Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin carving around our house, nice and sloppy. Nathan wanted to make a "sad" baby pumpkin. Is he too young for anti-depressants?

Must start with just the right design. Dad is so talented. Mommy's pumpkin rotted. Nathan calls this big pumpkin the "grandpa" pumpkin. Where do they come up with this stuff?

Yucky!

Click here for a Halloween Giggle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8AJn_j014Y

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

iCANDY - 16th Edition

Instructions: For best viewing results, click on iCANDY collage

I have holiday entertaining on the brain lately and it's really never too early to start making your plans. You know what they say? If you fail to make a plan, you plan to fail!!

How about some holiday entertaining, Etsy style? Everything featured here today can be found on Etsy, your one stop shopping place for a handmade holiday.

First up are these adorable ceramic cupcake stands by Michelle Miller. I never knew there was such a thing! so colorful and simple.

Everyone needs to look the part, twirling around the kitchen getting ready for your guests. How about a fun apron by Liz Lamoreaux?

Impress your guests with custom designed cookies by Gumdrop Cookie Shop. They can print anything you want on a cookie, with their edible inks! You can have your initials, logo, endless possibilities. Make great holiday party favors.

Never arrive empty handed! How about these classy letter pressed Noel Gift Tags as a gift for your hosts? Fresh off the press and delivered to your door by Ruby Press.

Every party needs a great dip and I don't mean Uncle Earl:) Check out this tasty Sesame Seed Dip from Eason. They have a great selection to choose from.

Can I toot my own horn? You need a great invite to make a great first impression of your party. Check out these fun Martini Snowman Cocktail Invitations by me. Perfect for the casual get together. Throwing a more formal shindig this season? contact me for custom designed holiday party invitations.

ENJOY

! FREE LUNCH !

What? did someone say there was no such thing as a FREE LUNCH? Well not over here at

InkSpot Workshop!!

I'm serving up a heaping helping of my holiday finest to kick-off this season. I have the perfect gift set for you to keep all to yourself, or give to your BFF.

For more holiday free stuff, check out the CARNIVAL happening over at Bloggy Giveaways.

Who? You Lucky Blog Readers

What? A set of 10 Tree Bird Holiday Cards, your choice of color and personalized as you wish, a set of 12 matching holiday gift enclosures, your choice of color, PLUS InkSpot Workshop's 2009 Calendar, choc-full of colorful and fun designs

HOW? All you need to do is hop on over to my shop and take a look around. Leave a post here on my blog telling me what your favorite InkSpot Workshop item is and how you would use it this holiday season. You get extra points if you come up with ideas of items you would like to see carried in my shop. PLEASE BE ORIGINAL I can tell if you really did take the time to visit my shop and gave your post some thought.

WHEN? I will choose one lucky winner on Saturday November 1, 2008 at 1:00 pm EST. You will be notified by blog or by email. You do not have to own a blog to win, so please leave me a valid email address so I may contact you.

Saturday Morning Surprise

Look what my Google Alert sent me this morning!! What a pleasant surprise. A few weeks ago I received an email from one of the NYC editors at Brides.com, asking my permission to feature my new Notes For The Bride-To-Be (sister set to Notes For The Baby-To-Be) I was completely flattered that they needed my permission, especially since I was a frequent visitor to their site 4 years ago when I was a bride-to-be. Well here it is. There's just nothing like free publicity. Click here to read full feature.

I Found Heaven!

Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone .... I'm going to let you in on a little secret.... I found HEAVEN! at least I'm pretty sure. Check out my new stash! Thanks to the sweet Cory, who puts the SWEET in Sweet Petula. I was lucky enough to receive this care package from a trade we did last week. Can I just say, my bathroom has been transformed into the best smelling spa ever. There is nothing more luxurious than taking a bath or shower using high quality products that are rich with moisturizing ingredients and {the best part} aromatherapy!

Featured in picture from left to right 1.) Sweet P. Cleansing Body Wash 2.)Sparkling Bath Tablets 3.) Lavender Moisture Balm 4.) Lavender Aromatherapy Spray 5.) Shea Butter Lavender Body Wash 6.) Ruby Grapefruit Shea Butter Soap.

The Lavender Aromatherapy Spray has become my new night time ritual, just a little spritz all over my sheets has me falling asleep before my head hits the pillow. The Sweet P. signature scent is a serious new favorite. I use the body wash each morning, with it's light lemony cookie scent, you get energized and it helps jump start the day. I'm so impressed with the quality of these goodies, I just had to tell everyone! I originally found Sweet Petula while pouncing on Etsy, I fell instantly in love with the girly packaging. Little did I know they have been around for 8 years and even have an incredible boutique, located in Seattle {worth a trip to the NW}.

Not every item listed above is available in Sweet Petula's Etsy shop. If you see something in her catalog, just contact Cory and you can order it. Be sure to check out her new line of all natural products for your dog, called GOOD CLEAN DOG. Of course the packaging is just as cute and why not have a pooch that smells as great as you?

With my paper obsession, I just had to show you how adorable her business cards and thank you note cards are. She even included this super cute kitty paperclip. Check out their blog Sweet Petula is the WHOLE package!

iCANDY - 15th Edition

Instructions: For optimum viewing pleasure, click on collage

I can hardly believe this is the 15th edition of iCANDY - enthusiastically brought to you by InkSpot Workshop, as always!

The colors this week are just about my favorite combinations and I'm finding this collage in particular really incredible to look at. They almost have a tranquil effect on me, funny how that works...other people probably like neutrals, not ME!

First up are some beautifully modern pottery designs from Ninainvorm, I can't find one piece I don't like. Then we have some truly inspiring journals from Shalom's Cottage Home. You can get the pages lined a few different ways, makes me want one for every project. Then we have these absolutely adorable paper mobiles from Almost Sunday. I love the little fish design and wish I had discovered this little shop 3 years ago when I did my son's nursery.

All of these artists are fellow sellers on Etsy, where everything is handmade - OF COURSE!!

Thanks for visiting, ENJOY

I {heart} Fall Weekends

Nothing is better than spending a perfect Fall day in the country. Here in GA we have lots of country plus the North Georgia Mountains for our weekend scenic escapes. Although I am definitely a "city mouse" I love the country. I moved to Atlanta in 1992 and since I had my son almost 3 years ago, I'm experiencing a completely different Georgia than I knew as a single girl without kids.

We kicked off the Fall season with a trip to Bradley's Pumpkin Patch. Found our pumpkins for the front porch, took a hayride and ate some of the best hot boiled peanuts ever. You know what they say.... when in Rome, or in this case Dawsonville:)

Then we were lucky enough to get a visit from Ohio, my homeland. Longtime friend Lisa and 2 of her 3 kids made the trek south. Boo at the Zoo was a big hit with everyone and we had a SPOOKY good time!

Our entourage included a couple power rangers and a "scary" shark. As you can see, the shark costume was a bit small, as it was my son's costume from his first ever Halloween, when he was just 9 months old! He is on a shark kick and insisted on wearing this costume {everywhere}. Oh well, guess I just wasted the $60 I spent on this year's astronaut costume.

Just yesterday we took a drive to Canton, where we had our first ever Cagle's Dairy Farm experience. If you are planning on a trip to Atlanta anytime soon, I HIGHLY suggest this spot, especially if you have kids of all ages. You will have an udderly great time:) This is a real working dairy farm and they have pumpkins, a country store with {what else} handmade dairy yummies, big bouncing pillow thingy that is supposed to look like a haystack plus.......

a hayride where the cows help themselves and are front and center.

a pig race, yes I said PIG RACE! Just about the funniest thing you will ever see.

A mechanical milking demonstration with good old Rosy and Bill. If you take a good look at Bill, you will see he's keeping the art of moustache waxing alive, here in 2008.

oops! Bill might have left the milking machine on a little too long for this poor Bessy.

Adorable baby calfs that were just born on the farm.

I hope you too are getting a chance to enjoy the outdoors with your friends and family.

2009 Desktop Calendar is HERE!

My neck hurts but it's worth it! I'm so pleased to announce I am finished with my 2009 calendar and have just listed it in my shop. My first ever calendar is choc-filled with InkSpot Workshop bright and whimsical designs, sure to be a crowd pleaser - stocking stuffer. They come packaged in a pretty, crystal clear jewel case, which doubles as a desktop easel.

Since we are on the eve of the "season for giving" starting today and ending December 10th (or until supplies are gone) I'm including a free calendar when you spend more htan $50.00 in my shop (excludes shipping) These are a limited edition, so hurry:)

iCANDY - 14th Edition

Directions: For best viewing results, click on picture collage

Hello and welcome to the 14th edition of InkSpot Workshop's iCANDY. I never run out of pretty things to post about and these three artists are no exception.

First up are the simply chic, updated 1940's esque pottery pieces from fellow Etsy seller Whitney Smith. Next from a fun and inspiring {non Etsy} shop called LAMA {Latin American In The Modern Age} are some pieces from designer Jimena Rios and her Ego Award collection. Lama has many items for the home and gift giver that spotlight talented, independent, Latin American artists. Straight from the sewing machine are these fun pillows from Etsier Track and Field Designs. Round pillows are so yesterday!

ENJOY!

No More Chicken Littles - The Sky Is JUST FINE!

That's it! Enough! I've had it! Heads off with the media and politicians with their feeding frenzy on pessimism. All this hype about the US heading for another "Great Depression" is media sensationalism at its finest. If you are sitting at home, paralyzed by the negative messages being sent every time you turn on your computer, TV or radio - then take the initiative and EDUCATE YOURSELF ON THE FACTS! Don't fall victim to the hype that the media knows "sells stories". I'm doing my part to spread OPTIMISM, details are towards the end of this post.

Without boring you with all the specifics from the US Census and Bureau of Labor and Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/) Here are a 2 simple economic facts...

Media Sensationalism Myth: Unemployment is the worst it's ever been!

Truth: Sept 2008 unemployment rate was 6.1% - In the past 10 years the highest this rate has been = 6.3% (June, 2003). The Great Depression lasted from 1929-1941, during that time the lowest unemployment rate was 3.14% in 1929 and the highest was 24.75 in 1933 with a median average during that era of 16%.

Media Sensationalism Myth: We are facing the same mortgage foreclosure rates as the Great Depression.

Truth: info from Mortgage Bankers Association (http://www.mba.org/) 6.4% of ALL mortgages are delinquent to some extent and 2.75% are in foreclosure. During the Great Depression more than 50% were in foreclosure. In 2008 foreclosures are unique to the small fraction of mortgage owners who have sub prime loans, basically these people did not have the where-with-all to be a home owner in the first place. Mortgages to people who could not afford a home (sub prime) only make up 12% of ALL US mortgages, yet account for 52% of all foreclosures.

OK, enough ranting, I think I've made my point. Now for some fun stuff...To help spread

OPTIMISM

I've come up with a new set of notecards for you to send to all of your Chicken Little friends who believe the sky is falling! I'm jump starting this launch by giving away a free set of 10 to one lucky winner. All you need to do is post the media myth that makes you most outraged and why. The winner will be chosen on Wednesday, October 15th at midnight. Good Luck and spread the word!!

My Little Astronaut

I'd like to give a special THANKS to Salmon Street Studio for doing a trade with me. In return for some InkSpot Workshop goodies, I got this super-galactic shirt for my little guy {drool spot sold separately}. Each garment they make is hand screen printed, plus they make stuff for the whole family to wear!! even maternity gear with the cutest little porcupines you've ever seen.

I'm really loving the whole orange on brown look and even found these way cute Ked's to match. Wait until you see this future Astronaut's Halloween costume!

iCANDY - 13th Edition

Directions: Click on collage for optimum viewing

Feeling all FALL today, with the leaves piling up in my backyard, I found these wonderful items just so satisfying.

I just love the tie-dye effect of these confections from fellow Etsy seller Double Dipped Sweets. How about the delicate nature of these scarves from FRAY? More like necklaces, perfect for the South, where it doesn't get too cold. Wouldn't these little soaps from Shop Davinia make great hostess gifts this holiday party season? or in your guest bath?

ENJOY and Happy Fall!

FALL SHOWCASE - The Faces Behind Atlanta Etsy

Ahhhhh! we couldn't have gotten better weather if we'd tried! This past Saturday, 7 other Etsy sellers here in Atlanta, joined me in my backyard for our First Annual Hand Crafted Artist's Fall Showcase.


It was a perfect day for buying handmade in Atlanta. A big THANK YOU to my neighbor Holland of Balloonacy for helping make a colorful backdrop for our event.

Registration table for our guests. We held drawings throughout the day and a few lucky winners took home some nice treasures. Thanks mom for being the best greeter we could have asked for! Also a little shout out to Callie for being the hostess with the mostess and an aspiring Etsy shop owner herself.

My little nook of the patio and my first time exhibiting my InkSpot Workshop line. I'm so used to working tables at medical trade shows - this was a welcomed change!!

It's almost SHOWTIME

Wee all brought a tasty treat or 2 for our guests. Next year we will double bill this event, the FALL SHOWCASE and TASTE OF ATLANTA all rolled into one! Not only did we have some talented artists in the group, they were talented in the kitchen too. Mom made her famous Nanceroons (top tier of double tray) and no she still does not want her own Etsy shop:(

Meet some faces behind Atlanta based Etsy shops, most were camera shy... here is the adorable Sarah of Re-Paper. She hand stitches each and every one of her journals. It's really quite a site to see. She also makes a mean pumpkin hummus!

Here's the lovely Peg of Luxe Design Workshop. She's just as classy as her designs and also has a passion for food. What's not to love?

Introducing Sherry of Easy Edges. See her headband? Was the hit of the show! I got a couple and they are the most comfortable headbands you will ever wear, plus they look like little scarves.

Simply cute as can be and bride-to-be Jessica Gonacha. What a gifted artist she is. You must check out her new calendars! I got one:))) thanks Jess.

Our favorite potter Jeanette (not Harry) of Vessels and Wares. Her pottery is DIVINE like little fired pieces of lace, makes for very thoughtful gifts.

Our resident craft show expert, Alicia of Istanbul Designs. All her jewelry is made from her original hand drawn sketches. As you can see from her professional setup, she knows a thing or 2 :*

Fall Showcase Team

L-R

Me, Sherry, Jessica, Peg, Alicia, Jeanette and Sarah

THANKS EVERYONE!!

We'd like to fill the backyard up with sellers for the next Showcase. If you are interested in participating, drop me a line at inkspotworkshop at hotmail dot com.