Been busy?

I'm helping out with a school fundraiser, so I haven't had time to do the beading thing lately. Hopefully I'll have some time again next week.

I am working on some formal jewelry to wear to the fundraiser, so we'll see how that turns out! ;)

Take care!

Love and Pearls

So anyway, I got a request for a custom item on one of the inspirational bracelets. Instead of having the button drilled Czech flowers all the way around, she wanted pearls framing the plate. It turned out rather lovely! She has great taste, if I do say so myself!

Pink and Purple Russian Spiral bracelet

This is a cute little bracelet that I would've loved to have as a child. When I was 6, someone gave me a Smurfette pencil case which was pink with lavender hearts on it. Of course, when I got a little older, I decided that it was babyish to like pastels. I was too cool to like those girlie colors. You know, it was the 80's, when women were all trying to look like men with the crazy, short, spiked hair and huge shoulder pads. :) Haha. Now that I'm older, I have a finer appreciation for the feminine. Or maybe it was the 14 years in uniform.

Anyway, I've been making simple bracelets and giving them away to the little girls in my life for a while now. With the encouragement of some mommy friends, I'm starting to make some little girl bracelets with magnetic clasps for sale on Etsy. They're really quick and easy for small fingers and you don't have to worry about injuries if the bracelet gets caught on something while climbing a tree or running on the playground. It takes me about 3 hours to make a 6 inch spiral, so if you're interested in a particular color scheme, let me know.

Mochi Earrings

Those of you who already know me know that my family pounds mochi every year. It's a big deal. On my dad's side of the family, you will miss Christmas before you miss pounding mochi. It used to be hosted at my grandparents' house up until a few years ago, when it shifted to my parents' house. (Their house is more accessible for the older relatives.)

At any rate, pounding mochi is serious business. It's a real pain in the butt to set up. (My dad spends 2-3 days cleaning and setting up.) And it takes a lot of hands to make things run smoothly. We typically pound over 100 pounds of rice in 5 pound increments. On the morning of mochi pounding, my dad's cousins show up around 7am to start setting up the tents and tables. Someone has to wash the rice. Someone else has to start the fire to steam the rice. When we're ready to start pounding, the first step is to mash the rice with sticks until the whole thing is a mushy blob about the consistency of sticky rice pudding. Then, the guys take turns using a mallet to pound the mochi into a smooth dumpling. When that's done, another cousin carries the steaming mochi to a table where 1-2 women "cut" the mochi with their hands into smaller portions. (That's me in the pink sweater, trying not to cuss and break out into tears as I make my first attempt to "cut." I've had two babies without epidurals, but oh my goodness, that stuff is HOT and sticks to your fingers.)

Those smaller portions are distributed to the rest of the women and girls, who make the actual dumplings. There is a definite hierarchy to the tasks. The matriarch is usually the cutter. When I was a kid, my grandmother did the cutting. She has Parkinson's disease, so my aunty and some of my dad's cousins took over about 15 years ago. Now they're training me and another cousin to do their job. It's a dubious honor. Jamie and I pretty much sweat the whole time no matter how cold it is. But someone's gotta do it and it's our turn to start learning.

When I was a little kid, I used to stand next to my grandmother and she would give me small pieces of fresh mochi. Yummmmmmmmy... So anyway, I know these earrings aren't for everyone. But I do know someone will see them and it will remind them of the days when the whole community or family gathered to respect and observe an old tradition.

New Facebook App for Etsy users!

So, how cool is this? It's an app for your facebook page which places up to 6 items from Etsy in your profile, like the Etsy Mini.

If you shop on Etsy, you can use it to list up to 6 of your favorites. You know, like me! Haha.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Audrey and Ace in "Whose Biscuit is It, Anyway?"

Just testing to see how this works.

Short clip taken of my daughter laughing at the dog, who is patiently waiting for her to drop her food so he can eat it.

More Berries!

When I was a little kid, Mom had a strawberry patch in our front yard. One summer, when I was about 7, my parents took us to Disneyland. We ate a box of the biggest, juiciest strawberries, until we felt like we couldn't stand to look at another strawberry! It was awesome! I tell you, there is NOTHING like fresh fruit. Oh my goodness, the produce we got when I was in the Navy had no taste, when compared to the fresh fruits and veggies I got as a child. Only problem is that I have a black thumb. Anytime my fiancee sees me planting something, he calls it a "plant funeral."

Ok, so I can't grow the real thing. Luckily, there are farmers around here! ;)

Pineapple Earrings!

This probably seems a bit stereoytypical, but I absolutely LOVE pineapples! Growing up, we did have pineapples in the yard. Did you know that if you chop off the crown of the pineapple (even one you get in the grocery store) and stick it in the ground, it'll root and you can have your own pineapple plant? Only thing is that it takes 2+ years before you get any fruit and you have to keep it someplace tropical (warm and humid) year round. I thought it was really weird to see pineapples all over the place when I lived in Newport, Rhode Island... but there, pineapples were used to symbolize hospitality.

So anyway, I was shopping online for beads and saw these beautiful amber colored Czech beads... and immediately thought, "Yum- pineapples!" Of course, I was shopping online prior to the holidays, looking for stuff to make for the friends and family... you would think if something was going to be backordered for almost 3 months, they'd give you the option to cancel your order, but whatever. The beads are here and I'm really having fun making pineapples! Looking at the rest of the beads which arrived, I can't help but wonder if I was hungry at the time, since the rest of the projects I've been working on this week are all food related. You'll see what I mean. Never go shopping while hungry!

And yes, they are on Etsy.

Etsy Homefront Team Camo Box Giveaway

Here's a fun giveaway to get in on...

Why not get a chance to sample all the goods, but to know exactly what it is that you’re getting first? Even better, why not get the box absolutely free? The Etsy Homefront Team is doing exactly that with their Little Camo Box Giveaway. You ask why is the box camo? Well after all, Little Black Box was already taken. Besides, the name didn’t quite suit the team whose spouses and family members wear camo on a daily basis (please note, ammo boxes shown to the side are just for fun, not part of the giveaway).

I checked it out. The box is full of great stuff. So bebop on over to the Homefront blog, leave a comment, and throw your hat in the ring.

Most of the jewelry photos I take are on a spot next to the carport, where a piece of slate is balanced on an old cement block column. Don't ask me what that column is for, I assume at some point there was probably a fence or something there, but it serves no purpose now. Anyway, on a whim, I decided to try hanging a pair of earrings from the cement block instead of placing them flat on the slate. What do you think?

New designs for business cards and stuff...

I guess these would be more for banners and maybe tags/stickers for packaging.

What do you think?