Elf Fantasy Fair 2012

Hi everyone! Hope you are having a lovely day! I have some fun pictures in store for you. Every year me and my best friend visit the Elf Fantasy Fair, an awesome fantasy festival on castle grounds in the middle of Holland. I look forward to it every year and we get to dress up for the occasion, which I loooove! This year I was a corpse bride and my friend was my dead husband :o) I hope you enjoy these pics!

Flavourites live event

Hi my friends!! How are you all? I had a short blogging break, but I come bearing pictures!
Yesterday I went to a fun event called Flavourites Live. It was in an old dockbuilding in Amsterdam. Very pretty! At the event about 160 webshops have their own stand and sell their crafts offline. Great concept right?! Really inspiring and alot of fun.

That doll! Haha, love it!

Lovely art by Dutch artist Geertje Aalders

The dockbuilding!

Super cute cushion, but a bit too expensive (44 euro)

Aren't those plates cute?

The view from the buidling, very misty!!

Let them eat cake!!

Have you all seen the movie Marie Antionette? It's already an 'old' movie, with Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette. I loooove the pretty colours and decors and the stunning clothes in that movie! It's such a feast for the pastelloving eyes. So today I want to share some eye candy from the movie.

And some beautiful pics of the Marie Antionette style!

Hope you're having a sweet day my friends!!

New: The Penpal Page

Hi my friends! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was relaxing, with lots of crafting and watching Ice Age 4. I have a new page online that I would love to share with you. You can see just below the header on my blog here that there a Penpal Page up. I am very excited about it! What's it about? Well penpals ofcourse, but also the option to leave a comment if you are looking for a penpal.

Anyone who is looking for a penpal can simple leave a comment on the Penpal Page with their info and hobbies. Hopefully many penpal friendships will be born on this page!! The more people that join, the better ofcourse. Receiving a pretty letter is such a fun thing, so I want to share this with as many people as possible.

So if you are looking for a penpal, just head to the Penpal Page and leave a comment! Have fun!!

Behind the blog: Tizzalicious

 In my new Behind the blog I would like you to meet the lovely Maartje from the blog and webshop Tizzalicious. She makes supercute jewelry, so be sure to check her shop! I hope you all enjoy this read!

Welcome to Even Sweeter Dreams Maartje! Could you tell a bit about yourself and where you are from?

My name is Maartje, but I often go by my nickname Tizz. I’m 30 years old (aaah, it still feels weird to say that!) and I am from the Netherlands. 

Your blog is linked with you webshop Tizzalicious. When and why did you decide to start with the brand Tizzalicious?

I started making jewelry and accessories for myself, because I couldn’t find anything I liked in the shops. I had more supplies than I needed, so I decided to start selling on LiveJournal in 2005. I suffer from chronic migraines, so I can’t have a “normal” job and am on disability. Because I have a Danish boyfriend, and I can’t move abroad while on disability, so back in 2007, I decided to start my own shop, so I could provide for myself.

Your webshop is a successful one, what do you think is the secret of a webshop success?

I think my secret to success is that I sell things that are different and original. Of course this means not everyone will like what I make and sell, a lot of people will think my products are a little too crazy or colorful, but it does mean that the people who do like my creations can’t get the things they like in a whole lot of places, so they come to me!

How do you seek new trends and keep up to date on what to sell in your shop?

To be honest, I just make what I like. I have been lucky enough to pick up on some trends before they became trends, but I also read a lot of blogs, surf Etsy, etc. I think a lot of times things that are a little too crazy for people at first, become trends later on. Take moustaches for example. They used to be an indie thing not everyone would wear, but now you can get them anywhere. So I guess having a thing for crazy helps being ahead of the trends.

Do you have tips for others who want to sell their crafts online?

1. Make sure your product photos look great. Having great photos doesn’t only make your products look more appealing to potential customers, but it will also make them more likely to be featured in blogs, treasuries, etc.

2. Have a clear brand, use the same logo and font everywhere, so people will recognize you.

3. Do what you love! Don’t follow trends that don’t suit your style, just because they are trends. It’s better to start a trend than to follow one!

How do you see the future for Tizzalicious?

I have the dream a lot of webshop owners seem to have: My own little brick & mortar shop. I don’t know if it’s ever gonna happen, because running a real store is a lot more work than running a webstore, and I am not sure if I could handle it with my migraines. But I can always dream, right? If the store is not going to happen, I hope that at least I will be able ditch the disability, and earn enough with Tizzalicious to make a living.

Who are your favourite crafters/sellers of crafts?

Oooh, this is a hard one! I hang around on Etsy and DaWanda a lot, to find shops to feature in my blog, so my list of favorites is very long! Currently on my wishlist are items from:

Miss Honeybird http://www.etsy.com/shop/MissHoneyBird

CloverCoeur http://en.dawanda.com/shop/clovercoeur

Swiedebie http://www.swiedebie.com

What is your favourite thing of crafting?

I love the feeling of having something I love, that I made myself. And for the things I sell: It’s a great feeling when you make something, and other people love it enough to spend money on it.

 

What is the most rewarding thing of blogging to you?

I got to know a lot of fantastic people, and discovered a ton of great shops!

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Thank you so much Maartje! If you like the jewelry you see here, all made by Maartje, please visit her webshop at www.tizzalicious.com

If you want to read her blog, please visit http://blog.tizzalicious.com/

Creative challenge #5: Drawing

A day later than expected, my fifth creative challenge! Open to all who want to join me in the fun.
This time around it's another challenge about drawing. I am learning to draw a bit better every time I doodle in my smash journal or artjournal. I love it! So that's why I wanted to have some more drawing fun.

This challenge: Draw your own fantasy figure! It can look any way you want, it can be an animal, human or robot. Or something totally invented by you. Just have fun with it and be creative.

Just an example, not drawn by me!

The challenge starts today and ends on thursday! Want to join? Please be a follower of this blog and leave me a comment below saying you're in. That's all. Play and be creative my friends!!

Creative challenge result!

Hi my friends! Last weeks creative challenge was a fune one: gift wrapping. The rules? Buy someone a small gift and wrap it as nicely as possible. So that's what I did! I bought the best and cutest wrapping paper EVER, you will see for yourself.

Told you so! Hahaha. I love the wrapping paper. I almost didn't want to use it, it is just to cute! Tomorrow I will be back with a new challenge which I hope you will join!!

Home decor inspiration

Hi everyone!! Since a few days I have been in a mindset of changing some of the decor in my home. Right now I have alot of blue and gray items in my home, but I am in the mood for some more colour. With the two prints by Everyday is a holiday coming to my home soon, I thought I would get some inspiration for new looks and ideas.

This last picture is amazing! It's totally a 'what I want in my dream home' picture. One can always dream right?!

Even Sweeter Dreams on FaceBook

Hi my friends! Just a short message here to tell you all that Even Sweeter Dreams now has it's own FaceBook page! I would looove for you to join me there. I will post pictures that will not be on the blog and you won't miss a single update. It will be a fun spot for us to 'hang out', so I hope to see you there too! Just click on the caption below the kitty to join!

Join Even Sweeter Dreams on FB

Everyday is a holiday

Hi my friends! I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend so far. I am filling my days with lots of crafts and watching dvd's. I have watched Game of Thrones, which I looove and Harry Potter.

Other than that, I want to share a story about two amazingly talented people: Jenny and Aaron from the blog and shop Everyday is a holiday. I have been following their inspirational blog for some months now and when I read that they had been affected by the massive storm Sandy I knew I had to do something. Their home has been damaged alooot by the storm and they could use all the help people are willing to give. How you can help? Why not treat yourself to some of their amazing artwork. I have just purchased these two lovely prints.

I seriously cannot wait to receive these prints and hang them in my home. They will brighten up the room! Jenny and Aaron are offering 20% discount on all your purchases from their shop, so now is a great time to buy they art and help these two great artist with the rebuilding of their home!

Creative challenge #4: Gift wrapping

Hi my friends! I have a fun new challenge for you and myself. It would be fun if you could join me!
Today's challenge is all about wrapping of gifts, which will come in handy for the festive season to come.

Rules? Buy a loved one (or even yourself!) a small gift and wrap it as nicely as you can. Think outside of the box. Use ribbon, doilies, tags, stamps. Have fun with it!
Want to participate? All you have to do is be a follower of this blog and leave a comment. That's all!
The challenge starts today and ends next thursday, when I will post my result. Let's have some fun with this!

Creative challenge, the result!

Hi everyone! Last week I posted a new creative challenge, making an artjournal spread with either a Fall or Halloween theme. I had alot of fun with this one and want to share my result with you. Tomorrow I will post a new challenge, which you can always enter!