And the winner is....

Last week I announced my dear friend Dancing Mooney was having a sale and a giveaway. I just wanted to do a quick follow up and let you know who the fabulous winner was since this is an Estian that I never met before.

She is The Charm Lady and her shop looks rather interesting. Anyone who knows me knows I love my charms and pendants. It's my big weakness...next to Have It Sweet's Fleur de Sel Caramels. (Another day...but oh my!)

Dancing Mooney writes: " TheCharmLady is our lucky lady today, who's won her choice of

Sugar Body Polish and matching Soap from my shop. She is an Etsy artist that makes really cool jewelry, and is an amazing photographer as well, along with being a fantastic mom

{I can only tell by her blog!} and so much more!"

I found several pendants I liked right away, it was hard not to find something I liked. It was a fun shop to visit and I never would have known about it if it was not for Dancing Mooney's contest!

Anyway be sure to visit Dancing Mooney. You can read up on her shop and her wonderful soapy goodies. She also has jewelry and collages too! You can find the post here. I am quite sincere when I say I have been using her products since she has been making them and I truly love them. I am also always so excited when she comes up with a new scent or product, she works so hard to get it just right. I have very sensitive skin and her soaps always work for me so well.

Kona Bar by Dancing Mooney (Coffee, Cocoa, Coconut....Oh Yummy!)

I have two other soapy ladies I use for different reasons and I will reintroduce them soon.

Why so soap crazy you ask?
Well, it is something we all need and use.
It is consumable and does not go to waste or to your waist.
It can and is an art form for many which makes it a LOT of fun.
It makes a great luxury gift and it will not be left laying around collecting dust.
It is something someone will use and get a great deal of pleasure out of. So you can always go back and refill that item for the next holiday or birthday or what have you.
Many of the soap makers on Etsy use only the best ingredients and not all of that nasty stuff that is in the soaps you buy in the stores. Once you start to use hand made artisan soaps, you find your skin no longer gets itchy and looks and feels better.

Coconut Bar by Dancing Mooney

So, that is why I am a bit nutty in the soap department and support my equally nutty soapy friends who show no end to their creativity. I just love it. It's good clean fun!

Dancing Mooney - My first date with Etsy!

My VERY first Etsy Artisan I ever purchased from is Dancing Mooney. I still have the little hand painted card with a butterfly in purples and blues with a brass button on it that says "Believe."
I bet she didn't know that!

I have watched Dancing Mooney evolve over time and I have to say she is one hard working and even more so, hard thinking gal. She is constantly trying to create balance in her shop, cater to her customers and come out with very reasonably priced high quality products that just make you FEEL GOOD.


We have never personally met but have become good friends and talk to each other about ideas and likes an so forth. What do you get with Dancing Mooney? You get one of the sweetest and classiest ladies running an on-line gift shop there is, who will go out of her way to make sure YOU are happy. This shows in the pride she has in her work. And it is always quality over quantity. No mass production of anything here. I have a bit of everything from her...soaps, to salts.. earrings and necklaces and even her art which she often does in collages. We are kindred spirits who love butterflies. :) I had to splash as many photos as I could on here today, as it is a bit dreary here and she always has so much beautiful color in her store. I hope you enjoy her as much as I have and still do and don't be afraid to ask her about what is coming up next, she is always cooking up new ideas and that is where you get them from....your customers. So here is here interview....

Why do you do what you do?
It's always been my dream to have a gift shop, and when I found Etsy I was hooked. It's been a process trying to decide where I want to put the focus on my shop because I love creating so many things, but what it really boils down to, is that I love creating items that make women feel beautiful, both inside and out. Be it a new piece of jewelry that makes you feel pretty, a fresh bar of soap that cleanses the body and refreshes the mind, or a piece of art that inspires your creative soul. My simple slogan has always been {Mind . Body . Soul} and I think that pretty much sums up how I feel about my work. I hope that women feel pampered when they get their packages in the mail, because doing a little something for yourself now and then is a treat, and I think we all deserve it.

What inspires you?
Gosh, I am inspired by so many things... Music, nature, color, food, fashion, gardening, girlfriends, you name it... inspiration is everywhere. Sometimes I am in the mood to make something poppy and bright, while other days I may keep it more earthy and neutral, but my ideas are really all over the place. It's hard to contain them sometimes, and it's been fun watching the true persona of DancingMooney evolve over the years.

What is your favorite thing to make?
I go back and forth. Well, I go round and round, how's that? Primarily I make soap and jewelry as often as I can, but sometimes I feel the need to get out my paints and get my hands dirty, and that's when making new collages comes to play. I don't know why I can't just focus on one thing, I drive my self crazy about it... but in the long run, I've narrowed it down, and I've spent a great deal of time trying to create balance in my shop.

What are your future wishes for your shop?
I feel like I am just now getting to the point that DancingMooney is finding her true self, and it's a constant work in progress. My goal for this year is to really spend some time developing my jewelry line and creating a more cohesive boutique feel in my shop. My intention was never to be a bath and body shop or a jewelry store... my goal has always been to be more of a gift shop, or a boutique. It's been hard trying to decide which way to go next, but I feel like I'm really starting to find balance within my variety and even though we are just now approaching spring, I am already thinking about fall and getting ready for the holidays. It's amazing as a small business owner how much forward thinking you have to do, and it's a skill I've had to learn, but my goals for this year are really just to keep moving forward, and see what happens next...





Just a few more pictures before I have to go. Coming up is Moaning Minnie and my Golf/Nascar/Autism showdown. (I did finally get some good photos with Moaning Minnie's hats....and now I realized I have a lot of cropping, editing etc to do. lol!)