Spotlighting A Ray of Stitches

This week's feature is A Ray of Stitches. A Ray of Stitches carries doll diapers, tic tac toe sets, checkers, memory sets, play money and more. In fact, A Ray of Stitches contributed play money to the collaboration I was a part of at My Beautiful Girl (see the photo in the post below). A Ray of Stitches creates safe and fun toys as an alternative to toys Made in China.

Check out this super cute doll diaper:


Both of my daughters got interested in diapering their "babies" at around 20 months and our cloth diapers are way too big for their babies, so they get frustrated. What a perfect little gift it would make for them!

You can also find A Ray of Stitches at the something congo and she blogs here.

Collaboration with My Beautiful Girl

My Beautiful Girl on Hyena Cart is turning 1! She's got amazing collaborations and FFS lotteries and auctions running from February 8th to 10th. Here's the collaboration I was part of:



You can find it here.

The Spinning Circles Collaboration features a fitted diaper and Mile High Monkey fleece soaker, a painted T-shirt, wooden play money, and a pair of crocheted wool shorties (made by me). Bidding starts at $40 at 10am on Saturday, February 9th!

Spotlighting The Elemental Muse

Starting an online business, or any business for that matter, can be a daunting task. One particular challenge of having an online business is figuring out where to host your website and what kind of website to have. The Elemental Muse provides web hosting, domain name hosting, and website and graphics design. Michelle, the WAHM behind The Elemental Muse, provides a free eBook download about things to consider in choosing a domain name and web host. She provides 5 different packages for web hosting and all are very affordable. More important, however, each package comes with excellent support and service.

The Muses Guide is a division of The Elemental Muse. The Muses Guide features downloadable eBooks on topics like creating sales newsletters and making collaborations work.

Finally, the blog WAHspirations is full of information about running your own business. I found this post "A Thought on Value" very interesting. As I look to expand my business, I'll definitely be checking out all of Michelle's websites.

Spotlighting Whiffy Bean Bags

So it's been a little bit since I profiled a WAHM, but I'm back at it. I've heard a lot about Whiffy Bean Bags on the Hyena Cart forums, but I've never actually looked into what they are. Whiffy Bean Bags are scented sachets in cute fabrics that double as bean bags. What a great idea!



Leah, the WAHM behind Whiffy Bean Bags, also sells Whiffy See-Its. Whiffy See-It's look like a pillow with a see through window and, inside the pillow are a number of small items that children can look for. The pellets inside the pillow are clear and scented. I am desperately seeking toys for quiet time for my oldest daughter who doesn't nap anymore. I think my oldest dd would love one of these and I think they'd make great gifts!



Leah makes a number of other great products. To learn more, check out Leah's blog here! Whiffy Bean Bags is also on Hyena Cart, where she sells WAHM samples.

play food

Last week, I traded with Jennifer of Scent-sory Creations. In exchange for 2 16oz. salt and sugar scrubs, I sent her some play food. I tried her salt scrub last night and I loved it! It was very moisturizing, relaxing, and smelled wonderful!

I started making play food in December for my daughters for Christmas. We were very concerned this year about minimizing the number of plastic toys our children received for Christmas. We bought them a wooden storefront for Christmas, as well as a wooden cash restiger (that's how my daughter pronounces it!), and I made them a bunch of food to stock their store with.

So these are some of what I sent Jennifer for her son. My girls love their coffee cups, because they know how much I love coffee and we like to play Dunkin' Donuts! I hope Jennifer's son likes his too. I hope to start carrying these in my store soon.

$HC auction starts on Tuesday

I've decided to start offering knits at Pumpkin Pie Baby because a lot of people prefer knit to crochet and I personally enjoy both knitting and crocheting. Plus, I like how differently yarns look knitted or crocheted, and I like the option of offering both.

Back in November, I traded with Burgh Baby Gear for 2 skeins of her "Cherry Tart" colorway. I used 1 skein to knit up these capris:

I'm happy with how they came out, but they've got little imperfections that keep me from wanting to offer them at full price. Which brings me to my first ever $HC auction. Starting on Tuesday, I'll be putting these capris up for $HC auction. The winner can use up to 100% $HC. If they don't have a lot of $HC, they can always use $HC to pay part of the winning bid and contribute paypal toward the rest.

Spotlighting The Felted Sheep

So I have a problem with yarn. My problem is that I have a very difficult time not buying yarn, even when I know I have more than enough to keep me knitting and crocheting for months. I'd love to try an experiment where I don't buy anything until I've used up every last bit I have, but I wouldn't make it, so I won't try.

I'm bringing up my problem because I've just discovered The Felted Sheep. The Felted Sheep offers felted items, including hand bags, but also handspun and dyed yarns. And these yarns are absolutely gorgeous! This yarn reminds me of a shiny, delicious granny smith apple.

The Felted Sheep is on both Etsy and Hyena Cart. Right now, she's got her handspun yarns listed on her Etsy shop, and if I just had some extra money right now...

Here is some roving she's got available. What I find really interesting is that if you like some roving but don't know how to spin, she'll spin it for you!