Paper, Love, and Dreams

When you buy something handmade, you're giving a loved one a gift that someone made with their own hands. That gift was once an idea, a sketch, a dream. The artist took that idea, sketch, dream, and worked to make it something beautiful. It's a wonderful process and something amazing to witness.

I have a friend. Her name is Grace. She just opened up Paper, Love, and Dreams. It's an online boutique that sells gorgeous handmade stationary.

I know. You're thinking, "Who uses stationary anymore?"

Well. I do. And more people should.

We've become a culture that is always connected by invisible electrical signals. Texting is an everyday thing. The email inbox has replaced mail boxes. And we don't even take the time to print actual pictures anymore.

Grace's block prints are fun and colorful. Who doesn't love a tipsy hedgehog?

I know of at least 5 different people who would just light up if they got one of those cards in the mail randomly one day.

I've teamed up with my friend for a giveaway on her blog. She's giving away a beautiful set of cards she designed called "Drink Up." These cards are dipped in Cabernet Sauvignon to create an ombre effect. That's right. Dipped in wine. How clever is that?

And I designed these earrings to compliment the collection. If your name is drawn, you get both the card set AND those pearl earrings.

Hop on over to her blog and enter the giveaway. Also, check out her shop. She has this collection called "Girls" that is just inspiring. And 20% of the proceeds of a "Girls" card goes to benefit Girls, Inc.

Life Runs Fast

Whoa.

It's been 13 days since I blogged.

I promise, I didn't mean to let life get in the way.

But that happens during the summer.

I last left you saying that I was having a show on the 21st.

Well, the day after (Happy 4th of July, btw), the boyfriend's car died. Long story short, his engine had to be rebuilt. Fun times.

So.

I cancelled the show and we took care of business. I didn't have to help pay for the repair or anything but he works far away and I drove him around (gas is expensive).

I will have another show closer to the holiday season and I'll keep you guys posted on that.

What else happened between now and then?

OH! I hit 100 sales on Etsy! *dance*

And now... this bracelet is selling like crazy. It's keeping me busy and I'm insanely happy about it. I feel so blessed there are people out there who like my stuff enough to buy it.

The blog will be changing a little. I have a few regular weekly post ideas bouncing around in my head. That should be fun.

I'm also working on some tutorials for the blog.

Lots of new and exciting things going around in my mind.

I'm moving forward and it's awesome.

A First for Me

This year has been full of exciting changes and leaps of faith.

Don't get me wrong, there were too many times where I lay in bed, crying, frustrated with myself and with life.

But, I've kept my heart open and continued to move forward. Sometimes, I take great strides... most of the time, I seem to tip-toe on. But I'm moving forward.

I have my first show on July 21st!

FINALLY.

To be honest, I didn't find this show. They found me. An organization called "RAW: natural born artists" contacted me about doing a show at a night club on the 21st.

My heart raced as I spoke with Tyler (the RAW rep). Everything felt right. There will be a fashion show. Music. They will work to get the press there and are currently promoting the show. How awesome is that?

I think it's awesome.

Because it's at a night club, tickets are $10. The money goes to the event and not the artists. It's kind of like a booth fee. I have to sell 20 tickets. So.. if you'd like to show some support, check out the Facebook event to see how to buy tickets.

Oh. And if you buy a ticket, let me know! I'll make you something pretty! I'll have it waiting for you at the table OR I will mail it out to you if you can't make it to the show but still want to show your love.

I'm so ready for this.

Mentally, anyway.

Inventory-wise? Not really. Have I met the ticket quota yet? No...

But I'm not worried. I know good things will happen.

Because I'm ready for good things to happen. I'm ready to do the work. I AM doing the work.

Today is a good day.

A Metal Stamp Storage Tip and New Cutters

I'm a beginner at metal stamping. And I'm not rich. So when I bought my stamp set, they came in a nice red case, but the stamps get out of order easily. I needed a stamp holder.

Like this one:

But with shipping, the holder would cost more than my metal stamps! And then there's the wait and well, sometimes, I'm not very patient.

So, I went to Michaels. And for less than $5 (I want to say only $2, but I'm not sure), I purchased a square piece of floral foam and...

Made it look like a porcupine! :P I could have measured our the foam and made the stamps all equidistant and pretty in the foam but.. eh... I'm lazy. The container for the stamps was square so I bought square foam and eyeballed it. Works great!

I was ready to stamp... But first...

How on earth was I to cut this flat wire???

My regular snippers were to small and my other cutters... well, I once used them to cut memory wire and they haven't forgiven me since. So. For Rod and my anniversary, I asked for a pair of cutters. We went to Lowe's and looked around. I couldn't remember the gauge of my flat wire and all I remember reading about with cutters was to get something called "heavy duty wire cutters."

Well, let me tell you. Couldn't find anything that said "heavy duty wire cutters." So. Well. We bought a $9 pair of bolt cutters. I figured, hey, if it can cut through a friggin' BOLT, it can cut through some flat wire.

Look at the size of these things! 8 inch bolt cutters. Could have gotten the 14 inch version for like $3 more but I decided against it.

And they work great. Of course, you still have to file down the edges, but what was I expecting? Magic cutters? For the price, this thing is pretty magical, let me tell you.

Now, I need something to make holes. I have a coupon for Hobby Lobby and I think their hole punch thingy is only $7.99... maybe $9.99. Michaels has theirs for over $20 now. So I will be heading over to Hobby Lobby sometime this week. I'm very excited. It's coming together... slowly, but surely.

Happy Monday, all!

Explaining Infinity

The word "infinity" comes from the Latin "infinitas," which means "unboundedness."

The ancient Indians and Greeks were unable to explain "infinity" mathematically so they thought of it as a philosophical concept.

I remember when my father tried to explain the concept of infinity to me for the first time. My father, brilliant, troubled man that he is, loves math. Probably a little too much. In fact, it's one of his triggers for a schizophrenic episode. During one of his episodes, I remember his trying to teach me mental math. Out of the blue, he told me to turn an 8 on it's side in my mind.

 

Dad: "Do you know what that means?"

Me: "No..."

Dad: "Infinity. Do you know what infinity means?"

Me: "No..."

Dad: "Forever. Unending. Unlike the alphabet which ends at z, numbers go on forever."

It was a hard concept for me to grasp at 8 years old (or however old I was... my sister will tell you, I have a terrible memory sometimes) but I think I get it now.

Infinity. Forever. Unending. Like my love for my family.

I've got these infinity bracelets up in the shop right now. Also have some in brassy gold too.

Happy Thursday, all! Weekend is almost here! *happydance!*

BSBP: What I Love Most

Our fearless leader, Lori Anderson, posed the question "Why/how did you become a jewelry designer and what do you like best about it?" Well, I answered the first half of the question but completely left out the second half!

There are quite a few different things I love about being a jewelry designer.

There's the pretty things I make. I thoroughly enjoy making pretty things.

There's the fact that I get to actually make pretty things. That's pretty awesome. Making things brings me happiness.

Then... there's my customers.

I don't consider myself a successful Etsy seller, but in the last year, I've sold more and made more jewelry than any time before. And I love my customers. Custom orders make me giddy. Questions about my work get me excited. And then the feedback... oh the feedback.

Knowing that someone loves a piece as much as I loved making it... that's joy. I make these things with my own two hands. My heart goes with each piece and a part of me is expressed in every little thing I make... even my $6 bracelets.

And when someone tells me how much they like it... or that it was the perfect gift for their friend... my heart soars. I am so thankful to these wonderful people who take time out of their day to tell an artist they like the work he/she is doing.

We all need to hear that, sometimes.

Oh. At the risk of contradicting yesterday's post... there's also the beads.

I. Love. Beads. Shopping for them. Holding them. Sketching them. Thinking about making them. Dreaming about my own bead store. Oh yes. Beads are another reason why I make jewelry. ^_^

What do you love most about what you do?

More to Life Than Beads

I have my first show coming up in July (more about that in another post... promise) and I spent the better part of the week before last FREAKING the EFF out. Stressing over money (like always) and inventory.

Then this happened on the 16th.

My nephew's 1st birthday. FIRST! He had a cold. But certainly loved all the attention. That picture in the bottom right corner? That's storytime with me and Rowan who is adorable.

There were lollicakes. Cotton candy hair is genius, by the way. Genius... AND delicious. *nomnom*

Then the next morning, Rod and I made pancakes with Kai, my other nephew and Kian's older brother. That boy is such a picky eater... but if he cooks it, he eats it. I'm told they've already cooked through the whole box of pancake mix we bought. That middle picture? HE put the blueberry there on top of the butter.

At first, he only wanted plain pancakes, but Tita Rose made blueberry for herself. Well, he saw me making them and wanted to make them too... then... he ate them. Lol. LOVE YOU, KAI!

Then we went home. It was our anniversary week last week. We took it easy. He played guitar. It reminded me of one of our first dates... 4 years ago. <3

At first, there wasn't much creating. We went to a book store and I found a magazine called "Handmade Fashion," a British import that cost $20! Oh how I want it. He picked me flowers. I played with seed beads.

I was able to go to the bead store on Thursday. These were the lovelies I acquired. I got two Ganesha bone pendants because I want one for myself. We turned the table into our own joint worktable.

Toward the end of the week, after some much needed relaxation, he had at least three watercolor paintings done. I was frantically working with my wire and sketching out new designs.

My family is so important to me. So far, I've seen someone from my immediate family every weekend for the past 3 weeks. How lucky am I? Why am I stressing? I'm doing what I love... Sure, right now, it's a struggle, financially, but I know I can do this. My family believes in me. My boyfriend believes in me. Now, I just need to believe in myself.

How was your week last week?