The Etsy Top 10 Team Challenge

Hey everyone, please come vote for me and my teamies from the Aspiring Metalsmith's Team to help us get some advertising money. We'd would all really appreciate your help and it's easy to vote, just click your rating on the scale under the photos of the items.

Vote Here

Thank you! :D

Lettuce and Carrots and strawberries, oh my!

Just a short pit-stop into daily life here.

This is our first harvest from our little garden.

The garden, by the way, was totally and completely inspired by my son (and his constant nagging to actually plant one, lol)

It's actually awesome to have a salad right outside the door! I'm not terribly thrilled about having to wash off all the bugs and dirt (there is something to be said for a bag of triple washed lettuce, ready to use! ;) but it's worth it when you realize you're saving at least a couple of bucks every time you pick a batch... that's one more tall latte for me! :D

There's lettuce and carrots (those are the biggest plants in the garden) and our strawberries are finally starting to show some growth, can't wait to pick some of those! and that's oregano in the pot, yum-o and I really want to plant some cilantro, it's my absolute favorite.

We also just cleared some space down below the steps for some watermelon and squash. I just hope it's not too late to plant, it's pretty darn hot out there already! I'll keep you posted.

Our teeny garden just outside our kitchen door!

Lettuce ready for a bath.

Sparkling clean and ready to store in paper towels in the fridge!

Toss in a little extra virgin olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and a sprinkling of sea salt and you have the perfect salad... well, cherry tomatoes would actually make it the perfect salad. :)

Did you know that rubbing kitty bellies is very therapeutic?

ahhhh... I feel much better now! :)

...and you KNOW she's a happy camper!

Finding Inspiration: Old World Texture

Should all my jewelry design be filled with as much depth and emotion as is in these images!

 

 

Preppin' for the Emmys!

So I'm finally making some progress on my 100 pairs of earrings for the Emmy's Swag bags. It's a lot of prep and organization, I actually have a chart built up on Mindmeister.com to try and keep myself organized and on track! There's just so many things to get ready, here's a sample:

Packaging for the bags: box with label, business card, info card, cute organza bags, etc.
Display: which pieces to include, what type of display (bought or made myself)
Marketing: press releases, blogging, twittering, etc.
Making the earrings: ordering enough supplies for 200 copper teardrops (100 pairs of earrings), marking, cutting, sanding, hammering, oxidizing, applying clear coat, making 200 earwires (cutting, shaping, filing ends smooth, hammering...)
Misc. extras: getting a FedEx account, assembling bags, and on and on and on

Whew! It's exhausting just listing all that I need to do, imagine actually doing it all. It's a good thing I have about 3 months to get it all finished! That seems like a lot, but with all the other things going on; shows, jewelry making, articles to write, website to upkeep, wholesale accounts to persue... it ends up not being that much time at all! :P Luckily I'm really good at assembly lining my production!

Here's a few photos of my work in progress:

Lots of sheets of copper; carefully marked out to save materials. 

I was lucky enough to have access to a huge metal guillotine cutter to cut the sections. 

I'll finish marking the teardrop patterns and they'll be ready to cut out.

 

Here's the copper, sections cut, teardrop shapes in place and cutting has begun. 

I can only do 20 or 30 at a time before my hand gives out, 

it's not easy to cut shapes from sheet metal with tin snips!

About half of the earwires cut with ends rounded and smoothed.

 

The ear wires have been shaped and hammered 

(hammering hardens them and gives them a better shape)

 Here's my little package that's going into the swag bags! 

Notice all the labels? I definitely don't want them to forget who made these, 

I'm even going to scribe A.W.E. onto the back of the copper!

Well, I'm off to cut some more teardrops. Stay tuned for more updates!