Snow Day

It was a snowy one up here today! Cold and snowy! I went down to Freeport to buy some cookie cutters for the BunnyBakes gift baskets...I was out of breath walking out in that cold, uphill, sliding on ice under snow...yikes! I love the snow, but I don't love walking uphill in it! Huff, huff, huff!

I have some exciting news today! I'm soon to be shipping off some bobby pins to Shana Logic, one of my favorite Indie online stores. I have some items from there and loads of Etsians sell there as well. I'm really excited! Two of my bobby pin styles will be offered, the Pink Peppermint and Orange Creamsicle. Yay!

Another exciting thing today...I heard back from Stringing Magazine! I had sent them photos of three pairs of earrings and one necklace via email. If they like what they see in the email they'll write back asking you to send the items in so they can judge in person. So I made it to "Round 2," they want to see the necklace and one pair of earrings. This is all for the Fall 2009 issue, so it will be a while before I hear back from them or see anything published, but it would be great to get some exposure!

To add to my already excitement-filled day, I have officially opened my two new Etsy shops! Three "Bunny" shops, yikes!

BunnyBakes is my shop for all thing baking! My plan for this shop will eventually include actual baked goods and recipes...but for now I'm stocking it with gift baskets made with bakers in mind and blank handmade recipe cards. I really dislike recipe cards that have all that junk written on them..."from the kitchen of," "oven temp," "bake time," even the ones that just have a space for ingredients! What if I'm not baking something, or what if there is no set time? Wasted space, in my opinion. So my cards have some stamped-on decor and lots of blank lines!
I like 'em! I hand-draw the lines, no printing process for me! Time-consuming but a labor of love =) Plus I think they look cute this way!


And on to Shop Number Three! BunnyBaubles is where all the old hair accessories from BunnyBeads are going to live, as well as some new creations. I'm currently still in the process of moving items from one shop to the other, and it's time-consuming so I'm taking a break...until tomorrow! I have some new cabochons to glue onto bobby pin bases and also some ponytail enhancers coming soon! Anyone need some hair bling? =)

Last item on tonight's Blog Agenda...check out this apron I had custom-made for me! I can't wait til it arrives!! Too cute.

Happy snow, everyone!

Birthday gifts and gift baskets...

Yesterday my parents came to visit and we celebrated my dad's birthday a bit early. We had a great afternoon...Mom and Matt played Abalone, an obscure game Matt had wanted for a while which my mother found online and gave to him for Christmas. Dad got some goodies, but I think his favorite was the "Maine Moose Cake" I made him. We had a late lunch at the Azure Cafe (my fav!) in Freeport and came home for cake. It was a pretty yummy day!


My parents brought my old daybed with them, so Matt and I re-arranged the office today and set up the bed. We got some new sheets, a quilt, pillows, and the softest throw blanket EVER. My big, green, stuffed sheep Sebastian fits nicely there.


The office doesn't look too bad with a bed in it! Crowded, but ok. I now have all my beading tables and supplies in the living room, and my paper goods and shipping/packaging supplies on the second desk in the office.
I am hoping this re-arrange will make things easier for managing multiple Etsy shops. The office/guest bedroom is home to our big desk with desktop computer, my small desk (seen below), Matt's bass/amp/effects pedals, my keyboard and its stand, Matt's CD collection (we're in need of new storage for them!!), a big bookcase, and the daybed.

Luckily the instruments fit under the bed for storage, but those CD shelves have got to go and the amp is crowded right up next to my desk, the bed is right next to the book shelf, and there is just enough room at the other end of the bed for the big desk chair for the computer area. Yikes!

I doubt this is very feng-shui...but I do hope to finish up the Valentine gift baskets and have them listed on BunnyBakes tomorrow. I have some supplies ready for other holidays and events, but not enough yet...so just Valentine for now. I got busy making recipe cards today, I drew the lines individually by hand and decorated with rubber stamps. Check 'em out and tell me what you think!I've also got some new jewelry made for BunnyBeads so keep an eye out, once pictures are taken later in the week they will be listed!

Excited

It's been another wonderful week here in Bunnyland! I've been keeping busy, hence I haven't written in almost a week!

Monday's Etsy Maine Team meeting was a blast...we went art supply shopping and lunched at Pedro O'Hara's in Brunswick, and ended with gelato...mmmm. Kellie made us all awesome Maine team keychains and we got to meet the little mastermind behind MySpiderLegs, an 8-year-old arteest! Oh, and torrone gelato...devine!
Tuesday's inauguration made me cry happy tears, as a history buff the back-to-back MLK Day and Inauguration Day was almost too much to handle! The whole thing made me miss DC and I can't wait to take a trip down to Virgina again and see my family in Alexandria as well as show my husband around town--he's never been! We discussed it a bit over a celebratory dinner date Tuesday evening.
I went bowling just last night with some of my former co-workers and had a blast. An hour of bowling followed by three hours of chatter at Tim Horton's? Perfect in my book.


On the job front...I've got a possible gig as a Nanny coming up. NannyBunny! That would be fun. I also started applying at....dun dun DUNNNN...dry cleaners. My dad is a dry cleaner, I grew up at a dry cleaner's, I know how the business works. I need something to do with my time until we move in August, and I am not about to go back into retail just yet...I do love working retail...I like to help customers, set up a display, learn about new products...I'm good at it. I'm not good at dealing with the BS that comes with a poorly-managed shop, though. Anyone remember Sheena? Ugh.

On that note, it's time to get out of my house! Until next time...

Someone's having the BEST WEEK EVER!!

Well, if you don't watch much VH1 you may not get the title reference =) But no matter, this has been a pretty great week! I already blogged about our fun visit with Nick, and the following day I did a little more Maine Team shopping and got this pretty sachet from Peggy at TreasureScents. I spent the evening with Kristin beading taking pictures of some new Valentine's Day items for my shop.


Matt and I had lunch with Lauren on Friday in Yarmouth, the same day I received my beautiful ring from QuenchMetalWorks as well as some goodies made from recycled Cherry Coke cans from another etsy user, FunkyRecycling. I won a contest that evening, thanks to etsy shop CupcakeTree. Check out her blog and what I won here. Super cute, right? =)

Today (well, Saturday) I got my Netflix movies, so Matt and I spent most of the day sleeping and watching movies (he is working 12-hour night shifts, so our sleep schedule is a mess) and after he left for work I got to work dismantling the Christmas tree and decor and re-arranging the living room. It's good to have space back! Soon the Valentine stuff will be going up =)

To end my week of fun, I found myself featured in two etsy Treasuries. Check them out here and here! And to start of this new week on a good note...well it's already Sunday! And Monday I have an Etsy Maine Team meet-up downtown for art supply shopping and lunch with some fellow team members. Good stuff in my book!

Old Friends and All-Nighters

My husband's best friend in the Navy, Nick, came through town last night. Nick was Matt's best man when we got married (And Matt was Nick's, but that's a whole other story) They met in New Orleans and lived in neighboring barracks buildings, and we even lived next door to each other after we all were married off, in little duplexes off base. When Matt got orders to Maine and Nick got orders to Texas it was a little heartbreaking...but the boys have kept in touch as much as guys like them do, and all's well.
I wish it could have been under better circumstances that we got to see Nick, but he had a death in the family and had emergency leave to come home from Bahrain. He basically flight-hopped across Europe, making stops in Italy, Portugal, and Iceland on the way (Maybe Germany too...I forget). Nick finally ended up at NAS Brunswick, Maine, of all places, and we couldn't have been happier to see him. It had been almost two years!

Having never been to Maine before, this was not exactly an ideal time for Nick's visit. It was dark, freezing cold, and we had only twelve hours to spend together. So what could we do? Matt worked until midnight, so there was no place to go for a couple drinks or sightseeing after that...


Well, there was one place...



I absolutely love the fact that L.L. Bean is open 24 hours. There aren't even locks on the doors. Nick said he needed socks (in his rush to pack he packed one pair of socks, which he threw away at our house) so off we went to Bean's at 1AM! The place was, of course, deserted. We had the run of the store and tons of fun checking out the merchandise, the sales, and the shoes. Nick got his socks (and two pairs of shoes, a shirt, some postcards...) and I got my maple sugar candy and blueberry syrup. There was free coffee and an extremely friendly and helpful man who brought out dozens of pairs of shoes for Matt and Nick to test out. We found some trout swimming in the fish pond, tested out bison-hide boots, searched the after-holiday deals, and found some really cool alarm clocks. After the experience that is L.L. Bean ("wait, there are three floors in here?" "Nick, there are three other STORES in here!") we headed to the next 24-hour place...

We joined a New Jersey man studying several books, two Brunswick cops, and the two-person staff at Tim Horton's for a 3AM cup of coffee and sandwich. After an hour there, it really was time to head home. Nick had to repack his bags and leave by 6AM to catch a flight to Detroit, and then drive home to Ft. Worth, TX with his family. I fell asleep watching some true-life story of a man who crashed his small plane in the bush of Africa and broke his legs and nearly died 18 times. I think Matt and Nick shot the shit til it was time to catch Nick's flight. I very sleepily said goodbye, rolled over on the couch and slept until 2PM. And now it's time for pancakes with blueberry syrup and to get back to the ho-hum life. =)

Miss ya, Nick!

Nick and his twin kids, Austin and Abby =)

Jobsearch

Well, I've been working a lot on my unemployment claims...having never done something like that (having never been laid off before) am totally lost. The state sent me a good twelve envelopes in one day and I immediately felt overwhelmed. Ugh! I got it all figured out, though. Hopefully I won;t need to keep filing weekly claims for much longer...

I applied for a job at Jo-Ann Fabric yesterday, which would be awesome if I could work there. They must have a decent employee discount...I spend so much money there on cupcake and baking items, holiday decorations, new hobbies and old...so I'm excited and hopeful. The woman i spoke with said they were looking to hire this week, so I nabbed an application and filled it out over dinner with Matt at Ruby Tuesday (thanks to cousin Caitlin for the birthday gift card, dinner cost twenty cents!) and I brought it right back. The two places are within walking distance at the Topsham Fair Mall. Keep your fingers crossed for me, Jo-Ann is at the top of my list!

In Etsy-news, I have commissioned a fellow seller to make me a rubber stamp for the recipe cards I'll be making. Their shop is really cute, I'll post a link after I get my stamps =)
I'm looking forward to getting some projects done for BunnyBakes! I can't wait to get it up and running. My first two projects are Valentine's themed, they'll be adorable and awesome. Yaaaay! So excited!

Happy Tuesday Evening to you all...

BunnyBakes

Well, I am sitting here on my couch watching the Golden Globes and snacking on chocolates...KitKats, Ghirardelli squares, and these truffles from Starbucks. All holiday leftovers that I decided needed to be eaten. I am so healthy...not.

So! I have decided to start a second Etsy shop! I'm calling it BunnyBakes and I'll be selling cute handmade recipe cards to start, hopefully adding embellished albums to hold the recipe cards and maybe boxes as well. My mother gave me the idea to make gift baskets with actual cookie recipes, a cookie cutter, and maybe some kitchen gadgets that match. I could probably move my wine stoppers and wine charms into this shop at some point, and keep BunnyBeads as a shop for just jewelry and accessories--comment to let me know what you think of that, please!

Eventually I'd also like to sell several varieties of my biscotti and cookies from BunnyBakes. I think the licensing is a lot to go through now, though. We may be moving as soon as April or as late as August, so I think I will hold off until we're settled in Florida.

I already have the shop itself set up and I'm hoping to get started on making items for it this week! It should be fun! Let me know if you have any ideas, I would love to know what you think!

I'd like to point out rght now that I just re-read my first paragraph and had written the phrase "as well" five times. Editing now....and throwing out these Starbucks chocolates. They're really gross! Ugh, I need to go brush my teeth. Goodnight, Maine!

Snow and Ice

There is a huge full moon tonight with a halo around it, caused by light going through ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. It's so pretty! I wish I could have gotten a better photo.


I absolutely love winter. Snow, ice, cozy nights on the couch with hot chocolate! Warm mittens and hats! The beauty of snowflakes! Clear, bright nights! It's one of my favorite seasons (ok, they're all my favorite). We're supposed to get up to six inches of snow tonight and it can't start soon enough. I'm hoping to get some snowshoeing in tomorrow while Matt is at work, and I saw an article today in the Patroller (a Navy newspaper for our base) that there are snowshoe rentals on the base...which means I am dragging Matt out with me on Monday!


I love those bobby pins. I wish I had more than one pair...but that's all that was left of those snowshoe charms! Lauren, my friend and these pins' namesake, was over to the apartment today for Ravioli Making. I have to capitalize that, because there is so much more to making these Ravs than to throwing some frozen ones in a pot of boiling water and adding some Prego from a jar. It's my family's recipe, I don't know who it originated with. We mainly eat these ravs for special occasions (Christmas, etc) but I love them too much to only have them once or twice a year! They are made with homemade pasta dough and a filling made of cheese, spinach, pork, and beef. Delicious!
Lauren had never made her own pasta, let alone a huge dish. So together we made homemade sauce and the Ravs (though hers were minus the meat) and had lots of fun doing it. Of course I overstuffed the Ravs and the leftovers are going to be Ravioli Muck (something poor Matt has enjoyed a few times too many...they still taste good! They just aren't so pretty...) Lauren also made a pie for her friend's birthday (I would LOVE a birthday pie, FYI) and a mini turnover for us to share (one bite each!)
It was a great afternoon, lots of laughing, smiles, and food. Hopefully we can get together later this week before she leaves for Spring Semester. Kristin at Burnt Meadow Beads is also due for a visit, so maybe we can get some beading in?? Look for more items in my shop soon...and check out some of those links throughout this post...you'll see some great items not only from my shop but from some of the Etsy Maine Team's wonderful shops as well!

=)

Waiting Game

It seems like I've been doing a whole lot of waiting lately.
I was waiting for months for the new season of Psych to start (and I'm blogging while the premiere is on??)
I'm currently waiting for Matt to come home from work,
for the oven to preheat,
for the laundry to finish drying (and fold itself),
and for a job to magically fall into my lap.

Ohhh, a job. I have been checking Craigslist, but I haven't done much else. I've replied to a bunch of Nanny Wanted listings, but not much else. There are a lot more listings for stuff I can't do...like hang wallpaper and be a no-strings romantic companion for a man in South Portland...than for things I can do.
I found my last job on Craigslist, kind of quickly and out of the blue...so I had similar hopes for my next job. No such luck during Week One. I need to get out in town and start filling out massive amounts of applications...pronto. I'm getting cabin fever...I can only cook so much, make so many pairs of earrings, move the furniture so many times...ugh. I've had a couple Etsy sales this week and I've been working a lot on improving my shop. I've also been considering joining other selling sites...jury is still out on that one.

Well, the oven's preheated, one less thing to wait for...and one more. Frozen pizza, anyone? I like to think that by making dinner Matt will magically be released from work and come home. It doesn't usually work. Actually, it doesn't ever work. Waiting...

Blogging: Day Two

Honestly, not much has happened since last night's blog...but I did list some new wine charms on my etsy and I also figured out how to post pictures of the best ice cream ever...look how cute the choco bunny is!! (Yes, that's a bunny)

New year, new things...

Hello there! I guess 2009 is certainly underway and one of my resolutions this year was to start a blog. I'm a week late, but I'm here nonetheless!

So now that I'm here, I should introduce myself. I'm Drea, AKA Bunny. Nice to meet you! I'm a twenty-four-year-old living with my husband (Matt) and dog (Jack) and fish (Franklin) in Maine. Matt is in the US Navy, and I was recently laid off so I'm a full-time at-home beader, for now. I sell my beaded goodies in my etsy shop, BunnyBeads...lots of earrings, a few necklaces, hairpins, wine stoppers and wine charms...oh and a bracelet or two. It's fun and a good way to make a little income--my way =) I'm a member of the Etsy Maine Team, where I have met loads of lovely Maine artists and crafters who are all awesome!

Aside from beading, I love baking, cooking, reading, playing with Jackdog, playing MarioKart with Matt on our N64 (old school!), and drinking CherryCoke like it's a religion. It's a pretty good life! Right now it's cold and snowy up here in Vacationland, but I'm cozy in my sweatshirt and LL Bean slippers. Cozy enough to be eating ice cream! Can you believe they make BUNNY ICE CREAM?? Best flavor, ever! Once I learn how to put photos up on this blog-do-dad, I am posting a picture of my Bunny Dessert! (Yes, I broke out the camera for this)

Before I rattle on about nothing even more, I'm gonna run! More tomorrow (let's hope I keep this baby up!)

Until next time...
-Drea