bringing back the jewelry boards!

it’s been a loooong time since i’ve offered these guys up for sale. remember them? so cute and a great way to see what you’ve got {ensuring that you’ll wear that necklace that’s currently wadded up in a drawer somewhere}.

upcycled jewelry boards of yore

i have one that i keep all my goodies on and it’s super handy! i haven’t had them in the store for a while because i haven’t been able to find any good children’s clothes to upcycle. but then i realized the other day that i have a ton of great fabric in my stash and i can make some more that way. {i’m not always the quickest}

here are some sneak peaks of what i’m working on.

frames to work with {and duck prints to throw out}

pretty fabrics

and then i dig into my stash of brads, ribbon, vintage buttons and trim, and see what comes up.

this one looks preppy and sweet

this one has kind of a thrifted look to it

this one has a handmade, natural vibe

this one is shaping up to be prim and proper

and this one is becoming quite mod!

it’s likely that not all the doodads will make the final cut, but i like to lay everything out first and work from there. i think of them as assemblages, and they can take quite a while to complete. click here to see my tutorial for how to make your own {or just see what’s behind the scenes}. it was featured on cosa verde’s blog ages ago. hopefully i can get these up and in the shop soon!

where do you turn for inspiration?

i really like this poster, created by ed hall. it has some of my favorites on there {like clean your workspace, finish something…they tend to work}! how do you stay creative?

found on pinterest via .tif smith and available here, if you want your very own.

a little birdie

i’ve finally gotten on the branding bandwagon and chosen a theme for all my materials {bags, postcards, etc.}. i already had these little birdies on my business cards. remember when? that was so long ago…before portlandia, even, so hopefully i’m forgiven for putting a bird on it.

i put birdies on my handpainted sign for my booth…

i put them on my labels for my bags…

…and i just put them on the header for my etsy page. {it seemed time for a makeover! i’d had the same image from when i opened up over a year and half ago, and it had looked tired to me for a while.} even if they’re a bit cliché now, i feel like these birdies represent me and my jewelry well. i like the change. hope you do, too!

 

 

just click on the image to see it in action!

currently

mmm...summer

currently our kitchen is overwhelmed with the bounty of the farmer’s market and the fruits of our neighbors’ garden {we’re garden sitting}. i tried this method for keeping all those beautiful berries from turning moldy so fast, found on pinterest via tammy shipley, originally from the blog food lush. i’m super optimistic that these berries will be delicious for days…or however long they last around here. {they’re so sweet they taste like candy}

my tribute to the end of summer

currently i’m feeling a little nostalgic about the end of summer…even though it will still be nice and hot here for several months.

currently i’m worried about friends and family back east and hoping irene isn’t too much of a meanie.

currently we’re staying indoors as the temperature reaches 106°F today. even molly, who loves the sun and the heat, is curled up in the coolest room of the house with us {the living room}.

currently i’m getting back into my studio with schemes and dreams.

a study for an onion's portrait

currently i’m trying my hand at watercolors with the guidance of billy showell through this beautiful book. her paintings are unbelievably lifelike and satisfy my need for precision.

i think it’s time for some more strawberries!

vitameatavegamin

as i approach “advanced maternal age” {aka 35} i find myself not feeling all that old. not that 35 is all that old, mind you, but it’s older than 30. and i can still remember a time when either of those ages seemed like a time when i would be put out to pasture. now i still feel like a whippersnapper but with the wisdom of an older woman.

but when i open my medicine cabinet, i see all the products i use to keep my face from telling my age. given that i still get carded, i think it’s working pretty well. {shush, i don’t want to hear that it’s a policy, just card me, make me feel young, and keep your mouth shut. even better, tell me i don’t look that old. thanks.} and you know what i realized the other day? almost all of my wonder products are natural and vitamin-based. and you know me, i thought i’d share.

my bag of tricks:

• sunscreen. you wear it right? i didn’t start taking care of my skin until we moved to our sunny, semi-arid slice of southern california, where i promptly aged 10 years in a week. i’m talkin’ scary dehydrated emphysema lady with the haggard, deep-lined eyes old. now i’m a convert. i drank the kool-aid and i wear the sunscreen. you should, too, otherwise everything else is for naught. being super-sensitive, i opt for the non-chemical variety. i like neutrogena’s purescreen line.
• vitamin c is amazing for fading dark spots and brightening up the tone of your complexion. i like c the change serum by kiss my face. get it here and save oodles.
• glycolic acid cream. while technically not a vitamin, it does come from sugar cane, and we all know that’s good stuff. it sloughs off old cells while moisturizing. if you use it, make sure you wear sunscreen or you’ll get wicked burned. here’s what’s in my medicine cabinet. start slow, with a 5% cream, and work your way to the special old lady 10% level that i use.
• vitamin k cream for dark circles. nothing says i’ve been up all night worrying about my advanced maternal age like dark under-eye circles, amiright? and this stuff is magic. i use it a lot in the spring when allergies leave me with two almost-shiners. plus it’s good for fading bruises elsewhere, so it does double duty. this is what i get.
• vitamin a gel moisturizes my oily/combination/sensitive skin just enough. it’s good for acne and for wrinkles. it seems unfair to me that i should have both, but nobody asked me before blessing me with this combo. i use this stuff, but if you have drier skin, look for a cream.
• vitamin e oil is all i use to moisturize around my eyes. i’ve tried the expensive stuff and it works about as well as this less-expensive stuff. plus you can use this oil for other dry spots or scars. my fave is this concentrated vitamin e oil by jason, which also contains some other good oils.
• my homemade lotion. true story: the other day my neighbor asked me if i’d been working out and tanning. nope, but i had just put on some of my homemade lotion. the glistening tricks the eye, you see.

true story

sew funky marketplace {redux}

i’m going to sew funky marketplace again! it’ll be october 8th from 9am to 3pm at the riverside marriott. help support the growing arts & crafts community in the inland empire by attending and checking out all the cool goodies. it’ll be a great time to shop for handmade holiday gifts, too.

last time, i didn’t sleep at all the night before because i was up tagging all my pieces // this time i’m going to be more prepared and less sleep-deprived. last time, my backdrop was a little wonky because i made it out of the small pvc // this time it’ll stand upright because i know better now. last time,  the hubby and i went home with this adorable mustache pillow from the leef // who knows what we’ll find this time!!

mustache pillow from the leef

it’s going to be twice as big, with twice as many vendors! to learn more, visit the sew funky marketplace blog.

gremlins

oh sure, they look cute...

i have returned from my epic alaska/vermont summer adventure…to find that our toilet has been broken {gremlins}, our a/c is out {gremlins}, and i really could have used a couple more weeks in alaska. well, at least that’s not the gremlin’s fault.

seriously, we returned home to some busted stuff {the hubby’s bike tires also mysteriously blew upon inflation}, and the only explanation i can come up with is that while we were gone, someone took a pack full of those critters, watered them, fed them after midnight, and exposed them to bright light before releasing them into our house.

there has been at least one other gremlin incident in the area: a friend returned home {also from alaska} to find that a.) someone else was writing checks from her account {gremlins}, b.) someone had backed into her car and left no note {really bad gremlins}, c.) her toilet was broken {and now you can see why i concluded that this was the coordinate work of gremlins}.

happier updates coming soon.