So what is your favorite color this season? Purple is still the “it” color these days. I have found some shades of purple that I am loving right now, like this beautiful scarf from Nenee.

NENEEE sweater song cowl @ NENEEE's etsy shop

Deep purple shades like this scarf scream urban chic. I would gladly replace my black clothes this season for this lovely color! Even bright purples can look fabulous. The shirt below looks amazing with the addition of gray to balance this particular shade of purple.

Slouchy Wonderful @ Replicca's etsy shop

My favorite color this season is olive! Why? Olive can be funky, urban, elegant, glamorous, natural, hip…you get the point. Here are some of my favorites! This delicious hat makes me want to play in the snow all day! Too bad it doesn’t come in my size (children only!)

knit baby hat @ MadAboutColour's etsy

While the hat is funky and cute olive, the knit scarf below can be hip or fabulous!

knit scarf @Bombshellstudios etsy

Let me know what your favorite color is this season!

So yesterday I had lots of time to play with my new Etsy account. Here’s a synopsis of my day.

First I took photo’s inside my new light box (thank you my sweet boyfriend!). Of course after I had taken about a hundred shots a brilliant e-mail came to me from Etsy called Etsy Success: Top 2008 Tips for Sellers. Inside this e-mail was Give your Etsy Shop a PageRank Boost by Timothy Adams Design (He makes modern metal jewelry and other amazing items!). Actually Timothy is such a good resource on Etsy that I signed up for his e-mails and read two of his articles yesterday.

Back to the Etsy e-mail, next came How to get the Etsy Sales you want by houseofmouse (she makes adorable little creatures). Her article was helpful with photography, pricing, descriptions, tagging, and one of my favorites was giving yourself a shop critique.

After reading all about styling photographs for better sales, I ended up re-shooting all of my earlier shots. Here’s a before…

blueberry, crystal and pearl clusters

and after…

blueberry, crystal and pearl clusters - after adding props

In reality I did have a prop for the first image, however I didn’t have as much texture as the after photo. My goal is to keep playing with different props until I find a couple that work with the different styles of jewelry I create.

I spent so much time playing with props that I stopped reading through the rest of the Etsy e-mail. Late last night I talked in the Etsy forums and learned about treasuries (how to capture one!). I have been wondering about treasuries since I first set up shop last month, finally I fully understand how it is done! Go here to find out more about capturing a treasury! Or here to get the low-down from another Etsian (fishstikks).

More to come later about my voyages through Etsyland!

During my annual Christmas tradition of making an ornament for every person in my family, I decided to make a couple of extra and sell them on Esty. This year I choose a snowman (maybe they are snow women, as they are very dainty) theme, soft colors, and pleasing to the eye. I think I am going to add a Santa and a reindeer to this collection, we’ll see how far I get in this process. Speaking of which, I have included some photographs of the creation process and some of the final snowmen/women ornaments.

I am going to sell these + some others, which are awaiting a photograph, on my Etsy shop which can be located by going here flipflopfloat.etsy.com. Each snowman is designed different, no two snowmen are alike! Anyway, this project should release some pent up cold weather energy I’ve been having lately. Maybe I just need to get out and play in the snow.

Yesterday I took a trip over to my local REI to browse the new snowboard gear out this winter. I really just enjoy checking out the trends in that world, since I rarely pick up new gear, it becomes so expensive. Some of the themes I noted was…

1. Story telling, where it came from…

image: Venture Snowboards

board: ZEPHYR, Venture Snowboards

why I love it: Venture boards are made from sustainably harvested hardwoods, they make all of their boards from scratch in a 100% wind-powered facility in Colorado and they use no outsourced or prefab. materials. The ZEPHYR shows off the woods natural beauty, there are limited graphic elements which seems like a step away from traditional snowboard gear which tends to boast loud and proud. (I didn’t find this board at REI, I just noted the trend then researched the companies that are taking positive + innovative steps in the industry.)

image: www.evogear.com

board: Arbor Element Snowboard 2008

why I love it: This board uses sustainably harvested Koa wood found in the Hawaiian Islands for it’s topsheet. Again I like that the board on the left uses wood grain as an aesthetic element instead of adding graphics. Even though this wood trend began a while ago, I think it is picking up even more speed this year.

Both the Venture board and the Arbor Element board remind me of Gordon Smith skateboards (I like their long-boards) which often utilize the wood, often a stripe of some sort, to bring out it’s natural beauty.

image: www.coloradoboarder.com

board: EcoNico, Burton

why I love it: The EcoNico is a Burton board aimed at minimizing the impact manufacturing has on the environment, Burton calls it the Green Mountain Project. Instead of showing off the goods (wood) we get a picture of the message being sent or story being told by this board; reducing our footprint on the earth, I dig it.

2. Simplify…

image: emagenetwork.com

jacket: Encounter Pullover, Burton

why I love it: First it is a pullover, I haven’t owned a pullover in years, my last was the ever fadulous starter jacket, my team was….I’m not telling, it may hurt my Eagles reputation! Snowboarding and pullovers make a lot of sense together, pull tight and your securing yourself from snow up your shirt (brrrrr..), unless your kicking overalls of course. The pullover seems to give a bit more flexibility because it excludes a zipper in the way. This jacket is SIMPLE, no crazy graphics! Hey, I like my loud gear sometimes, but every now and then I’d like to zen out on the mountain, simple allows this. I like the use of color, simple red zippers accent and contrast this white jacket. Overall a clean and fresh look for this winter. (This jacket is from the women’s collection B by Burton)

3. Innovation (as usual)…

image: www.the-house.com

belt: 686 Cranium Toolbelt

why I love it: It never fails that I forget my tools in the car. No I do not own a snowboard bag to store all these handy items inside. I mentioned I was frugal when it came to my snowboard gear. 686 is genius; snowboard companies always exceed my expectations with innovative products and gear, so it is no surprise that this toolbelt comes out of that environment (industry, whatev). Besides this belt just being insanely brilliant, it is waterproof, has two screwdrivers, a hex socket wrench and a bottle opener (this belts exudes survival of the fittest). I found the belt in black, brown and screen printed (the belt shown in the image above). This belt was out last year also, however I didn’t see it making rounds in the stores last season, so my thought is that will blast all over the scene this season (hey, I saw it in REI).

Delicious veggie burgers at The Speakeasy restaurant/bar in Brooklyn/Fort Greene area on the corner of Greene Avenue + Waverly Avenue. I spent the past two days in NYC and Brooklyn, my usual Saturday routine. Though this weekend I was able to spend most of my time dining out and about with friends instead of speed racing to Penn Station in a hurry to get the Philadelphia train. Friday night I went to Pequena’s, also in Fort Greene, and ate black bean and plantain quesadilla, a veggie tostada, rice, beans and guacamole, very good. Pequena’s is the smallest restaurant, somehow it feels awkward and pleasant sitting so close to people you may never see again. The spot is decorated with day of the dead inspired randomness, mostly large hanging dolls. It is usually packed to the limits but it has one of the best vibes in Fort Greene, oh and it is right across the street from Habana Outpost.

Habana (for short) or the eco-eatery (known but not spoken nick-name) is only open during nice weather seasons. Habana hosts awesome events when it is open, my favorite is greendrinks, a once a month gathering of eco-interested individuals. This indoor/outdoor restaurant is known as the first eco-eatery in NYC; its decked out with solar goodies, compostable utensils and a variety of recycling bins. I’ve spent hours hanging out at Habana with friends during beautiful summer months.

Last night we were going to eat at Zaytoons, the one near Bergen Street, I’ve only been to the one on Myrtle. Zaytoons (Myrtle) is especially entertaining on Friday nights after 9pm, the belly dancer is amazing! We ended up at The Speakeasy; massive amounts of rain kept us from walking too far. I had the veggie burger, as mentioned earlier, the sauce reminded me of a big-mac from McDonald’s (I know, gross right) but it was insane good. The fries and the chocolate brownie with whipped creme + iced cream was fantastic. The vibe was chill/comfy, the kind of place you want to be on a dreary rainy Saturday night. I ate everything in sight and thought I’d have to drive back to Philly in a food drunken stupor. Luckily as soon as I hit the BQE (brooklyn-queens expressway) driving mode took over. Oh, and brilliantly I only took along my new gray suede boots this weekend, not thinking that rain would drown the city, so for the past two days my feet have been soaked (not fun or warm). I’ve decided, again, that I need to armor myself with some Wellingtons or Hunters this winter! I love spending time in my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, I especially love eating there while catching up with great friends.

basil pocket hat @ pink koi fish

Lately I have been looking for baby products

for my sister’s soon-to-be new baby. This

knit hat is too big for a newbie but I love it.

limited ed. print Oma and Olaf @ hybrid-home

lovely, colorful print, yum.

hedgehog pin @ gifts define

this is the cutest pin i have ever seen!

dear santa, can i have one??

My about area told you that I would share more about me, so here we go…

These are a few of my favorite things

my vision board

My vision board kind of contradicts itself, apparently I want to live

on a desolate island while having a country home, while living in

a boat off the coast of Morocco?! I also love napkin sketches, I

am not sure how that will manifest itself but I am interested in

waiting it out. Ideas that win ideas, also not even sure how

that works though I love toying with new ideas so this one

will be fun. Oh, and I love textiles (my header is a textile print

I made while studying in Denmark last summer).

friends first birthday announcement

I love how simple this announcement is, why can’t life always be

this simple? (I keep it on the frig hence the curly edges).

my tater pot

As goofy and playful as me is this little tater pot. What is a tater

pot you ask, well it was made for growing herbs inside but mine

died

You can find tater pots at fredflare.com