Shop Update June 2, 2011

Sadly my friends I have placed both my Etsy & Artfire shops on vacation mode. Canada Post appears to be striking for an unforseen amount of time.

When postal service is back up and running Boutique Karma will be holding a special customer appreciation salewith cool daily deals for a week. 

Tara xoxo

 

My Favorite Vanilla Latte March 24, 2011

So its not always possible to venture off to Starbucks for a latte.. but its ok to fake it!

Here’s my recipe for a Yummy Low Fat Sugar Free Vanilla latte:

1 shot of expresso (you can substitute extra strong coffee if you like)

1 cup of 1% milk (or skim) heated

2 packets of splenda (or other sweetner)

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Milk it all up and put it in a take out cup (or even Starbucks takeout cup) and pretend to have spoiled yourself. Because you have, right?

Tara xoxo

Pretend you just went out and spoiled yourself - no one needs to know you made it at home!

Adventures in Creativity March 7, 2011

Wow, seems like every time I set out to start blogging again I fall short. It started with my pregnancy and sleepiness, and then time escaped me, later third trimester exhaustion. Now with my new mini Karma in the house I’m finally feeling ready to blog a touch more. I’ll be honest though, I think my blog entries will be a little further apart.. maybe once or twice a week, when I have something to share.

Recently I’ve found it hard to find anytime in front of the sewing machine. It seems my days start and finish without much of a break with my 3 kids bouncing around and eating all day long. However, recently I did complete a few special projects that I want to share with you.

A few weeks ago I had a baby shower and I created this super cute set: a diaper clutch with a coordinating reversible bib. It has inspired me to make more to add to my shop:

 

Diaper Clutch and Bib set in Zoology

 

 

 

Then this weekend my son had his 3rd birthday. He’s a tad Toy Story obsessed, I decided this year to create my own cake with mini toys on it instead of buying an expensive, overpriced slab character cake from one of the grocery stores. In doing so he has some little toys to play with afterwards. It started as a simple idea, regular cake with some figurines on it. Then I started looking at cake ideas and ended up making my first ‘artsy’ cake. When I say artsy I mean anything at a higher skill level then pour, bake and slap on some jarred icing. This is my ‘Andy’s Bed’ cake from beginning to end.

Eli's 3rd Birthday Cake - "Andy's Bed"

 

 

 

Creativity comes in all forms, whether it be creating stuff for your shop, making something new, painting a picture, designing, making a cake or even juggling the kids. How do you find inspiration? How what have you created recently?

 

Link Love – Swirl Jewels June 7, 2010

Let me introduce you to Trish of Swirl Jewels – a fabulous seller on Artfire hailing from Adelaide, South Australia. Right now everything from her store is currently marked down by 20% until June 16th – so take advantage of some gorgeous jewelry at a fabulous price.

Here are some of my favorite items:

Green Kingman Turquoise Bracelet

Floral Lampwork and Silver Bracelet

Khaki Kool Lampwork and Silver Bracelet

Tweaking Tuesday June 1, 2010

I am back. I have avoided this Tuesday space for quite sometime. Call it an out of control spiral, an avoidance of reality or a changing of my priorities, but I’m back.

The past few months I haven’t been watching my food intake, however, I’ve been slowly increasing my exercise. I’ve been using my Wii (although it annoys me that it chastises me every time I stand on the balance board, warning me that I should check in daily), going for walks, and the occasional jog.

I’m back I guess to return to what I had started with. A changing of habits, not an overhaul to lose weight, back to making small health and lifestyle tweaks to a better, happier life. I think I started putting too much pressure on myself and ended up wanting to avoid myself and this Tuesday space. The result: out of control, an angry wii trainer, and the feeling of failure.  Lets face it, I have to live with myself, my body, my family forever, and I want to feel good with myself and not share my body issues with my daughter.  If I live a healthy lifestyle she will hopefully live one also, If I speak positively about myself, hopefully she will also.

Here we go again, so this week as we get into summer it is ultimately important to stay hydrated, so this tweak will once again be to drink lots of water. 8 recommended glasses a day!

Happy Tweaking,

Tara xoxo

Link Love – Still Tree May 24, 2010

Once in awhile you find something rare & special on Etsy. The Still Tree boutique is so fun, fresh & unique.  I know Sal, who is the creative mind behind the shop, through Twitter and have become a huge fan of hers. Not only does she call her ‘Mom’ Mum (LOVE IT!) but she’s well traveled and loves using color in her designs. Pssttt… Sal… have you heard of the Crafting in Color Street team??

Here’s her inspired bio:

“I’ve loved making things from an early age when my Mum taught me dress-making and how to knit and have always had little projects on the go, but Still Tree actually came about from a baking hot afternoon in the Northern Thai mountains and a bumpy trip on the back of a moped… My boyfriend and I were exploring some paddy fields and as we came along a dirt track in the middle of nowhere I noticed loads of beautiful iridescent blue feathers littering the road. They came from an Indian Roller bird, who had clearly met its match with another animal. I spent a while collecting them and on cleaning them when we got home I realised they would make for stunning earrings. And so came Still Tree. Etsy’s the perfect market place as it enables us to run a business from anywhere in the world. We’re back in the UK for the moment and have been trading for just over a year and we’re growing well; we’re not just about the feather earrings now either, we make lots of other jewellery, accessories and home-wares and have a great new product line on the way, which should be released in the next month or so, so keep a look out for exciting things!”

I can’t wait to see what you are up to!

here’s a few pictures from the Still Tree Collection:

Unusual Spiky Black and Turquoise Feather Earrings on Huge Kidney Wires

Striking Bright Red and Black Spiky Feather Earrings

Long Green and Brown Wooden Knotted Necklace - GBP 11.00

Pink and Cream Chunky Wooden Beaded Choker - GBP 8.00

Link Love – Jenni20 Designs May 15, 2010

In today’s edition of Link Love I’m going to introduce you to the fabulous gift giving shop of Jenni 20 Designs. I first was introduced to Jenni last summer via Twitter, she is one of the sweetest girls on my ‘crafty’ user list.  She is super crafty and sells items we all use, in attractive fabrics. Reading her profile bio I almost felt like I was reading my own, at first, minus the poodle (mine is a Heinz 57 special) and my couch is not vintage, just weathered:

“Jenni20 started sewing and crafting in the 80s under the tutelage of her fabulously talented mother. When she’s not dreaming up some new project, Jenni either works tirelessly on adding to her fabric stash, hanging out on her vintage couch with her poodle, reading anything in print…or doing all three simultaneously!”

Take a look around her shop and find some eco-friendly items, some vintage finds and some passport covers that will add a little spice to your travel.

Any lover of fabric is a friend of mine!

Laundry Bag Handmade with Alexander Henry's Juicy Fabirc --Don't Get Fresh With Me

Custom Travel Laundry and Shoe Bag Set-- Jet Set You Pick the Fabric

Betsy Bee-- Passport Cover with Machine Applique on Polkadot Oilcloth

Tweaking Tuesday – the Mighty Banana Shake May 11, 2010

Alright, this week I refuse to talk about my dieting, exercise or health.  Today I’m going to share a yummy healthy snack idea: the Mighty Banana Shake

You know those nasty, black bananas sitting on your counter? You toss them because you know you’ll never be a super mom making banana bread… right? Well don’t toss them – freeze them and make banana shakes!

Here’s what you need:

1 frozen banana

3/4 c skim milk (or whatever you have on hand)

1 packet of splenda

a dash of vanilla extract

a sprinkle of cinnamon

Toss it all into your blender or if you are desperate like I am: a food processor and blend until creamy. Trust me, it really hits the spot, tastes yummy & refreshing and you feel like you just had a milkshake.

*Want a couple twists to change it up? Try adding cocoa powder, peanut butter, different seasonal fruits. If you are leaning towards the unhealthy blizzard type stuff think Reese Pieces – OMG!

Try it and let me know what you think!

Tara xoxo

Crafty Poll – Oooops? What now? May 9, 2010

Hey Crafty Ladies & Gents – I have a little poll for you. What do you do with your seconds? By seconds I mean stuff you aren’t excited about, stuff that doesn’t meet your high level of standard?

Working with material sometimes I run into an issue where the fabric placement doesn’t excite me on the final product or my corners didn’t turn nicely and appear to rounded. Often because of the repeat on the fabric my characters might appear upside down right smack in the center of a coffee sleeve or not at all.

This is the case today for one of my new Mug Huggers – which I thought I would giveaway here on my blog. It is still super cute, it just wasn’t perfect, it was missing the major character of Alice. The only sign of our heroine is her upside down feet in the second picture. The mug hugger is all black with black stitching, the small pictures are white with a small touch of gold shimmer. It really is a whimsical beauty, perfect for any child at heart or fan of the original classic.

So here’s the deal, no crazy hoops to jump through.  Just leave a comment & email address and you’ll be up to win a cute Mug Hugger of your own. If in your comment you suggest another venue or idea for my ‘ooops’ I’ll be eternally grateful.

Tara xoxo

Mug Hugger - Tea Party

Link Love – The Crafty Housewives May 8, 2010

I love making connections online – recently I came across a jewelry shop located in Quebec through Etsy. I added it to my favorites and even sent out a tweet about one of her lovely bracelets. Unknown to me she had actually sent me a message asking me for a little information, she had originally seen me on Icraft. Small world this crafty community!

Here’s a little bit about Maika – she lives in St. Jerome, Quebec. Do you know where that is? It’s about a half hour North from Montreal depending on traffic, and just a quick jaunt from some of Quebec’s most famous ski hills! What a beautiful, inspiring area to work in.  She loves crafting and excited to now be home creating her own designs and working with some of her favorite materials such as: stones, shell and wood. She loves challenging her self with new materials, techniques  and loves making one-of-a-kind designs and even better – CUSTOM!

I’d love for you to take a minute to check out this new Etsienne’s shop and some of her beautiful items.

Tara xoxo

The Gypsy Bracelet

Knowledge Tree Necklace

Coral and Shell flower necklace