Happy Spring Everyone! Since I live in Maryland, I only get 1 or 2 days of spring-like weather and then BAM! Summer heat crashes in and I have to turn the air conditioning on already!! I will say this though, I am absolutely thrilled that everything is so green and flowers are blooming everywhere. The tulips are so brilliant and my bleeding heart has come back this year 3x as big.

Just think how nice it would be to sit outside on your porch, enjoying the sunshine while working on a sweet cross stitch project. I have added several cross stitch leaflets to my shop this week including designs of butterflies, flowers, scottie dogs, sesame street characters and much more. In particular, I have added a cross stitch/needlepoint booklet featuring the illustrations of Mabel Lucie Attwell, a well-known British artist whose drawings of cheeky chubby children were very popular in the 1920s/1930s. Here is a close-up photo of a couple projects featured in the book. They would make a wonderful addition to a child's room as well as a personal touch, created lovingly by you.

I am also adding quilting and decorative painting books this week so stay tuned. And enjoy the sunshine!

It's Mystery Item Day - Have you seen this pin before?

I love finding treasure but what I don't like is finding something I can't identify. But thank goodness for the internet! Every friday, I will be writing about one of these mystery items in hopes that someone reading my blog may be familiar with it and can enlighten me.

My first item is a tiny pin, measuring just over 1/2" in width. I think maybe its some kind of anniversary pin for some kind of agricultural organization. Pin is sterling silver and has a regular pin back that has a locking mechanism. Pin features a deep blue enamel star with a 2 and a 5 on the left and right points. There is a teeny sheave of gold wheat in the very center (I don't know if the gold is real). Pin is stamped "sterling" on the back.

Please let me know if you have seen this pin before or have any information as to its origin. I appreciate your taking time to check out today's mystery item. 

Until next time, keep on treasure hunting!

Its funny what can brighten one's day...

Typically, I have always watched other people win stuff. But not today! Today, I was surprised. And that surprise brightened my day AND made me smile. I don't know how many of you are familiar with Swag Bucks but my sister turned me on to this site and its actually pretty cool. To quickly summarize, www.swagbucks.com is a search engine that offers users the chance to win cool prizes every time they search. Its their way of thanking users for their loyalty. And NO registration is required.

Anyway, back to my story. In addition to scoring "SWAG BUCKS" when searching for stuff on the internet, I subscribe to SWAG BUCKS' daily blog. Its like watching tv - it provides simplistic entertainment while taking a break from a hectic day. Well, while perusing through a recent post, I came across a YouTube video of Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, a famous Hawaiʻian musician who did a ukulele medley of "Over the Rainbow" from the legendary movie, "Wizard of Oz". The song had been picked by the Swag Bucks Team for "Song of the Day: 4/19/09". The blogger wrote, "This song makes me happy..." Sounds good to me! So I played the video and you know what? It made me happy too! I know it sounds corny but don't we all need a little corny in our lives now and then?

So after listening to Over the Rainbow, I decided to spend some of my SWAG BUCKS and buy the mp3 for my ishuffle and itunes library. From now on, this was going to be my "Cheer Up Lassie!" song. Two days later...I tuned in to SWAG BUCKS blog post again and while reading through the Song of the Day: 4/21/09, there it was!

As part of the Team Swag Bucks Song Of The Day promotion, every time you Snag one of our selected mp3s during the month of April, you are automatically entered to win one of our brand spankin' new Swag Bucks T-Shirts. Today's winner is Kelley S., from Columbus Maryland. She snagged a copy of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and now she's got a bonus T.  Congrats to Kelley, and remember: you could be next!

I won!! How cool is that? Like I said...it's funny what can brighten one's day.

FYI— SWAG BUCKS loves for their followers to take a video or a photo when opening their prize...so, maybe I will do that and post a follow-up of me wearing my brand spankin new SWAG BUCKS T-Shirt! If you would like to check out SWAG BUCKS for yourself, just click on the link below so I get referral credit - thanks!

http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=319735




I'm also including the YouTube video of Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's "Over the Rainbow". Press Play and Ssee if it doesn't make YOU smile - go ahead, I dare you!

Fisher Price Little People turn 50!

Happy Birthday Fisher Price! I don't know about you, but I grew up with Fisher Price and have many fond memories of their toys. Without giving away my exact age,  I will say late 60s, early 70s.  I was in love with the Fisher Price Play Family House and spent countless hours pretending I lived in it! 

Also among my favorites was the Play Family Farm and the Play Family Action Garage.

There is a terrific timeline of all the Fisher Price toys on www.fisherprice.com - just click on the 50th Birthday logo to check it out.

We have some great Fisher Price items on sale in my shop including Little People, Trucks, Whoops Figures, and more. You may be wondering what a Whoops Figure is...well, a Whoops figure is a production error- a figure not belonging to any set as a result of an error made at the factory- usually in color or mis-matched parts and usually with just people. However, we have a very interesting little people bear figure in our shop that is quite odd. Please visit our shop and take a look. If you are a toy collector and have any information to share on this little guy, please comment on this blog or send me an email. I love learning new things!

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading. And remember, live creatively everyday.

Kelley

Welcome to my first blog!

Wow! I've really done it!! After reading other blogs and hearing how beneficial they are in so many ways, I'm finally here. My goal with this blog is to introduce others to my new shop on Etsy and to share my artistic endeavors. I have been working in graphic design for over 20 years but now I'm a shop owner! I have been blessed to work from home and raise my two boys for almost 18 years now. But now they're getting older and more independent (they are 14 yrs and 17 yrs old) and its time to branch out and explore my own passions.

alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325505967757879906" />Since November 2008, with the help of my wonderful and super smart sister, Kerry, I've been selling on Ebay. You can check out my auctions by going to http://www.ebay.com and searching by seller, KelleysOddsnEnds. My auctions are a real variety of old collectibles including toys, crafts, kitchenware, books and more. 

However, Ebay has grown to be too corporate and is no longer succeeding at catering to the small business seller. I'm tired of their rules, their fees and overbearing policies. I started searching for a new venue to sell on and that's how I came to find Etsy.

Etsy is an online marketplace for buying and selling things handmade as well as vintage items and craft supplies.  My new shop, Digital Scraps Etc., is full of vintage finds including fisher price toys, doll clothes, patterns, needlecrafts, jewelry, kitchenware and more! I hope you'll check out - you may even find something that strikes your fancy!

As artists, my sister and I dabble in the digital scrapbooking and hope to get into designing and selling digital scrapbooking kits in the future. Seems there's always a wish list! Meanwhile, thanks for reading my blog. Future blogs include mystery items, vintage trivia, shop updates and more so please check back in!

Live creatively everyday!

Kelley