Etsy in Austin for South by Southwest!

The folks from Etsy headquarters in Brooklyn have arrived here in Austin for the awesome SXSW event they've been planning! It starts tomorrow & continues through Sunday, at Venue 222 on Sixth Street. Two full days of craft demos, music & more! See the full schedule of events on the Etsy in Austin event page.

The EtsyAustin street team has partnered up with Etsy for this event & we'll have a fabulous display of our work ("The Wall of Wow") at the event. I'm on the committee for that & have seen the setup, so I can tell you first-hand that it will indeed wow you! More event info, plus our team members' guide to Austin, on the EtsyAustin blog.

We'll also have a Meet EtsyAustin booth and the coolest photo booth in town. Seriously, you do NOT want to miss getting your picture taken with Babsy the larger-than-life, mustache-sportin', tiny hat-wearin', cat. Saddle up!

I got to meet many of the Etsy folks last night at a meet n' greet they hosted for our team leaders at Polvo's Mexican restaurant. It was super fun to meet them & talk plans for this weekend. It's going to be craftacularly fun - hope you'll come out & see us!

Pretty Pics: Mayfield Park, a Peacock Paradise

Patrick & I went to Mayfield Park on Sunday afternoon & I snapped tons of pics. Yes, I've blogged about this place before, but it's just so darn amazing!

More pics in my Mayfield Park Flickr set. Hope you're having a beautiful day!

A New & Improved Crafty Mishmash

Crafty Mishmash is a creative archive & journal written by me, Beth Hempton, the gal behind The Snuggle Herd and 1/4 of The WonderCraft. I'm an artist, designer, maker, teacher and lover of all things artsy, crafty and handmade. You can read more about me on my WonderCraft profile.

My husband, Patrick, is my patient product photographer, web developer and tamer of all things technical. He also works really hard at a full-time job doing web development, and is an avid gardener and musician.

We both feel that leading a balanced life, enjoying the little things and making time for what is most important to you (i.e. what makes you happiest), is the only way to live. Life is too short to get bogged down with the rest, which is why I recently made the decision to simplify my online presence and house all of my creative endeavors (or at least most of them, all but The WonderCraft) under one virtual roof that I can maintain myself, making life a lot easier and more enjoyable for both of us. My previous Snuggle Herd website has been decommissioned in favor of a combination of my Snuggle Herd Etsy shop and Policies & FAQ page, and www.snuggleherd.com now redirects to this here Blogspot. So much simpler! Note that as I am writing this, it's September and the Snuggle Herd website still says "Happy Spring!" I just couldn't keep it updated like I wanted to, so I am letting it go. No more spinning my wheels and always feeling like I'm lagging behind - what good comes from that? None, I tell you, none.

R.I.P. old Snuggle Herd website

I hope you will enjoy reading Crafty Mishmash, a busy hub of creative goodness where you'll find news and updates on my two businesses as well as the EtsyAustin team that I am founder & Co-President of; cool things I find online that I want to share; and posts about Our Little DIY Victories in home improvement and What's Growin' On in our garden. I also love writing my Tutorial Collection (mostly by others on the web, though I will occasionally post some of my own, too) and Creative Geniuses posts. There are so many amazingly talented people to be found on these interwebs!

Patrick & I live in Austin, TX and love the creative vibes radiating from every corner of the city. I often post about the many unique businesses, events, places & people of this fabulously kooky city, and you'll find those posts labeled Homage to Austin. I also have a series of interviews with Austin artists called Local Talent Tuesdays.

Feel free to contact me any time at beth.hempton[at]gmail[dot]com. I love hearing from my readers and fans of my work. Thanks so much for taking a peek at my blog!