Featured in Pretty Things Blog!

I just got a blog feature in Pretty Things, Lauren's (herprettybird at etsy) blog. She was kind enough to interview me and feature me in her blog!

You can read all about it here: http://herprettybird-lolo.blogspot.com/2009/11/interviewing-veronica.html

Thank you so much, Lauren, for featuring me, and I hope I can repay the favor sometime.

Doggie treasuries!

So there I was, planning my treasury, looking for unique items to celebrate dogs, especially Cocker Spaniels. I was cuddling with Sally and thought about doing an etsy treasury about her.

I gathered my items and I had about an hour to kill before the treasuries opened, so I started looking at other people's treasuries and I saw this one, also doggie themed. And we have even items from the same sellers, just geared to our breed! How cool is that?

Anyway, the treasury I saw is a tribute to Oscar, a dog that passed away recently. It made me a little sad, as I remembered Boris, my Schnauzer who also passed. I convoed the person who did it, and she was really nice to boot! Here is Oscar's treasury: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=94332
And then we have my treasury. It is all about Cocker Spaniels, as a tribute to Sally, whom I adore... You can see sally's here: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=94528

I hope you enjoy these treasuries and the doggies in them, and that they inspire you to go and hug your own dog!

The Infamous Orange Button

I'm writing today in part anger, part disappointment and part wanting to kick someones butt.

You see, Etsy decided to be hip and cool for the Holidays, and that is perfectly fine, but, they decided to create one cute orange button that will direct people to the gift guides. That is fine too.

And what are the gift guides? Well, they are guides or showcases of items Etsy admin likes, and that is fine too. Except they seem to be fixated with certain themes and colors and truthfully, only a handful of sellers get chosen. And what is worse is, it is the same sellers over and over again, leaving thousands of great Etsy sellers out because their items are too colorful or just don't plain fit the Etsy aesthetic.

Here is a screenshot of the Etsy front page. Notice you have the gift guides on the left upper part, and the lovely orange button in question (and yes, please read this post with a good dose of sarcasm!) in the right upper corner of the button bar.

Now we go into MY shop. Veronica R Studio's page. Notice the same lovely (NOT!) button on the right hand corner. Did I create a gift guide you ask? Of course not, who has the time! Not only do we have to keep shop, list items, MAKE THE ITEMS BY HAND, take pictures and make everything look pretty, then go out and promote to the world until we are blue in the face and can't take it no more, and we get this button, which innocent customers have clicked, by the way, taking them AWAY from our shops, into what Etsy thinks is hip and cool for the Holidays.

Do you, dear reader, now see the unfairness of it all? It is like going into a store with your merchandise and luring customers away to your store. People do it, but it is not nice.

So me and other Etsy sellers beg for justice, or just that someone listens, and that they keep that button if they want, just not into our shops! There is a petition going, you can see it here http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6344121.

BTW, here is another PSA: Some Etsy sellers are hosting a great sale starting on Black Friday! It will go on through the weekend, until Cyber Monday. Just type Black Friday in the search box to see all the items included and all the sellers participating!

It gets ugly before it looks pretty, right?

Well, it has been one week. I started this adventure last Monday morning, and here we are, 1 week later!

The house is a mess, floors are covered in plastic, old carpet renmants and cardboard. The mess is evident and dust is flying everywhere! The kitchen and bathrooms are getting gutted, old tile came out, electrical outlets are being moved and light switches being relocated.

Remember the family room? It had a 36" wide doorway right in the middle of this wall, and a tiny wall area on each side. They just opened up a big hole in the wall, and they are bringing in new masonry block to close off the original doorway, making the new doorway to the right of the room, getting me a good amount of wall space to put nice furniture for my TV in.

The kitchen. I spent two hours on Friday with the electrician, moving outlets and planning stuff. See my naked walls!

New oulets already moved!

DD's bathroom, naked as well. Now that I see the space, I'm thinking I might want to move some things, basically, make the shower stall smaller and give her more sink space. She will thank me later!

I made it to Craftgawker!!!!!

I have been at etsy as a seller since August. I know, I'm practically brand new! Although I have been there as a buyer since last year.

Anyway, I started participating in the etsy forums, and learned about Craftgawker, a juried site, where you can showcase your handcrafted items.

There is gorgeous photography in there, and I hear the level of rejection is high, however, my citrine necklace just got accepted! I'm so happy... This made my day, especially since sales have been nonexistent and views so low...

I did submit my faceted amethyst necklace as well, but that one didn't make it. I'm still ecstatic about the citrine!

You can see it at craftgawker http://craftgawker.com/ and here on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33720066

Home Remodel -Day 3, everything comes off!

The crew arrived at 9am sharp on Monday morning, even though it was Dia de los Muertos, and it was a holiday (no schools, government offices and banks). They arrived, toolboxes in hand, ready to take on the work.

They took out all the bathroom fixtures and accesories and uninstalled my kitchen cabinets and countertops, leaving just the bare walls, so the tile can come off.

So, here is what is left of the powder room. We are making a new bathroom for my son, so all the new pipes and hidraulic installtion will run through the powder room, since his bedroom is right on top!

My daughter's bathroom.

Master bath. I love the huge window in the shower, and I hate the huge window in the shower... It is wood (who, on their sane mind would put wood in a shower window?????), and it is rotting, so I get to shop for a new window too.

Kichen. Just the walls are left. We are moving some light switches and electrical outlets around. They will also be installing a duct for a range hood.

My kitchen in a pile on the dining room. I just hope it survives with the least damage possible!

A Christmas Carol

I took my kids to see Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol today. Our school's parents association did a fundraiser showing, and they bought out the matinee hour.

The kids were so excited! I wanted to see this, since it seems to be the big Holiday movie this year. Well it was so-so. Not bad, but not great either.

First, the movie was very dark. I know, at that time there was no electricity and there was only candlelight, but the general aesthethic of the movie was dark. And I mean dark! Then, I'm not really a fan of the story. Sorry Charles Dickens, but I have never been fond of this story. The message is good, just not for me.

But what I really wanted to caution my readers about is to think twice if you are taking young children! I have a 12 year old and a 9 year old, and both got scared during the ghost from Christmas Future part. Even I got scared! The grim reaper was extremely realistic! The ghost from Christmas Past was kind of weird too.

So, if you want to see it, great! Just know that it has some really, really scary parts and that young children might get nightmares from it.

Home Remodel -Before

Hello, dear readers. I apologize for taking so long in writing, but here it is, the before.

For those of you that don't know, I live right next door, in a house that is virtually identical to this one, except it is inverted, like a mirror image. It is a condo complex, consisting of 23 townhomes, and this home looks like it might be permanent for me. It will be mine, no renting, no depending on anyone, no significant other to share it with. Mine.

The house is lovely! It has 12-foot high ceilings in the ground floor, wonderful use of space, it is narrow, yet it doesn't feel cramped. The thing is, its boring. Beige. Safe. Lacks personality. If it is going to be mine, I want to make it my own, and I just don't mean transferring the deed. It is going to have my stamp on it and reflect my personality (well, my personality right now, as it seems to change and evolve). So, without further ado, here are pics, lots of them!

This is the entry foyer, the first thing you see through the front door.

Going up the stairs... I love the wrought iron bannister!

Living/dining room. This is a long rectangle, and it will house my living and dining rooms. My furniture is chocolate brown (a story for some other time), and I plan to infuse color into this room (and the whole house).


Family room. This room has lots of light! However the wall that leads into the kitchen has the doorway right in the middle! Not good. So the doorway will get moved to the right, so I can have bigger wall space to put a credenza with my TV and entertainment stuff.

Ahhh, the kitchen... This one is extremely personal. You see, I worked for about 7 years (two different showrroms) designing and selling kitchens. I drew plans, helped make material combos, helped clients choose cabinets, countertops and appliances, oversaw installation, yet, in all the houses I have lived in, the kitchen was already done, it was in good condition, and there was no budget to change it. I had to comply to what others had done, in one of the parts of the house that mattered the most to me.

This time, I get to make it mine!!! YAY! Due to budget restrains, the cabinets are staying, but they will get a facelift. I get to have granite countertops, choose pretty tile, get better stainless appliances, and a range that will not have just one temperature (GRRR) that will bit burn my baking!

The powder room. This is as bland as it gets! I chose a gorgeous gold tile that is really shimmery and this one is getting a major overhaul!

This is the view coming from the stairs, these are the kids' bedrooms. There is an existing bathroom which will be enclosed in DD's room, and DS is getting a new bathroom where the closet is, inside his room.

DD's bathroom. This is getting a facelift as well.

The master beedroom. As bland and boring as the rest of the house. I plan to paint a lovely shade of blue-gray and spruce it up!

Master bath, which will get renovated as well with all new tile, fixtures and accesories.

And here is me soothing Sally. Sally is having a nervous breakdown. Poor thing was scared when we walked in the empty house and she started jumping, wanting to look out the windows. Somehow, looking the window soothes her. Go figure.

Now that they are gutting the place, she is panicky! I just hope she survives the remodel without getting a heart attack!

Pretty Monarch Butterfly

It is that time of the year... Summer finally gives up and Fall starts taking over. The days get shorter, the wind gets cooler, the whole weather seems crisper, chillier.

Every year, around this time, we get the Monarch Butterfly migration. Thousands and thousands of butterflies fly South towards warmer weather. For me, this has marked the official end of a season and the beginnings of another. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated by the butterflies migrating.

This morning I took Sally for a walk, and saw a butterfly struggling on the ground. It was by a tree, and it fluttered its wings time and time again, walking from one place to another. I think I spend about a good hour watching it. All those pretty spots and orange rust colors! I had to take some photos of it too.

I went out about an hour ago, and was a little sad to see it wasn't there anymore, but at the same time happy that it has flown away. At least that is what I hope so, that it has reunited with its mates in their journey.

God speed and good luck, little friend!

I start my home remodel on Monday!!!!

Yay, great news.... My tennants moved today, and they turn in the keys to the house tomorrow. Just spoke with my architect and we have an appointment this weekend to go over the project, and we start on Monday!!! It will be a complete home renovation.

This is the first home in my life that will be mine and only mine. No sharing it with any significant others, just my kids and they do have a say in their rooms.

Expect lots of photos as it progresses.