As I sit here with two minutes to go before I need to get ready to work I suddenly feel the need to put this in writing. I've been so incredibly busy lately with work at my day job, family, friends and life. And I love it. But it leaves little free time for my wonderful handstamping work.
Just before Father's Day I took the week off from online selling and I have to admit I was relieved not to have to check my emails every hour and update listing and do this and that and the other thing. So I started to get this idea...what if....
What if I took the summer off?
But then this little question grew into....What if I just went back to lampworking and made beads when I wanted. No custom orders, no stamping, no pushing orders out the door. And I felt relief with that idea.
So, being a cheap skate I decided I would let my items expire over the summer and see how it goes, and see how I feel. I may yet just put my shops on vacation again, and give my brain some relief.
More to come....
June 21, 2013
April 11, 2013
A Great Giveaway For My Wonderful Customers
I am thrilled to announce that I have a giveaway being hosted on Aquariann's blog Fantasy Art And Tree Chatter! So head on over there and sign up. There are a lot of ways to get your name in there for chances to win.
I'm offering a $30.00 gift certificate so you can create any custom hand stamped treasure you have in mind. It will be a great gift for you, or for a loved one as well.
I'm offering a $30.00 gift certificate so you can create any custom hand stamped treasure you have in mind. It will be a great gift for you, or for a loved one as well.
<a href="http://blog.aquariann.com/2013/04/jewelry-giveaway-mothers-day-gift.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee329/aquariann/blog/giveaways/125x125-dzignbyjamie.jpg" alt="Jewelry Giveaway" border="0"></a>
Click the picture above to head over to the giveaway!
And while you are over there check out her blog. It's loaded with great treasuries and other awesome giveaways. Enjoy!
February 02, 2013
Wellness Words Jewelry Challenge
I love reading blogs, and one of my favorites is Make Bracelets by Tracy. Tracy is very talented and I love to see what great creations she comes up with. For 2013 Tracy has challenged us with a Wellness Words Jewelry Challenge, how COOL is that!
We were asked to choose a word of meaning and create using that. I had a lot of words I wanted to use and it took more time to figure out which word I wanted to use.
As I was re-working one of my pieces I decided that it was perfect for the inspiration challenge. My word is FLY.
About a year ago I decided to expand my jewelry from lampwork to hand stamped metal. I've been so happy with the success and it's been so much fun!
So my inspiration word to everyone is FLY. Trying something new can be scary. But, if you don't take the leap you'll never know how high you can fly!
Check out the other great challenge entries here:
January 20, 2013
A Day Of Accomplishments
Wow, what a title! Makes me feel like I flew to the moon or something amazing!! lol But actually, yesterday was a great day of accomplishments for me.
Since I work a full time job and make jewelry and lampwork on the side, there's not much time for household necessities. I always manage to find time to paint or rearrange the furniture, but I rarely manage to get anything productive done around the house. Until yesterday.
About six years ago we tore the wall down in our galley style kitchen and widened it by two feet. It doesn't sound like much but it was an amazing transformation. And I was thrilled to finally have more storage. But, the weird thing was that it didn't seem like there really was more room for anything!
While browsing the webpages of Better Homes and Gardens the other day I came across some organization ideas for the pantry. And a huge light bulb went off over my head. Did you see the bright flash? I'm thinking you did!
So, Friday after work I made my way over to my local Target (LOVE Target) for some organizing supplies. I wanted some of those double tiered spinning lazy susans and some wire racks. I do have to say that I was really disappointed. They only had one size wire shelf, and no double tiered spinning anything. UGH! So, I settled with the one size they did have and went home.
I emptied out the whole pantry and the canned goods cabinet. While it was empty the marred white walls were screaming for a paint job. But I didn't have time for that. So I just wiped everything down and stacked my wire shelves and started putting the canned goods on them.
I threw out old food and packed up anything I wasn't using, and slowly filled the shelves, making sure I was making the best use of what little shelf space I had. And I was thrilled with the outcome!
I had been so excited to get started that it didn't even occur to me to get before pictures until I ran to get my camera after pantry was all nice and organized. Let's just say that it looked like everything was thrown in there by a monkey! That would be me :(
I managed to get most everything from the pantry back in there, along with all the canned goods from another cabinet, and boxes of bars from yet another cabinet! I put most of the snack bars in a basket for easy access and used my storage containers for other bulky packaged items (Tupperware-bottom shelf and OXO-top right).
I put the canned goods at eye level so they're easy to see, and the other boxed and bagged items are down below. And when the grand kids leave today they'll be taking their snacks home so there will be even more room down there!! Oh, the wire rack on the bottom shelf came from the cabinet were the canned goods used to be.
I'm so happy with how everything turned out. And now I have more room in three different cabinets!! How cool is that! And the cost of my pantry make-over: $9.98 plus tax!!
I'm no inspired to do some more organizing. I'm starting to enjoy it, and love getting inspiration online. I hope this has inspired you as well.
Happy organizing! You an do it!
January 05, 2013
Challenging Yourself AND Having Fun!
I'd much rather do something fun then "working". That's why I enjoy hand stamping and making lampwork beads. It's so much fun!! And to add to that fun I'm going to join a really cool challenge over at Making Bracelets.
I love that she talks about how doing what you love is healthy for you. I never really though of it as being "healthy", but it sure makes sense. I'm a lot happier, and being happy is a great step towards being healthy. Don't you think?
So, if you're up for a challenging 2013, join us! I know it will be fun :D
January 03, 2013
The 36th Avenue Blog
Awesome stuff, what can I say? There are always fun projects and great ideas to be found over there, and she hosts a blog party where you can link back to your blog. Check it out, there are tons of great ideas posted in this weeks party!
January 02, 2013
Valentine's Candy Hearts You Can Wear
Everybody loves candy hearts on Valentine's Day. You know, the ones with the super cute phrases! Well, everyone in my house does! ;) And I love them so much I was inspired to make this cute Candy Heart Necklace. Sorry, it's not edible, but it is made with love!
You can buy them on Etsy or The Craft Star! Each necklace has three hearts that can have very small quotes hand stamped on them. It makes the perfect gift for that special someone. Imagine proposing with this necklace!! Will U....Marry...Me? How could she say NO to that??
Here are some actual candy hearts for inspiration!
What will you create??
What will you create??
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