Want to Be Reviewed?

Do you have a company with a product you want me to review? I am doing product reviews on this blog. Some examples of products I will review include:

• Handmade products from Etsy
• Vegan companies and products
• Art and art journaling supplies
• Business tools
• Digital products

I also do interviews and accept guest posts. Contact me for more details.

Vellabox Candle Review + Giveaway

Vellabox is an artisan candle subscription box. They sent me a subscription box to review. We are also hosting a giveaway (scroll to the bottom to see how you can win a free monthly box).

I love the cute little yellow box Vellabox came in. Candles are delivered monthly from the finest American candle makers.

The theme for this box was Fourth of July for the July theme. I love the patriotic theme and you can still use all the items even though it was a little after Fourth of July when I received the box. The candle was wrapped in this cute blue star bag.

The candle that came in this box was from the company Pontie Wax from Brooklyn, NY. You can see their instagram @pontiewax

The fragrance for the candle was fig mixed with oil from olive. It isn’t made with vegetable soy wax and natural oils that are highly fragrant. I loved the natural scent of this candle. They also had information about a bergamot and amber scented candle that was listed on their notecard and I think came in other boxes (you get a random candle). I think it is great you get a full size candle and they make sure the company makes quality candles that are hand poured in small batches. I only wish the box was filled with more candles!

I love lighting candles to relax and set the the mood so I thought this subscription box was a great idea. I used to collect candles, but haven’t bought candles lately so this box made me want to start collecting candles again and get different scents.

They also included a SPF15 Original Lip Balm from All Good from Morro Bay, CA. The lip balm is all natural and cruelty free inspired by wilderness. It is reef friendly and gluten free. The lip balm made my lips really soft and it is great to carry around or stick in your purse. Follow their social media @allgoodbrand.

Vellabox and My Thread of Thought are doing a giveaway of a 3 month Lucerna subscription! The Lucerna subscription contains a 4oz hand-poured artisan candle monthly plus one surprise gift.

All you have to do is subscribe to My Thread of Thought on Feedly  (you can also search for “mythreadofthought.com” directly on Feedly), share this post and leave a comment with your email address.

The giveaway ends August 1. The winner will be chosen randomly from all the entries. I will leave a post and email the luck winner. Good luck!

Vinyl Mnky

Vinyl Mnky is a music subscription service. They sent me a record to try out.

Each month, members get:

• One breakthrough record of the month
• Custom add on specific to the artist and album
• Original write up of the breakthrough album
• Members only discount to the Marketplace

The vinyl record I got was the debut LP from Aquillo, “Silhouttes”. Aquillo has an electronic soft rock sound. The note they wrote was reecommened I check out the song she “Sorry” and “You Won’t Know Where You Stand”.

I also got got an autographed lithograph which I though was nice since I collectvaufographed albuns.

Monthly Membership arts att $30 and shipping is free. If you want to learn more about Vinyl Mnky, you can visit their website.

Graze Review

Graze is a company that sends you a box of healthy snacks either every month or every week. You get a box with four snacks. You can choose on the website what types of snacks you like  and if you have any dietary requirements. I get all vegan snacks since I’m a vegan. It costs $6/box, but you can get the first box free. My favorite flavor sofas was Pina Colada. 

You can also upcycle the box to use it again. I think I might try decorating one of mine. It would be good for holding small items in each of the slots.

The Revolution Will Not Be Digital

Flying Vinyl is a music subscription service. Flying Vinyl sent me their December/February box to review.

I want to build my record collection so I thought this would be a a good subscription to try out. I love the cute packaging the records came in and the sayings they have. 

It comes with five vinyl records that are exclusively pressed in to 7″ vinyl. You don’t get to choose the records yourself or have them selected to you like with some other subscription services like Vnyl. I had not heard of any of the artists I got, but I like that they were new artists and bands to discover. You also get an artist info booklet and extra merchandise.

The box costs $30 a month with free delivery. I would recommend checking out Flying Vinyl if you are a music fam. 

What’s On My Vegan Bookshelf

Thinking of going vegan? These are some of my favorite vegan books with recipes or tips on going vegan.

• Student’s Go Vegan Cookbook by Carole Raymond: This was one of the first cookbooks I picked up when I became vegetarian. I like these recipes because they are easy to make and don’t need a lot of complicated ingredients. It is a great book to start with if you are a new vegetarian or vegan or if you are a student going to college.
• Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser: I read Fast Food Nation when I was younger when I first became vegetarian. I liked the information in this book and learning about the fast food industry. There is also a film version of this book.
• The Kind Life by Alicia Silverstone: This book has tips for following a vegan diet. It was written by the actress, Alicia Silverstone. I like this book because it talks about the health benefits of a macrobiotic diet.
• Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau: This author has a lot of good cookbooks. I found the author from listening to her Food for Thought program. This cookbook takes a different approach and breaks up recipes by color. It also talks about the nutritional value of different colors. I especially loved the avocado pudding.
• The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions by Jonie Marie Newman: This book has a lot of helpful information about vegan substitutes with lots of recipes to try. I haven’t tried a lot of recipes in this cookbook myself, but I like to keep tr book for reference.
• Food Rules by Michael Pollan: Not necessarily about being vegan, but this book has a lot of good tips about food and cooking in general. For examples, some tips are to eat slowly, eat mostly plants and don’t eat products with more than five ingredients when you can. I like the tips in this book because they are simple rules for eating well. The tips are organized as a manual so it is a good book to just keep in your kitchen or read a page a day. I actually met Michael Pollan because I heard him speak and got this book signed when I met him.
• Vegan Stories: I picked up this book on a swap website. It has stories from vegans all around the world. It also has poems related to veganism. I haven’t read a lot of it to be honest, but I liked the concept of this book so I wanted to include it on the list too.
• Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin: This is a fun book about going vegan and starting a healthy lifestyle. It uses lots of swearing in its writing style. It talks about the food industry and the health benefits of going vegan. It also has a recipe plan for new vegans.
• Cooking with Compassion: This cookbook is from Etsy and had vegan recipes from the members of Vegan Etsy, Cruelty Free Etsy and EtsyVeg teams. I actually have a recipe in this book from being part of the EtsyVeg team. It is a small, paper book that has recipes from other Etsy members. I do not know if this book is still for sale, but you can look on Etsy or similar places for vegan cookbooks or recipes.
• Vegan Made Easy by Anna Leehey: I have my own vegan cookbook all about going vegan. It is a simple guide for new vegans. Check it out if you want to support me and are interested in veganism.

What are your favorite vegan books?

Once Upon a Color Story…

Want to get beautiful effects on your photos?

I have been recently using the app A Color Story a lot. A Color Story was created by A Beautiful Mess and focuses on bright colors.

These are some pros:

• Easy to use
• Works well with iPhone photos
• Free to download with options for free and paid filters
• Easy to layer different filters
• Bright color styles make your photos stand out
• Good for blog photos
• Option to save editing steps

I liked a lot of things about this app. The main thing I love is the bright, colorful and modern style of the filters that is different from filters on Instagram and other apps which usually aim to give your photos a more vintage look. The filters are similar to the A Beautiful Mess actions and I love that you can save the steps you took for each filter so you can edit multiple photos with the same filter pattern easily.

These are some of the cons of this app:

• The effects don’t work as well with non iPhone photos
• Could offer more free filters
• Bright color style might not suit everyone

I think the editing and filters fit well on blogs and the web. They might not work as well for other photos. I tried on a couple photos I didn’t take on my phone and I didn’t like the effects of the bright filters as much. Sometimes, it was too much of an overkill. I liked the effects on phone photos and old photos though.

Here are some examples of photos I edited and how they turned out.

I started with a simple photo of a plant.  The first thing I do when working with a photo is to crop it and adjust brightness and contrast.

This is the photo after I played with the color a little. It has a sort of soft look now.

I thought the filters looked a little dark  so I also tried this style where I made it more green. I can’t remember what filters I used, but I like how it turned out. Here is another example: 

I liked this rose photo I took in my

neighborhood. I cropped it and then brightened it and played with colors.

Next time, I would recommend adjusting the filters and colors little by little (instead of turning a filter all the way up, just do it a quarter or a half way). You should also layer filters to get different effects.

Let me know which photo you like the best. Have you ever used A Color Story?

A Beautiful Mess Happy Mail

A Beautiful Mess sent me a couple past kits of their Happy Mail subscription service. Happy Mail ships monthly with fun stationery goodies. The My comes in a cute envelope package.

The kits are mostly filled with paper items. Some items the kits contains include: 

• Cards
• Envelopes
• Postcards
• Art Prints
• Sticker Sheets

I loved opening these kits. I will definitely save the cards for the future. The stickers are great to use for planning. I am going to stick the shopping list in my purse. I love that these items are both cute and functional. Have you tried or any subscription box? 

A Beautiful Mess App Review

I love checking out all the things A Beautiful Mess does. I have the A Beautiful Mess photo editing app on my phone and thought I would do a review on it. I edited these four photos (pictured above) on it by adding text and doodles and then collaged them together in a grid using the app.

Pros:

• Fun scrapbook style that is good for blogs or digital scrapbooking
• Good for adding text and doodles to photos
• Paid and free options for doodles and text
• Collage feature

The highlights of this app are the fun text and doodle elements you can use. It is fun to play around with. I am not sure if I would use this for professional photos, but the editing options are nice for social media and blogs. There is a paid version of doodles with craft items I would like to try out.

There is also a collage feature that has square collage options and fun shapes like triangles and hearts. I played with the collage feature for fun with some patterns I found on Pinterest:

Cons:

• Can’t change the text or doodle size
• No undo options
• No custom color option
• Lack of editing features

The things I didn’t like about this app are it doesn’t have some of the features a lot of photo editors have. You can’t adjust brightness or play with levels. It was also hard to customize options. For example, you can’t change the text or doodle size and there were also no custom colors when choosing a text color (for example, you can’t enter a HEX code). They do have filters though which are the same as their other app Party Party. I could not find an undo button when editing photos which was kind of annoying because I would have to start over when I messed up.

Overall, this app is for fun and quick editing. It is something you would add doodles to after editing or a way to make a collage out of multiple photos. In combination with other apps, this app add a bit of jazz to your photos.

Have you ever used this app? Let me know in the comments. 

Interview: Vegan Cheese from Three Girls Vegan Creamery

Three Girls Vegan Creamery is an organic, plant based and dairy free creamery. They make artisan cheeses from nuts and aged to perfection.

Describe what you sell in your shop.

We do not have a storefront YET! We are planning a crowdfunding effort on Indegogo in April to help us setup our very own facility. Right now we are working out of a family restaurant’s commercial kitchen in Madison, CT. It is an Italian restaurant and they began offering vegan options with our Mozzarella “di Bufala”.

You have three people who run your shop. How did you decide to work together?

The Three Girls Vegan are a mom and two daughters. We have been a team forever.

Why did you choose Etsy as a platform?

Curiosity. We have always heard great things about Etsy. To test the waters we just posted a few of our items. So far it has been fun and we have met some wonderful people!

Why did you become vegan?
We are 100% Italian and were raised on a traditional Italian diet. Once we went vegan, it was the cheese that was the hardest to give up. We began creating the recipe for the Mozzarella. We ferment and culture to make authentic cheese, but instead of using any animal products, we use the cashew as our cow. The process of creating the Mozzarella recipe took over 9 months and more attempts than we care to remember. It was so important to make a mozzarella that was perfect in a caprese salad but also melts, stretches and is ooey gooey when in a lasagna or on a pizza.

What is your favorite thing to cook?
We have veganized all of our traditional Italian dishes. We make Mozzarella en Carrozza sandwiches, eggplant rolotini with almond ricotta and grated parmesan and romano topped with mozzarella. We make fried calamari from oyster mushrooms, crabcakes from artichoke hearts, homemade gnocchi with creamy alfredo. All dairy free, animal free! This is our culinary activism. We have converted 6 family member to veganism because the food is so good!

What other vegan products or companies do you like?

We love to support as many vegan products as possible.

Do you sell wholesale or consignment in other shops or restaurants?
Yes, we sell wholesale to several Connecticut, NY and MA stores. You can see a listing on our website (http://ift.tt/2lfYYlj) store locator.

Do you do craft/food shows?
We do a local Farmers Market monthly. We are super duper excited to be a sponsor at the upcoming New England VegFest in Worcester, MA on April 30th. We will be serving our famous Mozzarella en Carrozza Sandwiches!

Do you have a blog or use social media?
Yes, we are on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and of course our website. @threegirlsvegan

What do you hope for in the future for your shop?
We are praying to raise the funds necessary to open a small shop. We will always remain small batch artisan and need our own place to grow!

Three Girls Vegan Creamery also sent me some products to try – Assorted Aged Cheese Wheels and Mozzarella “di Bufala” Pearls and Assorted Aged Cheese Wheels. I love that these products imitate traditional cheese that can be used in Italian and other dishes. I have never tried a vegan mozzarella that was not shredded or a cheese wheel that was vegan.

The Assorted Aged Cheese Wheels were cashew based. The flavors were Pistachio/Cranberry/Fresh Thyme/Pumpkin Seed, Vegan Maple Bacon/Pecan/Herb and Old Fashioned Fireball. The texture was great. I liked the Old Fashioned Fireball the best. 

The Mozzarella “di Bufala” Pearls was cashew based, fermented and cultured. It had a great texture that is the same as regular mozzarella. I really liked the mozzarella cheese and think it is something I would buy in the future. I did not think try cooking it so I do not know how well it melts, but I enjoy it would taste great in any recipe or that calls for fresh mozzarella.

I did not cook anything with these ingredients this time, but I think I will buy from in the future and try out some recipes. Let know what types of recipes. 

Interview: Photography from Helene Smith Photography

Helene Smith sells photography in her Etsy shop, Helene Smith Photography. Her photography is  nostalgic, mid-century-style snapshots of Americana.

You have a lot of photos from Chicago and Michigan. Where is your favorite place to visit?

I haven’t been able to travel nearly as much as I would have liked to over the years for various reasons, but I actually really love to take weekend trips to rather small towns and find hidden little gems to shoot.

Your photos have a feeling of nostalgia. How do you get this feeling in your photos? Do you think it is something that comes naturally or is it a look you try to capture?

I have always been drawn to beautiful old things and beautiful odd (old and new) things and even things that are not beautiful, things that are ordinary and overlooked.

My work also looks a bit vintage because I try not to use any (if any at all) filters (effects). I might lighten a shot a little if it’s hard to see, but part of what I am trying to convey is exactly what I see so I don’t want to change it too much and that’s becoming rarer these days. So many photographers want to play with effects. Effects can be alot of fun, but that’s just not me. That’s not what I am trying to convey in my work.

How do you promote your shop?

I have a Facebook Fan page and I also use Twitter and Pinterest, online. Of I’m selling my work at an upcoming event, I will also try to put posters up at local businesses. And I still use email for special events.

Do you ever do craft shows?

Yes, I have done craft shows/art fairs for many years though usually just a few a year – holiday time and maybe a few in summer.

What do you hope for in the future with your shop?

There’s just so much I would like to do. I have so many photos that I’d like to add to my online collection, but it’s just a matter of time (each listing takes a bit of work when it’s new). I’d love to offer additional photo items like photo calendars and maybe some lockets at some point. 

Eventually maybe photo compilation books as well, specific to Chicago or Grand Rapids. On the other hand, I am a purist and I don’t want to clutter up my shop too much with much more than prints. I used to sell photo cards as well, and might add them back, too.

Amy's Single Serve Non-Dairy Rice Crust Cheeze Pizza Review

One brand I like a lot for vegan foods is Amy's. They offer a variety of frozen foods that are vegetarian and vegan. I have been trying out different vegan pizzas so I decided to try this Single Serve Non-Dairy Rice Crust Cheeze Pizza that is dairy and gluten free. 

This pizza is a single serve for one person so I thought it was a good size. You don't have to cut it and it is easy to prepare. You can cook it in the oven or microwave. I think it tastes better if you use the oven, but it is faster in the microwave. 

The pizza uses a rice crust that is gluten free. It is topped with dairy-free, soy-based mozzarella cheeze. The tomato sauce on the pizza uses organic sub ripened tomatoes with a blend of herbs. 

Overall, this pizza was just okay to me. The taste was alright. I liked the sauce because I thought the flavoring was pretty good. I did not like the taste of the cheese. It did not melt well and I did not like the texture. I have had better vegan cheese before. I also did not prefer the texture or taste of the gluten free crust. It had a kind of cardboard texture to me. 

I would eat the pizza again, but would not buy it. It was easy to prepare, but the taste wasn't worth it to me. One suggestion on Amy's website is to top the pizza with your favorite toppings so I might try this next time. Overall, I prefer other meals by Amy's better and this was more of a miss than a hit for me.

Tell me in the comments what vegan pizza brands you like. 

Do you have a vegan company or product? Let me know and I will review your product.

14,000 to Be Happy About Book Review

What makes you happy?

14,000 Things to Be Happy About by Barbara Ann Kipfer is a book that makes you remember the little things in life that make you happy. The author recorded one line phrases of things that made them happy for 20 years. This book is just a list collection of the 14,000 things. There is no order to the list. The book is small enough that you can carry it around with you. 

These are some items in the book I starred as well as a few of my own:

• Doing your own thing
• Lying on your back in a snowy field; making an angel by moving your arms in arcs
• The first week of school
• Working on a project
• Horse show ribbons on the wall
• Running down a beach
• Falling in love again
• Reading all the books you never had time for 
• Farm fresh food
• Getting your hair washed
• The first day of spring
• Getting a gift
• Spending the morning in bed, watching old movies
• The wonder of life 

I love the idea of writing down things that make you happy. The book is the author's personal list, but the items might help you remember happy moments in your life. Whether you keep a notebook or a journal on the computer, just jotting down a phrase or couple words of something that makes you happy each day will make you remember those little moments that are worth remembering and practice gratitude. You can also look through the pages on bad days and use it as a journal to record your memories. 

I encourage you to write your own list or daily journal of things that make you happy. Let me know what makes you happy in the comments. 

A Beautiful Mess Happy Handmade Home Review

I received the A Beautiful Mess Happy Handmade Book as a gift a little while back. Since I did a review of the A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea book, I thought I would do a review of this book. 

This book is written from the creators of the A Beautiful Mess blog. It has a lot of good ideas and inspiration for painting, crafting and decorating a handmade home. 

The book is broken up by different rooms you can decorate including living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms, studio spaces, outdoor spaces, playrooms and small spaces. Crafts include quotable wall art, cloth napkins for a dinner party and flea market chair. Even if you don't have a whole space to decorate, it is easy to try out any of the crafts. 

This book have me a lot of good ideas like te photo idea book. It is very similar to their blog so it may not be worth a purchase if you already read their blog. I like having things in book form though and I enjoyed this book. 

What books have you been reading? 

Review: Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Flavor Macaroni and Cheese

 

Have you ever tried vegan macaroni and cheese? Earth Balance is a brand that makes vegan products and alternatives. I usually use the Earth Balance butter spread and I love it so I thought I would try their Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Flavor Mac and Cheese. 

The vegan mac and cheese is a cheddar flavor. The packaging and flavor is very similar to Kraft brand mac and cheese. It has the cheese powder like Kraft and the noodles are a similar shape and size. It is vegan, non GMO, dairy free, lactose free and casein free. 

I liked the Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Flavor Mac and Cheese okay. I think Earth Balance makes a good butter replacement, but the mac and cheese wasn't as good. I did not like the texture of the pasta that much and the cheese sauce was okay.

I did like the taste overall though and think it is good to have as an easy to make meal. I think it would be good for people who like the Kraft format of macaroni and cheese or who are new vegans and miss the taste of cheese. They also have a white cheddar and gluten free cheddar version. I would buy it again, but I think I will try other brands next time. 

Let me know in the comments what vegan macaroni and cheese you like. 

Make a Wish XO Shop Review

The Etsy shop Make a Wish XO recently sent me an item to review. Make a Wish XO is a shop that sells handmade wish bracelets "where inspiration turns into reality".

The bracelet I received is called "The Journey". It has a blue cord wth a silver pendant. The pendant has a compass design on it. It is great for people going on a physical or spiritual journey.

It also comes with an inspirational quote gift card that says, "Start your journey...and as you do wear this bracelet as a reminder of the joy you bring to my life. May your wish come true!"

It also comes with instructions on how to make a wish and tie the bracelet. You make a wish when you first wear the bracelet. It is believed that your wish will come true once the bracelet falls off. You can also watch this video that explains how to tie a bracelet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0TG88CkFp8

You can tag MakeaWishXO on Twitter or Instagram to show how you are wearing your bracelet or see how other people are wearing theirs. 

I love the whole concept of this shop. I like my bracelet and I think it is handcrafted well. I also like the packaging it came in and the description about how to wear your bracelet. I think these items could make a great gift to someone.

 

 

The shop offers a variety of wish bracelets and charms. I also like this Autism Awareness Bracelet with a puzzle charm since my brother has autism. They are currently having a deal where you will get one free bracelet when you purchase five other ones. 

My bracelet has not fallen off yet. When it does, I hope my wish comes true! 

How to Choose a Planner

 

It is not too late to buy a planner in the year. I recently found a couple planners on sale at Paper Source and bought a few. You can also look in my shop, Move the Needle, for custom planners. You can also find planners dated from 2016-2017 so you can use it in to next year. These are some questions to ask yourself when choosing a planner.

What type of pages do you want?
Do you want daily, weekly or monthly views of the pages? Some planners have all three formats while others focus on only one format. Monthly is good if you want a general overview and more of a calendar style planner. These pages can also be good to plan blog posts. Weekly format is a good general format to use. It allows enough room to write notes and events for each day.  Use a daily format if you want to add more detail to each day or write a few schedule out.

What size do you want? 
Planners come in a variety of sizes. For example, you can find Moleskine planners in pocket, large and extra large sizes. When choosing a size, you want to make sure you have enough room to write things down, but it is small enough to be portable if you need to carry it around. Pocket size planners are good for carrying around in your purse and for jotting quick notes, but don't give you a lt of room to write detailed notes. Large size planners are good if you are not planning to carry your planner around and are keeping your planner at your desk. Extra large planners give you even more room to write or decorate your planner.

What style do you want?
There are many styles of planners out there. Choose a style that you love to look at. Do you want a handmade planner or non handmade? What color do you want your planner? Do you want a customized planner with your name or other details? Some other things you should consider are if you want a soft or hard cover planner and if you want the bookbinding to be bound or a ring/spiral binder.

What other features do you want? 
Think about what other features you want inside your planner. Do you want a place to write down notes? Do you need a place to keep addresses? Maybe you prefer pages with to do lists. Think about what features you need and which planners offer them.

How much do you want to pay?
You should also consider price. Trendy planners, such as the Erin Condren, are more expensive while you can find many planners at a cheaper price. If you are willing to pay more, you can also get a custom planner.

What type of planners do you like?

Slice the Pie Fashion Review Tips

Want to get paid to review fashion and music? Slice the Pie is the largest paid review site on the interview. Your opinions will help brands make decisions. I did a review of Slice the Pie in a previous entry when they just did music reviews.

Now, they have new sections where you can earn money writing fashion and mobile accessories reviews in addition to reviewing music. You write a short paragraph or so about what you think of the product and if it would do well on the market. Here are some of some my tips for reviewing the new fashion and mobile items:

• Describe your overall first impression. Do you like the piece of clothing or product? Do you generally feel positive or negative about it?
• Describe the style and what you think of it. Is it unique? What do you think of the color? Is it trendy? Is it too out there or over the top? 
• What do you think of the fit? Is it too tight or loose? Do you like how it looks on the model?
• Do you think it would sell well? Would you buy the product yourself? Could you see other people buying it or talking about it?
• Make sure your review is over 100 words and try to vary the reviews between each other so your account doesn't get locked. Be honest in your reviews and try to write what you really feel about each item.
  
  
  

Next, you give the item a rating of 1 out of 10. 1 is the worst and 10 is the best. The final step is to estimate the price of the item. You give each piece of clothing a minimum and maximum cost.

I make about $0.10 per fashion review. It won't make you rich overnight, but it is a good way to earn extra money online. You can get withdraw money in to your PayPal account when you reach $10. .

If you refer friends the Slice the Pie, you can receive 20% of all their review earnings for 60 days and 10% after that. If you want to join Slice the Pie, you can use my referral link by clicking here or click the bottom below to join:

http://slicethepie.com/join/U696EA40

Interview: Dreamcatchers from Tiaralianna

Tiaralianna makes dreamcatchers and string art made of vintage finds and handmade pieces. Legend says that bad dreams get caught in the web of a dreamcatcher, while good dreams pass through to ensure good dreams while you sleep. Dreamcatchers can be used as car accessories, worn as jewelry or can be used as decor.

Why did you decide to sell dreamcatchers in your shop? 

I created my first dream catcher in 2013 as a project but had no intention of selling. Mid 2015 I started creating more dream catchers as a hobby, again I didn't intend on selling any. My boyfriend of 5 years was the one who first saw my potential and decided to create my shop name and Instagram account Late 2015. He even sold a bunch of my first dreamcatchers. From there I got inspired to make it a small business and took over the shop myself. 

How would you describe your style?

I've come to realize I don't really have a set style. Rather, my dreamcatcher style varies from whatever inspires! A lot of my style comes from bohemian, hippie, and cottage chic looks. I love creating both traditional and non traditional styles with each dreamcatcher being unique.

What is your creative process like?

Creating dreamcatchers is very therapeutic for me. Often when I start creating dreamcatchers I envision the end result and run with it. However, sometimes that's not always the case. Times when I feel uninspired I like to hit up a bunch of craft and/or thrift stores and pick up some beautiful pieces such as doilies, yarn, etc. I often get inspired this way.

Describe your studio space. Where do you work?

Everything I do regarding my shop is from my home in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Most of the time I find my self working in my home studio or on my balcony ledge where I get a gorgeous view of nature.

What is your favorite feature on Etsy?

My favorite feature on Etsy is the review tool. I love hearing customer feedback. I have yet to receive a negative review, but I'm sure if it's constructive feedback I wouldn't mind either way. Being that my studio space is filled with dreamcatchers, it's hard to let a lot of them go. The review feature allows me to hear from their new owner, it makes my day!

Do you use any other websites?

Instagram and Facebook is my main social media platforms. I sell my dreamcatchers online on Etsy along with in person sales. My hopes are to create a website for my shop separate from Etsy.

Where do you get inspiration?

Working with art has always been a creative outlet for me. I believe that God gives everyone a gift, intended to glorify Him. My gift, however small, is a gift of creativity none the less. What good is a gift if it isn't shared? Knowing that my creative ability was intended for his purpose inspires me to keep creating art. 

What is your favorite way to promote your shop?

Social media has always been my favorite way in promoting what I do. Instagram and Facebook in particular are sites I enjoying using. These sites allows me to interact with users in a way that's more personal along with showing others an inside look of what I do. Through social media I like to post pictures about shop updates along with my creative process.

Do you sell wholesale or consignment?

I do not sell wholesale or consignment at the moment. I'm open to the idea but for now I'm selling direct.

Do you ever do craft shows?

I have yet to do a craft show but I aspire to be a part of one in the future! 

Do you make other types of art? 

Yes! On my Etsy shop I list string art. My first dreamcatcher was a combination of both string art and dreamcatcher. The materials I used for the base were a wooden board, nails, and string. I created this piece by hammering the nails in a circle and weaved the pattern with string. I plan to recreate more of these in the near future. Since it's a stable wall-hanging, I use mine for hanging earrings and necklaces.

What do you hope for the future with your shop? 

In the future I hope to create my own website where I can list my dream catchers along with pictures and videos of my creative process.

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Thank you so much for taking interest in my shop! If you like what I do, check out my mother on Instagram: @ieggmedia. She is an artist that works with chalk, paint, and digital mediums. She's one of my biggest role models and encourages me to follow my creative passion.

Earth Balance Review

Earth Balance is a company that offers plant based and vegan buttery spreads as well as nut butters and dressings. 

Earth Balance is a vegan, buttery spread that is good for baking and can also be used like butter on top of toast, It is completely vegan. They offer a buttery spread and baking sticks. 

Earth Balance started with a single innovative product - non-GMO, expeller-pressed Original Buttery Spread. This breakthrough creation gave vegans and food lovers a chance to enjoy craveable, meltable, buttery goodness again without dairy.

One thing I like about Earth Balance is its similar taste to butter. It doesn't taste artificial or fake. I also like the texture of it. I like it better than traditional margarine.

What is your favorite vegan buttery spread?