Leather! I’ve Got More Leather!!

I received this glorious box of leather from Endless Leather last week.

 Just look at all the gorgeous goodies! I can’t wait to get in there and create some beautiful jewelry with it! You can’t really see it in these pictures but the cork has gold and silver in it, it is sooooo pretty! 

I have ideas, oh do I have ideas!!

Here I am with this box of gorgeous cords and still kind of stuck for an idea for this weeks Year of Jewelry piece. We even have color prompts for stuck weeks and that didn’t get the ball rolling. I looked on the desk at my UFO’s and meh I don’t feel like stringing, or weaving, I made simple earrings last week, what to do what to do? Hmmm what do I have left in this basket? Oh yeah! The embossed butterfly…… I wonder if some of the blue leather will match the turquoise color of the glass beads. 

Perfect match!

This is a Nappa Leather cord  and oh my, this is some of the softest leather I’ve ever felt, and it lays along the neck just beautifully.

I’ve got all kinds of ideas from bracelet wraps to necklaces for this gorgeous gorgeous stuff! You’ll be seeing lots more of this as I have a couple different colors and I’m really excited about using more of it.

Before I leave you for the week, let me share a little funny.

The hubs and I have been having some very serious discussions as of late, this morning was no exception. I got up walked over to him. Held his face in my hands and raised up to tip toes so I could look him in the eyes. I say to him "I love you. I need you to know that I know you have....F'ING CALVES!" Both calves cramp up dropping me to my knees, still holding his face in my hands we both twist over. The hubs cracks up, this intense romantic moment has been turned into much needed comic relief. He looks me in the eyes and says  " We are a pair, and this is our life"  I do love that man.

Cherish these moments, these are the ones that keep you going when all else feels lost.

Thanks for stopping by!

We'll see you next time!

Etsy's Town Hall Meeting

I forgot to sign up. By the time I got confirmation it was over. The forums though, as you can imagine, were extremely busy. Normally I try to steer far away from the forums during any announcements of change, the sky is falling posts are like locusts getting everyone worked up about and against something they'd all been screaming they wanted for ages. Boggles the mind.

This is another one of those things but on a much bigger scale - a case of be careful what you wish for! I was pretty concerned myself at first until I realized this actually gives them more control to get rid of the resellers. How many Chinese factories do you think Etsy will ok? They're notorious for terrible labor practices and no sweat shops will be allowed. Obviously manufactured items have to be disclosed to Etsy or the shop gets closed.

Everyone gets caught up in the how will I compete. The thing is, we aren't competing. It might make it harder to be seen, but it's always been hard to be seen. We've always had to drive our own traffic, that doesn't change. More importantly, our customers can see the difference in manufactured and hand made too.

What allowing outside help does FOR us is if you need help for a large order or the Christmas season it's ok to hire someone or more. If you've worked your behind off to get that wholesale order with Macy's -I have a friend who did, she was super excited until she realized her first order was more stock than she had and the deadline was looming - this allows you to be sure you can meet your order deadlines. Ensuring your success. It also means for those of us who have been approached for crowdsourcing a short run, we can say yes if that's what we want to do.

Success means different things to all of us. As we grow the definition can change too. Etsy is trying to make sure they can continue meeting our needs as that happens.

Change can be scary and this is a big change. But we will survive it, just as we always have. My sales have increased with each change, even during the recession, so I remain hopeful with this one as well.



On to happier things! My Pieces for Bead n Button are finished, boxed up and ready to ship off for photography! I can't wait to see what they look like professionally shot!

Paige and I worked on our project a little bit, still waiting on Erin's bead to arrive but we're pretty happy with what we have so far. Amazing how what you see in your head changes when you bring another artistic soul into the mix. Completely different from what I had envisioned but much more in keeping with Paige's style. Since this project is more about her that works!

I'm smiling big toothy grins more often these days, as I hope you are too.
Thanks for stopping by!
See ya next time!

The Soup has begun to Simmer!

Our soups have made their way to each of us and I must say my partner Jennifer was very generous!



I think this was payback for sending Jean all those packages last soup hop lol But I have to say, I think it's the way to go. You don't have to send a lot, but packaged up is just so FUN!! Makes me feel guilty all over again. I felt guilty when I sent it to Jean, but now I feel guilty I didn't send it to Jennifer.

Even the card she sent was super cute!



I don't have a lot of greens in my stash it's something I've tried to remedy but I just seem to be drawn to the other colors more often. So it's really cool that greens are the color she chose to send. The lamp worked pieces she made are just beautiful and I'm proud to have them.

Source: flickr.com via Dana on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Dana on Pinterest

The beads are very earthy green, just soft and mystical. Paired with the copper and brass they have a very woodland feel to them.

Source: flickr.com via Dana on Pinterest

A fairy like feel to them. And so my Faerie Folk and Fantasy Inspiration Board on Pinterest was born.

I'm really looking forward to playing with these beads, the inspiration is flowing and I have several ideas perking. :)

Now that Jennifer has received her soup I can show you what I sent. Since Jennifer owns a bead store I didn't want to send a bunch of beads she could just pick up from any of her shelves, I took it on as a challenge to make all the components I sent so they would be new and unique to her. I feel a little guilty I didn't send more but no one else will have the pieces I sent to her :)

Thanks for stopping by! Come back soon, I'll be designing with these beauties, getting ready for the reveal on Mar 30th!
See ya next time!

What's in the Garden.....

While I'm nursing the hubs back from his surgery I thought you might like to see what's in bloom in my garden. It will be another couple years before it's in it's full glory again, transplanting always takes it's toll but as you can see, the Iris's seem to be adapting quite well!


We have wild black berry EVERYWHERE up here it's been a battle to get it under control, but the fresh berries are wonderful and the flowers are much appreciated too, especially by the swallowtail community!


The hostas seem to have survived last years summer melt down and the peony seems to have as well. I'm pretty sure I've lost my roses but their root stock survived, it will be interesting to see what they reveal themselves to be. Sadly the deer seem to have bitten the top off of one my lillies :(


My seedlings seem to be doing well so far, the little paper pots and cloches I made for them seem to really be doing the trick - of course I think what helps most of all is the cats aka the magpies haven't discovered them in the laundry room. As of now I have cantaloupe, tomatoes, petunias and a hummingbird mix successfully started. No true leaves yet, so successfully getting them into the garden remains to be seen. It almost made 90 today, already! Getting the seedlings in the garden may be only the first major feat of the growing season. Hoping to get some more veggies going soon and get some more of my garden transplanted too!


Since writing this to put in the queue - which I forgot to do lol) the cantaloupe and tomatoes have true leaves yay! and the peachy orange Iris are blooming now too! I've even brought my first bouquet of the season in!! The honeysuckle has started blooming and the boxwood is close behind and then the air will be heavenly to breathe! If I were smart I'd cut a peach Iris and some Cherokee rose for a bouquet too, no I should wait for the box wood to bloom first!!
I love spring :)!

Thanks for stopping by, we'll see you next time!