The Sunshine Award

Thanks to my sweet friend Kayla, from the The Eclectic Element blog, that awarded me with the Sunshine Award!

Such an honor!!

In tradition of this award, here are the rules I must oblige by in order to pass it on:

- Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
- Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.
- Link the nominees within your post.
- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

So, off I go:

1. Sweet Irie Originals
2. Etsy Giveaways
3. Indie Discounts
4. Handmade Highway
5. Praise Handmade
6. Purr Prints
7. Audrey's Giveaways
8. Va Beach Quilter
9. The Down Town Boutique
10. Lil Boo & Co.
11. Risky Beads
12. Ixela

Randomness Saturdays

Ok, just like the past Saturday, I really don't have a topic for a whole post, so I will just go ahead and post bits and bolts LOL

♥ Like always starting personal: I'm really excited because my youngest daughter, Michelle, will start school next Monday. Yup, she got in a pre-school program that will help her in the language and social area to get ready for kindergarten. She's really excited about it and she's running around the house with a back pack on her shoulders and big girl panties (she's not fully potty trained yet!) waiting for the school bus to come and pick her up!

♥ This also means that while I will have a crazy breakfast time, trying to get both of my kids ready for school, with lunches ready and waiting for 2 buses to come and pick them up, once they're gone I will have the house and me for myself....well at least for 2-3 hours. And while I think I will enjoy a little bit of freedom and will use that time wisely to take care on my business, I can't help thinking that I will also feel really lonely...will see!

♥ We also got really sloppy on Gabriel's diet for the last month and it shows: he got in trouble in school for acting in rage and he also lost all the 5 pounds that he gained in 3 months of diet. Major fail! We got back on track immediately and the gluten effect is slowly wearing off. Also, the doctor seems to think that Michelle could be intolerant to gluten too, so we definitely need to stock up on those gluten-free food. Gluten, can you please get out my life already?????

♥ Talking of business: I want to expand and try to wholesale. I think will be fun, tho very stressful, but I definitely wanna try. I already developed a line sheet and can't wait for orders to come in to see how will I do!

♥ My Etsy shop, Crocheted Little Thing, is currently featured on the Handmade Highway blog. I'm very honored that Lori posted my interview there.

♥ On a totally different note: if you're looking for some movies to enjoy during this weekend I want to share a couple of movies that I saw myself and I think they're pretty cool (thanks NetFlix!). The first movie I saw it about a month ago, it's called "Up", it's actually an animation movie and really made me think about the things that we put off daily waiting to do them one day....don't wanna tell you too much. The next movie is for the next Saturday ;)

There! I told you they were bits and bolts!

Friday Giveaway Linky

Enjoy, talk to you all tomorrow!

Share the love on Tuesday: Caty Ann's Creations

This weeks featured artisan is Cathy - owner of Caty Ann's Creations. Cathy lives in NW Ohio. She has been creating jewelry for about 6 years for herself and family members. Each of her pieces are unique. Stop by and see them all! You can find Caty Ann's Creations here:

Artfire Shop - http://catyann.artfire.com
Ecrater Shop - http://catyanns.ecrater.com
Zibbet Shop - http://zibbet.com/catyann

Caty Ann's Blog - http://catyannscreations.blogspot.com

Monday cupcake Find

This Monday I'm going to introduce
Lil Boo & Co. and her Cupcake Crayons.

Cupcake Crayons - Lil Scribblers (TM) - Set of 8, $8.95 by Lil Boo & Co.


Colorful cupcakes for doodling fun!

Enhance a child's creativity with Lil Scribblers™!

Lil Scribblers™ are redesigned crayons formed into fun shapes that are perfect for those little chubby toddler hands, but are great for big kids too (see picture 3)!

Made with only the best Crayola® crayons, Lil Scribblers™ are created by melting a variety of colorful crayons to allow a swirled design to form. Each Lil Scribblers™ is unique...and each one contains about 5 (or more) regular crayons in them! Wow! That means that this set of 8 Cupcake Lil Scribblers™ is like getting a set of 40+ regular crayons! Each one also contains a variety of colors within the same hue scheme so you get a swirled effect...this makes for some fun coloring!

This set includes 8 Cupcake crayons (as shown) in rainbow hues - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, purple & brown. Other colors & designs (shapes) also available...just ask!

Each set even comes packaged neatly in a little bakery-style box, cushioned with paper shredding and tied up neatly with wraphia!

These make great party favors or classroom gifts!

*** Each Cupcake crayon measures approximately 1.75" x 1.5'. Perfect for little hands to use! ***

I don't know about you, but this make me wanna be a kid again!

Randomness Saturdays

Ok, I really don't have much to post, er- actually I have a little fan facts to share with you.
So I start personal and I will say that I was sick for the past 2 weeks and finally got better and got around to put away all the Christmas decorations that I had still around (I know it's the end of January right???) My kids didn't really like my "cleaning" and when I explained them that wasn't Christmas time any more they looked at me with their big eyes and said: "But we wanna Christmas presents!" Yeah, me too!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Help Haiti! Let's share some love with the victims of the earthquake. Stop by HeartsforHaiti if you'd like to make a donation and help the DoctorsWithoutBorders.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I got a feature on a beautiful site, the Gift Shop. I was delighted to be interviewed and very happy about the exposure.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Our dear friend Michele got a flu, please pray with me for her to get well soon!

Friday Giveaway Linky

Well, since I always forget to post the linky on Thursday, I will just go ahead and call it Friday Giveaway Linky! Either way, enjoy!!

Handmade Highway giveaway

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Valentine's Day Giveaway on the Handmade Highway
(Click here to go to the contest page)

• Prize; Prize Value: 1. Heart 2 Heart Note Cards Tags (set of 6) from Fresh Lemon Blossoms, $4
  2. Red Valentine Earrings, Bingles and Bangles, $8
  3. Crocheted Romantic Sweets Choker, Crocheted Little Things 2, $10
  4. I heart Montreal 8x12 Photograph, Rebecca Plotnick, $20
  5. I want Chocolate Now Plaque, Lenny Mud, $10
  6. Swarovski Crystal HEART in hot red mix, Mulry Jewels, $18
  7. Forever Antique Brass Rose Carved Earrings, Risky Beads, $12
  8. Valentine's Corsage from Glen and Constance, $12
  9. 3 small hair rosettes from Puppy Cat Meow (your hair color), $18


• How Many Winners: 1 winner


• End Date: 01/25


• Can Be Won: Worldwide


• Prize From: Handmade Highway

The sponsor's description of the giveaway rules: Simply visit our online seller directory, Handmade Highway, and come back and comment with a link to your favorite item from one of our shops! Leave your email address in your comment so you can be contacted if you win.

Giveaways ends next Monday, January 25, 2010. Winner will be decided at that time from eligible entrants.


Click Here to go to the contest page!

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Share the love on Tuesday: Braggin' Rights Bath

This weeks featured artisan is Tracy - owner of Braggin' Rights Bath. This is her new venue... wonderful yummy bath products..Tracy also has a shop called
Braggin' Rights filled with wonderful handmade gifts. You can find Tracy at:

MadeitMyself
Artfire
Etsy

She also has 2 blogs... Uses for Stuff Braggin Rights Finds

Stop by and see all her wonderful creations!!

Monday cupcake Find

This Monday I'm going to introduce
LayneJames and her Cupcake Birthday Shirt.

Applique Customized Cupcake Birthday Shirt, $20 by LayneJames


Happy Birthday to your little one!

Celebrate in style with this cute applique cupcake t-shirt. Your child will love wearing a fun, personalized shirt that tells everyone just how old they are!

Listing includes cupcake applique, child's name, and number of candles (child's age). Pair it with jeans, a girly skirt, or contact me for custom elastic-waist pants to match the shirt (pants style is for either gender).

Colors can be adjusted to suit a boy or girl.

Happy belated birthday Gabriel!

Last Saturday (01/09) was the birthday of my amazing son, Gabriel.
I woke up with high fever that morning and have been sick all week, so we didn't have much chance to celebrate, but I can assure you that he had a lot of fun nonetheless.

Here in the picture, he's back from school were he celebrated his birthday with his classmates and he made the crown he's wearing and wrote on it: "Spidr Man" Exactly like that, all by memory!!
It's amazing how many progress he's made, he knows how to spell many many words now - last one that he ask me to teach him was "SPECTACULAR" and I must admit, since English is my second language I had to look it up to be sure to spell it right LOL

He still has his moments when he gets overwhelmed, but he's much more in control of himself now, he's learning new things every day, he's curious, he's HAPPY. I mean he really enjoys life and the things and people that surround him now, very differently that 6 months ago.

I still don't know if it's the gluten-free diet, the exercise we're doing at home, the language therapy at school, the social-interactions during the week-ends or all the above - or maybe was just meant to be- but I see him blooming day after day in a gorgeous flower that is my GABRIEL.

Curious about his birthday presents, aren't you???? Well, like his crown said, he's Spider Man :P

Crocheted Little Things Giveaway: The Winners

Time for the winners!!!! YAY!
But first, let me thank you all of you for sharing you presents-stories with me :) I enjoyed reading every single one and I'll be soon share with all of you some of my Christmas presents :)
And now since, I know you all are waiting, here the lucky winners:

#37 Melanie on January 3, 2010 9:39 AM said... 37

my dad's mom is always giving me random things. She's given me socks and underwear that are out of package, she's given me '80's style huge plastic earrings a few years ago, she gave me kitty cat logo'd sweatshirts, the list goes on ha ha

melanieinaz2003 at yahoo

#23 audreyscountrycrafts on January 3, 2010 4:43 AM said... 23

One year I received a give from my sister for some useless kitchen gadgets that didn't work. It was obviously a re-gift too. :(
Sent them to the local thrift store.

audreyscountrycrafts at gmail dot com

Here is a link to my long list of free places to advertise your give away!
http://audreysgiveaways.blogspot.com/2009/08/where-to-advertise-give-away.html

I've already added it to HMGiveaways!

#124 lilyk on January 15, 2010 8:21 PM said... 124

The worst gift I received was an ugly makeup bag.

lilyk@mail2world.com

Ok, emails have been sent, so the 3 of you will receive a little goody of your choice from my sale section soon. And for those that didn't win this time, 50% off is still going and you don't wanna miss it :)

Crocheted Little Things Newsletter #5

Happy 2010 to you all!!!

Hi there to all, this is Lu. Here it is newsletter #5. I'm starting with greeting you with an awesome giveaway on my blog! It will end tomorrow (01/15), so you better hurry!!





Also, there is a big sale (50% off!!!) going on on my "old shop": it's time to close it down and I want to pass some good savings on you!


What happened?

I started a new weekly feature aside the Monday Cupcake Findings. It's called "Share the Love: blogger united" and was started by the leader on the ning Group On Fire for Handmade. If you'd like to partecipate we'll be happy to have you: join the ning and you'll find all the details in there

Giveaway Thursday Linky

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, it's the last day :)

Share the love on Tuesday: All About the Buttons

This weeks featured artisan is All About the Buttons. Barbara creates wonderful treasures with buttons and fiber. All of them truly unique and beautifully made! Barbara has 2 shops... All About the Buttons and All About the Fiber.
You can find Barbara on Etsy, Zibbet and she has a wonderful blog too!

All About the Buttons - Etsy Shop
All About the Buttons - Zibbet Shop
All About the Fiber
All About The Buttons on Blogger

Monday cupcake Find

This Monday I'm going to introduce
oneboyonegirl and her apron.

girls Cupcake Tea Cake polka dot Flare Apron Mommy and Me, $30 by oneboyonegirl


Bake memories today with the special little girl in your life

* Ready to Ship *
Girls Boutique Flare Aprons are fully lined, large single pocket on front and trimmed in rick rack.

Perfect to protect clothing while cooking, eating and crafting.
Or just for dress up.

Giveaway Thursday Linky

Late again, I'm so sorry! I'm preparing for Gabriel's birthday party tomorrow!
I promise to share pics :)
I will update this list every Thursday to give you the best of the best of all the giveaways!
Feel free to post yours if you have one and be sure to specify the prize and the ends date!
Enjoy!

Happy birthday to Sweet Irie!!!

Today is Michele's birthday!!!! The amazing, fantastic and sweet owner of Sweet Irie!

I love you my friend and couldn't just keep it for my self :)
Happy birthday from the bottom of my heart ♥

I know you're tired, swamped and kinda in an hard time at the moment, so I hope this will make you smile

Share the love on Tuesday: Made for Me by Oaklie

MADE FOR ME BY OAKLIE - Handmade Fashion Scarves and Accessories
http://madeformebyoaklie.com

Shops:
MadeitMyself
Artfire
Etsy
Zibbet

Every week on Tuesday I will feature one of my friends in the On Fire for Handmade ning group.

Today is the turn to Anne, the leader. Love ya girl!

Monday cupcake Find

This Monday I'm going to introduce
sassybellewares and her quoted necklaces.
Steph is an affectionate reader and a sweetheart and I'm really pleased to show her off :)

Cupcake Speak Necklace and Pin - Orange, $14 by sassybellewares


This necklace is perfect for anyone who LOVES cupcakes as much as I do!! And, it is a 2 for 1 deal in that you can take the chain off & wear it as a pin too...the back has a pin back/bail combo

The word tile is 34mm in diameter & was custom made for me by a really cool Etsy shop:

http://www.firedandfused.etsy.com

The 18" chain is silver plated.

Family pictures!

I really enjoyed the past holidays and it makes me a little sad that there are just few hours left!
Don't give me wrong, I'm more than happy to come back to the routine of every day, but man was so good the feeling to wake up in the morning knowing that you didn't have to hurry up and do chores.
But I also know that I'm lucky, for many people holidays means more stress. I guess I built my relaxing niche in my home!
Look how much fun we had:

And thanks for everyone for entering my giveaway!!! So many entries so quickly, really warmed my heart!

New year Giveaway! {CLOSED}

Hello readers, how the 2010 is going so far??? Good for me! So good that I decided to give back with a giveaway! How cool is that?? Stick around because this time we are going to have 3 lucky winners....yup 3!!!

Prizes Details:
Three lucky winnere will receive a gift of their choice for my 50% off sale section!

How to enter:
Please leave a separate comment for every entry for increase your chance of winning!!

The holiday are behind us and most of us enjoyed unwrapping present under the tree. Did you ever got a less-then-perfect gift? Had someone has the best thought for you but they got the wrong brand/size/color??? Or worse: ever got a re-gift?? Share your present-story with me, I really want to know! And be sure to include a way for me to contact you in case you win!

Extra entries:
1) Subscribe my newsletter to stay in the loop about sales, promotions and new products and you will gain 1 EXTRA entry.
2) Become a follower of my blog and earn ONE extra entry. Leave another comment telling me you did! Past follower don't count, sorry!
3) Subscribe to my blog and you'll earn ONE extra entry. Leave a separate comment about it! Past subscription don't count, sorry!
4) Blog about this giveaway and receive ONE extra entry! Just come back here and leave a separate comment with your blog link.
5) Twit about this giveaway and earn ONE extra entry. Be sure to put @piccoladonna before your twit, so I will know you did it :)
6) Earn TEN (10) extra entries by purchasing something from ArtFire shop. Just come back here and tell us what you purchased along with your contact info to claim your extra entries!

This giveaway will last for 2 weeks and will end January, 15th.
Winners will be picked randomly and announced on January, 16th, at which time I will contact the winner to get shipping information for delivery.
If the winner does not contact me within three days, I will appoint another winner through another random number drawing.