My Dream Backyard Oasis

If I ever win the lottery my Dream Backyard Oasis would look something like this...

Over in the far left corner you will find this gorgeous pond.


And in the center of the yard you will find this awesome entertainment area.


Any my favorite spot in the yard, the outdoor kitchen.

But of course, this backyard dream is just that. I don't buy lottery tickets so my chances of winning are pretty bleak. I will continue to dream....

What a Beautiful Sight in My Flower Bed Today

Am I In A Treasury?

All too often I see this question asked around the Etsy Forums ~ "How do I know if I'm in a Treasury?" Finding yourself in a treasury is just as exciting as creating one. At the same time, it is like finding a needle in a haystack. Gold Star in the list means you are featured, silver star means you are an alternate.

If you are a member of Etsy and have never created a Treasury, you are missing out on a lot of fun. Etsy has created a great Storque article chock full of information on how to create a treasury.

With the stability of the Etsy Treasury servers, a greater number of treasuries are capable of being created. With the vast number of treasuries being created it translates into a lot of pages to surf through to see if you have been included in a treasury. Sometimes a curator will convo you to inform they have included one of your items in their most recent treasury. If you are limited on time, it is difficult to go through every page to see if you have been included in the treasury. You certainly don't want to "neglect" your duty by properly visiting the treasury and thanking the curator, right?

Today I want to introduce you to another awesome tool I have found.

Simply type in your Etsy user name, and the site will tell you if your Etsy shop has been included in a treasury. It searches the Main Treasury, as well as Treasury West. It also tells you if you are an alternate in a treasury, and how long before the treasury is due to expire. A link is included that leads you directly to the treasury.

Now how cool is that?

Hearts & Visitors on Etsy

Recently seen an explosion of hearts and/or visitors to your Etsy store and wondering where it came from? Want to know if your shop was recently featured on the front page of Etsy or in the Storque? Ever wished for an easier way to check shop hearts and hearts for individual items? Have I got a neat tool to share with you ~ The Heart-O-Matic.

I have been using this site for about a year now. It is awesome! You plug in your etsy user name and/or number and can see who has been leaving hearts in your shop and on each individual item. Simply click on the different tabs and all sorts of great information is at your disposal. I am totally loving the new tab that was recently added to this site ~ FEATURED ~ now you don't have to ask around, "have you seen any or my items on the front page today?" "Have I been featured in Storque?" "Have you seen anything of mine in the Gift Guides?"

It's all right there for you to see ~

And then a quick search on my Flickr resources for front page screen shots produced an actual screen shot of the front page on Etsy when it occurred.

How cool is this tool? It's AMAZING!

Rest In Peace My Special Valentine

Photo of My Grandma taken on her 94th Birthday
~ February 14, 2009 ~
Peacefully resting in the arms of Jesus up in Heaven
~ April 9, 2009 ~

Life Moves On...Leaving Entrecard in the Dust

Admittedly we all make choices and with those choices there are consequences. Such is the case with Entrecard. All of the good intentions to bring in paid advertisement as a means to turn credits into cash for members ~ Great concept, very poor execution.

I have many faithful readers and fellow Entrecard members that have made their daily drops in an effort to buy a 24 hour window of advertising on my blog. Many of you have had to wait 7-10 days for your your ad to run on my blog. I am OK with paid ads, so long as they wait in line for their spot the same as those who have spent their credits to advertise on my blog. I do not feel it is fair for those paid ads to jump to the top of the dog pile and share the advertising spot with my blogging buds who have been waiting patiently for their ads to display. The same blogging buds that meticulously dropped in on other blogs day in and day out to earn the credits to purchase the ad spot on my blog.

I am refusing any and all paid ads, cancelled those paid ads I had previously approved, and I have set my account to not accept any new adverts purchased with credits. The last ad purchased with Entrecard credits will run on my Entrecard widget on April 8. After that, the Entrecard widget will be removed from my blog.

Thank you for understanding.