A Grand Discovery

I recently discovered that I can't do it all. Shocking, right?
Another discovery... it turns out I like being in control. I have had such a difficult time deciding what areas I can use help with. I want to do it all. I enjoy doing it all. But time is not on my side.

So with that, I'm putting it out there. Does anyone know of a good sales rep looking to rep another line? I am happy making jewelry. I'm happy attending shows. Unfortunately there are too many places I want to be at once, so I need a little help.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

p.s. I discovered this painting entitled "The Grand Discovery" (by Groundwork) while thinking that I recently discovered I can't do it all. Now, that was a great discovery:)

Hints of Spring

This is my Saturday Shopping List. I am feeling the hints of Spring coming out of winter. While in Los Angeles Winter still has not arrived to the party, the excitement of new blooms can be felt. (Painting by Groundwork ~ Intertwined ($20))

Top Row (left to right): The Wren ~ Organic Coffee Sling Bag from Rwanda ($54), Lila Ruby King ~ Black Petals ($54)
Bottom Row (left to right): Replicca ~ Wrap me Cozy ($54), Skinny LaMinx ~ Thinking of Love, handcut magnet ($16)

Visit my shopping pals too:

• 3 birds of a feather
• cathy cullis
• dreambird designs
• edward and lilly
• florcita
• half an acre
• helicopter studios
• her library adventures
• kayla coo
• la pomme
• liebling designs
• littleloveblue
• miss-frugality
• prairie wild rose designs
• r a w f i s h
• rivulette
• shabby vintage mom
• shelly rae wood
• shoozles
• sidhe forest
• vicki leigh studios
• winsome hollow

Free Jewelry!!

Now that I've got your attention:)

The Etsy MetalClay Team will be hosting a Virtual Trunk Show Thursday, January 29th at 7:00pm EST in the Etsy Virtual Labs. We will have eight door prizes for those who attend. Those who know their Valentine’s Day trivia will score free Jewelry.

For those who are not familiar with the Etsy MetalClay Team, we work with metal clay to produce jewelry that is composed of Gold, Silver and Bronze. To see more of what we are about please check out our website www.etsymetalclay.com or type emc team in the search bar to see jewelry made from our team. Thanks, hope to see you January 29th at 7:00 EST!!

So, to attend the trunk show click on this link and it should take you into the virtual lab for the show. If that doesn't work, go to Etsy, click on "community" at the top of the page, and then click on "virtual lab". There will be a listing for the "Etsy Metal Clay trunk Show". Click on that and you are in! You do need to set up a username on Etsy if you haven't already.

All of the jewelry pictured here will be given away *for FREE*. I'm serious! All you have to do is be the first to answer a Valentine trivia question. So easy. Hope to see you there. This Thursday 4:00pm PST. So 4 o'clock for all you locals and 7pm for all my New York friends.

Saturday Shopping list

oh my, it has been a long time since I've done my Saturday Shopping List. But I'm excited to share some of my new favorites. Check out these beauties. I have obviously been in a fairy tale mood.

(in order from left to right)
top row: Catherine Reece, Nina Gibson Designs,
middle row: The intuitive Garden, PetiteHouse, LuluBug Jewelry
bottom row: Kim Westad, Stepanka

Visit my shopping buddies to see what they are in the market for:)

• brighton early
• cathy cullis
• Fancy Picnic
• edward and lilly
• florcita
• half an acre
• hens teeth
• kayla coo
• la pomme
• liebling designs
• littleloveblue
• miss-frugality
• rivulette
• shabby vintage mom
• shoozles
• sidhe forest
• vicki leigh studios
• winsome hollow

My frugal father and other lovely tales

There are few things that pain me more than wasting. I'm sure I have my dad to thank for my frugal state of mind. The man who saves ketchup packets and napkins from McDonald's. I once saw an Oprah episode about the cheapest man in the world. He would take paper towels and hang them up to dry so he could use them again and again. The crazy thing was that my dad does half of the things this guy does. I love it. It's who he is. (drawing by Elizabeth Perry)

Wow, did I digress or what. Anyways, I was so bummed to have lost this tiny little piece of my tripod. I finally went to the camera store and they said it would be impossible to find the correct piece. So I had to retire my $10 tripod that has served me so well for the last year. I "invested" in a fancy new tripod - $30. Cheapest one they had, and I have to say I LOVE IT! I hope to keep it forever.

So, I finally have some new pieces to show you. I played around a bunch with the photography today. So, I only have pictures of these two. Next week I should have 3 more pieces to share. They are part of a collection I'm calling "Shadow". Spooky, huh?

The first one is part of a collection called "Winter Poppies". I am thinking of adding so more pieces to it, but not totally convinced yet.


This next one is called "Flight". I did a custom piece for a woman who wanted a necklace to remember her grandmother by. She loved hummingbirds. So, I did this drawing of a hummingbird for it. I decided that I really liked the drawing and would make a piece a little bit different for my shop.
What do you think of the new photos? Do the effects make it more interesting and appealing or do you think that it's distracting?

Did I miss my calling as an Engineer?

One afternoon spent putting together Ikea furniture has convinced me that I was not intended to become an Engineer after all. I'm being serious! I sometimes wonder if I should have gone into engineering instead of fashion design. I love math, I love to make things, I love working with my hands and tools.
My one goal while putting together my recent Ikea purchases was to not have to take anything apart because I didn't translate the pictorial directions correctly. Well, I'm happy to say that I acheived my goal. Nothing was taken apart. But then again nothing really fit together well either.
Now, to even further humiliate myself, I am going to show you a picture of what I was trying to build. It's so simple (in theory).

On a more productive note, I found PICNIK finally. I know I'm the last person on the planet to try it but I'm happy nonetheless. I still can't find the attachment for my tripod but I played a bit with a picture I already took of a necklace that will be added to my shop soon. I'm aiming to do the shop update by Tuesday. Might have to just go out and buy the attachment, darn.

delayed

uh-oh. After all the traveling I did over the holidays I somehow misplaced a piece of my camera. Darn. My shop update will be delayed, most likely until Tuesday. That means I'm counting on finding the piece over the weekend. Fingers crossed.

But, I'll take the opportunity to annouce a virtual trunk show that I'm a part of.

The Etsy MetalClay Team will be hosting a Virtual Trunk Show Thursday, January 29th at 7:00pm EST in the Etsy Virtual Labs. We will have eight door prizes for those who attend. Those who know their Valentine’s Day trivia will win fine, hand crafted jewelry, for themselves or a sweet heart. For those who are not familiar with the Etsy MetalClay Team, we work with metal clay to produce jewelry that is composed of Gold, Silver and Bronze. To see more of what we are about please check out our website www.etsymetalclay.com or type emc team in the Etsy search bar to see jewelry made from our team. Thanks, hope to see you January 29th at 7:00 EST!!