Thursday, August 6, 2009

Earrings Galore!



The other night I was feeling creative so I decided to sit down, go through my beads and make a few pairs of earrings. Well apparently I was feeling very creative since I was able to make new pairs!  They are all very different and I'm very happy with them and glad that my online shops will be getting a fresh look with a few new items. Here are 2 I just listed and there will be many more to come.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Paper Business Card Holder



I wanted to share with you the very first thing I ever bought on Etsy since it is still one of my favorite and most used items. It's a paper business card holder by DearSukie. I know what you're thinking, how durable can paper be? Well a clear plastic covering was sewn around the pretty scrapbook paper so it's a lot more durable than you would think. I carry this around with me everyday, filled with my business cards just in case I find an opportunity to pass them out. It's very thin and snaps shut so cards won't come falling out. The seller was great and it was a perfect transaction, so check out DearSukie (www.dearsukie.etsy.com) on Etsy if you're looking for a new card holder or wallet!


Monday, July 6, 2009

Spring Flowers...


We never did seem to have spring this year so it never seemed the right time to list some springish items on Etsy. But now that the weather is behaving and we're supposed to have beautiful weather with out humidity, I'm feeling the need for color and fun. So tonight I uploaded some fun glass flower earrings with crystals. I have a pair of these earring that I made for myself in pinks and purples and they are really cute. I also have a pair in light pink, if you're interested in those check out the sale section in either of my shops. Hope you're having just as nice weather wherever you are!

Oh, and here's a terrible joke I heard today on this subject: If April showers bring May flowers, what to May flowers bring? Pilgrims!  :)  (I know, I know, my sense of humor is terrible).


Friday, July 3, 2009

Backyard Bliss




One of the best things about having a single-family home as opposed to a condo or townhouse is that we have a backyard with a pretty big back deck. It's a lot of yard work but we're not sick of it yet. The deck needs to be refinished, which is a project for next summer, but I didn't want to wait until then to use it so I went ahead and decorated!

We bought a patio set at Sears, 6 chairs and a table with an umbrella that you can angle. The umbrella is quite handy because we get a lot of sunlight in the afternoons here. I also added little pots that hang off of the railing and filled them with different colors of begonias. Pete said they looked like something a kindergarden would have since they were such bright colors but with our beige house and beige patio furniture I thought a little color was nice. I also got a big pot of some pretty purple flowers, 
although I have no clue what they are. I haven't killed them yet so they must be something hardy.

The best thing about my nice relaxing backyard is that the wireless internet reaches out there so I can sit outside and enjoy the nice weather (when we have it) while still getting some work done. And I've had a lot to do recently moving all 74 items I have in my Etsy shop over to my ArtFire shop. I love my macbook but sometimes it would be really handy to have a nice big screen for things like that. Anyway, back to the backyard. We also have lots of great plants actually planted out there. I'll have images soon. Until then, I'm going back outside to soak up some sun and get some work done on ArtFire. Hope you're having fun enjoying the holiday weekend!









Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Official Hoop Earring Day!


I made a pair of cute hoop earrings with small red crystals dangling off of them a while ago and am constantly surprised by how few views they get when I put them on to Etsy or ArtFire. Just the other day I put them on ArtFire and they got 1 view while everything else I uploaded at that time got 5-10. So you can imagine my surprise when I took a break from emptying my kitchen for demolition to check my email and found that they had sold! I love getting that "you made a sale" email, it's very exciting. 

And since my cute hoop earrings are now on their way to their new home I decided to list another pair of crystal hoop earrings (photo on left) in honor of them. These earrings have pink and red crystals and are quite pretty. I hope they find a good home soon!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Home Sweet Home


Well, here's my house! Our house, I guess. We looked at 9 houses before picking this one. It just felt right and my husband said it was his favorite before we were even in the front door (which we fixed up and painted a pretty blue). It has 3 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. There is an attic on the 3rd floor that has been converted into a family room, which is nice. It is heated and with the new carpet we put in it's going to be great in the winter time. 

It's a old house (built in 1924-1926) and the previous owners didn't do too much upkeep on it so there has been a lot of work to do. My husband and father-in-law rebuilt the stairs to the attic, they put in new lighting in the basement, they basically re-did the downstairs bathroom and there has been lots of smaller projects in between. Next we are going to start a kitchen remodel (yikes!) since the current kitchen was last updated in about 1969 with it's faux wood countertops, faux tin ceiling and faux brick backsplash. Classy. The kitchen will be a lot of work and money but will be well worth it when it is done. We really love this house and it feels like home even though we've only been here a few months.

And here's a picture my husband took of the water tower in our town. Yep, apparently Boonton isn't in NJ at all. It's in the U.S.A. What an odd town...


Sunday, June 28, 2009

Just starting out...

Since this is the first post on my new blog I thought I'd talk about some other new things that are going on in my life. We just bought a house in April, our first one, so that is very new, scary and exciting. I'm also starting to really focus on my jewelry business. Up until now it's been mostly a hobby but I'd really like to spend more time on it and really get things moving. Unfortunately it seems that I spend more time promoting my shop and taking photos and uploading items than I am actually beading. I've also had to learn about and get involved in lots of new things including promoting my shops on forums, flickr, facebook and of course this blog. Sometimes it can be overwhelming and also very scary but also very exciting and I'm hopeful that it will be worth the trouble.

Now for the other new thing that is also scary but not at all fun and exciting. My little sister who is a 1LT in the US Army was deployed last week. She's excited and it's a great move for her career but I am feeling a little apprehensive. A year is a very long time and I hate that I won't be able to see her. And once she's actually overseas (she's training in the US now) she won't be able to call or communicate as often as she can now and I hate that. Who am I supposed to call when my husband does something stupid and I need to vent? Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly proud of her and I know she is ready for this and I know she can handle this. She proved it to me when I went down to Maryland for her Yellow Ribbon Ceremony.



At the Ceremony I saw a side of her that I hadn't seen. She was tough and organized. Stern when people were out of line but not too much as to scare the soldiers working underneath her. All in all, very professional. I was very impressed with her and know that the war on terror is once step closer to being won with her fighting for us. And when she comes back next summer, I am going to throw her the biggest party ever (at my new house) to celebrate her strength, dedication and sacrifice. A year is a long time to put your life on hold but I know that she'll get through it and be better for the experience. I, however, will probably be a wreck for the next year.

So that's my life at the moment. New house and online selling ventures to keep my mind off of my sister going to war. Pretty transparent but hey, you do what works. Good luck, Sam, I love you and miss you. Now I'm off to make a necklace before I get all teary eyed.