Hooray for a Sale!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I just can't believe how time flies. The older I get the faster the days seem to pass. To help celebrate Valentine's I, and my fellow jewelry artisans on both of my teams, am having a sale. In my shop I have a special section with sale items already marked down. This prevents the clunky need for refunds or corrected invoices. You just choose your pretty, buy it and go. Many of the items are newly added to celebrate the Artisan Beaders Valentine's theme of Chocolate, Flowers and Lace. They include my Hanging Garden Earrings with London blue topaz and the Bouquet Earrings with unique carved amethyst briolettes. Plus many other items.

The Artisan Beaders blog will lead you to the talented artisans and the stunning creations on sale in their shops.

The Eclectic Jewelry Artisans are offering an I DO gift bag as a prize for signing up for our mailing list. Just go here to sign up and good luck! Then go shopping! All items in our Team Shop

have FREE SHIPPING through February 8th. It's always good to save a little bit of money, isnt' it?

My Valentine's Day will be per usual. My husband has never been a romantic. Of course I am always looking for that grand gesture. It never fails that the person who dreams of great romances will marry the practical type. But he is such a wonderful man and after almost 27 years of marriage I would probably fall over dead if he DID do something overly romantic. That would probably ruin the mood....

The Joy of Being a Goat

My goats are happy. And this is not just because I have decided to call my soap business Happy Goats Soap. They are truly happy. I can see this in the way my little buck Luke bounds out of the barn in the morning; his little tail is wagging so fast it is a blur. He runs across the concrete, leaps into the air at the edge kicking his heels. He hits the driveway and sproings (have you ever seen an antelope run - this is sproining to me) down to his pen. Michael my other buck is a bit more attached to me so while he is just as exited to get out of the barn after he does his leap off of the concrete he keeps running back and forth trying to decide whether to stay with me or go butt heads with Luke. Both of them are almost dancing because they know they are going to get their grain. Grain is crack for goats; they will literally eat themselves to death on grain if it is not locked up.

They make me smile with the absolute joy in their movements. They make me smile with their happiness to see me each morning. They make me smile with their antics. No matter how bad a day I am having I know I can go outside and four goats will come trotting to me maaaaing softly. They love to be pet; especially to have their tails scratched. They are really like dogs except for the inability to house train them. They are very indiscriminate in where they poop. Anywhere, anytime. It is very entertaining when they poop while running. But I digress....

I am a city girl. I was born in Philadelphia. I grew up there. My family moved to a more rural area when I was a teenager but I have always felt like a city girl. I followed my husband and here I find myself - in the country. With goats. And soon with chickens. I love spending time with my goats and I wish I had their simple joys. But I don't want to sleep in the barn.

Inspiration or the Lack Thereof

I love looking at my sparklies. Sometimes I look at my collection of beads and magic happens; I end up creating a beautiful piece of jewelry. Sometimes I have days like today where nothing works. Rather like yesterday. I think I am in a creative slump. This means it is time to step away from the beads and just stop trying to force design. I know I haven't put anything new in my shop for several days and I only have one pair of earrings made that I haven't listed so this means that the shop will stagnate for a bit. But this is better than trying to just make something for the sake of filling up a slot in the shop. It wouldn't be inspired and I would be unhappy with it anyway.

Friday is my volunteer day at the food bank so I wouldn't be working then regardless. Perhaps I will also take Saturday off and sit down Sunday refreshed in the hopes of design inspiration. Saturday I will make soap. Pricilla will be happy.

Creative Process

Oftentimes I cannot sleep at night and this is when I dream up my designs. I see them very clearly in my head and most times I can realize them. Many of my fellow artisans are blessed with the ability to sketch and start by drawing their designs and they then continue from there.
I truly wish I could do this... My mother was an artist; she could draw and her true talent was painting with oils. I did not inherit this from her. She gave me her eye for color but as to any kind of talent with art, uh uh.

I thought up a design for a pair of earrings to showcase this beautiful pair of gem grade, Swiss blue topaz briolettes I have been staring at for about 6 months. They sit in my bead box taunting me. They know they are the most expensive beads I have ever bought and they know they are better than me. I think they secretly laugh at me. But I wasn't going to let them get the best of me, no way! I finally came up with a design that would be worthy of them. I worked on the earrings all day yesterday. I oxidized the silver, I wirewrapped the sky blue topaz rondelles, I added the akoya pearls. But the idea in my head simply could not be realized by my hands.

The Swiss blue topaz won and they are still laughing at me.

Twitter, Twitter, Tweet, Tweet

So I have joined the Twitter revolution. I can be found at here under BrokenTeepee if you want to come follow me. Which does sound rather stalkerish but hey, it's the way things are done now.
I have been feeling my way around; I have found some friends and others have found me. I am trying to learn the lingo. It seems that with every new endeavour there is a new language; even though it all purports to be English old words have new meanings that cause old brains to collapse under the weight of so many possible definitions of a word such as "Tweet." No longer is it the sweet sound of a bird outside my window.....

But this old brain can still try and learn. The wires they cut (as my husband likes to describe my surgeries) have re-connected in different ways. I don't learn as quickly as I used to nor do I remember things (or people for that matter) as I did but I still can learn. So come follow me as I now tweet through life but so far without a tweetdeck 'cause that so far eludes me.

The Sun!

The sun is out today and I am so completely happy. The winters here in Montana are grey. Endless days of endless variations on grey. The sky is grey,the clouds are grey and my mood is grey. But every so often I will wake up to a day like today. The sun is a bright yellow ball in a brilliant blue sky. You want to spend the day outside celebrating but it is 2*. Hmmmmm, frostbite anyone?

So I can take small bursts of 2* right? But my husband calls and tells me that several Federal prisoners escaped from the local jail last night and are still at large. Lock the door, he says. Don't go out, he says. So on the one bright sunny, albeit cold day in weeks, WEEKS! I have to stay in because of some animals on the loose trying to escape whatever crime they have committed and now will commit. *sigh*

I can't even go out to get my mail.

Teamwork

Teamwork is important in so many ways. Without it most large projects would not get completed and it has led to solving some of the World's most pressing problems. While my work as a designer of artisan jewelry is done solo I would not be successful without the friendship and support I have found through working with the TEAMS I have joined on etsy. Two of them are devoted to artisan jewelry and one is regional.

The first team I joined was The Eclectic Jewelry Artisans. It was wonderful to come together with woman from all over the world and learn. It was right after I had started making jewelry and had so much to learn. I still have a lot to learn and hope to always have a lot to learn. Because once you stop learning you stop growing. This group taught me much about how to navigate the ins and outs of etsy and the internet and brought me some wonderful friends. We opened a team shop where there are items available for sale from all of us showcasing the many different styles of the members. We are having a promotion right now for Valentine's Day - sign up for the mailing list here and you will be entered to win a gift bag of beautiful jewelry. The shop is running a FREE SHIPPING promotion through February 8th. Go on, check it out! I just added a couple of new pieces; a pair of earrings, and a necklace.

My second team is The Artisan Beaders Street Team. Another wonderful group of women from around the world. They make me laugh - how important is that? We meet weekly to chat which is just great for me; living in a very rural area, unable to drive. This gives me the opportunity to have a "coffee klatch" and interact even though it is online. It doesn't seem impersonal we are truly friends. We are having a big sale for Valentine's Day as well offering up discounts on pieces with the theme of Chocolate, Flowers and Lace. If you check out our Gift Guide you can see beautiful items from the shops. Each artisan is offering a different sale so pour a cup of coffee and look through all the delightful shops - or better yet send your significant other shopping - to see what is for sale. This is one of my sale items offering up A Hint of Chocolate.

My third team is the Big Sky Montana team. And since this post has already gotten so long I think I will write about them tomorrow. I will just say that they are a diverse and talented group from all over the great state of Montana.

Hard Work Pays Off

I belong to a casual group on Flickr that provides a challenge theme for each month and the participants create a piece of jewelry to meet the theme. I have so far kept up - some months making it on time, others not. The theme for the month of February is "Desserts." Rather appropriate....and I am actually AHEAD of time in submitting my designed piece! I was quite shocked at myself, to tell the truth. The dessert I chose as my sweet muse was lemon lime shave ice. A sweet,cold delightful concoction I enjoyed on my visits to Hawaii. While the dessert is cold my memories of Hawaii help keep me warm during Montana's cold, grey winters.

I made a bracelet that has over 250 individual gemstones hand wired to sterling silver chain. Needless to say it took me a bit of time to complete. I have some health problems that have left me with poor eyesight, numb hands and the inability to work for more than 20 minutes to half an hour at a stretch so it took me almost 4 working days to get this piece finished. I am very pleased with the outcome and think it will make a lovely bracelet for a spring or summer wedding or special party.

The lampwork focal - made by the talented Annette at AJ Beads - is set asymmetrically within a flowing cluster of sparkly gemstones including phrenite,peridot,mystic prasiolite (green amethyst),lemon quartz,Herkimer diamonds (quartz),mystic rock crystal, and rock crystal. All on sterling silver headpins wired to sterling chain.

The adjustable clasp features a cascade of gemstones ending in a flawless, step faceted pink topaz 3D teardrop.

The bracelet is available in my etsy shop.

Frantic Friday

Fridays are always a touch frantic for me. I find myself running like crazy in the morning trying to get all I need done so I can get ready to go into town for my shift at the local food bank. It is a volunteer job that I truly enjoy; it's only two to three hours a week and the food bank has become increasingly necessary in our little town. Today a fellow volunteer was picking me up as my husband had gone on a trip for work.

So I woke up, made my coffee, got the goats out of the barn and into their pens, took my shower and suddenly it was time to head into town. The food bank was very busy and my shift was over quite quickly. My friend drove me home and that is when I found my next frantic problem - my buck goat Michael was standing in the middle of my driveway. He should have been in his pen. It seems my doe, Abigail has been uh, frisky and Michael is well, a buck. It just amazes me that he has figured out how to jump up and over the 9 foot fence in his pen but has not managed how to get over the 4 foot fence into the doe pen. Perhaps all that testosterone is messing with his ability to think logically....

What do YOU think?
(Here is a photo of Michael checking out "the girls.")









Hopefully my Saturday will be less frantic and Michael will stay where he belongs.

It's Me AGAIN....

Ugh! I know. I am the world's worst blogger. But as a Get Organized Month resolution - yes January is officially Get Organized Month - I am going to re-commit to this blog. (It is also California Dried Plum Digestive Month but I figured we would all rather stick with Getting Organized than getting....digestive.)

I AM going to blog something EVERY DAY.
I AM going to promote my fellow Artisans who create some of the most amazing jewelry, clothing, artwork,papier mache, cards,beads EVERYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE I have ever seen.
I AM going to show you my new creations as I get them photographed.
And I am going to enjoy the occassional dried plum.

Today I am going to suggest you check out my goat's blog at www.pricillaspeaks.blogspot.com

She has a lot to say. She is pretty funny. For some reason we share the same sense of humor.....