunters for me Mel?

6. Here I am dreaming of my New $95,000 Super Charged Range Rover (but in WHITE!).

I'm now on their mailing list... poor suckers!

Oh lookie there, my MEDAL!!

7.  I bought these birds at Michael's 40% off (cause I'm saving $$ for my Range Rover, Super Charged... in White)

8. Darling and I are going to a crop today (scrapbooking party).  I'm taking around 100 pictures, because I usually have my face in the chocolate fountain and get 4 pages done in 12 hours.  For you scrapbookers out there.... do you still do all those fancy pages or are you like me: just trying to get them down on paper?  I'm glad I have some pretty elaborate pages when Darling was a baby, but... since she is my ONLY child I have 99,437 pictures of her just in that 1st year!

Takes a narcissist to make a narcissist!

9. I like the simplicity of their shop name, I think it's says all it needs to:

(ok, i cut off the BE, but really, the shop name is ALL you need)

10 Have you seen these cases in Angela's shop:

Gingers Girl?...

 www.etsy.com/shop/GingersGirl

Aren't they CUTE!!??

Ok, I'm off to shine my medal, then crop!!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Let me introduce you to....

Paola Zakimi of the etsy shop:

holli

SHOP here!!!

I love the style of her gorgeous drawings and hope you'll check out all her other art!

LOVE her sketchy style and use of color...

Dreamy, aren't they?

Have a wonderful weekend, I'm off to my studio... I might actually do something besides stare at my glitter collection!

10 pieces of Orange and Pink Eye Candy

1.

asherjasper

2.

sugarcookiedolls

3.

catcancrochet

4.

ninon

5.

aliette

6.

ummashin

7.

Lovalizious

8.

janiexy

9.

StemellinaSupplies

10.

eeekdesigns

The link is below each picture, go see the other goodies in their shops!!

All shops are on etsy, of course!!

and don't forget, there is still time...

a little plug about my BABY/KID HAT DRIVE

As most of you know, my daughter was adopted from China and I left a little piece of my heart there.  I'm collecting hats to keep the children and babies warm in the winter.  Many live in orphanages that are without heat.

1. make a baby hat, toddler hat, or kid sized hat 

(you can take the non-crafty way out and buy one if you must)

2. Send to:

David Shellenbarger

c/o chinamommy

146 E Main

Caledonia, MI 49316

3. I need them in my hot little hands BY Oct 31, 2010.

4. I'll take care of shipping them to CHINA this fall.

any questions- please feel free to email me!!

chinamommy@yahoo.com

Top 10 Candy Corn Treats!

1. Oh, my how hilarious and CUTE is this candy corn cat hat??  Check out her shop for more of this goodness!!

scooterKnits

2. Custom made candy corn outfit for your little sweetie!! Cute, cute, cute!!

TheTrendyTotShop

3. Oh, my!!! A printable party!! Click the link below to see for yourself the most fabulous printable party supplies- STUNNING!!

FrogPrincePaperie

4. I have one of my own lip balms from this shop and let me tell you... they are DELISH!!  I'd like to order one of everything-toasted marshmallow, lavender lemonade, creme brulee...!!!

PS: I have the blackberry lip tint- YUMMO!

orangethyme

5. Click below to go to her shop full of gorgeous yarns!!!

sosaecaetano

6. Oh, wait till you see the amazing outfits in the shop below, click the link and see for  yourself, they are amazing!!

skycreation

7. Cute over load!!

wreathsndolls

8. Trust me.. you want to click this link and see the other gorgeous goodness in her shop...GO NOW!

BeBopMoon

9. Seriously adorable cake toppers...you have GOT to see what else she has, click below!!

lesleywellington

10. Candy corn ornaments!! Cute, hun?

aliciatodd

Whewww... that is some CUTE candy corn goodness, am i right?

Seriously, check out the other goodies in their shops!!

and by the way... i hate candy corn to eat! haha!

BUT: i love how it looks!!

don't forget, the deadline for my baby hat drive is coming QUICKLY, so here's the info:

a little plug about my BABY/KID HAT DRIVE

As most of you know, my daughter was adopted from China and I left a little piece of my heart there.  I'm collecting hats to keep the children and babies warm in the winter.  Many live in orphanages that are without heat.

1. make a baby hat, toddler hat, or kid sized hat 

(you can take the non-crafty way out and buy one if you must)

2. Send to:

David Shellenbarger

c/o chinamommy

146 E Main

Caledonia, MI 49316

3. I need them in my hot little hands BY Oct 31, 2010.

4. I'll take care of shipping them to CHINA this fall.

any questions- please feel free to email me!!

chinamommy@yahoo.com