COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS: KCEtsy Team's Great Giveaway! WEEK 2: WIN FREE LIP BALM from Six Gun Annie!

The KC ETSY TEAM is proud and excited to feature COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS - 18 weeks of wonderful blog giveaways from now until December! Don't miss your chance to win some fabulous free goodies from this very talented team!

WEEK TWO: Win FREE Laura Lips 5g Stick Lip Balm from Anne Esquibel at Six Gun Annie! Anne opened her Etsy shop in July of 2008 and began making lip balms from a kit. Then she began buying supplies herself, searching out organic raw materials. "I loved the idea of making lip balm because you can make your own yummy flavors and it is something every person should have in their pocket or purse." Inspired by nature, blogs, and various websites, her favorite lip balm is Mango Madness. "It's really light and tastes really good. It has a nice fresh fragrance and it reminds me of Hawaii!"

TO ENTER THIS CONTEST AND WIN A FREE LAURA LIPS lip balm, simply visit Anne's Etsy shop sixgunannie.etsy.com and choose your favorite item in the shop, then post a comment about your favorite item here. BE SURE TO INCLUDE contact information (your e-mail) in your post, so we can notify you if you win. Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Sunday, Aug. 23. Monday Aug. 24, a winner will be randomly drawn from eligible entrants and notified by e-mail, and the winner's name will also be posted here. Winner has one week to contact Anne to claim his/her prize. Contest open to U.S. residents. Keep checking here for our weekly drawings!

And the winner of this drawing is Jae! Congratulations to you!

The Bags of KCEtsy

Wallets, purses, pouches, clutches, handbags ... chances are if you are a female you have a good showing of three of the four in your closet. Wallets, purses, and handbags are not only functional accessories that carry the bare essentials our pockets simply weren't designed to hold, but they are also an extension of our personalities and the stage of life we're in.

In college I carried a bare essential small zippered pouch. It was just big enough to hold my ID, a little cash, chapstick, a house key and still fit in my back pocket. Years later, my "handbag" reflects a completely different stage of life. Although I still only need the contents of my small zipper pouch, I now carry an over the shoulder bag to accommodate the all the things a mother needs when she's on the go with little ones. So you'll always find hand sanitizer, diapers, wipes, hot wheel cars, baby spoon, pacifier, snacks, camera, and a little extra room to hold a couple of books or some other discarded item from one of the older kids.

Our talented fabric and fiber artisans and crafters provide pouches, clutches and handbags for every style, every personality, every stage of life. Here's just a sample of what they have to offer.

1. Lily Viola Clutch by The Social Seam
2. Large Flat Pouch by Ni-Chern Designs
3. Vintage Flowers Handbag by Structural Expression
4. Textured Pop Hand-dyed Handbag by Stir Designs
5. Classy Clutch by Six Gun Annie
6. Browns Ribbon Purse by ExcessoriesKC
7. Skewed Version of Straight & Narrow by South House Boutique

So which artists bag best matches your personal style? Post a link to your favorite bag either listed above, or from their shop!

Tutorial Tuesday - Anti-Advertising Tote

I LOVE reusable shopping bags. Two years ago, my mother gave me eight black reusable tote bags for Christmas. They were $1.25 each from a local grocery store in St. Louis. I've been using them exclusively ever since and am so pleased with how efficient they are for my grocery shopping!

In the last two years reusable shopping bag use has really taken off. Most stores now carry their own inexpensive reusable bag with their store logo printed on it. While, I love inexpensive reusable shopping bags, don't especially love advertising the local establishment - in this case Walmart - for free. So I covered it up, with fun fabric. It turns a reusable shopping bag in to a multipurpose, multifunctional tote bag.

Here's how to alter your own ...

What you'll need:

• 2 - 50¢ reusable shopping bags from Walmart
• 1 fat quarter (from local fabric shop or quilt shop)
• ruler, rotary cutter and matte - or scissors and ruler
• royal blue bobbin thread - as close as you can come to matching the color of the bag - if you care, if you don't, any color will be fine.
• coordinating or matching thread for the top.
• Iron
• Sewing machine

Step-by-step instructions:
* Iron out any wrinkles or creases in your fat quarter.

* Cut the fat quarter into four strips 4.5" x 22".

* Sew two strips together along the 4.5" edge, matching the design of the fabric as best you can to hide the seam. Finished strip should be 4.5 x 40ish

* Trim any excess so seam is 1/4".

* Iron down 1/4" - 3/8" of raw edge, on both of the long sides of your strip of fabric.

* Pin fabric strip over printed Walmart logo, starting and stopping, in the side gusset panel of the bag. Use a ruler to measure ~ 5" from the top of the bag to insure your fabric strip straight all the way around your bag. I found that the exact measurement varied from bag to bag, as the logo must have shifted a bit during the printing/sewing process.

* Trim fabric leaving 1/2" overlap, plus 1/2" to turn under. Pin in place.

* Sew fabric to bag, sewing, 1/8" from the edge. Sew down overlap flap.

* Reinforce side seams of bag and handles if desired for longer durability.


These make wonderful gift bags for birthday gifts or the holidays, they are the prefect size for a child's activity bag or preschool tote, and easily double as a library book bag. The uses are endless. Have fun with this project personalizing your bag with fun fabrics you love.

* Written by TinyStitches.

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D O N ' T * F O R G E T * T O * E N T E R * O U R
Count Down to Christmas G I V E A W A Y for this week!

COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS: KCEtsy Team's Great Giveaway! WEEK 1: WIN A FREE BAR OF SOAP from AJ's Country Cottage!

KCETSY TEAM is proud and excited to feature COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS - 18 weeks of wonderful blog giveaways from now until December! Don't miss your chance to win some fabulous free items from this very talented team! For our first week's giveaway, I, AJ from AJ's Country Cottage will be giving away a free bar of handmade soap of the winner's choice! Choose from any in-stock soap in my Etsy shop!

I just adore the creativity involved in making my own soap from scratch, because I know exactly what's going into my recipe and exactly what's NOT. Several years ago, I became challenged to try this wonderful union of art and science. When I finally took the plunge and made my very first batch, I knew there was no going back to commercially-produced soap for me and my family! What a rush it was to cut into that first batch, then lather up with my very own deliciously-scented creation!

I am inspired by nature; the scent of a lovely flower or the colors of a gorgeous sunset will stimulate me to try and recreate those memories. My family's skincare needs inspire me as well; one has oily skin, another dry skin, and a third sensitive. So I was challenged to create special soaps for them. It's so rewarding to be able to help with people's special needs.

My favorite recipe ingredients are olive oil, shea butter, milks, and essential oils. I love variety, so my favorite soap varies by season. In winter when my skin tends to be drier, I love my Creamy Shea Butter soap. In the fall I adore vanillas and spicy scents. Summertime means I'll go for some fruity or minty soaps, which make me feel so refreshed! Right now I've got a bar of Ginger Lime in my shower.

TO ENTER THIS CONTEST AND WIN A FREE BAR OF SOAP, simply visit my Etsy shop, ajscountrycottage.etsy.com and choose your favorite item in the shop (doesn't have to be soap!), then post a comment about your favorite item here. BE SURE TO INCLUDE contact information (your e-mail) in your post, so we can notify you if you win. Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Sunday, Aug. 16. Monday Aug. 17, a winner will be randomly drawn from eligible entrants and notified by e-mail, and the winner's name will also be posted here. Winner has one week to contact me to claim his/her prize, and it will be sent free of charge - shipping's on me too! Contest open to U.S. residents. Keep checking here for our weekly drawings!

Update 8/17/09: THE WINNER OF THIS DRAWING for a FREE BAR OF SOAP IS JERSEYGIRL137! Congratulations!

Artist Spotlight - Honey Bear Beads

When she's not wearing her office manager's hat at her day job, or caring for her menagerie of dogs and fish, you're likely to find Kansas Citian Mary Bush hard at work with her favorite jewelry-making materials -- silver, copper, gemstones, and lampwork beads. "There are not enough hours in a day to satisfy my need to be creative," she quips. "I find it difficult to fit in everything I would like to do in a day's time!"

Drawing inspiration from architecture, flowers, and nature, Mary credits a friend for sparking her interest in creating jewelry several years ago. "We met online, and she would ask me what I thought of HER pieces. I was instantly hooked from the moment I started."

Mother of three and new grandmother, Mary is also a photography enthusiast and loves to garden. But her favorite aspect of creating is working on unique custom jewelry designs. "It's so fulfilling to work with someone on a piece and watch it come to life."

This versatile artisan has not only a passion for designing jewelry, but also enjoys creating her own lampwork glass beads and polymer clay pieces.

Mary's lovely and colorful accessories can be found in her Etsy shop - HoneyBearBeads.

*Written by AJ of ajscountrycottage.

An Interview with Monde Design

If you're getting married in the near future, or know of someone who is than you need to bookmark, Shelli of MondeDesign's Etsy shop! Shelli provides brides with exquisite personalized accessories that bring an elegance and touch of glamor to every special couples wedding day. This week, Shelli is the featured shop owner over at Etsy Weddings Street Team blog.

Go read her interview with Kim of Glitzyevents.com and send some Kansas City love her way with a shout out in the comments!

You can find all of Shelli's gorgeous custom bridal accessories in her Etsy shop as well as on her website.

Back to School with KCEtsy

Getting kids ready to head back to School? Check out these hip accessories to send your kids off in style.



1. Magnets from Nonna Illustration & Design.
2. Wallet / Card holder from DumbKidDesign.
3. Nerd Power Pocket Protector from Anna B Vinyl
4. Red heart lamp work necklace & earrings from NewelryJewelry
5. Brown Canvas Messenger Bag from Ni-Chern Design
6. Cellphone charm from Thyme2dream

Other Etsy Team Banners

http://team.etsy.com/teams.html

Team members! Please look through the other Etsy team's banners for ideas of what others are doing in the link above. I will be posting some samples I have worked up later this week. I am open to any and all suggestions for what we want our banner and button, etc to look like. Please feel free to email me with suggestions. Thanks, Hope to hear from you all once I post the first samples.

Here are a few I liked, that I saw on the link above.