Was I ever 15?

Apparently. And I have the photos to prove it! My friend Andrice Arp sent me this compilation of photos she took as a budding young artist, when we were about 15 or 16. I can't believe we were ever that young? I still feel like I'm about 15 on the inside. Come to think of it I still act like I'm that age! Check out the seriously theatrical make-up! And those gloves! A skull? HA! Seeing these photos brought back so many memories. I can even smell her house when I look at them. The time we spent lounging around being bored. Can you imagine being bored now. I wish I had the time to be "bored". Her mother owned this big house in Malibu and was an artist. I don't even think I comprehended what an artist was at the time. They knew so many interesting people and were so generous and kind. They let us have our ideas and encouraged us. Thank you, Andrice.

Hello! My name is Sucker!

Have you ever gotten this email....

Hello,

I would like to order 1500 of your item "x". I'll pay by credit card. Here is my shippers information. Contact them to find out shipping costs. 

Thank you,

Customer

Well, I got an email like this and having been around the block at least once in my life immediately had a red flag go up. I decided to play along. Ok. An oder of that many would weigh 45 pounds, check with your shipper. I find it interesting that the price quote they got from a shipper that I've never heard of and does not come up on any google search is going to charge them $3,620 to ship to New Zealand. Wow. That's interesting considering you could buy yourself a round trip ticket for that amount and have a heck of a vacation to boot while hand delivering the goods. I guess I'm in the wrong line of work. 3,620? Is that in yen or dollars? Maybe rupees? I sent them an email letting them know that I only ship with USPS, UPS or FedEx. I got a quote from USPS for under $400 and that would take 3 days and be fully insured. I can't wait to see what happens next....

P.S. Have a great weekend!

More Baby Steps

I've been making baby steps toward a web site revamp. A new image here and there. Updating pages from a million years ago. Things that have been over boiling on the back burner are getting some attention now. I got rid of those icky looking paypal generated "add to cart" buttons and added my own image. Ah! That feels good. If I could only get a going on the color chart. That seems to be a complaint by many. The images are so small. They need to be larger and pop-up to show more.

I just love adding little bits of newness!

Springtime wrist favorites!

Having fun with bracelets....

Ceramic bird frame bead, pastel organic rounds and a turquoise nugget.

Hand painted ceramic daisy bead, pastel organic rounds.

 Ceramic mermaid beads with a chunk of chalcedony.

Rectangles

I wish I had made more of these ceramic rectangles charms last firing. I really like their wideness. Maybe there will be more in this firing!

I can't get enough of this turmaline!

Love Is Love

I love the way the irridescent water colors reflect the light! I dropped off a stack of cards to our Made In Ojai shop yesterday. These were in the stack. I am happy with the way they turned out. They were intended for any day but could just as easily be a Mothers Day card. 

If I were a fairy....

Is this what the world would look like all the time? Giant house sized flowers casting their ominously beautiful shadows where ever I went? I would choose to live here if I were a fairy.

As I crouched down to take these photos, I seemed to catch a local fellows attention...

He needs a hat. No?

This looks pretty threatening. Can't imagine a beautiful and delicate flower emerging from within it's barbed exterior! 

I think I'll be moving here soon. Care to join me? I think we could forage enough jewelry making supplies to never set foot outside of our flowery jungle again.

Interview on BOC Blog!

I was contacted last week by MaryAnn who is a contributor on the Beads-Of-Clay blog to do an interview! You can check it out on the Beads Of Clay Blog! Thank you MaryAnn!

April has been a beauty...

If May can match her it will be a doozy! These wild flowers jumped out in front of me one day. They just about grabbed the camera away from me and had their way with it!

Seriously?

Are you kidding me?

WOW!

Can you imagine anything more vibrant?

My eyes are burning! 

Poor little esty shop...

I've been woefully neglectful of my etsy shop and been re-listing sold items instead of adding new and fun designs, so I decided to take the time and have been busy addinh some freshness to the ol' etsy! Here are a few new listings...

Drop of the Ocean Earrings

Tiny ceramic hearts with garnet earrings

Mermaid beads bracelet

What have you listed lately?

Faith...

 I believe in the beauty and wonder of the universe. What ever faith you may be, we all live under the same sky and walk on the same earth. I find many religious symbols to be beautiful and fascinating but as I am not of any specific faith, I've had mixed feelings about offering these items on my web site. Having had many requests for pendants depicting objects of faith, I usually create them as custom orders for special customers. Their popularity is growing, and will be offering them on my web site. I have to say that the special request crosses came out particularly well... I guess I'll just have to have a little faith...

What a weekend!

The Earth Day event was lovely and the weather couldn't have been better! My dear friend and booth partner, Yvonne, dipped her toe into the world of festivals and events. Her parasols were divine and I could have easily spent all my money on them! She decorated the booth with them, hanging them from the celling! They added such whimsy to my display! Quite frankly, I was a bit annoyed when someone wanted to buy one that was clearly mine! 

Yvonne, mother and model!

Here is a pic of my display with her juicy parasols as part of the set up!

I love the way these earrings turned out!

Mermaid scale earrings...

I guess I made a lot of earrings!

Getting It Done...

I think I've made some headway!

I have made:
30 pairs of earrings
30 bracelets
25 necklaces
60 50 hair clips
and the cards to go with each!
Ya!

I still need to...
Sew a table cloth
Clean my travel boxes
Make a check list
Pack the car!


Here are a few of the earrings I made...

P.S. I get to pick up my new banner today! Yah!

Earth Day Event Preview

A few items I made for Earth Day 2010...

Be a star

Mermaid bracelet

Getting my $%!& together!

The days are quickly counting down until Arbor/Earth Day! I am anxiously awaiting a new banner to be printed by Lynn, a fellow Made In Ojai Artisan! 

There are more things to do than I can wrap my head around and it may just spin off altogether with!

I need to make:
30 pairs of earrings
30 bracelets
25 necklaces
60 hair clips
as well as cards to go with each!
AHHHH!

Breathe.

Ok...
GO!