what i've been working on...

on monday morning i told myself  "you are not allowed to come out of this room until you have multiple new pieces of jewelry completed and ready to photograph."  sometimes i'm so bossy.  but the good news is, after a lot of work, sore hands and arms, and a hammered finger or two, i finally got some new things made for my shop!

i also have two more necklaces, but wouldn't you know that my camera battery died on me with only about 60 seconds of warning?  so my next goal is to remember to take those pictures (but since i have several paintings to work on, it may be a while)!

i always hate when i go for so long without blogging, but chris was nice enough to infect me with whatever summer cold type thing he had.  i felt awful on friday night, so-so on saturday, pretty good on sunday, and terrible on monday afternoon and tuesday.  it's weird how these things can be bad one day and barely there the next.  but hopefully i've just about kicked it!

so how have you been, and have you been working on anything new lately?

what i've been working on...

well, to be honest, i haven't been working on making as many new things as i'd like, and i attribute that to rubbing kona's belly too much, eating too many cheez-its when i'm not really hungry, and having dance-offs with flojo (which i've still not won). i kid, partially. i have been busy with jewelry, but since about half of what i keep in my shop is made to order, sometimes that's more a priority than thinking up new designs. but i do have three new things to share with you though!

since the natural stone and brass arch necklaces have been so popular, i decided to do a variation on the original design by putting the arch to the side, and then keeping it below, but making it squared. i have several other stones i'm going to use for similar designs, and i can't wait to get those made because the stones (which include calcite and marble) are so beautiful!

the earrings weren't made to go on my website - although i may decide to add them soon - but instead for an amazing giveaway including three other great items on beca's blog (and she's giving away a pair of tumbleweeds sunnies)! i you haven't entered, be sure to do it because the winner will definitely not be disappointed!

two more things that are completely unrelated but you might want to know: last night i made boerenkool for dinner, and i think we have a new regular for mealtime rotation! second, i'm just about to finish up my first week of fat-free milk consumption, and i won't lie, this hasn't been easy.

so what have you been working on, and are you a fat-free milk drinker?

what i've been working on...

in addition to painting my fingernails, trying to convince chris that he'll like brussel sprouts, and working on my endurance (so i can kick at least a few butts in a spetember marathon - yes, i know that's a long ways away), i've been making a few pieces of jewelry. every year since i've been selling online has been slow from about a week before christmas until the middle of january, so i feel like now i can take a little break and work on jewelry when i want rather than round the clock. here are a few pieces of jewelry i've been working on for my shop...

i hope you had a fun new year's eve and started your new year off well! i started my new year off the way any significant occasion should be welcomed or celebrated - WITH FOOD! honestly, i think about it sometimes, and if i ate less (and i could certainly stand to do it) but kept running the same amount, i'd basically be invisible if i turned sideways. but i just can't give up my food. not gonna happen. i'm not sure how i went from talking about jewelry to talking about food, but before i start telling you about my love for orange cinnamon rolls and bacon, i will bid you adieu.

what i've been working on.

in a way i've been working, and in a way i haven't. that doesn't make much sense, but some days have been super busy and i feel like i've gotten a ton of things accomplished, and other days i pretty much sit in my pajamas wasting time like a pro. so yeah, that about sums it up! i've added a few new things to my website, but yesterday when i really sat down to update, i realized just how many new items i have that still haven't made an appearance! here's a little peek at what i've been working on...

so what have you been working on? did you have a good july 4th, or canada day, or just a good monday depending on where you live? ours was pretty uneventful, but we did eat some delicious burgers and watch fireworks from our front porch in our underwear. we don't have neighbors, so underwear is acceptable outdoor attire.

what i've been working on.

lately i've been really inspired, and (luckily) it's been one of those times where i look at supplies i haven't used in ages and all sorts of ideas just jump out at me! i love it when my mind works like this! and since i've been so inspired lately, i placed an order for some completely new metal to make things i've never made before, so when i see the UPS man coming down my road on tuesday or wednesday, i'll probably squeal at a pitch so high i'll attract dogs from a 50 mile radius! but until then, here are a few things i've been working on for my shop...

the earrings at the top are made with real teeth beads! isn't that crazy? all i know is that the necklace i got them from was from an old lady who did some traveling, but i don't know the animal or country of origin.

tomorrow is going to be an early day. chris and i are going to monterey, va (an itty bitty little town in the mountains) for the maple syrup festival. what can i say, chris really likes breakfast food. he'll get his buckwheat pancakes (gross) and i'll get regular pancakes, and we'll eat junk food, buy some amazing handmade soap and see what else there is to eat! we like food. a lot.

i hope you guys have a good weekend! i'll see you next week with another interview from a blogger and shop owner i REALLY like, as well as a giveaway!

what i've been working on: just buy me a roundtrip ticket to the doctor's office

days like today i start to feel like there should be a health, or injury, insurance company made to cover those in the handmade line of work. i'm far too rough with tools and supplies, and i'm sure chris will vouch for that after all the things of his i've broken along the way, but geez, i'm ready to go a stretch of time without some sort of injury to my hands! today i was working with 12ga brass, and while trying to cut it to size, my cutting pliers broke, smashing my flesh in between, leaving me with a bloody mess, a swollen finger and rapidly growing blood blisters. it hurt. in the words of a wise man, this would definitely be considered a #BRITOSMASH! anyway, i need to take more pictures, but here are a few things i've been working on for my shop...

next, i obviously didn't make these things, but they're definitely making me happy! the first one is a vintage bracelet with an enamel parrot that i bought from maria, the feisty lady behind little tree vintage. the only way anyone is prying this bracelet off of my wrist is if i'm dead. the next thing is a camera that my grandpa had for years and years, and never even used. up until he started to get sick, he owned a little neighborhood store. my grandpa was the most generous person i've ever known, and when people couldn't pay him, he wrote it off, or in the case of this camera, he took a trade even though he wasn't into cameras or photography. my grandma pulled this out of a closet for me last weekend because she knew i'd like it, and even though next month will be two years since grandpa died, he's still finding his way into my daily life!

what have you been working on lately? how is your weekend going? also, i can't say much just yet, but a friend and i have been talking about a giveaway, so i can't wait to share it with you! trust me, it's going to be awesome!

gift guide: for the metal lover

i've been doing a lot of searching on the interwebs lately and looking at other gift guides for some sort of inspiration for the hard to buy for people. sad news: i still haven't found anything that works (the gift guides are great, the people are just too damn picky). good news: it's made me want to create my own gift guides! maybe it'll help you shop for someone, or maybe it'll just be nice to look at, but either way, it gives me a reason to window shop! so, first in the series is one that i kind of did based on my own preferences. for the metal lover...

1. bueno bueno key necklace (i got mine today!) $33, 2. vertical leaf pendant light $144, 3. vintage 1960's space age holiday clutch $28, 4. gunmetal orchid earrings $23, 5. vintage glass lamp with metal shade $50, 6. vintage eagle hook $9.

what is on your christmas list this year? or better yet, what do you hope to get with the christmas money or gift cards you'll get? do you have hard to buy for people on your list, and what do you end up getting them (and don't say gift cards!!!)?

what i've been working on

i've been working overtime lately, but i love it because it means i have a flurry of ideas and my brain is running strictly on create mode. as much as i love the bullet and gem stone necklaces (and i think i always will), i haven't been making many of those lately as i've been wanting to forge more brass and work with different stones. i've sort of become a stone junkie, and i'm having to stop myself from going to the gem shop because i know i'll end up spending way too much money! anyway, here are a few things i've been working on the last week...

the stones i've been using lately include amethyst, black quartz, turquoise and emerald. can you believe the stone in the second picture is a raw chunk of emerald? in the last picture, the stone that looks like an aqua brain is raw turquoise, and i think it may be my new favorite!

in addition to working on things for my shop (this one, too), i've been working in my bedroom. i moved out my old nightstand and in its place, i put an antique stool i had in my dining room. i also got chris to help me hang a collage of framed art, both new and old, above our bed. you'll see pictures soon!

and, i couldn't forget the most exciting bit of news... i'm going to announce a giveaway on monday, so be sure to check back and enter to win!

last, this is really random, but i'm a random person, so it really all relates. in case you didn't know already, chris has type 1 diabetes and was diagnosed when he was 13. until two years ago, he'd been giving himself his insulin shots, but he was lucky enough to get an insulin pump so he could keep better control of his diabetes. if you've ever been around insulin, you'll know that it smells like a really strong band aid. this morning when i was making the bed, i leaned down close to the mattress so i could pull the sheet nice and tight, and i got a whiff of band aid scent. chris' side of the bed usually has a faint insulin smell, and anytime i get a whiff of it, it always makes me sad. i hate that he has to deal with diabetes and all the health-related issues that come with it. i told you that was random, but doesn't it break your heart when someone you love isn't completely well and healthy? it does mine.

i hope you're having a good and creative weekend!

what i've been working on

you know how i mentioned a little while back that i thought i'd been cursed with a jeweler's block? well, i'm happy to say that it's kind of lifting! it took me a little while after we returned from our trip to get back into the crafty swing of things because i had a large order that needed finishing before i devoted time to making anything new, but since that's been shipped, i've been able to spend a little more time making things for my shop. i even started a little idea journal so that i'd be sure not to forget anything i really wanted to make! it's a perfect little moleskine journal with screenprinted deer that i got from etsy, and i think it's going to work out well!

i've been making loads of rings lately with amethyst and quartz chunks, and they're all so hard to put in my shop! i'm way too addicted to raw gem stones. the earrings are made from spent bullet casings, vintage chain and porcupine quills. they sort of came about without me having any direction or idea; i love that sort of process!

i usually make hammered bangles with the dimpled, hammered texture, but i decided this time (partially because of sore hammering muscles, and partially because i wanted something new) i'd do something different. this bangle has a brushed texture, and i love the way it catches the light...i only wish the picture showed it better!

now, i have to tell you about this dream i had last night. in the dream, chris and i were staying in a log cabin that was divided up into several apartments, each having one bedroom and one living room. the cabin only had one bathroom for everyone to share, and that happened to be in our apartment. flojo came along with us, and i put her cage beside the bathroom door. whenever we came back from going to the beach, i noticed that flojo's food bowls were turned upside down and on the bottom of her cage. i knew that someone had done it, but i wasn't sure who. then i came back another day to find that her bowls were not only overturned and on the bottom, but broken. the last day i came back, i discovered that more things were broken, the bottom was filled with water, and everything inside her cage was wet. i was absolutely furious and i wanted to scream at whoever was doing these things, but i didn't know who it was. i was also scared that maybe they'd done something to hurt flojo, or maybe they'd given her something to eat that was poisonous to birds. i woke up wanting to cry, and i was so happy to go get flojo out of her cage this morning when she woke up so i could kiss her and tickle her and tell her that i love her! don't you hate those dreams that get you so worked up?

*dream update! so i just did a little researching about my dream, and while i may not be as good at dream interpretation as annie, i think i've figured a few things out. several things in my dream represented fear and worry, along with a feeling of being out of control. that makes sense considering my husband's current job (or no job, rather) situation and our financial stress. but, the best thing of all, the fact that i was in a cabin in my dream means this, "To see or dream that you are in a wood cabin indicates that you will succeed via your own means. It suggests that you are self-reliant and independent, yet still remain humble. You prefer the simpler things in life." nice to know!

etsy favorite: makepienotwar

The lovely Alana of makepienotwar.etsy.com has a beautiful shop with the overall theme being positivity. With stamped necklaces reading, "amour" and, "peace and love" to name a few, you can't help but love her optimistic designs! I received my first piece of makepienotwar jewelry yesterday, and it was love at first sight. Visit her shop, or just say hi, she's as sweet as her creations!