Thursday Treasures - Colombia!

Well, I decided that I need to share the fabulous things I find on Etsy, as I go around searching for random stuff (I always need/want something haha). Why Thursday you might ask. Mainly I chose it because most people have time to shop online on the weekends, Friday is too on top of the weekend, so Thursdays leaves a moment for the items to "sink in", that way you can make a choice that is not on impulse (although I have to say I have no problem with impulse buyers!) So, for that matter, I'll make it a series. I'll choose some random thing to search for and pick 5 items from the wonderful Esty universe - you really can't begin to imagine how much creativity is spilled online by the minute. If you think there is something I might like, or a store that may catch my attention (new or old - doesn't matter), please leave a comment below and I will consider it for my upcoming Thursdays. It might even spark the next theme I choose!

Here goes my first try at my Thursday Treasures!

My search term for this edition of Thursday Treasures was Colombia. It's a beautiful place, I wish it didn't have such bad reputation, so far everyone that I know that has gone loves it. Follow the link for some extra information on this wonderful country.

This necklace ($65) by TiaLynnArt touched my heart as all proceeds from the sale of this beautiful piece will benefit Pequenos Intelectuales in Bogota, Colombia, a city where I spent my college years.

Many artists are inspired by the cities of Colombia, as they are very picturesque. For example, this painting print ($18) by Duarte, is inspired in the architecture of the capital city, Bogota.

If you want to walk around town and be noticed, these "caña flecha" purses ($35.99) will surely turn heads around. The way these are made tell stories from the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, and no two purses will ever be alike. These are sold by Agschic.

And if you look at this, you will be amazed by the intricate work that Colombians have achieved in silver. This bracelet ($721.50) is made entirely of pure silver thread formed into miniature filigree flowers. And, as the purses above, no two items are alike as they are entirely handcrafted. These, and more filigree beauties, are sold by GalerieUrbana.

And if you want to know what Colombia is all about, why not start of your day with a freshly ground roast of Colombian coffee (it's not claimed to be the best blend in the world for nothing). This dark roast Colombia Supremo ($12/lb) is the pride of Colombia, a smooth medium bodied coffee with good flavor, and is sold by TheRoaster.

Watch out for next weeks edition of Thursday Treasures!

Feeling reddish

These are my last four listings on my Etsy shop this week. Notice something unusual?

For some reason I was feeling inspired by my red bead drawer. Out of all five of them (I have one for reds and pinks, one for oranges, yellows and whites, one for greens and browns, one for blues and one for purples and blacks), the red bead drawer was calling my name, and I answered! :)

I promised myself the next items will have a more diverse color palette. But don't they look nice all together?

Features on my blog

I don't know if you've noticed, but I recently registered my blog with FeedBurner, as advised by one of my fellow Plurk pals. This is a great feature if you don't have time to go on your blog Dashboard daily to read other people's blogs daily, as one of the best features is the ability to register to this blog via the subscription on the left. This registers you with my blog's RSS feed directly (as I understand) and you get a digest of my blog in your email inbox! It also eliminates the need to have an account on Blogger to follow a blog, now it works with Google Friend Connect as well.

Also, I became part of Technorati and Blog Catalog. These are both great places to get your blog out to the world, as I read a couple of days ago on some threads on the Etsy forums. If you have Technorati, you can add my blog to one of your faves now! And with Blog Catalog, your readers can rate your blog (you can find my rating link below my Etsy shop).

Thanks for reading everyone, I really appreciate you take your time to read my blurbs online. :)

New items in the shop

I haven't posted anything about jewelry I've been listing lately so here goes nothing! The last two pairs of earrings sold within the day so it didn't give me a chance to even post on the blog (which is pretty awesome). This time I decided to do a set of earrings and necklace. Also, I decided to do a promo which is that if you buy them together, you get FREE shipping to US (or $1.99 off shipping to other countries, to make it fair to all). If you're interested, all you need to do is send me a conversation through Etsy prior to purchasing to adjust the shipping prices. This offer is ONLY valid when purchasing both items at the same time! The neat thing is you can add some more items and take advantage of the free shipping. Cool, huh?

The Goldilocks necklace is made of clean cut window beads rimmed in gold (hence the name). It's a pretty simple way to put some charm in your outfit!

The matching set of earrings, also by the name of Goldilocks, accentuate the necklace but are bold enough to be worn by themselves, doesn't matter if you like wearing your hair up or down, these are guaranteed to make a statement!

I have more things boiling in the design drawer, but I still need some supplies to finish them off (just another excuse to buy supplies!). Hopefully by tomorrow they will be posted. For now, back to creating!

Following blogs

Yesterday I logged in and to my amazement I had lost a number of followers. I was pretty sad, trying to think what I'd done wrong, but Google responded that question for me today.

Thing is, they changed as a new merger was made between two companies. Below is the statement sent through email to me:

"As a result of a recent integration between Blogger Following and Google Friend Connect, your Blogger privacy settings have been changed. It is important you read this message to understand how the change impacts the sites you follow, your visibility online when using Friend Connect, and what your options are moving forward. You are receiving this e-mail because you've used both Blogger's Following feature and Google Friend Connect. So that sites you've joined via Friend Connect do not automatically show up on your Blogger profile without your explicit approval, we have changed your following status to "private" on all Blogger blogs. If you would like to have these sites shared publicly on your Blogger profile, here are some instructions for becoming a public follower again."

Well, I tried to follow the instructions and that certainly did not work. So I decided to make a little picture tutorial on regaining your public following. I like public followers, I go to each of their sites every time I get a new one, resulting in following some blogs back.


First of all, go to your Dashboard which is a link located on the upper right hand corner of your blog editing or new post page.





Right under your main block of information, you will find the blogs you follow. It's called the Reading List. In the lower left hand corner you will find two buttons that say "Add" and "Manage". Click on the "Manage" button.


There you will see a complete list of the blogs you're following. Under the column that says "Anonymous?" it will either state if your profile is public or anonymous in said blog. If you wish to remain anonymous, leave it like it is and thank Blogger for making all of your presence anonymous, but in my case, I want to remain public, so I clicked on the Settings link right next to where it says "Anonymous".


A pop-up window will appear with all the settings for that particular blog. There you will find a line that reads "You are following anonymously", where the last word is a clickable link.


After clicking this link, another pop-up window will appear, asking you if you wish to change your following status. Click on the Follow Publicly button. I also checked the "Include this site on your profile" as I believe it's an easier way to keep track of things. Click on the save button and then DONE and you're good to go! The only down side to all this is that you will have to do this to each blog you had followed publicly before. For some reason the ones I had joined at the end of February remained public, so hopefully you won't have to go through a huge list. Good luck!