Bartering on ArtFire!

The next Trading Post event will be on March 22, 2013. Watch this space for more information!

Bartering

Last weekend ArtFire's Trading Post Guild held a trade event. I love to barter! I'm extremely grateful to the artisans who parted with their hard work in trade for my jewelry. here is a list of those persons who traded with me. Stay tuned to find out what I scored :) http://www.artfire.com/users/hillsidebakery
http://www.artfire.com/users/CrochetByMelissaJ
http://www.artfire.com/users/sewgood
http://www.artfire.com/users/DefiantCreations
http://www.artfire.com/users/KathyJoKreations
http://www.artfire.com/users/RosesHeirlooms
http://www.artfire.com/users/luvncrafts
http://www.artfire.com/users/kgkrafts
Watch the ArtFire forums for the announcement of the next trading event. You needn't be a guild member to trade, whether during the event or not, but it's the easiest way to keep track of events as each member is emailed prior to the event. Here are some of the items I bartered away:

Farewell, Grandbabyland!

Well, my visit to grandbabyland was a real adventure! My daughter, who has a huge house, was hard pressed to house us all now that two of the adult children have moved back home. It broke my heart, of course, that I got to sleep in the baby's bedroom! I also spent several nights at my baby's house: I got to drive her kidlets to school on several days and spent much more time than I normally get with her. Loved being with her. My son and his family came in for a weekend, and I got a picture with all four of my natural grandchildren in one spot. Couldn't catch the inherited grandchildren because they moved pretty fast! We had Christmas in January and I got "grandma" picture frames from the kids. I also exercised my sore knee almost as much as my therapist would like while I chased after the 3yo. I taught him to stomp his feet and chase me -- the adult grandchildren were not amused as they work retail and sometimes get off work late. Hehe! All of my younger grandbabies read stories to me! And although I gave my 2nd grader a Nancy Drew book thinking she could put it away for later, she had read 2 chapters before I left! Mommy got the kidlets reading aloud to me on video and is sending it to me on disc because it's too large for email. Littlest Man's Mommy got him counting to 13 (the number of stairs up to his bedroom) and singing his ABCs. I'm hoping she will get him "reading" The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. It's a story where, on a dark windy night, a lady encounters shoes that go clomp clomp, pants that go wiggle wiggle, a shirt that goes shake shake, a pair of gloves that go clap clap, a hat that goes nod, nod, and a pumpkin head that goes boo! boo! During each encounter she says, I'm not afraid of you! Get out of my way! The 3yo does the clomp, clomp, wiggle, wiggle, shake, shake, clap, clap, nod, nod, boo! boo! and says "Get out of here shoes!" each time. So cute! I would proudly give you a picture of the seven grandbabies, but I am not allowed to post them on the internet. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/363973.The_Little_Old_Lady_Who_Was_Not_Afraid_of_Anything

GrandbabyLand!

I'll be visiting the wonderful world of GrandbabyLand for the rest of the month of January. Feel free to purchase Alisuns items, especially for Valentine's Day, but note that shipping will take place on February first. I love this one:

Need some new perfume? Always wanted to be an author? Check out this fellow blogger's Valentine's Day contest. http://handmadecraftitems.blogspot.com/2013/01/january-contest.html

Are you ready for Valentine's Day? This is just one of the items that turn up in a "search this shop" for Valentine at www.alisuns.artfire.com.:

I'm excited! I have 900 "Likes" on my facebook page, so I'm giving away a $50 gift certificate to any one of my online studios to celebrate! Go to my facebook page for details: Like, post, come back on Friday, December 21, after noon PST to find out who the lucky winner is! Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/AlisunsCustomCraftedJewelry