Weekend Sale - 50% OFF

In celebration of having my 500th sale on Etsy I am offering a weekend sale (2/27-3/1) of:

Buy 2 or more pieces and get 50% off your entire order (not valid on supply purchases).

Enter "Etsy500" in the notes section and your paypal invoice will be adjusted.

This is a favorite, don't miss out:)

Valentine's

As always, I'm totally late in posting this. These were the highlights of my Valentine's day.

On a side note, I'm so excited to say that I have been excepted into the PaperNStitch exhibition for May! If you haven't been there yet, go check it out. PaperNStitch is an online exhibition featuring really talented artists. I'm thrilled to be a part of such a great group creative people.

Currently there are such artists as Allison Trentelman and Gretchen Mist. How gorgeous is this!

Saturday Shopping - Worm edition:)

We spent all morning gardening at our friend's house this morning. We save all of our food scraps and donate it to our friend's composter. You would not believe the gold that comes out of it. So exciting!!! (if you love worms). We got to bring some buckets of super enriched soil back to our apartment and we planted a vegetable garden - tomatoes, lettuce, arugula, peas and basil. Not sure if that area gets enough sun, but it was fun. And my son loves to garden. What little boy isn't the happiest when they are sitting in dirt watching worms dig their way down in the soil.

So, here is my Saturday Shopping list inspired by our morning of gardening.

Top Row: Wood Elements garden Dibble, Soft Elbow seed bombs
Middle Row: Clamalley Pots Bonsai Pot, Rush of Wings newspaper pots
Bottom Row:Trisha Fern Chalkboard pot, Nomad Needles worm composting bag

Please visit my friends and see what they have on their lists:)

• 3birdies
• cathy cullis
• color
• dreambird designs
• edward and lilly
• fancy picnic
  
• felt at home
• florcita
• half an acre
• helicopter studios
• her library adventures
• kayla coo
• la pomme
• liebling designs
• littleloveblue
• miss kitty boo boo
• miss-frugality
• prairie wild rose designs
• r a w f i s h
• rivulette
• shabby vintage mom
• shoozles
• sidhe forest
• verylittlebird
• vicki leigh studios
• winsome hollow

Working it out

I'm working on a few new pieces right now but have nothing to show for it yet. A couple more earrings - it turns out I really like making earrings. Who knew! And.... snails! I finished a really sweet little drawing last night of a snail. I should have that ready in a week or so. So, the only thing I have to show is my new haircut:) I feel sassy now!

Before and After

Saturday Shopping List - Abraham Lincoln edition

Most folk are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
- Abraham Lincoln

I wish for abundant happiness for all of us:) Here is a dandelion to wish upon. Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln.



Bucks County Frames ($35), PaperMoth ($18), Irene Suchocki ($35)

Please visit the shopping list of my friends:

• 3birdies
• cathy cullis
• color
• dreambird designs
• edward and lilly
• fancy picnic
  
• felt at home
• florcita
• half an acre
• helicopter studios
• her library adventures
• kayla coo
• la pomme
• liebling designs
• littleloveblue
• miss kitty boo boo
• miss-frugality
• prairie wild rose designs
• r a w f i s h
• rivulette
• shabby vintage mom
• shoozles
• sidhe forest
• verylittlebird
• vicki leigh studios
• winsome hollow

Glitter, Glue and a little Joaquin

Two Turntables and a Microphone

Turntable, originally uploaded by Chocolate And Steel (Christine).

So, that Beck song was playing through my head the entire time I was making this custom piece. I have to say that I am totally in love with this piece (trying to remain humble here). My customer had this piece made for her girlfriend who's initials are LP. The label on the record has her initials and birthdate year.

I have come up with so many ideas because of this piece. I'm still working it out but hopefully I'll something new to show because of it.

Reconnecting with Wonder Woman

I always knew that someday Wonder Woman would return to my life. I LOVED her as a kid (and still do). My favorite pair of underoos were Wonder Woman. I felt so empowered running around in them. (The earrings above are called "Wonder Woman")

I was very productive last week. Here are the new pieces posted in my shop. I've got 3 more pairs of earrings and a necklace in the works right now. Hopefully they will be posted next week.

These two necklaces are from my "Shadow" series. The flower is cut out of the metal and layed over another piece.

Saturday Shopping list - Valentine's edition

For the love of HEARTS

Paper Lotus, Buster McGee,
Thalassa Jewelry, Wool Crazy, Molecular Muse

Visit my other Saturday Shopping Pals:

• 3 birds of a feather
• cathy cullis
• dreambird designs
• edward and lilly
• fancy picnic
  
• 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

Alphabot

How perfect are these prints for a kid's room! AND they are actually quite affordable (depending on the current exchange rate) . They are by Bold and Noble. They are hand pulled screen prints printed onto 100% recycled card. Made in England.

I really want this growth chart. They are each 30 GBP (can't figure out how to type the pound symbol). So roughly 60 bucks.
found via Poppytalk

Will I look like a Toad?

Would I look like a toad under a mushroom, or could I possibly pull this off. All of the hats by Retro Repro Handmade are so unique.

I love you to the moon

I love you to the moon, originally uploaded by Chocolate And Steel (Christine).

This is a custom order I just finished. It's going to be a Valentine gift. How sweet! I just adore the saying they chose "I love you to the moon".
The stones are the birthstones of her husband and 2 kids.

When brainstorming for this piece I came up with another good idea. Hope to have it completed soon to share.

By the way, I set up a category in my shop for my picks for Valentine gifts.

All buttoned up, haphazardly

I love this bag. It's all buttoned up but seems haphazard. I just like the word haphazard and wanted to use it:) Anyways, it's a totally sweet bag, and funky, and casual. Just what I need. This is a serious contender for my bag replacement search.
By Sweet Gum Handbags ($55)

StyleList!!!

I'm so excited to share this bit of publicity with you all. I promise I will be back today with a post less about me and more about us:)
But... I was featured on the AOL style blog this morning StyleList. It was a fun little interview to do because not many people ask me about fashion and beauty tips. I have to admit at first I was totally nervous to do it. If you know me, you know that I am super simple when it comes to fashion and beauty (beauty especially). But after my initial freakout I decided to just be me. Check out my designer choices. They are all independant designers.

Madame and Monsieur

Madame and Monsieur, originally uploaded by Chocolate And Steel (Christine).

I wanted to reintroduce this necklace. For some reason I had a difficult time getting a good picture the first time around. But now I feel like this does it some justice.
This is one of my favorite pieces. It is a collaboration I did with AshleyG. The artwork is so unique and unconventional which is what I love about all of Ashley's illustrations.
This is in the shop now and would be a great Valentine's gift for someone who is so unique you never know what to get them.

October

Pen and Ink and Cut Paper by Devon Kelley-Yurdin