Happy Thanksgiving

We've got a lot to be thankful for this year. Our furnace kicked the bucket last week. Thankfully, we were able to find a (fairly) affordable option and are enjoying the warmth from our new furnace. Never had a new furnace, always inherited a very old one.

The boys (our two dogs) are still with us and at 14 and 15 years old, are keeping us on our toes as we care for them round the clock. Sans the ability to turn back the clock, I couldn't think of a better use of time. Ms. Kitty is doing well and loving every moment she has to snuggle with her boys.

We've had a very wet summer and fall. Thanks to the chance we were given to dig out the "waterway" that runs through out property, our yard has not been flooded as it has in years past. It feels good to see something turn out right!

Our "traditional" vegetarian Thanksgiving will be vegan this year, as 2009 was the year we went 1000% vegan. Never felt better. We are preparing our menu now. I am looking forward to a few days of relaxation and fun with the husband and furry kids. We always try to cram in so much in a short period, but there are so many games to play, lights to put up, and dreams to hatch.

Yep, it has been a year of hard work and transitions, but at the end of the day, when the guys are running in their sleep, the cat is napping at their feet, and we are warm, dry, and loved, the world seems kinda perfect. Just don't turn on the news, the radio, the internet, or answer the phone. :)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I do hope you take stock of your life and gain a little perspective. We have a lot to be thankful for this year.

ETSY Apps - Help and Fun For Your Etsy Shop

Are you aware that there are a number of applications you can use to highlight, improve, and link to your Etsy store(s)?

The Etsy Developer Community has a number of great applications you might find useful. Including:

Heartomatic - Makes your item and store "hearts" easily viewable and they also have a search feature that tells you if you've been featured in an Etsy gift guide or on the coveted front page.

has a list of amazing features, including Where Am I?, a tool that shows where your shop appears in an Etsy search. Some other neat tools include: copy listing (create a listing based on a current one), RSS Feedback (create an RSS feed of your Etsy feedback), and Shop CSV (download current listings to upload them into a spreadsheet). There are more tools listed, so check them out.

Yammi Handmade is a fun site that offers a lot of info. for the handmade maven. Not only can you be listed in the handmade shop directory, but they provide links to your blog, Etsy and Artfire shops, Twitter, MySpcae, and Facebook accounts, and more. My favorite tools are the gadgets/widgets you can plug into your blog that feature your item hearts, items sold, and items listed.

Here are a few other sites that will help you make the most out of your Etsy store:

Easy Etsy - They've created a great list of the tutorials and tools that Etsy experts use to help promote and improve their stores.


Etsy Wiki - Sometimes the information you need about how to best use Etsy can be difficult to locate. Not so with the Wiki.

Got any helpful sites you'd like to share?