King William Fair

My show yesterday was so much fun. My friend, Anne Marie, told me about it. It's been going on for many years and coincides with Fiesta, a week long celebration in San Antonio. There was a fun parade in the morning. People were wearing colorful head dresses and exchanging funny medals. They were cracking confetti eggs on each other's head so everyone had confetti in their hair. The fair is held in this neighborhood of big old beautiful mansions on tree-lined streets. My friend Liz and I requested booths next to each other and it was so much fun to hang out with her all day! I posted a bunch of pictures on my flickr page.

Today I am feeling super inspired to make new jewelry. I cleaned my studio this morning. It seriously needed it.

Friday night was nice. Hung out with James and he played me two of his latest mixes, old country music and do-wop. We practiced dancing to the country music. I taught him the two step. It was really fun.

Websites and Mix Tapes

When I start doing a project I can really get obsessed with it. This week I finally had a chance to get James to sit down with me and figure out how to get into my shopping cart software. Working with Etsy has made me realize how much easier it would be to add products to my website if I used the shopping cart storefront. I just couldn't figure out how to get it started. Once he got me in, I started messing around with the configuration, figuring out how it works. The one I have is an older version that came free with my web host but I think I will be able to make it work out pretty well. There are issues with the spacing but it will have to do for now. I have developed the look of it and now I am in the process of adding images and descriptions to all my products. I hope to take it live really soon. I think it will make me a little more efficient in my business.

James also has a special talent for making music mixes. He once made me the best Dylan mix tape ever. You might not think Bob Dylan could be romantic but you'd be wrong. ;) Anyway, ever since he got his new Ipod he has been back to making mixes. They are so awesome! This week he made one with all songs from 1972 (the year I was born). It makes me so happy. It has some great songs like Saturday in the Park and Ventura Highway. He also made a mix of 80's New Wave which has me saying "OMG" every time a new song comes on in the car. His mixes are really fun.

I have also been busy working on my latest website project. Along with it I am also helping the lady out with some marketing stuff like designing a postcard for her and getting her set up for mass email campaigns. It is kind of fun to use the knowledge I have developed in my own business experience to help someone else. Plus, it challenges me to learn more when someone tasks me with coming up with a new design. I find her enthusiasm for her business inspiring.

This weekend I am looking forward to my show in San Antonio, King William.

A very fun Saturday night.

Oh my goodness, Saturday night was so much fun. We had drinks at the San Jose where two of my friends were staying and dinner at Uchi where we had a celebrity sighting! We were sitting outside having drinks and out walks Jake Gyllenhaal. It was so exciting. He is just as beautiful in person as on the screen. And Jake, if you're out there, I am so sorry I yelled your name out. I am rather embarrassed at my crazed fan behavior.

In the picture above, we all have that "I just saw Jake Gyllenhaal" glow. From left to right, Steve, Steve, Barry, Me & Katy. I have known Katy since Kindergarten, ran around with Barry in high school. In college I introduced them and they got married. The Steves (how adorable, a couple in which both partners share the same name) moved to Brownwood about 10 years ago and opened a deli downtown (Steves Market & Deli - seriously good sandwiches if you are ever passing through). This was the first time I had ever really gotten to know them and how fun they are. We had such a good time. As Katy said, I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard. A night like that is good for the soul. And congratulations to my friend Barry. An MBA is quite an accomplishment!

Crafting was fun on Sunday. Instead of working on a craft, I just worked on making earrings while chatting with my friends. Soon there will be some new earrings up on the site. I always get excited when I make a bunch of new earrings. They are like tiny little mobiles. You have to make sure they are not too heavy and they have to be interesting. I just don't like to make boring earrings. I used a bunch of the vintage beads I found in the Paris flea market.

Oh yeah, and I scored pretty big at Citywide this weekend. Lots of neat old jewelry and coins. I enjoy talking to the old man who sells the coins. He is full of interesting facts about coins. I love hearing people talk about their hobbies. I also scored a beautiful vintage black eyelet dress for myself! Hooray!

New Display at Parts & Labour

I got my new display up at Parts and Labour. Check it out. It's the old kitchen cabinet door my brother dug up for me:

I found the little hands at the Warrenton flea market.

I decided to give Etsy another try. I tried it about a year ago with no luck but recently I have been hearing rave reviews from several friends and yesterday a customer wrote me to ask if I sold there. So, I guess I need to try it one more time! We'll see. It shouldn't be too hard to just add new stuff there when I put it on my website.

Yesterday I got busy making new earrings. Came up with a bunch of prototypes which will probably sit on my bulletin board for a few days until I decide what makes the cut.

We went to see Grindhouse on Wednesday night. I actually liked it! The first movie was definitely gory and I had to close my eyes a few times. Loved the Tarantino movie. His movies have great female characters. I have always been a fan. Plus, I really like his connection with Austin.

Looking forward to Citywide Garage Sale this weekend! Also, my friends from high school, Katy and Barry will be in town. We will be celebrating Barry's graduation from the UT MBA program. And, a little crafting get together with a few close friends. It's going to be a fun weekend.

Family Time

Have been enjoying hanging out with my sister. She is coming back from a short trip to Houston today and will have to leave for home tomorrow. It's been nice to hang out with her. I just love my sister. She is one of my favorite people on earth. Such a righteous chick.

We went home for a couple of days last week so Crystal could see my parents. I went to my parent's back pasture in search of some new display piece for my shelf at Parts and Labour. My brother, Jeff, climbed through a pile of old wood and found an old cabinet door for me. Perfect! I will post a picture when it is up.

My niece is so cute! I "helped" out a lot by holding the baby as much as possible. She is just the sweetest little baby ever! Yes, I am gushing. She gets these very adorable, thoughtful looks on her face. And, I love the way she moves her arms and legs around. Sigh.

Spent a bunch of time in the studio on Sunday coming up with new silver charm necklaces. Will put them up on the site soon.

Had to go to the eye doctor yesterday. I got the idea to take a bunch of pictures of myself in the glasses I liked so that I could look at them at home and decide. It is always so hard to pick out glasses because you can't see how you really look in them - well, if you are as blind as I am, you can't. So anyway, I am excited because I picked out a really cute pair. I am cannot wait to have new glasses. I am so tired of the ones I have been wearing and repairing for the last three years!

Old Symbols

These two necklaces are made from old symbols. The Pegasus is from the Mobil Oil logo. I remember our family friends having an old Mobil sign in their backyard. As a 5 year old, I thought it was so neat.

The other is an old Girl Scout Brownie pin. I am not sure what Brownie pins look like now. They may be the same. I am sure a quick internet search would tell me. I found this one at a flea market. I have no idea what happened to mine. Finding this brought back nice memories of being in the Girl Scouts when I was a kid. I remember going to Girl Scout camp. One night we all pulled our cots outside to sleep under the stars. In the middle of the night our counselors woke us up to see that there were fairies dancing around our campfire. It was magical! I am sure it was the older campers but it is a really special memory for me.

Emergencies, Family and New Necklaces

It's been a busy few days! Yesterday I dealt with emergencies all day. My poor dog has a bladder infection and had to go to the vet. My washing machine is not working properly and after the repair guy left I forgot to make sure the hose was reconnected when I pushed it back up against the wall and ended up with about 2 inches of water all over the floor when it started draining. Thank goodness for wet vacs! Beyond all that I managed to actually get housework and laundry done yesterday. I laughed when I looked at bedraggled myself in the mirror around 6 PM.

In the studio I have been working on pairing up the vintage charms in my inventory for the charm necklaces like the one above. I really enjoy the process of findng charms that form a theme and work well together. I have been making the necklaces a little longer because I think it is kind of fun to be able to see the charms you are wearing. Hoping to get some new necklaces on the Parts and Labour shelf and my website very soon. I also have a bunch of rings lined up to make just as soon as the weather gives me a nice day. Could be today! The glue I use to make the rings seems to set better when the weather is nice.

The weekend was nice. Kristin and Scott came over Saturday night and brought yummy food from Marakesh. We had fun. I enjoyed hearing about Kristin's past travels to Hong Kong and Japan. On Sunday we had James' mom over for brunch and board games. I made a breakfast caserole that had brie and vegetarian sausage in it. It turned out really good! We played a game called Shadows Over Camelot in which there can be a traitor. The traitor is a secret and is based on a card you draw at the beginning of the game. Linda got it on the first round and I got it on the second. When I drew the traitor card, I was kind of sad! I didn't want to be the traitor! ha ha.

I did my own Bust ad this time. With my regular ad, I also get a little ad on the website so I had to figure out how to make an animated gif. That was pretty cool!

My sister gets here today for a week long stay. We are going to go home and visit with my parents. My brothers are also coming in. And, I will finally get to meet my niece, Madaleine! I am excited!

Flea Market, Day Two

Had so much fun at the flea market with my girlfriends, Dixie, Sarah, Melissa and Kristin! Found some really great jewelry. I was so excited that I came home and sorted it out immediately. I found some great pieces I can work with. It's fun to go with other people to a flea market because you end up seeing things might not have. Dixie kept pointing out all the different coffee grinders and I swear, I had never seen them there before.

After a bit of a hiatus from advertising, I decided to advertise in Bust again and the universe sent me sign by way of a customer testimonial from a woman who found me in that magazine. (Thanks Karen!) I love when you get signs like that. Also, it seems like people are really getting excited about the recycling aspect of my jewelry. That makes me happy!

Oh man, this week has been so busy with the flea market and trying to keep up with all of my other duties. I still feel like I have so much to do to get caught up! Today I will be restocking my Parts and Labour shelf. Then I have to sit down and really get busy on my next website project. Also, I met with my model, Angie, on Thursday and took some pictures of my jewelry on her so I need to get those on the site. Plus a bunch of other piddley stuff that is still unmarked on my lists. Whew! I am tired already.

Got my response on Renegade this morning. I didn't get in. I am kind of bummed about it because I would have really loved doing it. And, I was excited to have another opportunity to go to NYC. Oh well, I guess I could just go anyway! Who needs an excuse?

Warrenton, Day One

Had so much fun at the Warrenton flea market yesterday with my mom and her friend, Beverly. I took a lot of pictures. Posted them on my flickr account this morning. I love taking pictures of old design elements that inspire me. Ran into my friends Jennifer and Hope Perkins with their mom, Freda and Karly Hand out there as well. They are really troopers, going all three days!

I found lots of jewelry out there. Bought a lot of cool old earrings for turning into rings. For myself I bought a cast iron griddle. I have been wanting to convert over to cast iron cookware because the whole teflon thing is just getting on my nerves! They start flaking and have to be replaced every six months. Cast iron pans can last forever if properly seasoned and cared for. I am excited! I also bought a set of hands for displaying my rings on my shelf at Parts and Labour. They're pretty neat.

I am excited to go back on Friday with my friends! The place is just so big. It would take days to see it all.

weekend: show, cold, game night.

The first day of the garden fest was truly awful. My sales were virtually nothing. I was feeling pretty crappy all day too, having taken nighttime cold medicine the night before which made me feel disconnected and groggy all day. I was entertaining thoughts of packing up my tent and not coming back. However, the second day was great! I was feeling better and I sold a lot of jewelry! Yay! I love when things turn around like that. The weather was really beautiful both days which made it totally nice for sitting outside. My spot was under a big beautiful shade tree.

One of my customers made me so happy! She got really excited about the recycling aspect of my jewelry. She told me about all these changes she's made in her life recently for the environment, like using natural products and buying things that come in recycled packaging. That just made me feel really good.

I also got inspired by my friend Angie who acts as my model for my website. She came by my booth and we were planning another photo session and she was planning it around exercise! I just really admire that she was already planning it into her schedule instead of just going when she had time like I do. It encouraged me to plan out my exercise this week. Yay for friends who inspire us!

Saturday night was game night at my friend Sarah's house. Despite feeling pretty under the weather from cold medicine, I had a really fun time! I think being around good friends can make you feel better. Maybe that's why I felt better on Sunday! We played Apples to Apples which was really fun and Pass the Bomb which was super funny. You have to think of words that incorporate the three letters on the card and sometimes you just get the funniest non-words in your head while you are trying to think of something. Mersplefer.

Anyway, so that was pretty much my weekend, doing the show and game night. This week: busting everything out so I can spend two whole days at Warrenton!