Fiesta

Yesterday was my parents anniversary and today is my dad's birthday, so since yesterday the mood has been very celebratory ;) Below is a pic of a few things that we have been digging into...

Right now it is time for some apple pie, ice cream, evening coffee (yum yum ) and some good conversation.

Have a great night!

Shop update complete

Everything is up now. I forgot to factor in visiting time into my schedule today ;) I had a great afternoon hanging out with my dad and husband on our deck. We had afternoon coffee (daily ritual) and good conversation, meanwhile my mom napped for like five hours! okay maybe two, but seriously it was a long time.

Okay so it is sooo time for me to get to bed.....:)

Shop update

I will be adding these pieces to my shop this afternoon. I just have to finish shooting some photos and then they'll be posted.

I am very happy with the way they turned out. I feel like my skills are expanding and that is a great feeling :)

My parents are coming in today and will be staying for close to a week. I am very excited...my boys are going to go crazy. Saying that they are close to their Nana and Papa is an understatement. My husband and I fade to the background when they are around!

So now I'm going to finish my morning cup of Earl Grey and get moving...lots to do today. I'll post an update here when I get my pieces listed....

Almost done

My five necklaces and one pair of earrings are currently in the tumbler and will soon be set with stones. Today was a great day. For all the metalsmiths out there, it is amazing how some days the solder just flows perfect. My hands followed my mind's lead wonderfully. I had constant realizations today that I am in my element....the fish who finally found water. It is such an exhilarating feeling to be content, challenged and excited in what you DO.

So since I refuse to blog without posting pictures (I am an ultra-visually stimulated person myself) I decided to post some pictures of etsy items that I adore. I just found these items today...what beautiful designs, don't you think?

I quickly added these to the favorites section of my shop. Etsy is very addicting. I am in a constant state of inspiration and awe when I browse through there.

I've got to go and finish my pieces now...they'll be up in my shop tomorrow ;)

Unexpected day

Last night I had a nice surprise. My husband found a site that featured my jewelry five days ago. The site is scoutiegirl.com and they showcase handmade items everyday. That is very cool...and so is the site. I am going to have to start visiting. :)

So today did not end up being the day I planned for. First of all, I couldn't get my gas tank for my torch open. I had been struggling with it because the the tank key did not fit very well on the tank, so opening and closing was a real pain. I think the previous owners stripped it a bit. Well that meant that we had to load the kids and run to the welding supply dealio and get a new tank. By the time we got back, it was lunchtime...which is always a long process because little mouths have to be fed and then wiped, a diaper changed, songs to be sung (the youngest), restroom visit (the oldest), and a book read, fills the tall order of getting my children tucked in for naptime. Then clean-up, because they are not exactly clean eaters! hahahaha

After that, it was a whirwind of chores, some materials needed to ordered, kids to be played with, dinner and yadayadayada.....until POOF, there went my day. And now I am here for a few minutes before I get to bed so that I can get down here in my studio nice and early to make up for my lack of progress today.

So basically I have had to learn that although a plan and a schedule is a great thing, I have to learn to go with the flow because the reality is that I have two ittybitties and that's just the way it is. I have to admit that giving up a lot of my personal freedom has been the hardest adjustment to motherhood....good thing I love my monkeys A LOT!

So okay, tomorrow is another day for another plan....let's hope for the best ;)

We're back...

I'd like to say that this weekend was really relaxing...but really, I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Exactly how relaxing can it really get with little kids?! So it's nice to be home, athough it was great to get away for the weekend as well.

We walked around the town and found this adorable little bookstore. I loved the old wood floors and the old world feel it had. I could have spent an entire afternoon curled up on one of those couches reading if I could....with a cup of coffee or tea next to me.

My boys hung out in this corner of the bookstore. My oldest is going to be a bookworm like his parents. He can sit with books for literally hours.

Okay, now I get to FINALLY get back to work. I've been going crazy not being able to create and make things. These are the stones I think I'll whip into settings tomorrow.

Look for them in my shop soon :) Now it's time for a movie...

Rejuvenation

I haven't started off too consistently on here. I don't plan on making that a habit. The main reason I haven't posted much is that I don't want to bore all of you with my ramblings on gardening and housekeeping :)

The yard project is pretty much done now (just maintenance mode now) and my family and I are now on a mini vacation in Steamboat Springs for the weekend. We SOO needed this too. I'll post some pics of the area in the next few days. It was a beautiful drive over here. Not too long, but full of amazing scenery. I am going to concentrate on getting some good pictures while here and probably on the way back home. So for right now it is all about much needed relaxation and rejuvenation. Mountains are good for my soul...

So a couple of things have happened on the shop front in the last few days. First of all, I had a custom ring order last week (which was my first sale on Etsy by the way :) and the wonderful buyer left me a super sweet feedback that just seriously made my day. You know, I ALWAYS hope that the people who purchase my pieces will be happy, but it is extremely gratifying to hear that kind of response! I also received another custom order yesterday with the request that I make a necklace, bracelet, ring and earring set, patterned after my 'Memories of NM' necklace. That will be a lot of fun to construct and I can't wait to see what they will end up looking like. I will post pics on here when they are done.

Here are the cabochon pics that I mentioned I would post for my mom and sister.

Here are some close-ups to get a better idea of the size...

The pictures are a little dark...I took them very quickly while I was gathering a few things to leave.

Can't wait to get started on these puppies :)

Still knee deep in weeds...

There is hope though...I think we are over the halfway mark. I am pretty tired of it now. Our intent was to just get it done so that way we could enjoy it for the summer. I hate stopping and starting projects. It really prolongs it, in my opinion. This is why we are gung-ho "yard project," right now.

My hope, is that I will be back in my shop Thursday morning, with my torch and tools back to work!! I am really missing it. I have a gazilllion ideas running through my head and I am constantly writing them down on sheets of paper. They are scattered throughout my house. They pop in my head when I am falling asleep too, some of them make it on paper, while unfortunately some have vanished (I'm hoping they will reappear someday).

Right now though, I am taking a small break and lusting after a pair of shoes.

I love this site....lots of beautiful shoes at discounted prices.

I'll be back soon with jewelry updates including a look at some of the stones I have in stock right now. I have to get a pic to my mom and sister....I owe them b-day gifts :)

Yard work

For a few weeks before I put my shop online I dedicated most of my time to finishing up some pieces and working on the website along with my husband. I am very, very pleased with the finished product. I did the designs and layout and he did all of the technical work and basically turned my ideas and pages into a website. I think we did well....considering it was our first time :)

Now I plan on spending some time (a couple of days at least) getting my yard up to snuff. We moved into this house about 7 months ago so this is the first time that we get to really work with the yard. I love a nice yard...and as much time as I spend in my downstairs workshop, it really is very nice to get outside, in the sun, and weed and prune.

I worked on this little section of my yard yesterday for 2 hours!! I struggled to remove a vine from my flower bed and it took f o r e v e r!! I'm still not done :} You can see some of that frustrating vine living in the rocks behind the patch of dirt to the left.

Meanwhile, my husband worked on this MASSIVE section outside of our fence that resembled a small jungle when we started on it. He accomplished quite a lot more than me, by the way. We don't want to keep weeding every day though, so we are putting some liner down so that hopefully it will be much lower maintenance than what it has been.

Well now I have to run downstairs to finish up a piece and then hopefully I'll be spending most of my day outside :)

Wow!

I made it to my first treasury!! How exciting is that. This means that someone liked my piece enough to feature it along with other listings along the same theme. I definitely didn't expect this so quick. I am thrilled! Hopefully it will be a sign of things to come.

I ran out of steam last night and I only got four listings done. When I listed my first item yesterday I found that I had to re-format ALL of my pictures I had taken over the last few days for the listings. That was a huge pain and took a long time to correct. Like I mentioned before, in the future it should be much quicker :)

I am going to list many more today! First I've got to get my little boy to school. I'm off!

Almost there!!

How to begin?

My life has taken such a dramatic turn and I hope to document much of this change on here. I also plan on writing frequently about what inspires me as an artist, which is really quite wide-ranging. I guess I'll just let this grow on it's own...and see where it takes me :)

Right now I am working soo hard to get my listings up on Etsy.....It is taking much longer than I anticipated. I figure that it will be much faster next time considering this is a completely new process to me. You have no idea how excited I am. I have worked SO hard for this.

I'll be back.....