Addicted to My BlackBerry & It's Broken!!!

I am beside myself. I just dropped my phone in some water (you don't want to know where-but it was clean water at least!) and now it's not working. I am NOT patient. I've read the forum posts where they say let it dry for a week (A WEEK!!!!!) Who do they think they are kidding. I can't stand to not have it work for a minute. I have called my husband several times (who is working by the way) and he is trying to keep me calm. I know it is just a phone. The problem as well is that I use this as my only phone - I don't have a land line. I do have a back up phone which I have managed to set up with my SIM card. I am, however, spoiled because my BlackBerry has instant messaging, email, Internet etc. My back up phone is well - just a phone. I feel so disconnected. Now I have to wait for my husband to get home and I have to decide if I want to purchase a new phone (which means I'll upgrade to a better model-might as well if I have to replace it) or will I be patient and wait a few days to see if it comes back to life. If I replace my phone with the current model it's $330 and the upgrade 8900 is $500 (I'm in Canada so those are Canadian prices.) I hate to spend money for something I already have but I need my phone-and yes-I did mention I have NO patience!!I feel a bit stupid being so attached to the technology but nevertheless that's my reality!

Americana Buttons

I must say that I admire how patriotic Americans are. I am a Canadian and I am proud to be a Canadian but Canadians do not seem to celebrate their country to the same extent that Americans do. I'm not sure why that is. I do believe Canadians love their country but I guess for whatever reasons we do not display that "love of country" to the same extent that our friends across the border do.

Anyway, these buttons celebrate America, patriotism and the Fourth of July. I hope that these capture the spirit of American patriotism and that they go to a good home in the US.

I will be sure to add some Canadian themed buttons to my website as we get closer to July 1st which is Canada Day!

No matter where you live, be proud of your country, your culture and celebrate who you are!

American Express Credit Card Necklace

There is so much talk about the economy lately and how everyone needs to cut up their credit cards and cut down on spending. This got me thinking about what to do with all those credit cards that aren't being used out there and I wanted to do something with it. I've been making altered art jewelry and I have seen jewlery made with cut up credit cards somewhere along the way (sorry that I can't remember where or I'd give credit to the person who inspired this). I didn't actually cut up this credit card until it was expired (I'm sure my husband would like it if I actually did cut up all my current ones though-sorry honey that isn't going to happen). Anyway this is my take on credit card jewelry made with an old American Express credit card. If you look closely you will see the letters that are cut out say ICAN. Maybe this represents "I can" stop spending so much, "I can" make more money or "I can" buy whatever I want whenever I want. It can mean whatever you wish. It's currently listed in my second Etsy store which isn't really advertised much on this blog but is located at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5069403. The link to the necklace itself is http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25488637. Of course if you go to the link and it isn't there any longer perhaps that means it's sold. Anyway, hope you get a chuckle out of this necklace and perhaps it will inspire you to do something with your old credit cards as well.

Halloween Themed Sewing Buttons

I think I am going to start listing some Halloween/fall and even Christmas buttons in my Etsy shop. I know people probably aren't really starting to think about these holidays just yet but crafters do need to get their supplies early so they can then make their own items. I'm not sure how this will work out but I think I'll give it a try. Tomorrow though I need to look for some Canadiana/Americana themed items to make for Canada Day and the Fourth of July (for my US friends).

40% off Michael's Coupon

Here is the link to this week's 40% off Michael's coupon. I'm in Canada so not sure if the link is the same for the US or elsewhere. Hope some of you can get some use out of this.

http://mic.michaels.com/MichaelsWeekly052409Canada.aspx?id=103&referenceNo=02180144418&reg_source=WKY05239&cm_ven=mic&cm_cat=wkly&cm_pla=email&cm_ite=wkly052309

Cow Jumped Over the Moon Handmade Sewing/Scrapbooking Buttons

I'm just about to head off to my day job but wanted to show you these adorable "Cow Jumped Over the Moon" handmade scrapbooking or sewing buttons. I don't advertise these as sewing buttons because they're small (as buttons tend to be of course) and small items shouldn't be used on children's clothing. Of course the buttons are washable so if you're a "young-at-heart" adult these would be great to wear on your clothing to show your inner child. These buttons would be great on party invitations, cards or scrapbooking as well if you wanted to use them in child-themed ideas. You could also decorate picture frames or lamp shades if the room you were decorating was designed in this popular nursery rhyme theme.

Handmade Sewing or Scrapbooking Buttons-Sock Monkey

Just a really quick post tonight as my hubby is insisting that I spend some time with him. So not much time for my buttons this evening. I did just want to post a picture of these cute little sock monkey buttons I made yesterday and posted in my Etsy store today. I purchased the image from a wonderful and talented Etsy seller called Supplies to Go. You can find wonderful images such as these sock monkeys in her Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5268454. Do take a moment to drop by. OK, off the keep hubby company.

Happy Victoria Day Canada!

It was a wonderful long Victoria Day weekend here in Canada. The weather wasn't hot hot but it was sunny and warm (if you wore a light sweater). I can't complain-it was a long weekend after all. I didn't partake in any holiday festivities such as watching fireworks but I did head out to the garden centre with my husband and I bought a few pots of flowers to put in some metal urns I have on my front step. They look bright and cheerful and it's much better than last year where I didn't even get around to doing that much. I'm realistic enough to know I'm not much of a gardener so I'm hopeful that these will add a splash of colour to the front of my house and that I'll remember to water them.

I did manage to do more of what I like best-making buttons! I've pictured some of my latest bird buttons here. These were made with an immage I purchased from Piddix on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=46139. I've been following the blog that Piddix writes and through that I've found out she's recently turned her crafting/artistic creations into her full time job. It's not easy by the sounds of it but she is very talented and I'm sure she'll do well. I'd love to turn my art into a full time job (wouldn't all of us who create) but I have no idea how that would happen. I could never make enough buttons to support that. I've been watching the moving "The Secret" lately and it says that you just have to believe, truly believe and it will happen. You don't have to know the "how" of how it will happen. The universe will take care of the how. I guess I just have to get to the point where I truly believe in myself. I guess belief in oneself is a big stumbling block for many of us. We are usually our own worst enemy or biggest critics. I guess I'll just keep working on that.

Anyway hope you all had a wonderful weekend and if you didn't get a long weekend like those of us in Canada did, I hope you had a great Monday back at work or doing your usual Monday activities.

A Renewed Effort!

This weekend I decided to seriously try and promote my Buttons By Robin etsy store. http://www.buttonsbyrobin.com. I have been doing pretty well but have not done any promoting at all. I lurk in the Etsy forums and sometimes make a comment or two and I signed up for twitter http://twitter.com/ a while ago but never really figured it out. For those of you who don't know what twitter is it's a sort of business/social networking sight but you only have 140 characters or so which means you can't say a whole lot. I couldn't figure out what I would have to say in so few characters that anyone would find interesting. I've also heard that people who only post link to the items they sell are considered spamming and aren't appreciated all that much. Honestly though that's really all I have to say at this point. I'm not sure if people are interested if I say I'm going to the grocery store. I've decided I'll post my items to twitter and if people aren't interested they don't have to look and/or they can decide not to follow my posts. I'm trying to find people with similar interests to follow myself and I know I am seriously interested in seeing what they have for sale and what they're up to. I won't follow people who I don't feel share a common interest though. We'll see how it goes. I must say that when I post a link to twitter (even though I only have about 17 people following me) that I do get quite a lot of views on my items listed on Etsy. I don't seem to have anywhere near the same number of views when I haven't posted to twitter. Views,of course, don't necessarily lead to sales and I haven't had any sales from these views this weekend but I'm hoping that a few people who might be interested in my items have found me. I know I've looked at quite a few people's stores and while I haven't bought anything through my twitter views this weekend either I have marked a few people as favourites in Etys and will go back another time.

In addition to the twitter linking, I posted a few pictures to flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/15684302@N04/ and have joined a couple more flickr groups that I feel are of interest. In other words, I'm only doing things that I think are relevant and not just to get sales (hopefully) but because I am genuninely interested in the groups/topics. We'll see what happens.

I am also very much for giving credit to others and am going to try to use my blog to promote other talented sellers. I haven't done much in that regard and I think I'm going to try and work really hard to promote the work of others as well. I have purchased some wonderful graphics from Etsy sellers over the months (and even some this weekend). The squirrel buttons listed here are from a great new Etsy seller called Bayin http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7258818&ga_search_query=bayin&ga_search_type=seller_usernames I love the graphics she creates and she has been super friendly and provided great customer service which is all part of the overall Etsy experience. If you have a moment drop by and check out her work.

OK. Enough blogging for today but I'll keep you all posted on how the promoting is working out for me and if I come up with any really super wonderful ideas that work wonders I'll be sure to share them here.

Stretching My Imagination

It's both challenging and interesting when I get suggestions from potential customers about ideas they would like to see me try. It stretches my imagination and makes me try things I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. It also expands my products. These buttons were created at the request of someone who saw my other buttons on Etsy. These aren't something I would have thought to do but now that they're done I quite like them.

Custom requests do make me nervous though because I don't want to disappoint the person that made the request. My self doubt comes out and I often wonder if I will be up to the challenge. I guess going out of my comfort zone will make me grow as an artist. I need to do that more often.

Happy Mother's Day Mom

This is the first mother's day without my mother who passed away on April 4th this year. Although she's not with me here physically I know she's with me always. I hope I am making you proud Mom. I will continue to do what I think is right and I will always love you.



I know Mom would be happy that I spent the day with my son, her grandson. He was (is) the light of her life and I know she would be so pleased to know we had a wonderful day together and that we talked about her. We miss her terribly but want to honour her memory and all that she was by being positive and living our lives to the fullest.



Love you Mom.



To all the mother's out there and all of you who have lost your mothers I wish you a happy day and hope you were able to enjoy it with your family.