Wedding Finds for Bride to Be

My Naughty Love Coupons (sure to add extra spice to any wedding night!) were featured on the Oh Canada! Team blog along with some other very gorgeous pieces.





Check out this beautiful Corocraft Leaf Necklace by Blue Jeans Jewelry







Or this absolutely divine Peacock Feather Headband by Miss Merete

Check out the Canada Team blog to see more incredible items for your wedding!
and don't forget to
Check out my store for more Vintage and Handmade Designs.

Who Won the Narwhal Journal Giveaway!?

This last week has been really exciting for me! Making gifts for people I love is originally how I got into loving handmade. It all started with wanting to remove the commercialism from our favourite winter holiday and spiraled into this awesome Etsy ride I'm taking right now.

But hosting this contest knowing that I was going to be giving away such an awesome little whale of a journal really re-ignited my passion for designing and creating journals.

So it is with absolute pleasure that I announce the Winner of the Happy Little Narwhal Journal:


Laura from MABJEWELRY!

A heartfelt Congratulations from me!

As a consolation to everyone who didn't win, I will offer a post-giveaway promotion!! From now until Thursday, March 18th I will offer 15% off any item in my store

BUT FIRST! You have to Congratulate MAB over Twitter
..OR..
Congratulate MAB on her blog!

Use the phrase "I tweeted" or "I blogged" in the notes to seller and I will refund you 15% off the price before shipping through paypal. But you only have one week to take advantage of this awesome deal!

A HUGE thank you so much for entering and making my first giveaway so exciting. I think I'm addicted to the excitement, so stick around to hear about upcoming events!

Much Love,
Farren + Happy Narwhal

http://FarrenSquare.Etsy.com

Do you like Free Stuffs?

Today I received my 200th Etsy Shop Heart! That means that over 200 people have declared my shop as one of their favourites. I feel so blessed to have so much support from so many amazing people that I have decided I am going to do my very first shop give-away!

I will be giving away this ADORABLE Blank Happy Narwhal Journal. He's just dying to swim into your heart!


The Happy Narwhal is Unicorn of the sea, swimming and splashing joyfully - unless someone tries to sneak a peak at your inner secrets... then he will stab them with his horn! Thats what those are for, right?

Details:
♥ Hand bound with a coptic stitch.
♥ Stiff covers.
♥ 6.5 inches X 9 inches
♥ 60 pages (120 front and back)
♥ Made from Recycled Materials & 100% post-consumer Recycled Paper.

Enter as many different ways and times as you like, I will be drawing randomly on March 10th and announce the winner on March 11th!

Here are different ways to enter:

1) Follow my blog, then post a link to this blog post on your facebook or elsewhere!! Don't forget to leave a comment here telling me where you left the link and a way to get a hold of you.

2) Follow me on Twitter and ReTweet the following: "RT @FarrenSquare WIN THIS NARWHAL JOURNAL http://bit.ly/b2vyIB RT once/hour MAX to win! "
(Please only retweet once per hour! All other entries will be ignored, sorry!)

3) Purchase something from my shop between now and March 10th and your name will be entered three times!

I'm so excited to be hosting my first give-away, I can't wait! Good luck to all!

xox
Farren Square

TED Tuesday - Simplicity Sells

This hilarious TED talk highlights a key message to all who work in design. Simplicity sells. Whether you design furniture, websites, or sell on Etsy - limit the hoops your customers have to jump through, and you'll gain life-long supporters. Plus I can't resist a TED Talk that features parody songs!

"New York Times columnist David Pogue takes aim at technology’s worst interface-design offenders, and provides encouraging examples of products that get it right. To funny things up, he bursts into song:"



I think this is a TED Talk celebrating the fact that I am getting my new iPhone Today! I have been waiting a long time to upgrade, and it is finally time, Yeehaw! Good bye, really terrible cheap cellphone, hello Personal Electronic Organizer!

Here are a few of my favourite *simple* iPhone cases & sleeves...



A gorgeous show-stopping customizable wooden iPhone Sleeve from GreenHouseFX.Etsy.com









A very cute tongue-in-cheek Vegan Leather iPhone Sleeve from
Squirrellicious.Etsy.com







An incredible and impossibly adorable felt Monster iPhone Sleeve from Kelsey @ Appleblossom21.Etsy.com

And a bright and cheery well-crafted yellow knit iPhone Sleeve from AmandaFenniak.Etsy.com




xox
Farren Square

Naughty & Nice Love Coupons

Valentine's Coupons
Originally uploaded by fawkesie

These Coupon Books are perfect for you and your partner this Valentine's Day. They are well-crafted, sweet, and 100% created by me, not the ugly and boring ones found elsewhere around the 'net.

Just choose your style:
The Love Coupons are perfect for a couple who want to spend quality time together, or give thoughtful gifts this year. Some of the creatively worded suggestions inside include:

• Making a lunch for the recipient
• Foot-rubs and back-rubs
• A favourite desert just for the recipient or
• Remote control for the day

Naughty Coupons
Originally uploaded by fawkesie

The Naughty Coupons are perfect for the couple who want a spicy game to play together. Decide on your terms and then start tearing out these coupons to ensure a night full of pleasure for both of you! Some of the suggestions include:

• Position requests (reverse cowgirl, anyone?)
• A Sudsy post-lovin' Shower
• "Kiss me here" coupons
• And more secret - but not scary! - sexytime fun.

Chocolates, cards, flowers, and candy are all forgotten after February is done, why not get your lover something that will make memories together this year.

If you want to see more pictures, Visit My Shop on Etsy and take a peek!

The 8 Secrets of Success

A quickie TED talk, today! I found this speedy little video the other day and watched it for my own curiosity. Am I on track with my goals and aspirations? Am I moving towards success? Turns out, there were a few things that I was already doing, a few things that I know I needed to focus on, and a few things that I needed to re-evaluate about myself and my goals.

Even though this video is extremely short, it is packed with useful and motivational information that helped me feel like I was on the right track. Hopefully you feel the same way!


"Why do people succeed? Is it because they're smart? Or are they just lucky? Neither. Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success:"



Motivated?! Let's get creative!

To view more TED talks, go here.

Brian Phelps Blunder

Brian Phelps Blunder
Originally uploaded by fawkesie

Well, I learned a pretty good lesson the other night. I've had this skinny pocket notebook finished for a while now, sitting in my lovely "finished products" vintage picnic basket, when I finally decided it was time to list the item and try to sell it on Etsy.
My handsome manfriend and I were trying to come up with a title that would describe this diver's hunky physique... without the cheese of "hunky"... when I thought of googling this Olympic Athlete to see if that could help us describe the man.

Well, turns out Brian Phelps, Olympic Medalist, is a convicted paedophile, as of 2008. *face palm* There is no way that I could sell this item! What if someone bought it and had no idea - showing everyone their awesome skinny notebook only to have someone break the news they are flaunting a child molester! AWFUL!

So, this skinny pocket notebook sits, sad and lonely in my vintage picnic basket. If anyone has any ideas of what to do with it, be my guest and suggest away - I just don't have the heart to throw things out.

Shucks. Such a pretty green, too.

Happy New Year!

Here is to a new decade! I think about where I was ten years ago and how far I have come emotionally, spiritually, and professionally - it can be overwhelming how much can change in 10 years!

In the new year we will be able to say "Twenty-" instead of "Two thousand and-" which is pretty exciting. I hope to advance professionally as a hoop dance performer, an Etsy seller, and a teacher - but I'm also taking this time to focus on growing myself as a supportive and devoted friend, partner, and family member. I see a lot of positive personal growth in the next year and decade!

So to all friends and newcomers reading my blog, I wish you the happiest of New Years and New Decades filled with your own personal growth and successes.

Much Love!
Farren Square

So exciting!!

I'm in the middle of organizing my cozy craft corner - so cozy that it's 4ft by 4ft - when I had to drop everything and share the exciting news:

I've been featured in my very first treasury! Click here to see all the pretty things!" Thanks for helping, guys, clicking the link and even leaving comments will help bump the entire group closer to the front page so that it will get more interest.

I've never been featured in a treasury before, so this was way to exciting and I just had to share.

I'm also pretty excited to share my newly organized craft corner, once I'm finished. I've incorporated a couple vintage pieces to the design and some interesting organization techniques and ideas, and I'm really looking forward to having all my supplies super handy.

Many Bisous,
Farren Square

The best way to clean up!

When I was younger, I loved playing and hated cleaning up. Who didn't, right?
My sister and I loved our lego, barbies, troll dolls (remember them?!), blocks, and pretty much anything else with many tiny pieces. You know the ones that seem to float all over the floor, but never in the toy bin where they belonged?

Toys inside, the playmat hangs nicely.

Then one year we received PlayMats from my Auntie Lana who is probably the craftiest person in my extended family - I can remember LOVING how easy clean up became: just throw everything into the middle of the circle, pull the drawstrings and it turns into a bag that holds all your toys until next time!

The playmat opens up for playtime.

Now that I have made a few of my own PlayMats for friends and their families, I also realize what a great great gift bag they make - the kids may not be into it at first, but Mom always is, and the kids come around the first time they use it. You can find more pictures of this playmat in my Etsy shop!

Simply Pull the Drawstrings - All clean!

My first Blog Feature!

Wow! I am very excited to share that my Etsy Shop was featured on another blog today!

SimplyInvitingCards asked me a few questions and you can find it all here! She has a great blog and a great shop - worth checking out especially if you send out Holiday cards around this time of year.

I'm also learning about Twitter this week! I am at http://twitter.com/FarrenSquare so follow me if you have an account and I will follow you back!

Happy Birthday to Meeee

I'm one hundred and threeeeeeeee... Its my birthday today! And the best gift would be to sell some lovely items from my Etsy store. Its a definite win / win for both of us! ^__^