Rainbow Love

Yesterday I freaked out over this page from a 1980 Flash comic. Gorgeous. Maybe you can do something crafty with it?


I especially love this era of Flash because the superhero's name is the same as my husband. Not "Flash" but "Barry," hee hee.


A delish rainbow treasury including my recycled paint sample coasters by rockpilewest.



At night I have been working on a rainbow granny square afghan. My first!


More rainbow themed goodness from Etsy Treasuries here.


I also have stuff tagged "rainbow" in my shop:

Vintage Airmail Stickers

There must be lots of people out there who love mail, postage and airmail ephemera. This is the most popular item in my shop. I just spent the morning making a new bundle of these guys and thought it would be nice to share them with the world.


This set of vintage airmail stickers comes in a package of 6 sheets of unique labels. The images are scans of my personal collection of airmail labels. I have them professionally printed on full sheet label paper. That means you cut them apart as you need them and peel the back off when you are ready to stick 'em.

The entire set can be found here in my shop. Long live mail!

Etsy Sellers and Goodies from the Renegade Fair

As promised, here are some of the goodies I scored at the recent Austin Renegade Fair.

I pretty much freaked out at the Pretty Good Things booth. I had to ask for something "conservative" to arrive at this very cute and COMFORTABLE headband. (Most headbands give me a headache in about 5 minutes) She has lovely things, including an awesome bird nest headband, but I am in no way cool enough to wear such accessories. Nevertheless, I found several necessities to love.


Danielle Maveal had a number of retro vintagey designs on silver pendants. It was difficult to choose, but I loved the birds (and the cameras, squirrels, and mushrooms!) and I really liked the scalloped edges on this one.


Krank Press is not from Texas but was thoughtful enough to create Texas Produce Calendars for the Austin Renegade show. I love, love, LOVE letterpress and could not resist this item.


I have long been a fan of etsy's YourSecretAdmrial. Everything in her shop is absolutely heart-able, and we share a love of airmail ephemera. Her hand bound books are so so good. I was delighted to be able to buy one from her booth although it was very difficult to make my choice. I decided on a palm sized book suitable for a tiny purse, although I doubt I will be able to bring myself to write in it. Flipping though it is highly satisfying.

Although not on Etsy, Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching is worth mentioning since she is based out of Austin, Texas just like me, and...I had a few crafty rock star moments at the fair, and one involved visiting the Sublime Stitching Booth. I have 2 of Jenny Hart's books and her stitch-able stationery set. Now I have these 2 cool goodies as well:


Yay, Renegade Craft Fair!

Renegade Craft Fair

It was my first big show, and TONS of fun. If you live in a town that hosts a Renegade Craft Fair, GO because you won't be disappointed.

I took a few photos with my camera so I could have a few memories to take with me. Here is my booth...





You can find the list of Austin vendors at the show at the Renegade Craft Fair website. I did a little shopping and over the next week plan to share photos and shopping info on some of the yummy goodies I brought home with me.

Giveaway! Measuring Tape Love!

More delish Treasury Love. Been wanting to do one like this myself, so I am dee-lited to see this Treasury titled, "Measure Up" by michvanetta. What is it about old school style measuring tape?

In honor of this treasury, and for the sewing inspiration that always accompanies the onset of spring, I am giving away a measuring tape notebook.


To enter the giveaway, post something sweet on my blog, for instance: What's so great about Spring? For a double entry, post a cool blog or website link to a fun sewing craft idea.

Winner announced April 1st. <3

Treasury Love

Hello everyone.

I rarely if ever post personal information since this blog is my crafty business outlet, but here is some personal stuff anyway.

I'm moving. The kind of move that forces you to put everything on hold. For the first time since I've started my business, I am forced to put the brakes on creating while I pack up and move all of my supplies and material goodies. I didn't shut down my shop when I was sick in bed for 6 weeks last fall or during a mind-blowing nightmare of a divorce that started a year ago in January. Leave it to moving to be the one thing that is really disruptive to the creative process. Hee hee.

In the meantime, I am so grateful to the fellow crafters who have been promoting me via the etsy treasury system. I've been so fortunate with treasuries lately! I am very grateful to 2 considerate crafters who included me in these awesome treauries: "Cheer Up" and "Cotton Candy."

The "Cheer Up" Treasury by Sewingkat2 is like a pastel rainbow, yahoo!


The "Cotton Candy" Treasury is by my new bestest Etsy friend Filomene. The treasury has expired, but look how delicious:

Audrey, the crafter behind Filomene and DOUDOUbyfilomene is responsible for the single most successful day I've had on Etsy. Her feature of my yellow paint notebook on a recent Treasury (see my last post) led to the notebook being included in last weekend's Etsy Finds called "Born Again." Below is my notebook with 1000 views (up from only 64 earlier that day)! At least 5 sales came from this feature, so.. Thanks, Audrey! *HUG!!*


I will be so relieved and happy when I'm moved into my new studio and I have the space, time, and emotional energy to create things again. Just a few weeks to go! At that time, I plan to return the good karma by trying for some treasuries of my own. My love to all my supportive crafter friends and everyone out there who is MOVING!

Sunny Yellow Treasury

Thank you DOUDOU by filomene for including me in your fun yellow themed treasury!

LOST themed Treasury!

The very generous CleverBetty gathered a fun "Lost" themed treasury and included one of my items along a number of fun handmade goodies! I just watched my first episode of Lost this week (ever!) so now I'm even more curious to learn how each of these items is related to the show. Thanks CleverBetty! Visit her shop for lovely handmade bags and clutches made from reclaimed fabric AND to check out her FREE SHIPPING sale for February. Yahoo!

Hoot! at FoundHandmade & A Valentine Treasury

Oh, to be featured in a treasury! It always makes my day. Always!! On top of that, a feature on the FoundHandmade Blog featuring owls. Hoot!


There we are in the top left corner... among a dazzling array of so cool owl goodies. I currently have about 12 tabs of etsy owl goodies open right now so that I can take a closer look at these beauties.

FoundHandmade is a fun way to quickly shop for a ton of fun goodies all at once. All you have to do is scroll over the little boxes to see larger photos of the items. It's like playing Minesweeper but shopping for handmade goodies instead of trying not to get blown up. Go here to see what I mean.

This fun heart-themed treasury has my stickers in it but look at those cookies!! I love to see something of mine featured among such talented handmade artists. Visit this treasury's designer trecivettesulcomo 's Etsy shop to see an impressive assortment of vintage and new buttons (my weakness).

Thank you FoundHandmade and trecivettesulcomo for taking the time to include my products on your websites.

I Heart Handmade

Wowee! Visit I Heart Handmade's Valentine Market. All of the shops are offering special promotions. My shop is offering FREE SHIPPING, as are several of the others. Amazing! Please take the time to shop around, it is definitely worth it. Thank you!! x0 melissa

My One Hundred and Eleventyith Sale!

I've always wanted a reason to say "hundred and eleventyith." And now I have one! Today my etsy sales number reached 111.

In celebration, a prize must be awarded.

Up for grabs is one of the 4 hand cut owl collages seen below. Each is 8 inches x 10 inches with about 1/4" of dimensionality.





How to enter:

1) Choose your favorite of the 4 and comment on this post telling me which one is your favorite.
2) Share a link to a favorite crafty blog of yours and you will be entered to win your favorite owl!
3) If you get a friend to enter, your name will go into the "bag" for each friend you refer. Make sure your friend says that you sent them my way so's you can get credit for the referral.

4) HERE's THE HITCH/FINE PRINT/CATCH: In order for this contest to be "ON," there must be a minimum of 11 unique/different entries. In other words, a minimum of 11 different people need to enter the contest by the deadline in order for this contest to be ON. So get going, people!!

On January 1, 2010, I will select the winner. The winning entry will receive the owl collage she chose as her favorite. Yahoo!

Vintage Game Pieces Charm Bracelet

This is a project I have been planning to try for a veeeery long time. Finally, a completed bracelet! I don't know a thing about jewelry making...what are the best jump rings? Do you solder stuff to make it more sturdy? Is it okay to use craft store findings? I DUNNO. But I think it's cute.

Also, please see my Etsy favorites on the right of your screen and consider buying one of those awesome flower scarves. Aren't they lovely? If I weren't worn down with mono, I would make a collage or try to get a treasury (don't know how to do that either!) or something.

xo melissa

A Fabulous Shop Update, If I May Say So!

Oh, there are goodies in the shop and a fresh new batch that I am super excited about!





-New Eye Candy Binder/Organizers in ROCKIN Sassafras Lass papers
-Mail-a-Books in crazy beautiful Que Sera Sera patterned papers
-A new item I have introduced called "Pound O Paper"

In the next shop update, there will be awesome new laminated luggage tags from our favorite papers, awesome 3d bird stickers, glittered Christmas cards, and butterfly collages. WHOA.

Plus, a new set of freakin' awesome vintage game board journals. So STAY TUNED!!!

Mail-a-Book

These little journals fit right into a standard sized envelope. Suspecting that extra postage will be needed if you plan to mail them.

It's Mail-A-Book! The whole set of about 12 of them is made from the K&Co Que Sera Sera paper collection. Love that line.

They will be in the next shop update, tomorrow afternoon!


These Paperchase image mirrors and new owl postcards were in today's update:

Add this Blog to Your Feed!!

The very lovely and generous Susan, author of the blog The Shoppe of my Dreams, has been very kind to Crab Apple Designs!


First, she featured items that she purchased from my shop AND is offering a giveaway to her readers. Etsy sellers are SO lucky to have folks like Susan who work so hard to promote handmade goodies and crafters. Thank you Susan!

So go to her blog and show her some love!

My Favorite Etsy Artists #5 of 10: Ziemabir

Ziemabir is a sweet little mother-daughter shop! I have tried my hand at crocheting flowers. I'm not giving up, but it is a slow learning process for me. How wonderful to get a handful of these lovlies to put on a cardigan sweater or to accessorize - oh I don't know - your ENTIRE life with?!?

Favorite Etsy Artists #4 of 10: TidelineDesigns

Oh how I love this shop. Anyone who knows me knows that my number one hobby is probably beachcombing, especially for sea glass.

TidelineDesigns has the yummiest photos of their found seaglass, which comes in the lovely jellybean shapes that the Gulf of Mexico simply cannot replicate.

I love how they display their products:

Their photos are art in themselves! They also sell pre-drilled sea glass for jewelry making. I can tell you from personal experience that drilling sea glass is quite difficult to do without ruining the piece. *Sigh!* I would like to spend a few months roaming the UK's North Yorkshire Coast. So lovely!!