Meet Bugsie of Cardiology!

Hi, I'm Bugsie, aka Michelle.

My previous handmade wares have included everything from purses to pillows to PJs and now I am simply doing back-flips about my latest creative endeavor! These handmade cards fashioned from all recycled and reused materials are, well ... so ME! I love vintage and I love letter writing! I like the idea that the cards are recycled AND pretty at the same time. Kind of girly and green all at once! Let's just say girlygreen! And I adore making them!

After spending my entire life in California, I moved to Texas with my husband and daughter almost 13 years ago. It has been a great experience for us, we've made wonderful friends here, and it's been a place where I have enjoyed so much creative layering.

A perfect day for me means spending hours and hours in my workshop (you should see it....it's really cool!) fueling my soul through creative work. Dogs snoring at my feet. Sunlight falling across my worktable spread with scraps of lovely old linens and bits of embroidery. It is my wish that you will enjoy my Cardiology line of stationery as a way to breathe life back into the art of letter writing, go green while you're at it, and with the help of a little postage stamp, sprinkle a few kind words around the planet.

A few of my favorite items from her shop!

Fall Cards
Watch Ring

And these adorable quilted tags!!

Thanksgiving Theme Contest Entries

This month's theme is Thanksgiving and here are the entries!


Quilted Reversible Fall/Christmas Table Runner - 17 1/2 in. x 31 in. by Quilting Diva.

Handpainted Glasses by the Blushing Ivy

Personalized Reversible Brown Cord Turkey/ Red Cord Present Aline Dress by Kids Fashions by Linda

Set of 6 Clothespins ALTERED or MAGNETS---Happy Fall Yall, by MicroMops

Gobble Gobble I'm Stuffed Thanksgiving Turkey Table Runner, by CozyCabinCreations


Printable Personalized Recipe Cards - Autumn Pumpkins Fall Leaves Design, by Pixel Perfect Boutique

Meet PattysPrettyThings!

Meet Patty, of Patty's Pretty Things on Etsy!

"I'm a stay-at-home mom of 1 terrific little boy, and I love to craft and make jewelry. Right now, polymer clay is my preferred medium, but that is subject to change at any moment!"

Patty has some amazing Holiday items in her shop, and I've personally gotten several pieces from her that I just adore! You can find her shop HERE!

This is my absolutely favorite necklace of all time, I purchased it from Patty and have even planned entire shopping trips around finding as many blouses as I can to match it!



And these beautiful ornaments that are for charity!

7PolkaDots Crochet Baby and Bassinet Tutorial

From 7PolkaDots on Etsy, a member of the Cafemom Team!

These are my Baby Doll and Convertible Baby Bassinet Bag patterns. These are patterns I created early on and I do plan on creating some new ones hopefully soon.

I really hope you all enjoy these patterns for your personal use. Please do not use these patterns to make items for resale or in any way make a profit without my express written permission. Also please don't post any of these patterns to your blog but you can link to this bog if you like. If you have any questions regarding anything that you see here, the patterns, or if you would like limited permissions, please email me at etsy7polkadots@aol.com.

Click on the links below to download

:: Baby Doll :: Bassinet Bag ::

Thanks for sharing your fabulous tutorials 7PolkaDots! Check out her shop HERE!

Halloween Theme Contest Winner!

is Stephanie from Two Kazoos with her Zombie of indifference magnet!

Tutorial: Hand Stamped Sterling Silver Jewelry

Thanks to Kiwi of KiwiandKiki on Etsy for this awesome tutorial!


My latest addiction - once I learned how to make my own hand stamped sterling silvery jewelry (so easy!) I knew I had to share it with the world. One thing I learned while trying to find information on this craft was that it is hard to find information about it! :) This tutorial will outline the basic tools you need, and help you get started with how to use your tools.

Basic Tools:

You will need a mallet (or some people prefer to use a regular hammer), steel bench block, 600 grit sandpaper, polishing pads, design stamp (I use a snowflake stamp in this tutorial), black permanent marker (for the oxidizing look), 1/2 inch 24 gauge sterling silver disc, 1.7mm hole punch pliers, a sterling silver jump ring (sizes vary, use the size that you like best) and a necklace chain (I am using an 18" 1.2mm sterling silver ball chain.

Okay, after seeing that list, you should be getting the idea that this is not an inexpensive hobby/craft. It will take a little investment in the beginning, but it will pay off when you are creating beautiful pendants that people charge a lot of money for.

Okay- let's get started!

Step 1: Start by placing your sterling silver disc on the steel bench block. Place your design stamp carefully in the desired place on the disk. For this small pendant, I'll place the design slightly below the middle of the disc, so that when the hole is punch on the top, it still looks centered.

Step 2: Firmly hit your mallet against the design stamp several times, to ensure your design has been stamped into the sterling silver disc. You want to make sure you get it right the first time - otherwise, it would be difficult to place it perfectly back on top of the design to stamp it again.

Step 3: Using your hole punch pliers, place your disc in the hole punch, lining the disc up so that the hole will be place properly. Squeeze the punch tightly - if you don't do this correctly, you could end up damaging the disc, and you'll want to start all over again.

Step 4: This is the step that makes your design image pop off of the disc - to give your silver the "oxidized" look, we're going to cheat a little by using a black permanent marker to mark in the grooves of the design. When you are done, it will look something like the picture at right.

Step 5: Use the fine grit sandpaper to smooth off all edges of the disc, and then follow it up with the polishing pad. As you work the polishing pad over the design area, it will polish off the excess black marker, leaving your disc beautifully polished and your design will stand out on the disc.

Step 6: Add your jump ring and necklace chain (or you could make several of these and add them to a charm bracelet), and you are finished! Here is an up-close picture of my finished product. This particular sized disc also works well for single letter.

Thanks Kiwi! :)

Meet Crafty Chickies!

Welcome to the Crafty Chickies Shoppe. Here you will find a variety of gifts for yourself, your friends and your loved ones. After a slow start, we are now ready to open for business. The Crafty Chickies are based in a small town in Southern Kentucky. All the gifts are hand-made either by myself or my daughter. Because all the items are made by us you will have the freedom to customize your purchase to fit your needs, colors or personality.

You can find CraftyChickies HERE!

Meet TheBlushingIvy!

We are The Blushing Ivy, and we're glad you stopped by! The Blushing Ivy is 2 sisters; Tricia is a stay at home mom, and Jennifer is a housewife. Together, we bring a ton of creative background and come up with some amazing and beautiful projects.

Tricia:
I am a wife and mother of two. My daughter is 10 and my son is 7. I fell in love with craft making at a very young age, my household when I was young was full of making crafts. I just recently started hand painting and instantly found a passion in it. Naturally when I found out about Etsy I thought WHY NOT?

Jennifer:
I am a newlywed, and sister in law to Tricia. My background in crafts is very extensive. My mother, along with her best friend spend years and years at various craft fairs selling some of their work! So naturally, I pick up on the creative techniques from her. When I became a part of the family, I not only fell in love with my (now) husband, but his family too. We all have so much in common and often spend free time doing different projects.

You'll typically find us and the rest of our family hanging out at our parent's home on the weekends. We use this time to catch up since we last saw each other (which usually isn't very long), play board games, barbecue, and share in the humor that we all bring out in each other.

You can find Jennifer and Tricia HERE and HERE!

As always, here's a few of my personal favs from their shops!

Meet ThreadsOfGray!

Hello!
I am a mother to a toddler boy, have a full time job, and sew in every "spare" moment I have!

I began sewing on my Mom's machine about a year after she passed away. I became completely addicted almost immediately.

Mom's life was taken by Brain Cancer at the age of 49. While cancer is affecting more and more people each day, the treatment options for Brain Cancer haven't changed much in the past 20 years.

I decided that I wanted to improve those statistics. I was also very disappointed in the products available that raise awareness of these "lesser known" cancers. So I put my new love of Mom's favorite hobby to use and created Ribbon Awareness Items. 100% of the proceeds from your purchase of these items will be donated to the American Brain Tumor Association in my Mother's name. I figure, more funding for more research may yield better survival rates...I mean, look what its done for Breast Cancer (which now boasts a 95% survival rate).

Sewing is like therapy for me, and I love sitting at the sewing machine, where I feel like she's watching over me, guiding me in creating new products.

You can find Barbara HERE!

Meet Whimsical Creations!

Hello and Welcome. I am a mother of 2 wonderful children, ages 9 & 3. I have been crafting since I can remember. I come from a very crafty family. My favorite things to make are my polymer clay ornaments. I have been making these for about 15 years now. I started out making them as gifts for friends and family.

Melanie's shop can be found HERE.

She makes the cutest photo holders/placecard holders!

and ornaments!

Meet Stitch'N Love!

I am a National Guard wife, my husband is an AGR in the Chinook unit in Savannah, GA. He is part of the rear detachment this year while his unit is in Afghanistan. Not by choice.

I am a mom to a total of six kids, four that I gave birth to and two that I did not, but my heart doesn’t see a difference. They range in ages of 20, 17, 15, 13, 4, and 2. Some are here all the time, some are here not so all the time, but we are a family no matter what. Having mostly boys, the house is bound to have a video game playing if we are at home.

I started up Stitch N Love back in April of 2008 when it became apparent to me that working outside the home just wasn’t going to work for the family but I wanted to be able to contribute monetarily. My grandma suggested quilting after I made a few blankets for friends and I grew it into more. I quickly knew that online as the best place for me to start, so I created a website. I am now on my second self-standing website: www.stitchnlove.com I opened my Etsy site in June 2008. My first “sale” was winning an Alchemy bid in July!

In my previous life, I was a kindergarten teacher and may go back when my baby is a bit older. I taught kindergarten for 5 years along with a year of 4th grade and a 4/5 multi age. I love working with children, it’s the politics of the public school system that burned me out.

Right now, I am enjoying having my own small business and being home to watch ALL my kids grow up.

She's another busy Cafemom Team Member, with a handful of shops...you can find her HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE!

I LOVE her Video Game cases!

Meet 7PolkaDots!

My name is Chassity and I'm an Army Wife and mom to a beautiful little girl and have a boy on the way. I've always loved to create things and draw since as long as I can remember.

My mother taught me to crochet and knit at a very young age because it was the only way she could get any time to finish her own projects. My younger sisters and I would constantly interrupt her and ask her what she was doing. She figures that by teaching us how to do it we might sit still for a while, something every mother loves, LOL. I crocheted on and off while I was growing up but couldn't make more than a blanket or something flat. Being pregnant with my daughter made me want to share the love I felt for crocheted work with my baby by making her blankets, hats, and booties. While searching for patterns I could use to make these items I came across the wonderful world of amigurumi. I had never heard of it and was amazed by some of the work that I had seen online. There is such a large community out there and I just fell in love with it all. By working on free patterns that I had found online I was able to see how they were constructed and learned so much more about crochet and about myself. Since then I have learned to create my own patterns and create things I really love. My daughter has really been my inspiration in it all and I just love to create for her. If she wouldn't play with it then I wouldn't sell it. Her little hands inspire to me to try new things and see what she likes.

I really feel that crochet can create special memories that you can cherish forever, and I love to be able to give that to others. Every time I look at something that I've created, like a baby blanket for my daughter, I think not only of the time I spent making it but also the time I spent using it with my daughter. There's something very special about things that are made with love, which I pour into everything I make.

Not to long ago I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome due to my passion for needlework and since have had to slow down with my favorite pastime. Gripping the needles had become painful but I don't think I could live without crocheting. Giving it up entirely just isn't an option for me. Now I love to try to incorporate my crochet with other work that I love to do, like painting wooden objects. There's so much to explore and I now hope to be able to share that with you in my shop.

You can find Chassity HERE!

And as always, here's a few of my personal favorites from her shop!

Meet KiwiandKiki, Paisley Dreaming, Decal Dude and

Kiwi and Kiki are two very busy women! They have four Etsy shops between them!

We are Kerry (Kiwi) and Kristin (Kiki), two sisters trying to be the best moms possible, while also doing what we love - crafting. We love to spend time crafting, planning parties, making hand-crafted cards, and shopping. Our daughters have inspired us to broaden our crafting into the nursery, and creating beautifully decorated nurseries. We firmly believe that God has given us the gift of creativity, and we love taking every opportunity we have to use it.

You can find them HERE, HERE and HERE, and HERE.

And these are some of their amazing items!