pins & ponies

We just couldn't resist. We've begun to explode our hair accessory business, adding a small assortment of pony tail holders & bobby pins to the shop this week. (Hopefully this adequately explains the lack of blog posts!) We're working on some fabulous barrettes & rings as well with similar styling. Can't wait to share those with you soon! We'd love to know what you think...

it's official!

Did I forget to tell you that our new website is up?
Yes, I think I did... but it is.
We've still got some more to add but come visit.
We'd love to know what you think!
zuzugirlhandmade.com

coffee or tea?

Happy Friday! It's been a long, rainy week and schools are closed today so we're all hunkered down in our pj's enjoying a leisurely morning. And, for some odd reason, I have coffee on the mind. Surprise! Thanks to the following Etsy artisans for their lovely products and inspiration...
1.columbian supremo 2.knitted coffee cozy 3.mustache set 4.i love you more 5.travel mug 6.no coffee no workee 7.coffee for two 8.mighty mug cozy

got wands?

We do! We're stocking up the shop with our meticulously hand-crafted princess wands. At zuzu girl handmade we use only the best ribbon, tulle & decorative flowers to construct our little lovelies. Our flower wands are perfect for Halloween costumes, Christmas stockings or just plain goofing off. A girl can never have too many. And if you don't believe me, just ask Zuzu.

missy loo-hoo

Meet Lucy. (If you haven't already) Lucy got a new sweater today. Isn't it just divine? Lucy loves it. Well, as far as sweaters go on dogs I'd say she's pretty smitten. My Etsy friend Anne over at Beantown Handmade custom made the sweater just for us. She has a variety of styles available and colors too. It's like making your own sweater...without actually doing any of the work. Can't beat that. So, while I'm not quite ready for Fall, or the 4 month rainy season that is San Francisco, Lucy sure is!

wordless (but very pretty) wednesday

locket with turquoise blue chrysanthemum by feathers and hope



bird in the violet garden & teal bird tassel by miss c alexandria



vintage japanese flower cluster (12) & assorted acrylic rose beads (20) by sweet goods


vintage tin & mugs by found vintage style

vanity

It's all about vanity. See, that's what they called the new personalized URL's that Facebook introduced this summer. Vanity URL's. What that meant was that you could have your very own name in the URL. But there was a catch. A vanity URL for a business page required 100+ fans.

So everyone scrambled to get 100 fans. Well, not me really. I just waited patiently. And when the page hit 100 fans yesterday I applied for my vanity URL. www.facebook.com/zuzugirl. Pretty right? Yeah, not so much. I got the URL I wanted and then I couldn't get into the damn page. Seriously. Turns out it works for some of my fans but not for others. And for the most part, not for me. Now tell me, what good is a vanity URL if it tells you your "page is not found" every time you try to open it? Not so good it turns out.

So I complained...and I cried...and I tried everything to fix it. And then I gave in. And I moved.

You can now find zuzu girl handmade on facebook HERE. And the URL is really, really ugly. And I. Don't. Care.

Come join us. It's beautiful there. Or it will be...I promise.

(oh, and PS, on Twitter you come by your vanity URL naturally but I'm not taking sides or anything)

back in black

Do not adjust your monitor. This is the zuzu girl handmade blog and, while I still adore creating in turquoise and pink, truth be told, I don't often wear it.

I woke up yesterday and realized it was October 1st. Seriously, how did this happen? I honestly have not yet embraced the year 2009 and can't begin to get my arms around the fact that 2010 is just around the corner. Not to mention the fact that it is, yes, it already is, Fall. Wow.

So what's a girl to do when she's in need of consoling? Yup. You got it. She shops. Well, "window" shops at least. On Etsy, of course.

Thanks go to the following shops for their inspiring products & images...
1. bionic unicorn 2. morelle 3. dandy apple 4. larimeloom 5. chocolate cake jewels 6. delirium kredens 7. lulu coco 8. the vintage closet 9. made by hank

dainty blooms

My fabric arrived yesterday...woo-hoo! I've been really excited about making these fab little headbands and I'm thrilled with the way they turned out. There is one pink one in the shop and another in Zuzu's room. She gave it two thumbs up and even agreed to be photographed with no bribe...now that's got to mean something! I'm going to take the camera to tutu school tomorrow and try to get some action shots. The light in there is fabulous.

I've got a couple with brown ribbon in the works for those that prefer something a little more Fall (I'm clearly still in denial) and if I got my fingers off these keys they might actually make it to the shop tonight. I'm also toying with the idea of making some smaller scale flowers into halos and maybe even some simple hair clippies. So much to do...so little time!

rainbow bright

When Joy Thigpen asked her two year old daughter what color she wanted her room she listed every color under the sun. And so she got them. All. How precious is this little rainbow room? I love everything about it but I especially adore the colorful costumes hanging within little arm's reach.

Zuzu has a little dress up area with all of her headbands, wands, jewels and dress-up shoes arranged neatly in bins on the floor. Above, a small round mirror frames her face & torso. Above that, but out of reach, are four anthropologie hooks that spell her name & hold her halos & wings. Nearby, in the closet, all of her costumes lay stuffed in a large mesh basket.

I like this room better. Which only means one thing. My to-do list just got longer.

You can see more of Joy's house here.

I was featured!

Click on over to Paper*Cakes Finds Flickr Sunday which is usually Flickr Friday but... well, you'll see...

friday favorites

All of these little lovelies are via Flickr. Their artists and links are justly included in my Flickr favorites as well as here... 1.whispers 2.she didn't want to be a cliche 3.Floral Kusudama 4.bird tags 5.buttons 6.pink & pretty 7.oh deer 8.hermes 9.beads

stocking stuffers!

I just finished a post on my *mommy blog* called "Happy Halloween" and now this. The folks reading my automated blog tweets on my twitter page are going to think I'm nuts!

As you might know, I'm one of many contributors to the brand new, but already fabulous, online magazine, Modern Handmade Child. We're in the process of submitting articles for the Winter Edition and I'm running terribly behind in the process. (What else is new?)

I've decided to write an article about Stocking Stuffers because I just know there are so many fabulous handmade options out there, especially from my fellow EtsyKids team members. However, I am still looking for any submissions that you would like to offer. What is your favorite handmade stocking stuffer? It can be something you make, something you sell, or something you plan to buy. Fill me in. What's hot in handmade? Your shop will be mentioned and linked to if we feature your product.

Now bring it on!

It's beautiful here...

You can see my new Etsy Treasury here until precisely 3:07am on September 23rd. Please take a peek at the real thing. Click and comment and maybe we can get these little lovelies to the front page. (It's good to dream, right?)

Just in case you don't make it there in time the pretty little shops featured here include: 1.tracy b designs 2.sumiko shop 3.hey yo yo 4.farouche 5.cocoa chu chu 6.tiny bazaar 7.space dog studios 8.pretty lil things 9.frippelous 10.happy possum 11.maru maru 12.stephanie fizer

friday favorites

1. little dear 2. flowering bracelet 3. decor 8 blog post 4. vintage perfume bottles 5. vintage collage tag 6. birdie tea set 7. romantic stickers 8. keeping secrets necklace 9. pom pom fringe

Isn't Friday lovely? Especially with a sweet little round-up like this. All photos are courtesy of flickr and the talented folks in the links above.

For all of my flickr favorites click here. And for the zuzu girl photostream click here.

for the birds

This lovely art work is all courtesy of hadley hutton and her darling little shop on Etsy. I adore the colors and the tranquility that her images evoke. They are so simple, yet so divinely inspirational at the same time. These are exactly the kinds of images that I would love to wake up to every morning (to meditate on for all of 15 seconds before the madness begins!)

In her own words and taken from her Etsy profile...

Hadley’s work is a blend of traditional painting and modern design. She draws inspiration from Asian patterns and motifs, Victorian die cuts, and geometric designs. Her work explores nature’s beauty, people’s influence on their surroundings, and the environment's influence on people. The works are layered with colored pencil and watercolor pencil drawings, ink, archival digital media, pastels and encaustics.

child's play

Last night I told you a little bit about the new Market I joined on 1000 Markets. It's called Child's Play. I figured you might not have gotten a chance to check them out for yourself yet...so I picked a few of my favorites to share with you. Cause I'm thoughtful like that.

1. charm school play set 2. cashmere heart 3. don't be owly blocks 4. beauty and the coat 5. tea party cake 6. twirly skirt 7. bucolic cows 8. flappy happy hat

groupie

It's been an odd few weeks in the life of Kristi (that's me). The kids started back to school although one was delayed a week with pink eye. Because timing is everything. Then I was *accidentally* headbutted by my gentle daughter, Zuzu, and ended up in a world of hurt. Once we realized I wasn't getting better fast my mother was on the first plane cross country to nurse me back to health. Ain't moms grand? She got me back on my feet just in time to celebrate yet another birthday. Granted, it was fabulous, I just really don't like getting older!

Needless to say I haven't done much of anything the past few weeks (including blogging) but there are a few itty bitty things going on that you just might want to know about. So please, read on, and feel free to click around...


I joined 1000 Markets. Same pretty little zuzu girl handmade products, new venue.
I also joined a lovely market there called Child's Play. Touted as having *incredible finds for little ones* I think you'll be very impressed by the quality of work you find from this group.


I've been featured! Our little shop was chosen as the September feature on the EtsyMom blog. We are honored & excited & thankful and even a tad overwhelmed by the opportunity. Click on over to see our feature and checkout some of the other EtsyMoms while you are there...cause this group makes cool stuff!

om

Forgive me readers, but I have been busy. It's been a week since my last yoga class. My back is a little rickety & my mind a little full so I used some peaceful down time tonight to search Etsy for things to make me feel grounded.

According to my best on-line friend, Wikipedia, "Om, often Aum, is a sacred syllable of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Om is reputed to be the resonant vibrational tone of the non-dualistic universe as a whole. In Buddhism, Om corresponds to the crown chakra and white light."

Now, I'm not a religious person (slight understatement), but chanting "om" for me is just plain healing. You don't even have to chant it really. Just say it slowly out loud. Peaceful, right? Now if you're feeling ambitious try chanting it a few times. For the full effect, make your voice vibrate the room (but don't wake the kids!).

Feeling invigorated & a little more powerful? Cool...keep it up! Then enjoy these links....
Namaste.

1. soldered pendant
2. filigree medallian
3. namaste necklace
4. ceramic mug
5. meditation bowl
6. beach stone
7. breathe bracelet
8. good vibrations ring
9. blue topaz necklace

mad never looked so cute

Meet Vivian. Five year old beach bum, headband addict & huge fan of zuzu girl handmade. I just fell in love with this picture and had to share it with you. Cheer up, Viv. We'll get you some more headbands soon!