Let's Make or Buy Handmade for the Holidays!

In my recent dives into blogland I found this great site called BuyHandMade.org and I quickly joined in with my Pledge to Buy Handmade this season and to request that others do too! So here I am, encouraging all to buy or make handmade goodies to give this year during the holidays.

I love the new wave of interest in all things hand made, all the the Indie sites are amazing and so inspiring, Etsy is huge now and much more fun to shop than ebay. (and much more affordable both for shopping or selling!) Lots of my Pink Sisters now have Etsy shops, just take a look at my "hearts" list and you'll find their shops.

Lisa at The Domestic Diva's Disaster's blog was so kind to include my free "Pink October" tote pattern in her post on Monday in support of Sew Mama Sew's November event called Handmade Holidays.

You must visit this event on Sew Mama Sew's blog and see all the great ideas being posted all throughout November for handmade gifts. You could also win a gift certificate to the Sew Mama Sew online shop in one of their great drawings too!

And, the best place of all to shop handmade though of course, is MakeMinePink.com! The Little Pink Boutiques and Little Pink Plaza shops are beginning to fill up with the most gorgeous selections of Christmas and Holiday decor and gift items you've ever seen! Here's some sneak peaks...

From My Dear Friend Karen at Sweet Neccesi-Teas

And look at these beautiful heirloom stockings

from the very talented Carol at Clutter Bug Studio

Oh My!! Have you ever seen anything as adorable

as these Glittery Mittens from Ronda at Cherry Blossom Cottage?

I will post more of my Pink friends Christmas goodies throughout the month, so please visit their sites and shop handmade this year!

XOXO

Sweet Belguim Praise

I recently had my first international sale. I'd been a little fearful of shipping overseas but, this very nice lady from Belgium, Carole, emailed me about a purse I had listed on my Etsy.com shop asking if I would ship it to her internationally. I looked into the process and told her what it would cost and really it was very easy all the way around.

When her purse arrived, Carole posted a message to me to tell me that she loved it and that she was going to post about it on her blog: Entre Rêve et Réalité. I'm totally touched at her glowing remarks about her new shoulderbag and so pleased. I do not read or speak French, so I went to BabelFish.com and translated her comments so I'd know what she said. WOW, I could just read this over and over! It's so melodic to read the translation and makes me feel 10 feet tall!

Here's the translation:

... I received today my first purchase on ETSY. It acts of UN bag of which I put the photograph to you. I am bluffée by the quality of work and the fabrics are fabulous. I wanted a bag in the tone of red and I am really satisfied. It gives still better in truth. The interior is completely doubled in very good fabrics and the completions were executées with many care and concern of the detail. Frankly I am charmed!

Isn't that awesome! I think "bluffee" means impressed, or as one Pink Sister told me "blown away."

So of course I'm now hoping for lots of International sales! And thanks to Carole's blog entry and comments, I may just get them. The day after her post my traffic went through the roof with visitors from all over Europe and Australia! She must be very popular with her blog! I'm talking about major increases... like quadruple times as many visitors as normal :)