I just purchased a new soap cutter and got it in the mail a couple of days ago. This is from Anhoki on Etsy. This will cut 12 bars - or 9, or 8, or 6, or 4, or 3 depending upon where you put the combo cutter/divider. With the larger surface area, I should be able to swirl and combine colors a bit better. I can still use my other mold for bars of one color or for bars that the colors don't actually have to blend. I'll be experimenting with my new mold in the next few days. :)

Since I like spotlighting my fellow crafters so much, I thought I'd try and do it on a regular basis. Kind of like a show-and-tell for either cool things I've come across and really neat things that I might have purchased in the crafting world. I'm always in awe of the craftmanship and creativity from my fellow Etsians and other crafters so here, I'm going to show them off just a little.

Today's spotlight is going to Small Town Toys for their really nifty Stackers. I purchased the Tree Stacker this past Christmas for my two year old niece for a gift. This tree was beautiful in the photo and even better in person. The colors and workmanship were stunning.


Above, my youngest daughter is giving the toy a good test drive before we wrapped it up for her cousin. She gave the tree was an A+.

This is a nice, solid stacking toy that is bound to get lots of use and wear well. Each piece has been hand painted with non-toxic stand and is cut and stained to order. The stain job was so fresh, we could smell a hint of it when we first opened the parcel! (This wasn't a bad thing.)

When I first ordered this tree stacker, Small Town Toys had both the tree and a Flower stacker. Now they also have an adorable Sailing on the Waves stacker. I'm going to have to think of another child to give this one to!

My niece was just a little young for it, perhaps, since she had just turned two at Christmas time. However, my daughter (who just turned four) showed her how to put it together over and over again. So if it's given to a child that maybe a little young, don't worry - they'll grow into it.

Today, I got something in the mail that I ordered over the last week. Wonderful metal stamps from Melita at an Etsy shop called, Print Letterpress. I ordered a small one with the intention of stamping my thank you notes, but she assured me that the depth of the stamp would mean that I'd also be able to use it for stamping my soaps. She quickly came up with a design for me based on my specifications, and worked with me to get it right. The entire process took less than a day with back and forth communication to get the design right. Plus, I thought I'd use the one stamp for both letters and soap, but she actually included a larger stamp that I could use as my soap stamp! I can't wait to try these out.



Thanks, Melita!

I wanted to share a couple of the wonderful handmade gifts that I purchased from fellow Etsians as gifts for my little girls for Valentine's Day.


The photo above on the left is of both an Elephant and Chilly Owl I Spy Bag from Baby Love Blankies. These toys were even better in person. The fabrics that Jaime used are so cute and soft, and yet durable too. I was a bit sceptical regarding the durability of the clear panel that you see the little trinkets through but both my girls, my husband, and myself were playing with the I Spy Bags thoroughly and Jaime made a believer out of me. Both of these I Spy Bags were custom orders as they have the letters of my girls' names in them and also Jaime made sure to make each bag contain the same trinkets (even based on my trinket preferences) so my girls wouldn't fight over them and so that they could play find the whale (or whichever trinket they were searching for). These bags are beautifully sewn and are sure to be favorite toys of ours for a very long time.

The photo above on the right is of the Big Sis & Lil Sis Lavender Bittie Co-ordinating Elephunkets Necklaces from EternalAutumn. These little lavender elephants are just adorable. The big sister necklace has the larger elephant and a purple tag that says, "Big Sis", and also a pretty purple bell flower bead. The little sister necklace has the smaller elephant and a purple tag that says, "Lil Sis", and also a pretty pearly star bead. The elephants have that fuzzy feel to them and they look so cheerful. My girls were so thrilled when they opened up their little presents and they wanted to wear their necklaces right away. This wasn't really a custom order, but Lara has done some custom orders for me before on both her beautiful jewelry and her magnificent aromatherapy pillows and she's wonderful to work with.