Etsy shop tip and my first Etsy Trade

It is not uncommon for Etsy sellers to trade items with each other. I'd had a few offers, but it usually was something I already had or didn't need at that time.

However when Jean from the beautiful shop Write Owl messaged me there was no way I could resist.

She makes the most wonderful journals but is also very interested in pottery and sells a selection of that too.

A lot of her work is custom and so was the journal she made me. After asking me what color I wanted I had no idea if the colors I had in mind were doable, sky blueish turqoise with light and dark peach, but she said it was no problem at all. And when it arrived it was even prettier than I imagined.

It even had her cute little owl logo in the back of the book!

But: the more owls the better! So I drew my little blog owl in the front as sort of an "ex libris" with my name under it.

Her shop really has something for everyone. Whether you are searching for the perfect gift, just want to spoil yourself or want a book block to put your own cover on, this is the place to be.

Her color combinations are always lovely and even her shop page is so pleasing to the eye.

Here's a little selection of items that can be found in her shop.

She also has a blog in which she writes about her items, other Etsians and currently her "National Novel Writing Month"- endeavor. So if you want to learn more about this seller or maybe want to support her writing for NaNoWriMo you should definitely hop on over there.

1 Year Anniversary: International Giveaway

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Exactly one year ago I wrote my very first blog post. I admit that I posted, and soon after that deleted, one or two blog posts before that, but after that it felt really natural and I always knew what I wanted to write about next. Somehow I never really pondered over the question:"What do I want this blog to be about?".

A lot has happened though: the layout's been changed completely, some topics have changed, disappeared or been added and I'm sure a lot more will change this year.

To kickstart this next year and to thank you all for reading and commenting and some of you for having wonderful blogs yourself, I arranged this giveaway.

The lovely Lily from my favorite Etsy shop Chouettes has been kind enough to offer a few owl goodies to give to one of you.

You get to pick one of these seven items below. Go on take a look!

1. Lovely Yellow Ring

2. Daisy Owl Earrings

3. Yellow Rhinestone Earrings

4. Creme Rhinestone Earrings

5. Lucite Berry Earrings

6. Yellow Lucite Earrings

7. Cute Cameo Hairpin

And the winner will also receive this amazing owl necklace.

So that's 1 adorable necklace and 1 matching item of your choice!

This is an international giveaway

so everyone can join:)

All you need to do is comment with the number of the item you'd love to win along with the necklace.

But there are lots of extra entries to be earned:

+ 2 if you're a follower

+ 2 if you heart Lily's shop Chouettes

+ 1 (each) if you tweet about this, friend me on facebook and/or like me on facebook

+ 3 if you blog about this giveaway

+ 3 (each) if you grab one or more of my banners, I made a whole bunch of new ones. Check 'em out here or click the link in the right sidebar.

To make this easier on you and me please leave all entries in ONE comment in which you state how many extra entries you've earned and how.

And don't forget to leave a way for me to find you if you're the winner;)

Winner will be announced on Saterday the 13th of November.

Good luck and thanks for joining!

Owl Things Considered

As we all know owls are pretty amazing creatures. However it wasn't until today I found out they had this special ability.

The video is a bit long maybe, but I urge you to go see the two tricks this little guy has up his sleeve, or wing I suppose. Especially the second ability came so unexpected.

If you didn't have the patience, or maybe you just wanna see more, here's a shorter clip of the shrinking owl. Because you I just don't want you to miss out on it;)

Did you guys know about this? Or were you as surprised as I was?

Just a Little Update

I have a few little announcements to make:

• I have listed lots of Christmas items today.
• There's a SALE on my Etsy till this Saterday. Buy 2 or more items, get 10% off.
• Tomorrow's my 1 year blogging anniversary!
• ...which will be celebrated by an amazing giveaway:) Here's a tiny little spoiler for you:

Marvelous Music ...and a Giveaway Winner!

Given the fact that I have never ever been so obsessed about anything as much as CocoRosie, it might be weird that I haven't done a post on them yet.

However the reason for this is very simple. CocoRosie isn't exactly everyone's cup of tea.

But If you can handle the moustaches, weird lyrics and animal noises, this might just be the thing for you too.

Anyway I'm going to a show of theirs tonight, the 4th time I will see them live!

Their amazing beatboxer is now their official show opener, I haven't heard anything from his cd yet, but the last time I saw him perform he was great.

I'll hopefully come back with some pictures.

Giveaway Winner

Now onto the winner of the owl decal giveaway.

The random number generator picked....

The lovely Jean from Write Owl (Etsy, blog).

Congrats!

Thank you all very much for joining! I am happy to announce the next special giveaway will be held the day after tomorrow.

Sunday Sequence: Happy Halloween!

Since everyone is in the mood for Halloween I thought I'd do a little owl post. Here are some of the cutest pumpkins and costumes I could find. Enjoy!

Even though the last one isn't really meant for Halloween, as it's just a costume of "The Owl", wouldn't it be cool to go like that?

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Halloween in Holland

As you all probably know, Halloween is tomorrow. We don't have it here in Holland, but a lovely American friend of mine sent me a box full of Halloween goodies so that I could celebrate too. I thought I'd take a few pictures of some of the items and share them with you.

I just couldn't believe how cute and detailed the actual chocolate was, although I have to admit this one is long devoured...

This little bat is so cute! And the candy underneath is really really good!

Along with the halloween stuff came two adorable owls, that I will probably show you soon.

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In return for all these Halloween goodies, I sent her a box of Sinterklaas candy, which is a Dutch holiday that comes with lots of traditional candy.

Before I could even pack the box, someone decided it was the perfect spot to go sit and relax. But I got her out of there in the end and was able send the box to my friend.

Are you celebrating Halloween this year? And if you plan on dressing up, what is your costume going to be? I'd love to hear about it.

100 followers! ...and a Lovely Movie

Blue Eyed Night Owl hit 100 followers today! I am so excited and want to thank you all for reading and commenting.

This also seems like a good time to let you know there might be a few changes around here. You might have noticed the links to previous posts under each post, but there will probably be more adjustments.

Mostly topics though and just things I'd like to put on here more often.

• I feel like I had been slacking on owls a little lately, even though that is what started this blog in the first place. So I am very excited to make those posts a bit more often.

• Another thing I'd like to do more frequently is posting pictures I took myself.

• But I also have a lovely surprise coming very soon. Even though there's a giveaway going on right now, there will be another one, a very special one might I add, starting Wednesday which is my 1 year anniversary!

And if there's anything you feel is missing on the blog, or you'd like to see more of, please let me know! Any suggestions?

Now onto other news:

Lovely Movies

As if I wasn't excited enough already because of the follower-news, I also received a package in the mail today. Every once in a while I enter contests to win dvds on a movie web site. And it turned out I won a dvd of the movie Soul Kitchen. It seems like a fun movie, here's the trailer:

If you've seen it let me know what you thought, ok?

Giveaway: US and Canada!

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It's time for another CSN giveaway! The online stores(200+ stores actually) that bring you everything and anything for your house: from pots and pans to nightstands to, in the case of this giveaway, super cute writable owl wall decals.

All you have to do to join is leave a comment. But please note that this is a US and Canada giveaway only!

As always there are extra entries to earn:

+1 if you're a follower

+1 if you like me on facebook

To keep things a little clearer for me please leave all entries in ONE comment in which you state how many extra entries you've earned and how

Winner will be announced on Monday.

Thanks for joining and good luck!

Sunday Sequence

Words fail to describe how much I crave to bake right now. All weekend I've been wanting to whip up a batch of delicious cupcakes and eat one (or maybe a few) straight out of the oven. I already have the mix and the frosting (not that I wouldn't like to make them from scratch), so I'm hoping to bake some next week. I'll post pictures of course, but for now just some inspiration.

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Treasury Time

Even though I really enjoyed making treasuries, I hadn't made one in a while. And when I finally did I realised I should really do it much more often.

So here's one of many more to come:

Lovely Movies

When "New York, I Love You" was released I knew I had to see it, especially due to the marvelous Natalie Portman. However I hadn't had the chance yet to see it's prequel: "Paris, je t'aime". Thankfully the two movies consist of completely different storylines(and lots of them), so it doesn't really matter which one you watch first.

They are mosaic movies and provide a strange experience. Seeing so many different stories in an hour and a half seems impossible, when I finished watching I felt like I had just come back from a mini-vacation.

If you think it will be chaotic or that they won't take enough time for every scene, you couldn't be further from the truth. They are very slow paced and even though there definitely is a storyline in each and every scene, it is more about the overall vibe.

Both are filled with amazing actresses/actors and directors, but I prefer the second movie. It was somehow more cohesive and held a few extraordinary stories!

But I enjoyed them both tremendously and I would definitely recommend them! So next time you're in the mood for one of those slow "mainstream-arthouse-movies", you might wanna think of one of these.

Just a Little Update

It has been one hectic week, which left me with no energy at all for blogging. However I did make some plans for the blog as well as the shop. I even went shopping for packaging supplies yesterday, including for Christmas which is getting closer and closer.

And I can tell you there will be at least one giveaway in the near future! But more on that later...

Lovely Movies

Once a month there's Ladies Night at a bunch of cinemas in town. I had been there twice before and it was always lovely. As if a big theater full of women who all laugh at the same things isn't fun enough already, you get champagne, popcorn, a soda pop and a GOODIE BAG! On top of that there are prizes you can win, which thankfully go by seat number, so people (like me) who don't like to scream or push get a chance as well. I've actually won something once: a beach bag filled with candy and a t-shirt.

Anyway, I had plans to go to "eat pray love" last month, but missed it, however seeing "Life As We Know It" a few days ago totally made up for it.

It might seem like just a regular comedy, but apart from being funny it really is a good movie and even has a few sad moments. I loved it, only negative thing I have to say about it is that they took a part out of nearly every funny or important scene and put it in the trailer. It did spoil the surprise for me, but the movie is great enough to make up for that.

Have you seen it already too?

Great Reads

I came across this book when I was browsing through the Dutch equivalent of Amazon. The cover and synopsis seemed interesting, but it's the kind of story that does need to be written by a great author in order to live up to the reader's expectations.

What basically happens in "Before I Fall" is this: popular girl gets killed in car crash then has to relive that day over and over again.

I was interested, but not yet completely convinced, so I looked up a couple of reviews and a bit about the author. After seeing Lauren Oliver's picture I was positive the book would be great and it was!

The clichés I feared for weren't in it and I was drawn in after a few pages, wanting to finish the story as soon as possible. I am very glad I decided to buy this book, it was amazing!

In the back of the book you'll find the first two chapters of her latest novel "Delirium" which will be released early next year. It again seems like an interesting story and it's a very original concept: it's set in a world(probably the future) in which love is seen as a disease and there actually is an obligatory cure for it.

I'm very much looking forward to reading it, but in the meantime I'll make do with her blog.

Just a Little Update

I'm very happy to announce that I've reached 50 sales on Etsy! Just had to share that piece of information with you!

The Most Marvelous Movie

After seeing "Legend of the Guardians" twice now, I can surely say it is one of the most amazing movies I've ever seen. This has to be the most beautiful animation made so far and it also has a very nice story.

Although, truthfully, most of us just go for the cute owls;)

I just can't get believe how adorable Eglantine is! Here's a little preview of the cutie:

She's probably everyone's favorite, but I have to say all the others are gorgeous and fluffy too:)

If you haven't seen it yet you should (and don't forget to stick around for the credits)! It is so beautiful and fun and sad and exciting. The 3D-effects are really cool, looking at it almost makes you feel the softness of their fluffy wings.

I'm keeping my eyes open for merchandise, so far I haven't seen much, but I will probably do posts about it everytime I find something new.

So. Have you seen it yet? Are you as excited as I am?

Marvelous Music

Guess what? I saw "Legend of the Guardians" on the night it opened here. It was amazing! I'm probably gonna go again this week and I'll do a review later, because now I'd like to talk about the soundtrack.

Despite the name I initially wasn't too big a fan of Owl City, but I have to admit Adam Young's music grew on me a little. Especially now that he's done the soundtrack for Ga'Hoole. And it is such a catchy and uplifting tune!

I'm not yet sure about the rest because honestly I've only heard "Fireflies", but I think I'll go give it a listen and a fair chance.