Favorite Etsy Shop: Andie's Specialty Sweets

Andie of Andie specialty Sweets puts out the most amazing eatable work I have ever seen! She specializes in creating made-to-order sugar decorations, sculpted marzipan, decorated cookies, special event cakes and individual confections.You have to take a look at her work:

Edible Candy Necklace


Chocolate Candy Mushrooms LifeSize


Peppermint Candy Buttons

Her exquisite confections make me want to throw a party!

Let's Go Out: It's FALL!

Fall is here and so is fall fashion! Cozy sweaters, scarves, hats, boots... fall is by far my favorite season for fashion. When heading out for dinner in a crisp fall evening, I'd choose pieces like these:

a structured dress
Mad Men Rainy Gray 1940 Ruched Hepburn Vintage Inspired Structured Pretty Woman Cocktail Dress by RiverOfRomansk

with a cozy wrap

Maroon Mohair Ruffled Shawl by JasmineCreations

nice short boots
Black leather short booties with stacked heel and back stitch detailing by spicyvintage

and a gorgeous bracelet
Hydrangea Petal Cuff Bracelet by Tigerlillyshop

Favorite Etsy Shop: Petal Mix

I came across this Etsy shop a few days ago when a friend of mine posted a photo of her new flower headband, and fell in love with their work.

Pumpkin Spice - Kanzashi Style Flower Brooch

Petal Mix makes gorgeous hair accessories and brooch pins with a modern twist on the Japanese art of tsumami kanzashi. Each petal is hand cut and folded from beautiful silks, imported Japanese textiles, and other high quality fabrics with exquisite details.

Deep Lagoon - Silk Tsumami Kanzashi Flower Headband

Plum Blossom - Kanzashi Flower Barrette Hair Clip

She can change the hardware (brooch to clip, etc) and add an alligator clip with a toothed clip for extra grip upon request.

What I'm Working On: Spa Therapy Works

I've been busy in my soap studio lately working on Spa Therapy Works' fall line. All the warm colors, cozy textures and cool fresh air make Fall to be my favorite season for work inspiration.

For this fall, I have 3 new oil-free exfoliating body cleansers to be released. They're body sugar scrubs with whipped soap, so you get your skin exfoliated and clean at the same time.

The scents are: Caramel Apple, Spiced Orange & Clove, and Cinnamon Sugar. These scents scream FALL to me.

Since my studio time is very limited now that I have a charming (and somewhat demanding) 7 months old baby girl, I've been keeping all the freshly made body scrubs in tubs and will be filling containers as they sell. They look like homemade ice cream!

Now all I need to work on is designing the labels, and they will be ready for their debut.

My Favorite Etsy Shop: Spoonfudge

What is Spoonfudge? Rich and smooth gourmet fudge to be eaten directly from the jar with a spoon. Imagine a jar filled with soft, creamy, dreamy fudge that melts away in your mouth. Yeah, it is THAT good!
With 14 delicious flavors like Chocolate Caramallow, Buttered Rum Bananas and White Chocolate Lemon, it is hard to choose just one. But you don't have to, they made it easier to choose by selling them in a set of two 5oz jars.



My latest indulgences were Chocolate Peanut Butter and Chocolate Coconut. Yum!


They currently only ship Spoonfudge once per month. The upcoming shipment dates start on August 4 so that it arrives to your doorsteps for your summer time enjoyment. will begin accepting orders July 9 and stop accepting them on July 18, so there's still time to get into next shipment.

My Three Things

Anyone who lived in the D.C. area during the '80s and '90s remembers the great old radio station WHFS and Weasel the DJ. Weasel had a daily feature called "My Three Songs"; in this game, he would present three songs that had a common thread, theme, or leitmotif, and the object was for the listeners to guess what it was.

Here are three items by Etsy artists. What do they have in common? Give your answer in the comments below!

To pluck down justice from your awful bench 8x8 fine art photograph by Raceytay

Greta - Original oil on panel by marisolspoon

Vinyl Wall Art Decal --- LEAFY BIRCH FOREST by walldecors

Let's Go Out!

What to wear on a chilly Fall evening out when you're 6 months pregnant and not willing to negotiate style? This is my current dilemma. But while browsing on Etsy the other day, I actually came upon a couple of pieces that I could wear throughout my pregnancy and afterwards when I returned to my pre-pregnancy size. Check it out:

Gorgeous and stylish custom made coat by MyBlackDress

Cute sleeveless dress with flowing body by ZoeChen

Help BEST Fight Cancer!

This October, you can shop local, handmade AND healthy! Join Spa Therapy Works and greenstarstudio to help raise money for Cancer Research & Awareness.



Spa Therapy Works will make a contribution to 2009 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer - Baltimore, MD. From now through October 11, purchase any marked PINK OCTOBER product and we’ll donate 10% of the total of the sale to the American Cancer Society.
Visit her blog for more details.


And, today, greenstarsudio announced her October charity of the Month will be The Cancer Research Institute (focusing on Cancer of all kinds) in honor of a dear friend. From today through October 31st, 5% of ALL of greenstarstudio's etsy sales will go directly to the Cancer Research Institute! And on OCTOBER 15th, she'll donate 15% of all sales.
You don't need to include a code or to do anything but fill your cart and enjoy the benefits. For more information, visit the greenstarstudio blog.

So shop and know you're supporting a good cause. Now's a great time to stock up on birthday & holiday gifts, and let your purchase do double duty, in helping spread awareness and good health.

Creative Spaces – Spa Therapy Works

Before Colgate and other companies like it set up industrial shop, soapmaking was a home industry--and for me, it still is. I’m lucky enough to have a space totally dedicated to run my home business. And the best part of the space is the fragrances infused in everything, which makes coming to work an enjoyment every morning. It is seriously the best smelling room in the house!

After the holiday, I did some re-organization of my soap room to find a better & more effective layout, and here it is:

Pots, pans, molds, scales, cutters and other tools of the trade are stacked up on the top of the shelves, where I also keep the mean & dangerous lye-caustic soda (Oils + lye (with some water) = soap + glycerin). On the middle shelves, I keep cured soaps that are ready to be wrapped, other finished products, and raw materials. Soapmaking vegetable oils and butters go on the lower shelves.

I use the cold process method of making soap, which means that I don’t cook the soap over a heat source. Rather, I stir the soap until it thickens, pour it into molds, and allow it to sit quietly for 24hs before I remove it from the molds and cut it into bars. Then, I allow the soap to cure for several weeks on the curing racks.

Curing racks above. When the bars nice and firm, I put them on another shelf until I'm ready to wrap them, opening space for more soap to cure. I make most of my soap in small 3-pound batches and I do this so I can make many different scents and still have room to walk around my workspace. (On the picture above you also see a bookshelf filled with fragrances and essential oils, followed by storage units packed with containers for my body products)

I keep the “assemble table” in the middle of the room so it’s easy

to grab products from the shelves, pack them up and fill orders The packaging shelving is right there, too. (below)

And finally, a picture of my worktable (below). This is is where I house my microwave, mixer and utensils used to prepare lotions, creams, whipped body butters, deodorants, etc.

Sweet Pumpkin Body Scrub

Just in time for Thanksgiving! Pumpkin is not only delicious, but is so very good for your skin as well. Pumpkin is an excellent source of beta carotene and it also contains a multitude of vitamins and minerals with strong antioxidant protection.



Exfoliation softens the skin and prepares it for the moisturizer or other product you wish to use. This body scrub will gently exfoliate and revitalize your skin by removing dead skin cells, excess oils, and any residues of dirt and pollution from your skin to make it soft and healthy.

You'll need:

* 1 cup pureed pumpkin (fresh or canned)
* 2 1/2 cups organic cane sugar (regular sugar will do, too)
* 1 tsp olive oil (for extra moisturizing)

Combine sugar with the pumpkin puree in a bowl and mix well. Add olive oil and continue to mix. - You can add more sugar for a grainier scrub if you prefer.


Take a shower, make sure your skin is moist. Apply the scrub in circular motion. Rinse off when done.

This mixture won't be shelf-stable so use within a couple of days or store in the refrigerator for up to a week in a closed container.

A few things to keep in mind when using any type of body exfoliant:

1. Exfoliation works better when done on a regular basis. Once a week at a minimum. Gentle exfoliation can be done several times a week.
2. Use gentle circular motions .
3. Don't use ingredients that you are allergic to. If in doubt do a patch test.
4. Exfoliate at night and give your skin a chance to replenish.
5. Do not use on irritated, inflamed or broken skin.

Have fun, experiment and let those young new skin cells shine through!
Post submitted by Spa Therapy Works