It has been so long!

Life has really caught up to me. A year has already passed where I have struggled to be the best high school art teacher I could possibly be. I hope to do better this next year coming up.

I have also struggled to create. But the dark cloud of insecurity is slowing drifting away.

I am going to put more paintings up on Etsy for sale. Please feel free to look! :)

I also hope to add more nail polish rings to the listings, since I have found more materials to use. Keep an eye out for those!

World Market.

For those of you who love imported goods, or are looking for some, try to locate a World Market nearest you. They have such wonderful things from accessories, furniture, housewares, and most importantly FOOD. My mother, being a British person, loves this place for its imported British goods. In the past she had to order overseas and paid a lot just for shipping, but World Market saves all that time and money. A great deal, especially their chocolates. Oh boy...

If you're American and have never tried British chocolate, I highly suggest you do. If you've had Cadbury or Milka, it's close to that. But a little more delicious. I'm not a huge fan of Whoppers here in America, and that's mostly due to my love of Maltesers. These yummy choco-pops are balls of honeycomb wrapped in creamy milk chocolate. One of my favorites ever. And they usually have sales, where a bar of Aero chocolate is only $0.75, and a big box of holiday Maltesers got marked down a whopping 90%!

Another thing I love is their accessories. After-holiday sales really end up being the best part of this store. The earrings online are pretty pricey, but in store they're relatively inexpensive and almost borderline exotic. Here is a pair of lovely earrings, a vibrant purple "dreamcatcher" design encased by metal spirals, and guess how much I paid for them? $2.99!! Incredible, huh? Even the original price of $5.99 is a great deal for pretty jewelry like this. Someone in my art class asked about them, and a friend of mine asked if they were from Etsy, haha!

So if you have a store near you, or can handle/really love online shopping, then check out World Market. Really. Right now. :)

Please forgive my slow posting. Now that school is back on track, it'll be hard to keep it daily or every other day, but I shall do my best!

Wednesday Wishlist.

(Because internet window shopping is just as fun, and I'm honestly blank right now about a blog post.)

Fancy Swirls Dark gray leather diary, $32

Faux Boot Legwarmers in black, $49.50

Deco Dragonfly Mug, $25

Shakespeare's Sister, $395

Fawnia Oak Leaf with Aquamarine Glass Beads, $16.80

The Stalker 10x8 black cat print, $27.00

Full Agenda Dress by ModCloth, $47.99

London Fog by Piperlime, $119

What are your Wednesday wishlist items?

Christmas on Etsy.

Well, tomorrow I'm going home for the holidays, so this blog will be on a mini-hiatus as I celebrate with my family and friends. When I return, it'll be back to tweeting, posting, and Etsy-ing while doing art. Also, I'll be reviewing Orglamix makeup and holding a giveaway for one of her amazing eyeshadow collections, so don't forget! :)

For my "final" blog post, I just wanted to showcase some items I found on Etsy that are Christmas-themed or colored. Some are just plain cute, some are elegant, and some are practical. Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order...

Necklace of Mother of Pearl Buttons and Felt Balls, $35

By derinmavi

Eye Pillow Slip Cover - Funky Christmas, $3

By BoutiqueKarma

Felt Christmas Tree Ornament, $2

By MiniMaxwell

Ribbon Candy colored pencil art, 8x10 print $23

By paulapertile

Noelle Headband, $18

By FlockTogetherCrafts

Little Red Dress, $82.50

By 3ampoems

Ceramic Christmas Cereal Bowl Set, $40

By handpaintedbykristin

Garden Essentials - Garden Journal, $32

By PrairieGarden

Hot Chocolate Soap, $4.75

By MySpaSecrets

Hope your eyes had a lovely feast! Hope your actual holiday feast is delicious, hope you have a wonderful time with your loved ones... and hope you get the gifts you wanted. :) Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, and to all a good night.

My Multi-Prize Giveaway!

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday, whether it was spent stuffing your face or stuffing your stockings for loved ones (and yourself, hehe).

So, it's finally here. I'm really grateful to my internet buddies and fellow Etsians. I've reached 300 followers on Twitter, and over 100 on this blog. I sure hope it will continue to grow as the days go on! In lieu of this community, the holidays, and just good ole fun, I present to you..

My Multi-Prize Giveaway!!

Some Etsy sellers have graciously donated their items to this giveaway in the spirit of giving. Please take the time to visit their shops and peruse their items and their sales. (You'll want to do this anyway for entries!)

ONE lucky winner will receive this prize package, valued up to $60, after being selected by Random.org. Here's what is included, and how to enter:

First Item



Tina from FlockTogetherCrafts has donated a beautiful Guinea Hen Feather Headband. Love it!

Second Item



John and Donna McLean from LaughingFridge has donated one of their adorable magnets, the Pirate Fat Cat Aaaaarrt Magnet! :3

Third Item



Tricia from SimplyUniqueKreation has donated a gorgeous Red Wave Ring. It is a size 8, but the ring size can be adjusted for the winner.

Fourth Item



I am offering a 3-card set of a mystery printmaking design, as well as the pretty photo album shown above. Album contains 10 plastic sleeves, sized approximately 6x6".

Fifth Item:



Haley from Haleysscrapbooknook is offering one item from her store valued at $7.50 or under. Check it out!

Sixth Item:



Danielle from 7SeventeenGallery is offering a lovely little original painting titled A Little Windy. It is already framed!


How To Enter!!

MANDATORY: Visit each shop and pick out your favorite item. Then come back and post in a comment the items you picked, whether by name or URL. Please do this all together, for it counts as 1 entry only! Don't forget to put your contact info for all entries.

Extra Entries:
1) For EACH shop you heart, including mine at laurart, you'll get ONE entry. Please list your Etsy username. Do separate comments.
2) If you buy an item from one of the shops before the deadline, you'll receive a whopping 5 entries! Just post the item listing with your Etsy username.
3) Follow my blog using Google connect. 1 entry
4) Subscribe to my blog feed. 1 entry
5) Follow me on Twitter AND post a tweet about this giveaway that includes my name @spektorish. Please include your Twitter username and a link to this status. 1 entry
6) Follow @Flock_Together. Leave your Twitter username. 1 entry
7) Follow @uniquekreation. Leave your Twitter username. 1 entry
8) Follow Tina's blog for 1 entry, Tricia's blog for 1 entry, and Danielle's blog for 1 entry.
9) Become a Facebook fan of FlockTogether for 1 entry.
10) Blog about this giveaway, then comment with the link to it for 1 entry.

This giveaway will run until Saturday, December 12. The contest will close at noon or 12:00pm CST. Later on the winner will be picked, and I will post their name with their permission the following day.

So many entries to be had, wow! I am so excited, it has been so long since my last giveaway. I wish you all the best of luck. Tell your friends! :)

This giveaway ends December 12th at noon CST. Any posts after that will not count. For shipping costs, this is only open to the U.S. and Canada, sorry!

Friday Featurette.

Today's goes to Kneehighsnpigtails, a lovely little jewelry shop I've recently come across. I love their antique style, and the items are reasonably priced. Even the banner is really attractive! :)



They even have a section called "Over the top earrings," which they can be but I still love the look. Not sure about wearing some of these items on casual Fridays, but they're gorgeous any way you look at it.

Rainy days.

What is it about rainy days that can get you kind of down? I'm not upset or anything, just... lethargic, yet still acting productive (going to class, etc.). Dark damp days just bring me down a little. Does anyone else experience this?

Also, I'd like to give a sweet shout-out to Autumn who runs NatureAutumn at Etsy. A few months ago I made my first purchase in her shop, but it never arrived. This was most likely because it got lost or held up at customs. She kept in constant contact with me, trying to figure things out as the days went by. A few days ago, she sent me a message saying she absolutely wants all of her customers to be pleased with her work, so she offered a replacement free of charge. (I paid $2.00 just to register the item for shipping so it won't get lost this time.) This beautiful item was more valuable than the first, so it's obvious that Autumn really cared about making me happy. Can you imagine getting this kind of attention in retail or big businesses? Not me.

Please visit her store and take a look around. I whole-heartedly recommend her jewelry and service to anyone.

Hopefully this weather will perk up soon! I know it's close to winter but... you know. :)

Friday Featurette!

So this week's featurette is for ljlh*designs at Etsy. Some of you may think I'm a little biased because I recently won earrings from her, but honestly, this jewelry is hard to pass up anyway. If I hadn't won, I still would've given her a quick spotlight because this girl's shop is beautiful and affordable.

Dark Rainbow Bracelet/Necklace, $21

The main thing, though, is that she has very little sales in her store. She has her own website, which includes the wide variety of items she sells, a link to her blog, and even a resume. Yup, a resume. So, I was surprised to see little sales.

She makes great items, simply put! Each piece is so colorful, or so stylish, or all of the above! Not to mention, they're all not that expensive considering what they are! Most jewelry at this level would cost more than $20.

Green Leaf Earrings, $6

She also has another Etsy store, dealing with handmade items from paper: ljlhpaper.etsy.com I advise you to give that a peek, too, although it is somewhat new.

I'm very thankful for the earrings I won, for they have given me a taste of ljlh*designs, and I'll definitely be making some purchases around the holidays from this shop. Take a look for yourself, there's bound to be a good Christmas gift in there somewhere! Happy shopping!