fun & treats

Tonight my children turned into a DINOSAUR, a STORM TROOPER and a BUNNY RABBIT:


Having way too much fun with candy eye balls---

Even my "BIG KID" had to get in on the fun!

Hope everyone had a fun night!

Boutique Angels Charity EMERGENCY LAUNCH...

I recently joined a generous group of designers on eBay called the Boutique Angels that do charity auctions for different charities, all of the proceeds from their listings go straight to their designated charity. They are doing an emergency launch for the California Wild Fire Victims, here are my 2 contributions- every penny made will go to the California Red Cross that's helping aid the wild fire victims:

Handcrafted Champagne Briolette Earrings:


Faith in Angels Necklace:


To see ALL of the charity listings click HERE! Hurry and check them out, some END TODAY!!!!!

a new friend...Jem Jam!!!

At the show I met Jemellia, the owner of Jem Jam, this CUTE shop on Etsy, this is her(on the right), her niece and her booth:


She is multi-talented and has fun things from little bags she sewed to paper creations like cards and gift tags. She was sweet enough to trade with me because I was drooling all over her goodies! I got an adorable little apron and one of her fold over clutches (girls these are at a GREAT price in her store and Jemellia has PRETTY fabrics!)

and some of her gift tags! Everything is very well made, very high quality. Go check out her store and have fun shopping!

after show sale...free shipping!!!

I just listed a bunch of fabric necklaces as well as a couple of fun necklaces that didn't sell at the show, FREE shipping to all of my blog friends! (Don't pay til I send you a new invoice without shipping!) Find them all listed HERE!!!





I also listed this sterling stamped name bracelet, customized with any name or word. Find in listed on eBay here!

the show...

Thanks sooooo much to all of you that emailed me asking how the indie show went, it feels nice knowing you were all thinking of me!

The show was, well, an EXPERIENCE! It was in this old warehouse that was pretty cool once it was all fixed up- the painted walls were peeling so you could see the bricks underneath and there were colored concrete pillars, concrete floors, spiral stairs with a spiral slide next to it, a very fun building! With NO electricity or plumbing!!! They rented generators and turned on big spotlight lamps but it was still VERY dark inside, especially at night. The first night we all lit candles, and we got smart and brought our own lamps with us the second night.

My friend Kristen came and sat with me the entire night on Friday (thank you Kristen!!!) and Saturday I had a couple of friends come by (thanks Jennifer and Jessica, and Amanda for trying!), my parents and Ryan brought the kids for a little while.

Thanks to Tammy for the idea of a photo album with past designs, this was a big hit!!!

Funny story- I had some of our soldered Christmas ornaments out for examples and Caleb saw the one with his picture on it and quietly asked me "why are you selling MY ornament?" He was very concerned I was getting rid of his ornament!!!


I had some sales, met lots of fun people and designers that I recognized from Etsy (some recognized my seller id or knew others that I know- funny what a little "world" Etsy is!) and gave out almost all of my business cards...it was a great first show for me but it totally makes me want to do a BIG show now!

Remember the contest and you guys all gave me ideas of things to stamp? I wanted to share a few that I made from your ideas that SOLD!!!

"supercalifragelisticexpialidocious" (as a stamped bracelet)
"I make stuff" (as a stamped necklace)
"I heart coffee" (stamped necklace)
"Princess in Training" (stamped bracelet)
"Carpe Diem" (stamped necklace)
"Free Spirit" (stamped bracelet)

I know there were a few more but this is all I can remember right now, thanks for the ideas!

the birthday girl

Today was Tessa's 3rd birthday...the 4 of us woke her up with a small cupcake, a candle and the Happy Birthday song. Tonight we had a party with family and friends...


Her "girlfriends" (and one cousin!) ...aren't they all adorable?

My "baby" is 3 :(

Happy Birthday Tessa!!!!!

we have a winner!!!!!

I did the Random Number Generator and it picked the number...34!!! Comment # 34 is SUZY!!!! Suzy, please email me and let me know which necklace you would like, congrats!

THANKS SO MUCH to all of you for the fabulous ideas... I am using a bunch of them!!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me this weekend :)

royal rhinestones

Something new...a soldered charm made from fleur de lis fabric and then soldered onto a handcrafted sterling silver ring. I added some swarovski crystals around the charm for that extra BLING! I listed it on eBay at .99 NR!!! Find it here!
This ring was so fun to make, I think I'll have to make more...


Also, last Saturday I got a haircut! I'm not a pro at taking my own picture like some of you girls do, but you get the idea :) I tried to get Tessa to take it but all she got was my legs!!!

wouldn't you know...

...that at the beginning of an extremely busy week I would get sick? Friday morning Ryan and I woke up feeling yucky and by that night I was down and out with a nasty head cold. I had to rest and got behind with jewelry :( Saturday night my awesome parents came up and babysat so Ryan and I could go down to the Dallas market. The display is cute (after I rearranged a few things- Ryan got embarrassed when I started moving it all around and snuck out for awhile!) But I got to meet my rep and saw a woman shopping checking out my jewels which was fun!

Monday night we had our final (we've been taking a class on Principles of Prayer- it was a GREAT class and we learned alot!) So now I'm trying to balance between making new stuff for the show THIS FRIDAY (ACK!!!!) and getting orders out on time!!!

Tomorrow is Tessa' birthday! I can't believe it, she's 3 years old. Caleb, Jonah, Ryan and I all have our birthdays within a month of each other in February and March, so after we had all of our birthdays she's been reminding me it's time for hers- since APRIL! She has a few friends and family coming over and has requested a "Princess cat & bunny" party...? She picked out Hello Kitty party stuff (over Dora and princess, I couldn't believe it!) and I bought some tiaras and other princess stuff, now to incorporate the bunny...? Any thoughts out there?

Tomorrow is the DRAWING!!! See the post below to win some free jewels!!!

I need your help!!!!! you can WIN!!!

I'm hearing me say that just like Dora: "I need your help!"

So I have this craft show next weekend...my FIRST show EVER! It's called the Indie Emporium and the target market is ages 18-30 year olds. I need some ideas for stamped bracelets and necklaces- fun quotes, inspirational sayings, one or 2 words that are fun together, etc. I have some done already but I know you girls are SUPER creative and will have some AWESOME ideas for me (crossing my fingers and toes!)

So post your ideas here, everytime you post an idea I will put your name in a hat...the winner gets to design their OWN stamped sterling disc NECKLACE...

OR you can choose one of the Santa necklaces:

OR one of these Cute Christmas ornaments that can be hung on a bead chain for a necklace if you prefer:

These are a few things I have made up for the show :)

Please post your quotes, sayings, words, you have ONE WEEK!!! The contest ends next Wednesday, I'll announce the winner on THURSDAY, the 25th, so HURRY!!!!

Thanks for helping me!

Here is some fun stuff to add to my display that I found on sale yesterday. I'm hoping they will help my display be FUN to look at:




I'm getting excited but NERVOUS too!!!

shabby chic

I had the pleasure of collaborating again with Andrea aka fleur*lenfant
I love Andrea's style, she is definitely one of my most favorite designers on eBay! Here is our collaboration:

When the fabrics from Andrea arrived they said "shabby chic" to me...so that's what is stamped on the sterling charm! It's hung on pearls, amazonite and pink mother of pearl. To see the jewels click here.

To see Andrea's beautiful outfit click here.

it's a boy...

This is Ricky, he's a pound kitten we adopted on Saturday, isn't he CUTE?



This is our 1 1/2 year old cat Lucy keeping her distance from him the first day he was here:

Our 40 pound dog is terrified of Ricky the kitten:


Lucy now mothers him, puts him in a headlock and grooms him, and they play chase all over the house :)

Ricky and Lucy...yes, the Ricardos are now living with us. *grin*

pumpkin time

Ryan came home tonight with a, um, pretty pumpkin. Okay, honestly it's one of the saddest pumpkins I've ever seen, had Ryan not picked it then it may have never been picked...it's totally flat on the back and all bruised up and battered. He said he just grabbed one, had it been me I wold have hemmed and hawed to get the "perfect" one. However, the kids thought it was FABULOUS beacuse it was THEIRS!

Yes, I'm in my pj's before the kids are in bed, I actually put them on as soon as we came home from church this morning...I was in the mood to be comfy :)

Can you tell from their faces they don't like the feel of the pumpkin "guts"? I ended up having to take out the seeds and guts, then Caleb drew a face for me to carve.

Can you see the eyebrows Jonah drew on the pumpkin?

Our happy pumpkin with only one tooth:

adding Pillar to my list...

Remember my "brush with fame" list? Well I have a new one to add! Ryan and I took the kids to Pumpkin Town last night and Ryan ran into a guy he knows from a basketball league he played in- Rob who is the lead vocals for the Christian rock band PILLAR. We also got to meet Noah, who plays the bass guitar. Rob's on the right, Noah is on the left:

Ryan LOVES Pillar, they are pretty hard and fast rock, a GREAT alternative for kids (and my husband!) to listen to instead of bands like Metallica and Nine Inch Nails. Pillar sings good messages, not about drugs and sex. Our kids (who are 6, 4 and almost 3) even recognize and like a few of their songs, Ryan keeps one of their cd's in his truck that we listen to.

I had my camera with me and I SO WANTED to take a pic of them but I thought Ryan would be so embarrassed, so I didn't...now I'm wishing I had!

They were super nice and it was fun to see heavy rock and rollers with their wives and kids...Noah (the one with the dreds) was busy chasing after his toddling daughter!

They have a new album coming out in february!!! You can listen to their music here.

random stuff

Today the high temperature was in the 70's so Jonah decided he was cold...


another funny sign...


Caleb is finally mastering shoe tying, he did this all by himself...("awe Mom, do you HAVE to take a picture?"--- I have become "Mom" to Caleb now, not "Mommy" much anymore, *sniff*

a busy bee...

I just realized how long it's been since I've blogged!!! WoW, I almost always have SOMETHING to say on here and I've been silent for almost a week! I've been sooooo busy gearing up for a few launches, the Market and an indie craft show.

Today my AMAZING parents came up and took Tessa for the day, and even picked up the boys from school and took them out so I could have the day to myslef to get stuff done- this is the third Wednesday in a row they've done this!!! SUCH A BLESSING! I get so much done when the house is QUIET :) Plus the kids LOVE having a day with my parents.

So I spent the entire day getting ready for the upcoming show at the Dallas Market Place. The October one is one of the biggest markets so I have my fingers crossed for some new customers. I took some modeling pics of Tessa that I blew up and framed for them to hang over my jewels for an eye catcher, here are some of my faves:



















The last one is the one I blew up and am sending along with some new additions to my line :)

Some new goodies have been addded to my Etsy store like this custom birthstone necklace:


I also listed custom Christmas ornaments made with your photos...these make fab gifts!

SAVE THE BOOBS!!!

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, and the women who have been touched by breast cancer,
The Silly Wagon will be donating 10% of its sales to the Susan G Komen Foundation.
Anything in the shop is eligible from October 4th - 19th. INCLUDING sale items, furniture, art and clothing...
everything, in other words.

Whitney of The Silly Wagon asked me to make something for the Breast Cancer Awareness month so I made this pink jade flower ring wrapped with sterling silver. You can find it only at The Silly Wagon, just click HERE!!!