huray

I am so happy!! I had my first sale!! Yes, you read right, my first sale. I am so happy and thankful. Here is the (not longer my) brown beauty I sold the day before:

I just wanted to let you guys know, because you all gave me so much support and help and encouragement and that's what keeps me going. I hope you all feel good and I know you are looking forward to the weekend, like I do. So I wanted to let you know these and share with you my joy and happiness. I wish you a wonderful weekend and please everybody who hasn't sold anything yet, please write a comment I am thinking about a supportive post for you!

joy-filled greetings

mElinus

Etsy Shop Feature: elloriasboutique

This weeks Etsy shop is filled with very beautiful flower arts. The colorful jewelry was designed from two women from Exeter, United Kingdom: Shannan and Jacqueline and named:
elloriasboutique

At Ellorias Boutique the two women endeavor to create beautiful jewellery and accessories to be cherished for a lifetime. Shannan and Jacqueline love hunting for treasure and giving a new life to a myriad of materials, buttons, thread and beads, that have otherwise been overlooked. They are inspired by mystery, the feminine and romance.

so colorful

Q)In which country/city would you live if you could choose?
A)Shannan and Jacqueline would love to live in Barcelona, submerged in the vibrant street life, Spanish culture and the home of Gaudi.

Q)What do you like more: apple or orange juice?
A)At Ellorias Boutique we have a stream of apple and orange juice flowing to give a zing in our step.

Q)What is your favorite color?
A)Our favourite spring colours are sunny primrose yellow, lilac and muted bluebell.

Aren't this colorful flowers beautiful and feminine? I can tell it is worth to have a look at this very precious items.
Please got to elloriasboutique, write a comment under this post to let them both know what do you think about the jewelry. Also visit Shannan and Jacqueline at her facebook page.


I hope you like the flowers like I do.

bloomy geetings
mElinus

Easter leftovers

The Easter weekend is over and that means I have to recapitulate what has happend during this four days.

I baked arround 60 cupcakes. 25 of them for the princess birthday party from my goddaughter. She is 3 years old now, means 'I am no longer a baby'. It was amazing to see her unpacking all the presents and beeing the m-i-p (most important person) of the day. She got so many presents but she always thanked all the guest and her little friends got all a huge hugs. It was a totally tressful day, but it was worth every work and sweat.

 This is left! They look already a little demaged, but still yummy!!

Most of the cupcakes were for friends and family. We had 3 BBQs during the weekend and I met lots of friends I hadn't seen the last weeks, because of work and travel. But I was very happy to see one special friend again, which I do see not so often.And I am always very hapy to see. But unfortunatelly the weekend is over and Easter will come again next year.

So how was your Easter weekend? Lot to do or just chillin' and family stuff?

Wish you all a great week!

last bunny greetings

mElinus

My First BNS

I try to help other Etsy seller to get some traffic and hopefully some sales, but today I have to 'advertise' my own shop. I am so happy because I am on my first BNS on Etsy.

 Please have a look and write a comment or even better maybe buy something: 

 I really hope it will help me to make my first sale.  

The rules are: 

1- NO MINIMUM PURCHASE. 

2- NO NEED TO CALL OUT SHOPS. 

3- PURCHASE ANY ITEM FROM THE FEATURED SHOP. 

4- POST THE TRANSACTION LINK WITH THE NAME’S SHOP IN CAPS. 

5- I WILL CHOOSE AN ITEM FROM YOUR SHOP. YOUR ITEM WILL BE FEATURED IN THE NEXT ROUND. 

6- ROUND ENDS AT 13 SALES. 

7- ENJOY!  

I am in the BNS with my lovely      

Purple Dots To Love & Drink Tea And Coffee Cup   

So have you ever been on an BNS or BNS? Do you all know what it is? And have you experiences with this promo? I would love, if you could write some comments below so, we can discuss how it works, or maybe I write a post about the two different kinds of promotion. Just let me know what you think!!  

Oh an please keep in mind, I have a Mother's Day special coupon code:   MOTHERSDAY2011  

I wish you all a wonderful Easter weekend!

  BNS-newbie greetings
mElinus      

sunny and bussy and MOTHERSDAY

Like I mentioned my trip is over and I 'landed' in the daily routine again. Nearly, because while I was away the finance authority sent us a tax audit notice. Yeah. One of our custom manager is on vacation. Yeah. And of course I have to catch up with my work. Yeah. Tons of work and just 24 hours. But I am sure everybody has this in his life and it is good to know that it will be over sometimes. Why I writing this, just to let you know, I am sorry for being so 'lazy' these days in writing this little blog. But I want to share with you two nice things

First: I saw an awesome sunrise this morning. The colors have been so bold and it compensates for all the stress and early get-ups.

I just had my phone by handy so the pic is not perfect, but it is stunning, right?!

OK and now 

Second: Mother's day is in a few weeks and I want to make a special to all my friends and followers. A cup of tea or coffee is nice, no matter if it's wintertime or summertime. It becomes even more special with a not so usual cup. This will bring a special moment, you can enjoy the tea/coffee and take your time to catch a breath in the busy times. And to give a mother such a special moment I'll give a discount on all my collection cups: 25% off!!!

The coupon code is: MOTHERSDAY2011

This is my little gift to all of you for being here and reading and commenting on the Etsy Shop Features and encouraging all the creative and active women and men out there.

I wish you all a wonderful day

coffee drinking and breath catching greetings

mElinus

Etsy Shop feature: LoupBelle

(and encouragement)

I am back from my business trip and totally jet-lagged, but that is no reason to miss one turn in our weekly Etsy shop/seller feature.
...

This week I am proud to tell you a bit of LoupBelle from North Carolina, USA. This mysterious name means 'Beautiful Wolf'. And as beautiful and mysterious the name as nice and special are her shop items.

Behind LoupBelle is a woman who loves vintage, fashion, art, and eclecticism. She enjoys designing one of a kind pieces to fit women of all lifestyles, from conservative to edgy. Her greatest source of inspiration comes from nature and other inspiring women. In an effort to give back to these wonderful women who have inspired her over the years, every purchase comes with the name of a female artist, designer, musician etc.

Spring Daisy necklace

She hopes her customers take the time to look up these creative females and are also just as inspired.  To LoupBelle it’s more than fashion, it’s women inspiring women. She works in her at home studio in Newton, North Carolina, and is constantly antique shopping for special pieces to add to her designs. : )

Frank Sinatra - A Swingin Affair - Retro Vinyl Record Bowl

To make it a bit more fun for the featured seller and of course for all my lovely readers, I ask her three questions:

Q)In which country/city would you live if you could choose?

A) I’d love to live in Chicago. It’s always been my dream city!

Q)What do you like more: apple or orange juice?

A)Apple, hands down : )

Q)What is your favorite color?

A)Green

This shop and LoupBelle are very special to me, because it is a wonderful idea to try to give back spirit and inspiration she got from women and to work with vinyl (I love to use old vinyl records for decoration, will show you some day). I think we need more powerful, strong and independent women to serve as a model!! So please stop by and have a look at all these unique and creative items.

Please also take the opportunity and write a commend under this very special shop feature post to encourage LoupBelle and all the women and of course men to become and stay strong and inspiring for others.

strong greatings
mElinus

Taiwan and THANK YOU

I am so sorry to be not so much on these days.  But like the name says, business trip, means to do some business ;)

But today I got up a little earlier, so I am able to give you a short look in to Taiwan. It is an amazing country with much more amazing people. I told you about the kind and helpful people in Hong Kong, it is nearly unbelievable, but the people over here seem to me even more polite and kind. Or maybe I think it's this way, because I have more time here and that means I can experience it more.

Today I will show some random pictures from Taiwan...

I headed to the southern city Tainan with the Taiwan High Speed Rail.

the hinterland of Taipei

Tainan City 

this is a god for education (good to know for the next exams)

old traditional roofs

two towers in Tainan 

one of the two towers (the dutch lived here a couple of hundred years ago)

I dont know what they did, but it looked like a kind of a parade or procession 

this seems to be a palanquin (I could not see whats in side)

(just) Tainan 

So now I have to hurry to the next appointment. I hope I can show you some pics from business over here next time, but it is not so easy and I think also not so much interesting!

I also want to take the opportunity to welcome all the new followers and and thank all the "old" followers for there loyalty. It is also nice to see all the comments for Seren and her adorable dolls. I really appreciate all your comments and it makes me really happy to see all the nice, caring and interested people. I hope it will help all the 'Etsians'.

So I am off now for the real reason of my trip. I wish you all a very nice day!!

thankful greetings

mElinus

Taipei International Floral Exposition

After a long day in Hong Kong and a late flight to Taipei, I visited the Taipei International Floral Exposition yesterday. It is a huge exposition and usually you need 3 days, but as I do not have the time, I made a very short and hurried 'run' around the huge area.

 One of the many entrances was a wooden pavilion with different levels and a lot of friendly helpers/volunteers.

One pavilion has an observation deck and is greened. Also they show how you can use green energy (solar panels). 

It was amazing to stay on a roof and look over the city, but with the feeling of staying in a garden. 

During the exposition they had a lot of international competitions, one of them was about allotment gardens in city to use old structure. I liked the little old green house, reminds me of fairytales.

In the evening there was a parade for families, kids and all those who feel like kids. A lot of funny animals and fantasy friends sang along the street and waved to the people. This was lot of fun. 

Also the Museum of Art was involved in the exposition. They showed many artists and arts which have the nature as a main topic. Here you can see whole walls made of recycled cardboard.  

The last stop in the fast run on the exposition area was the dome. A huge stadium transformed in a sea of flowers.

It was a lot to walk, but all the beautiful and colorful flowers have been a good reason.

Now I am off to bed, tired and overwhelmed.

colorful greetings

mElinus

Etsy Shop feature: AllSoCute

This week I like to show you some cute little dolls from Istanbul!

AllSoCute

This beautiful and lovely crafted dolls are made from Seren. She lives in Istanbul,Turkey. She loves to crochet, knit and to make my items for other people.

As you can see she loves animals. And this inspires her to make these cutie's.

Seren has been obsessed with crafts of all kinds, her whole life! Her  love to crochet little amigurumi critters, animals and dolls brought her to Etsy.

She always welcomes new ideas, and hopes for some custom orders.
Seren enjoys bringing her craft to you and hopes it touches your heart and brings a smile to your face. So vitsit her also on Facebook and on her BLOG.

And I can say, I am smiling....a big grin. So please browse through these little fantastic crocheted friends and leave a comment under this post and tell her what you think!!

crochet around grretings

mElinus

Hong Kong

Yesterday I had some time to visit Hong Kong. It is an amazing city. I really like it. The people are so kind and helpful. And it is such a vibrating and vivid city. You can see so many different people from different countries and you hear so many languages. It's just so exciting!!!

Hong Kong IFC

We ate very good Dim Sum. If you ever have the chance, try it. It tastes fantastic!!

near Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong

The most impressive thing I had been lucky to enjoy, was the service from the airport and the city. At the main stations in the city you can check in and leave your luggage, they bring it to the airport. Means, you can enjoy the time in the city and don't have to worry about all your stuff. You just have to take the air train  2 hours before boarding and go straight to your gate at the Hong Kong airport. AWESOME!!!!

Hong Kong CBD

After an exciting day I flew from gate 1 (thats very seldom, told us the captain) to Taipei. I am a little behind the events, 'cause I am already in Taipei, Taiwan. I will tell you about my first day later tonight (it's already after 7pm on April 9th over here) or tomorrow. 

The people over here are even more polite and kind.

lively and fantastic greetings

mElinus

Hong Kong and China

Shenzhen (China)

I have to tell you that it is a huge problem with all these time zones. I mean, I remembered to change the time on my iPhone, but did not changed it on my Mac. So please, be aware that I am maybe a little in front of you with the time, and my yesterday may be your today.

on the way back from the factory (China)

Yesterday I was my first time in China, Mainland China. I met up with a business partner in Hong Kong (it was hot and humid), we managed some stuff about banks and accounts and than we drove with the car from Hong Kong to the New Territories and parked the car, 'cause it is way easier to go by train to China. 

near the train station (China)

You need to know that in Hong Kong (I mean all areas from Hong Kong), the cars are like in the UK: right hand drive. But the traffic in China is left hand drive. And you are only allowed to drive with your car from Hong Kong to China and and vice versa if you have both license plates (really expensive to get both, only really rich people having both license plates). There are tree border crossings, two for cars and one for pedestrians. We took the one for pedestrians. 

apartment buildings in China

We drove from the New Territories to the border crossing, 'checked out' in Hong Kong and walked over a bridge (no-mans-land) and checked in to China. 

China (shops with 'fake' electronical devices)

It was a huge difference to Hong Kong, even the people looked the same, but the buildings, the shops, the advertisement and the cars. Everything looked different.

how people life (China)

The driver from the factory picked us up and we drove to the factory. It was very interesting but also oppressive. In the late evening we went back to Hong Kong. It was very impressive and I was so tired.

our way back to train station (China)

OK folks, I have to pack my stuff and go to the CBD. Hope you all enjoy your day. Please remind me to show and tell you about my host, where I stayed during I was in Hong Kong, it was/is amazing. You wouldn't believe!!

warm and humid greetings from Hong Kong

mElinus

First Stop: Dubai

My first stopover was Dubai. We had 10 hours and a hotel room to get some rest. I did my best to get some sleep, but wasn't easy. Unfortunately I arrived at night time and had to go back to the airport early in the morning. But as promised here are the first pics:

Dubai Airport

Dubai Airport 

Dubai Airport 

you can see down town in the background 

you will find construction zones all over the city

you can see the highest tower in the world in the background

Burj Tower Dubai

On the link above you can find more informations and pics if the tallest tower in the world. Dubai was just a very short stopover, but he people have been so nice and it was absolutely stunning to see all this architecture.

Now I am in HongKong. Tomorrow, I will post some pics and informations about todays experiences. Right now I need some sleep. I just slept 6 hours during the last three days.

I am sorry for writing so late, but the internet is not always available and it's so much to do.

Hope you all doing good.

Wish you a great day

sleepy greetings from Hong Kong

mElinus

up and away

I told you already about my business trip to Asia and today it will start. I packed most of my items yesterday, but all the make-up and bath room stuff is what you need until you passed the security check  :)

I hope to get time and internet/wifi to show you, how beautiful Asia is and to take you literally with me on this (hopefully) exciting trip. First, I have to finish my coffee and get dressed. I trink my coffee first 'cause you never make a mess, but if you are dressed for something important, you will, or better I will. I travelled a lot and I know what I can wear on a long flight. So here is what I will take:

Sorry for the bad pic (iPhone and bad light) 

*a long shirt*

*a pair of black comfy leggings (but with shiny finish)*

*a scarf, 'cause you can hide yourself and it keeps you warm in cold airplanes*

*a super cosy hoodie jacket, it keeps you warm as well*

*a hat/cap because on long trips your hair may look a little disheveled, and so you can to hide it* 

And here you see my pre-packed suitcase.

So I am on my way now to get the last things done and prepare my apartment to be alone a couple of days. Then I will be on my way to the airport (I love airports!!! I love the coming and going!!)

Oh and please be patient with me, but I will do my best to take you with me!!

jittery and passport-searching greetings

mElinus

Etsy Shop feature: moncherie43

This weeks Etsy shop and seller comes from Australia. I like to show you the beautiful work from Chelsea in her Esty shop

moncherie43

Chelseas jewelry is inspired by the 40's or anything vintage, and that's the reason for the 43 in her shop name! She loves to be creative. Chelsea has a lot of talents like jewelry, polaroid photography or sewing. At this time she has beautiful jewelry in her shop which makes you feel more lady-like.

Victorian Lace Pocket Watch

Chelsea loves to be creative because it is such a great way to express yourself! Her rings, necklaces, hair pins and bracelets are well composed and the colors are very decent. 

Sunburst Ring - Pink Rose

I like to invite you to browse through her beautiful shop and leave some comment under the post and let Chelsea know what do you think of her work.

I can say, I really like the lady-like designs!! So please encourage Chelsea to go on with her beautiful art work.

Wish you all a nice week!!

pretty Lady-Like greetings

mElinus

First SPRING BBQ

This weekend was wonderful. We had sunny and warm weather. It was the best condition to make the first BBQ of the year. It was soooooo delecious. I ate to much!! :)

I made my potato salad (German recipe: Let me know if you like to get it.) Unfortunately I was not able to make a pic of it, 'cause it was gone so fast!! I don't want to show off, but all my friends love it and I love to cook. 

So I was a lot on the run out there and enjoyed the sun. And this means not much time for computer, Etsy and blog. But I want to show you my 

SPRING TREASURY:

just click @ the pic

I just finished it yesterday. Please have a look at these beautiful spring like precious objects. 

Spring means to me

   ********sunny yellow********  

********fresh green********  

********seeing many people********  

********bold colors********

So what have you done this weekend? I am on my feet by now, 'cause I have to drink tea with my goddaughter. I am happy to see her.

Wish you all a beautiful and sunny Sunday!!

barbecued greetings

mElinus

Etsy is in my everyday life

I started like the most people as a buyer from other Etsy sellers.  I bought some beautiful jewelry, journals, hair pins, diaries and so on. I am using some of the items every day and others just sometimes but I never regretted any purchase. I like to show you randomly how I wear or use my Etsy items in my life.

Today I am wearing a set of flower hair comb and brooch. 

(I put the brooch on my necklace)

I bought both items for a wedding but I thing they are to beautiful to just wear them once. So I try to use them for my everyday outfits. And today I am wearing both at the same time.

(the seller of this beauties is: WeeGardens)

How did you start as an Etsy seller?Also as a buyer? And do you use your purchased items? I would love to know how you fit the bought pieces in your day!!

Wish you a great day and of course a good start for this weekend.

Etsy-Style greetings

mELinus