Treasury Tuesday: Patchwork + Mothers = Love

Patchwork of Love featuring PeachesProducts

Curated by RNEST members:

RNEST Gets Geometric curated by KiraArts

Red is all the Rage curated by JustEggsquisite

Just for Mom curated by JustEggsquisite

Hold it up to Your Ear curated by RinaMiriam

A Gray Day curated by NightOfJoyVintage

Featuring RNEST members:

M is for Mother! featuring UpTillNow

Bus featuring TheWhimsicalSweet

Pastelicious III featuring TheKnottyOwlShop

Grey Tree featuring SunshyneSilverwear

Star-Crossed Lovers featuring SunshyneSilverwear

Etsy! featuring SunshineOnWater

Brought to you by the Letter H featuring SunshineOnWater

Mint and Rose featuring SugarAndType

Eat Your Veggies! featuring SewIndieShop

Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom! featuring SewIndieShop

There Once Was a Place featuring SchumArt

Do Ladybugs Get the Blues featuring PoetCharms

Rainy Days and Rainbows featuring PapersaurusCreative

The Rivet Make My Day featuring MyBonnyMonAbri

Zip it Quick! Today Celebrates Zipper Day! featuring MoyaLazyFactory

Wednesday Wellspring: Sarah G. Ortiz Photography

Congratulations to #31 Mitchie for winning A Different View's giveaway!

And bubbling up from the well this week, is the dual shop diva, Sarah G Ortiz! Sarah offers the world her beautiful photographs through her shop, Sarah G. Ortiz Photography, and she also runs Jibabu, where she offers an eclectic mix of the fun and functional.

Today, one lucky winner will receive a beautiful print from Sarah G. Ortiz Photography. This print is from a trip to Granada, Nicaragua featuring an original photography by Sarah G. Ortiz. It shows a scene with the Cathedral in the City Centre at sundown. Sarah's work is photojournalistic in nature, and therefore, this is a found situation, in which nothing was posed. The photograph measure 8" x 10" and is printed on Fuji Archive Professional paper with a Luster finish using archival inks. When received, photo will be packaged with a backing board and acid-free archival clear bag. Backing board is made from recycled materials, and bag is cellophane, which is 100% biodegradable.

You can find Sarah and her lovely creations around Rochester this weekend at:

• The Pittsford Sutherland Art Club Arts & Crafts fair at St. John of Rochester on Wickford Way in Fairport on Saturday May 14th from 10:00am to 4:00pm

And now for the rules (This giveaway is open to the US and Canada only.):

MANDATORY ENTRY #1: Go to Sarah G Ortiz Photography, heart the shop, and then leave a comment here telling me your favorite item.

MANDATORY ENTRY #2: Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment letting me know- or if you are already, leave a comment saying you're a loyal follower.

BONUS ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each):

1. "Like" RNEST on Facebook.
2. "Like" Sarah G. Ortiz Photography on Facebook.
3. Follow Sarah's artistic blog.
4. Go to Jibabu, heart the shop, and then leave a comment here telling me your favorite item.
5. Tweet and blog about this giveaway and leave a comment here with the link.

The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, May 17th and will be announced in the next Wednesday Wellspring.

Make-It Mondays: Turn Digital Images Into Polaroids

I just discovered a wildly habit forming tool that you can use for your Etsy shop, blogs or just plain fun. It's called Poladroid. What Poladroid does is take you digital images and crops them into square compositions, digitally ages and colorizes them for a retro feel and frames them with the classic white Polaroid background.

This program can be downloaded for FREE, because it is still in its beta version. (Although you can offer donations for this truly fun product.) It took me a grand total of 20 minutes to download, install and try out my first photo.


After downloading and installing Poladroid, you can click on the desktop icon to open it. I expected this to pull up a full program with drop down menus and tool bars, but it is so much cooler and so much more simple. A small Polaroid camera will appear on your desktop. All you have to do is drag and drop your digital image over it. Within moments the camera will spit out an undeveloped Polaroid, sound effects and all. You can watch it develop slowly like a real Polaroid picture or (and this is my favorite part) you can click and hold the photo to shake it back and forth for faster development. AHHHHH, I love it!!!

Our Team

Our Team "Poladroided"

My "Poladroids" automatically saved into My Pictures once they developed. After that you can move them wherever you want. Use one for your Etsy items, especially if you have a retro style or vintage shop. (Note: I say only one because they will not show off the true color of your item.) Use them on your blog, facebook or webpage. As the manual warns it's "addictive". As your tester I concur with that statement, so excuse me while I get back to making Poladroids....

*Addendum: You can also have them printed like other digital photos, however the white background will be the white background of the photo paper. It is up to you to cut it down to Polaroid size.

Jack's Pick: Snowy Tree Line Photgraphy by lovenaturephotos

Each Friday I select an item created by a member of the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team(RNEST). What criteria do I use? I look for great looking items that I think are well made offered for a great price!

Here in Rochester, we endure some harsh winter conditions. Lake effect is a dirty word to most. The cold winter wind cuts through to our core. But even in the frigid middle of winter, in the deepestsnow, most people here at some point or another in the year go, "Boy, it sure is pretty out today."

Aimee Maher of lovenaturephotos finds beauty in our darkest months. Her shop name is so fitting, and I'm right there with you, "I love nature photos," too! Aimee has taken some enjoyable winter landscapes that capture what it really looks like out the window in the throws of January.

The photo I have selected, called "Snowy Tree Line" I like most for its depth. It leads you into the photo, and takes you on a journey down a snowy path. It reminds me of Robert Frost. It reminds me of the words to Jingle Bells. It is the kind of road I want to take a stroll down to find a warm fire and a cup of hot cocoa at the other end.

I love the curly branches too.

Right now Aimee has a "BOGO" sale on (Buy One, Get One), and you can order this print and another in whatever size you want.