25% off Sale

I am having a close out sale on my scarves, hats and shawls. After taking inventory yesterday I realized that I have several scarves that are not listed. Since I am no longer going to be carrying hand crocheted or knitted items, it is time to clear them out of my shop. Here are several that I  no longer have listed with Etsy that I am ready to sell. Just e-mail me or contact me via facebook and I will be glad to sell these to you.

Each scarf $5 each plus three dollars shipping! Paid via paypal. Just e-mail to make sure that they  are still available. Personal friends in town, just let me know  and we will meet somewhere!

Thanks so much,

Karen

Need a Thank You card!

I have several not listed in my Etsy store yet!
Take a look at my facebook page to see them all!
 
Here is one of my favorites!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54543762/sing-to-the-lord-with-thankful-hearts

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54512770/thank-you-card

 I have turned cardmaker for a few days! I saw this beautiful paper and couldn’t resist!

The first 5 buyers get their card at 1/2 off!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54544167/thank-you-card

 Thanks so much for stopping by,

Karen

I always seem to need Thank you cards! What about you what kind of cards do you need?

New items in Chocolatedogstudio!

New Items in Chocolatedogstudio at Etsy!
 
 
 

This is one of my newest purses! Up cycled and reworked into this cute purse!

I have already listed these great pincushions. I have more that I am going to list soon!

Here are some of my new items!

This is a great tote bag/purse created out of a synthetic suede. It is so soft!

What is a BnR treasury?

What is a BnR treasury?

First it is a treasury where you can buy and then the item you bought will be replaced by an item from your store. Pretty quick and easy promoting.  You can get a lot of views for your shop and it helps to get your shop name out of there. Here are some tips!

There is usually a curator. You want to buy into a BnR where the curator is active and participating  in the BnR. Sometimes things at home happen and the curator will be out of the BnR for awhile. That is ok, but if you have limited funds to spend to buy in then you need to be sure that the one you are buying into is one that will be curated well.

There are rules to the BnR and you need to be sure to follow them. They are usually listed at the beginning of the BnR

Here are some examples of a set of rules from the BnR.

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1-Comment and Click each picture and PROMOTE your shop, too through out the duration of this bnr(especially if you are featured).
2-If you buy,(don’t have to be a cast member to purchase) give who you bought from and what it was(link).
3-Only $1.00 min. buy in(can be a pif if it is $1.00).
4-I’m going to try and keep this open until 7:00pmEST.

**********************************************************************

Here is another example:

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506 SALES FROM LAST 30 BNRS

$2.50 MINIMUM BEFORE SHIPPING

1 ) Buy any item from featured shop( No PIF )
2) Announce who are you buying from.
3) Come back and post transaction link.
4) I will pick an item from your shop and replace with the featured shop.

THIS TREASURY WILL CLOSE ON FRIDAY 10 A.M AUGUST 13

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See they tell you exactly what to do. Sometimes you ask permission from the curator and sometimes not. Sometimes the Buy in is more $ and sometimes not.

If you are trying to get your feedback rating up  then it helps to have some lower priced items in your shop. Be sure and follow through with any buyers. Send them a convo to let them know when you will ship their item and how much you appreciate their business.  You need to stay involved in the BnR and help promote it. This is not a post and run  activity. You need to stick around and comment on other shop’s items. The pages will change as the BnR progresses, post your BnR specials on each page and it will help keep the BnR current.

I think that this is about it!

Do you have anything to add about BnR’s treasuries? I would love to hear what you have to say.

talk to you later,

Karen

The dog of Chocolatedogstudio!

Today, you get to hear one of the stories that surrounds the dog of Chocolatedogstudio. He is a large 90 + lb dog. Chocolate brown with  brown eyes.  We got him from Labrescue Tulsa when he was about 18 months old he is about 8 years old now.  Well, this story has to do with some peppermint goat soap that I bought from Smileymoo at Etsy.  Mine was snowflake patterned as I was buying ahead for Christmas!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/33394599/peppermint-goatmilk-soap

Here is an excerpt of the e-mail I sent her about the mishap!

When I recieved it and opened it my Mom was here and I just opened it quickly and put it in my empty etsy storage box. There were some books and paper items in there. Well, quite frankly, I forgot about it. My chocolate lab, Bear sleeps in this room and is not crated, so he has free run of the room during the night. When I woke up the next morning I found the opened and partially chewed soaps on the desk in the kitchen where our oldest had put them, before going off to the early shift at work. Later, I found out that the soaps were found about eight feet away from Bear. He was looking reproachfully at Mark as though he was wondering why the cookies had such an odd taste to them. So I hate to tell you that the peppermint soaps are not Lab approved. Though he thought he would approve of them when he started them. They were just nibbled around the edges. HE did have minty fresh breath and they did him no harm, though he was probably squeaky clean inside and out!

This is just one of the funny stories about this Labrador.

Check out my new Etsy treasury in his honor!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c5efd5ed2856d918b9d20aa/lab-approved?index=0

Recipe: Stuffed Italian eggplant.

Stuffed Italian Eggplant.

Ok this is a Karen recipe which means all ingredients are added to your tastes and until it looks right for you.

I have adapted this recipe many times. Here is the basic recipe.

Ingredients

eggplant 2 largish

Italian sausage about 1/2 a pound – 2 pounds depends on whether you are stuffing or casseroling!

Cubed dried bread slices about 4 (french bread works great)

tomatoes 2 med. chopped

Mozarella cheese cubes; about 1 cup

mozarella cheese grated; enough to sprinkle on the top of the eggplants.

brown the sausage and break it up into chunks, and chop everything else and grate and cube the cheese.

Slice the eggplant lengthwise and scoop out the eggplant meat.  Leave the skin intact if possible. Slice the eggplant and sprinkle with salt. Leave the eggplant to weep for 1 hr or so. Dry the eggplant off and mix into a mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients, minus the grated cheese. Spoon the mixture back into the eggplant shells (placed on a rimmed cookie sheet or casserole pan.) Top with the grated cheese and bake at 350 degrees until the eggplants are cooked to your satisfaction. (Lightly browned cheese and bubbly mixture about 20 -30 minutes).  You may serve this with spaghetti sauce to top your eggplant casserole.

This smells wonderful cooking! If you cook for a crowd like we do then up the ingredients and place it all in a casserole forgoing the stuffing part.