Etsy Front Page Tags/Themes for the week of April 23-29

Happy Royal Wedding Day! I'm sure by now everyone has had a chance to catch an update of the beautiful couple and needless to say...that dress! Gorgeous! Speaking of gorgeous here are some of the stunning tags/themes to grace the front page of Etsy over the past week:

• Foxy Goodness (fox, art, print, plate, mask, clock, sweater, tshirt, teacup, saucer, doll, pillow, stuffie, pencil case, woodland ,dressup, pouch)
• Will you go to prom with me? (prom, may trends, blue, teal, denimn blue, formal, highschool, dance)
• What Big Teeth you have, Grandma (little red riding hood, rustic, woodland, may trends, wolf, axe, art print, cape, mushroom, fairytale, brown, maroon, burgundy)
• Earthy Hues (earth tones, journal, slate blue, olive green, coral red, vintage decor, jewelry, gray, jasper beads, books, bags, nature, natural colors, mothers day gifts, graduation gifts, spring fashion jewelry, dusky turquoise)
• The Earth is our Friend, Keep it that Way! (earth day, recycle, renew, reduce,reuse, trees)
• Mom Loves to Cook (mom. mothers day, kitchen, home, food, gourmet, cooking, wine, herb, yummy)
• BohemianWeekend (teal, seafoam, red, mix, vibrant, bohemian, vintage, clothing, may trends)
• A Shabby Chic Mother's Day (gifts for mom, khaki, natural, earthy, old world, vintage, home decor, decorations, interior design, french, blue, white, grey, gray, fashion accessory)
• Nostalgic Whimsy ( may trends, summer, gift ideas, eco-friendly, tea stained, aged, pattern, patina, nostalgia, springtime)
• For the Chefs (home decor, kitchen, cooking, blue, white, black, gifts, gifts for mothers, chef)
  

Coupon Fun Update

Despite life being a little hectic over the past couple of weeks I have still been trying to use coupons and chase sales. Overall I think I've done pretty well. Before I went shopping I made sure to organize my coupons and match them with sales. Canadian Coupons is a great site to help out with this (scroll about half way down to find the grocery match ups). My poor hubby had to take me to the grocery store last Saturday since I didn't feel up to doing it myself and after checkout he even commented that he thought the cashier had missed something since the bill was lower than he thought. I said it was just the power of coupons and sales!!! Here are some of the coupons and sales from the past couple of weeks that have helped me save!

• Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks- Reg price $3.99 On sale for $2.99 + $1 off coupon
• Big Box Diapers- Reg price $19.99 and up On sale for $16.93 + $2 off coupon
• Pillsbury Crescent Rolls- On sale 4/$3 + $1off coupon (and yes you could buy just one making this my fav. deal at just 34 cents!!!)
• Special K Cereal- Regular price $5.99 On sale for $4.49 + $1.50 off coupon AND there's a coupon in the box for free coffee
• FREE YOGURT COUPON from cereal box $4.29 value
• Green Giant Frozen Veggies- Reg price $2.99 On sale for $1.99 +1.00 off coupon
• Apple juice- 50 cents off coupon (yay for hubby for using this one all on his own!)
• Cheese- Regular price $5.99 and up Early bird special $4.44
• Sirloin Roast (with Sunday being a holiday alot of meat was on 1/2 price!)                                     Regular price $7.77 - 50%off
• Chicken Breast Reg price $9.51- 50% off
• Diapers (again...geesh) On sale for $14.99+$2.00 off coupon

Total saving this week: approx. $30

Total savings to date: approx. $54.09

Artfire Front Page Themes This Week

Have you signed up for the Artfire Collection of the Day emails? Don't forget to sign up and you could win a $100 shopping spree at a Pro Artfire Studio! As a shop owner I also love the extra exposure that it gives to shops and I've found plenty of new fav's myself. Here is a sampling of some of the themes to grace the front page of Artfire over the past few days:

• Earth Day
• Ou La La Paris
• The Wonderful World of Color- Fallow
• Bring on the Birds
• Crazy Copper 2
• Zensational Zigzags
• Here Comes Peter Cottontail
• CheckHolic
• Urban Chic
• Color the Sky Blue
• Fine Art Drawings
• For Mom
• Lilac Easter Color
• Mint
• Dusty Rose
• Hydrangea
• Take a Break
• Capturing Time
• Ivory and Ebony
• Cerulean Blues
• Golden Gems

♥Baby Update♥

Our beautiful baby boy arrived safe and sound on April 14th weighing 7lbs 7ozs. We are settling in at home and even big brother seems to have adapted...for the time being! Watch for at least one of my shops to reopen early next week, updates on front page Etsy/Artfire trends and themes, an update to the Artfire Top Sellers list and of course more couponing fun!

♥Baby Break♥

Our new addition (baby #2) is scheduled to arrive via csection on April 14th so I will be taking the next few days "off" to get some extra things done before heading to the hospital. My shops will remain open until tomorrow and then will also be put into vacation mode so be sure to grab those Easter and Mother's Day gifts. Thank you to everyone for your wonderful wishes and thoughts and I will be back to blogging and selling my handmade goodies as soon as we are settled in at home. Have a great couple of weeks!

This Week's Coupon Update

Once again I had a blast with coupons this week. Who knew how addicting they would become?! My girlfriends also turned me to a couple more Canadian coupon sites, flyerland.ca (totally awesome if your Michael's coupon didn't come in the paper) and websaver.ca in addition to last week's coupon sites. Some of those coupons have already arrived and paired with grocery flyers in hand I scoured the deals and was pleasantly pleased with the outcome. Here were some of my savings this week:

Goldfish Crackers: Reg. price $2.49-$2.99 depending on the store, on sale at Food Basics last week for $1.99+ 50 cent coupon
Michaels Coupon: saved 60 cents on the bird house I got for my little guy to paint
Old El Paso Taco Kit: Reg price $4.29ish depending on the store, on sale at Food Basics THIS WEEK for $2.99 +$1 off coupon
FREE YOGURT coupon that came in one of the cereal boxes last week: approx value $3.49
Plus I shopped the sales and saved on toilet paper (saved approx. $6.50) and the jumbo containers of coffee (saved approx. $4.50) both of which I HATE paying full price for!

Total Saving This Week: approx. $18.59

Total Saving To Date: $24.09

This will be my last coupon entry until after our new addition arrives but if you have any tips/tricks or coupon delights to share I would love to hear about them! I will do my best to keep track in the next couple of weeks and update you as soon as we are settled in!

Introducing Delmar Creations!

Looking for a fabulous gift for Easter, Mother's Day or just a treat for yourself? Be sure to stop by Delmar Creations for unique handmade creations for you and your home. Here's a little more about the wonderful artist behind this shop:

What would you like people to know about you as a person?\

-I'm honest and won't take people for granted.

Tell me a bit about your art and your products? What inspires you?

-I love crocheting. I try to make things that are simple and quick and hence reasonably priced for my customers. I'm inspired by going to craft shows and surfing wonderful crafting sites like ArtFire and Etsy.

How do you share your creations? Where can we find you?

-I've just opened my online studio on ArtFire - http://www.delmarcreations.artfire.com/ with April's encouragement so I'm hoping to share my creations with customers through that forum and I also love doing craft shows, especially at Christmas time, in and around the Toronto area.

What is your most important lesson since starting your craft/ business?

-Listen to what customers and other artisans have to say as I learn from them.

Some fun tidbits:

-Coffee, tea or hot chocolate? - coffee

-Your favourite candy? - KitKat

-Your favourite colour? - anything pink

-If I were to catch you grooving it would be to this song…. - "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves - an oldie but a goodie