A birthday gift.....

Yesterday was one of my dearest friends birthday, and I gifted her the above necklace. She mentioned she was getting one of the new Matilda Jane sweaters (orange and brown stripes) and I immediately remembered I had this Jade Scott pendant that would match perfectly! Not only that, but the annual hot air balloon fest was in town last week. I just love symbolizing memories in jewelry. Lastly, the rich colors are perfect for the upcoming Fall season.

Latest Love

One of my dear friends introduced me to Matilda Jane clothing a couple of years ago. A connection through work led her to a consultant (or "trunk keeper") who sold it as it is a home party type company. I don't know too much about the history, but the home base is in Fort Wayne, Indiana (not that far from me). I believe the gal who started it sewed these funky clothes and sold them at art fairs. It got to be so big, she has her own company now! Love stories like that!

Anyway, my friend had been outfitting her and her daughter in the cutest things! So finally, I broke down and bought my first piece. What can I say, I am addicted now. The clothes are unique and comfortable. They truly symbolize to me an artful way of dressing. Their color and print combinations continue to surprise me and push me into being a bit more "daring" in my wardrobe. And they are perfect for pairing with fun jewelry!
The big ruffle pants pictured below (or as Jon calls them, my "clown pants") were so comfy for lounging around the house post-partum the past few months. I am really loving ruffles lately on anything though.

Maybe you already know about Matilda Jane? If not, maybe I have peaked your interest.......

Artist's Sale

Our downtown area is currently under major construction! The streets and sidewalks won't be done until next year, but once they are done it sure will be beautiful. Lots of brickwork, greenery, even a water feature! Downtown Battle Creek is where I work - it's where Kellogg's headquarters is located. So I remember waddling across the torn up street with my big pregnant belly from the parking garage to the building in the Spring. It's a little easier for me now, but still a mess. So unfortunately too, a park in the downtown area was where the Art Center would holds it's annual Art Fair in June. Even though Richard would have been about a month old at the time, I was still planning on doing the fair (maybe I was crazy). So I breathed a sigh of relief when instead, they decided to cancel it this year due to the construction and have a sale at the Art Center itself in August. It was promoted as a way for artist's to sell older stock at a discounted price so I decided to have my inventory of jewelry at 20% off. It was held this past Saturday in the parking lot. It was a beautiful morning as we setup our tent and tables. Even though I usually only do one fair a year, I have my packing and setup routine pretty down pat. My boys (Jon & Richard) then took off to go to a car show so my friend Kristen came to help me out at my booth. The first 2 hours of sales were great! I was very pleased. But then the rain started and radar showed lots of storms coming. Darn! We packed up and headed home. It was a great event though!

Picture of just one of the areas of disarray.

I didn't get around to every booth, but I did find this cute crayon roll that I couldn't resist for Richard. Check out her shop on Etsy! And I will say that a vintage peacock postcard was found too in a stack that Kristen bought!

So as a way to continue the sale, I am offering 20% off in my Etsy shop through the end of August! Coupon code is ARTSALE.

Love You Forever

When my Mom had me (almost 34 years ago), my Dad gave her a flowery diamond ring which she in turn gave to me when I was about 16. So when I was pregnant with Richard, my Mom hinted to Jon that he needed to get me a similar gift and suggested the Mother/Child jewelry that is so popular. I think at first, he was surprised at finding out that this was a common custom. Then, after thinking about it a while, he realized that the only fine jewelry I wear daily is my wedding ring. He knows that I prefer my artsy, handmade jewelry and love matching my outfits to it. In fact, if I don't have anything on when leaving the house he will say, "Where's your necklace?" and tease me about how much jewelry I have.

So, in sort of ruining the surprise for me, we went shopping together. We agreed upon a feminine, filigree, floral diamond ring (shown below although a little blurry). I love the antique look of it, and like my wedding ring, I wear it every day. (I also love how his little fingers wrap around mine as I feed him a bottle).

But I did still end up with a Mother/Child like piece. I was thrilled to see at Bead & Button that Green Girl Studios has a design in pewter. The mother/child is carved into the front side of the heart, and on the back it reads "love you forever". This totally fit my style! Over the last few months I thought about what I wanted to design with it. A necklace? A bracelet? I decided on a bracelet. Okay, now what beads? Something that will go with everything so I did a mix of different metal tones in pewter, copper and brass. Lastly, since my mornings are a little more busy now, I wanted something that was easy to get on. Using black elastic was the answer. I am pleased with how it turned out.

Fall-ish Bracelets

Wow this summer went fast! Even though there are still many days to enjoy, we tend to already think it's over. Especially when we see all of the back to school items in the stores, as well as Halloween and even Christmas (damn you Hobby Lobby)!?!?!

This was definitely a different summer for me. True, I did a lot of the usual things I do every summer, but also missed out on a few. But it was still wonderful!!! I didn't know what to expect when I thought about having a new baby and knowing that my maternity leave would fall over the warmest months of the year. Of course I was ecstatic, but I knew it would take some adjusting too. Richard could not be more laid back so I certainly didn't feel confined to the house at all. We get out almost every day, whether it be a trip to the store or just meeting a friend for coffee. Other days though, it's nice to know that I can just stay in my pajamas all day too.

The time has gone so fast. But even though it has gone fast, it seems like forever ago that I was pregnant. Or that he was so tiny. Does that make sense? Each day is gone in an instant, especially when you think about it in 4 hour time blocks. When he's ready to eat again, I think oh my gosh it's been 4 hours - what have I done in all that time? You'd think that when he is napping that I'd get a lot done - all the day dreams you have when you are working full time of making jewelry all day isn't a reality. It's quickly cleaning up the kitchen, grabbing a shower, doing some laundry. I will say that the internet is such a time sucker! I'd really like to work on cutting my time down on it. So if I were to ever become a stay at home Mom, I'd really have to discipline myself.

I have one more week off before I go back to work. He will start daycare two days next week so that we (aka Mom) can ease into it. It's going to be hard, but we'll all be alright. I plan to use those two days to work on a ton of jewelry - I hope the motivation and creativity will be there when the time comes. I am working on several pieces for a special project that I will share with you soon. In the meantime though, I just listed these two bracelets in my Etsy shop. They are very "Fall" feeling to me. I guess no matter what, we can't deny how fast the seasons change.