Living a Handmade Life

Archive for August, 2009

Winners of my August Giveway

Jessica J  and Heidi, I will be emailing you today.

I will be doing a shop local series. I thought I would start with Boston since that I where I am from

1. seekimrun 2. DeShawnMarie 3. ThePaperApartment 4. Vieiragirl

5. bostonbeanies 6. 3LambsDesign

 

1. jenniferramos (madebygirl)  2. singleBbeautiful 3. redhotpottery

4. iragrant 5. karenfaulknerart

Zoe is my  7 year old black lab. Buying handmade items for you pet is easy.  There are several dog bakeries in my city,  but if you search online you can find ton of handmade  treats, and per products. Just make sure that  what you buy doesnt contain anything your dog could be alergic too. When buying food online I always check reviews that is the best way to know if it is safe for you or your pet just be careful.

1.  BowWowBeds 2. makeyourdogsmile 3. BiceDesigns 4. andrewsreclaimed 5. BiceDesigns

How well do you know your friends  game…. is a great game to play, and you can really get to know things about your friend,s that don’t come up in usually conversation. There are a few things I have learned about my friends, I wish I hadn’t however while playing this game.

So how do you play the game? Well there are a few ways of playing this game this is my favorite way.  First write or type questions on slips of paper, I usually put it in a bowl so when my guest arrive they can randomly choice one.  As for the questions will the purpose of the game is to get each guest to ask their question to all the other guest and try to remember the answer. So make the questions simple enough that they only require a few word answers, but  trust me certain questions will get some interesting stories from them.  So what kind of questions should you ask ? Well like any party it depends on the guests you have invited. if they are all in their 20 and 30′s well a few crazy questions might be in order. Here are some of the questions I rate them Mild, Medium/ Spicy

Mild

1. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

2.  If you could travel to any country in the world what would it be ?

3. What was your favorite subject in school?

4. What did you want to be when you were a child?

5.  What was your favorite cartoon?

Medium/Spicy

1. How old were you when you lost your virginity

2. Where is the craziest place you  had sex?

Think of things you always wanted to ask your friends, and write them down. Better yet get your guests to help you think of questions before the party. I usually send an email to  my guest the week  of the party just to remind them and get their involvement if needed. 

Once your guests arrive ask them to take a question out of the bowl.  After dinner we play the  game everyone goes aound asking their question, and trying to remember all the answers.  I usually take everyones names  and put it in a sperate bowl, after everyone had a chance to ask their questions usually 45 min to an hour for about  10 to 20 people.   I then pull out a persons name and ask them what their question was, and  then I pull out another name and ask them what that guest answer to the question is. If they get it right they get to pick another name out of the bowl and give their answer.  After three correct answers I  move on to someone else. If they answer a question wrong then I pull out a new name and ask them what their question is, and then pull another name and ask what their answer was to their question, and so on and so on.

When to end the game is a bit of personal choice.  I pick the winner  usually once they  answer 6 right anwers for about 10 people, or  12 right answer for 20 people  but it can depend on  how much fun everyone is having. Usually this is when the guests elaborate on their answers, and then leads to interesting conversations.

So next time you have a party try to learn a few interesting things about your friends.

 

Here are some of my favorite handmade bath and body product stores

1. katevw  2. KreatedbyKarina 3. carvelcountrysoaps 4. morganstreet 

5. Oliba 6. wyldeivy

1. mariforssell  2. DancingKat  3. mod4arts 4.  fernfiddlehead

5. AwakenJournaling

Part of living a handmade life is actually creating something with your own hands. One way to find out what you love is to try different things, ie painting, drawing, etching, sewing , or carving.  Buy a book, better yet have a friend who can teach you, or take a class. Do something that will make you feel inspired and passionate. Experiments with different mediums. Learn how to make candle or even bath products. Anything that brings you joy. The only way you will know you don’t love something is to try it. So today take some time and try something new it just might be what you are searching for.

There are many sites that are dedicated to buying and selling handmade items. Here is a short list of sites

1. http://www.shophandmade.com
2. http://www.etsy.com
3. http://www.artfire.com
4. http://www.zibbet.com
5. http://www.silkfair.com
6. http://www.winkelf.com
7. http://icraft.ca/

Handmade Love List will be a weekly feature here on Handmade living. It will be the 5 handmade items I am loving at the time. This weeks items are all from Etsy.com

1. redrubyrose 2. sparklecouture 3. loveartworks

4. janebonbon 5. redhotpottery