Spiffing Jewelry

Wait... there's a 3rd?

2012-01-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

Yes folks, the rumors are true. Tara has joined the forces of Spiffing Jewelry, as of October actually! And here I am with my first blog update to introduce myself. I'll keep it short so we can get to fun stuff like talking about the new things Spiffing is getting into for 2012!

I am not a native San Diegan, yet at the rate I consume Mexican food you'd never know it. Born and raised in the suburbs of southeast Michigan until I was 12. I miss the snow terribly, but I've come to find out that San Diego just might actually be the most amazing place to live. Thanks to my DIY crafty Mom I have been making things for as long as I can remember. Problem is that I wish I had the time to create in all the mediums I enjoy like painting, cross-stitch, sewing, decoupaging anything I can get my hands on, cooking, baking, photography (gee I guess I can add jewelry making to the list now).

Annie was the first friend I made when I moved here from the midwest. We instantly bonded over music, movies, boys, and pretty much every other thing a 12 year old girl fills her days with. We quickly realized we could be our dorky and often times moronic selves free of ridicule. This is a huge reason why without much hesitation I quit the job I had worked for nearly 8 years to start working with her full-time. Oh and have you had any of her cooking, cause wow.

This is from last Halloween, I don't moonlight as a nurse or anything. That guy behind me? Maybe one of the greatest things I've ever done was ask this guy out on a date. Yep, I had to ask him out since I was a manager where we used to work. But that's a whole 'nother story. Two and a half years later we're living together right on the beach, often found riding our bikes on the boardwalk or to a yummo place to eat close by.

I think that's enough for now, a lady doesn't give it away all up front! Now onto what you really thought you were getting when you started reading this before I turned this blog into a short story of my life, Spiffing Jewelry news!

Hopefully your holidays were jam packed with as much fun and celebrating as ours were. Really though, if you can't tell by now I'm usually quite snarky but I'm totes serious! We managed to pull off a successful Queen Bee Market in the middle of November, made it into a geeky-gift-guide article on msnbc.com, graced the front page of Etsy numerous times, networked with some amazing local artists, got orders out in time for Christmas, and somewhere in there we cranked the Pandora Christmas station and decorated Annie's tree after a few glasses of wine. As we come closer to finishing up the rush of insane holiday orders, the itch to create something new seems to be scratching us all. I don't want to announce things before we're ready to, but rest assured we have some things in the works. Big things. On top of making completely new pieces, we are re-thinking designs, evaluating product photography, and are going to bring all the boys to the yard with what's to come. The most exciting thing thus far in my opinion is the brand spanking new website! The mind reels with all the possibilities of customization you have, which for the most part have always been available, but are now laid out in a way that streamlines the whole process. See for yourself!

One of the other things that I know have been keeping Annie and I up at night is the exciting prospects of moving the Spiffing studio out of the 10x10 2nd bedroom we're in now and into an actual business space! Take a minute and let that idea marinate, cause it's super tasty. I catch myself day dreaming of the perfect space for us with room to breathe, lots of storage and organization, and tons of personality through funky furniture and wall hangings. Not to mention with all the new projects we are soon to announce, we are definitely going to need the room to support it all!

Alright, I think that sums up for now. Get ready for more bloggy-goodness to coming your way soon!
-Tara

Sample Sale Earrings today!

2011-12-30T12:32:00.000-08:00

Our first ever sample sale! Your chance to get one of a kind items that we've made and never listed or photographed! These will never be made again, and will never be available on our website! Everything here is ready to ship, but there is only one of everything, and once it's gone, it's gone for good!

These earrings are all $8, including shipping!

1.) Gold freshwater pearls, antiqued brass

2.) Magenta FW pearls, clear crystals, ant. brass

3.) SOLD OUT

4.) Chartreuse FW pearls, ant. brass

5.) SOLD OUT

6.) SOLD OUT

7.) SOLD OUT

8.) SOLD OUT

Spiffing Sample Sale! Up to 60% off!

2011-12-29T11:24:00.000-08:00

Click on the photo for a more detailed view!

1. Hammered copper pendant
2. Hammered brass pendant
3. Orange Nerd pendant
4. Go Bolts brass lightning bolt
5. Chartreuse Nerd pendant
6. Purple Hope Necklace
7. Pink Hope Necklace
8. SOLD OUT
9. Blue M&M Necklace
10. SOLD OUT
11. Chartreuse star necklace
12. True Blood Operation Werewolf Pendant
13. SOLD OUT
14. Antiqued Brass sideways cross necklace
15. SOLD OUT
16. SOLD OUT

Harry Potter Inspired Awesomeness

2011-10-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

Of course, Harry Potter is one of my own personal obsessions. (Same goes for hubs and bestie.)

There are so many insanely fab HP inspired items on Etsy, it's time to do a little show and tell!

Check out this art deco Voldemort sticker from khallion ! Only $4.00! (plus, tons of other amazing art deco geekery in this shop, go check it out!)

Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words. From storytellerslibrary, $9.99

Four houses pennant banner from LoraLeeLewis, $18

And check out these babies from my shop:

'Harry Potter items from Spiffing Jewelry' by spiffingjewelry

Harry Potter Snitch Nec... spiffingjewelr... $24.00	Harry Potter Bracelet -... spiffingjewelr... $18.00	Harry Potter Bracelet -... spiffingjewelr... $14.00
Harry Potter Bracelets ... spiffingjewelr... $25.00	Harry Potter Bracelet- ... spiffingjewelr... $18.00	Harry Potter -Snape'... spiffingjewelr... $20.00
Harry Potter Bracelet- ... spiffingjewelr... $18.00	Harry Potter Bracelet -... spiffingjewelr... $18.00	Horcrux Tie Bar: Hand s... spiffingjewelr... $18.00
Harry Potter Bracelet- ... spiffingjewelr... $22.00	Harry Potter Bracelet -... spiffingjewelr... $18.00	Harry Potter Bracelet -... spiffingjewelr... $18.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Taco Tuesday: Williams-Sonoma Short Rib Tacos

2011-10-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

It's taco Tuesday! I'm going to try something new, and post a fab taco recipe every Tuesday. I don't have any of mine currently typed up, so this week it's a drool-worthy recipe from Williams-Sonoma.com for Short Rib Tacos with Avocado-Tomatillo Salsa. (Just typing up the title has me hungry!)

Short Rib Tacos

Ingredients:

For the avocado-tomatillo salsa:

1/2 lb. tomatillos, husks removed and quartered
1 or 2 jalapeño chilies, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup water
1/2 small white onion, halved
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves and cut-up stems
1 tsp. salt
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and diced

3 dried ancho chilies
1 1/2 Tbs. canola oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup lager-style beer
1 Tbs. sherry vinegar
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3 lb. beef short ribs, English cut, trimmed of most fat
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
12 corn tortillas, each about 6 inches in diameter
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

To make the salsa, in a blender or food processor, combine the tomatillos and jalapeño chilies and process until chunky. Add the water, onion, cilantro and salt and process until smooth. (At this point, the salsa can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.) Stir in the avocado before serving.

Stem the ancho chilies, slit lengthwise and discard the seeds. Place in a heatproof bowl, cover with hot water and let soak for 20 to 30 minutes to rehydrate. Drain the chilies and set aside.

Preheat a broiler. In a heavy fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and bell pepper and sauté until softened and lightly golden, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Pour in the beer and vinegar and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the pan bottom. Transfer the contents of the pan to a blender, add the chilies, tomatoes and cumin and process until smooth.

Season the short ribs all over with salt, pepper and the oregano, and place on a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Broil, turning once, until nicely browned on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes per side. Transfer the ribs to a slow cooker. Pour the chili mixture over the ribs, cover and cook on low according to the manufacturer’s instructions until the meat is very tender, about 8 hours.

Transfer the ribs to a platter. Pull the meat from the bones, shred the meat and set aside. Pour the braising liquid into a saucepan and, using a large spoon, skim off the fat. Set the pan over medium-high heat, bring to a brisk simmer and simmer until reduced by about one-third, about 10 minutes. Add the meat to the sauce.

Heat a nonstick fry pan or a griddle over medium heat. One at a time, warm the tortillas, turning once, for about 30 seconds per side. Wrap in a kitchen towel to keep warm until all have been heated.

Using a slotted spoon, top the tortillas with the warm beef, dividing it evenly. Top each with some of the salsa and cilantro and serve immediately. Serves 6.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma The New Slow Cooker, by Brigit Binns (Weldon Owen, 2010).

I've got so much fun stuff in the works, more posts later!

Mac using Foodies rejoice! Paprika is the best app in existence.

2011-10-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

A few months ago when I downloaded the App Store on my Mac, I giddily browsed and downloaded many apps that I then promptly forgot about in the fray of hubs quitting his job, and keeping up with 20-30 orders a day. One of those not-so-long-lost apps was Paprika, a recipe manager. I kept seeing its cute red icon winking at me while I was working on other things, and continued to forget each and every mental note that said "I need to open that lil guy up and take it for a spin."

Well, I finally did last night and I'm just beside myself with glee! This is the best app I've ever purchased. It's $19.99 extremely well spent. If you're like me and have been printing recipes from sites like Epicurious, AllRecipes, Martha Stewart, etc. for years, keeping all said dirty and well used printed recipes in a hastily organized binder taking up valuable counter space in your kitchen... THIS app is for you!

Once I realized that I could use the Browser feature of this app to add my favorite online recipes to my catalog with one click, I stayed up late last night doing just that with everything I had printed (though in reality, it only took me about an hour to find and add 56 recipes). I'm recycling a ton of paper this morning, with a huge grin on my face.

The app is so crazy simple, and it syncs across your Mac, iPhone and iPad (the apps for these two devices are an extra $4.99 each, but well worth it in my opinion.) via iCloud, so no matter what I have closest to the kitchen when it's time to cook, or in my purse when its time to grocery shop, I'm prepared.

I'm captured some screen shots of my favorite features:


Recipe view, you can create your own categories, and add each recipe to as many of them as you'd like. You can also mark favorites, view my most recent, or view all of them in alphabetical order. From this screen you can drag and drop into categories.

The built-in browser screen comes pre-loaded with bookmarks for most of the good recipe websites, and you can add and remove as you please. The software is brilliant, all you need to do once you're at a recipe is click the "Save Recipe" button in the upper right hand corner, it fills everything in for you, like this. (And here you can tweak ingredients, add notes, and change things, if you've made a recipe before and know what you like better.

Recipe view shows every part of the recipe on the screen, so you don't need to scroll with dirty chicken-breading hands (or caramel covered ones!) You can also click the icons above the recipe to save it to a menu/meal for a certain date, email it to someone, print it (why oh why?) or trash it if it's a bomb. To the right you can add it to your favorites or your grocery list.

Grocery list view lets you check off things you already have, and view just "Unpurchased" items so your grocery list stays uncluttered.

The Meals/Menu planner lets you select recipes for specific meals of the day, here I'm planning the menu for next Saturday's Jewelry Shopping Meat & Eat! When you click on a recipe from this view, it automatically takes you to the full recipe. Simple!

It's plain to see why I'm enamored with this app, and while I know $20 is a bit of an investment, if you cook from recipes with any kind of regularity, it's well worth it.

You can download Paprika from the app store on your Mac, iPhone or iPad right now!

Queen Bee Market Recap of Awesomeness

2011-08-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

As I sit here too sore to move and reflect on the last 24 hours of intense studio decorating, it occurred to me that I should blog about it. And then it occurred to me that I hadn't blogged in a good long forever, and that I had dozens of pics from Queen Bee Market to share, and now, well, here I am.

The Queen Bee Market is my absolute favorite show. I don't want to call it a craft show, it's better than your average craft show. Held in ballrooms of fab hotels, the vendors who come to Queen Bee bring their A++ game. The booths are 2 walls short of boutiques, the handmade goods for sale are stunning enough to make you empty your wallet three times over, and the wonderful people who make/sell/run all of these businesses (including the two awesome sisters who run the show) are some of the most amazing people I've ever met.

Now I start to feel like a moron for not charging my camera battery before the show, it died right after I finished taking pics of my booth. And I'll share the pics of my booth on one condition: You go to the Queen Bee Market website and check out all of the other vendors' websites. Because despite my tendency to talk incessantly about myself and my business, this isn't all about me, is it?

I always spend a ridiculous amount of money at Queen Bee, because I, like most people in my generation, want everything, and want it immediately. Last time I scored awesomeness like this Plush Mounted Deer Head from Misfit Menagerie:

She had the most adorable unicorn heads, as well as a mini narwhal that I just yearned for!

This time around, I haven't had much opportunity to photograph my haul, except this outfit, which is entirely made up of handmade adorableness that I picked up that day:

Shirt and necklace from Allora Handmade, flouncy skirt cuteness from Stacy Lynn Designs.

I also snagged some gifts for my mom (who's birthday was the same weekend) and my bestie.
As well as two of these fab headbands from Emily Sparks that I'd been wanting since last May!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/61920430/teal-blooming-headband

And also, I redid my whole freaking booth. I even added a pipe & drape background this time! And as it happens, the lady whose booth was supposed to be back to back with mine couldn't make it, so I ended up with a primo end spot!

The whole shebang! Next time: more tables! I had so much stuff crammed onto one table it was ridiculous!

Table space was obviously at a premium!

I had such a tremendous variety of things! Here you can see my new bunting flag necklaces, queen bee necklaces, collar stays, Be Collection necklaces, cuffs, rings, and beaded bracelets... way too much stuff!

This folding plant stand was a score at Ross. I spray painted it black and filled it with bud vases and tie on bracelets!

Geekery (which will get its own table next time around) sweater clips, beaded bracelets and latitude/longitude goodies!

I wish I'd had a chance to take a picture with some of my friends, but to be honest, just getting everything made, into the hotel and setup was exhausting, and I wanted nothing more than a cocktail and junk food the whole day. (Hubby took me out for Sushi and lemon sake for dinner that night, it was the best thing I'd ever eaten!)

The next Queen Bee Market is in the fall, and I'm already making plans for it, can't wait!

2011-07-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

Check out this stunning treasury featuring my brass cuff bracelet! Just so lovely!

My latest obsession: Game of Thrones

2011-05-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

Game of Thrones is like Lord of the Rings + HBO style sex and blood and gore. It's hawt and clever and the actors are amazing. Of course I had to make a treasury inspired by this awesomeness.
This is also the first time I've included one of my own items in a treasury, since there seems to be a hideous lack of Game of Thrones inspired items. SO I've included my new "Winter is Coming" necklace:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/73765347/winter-is-coming-brass-pendant-on

'When you play the Game of Thrones..' by spiffingjewelry

you either win, or you die.

The Queen, 8x12 Inc... ThisYearsGirl $28.00	Game of Thrones Her... Pegbeard $9.99	House Dayne (236) QueenoftheCatP... $50.00	Wild Wolf Original HollyOverton $45.00
Dragon stone baileina $24.00	Fairy Tale Castle InkburstsBySte... $15.00	Black Raven - Water... OnlyPrettyThin... $11.00	Medieval Swords Cro... nichestitch $6.99
Grey Horse - 8x10 S... brownrose $20.00	Rhododendron in the... MantaWave $20.00	Ice Cascade 5x7 Pri... Erina68 $18.00	Mischievous Imp l... AbyssalDesires $35.00
A4 11x8 Noble Stag ... Nightowlhandma... $5.00	Shadow thief - Wire... Faeriedtreasur... $25.00	Celtic Dragon Rhyto... CHISCHILLYPOTT... $40.00	Winter is Coming -B... spiffingjewelr... $22.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

25% off for Facebook Fans today and tomorrow

2011-04-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

I just posted a Facebook only coupon on my little Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/spiffingjewelry

If you're not a fan yet, head over and snag your coupon code to get 25% off any purchase today or tomorrow!

Late-comer on the Charlie-Sheen-inspired-crap Bandwagon.

2011-04-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

I promised Bestie ages ago that I would make some Charlie Sheen jewelry, and, well, life got in the way. So, much belatedly, although still amusingly, I've created some winning pieces. All of these are newly listed today and ready to ship next day in my Etsy shop!

I'm tired of pretending I'm not a totally bitchin' rock star from Mars.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72947432/bitchin-rock-star-from-mars-charlie
(since blogger is being a bitch and won't let me link this pic)

Duh, winning necklace in brass.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72948075/duh-winning-brass-pendant-necklace-on

And because I haven't made anything yet in homage to Tina Fey's brilliance, I present the "oh, blarg" necklace in copper, brass or aluminum, on sterling chain:

newly listed: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72948662/oh-blarg-necklace-on-sterling-silver

Our new place, Part 2: Come tour my studio!

2011-04-15T17:11:00.000-07:00

This is the closest I can get to a full-shot of my studio, which is one of my favorite things about our new apartment. I have wall-to-wall windows, super tall ceilings and mirrored closet doors, so it's very bright and open for a small room. This pretty good summary of the color I've been able to squeeze in so far. This setup is my main desk and supply storage, where I do all of my beading and finishing work with suede and wire.

You can see the decal awesomeness I've added, including the obligatory Han Solo. I just bought all of these fabulously colorful bins from Target, and greatly reduced the quantity of drab black & white Ikea boxes I was using for inadequate storage.

See what I mean about how bright it is? I love this room.

The view is incredible too!

I'm definitely planning to refinish the drawer fronts on this boring dresser. Beech = Blah.

More and more and more storage.

And we're back around to the work bench. This is where the power tools live. My drill press, foredom, tumbler and bench lathe. I couldn't live without these beauties. In storage below: miscellaneous tools, towels, aprons, compounds, and other metal working junk. It's so much prettier now with these fun bins!

Up above, these white cubes are my ArtBin SuperSatchel Cubes. These awesome containers have like 40+ sections each and hold all of my beads, 90% of my findings and scrabble tiles and the like, of course, organized by color, type, size, shape, etc. (Type-A Virgo heaven!)

Some of my favorite necklace stands take residence up here, storing chains and necklace cords, and some OOAK necklaces that just look fab hanging out. You can see my C-3PO, Jawa and Gonorrhea plushies chilling there, next to my Scentsy warmer (Toasted Caramel Sugar gives me the warm fuzzies while I work.) That big board in the back is part of my old desk that I decoupaged the crap out of, and I love it, so it stays.

On top of my desk is my display storage. Fancy t-bars, my earring rack, busts, and my fancy mirror there, all of these things are kind of a bitch to store, so they just sit out there. I try to keep it looking at least artfully arranged so it doesn't look like clutter!

Yay for more bins and color where there was none! Up in the top left are bins for stuff I use all the time. Wire, chain, etc. Up on the top right are all of my tiny, constantly needed findings, jump rings, ear wires, clasps, along with all of my glues, adhesives and top coat things. Bottom right are the electronics. My power strip, UV lamp and a bin full of cords and cameras and such. Bottom left are more findings (I know, right?) In these awesome little 'books' I have them organized, Sterling, Antiqued Brass, Gold & Gunmetal.

My desk space, never this clean, I wish it could stay looking this gorgeous, but then it would look like I never actually work.

A little more detail of the desk. You can see my ipod dock, some awesome cross stich pieces, fancy kleenex box, various and sundry scissors and tools, and little bowls holding head and eyepins.

Here's where the stamping happens! My tiny little harbor freight work bench, all of my stamp collection, and cups and holders for all of my blanks that I need to keep handy.

Oh how I love these sweet little plant pots from Ikea for my blanks and tools.

Here's where I package everything. It's not quite so glamorous, but it works. That giant spinning rack is from Harbor Freight, and it holds all kinds of jewelry cards, ribbon, baggies, tape, etc. That paper towel holder is chilling with hundreds of pieces of pre-cut cotton cord, and that green tub is holding a ton of ready to ship Han & Leia rings, since they're so popular right now. Oh, and up there on the wall is my autographed Jimmy Eat World 'Invented' CD booklet. Love.

Okay, that's about all for this post, I'll come back next time with plenty of pics of our living room and patio, since that's just about dolled in!

Hey ya'll, I'm on tumblr!

2011-04-12T22:43:00.001-07:00

http://spiffingjewelry.tumblr.com/

And I'm talking and typing with an accent after having TrueBlood time with my bestie and Mr. Spiffing. I pick up a southern drawl at the drop of a hat. Funny as I've never lived anywhere but San Diego, and never even visited the south.

Long story short, follow me on tumblr. I'm pretty darn close to moving my entire blog over there. Thoughts? Comments? Want me to follow you on tumblr? Comment or just follow me and I'll follow you right back.

Why it's not fun to move and why it is at the same time. (part 1: kitchen happiness)

2011-04-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

So we moved last month, after living in the 55+/yuppie families/vastly Indian populated Rancho Bernardo for 2 years. They didn't like us so much there. Not that we were loud, but we're nice. Talkative. Happy and occasionally boisterous people, who like to have a good time and maybe some good wine. No one within a 4 mile radius of us had any of those traits. Oh, but they were loud. I'm fairly certain our upstairs neighbors were half-giant. I took to calling them Hagrid and Maxime... in my head. And they had a huge house cat that liked to run laps around their apartment. And they didn't sleep. (I know, because when we lived there, I didn't sleep much either.)

So we were counting the days until we could move in April. Our lease was up April 1st. We've been 'looking' at apartments online since June of last year. Of course, when the time came to actually start looking... it seemed like less fun. We had to actually CALL places, make APPOINTMENTS... DRIVE to these places. Ugh.

So imagine my utter, sheer and complete joy when I viewed the very first apartment (Mr. Spiffing was at work) and immediately fell in love. A two-story townhome (like the one I grew up in!) with a huge kitchen, a decent patio, two bathrooms, and more space. I called the hubs, told him I wanted to put down a deposit on the first apartment I'd seen (and one that he hadn't seen outside of pics on craigslist) and then kind of squeezed into the end of the convo that we wouldn't have parking. At all. Except on the street. Yikes.

So Mr. Spiffing did the ultimate husbandly-duty and said "okay" and I wrote a check for the deposit right then and there. I know that this was a HUGE sacrifice for him. No parking is a nightmare, I don't care who you are. If you have a car and nowhere to park it, you're not happy. I braced myself mentally for what was to come, drove home and ordered moving boxes and bubble wrap from Uline (best $75 I ever spent, and I'd gladly do it again!).

Thus ensued two weeks of packing. Which, somehow, wasn't enough time. (Need I mention that last time we moved, we had 3 days notice, and packed the vast majority of our belongings in Ikea bags...)
We had an extra bedroom and had accumulated SO. MUCH. STUFF. It was a never ending packing nightmare.

Then moving day arrived and all of our pleas and texts and emails and facebook status updates begging for help with this move went unanswered. We had two wonderful helpers. My beautiful and awesome mom, and my grandfather, who, while infinitely awesome and the kind of man I want my husband to be in our golden years, is in his 70s and frankly, I didn't want to ask him to do too much. It was also a super warm day for March, and I was 'glowing' by 9am when we started loading the truck.

Fast forward about 10 hours, and I am bone-deep exhausted, sweaty as all hell, and starving. Mr. Spiffing's mom and grandma arrive and bring Subway. I despise Subway but it was all that was nearby and I scarfed it down like I hadn't eaten in days. And then I blissfully unpacked my kitchen. Unpacking a kitchen for me is like reading my favorite book for the 6th time. I know how it's going to end. But I still love my favorite parts. Like seeing how my dishes will fit, and playing pantry-tetris.
The end result is my most favorite kitchen of all-time. (Being that we have always rented and I can't very well remodel...)

Something about having everything lined up and all in its place gives me the warm fuzzies.

Much limited pantry space compared to the giant walk-in of our last apartment. But I make do.

This was the end result until I got my new spice rack. More on that later.

Cookbooks, oils, vinegars, and my Miss Piggy coin bank that I've had since I was a toddler. The coin slot is her cleavage.

Oh to cook with gas again is such a sheer delight.

Alas, I needed even more space (giant stockpots, potatoes & onions, and some wrap and parchment paper rolls.

It's love. Even my handmade Mise en Place tray is right at home above my stove.

Just the perfect amount of wall space for my KitchenAid collection, potholders and my Elvgren girls.

So, maybe you noticed that there's no microwave? Yeah, I didn't until after we signed the lease. And rather than panic, I decided we just didn't need one. I'd buy the best fucking toaster oven in existence and then it wouldn't be a problem. So I researched, and researched (yay Google Shopping app on my iphone!) and decided on the Breville Smart Oven. I drove down to Williams-Sonoma (a store I had never dreamed of venturing into, since I knew the price range of even their smallest kitchen gadget was astronomically above mine.)

SO let me just say, I have more money now than I have ever known in my lifetime (25 short, yet very long, years). I knew this toaster oven was a HUGE splurge. And that I've kind of been splurging a lot since business picked up in the fall. (to be fair, I've also started a savings account to someday buy a house or put a kid through college or just be a cushion in case the shit hits the fan.)

My new favorite appliance

Back to the fun stuff, Williams-Sonoma is an incredible store! I won't gush about it so much, except that their service was exceptional, and they even loaded my car for me. I came home and was super excited to try this puppy out.
So far I've successfully cooked in this thing:
the best toast I've ever had (you'd think, 'toast is toast' but it's really fucking not.)
PERFECTLY cooked rack of lamb
Sliders that were sooo tender and juicy
roasted asparagus
bacon (in about 7 minutes!)
roasted broccoli with white balsamic vin in under 5 minutes
and this meal for hubby, which was prepared by putting everything on one pan with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasting:

asparagus, mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes and the fattest bone-in ribeye. yum on all counts.

So, once all decked out in appliances, I decided I needed some decals on the walls, and found this fabulous Julia Child quote on Etsy. But I had other Julia quotes in mind, and this seller fabulously customized a set of 4 quotes in my font choice and even special ordered matte vinyl since that was my desire. (Srsly, go shop there, awesome people!)
End result of that wonderful experience is a serious of Julia Child quotes to inspire me and also not make me feel like fatty for putting half and half in most of my sauces.

Last, but not least, was the spice rack. I have no cupboard space here for spices, so my Ikea jars and mix-and match bottles with hand written labels had to go. I found this AMAZINGLY wonderful newish Etsy seller Wheatland Woodcraft and their executive spice rack with 36 jars. Which was great, but not enough for me. I'm a cooking fanatic. (some people would say a foodie, but there has to be a stronger word for someone so obsessed with cooking and delicious food. Maybe I should invent one.)
I custom ordered from these wonderful people, an unfinished, 48-jar monster spice rack. I had no concept of what the actual size would be, but was confident I could fit it somewhere in this kitchen.
WOW, when I got the box I was floored! The box was huge and I was scared! Luckily, when I took everything out, the rack was not as big as the monstrous box, and I rearranged everything to find the perfect spot. Then, because I had a shit-ton of jewelry to make, I set it all aside and made jewelry, even though the type-a perfectionist in me was DYING to go fill up those spice jars and get my kitchen squared away.

So the next day I used leftover interior paint to paint this sucker my favorite shade of lime green. Then spent 2 hours designing labels wherein each spice was labeled in a different font, and another hour re-jarring all of my spices. The end result was STUNNING!

I'm a typography whore, so sue me. (also, check out the vintage canisters I got at the swap meet for $20 like 4 years ago. Awesomesauce.)

And THAT, my lovelies, is where I'll leave this for now. My kitchen totes deserved a blog post of it's own. In coming posts, I will discuss decorating our living room, bathrooms, bedroom, patio and of course, my studio!

Oh yeah, and I'll talk about jewelry too.

Contest! Name my new couture line and win a limited edition piece!

2011-03-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

I dreamed up this amazing new style the other day, and absolutely couldn't wait to share it with my awesome followers over on Facebook. I knew I wanted it to be a new, limited edition, couture line, even though I had no idea what I wanted to call it, I posted some teaser pics and the response was huge, so it's a go!

My first prototype for this fab new line!

These lovelies will feature all sterling silver or gold-filled metal, so it won't be cheap! But it will be 100% customizable, with every word and color determined on a case-by-case basis. There will be two variations on each style, meaning, you can get a bracelet like the one above with a multitude of cotton and leather cords, or a more 'shi-shi' version made with a ton of sterling silver or gold filled chains. Something for everyone! I have been waiting and dreaming of the day when I could afford to invest in the supplies needed to make a line like this happen, and now is the time!

This will be the "large" necklace design, this tag is HUGE and fits so many wonderful descriptives. (This one is obviously me, 'lush' and 'fangirl', come on!)

My problem is, I can't for the life of me come up with a name for this line! It took me forever to name Spiffing Jewelry, and it will take me another forever to name this line, so I'm turning to you, wonderful fans! My brain keeps thinking of Coach's Poppy line, how this staid, classic brand can make these fabulous, hot pink and multi-colored bags under a separate, more funky line.

One of the Coach Poppy lovelies I dream of each night

Seriously, look at that tag on the front, do you think I was sub-consciously channeling Coach when I made that bracelet?? Awesome, I know. But I can't call this line of jewelry Poppy, I'll have Coach's lawyers on my ass with a cease and desist faster than you can say 'Hello Kitty'.

And that's where you come in, dear fans and wonderful customers! You get to name my new line! Because thus far, my ideas have been poop. (Not literally 'poop', but every name of a flower, Greek goddess, and anything else is so over-played and hackneyed, and my little brain is so full of design ideas, it can't conjure up much else.)

So, this is going to be a bit of a long contest, because I'm going to make sure everyone has plenty of time to brainstorm and share their best ideas, all the while I'll be making and posting teaser pics of new pieces for this fabulous line.

Here's how it will go down. Starting today, you can post on THIS blog post or comment on this Facebook album with your ideas. As many as you can conjure, you have a month! (Contest ends midnight PST April 30th.)

I'll pick the name I love the best, and the winner will get his or her pick of a new piece from this line. Easy enough, right? I know you are damn excited! I am too!

So get to work, people!

What I made tonight-angry birds

2011-02-09T18:29:00.001-08:00

A little reassurance:

It actually says 'I heart you more than angry birds'.

My first attempt at stamped 'art':

I'm gonna try to make one of those nasty pigs next. What do you suppose I should try next?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's happening today!

2011-02-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

Not to jinx myself, but rather inspire, I'm going to make my 2000th sale today!
This is crazy exciting for me, considering I was celebrating my 1000th sale less than 4 months ago. Since about September my business has been really taking off in a way I never expected. I've had some challenging times adjusting to the high volume (of sales and convos, too) but it's so absolutely worth it.
I didn't really know that, this time last year, when I invested about $250 in tools and supplies to start making stamped metal jewelry (not a small sum of money for us back then) that it would completely change my Etsy shop and my life.

It blows me away all the time to think that my unique spin on this style of jewelry that was already so popular on Etsy was received so well. I love that this my job now, that I get to spend my days making jewelry, and not just generic jewelry for everyone, but jewelry that is so personal and means so much to the person who will be wearing it.

I know how lucky I am, and I count my blessings all day long (while I'm hammering away!). If I can manage it, I'll be doing this for a long time yet, and I'll surely be celebrating more milestones along the way. (Yay for more giveaways!)

And speaking of things to look forward to, here are a few things in the works:
-More and more rings, including copper, brass, aluminum and sterling silver

-Gold filled jewelry
-More new fonts
-More ink-enameled jewelry
-More giveaways, from myself and sponsors (Uprinting, maybe?)

So since you're here, head over and enter my giveaway, you have 4 ways to enter and you can use all 4 to increase your chances, so get on it!

Lad Named Felix giveaway

2011-02-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

Another giveaway you should be entering and blog you should be avidly following is Lad Named Felix.
You should also check out his spectimberacisectaberleraramble (to use a word made up by Mr. Spiffing) Etsy shop.
His jewelry is edgy and lush and just awesome. He also has fantastic taste, considering he's featured my Midichlorian count necklace on his fab blog.

To enter his giveaway you need to caption a photo that is just beyond words for me. (MY brain is fried from making so much stamped jewelry.) Anyhoo, get your ass over there and enter, cos you can win awesome stuff like this:

or this:

Go do it!

2000th sale giveaway extravaganza!

2011-02-04T09:34:00.000-08:00

I am a mere 24 sales away from my 2000th sale on Etsy! To celebrate, I wanna give away a ton of stuff! To YOU! (don't look so surprised...)
This giveaway will have FIVE prizes. FIVE! Can you freaking believe it?

1st prize: set of 3 custom stamped cuffs in aluminum, copper or brass ($45 value)

2nd Prize: Set of 3 Live well Laugh often Love much rings in aluminum, copper or brass ($30 value)

3rd prize: Set of 2 custom stamped 'besties' bracelets ($18 value)

4th Prize: Custom stamped latitude & longitude ring in aluminum ($16 value)

5th Prize: Custom Stamped Sliding Knot Bracelet in aluminum ($10 value)

How do you enter?

I'm keeping it simple. Four ways to enter. Comment on this blog post with the following info:

Option 1- Your favorite item from my etsy shop & why.

Option 2- A link to where you've blogged about this giveaway (with a link to my Etsy shop on your blog)

Option 3- A link to your twitter account where you've tweeted about this giveaway
Option 4- A link to your facebook page where you've posted the link to this giveaway

MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE

-Your email address (so I can tell you when you've won!)

The day I have my 2000th sale (or February 11th, whichever comes first), I will select 5 winners (with a random # generator) to win the 5 prizes. 1st winner gets prize #1, 2nd winner gets prize #2 and so on.

Email me if you have questions, otherwise, good luck!

What the french, toast?

2011-02-01T12:56:00.001-08:00

'French Toast' by newberry

Nowhere in town can milk, eggs, or bread be found .... guess we're getting ready to eat french toast.

Bloom Little Bud Va... spiffingjewelr... $12.00	Chicken Eggs hickoryridgefa... $3.00	2 Large Loaves Cinn... KaysSimplyHome... $14.00	Ethiopian Yirgachef... izzyandluca $6.75
slice of bread cutt... newberry $12.00	Egg Gourd Seeds - G... SevenAcreWoods $2.00	Milk Bottle Wall Va... MaryOber $22.00	Camel Cup Cozy, Bro... natalya1905 $17.50
Guatemala Huehueten... AproposRoaster... $11.99	French Toast 5 x 7 ... bawkbawk $14.00	Loaf of bread woode... artsoftheheart $15.00	Good Egg Card solelines $3.00
Keep Calm and Toast... queensspoof $16.00	SWEET POTATO BUTTER... MMMandMore $6.00	GF/CF Multi Grain B... autismcottage $17.00	French Toast Cupcak... Cynnnamon $20.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com.

2011 Resolutions & Staying on Track

2011-01-04T11:57:00.000-08:00

Here's my reasonable list of new years resolutions (unofficial, I never really proclaimed them...)
-Turn Heads
     -this involves losing a little weight/inches. I don't weigh myself, what matters to me is how I look in the clothes I love, and how I feel about myself.
     -this also includes my "no frumpy days" resolution I've had the last 2 years. Which means, do my hair, put on makeup, and do what I can to look my best, because it makes me feel tons better to look great.
-Create new things
     -This includes in my shop, and around the house. I have so much creativity in me, it needs many outlets. So I'll be making and listing plenty of new things in my shop, cooking and concocting new meals and tasty desserts at home, and creating in as many avenues of my life as possible. I've already started with cooking! Yesterday I made roasted butternut squash soup (healthy!) with a bacon rosemary topping (not TOTALLY healthy, but minimal and delicious):

Super easy, and insanely delicious

This morning I drove down to Lucky Seafood in Mira Mesa (not the best smelling store, I have to say) but their fish was super fresh, and I got a pound of ahi for $6. I seared a tiny piece of it, chopped up some avocado and made myself some poke to eat with the toasted sesame rice crackers I got from Costco yesterday:

a little lemon juice, soy sauce & sesame oil tossed around to make this deliciousness!

-Don't stress out
-This means in everything. Everything that can be fixed, will be fixed. Anything that is out of my control isn't worth stressing over. I don't need to lose sleep over an upset customer, shipping delays, or anything else. It will be good for me physically and mentally.

That's about it. I mean, there's a lot rolled in to those three things, cos nothing's simple. But I like a challenge. Plus, all of these things will contribute to making myself happy, making Mr. Spiffing happy, and getting us to a place where we shouldn't have any problems at all with making a baby Spiffing.

Up early to blog and get tons done today!

2010-12-23T07:48:00.000-08:00

I was worried that after nearly a month of being self-employed, I was slowly becoming nocturnal. Tuesday night I went to bed at 2am, woke up yesterday at 11. No bueno. I was completely unmotivated, a little lazy (and an lot hormonal) yesterday and I didn't want to do a damn thing. I did ship out the last of my orders that were gonna make it by Christmas. Today I need to do SO much! So I'm glad I (maybe kinda just a little drugged myself so I) could go to bed around 11 last night. I was wide awake at 6:30, saw hubby off to work, and now I'm having some muenster and triscuits and my morning diet coke and then it's time to hop in the shower because I have a laundry list of things to do today.

I baked chocolate cupcakes last night on a whim. I had made dark chocolate ganache and dulce de leche for cookies that I just didn't have time to bake in the last few weeks. I had a lightbulb around 9 last night and threw some cupcakes in the oven and came up with this:

Dark chocolate dulce del leche cupcakes in a jar

Now, admittedly, I wish I hadn't taken that Tylenol PM, because I wanted SO badly to run to WalMart for some Ball jars for these. Instead I used a few of my pampered chef prep cups and made hubs promise to get them back from the ladies at work. I have a lot more cupcakes to assemble for gifts, so I'll be running to WalMart for some jars this morning. (won't that be a nightmare?)

I also have to make quite a few gifts still. Which shouldn't be a problem because after showering, WalMart and finishing these cupcakes, I'll be hitting the studio and making a ton of jewelry. I have some orders for friends, gifts, and then as always, some more Etsy orders to get out. And that will be the rest of my day until Mr. Spiffing comes home, and we're starting our Christmas lamb extravaganza. (We're having rack of lamb on Christmas day, but they had some lamb chops on sale yesterday I couldn't resist, and I bought a leg of lamb earlier in the week for god knows when!)

So tonight it's lamb chops and broccolini and some rice or something. Tomorrow night is dinner at Nick's dad's (xmas eve tradition) so we'll be doing gifts and probably having gumbo! (I'm a gumbo fanatic!) After that, (bestie) Tara will be coming over to spend Christmas with us, and (other bestie) Caley will be coming by to hang out with us in the late evening hours and exchange gifts. Christmas morning & Christmas day it's just Mr. Spiffing, Tara and myself, and it will be fab. And then Sunday we're doing dinner with Nick's mom, sister and grandma. So naturally, I'm cooking every day this weekend, and we have enough alcohol to inebriate a small army.

I'm excited for all of the food, drinks and family, and it's not hard to see why! I've planned menus out, too! I'll break it down:
Christmas Eve midnight snacks:
Crab dip. OMG Crab dip with all kinds of cheese and fresh bread
Baked Feta for Mr. Spiffing
2 kinds of goat cheese (herb and honey) and smoked gouda
Some fresh fruit for grazing

Christmas breakfast:
Orange Sweet Rolls (pillsbury, from a can, you can't mess with these!)
Latkes & sour cream (trader joe's has the best latkes!)
Avocado toast
Thick cut applewood smoked bacon (nom!)
Fresh fruit
Mimosas, Bloody Marys, oh my!

Christmas dinner:
Rosemary Crusted Rack of Lamb with dijon mustard sauce
Creamed Spinach
Caramelized Pearl Onions with Bacon
Roasted Baby Fingerling Potatoes

Sunday's dinner I haven't planned out well yet, as I just found out about it 3 days ago!
I bought the most beautiful bone-in rack of pork, so that's most of it. I think I'll get some more broccolini from Trader Joes and cook up some of the pumpkin gnocchi I scored on the cheap at World Market. Keepin' it simple!
I'm not making dessert for anything. We have plenty of fudge, my macadamia lace toffee and cupcakes.

Hopefully in all the excitement I can remember to take pictures of the roasts and such. Oh, and you may have noticed I skipped a meal on Christmas day, no lunch! Well, kids, that's because hubby and bestie and I are like small children on Christmas. I usually wake Tara up around 5:30, we chill out with some coffee until about 6, when we can't stand it anymore and go jump on the bed until Nick wakes up, and then we rush out and open gifts. By 7 we're rolling in a sea of gift wrap, playing with new toys, and I start breakfast. By 9, we're all asleep again, and when we wake up, it's drinking and christmas movies until we can't stand it anymore. It's heaven.

Okay, enough talking about me. I hope everyone has an equally fabulous, wonderful, loving and delicious Christmas! (even if you don't celebrate it, have a great weekend!)

Coming soon: Ink-enameled jewelry!

2010-12-22T19:11:00.000-08:00

What the heck is ink-enameled jewelry? I dunno, I just made it up. (Well, maybe there is a different process called ink-enameling, but I googled like mad and didn't see anything.) But my process involves ink, metal, and a clear laquer. I won't bore you with the details, but basically it turns a piece of stamped jewelry into a fabulous, brightly colored piece of art.

Wanna see what I mean?

Right now I only have a few colors to play with.

I just ordered a total of 48 colors, so I will have a whole spectrum of amazing colors to offer, as well as fun combinations and finishes. Can you tell I am c-c-c-crazy excited about this?

When I first started making jewelry, I had all of these amazing and colorful beads to play with, and all of my designs were packed full of color. Of course, when I started making stamped jewelry, the possibility for color waned quite a bit. Outside of adding a beaded dangle or two to a necklace, there wasn't much opportunity. Unnnnntil now! (okay that was a little announcer voice, humor me, alright?)

So here are a few little examples that I've come up with so far! There will be tons more to come in tons more colors!

Nerd! (soon to be necklace) in lettuce green

Custom 'bestie' necklaces coming soon (shown in eggplant)

Even cuffs are getting in on the action! 'all you need is love' in my new Swirly Girly font, shown in Cranberry.

Lime and Grey Treasury Love

2010-12-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

December Photo Project - Day 4 "The crownless again shall be king"

2010-12-04T23:21:00.000-08:00

And for today's post, the reason I will now have a character limit on every single thing for sale in my shop. It's a very cool quote, but took me the better part of an hour to stamp, and this thing is HUGE, even with my smallest font. I'm capping everything at 100 characters from now on, unless someone wants to pay much more.

'From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king.'

December Photo Project - Day 3

2010-12-04T23:13:00.000-08:00

Well, the 3rd passed in a blur. I made jewelry and prepped for today's trunk show all day, and then went to Christmas on the Prado with my hubs (where photo ops were ample, yet I didn't snap a single one. D'oh!)
So here is the only pic I took yesterday, with my cell phone camera, natch. It's my earring display with newly redesigned earring cards.

(control your excitement.)

December Photo Project - Day 2 (O Christmas Tree)

2010-12-02T23:07:00.000-08:00

Our New Orleans Square Christmas Tree (not bad for a cheapo 4' walmart tree!)

December Photo Project - Day 1

2010-12-01T22:24:00.000-08:00

Alisha Vernon (awesome artist/mom) turned me onto this December Photo Project. It's 1 picture a day for the 1st 25 days of December. I love the idea, of course! So I'm in it to win it. (Not really to win anything, but I'm down for 25 days of pics on the blog!)

So here is day 1:

The Thanksgiving Hangover

It's quite simply explained by the fact that we made dinner for 15 on Saturday and ended up with 6. We have food and drink for a small army in our fridge! (Hubby has eaten like a king for lunch every day!)

I don't think it's possible for me to get sick of sausage stuffing or cream cheese mashed potatoes, but my stomach is. I'm starting a... sigh... diet tomorrow. I have a holiday dress to wear to my mom's office christmas party, and I don't trust the spanx to do all the work for me.

Merry first day of Christmas!

I have quit my day job!

2010-12-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

A week ago today was my last day working at Sysco! I will miss getting restaurant quality (and quantity) food at cost, but I will not miss:
-getting up at 6:30 after making jewelry until 2am
-being the scapegoat for multiple departments
-answering phones
-office drama/politics
-and many, many more...

I am running Spiffing Jewelry full time and loving it! (It also helps that the holiday rush is here, and I am absolutely slammed with orders!) I have a trunk show this Saturday and another event next Wednesday, after which I hope to finally catch up and list tons of new stuff. (I am piece-mealing new things into the shop when I sneak a moment, but right now I'm working day and night just to get orders out!)

November was my best month ever, and December is on par to beat that. I am so grateful to my amazing customers and especially Mr. Spiffing, who has come to officially earn the title by helping me make jewelry every night.

I realize I did promise a giveaway every week until Christmas... which was totes feasible until I started selling 150 pieces of jewelry a week! I will pick up with the giveaways after Christmas, promise!

Front page awesomesauce

2010-11-19T10:08:00.001-08:00

So yeah, I'm totally crazy busy and have so much unbelieveable news and new items to share soon, but right now, just this:

A little front page action this morning to make my Friday!

Every day is Halloween...

2010-10-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

At least, for myself (and Mr. Spiffing) it is from about mid September to October 31st. That's when we'd normally decorate the apartment (though we HATE our apartment right now, so sadly, we didn't decorate at all this year). Except, I got a bug up my butt to carve pumpkins, which we haven't done in YEARS. So we did, last night. And it was a fabulous time.

Bestie Tara came over. (Might I not have mentioned Bestie Tara? I can't remember. We've been BFFs since the 8th grade. She's fantastic. You'd love her.) So Bestie and Mr. Spiffing and I carved the hell out of these poor pumpkins. Mine had no stump. Bestie's had a giant one. And Mr. Spiffing picked the most Charlie-Brown-Christmas-Tree-looking pumpkin in the bin (I could practically see the light bulb over his head as he put it in the cart.)

Normally I ask the Mr. to draw something fantastic for me to carve, but he wasn't feeling it. So I went with a pattern. It was a pretty sexually frustrated vampire/helpless victim scene. He's supposed to be descending upon her helpless form. I did it sideways so it looks like she's on top. (Coincidentally, 'Tear You Apart' by She Wants Revenge is playing as I type this. A vampire sex scene song if I've ever heard one.)

We decided she looked like she was mid-orgasm.

Bestie took the boring, goofy jack-o-lantern face, and went junior high with it:

That's a pumpkin penis.

Mr. Spiffing freehanded this masterpiece of pumpkinery:

Tell me my husband wouldn't be the coolest dad ever!!! My dad could barely handle triangle-eyes. Pshaw.

Also, Mr. Spiffing perfectly captured my 'mom' face.

"Really, Mr. Spiffing???"

A successful evening of wine, tri-tip sliders (recipe to follow) and pumpkining.
This evening, I've been making jewelry like crazy to keep up with orders and reduce my ever-increasing stress-levels. I had to share this one with you: The Dog Tag latitude/longitude necklace.

Lovely!

An all-vegan treasury!

2010-10-26T19:30:00.001-07:00

'Vegan Gift Guide' by darkfaerie

for all my fellow vegans....:)

Mystical Mediterranean ... kellyannvegan $17.00	VEGAN ID bracelet part ... dkany $28.00	Cyber Goth Hot Pink Leo... StarrlightJewe... $22.00
Vegan Black Leather Cro... MyGreenMonkeyD... $31.99	Recycled Fleece Autumn ... xmittens $169.00	Black and Grey Mustache... whodinihandmad... $22.95
Alice Cullen New Moon O... BoopieCreation... $27.50	Cherry Walnut Fudge - V... SweetVConfecti... $9.00	Amber cables and lace s... KnitsByNat $40.00
Vegan serving bowl with... VeganDish $48.00	Bicycle Tire Belt - Kno... julienjaborska $30.00	Custom Stamped Vegan Fa... spiffingjewelr... $15.00
Patchouli Soap Black Sh... BambuEarth $6.00	Window to the Soul Unli... Vegancraftasti... $9.00	Vegan star crystal and ... pinkbubble $24.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

New Suede!

2010-10-25T23:50:00.000-07:00

I'm kind of crazy excited about my new suede finds!
First, a limited edition magenta (only have enough for 6 bracelets, so that's all there'll ever be!)

Secondly, another limited edition, embossed rust!

Also, 2 new colors of vegan faux suede!!
Classic black:

and deep, sexy purple!

Expect to see these beautiful new suedes/faux suedes in new listings by the weekend!

Win a pretty in pink bracelet!

2010-10-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

Here's this week's giveaway! Pale pink beads of all kinds, glass, freshwater pearl, glass pearl, you name it, all wire-wrapped onto silver plated chain with a hook and eye clasp. 7.5" long, and worth $40!

To enter:
-Comment here with your favorite item from my Etsy shop http://spiffingjewelry.etsy.com
-Follow me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/spiffingjewelry (comment here to let me know)
-Follow my blog (post a comment to let me know)
-Tweet this giveaway (post a comment to let me know!)
-Blog about my Etsy shop, an item from my shop, or this giveaway, and post a comment here with the link

You must include some way for me to contact you in your comment, be it Etsy user name, Twitter handle, email address, you pick. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

This giveaway is over midnight PST on Saturday, October 30th! And remember to tell everyone you know that I'll be giving away one piece of handmade jewelry every week until Christmas!

(Congrats to last week's winner, Khris! The leopard and red cluster necklace is shipping off to the Philippines tomorrow!)

Win! This leopard and red cluster necklace. Now!

2010-10-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

This baby ain't in my Etsy shop. One of a kind and up for giveaway, you have until Saturday night at midnight PST to enter!

To enter:
-Comment on this blog post with your favorite item from my shop (http://spiffingjewelry.etsy.com)
-Tweet this blog post and post a comment with your twitter handle so I can check up on you (and follow you)
-Blog about the giveaway, and post a link to your blog

and DON'T forget to include your email address, Etsy or twitter username if you want to actually win. I can't tell you you've won if I can't contact you, crazy person. Do all three of the above for 3 entries.

Spread the word, jewelry lovers, I'm giving away one piece a week until Christmas!

And the winner is...

2010-10-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Brenda of Swann Soirees who won last week's necklace giveaway!

New giveaway in t-minus 15 minutes. (insert evil grin here)

Quick Giveaway: I'll make you a stamped date necklace

2010-10-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

Because I made some new stuff this week (a rare occurrence of late) I've decided it's high time for a quick little giveaway. So that's what I'm gonna do. And I'm keeping it simple. You can win one of my new Custom Stamped Date Necklaces on Sterling Chain. You get your choice of aluminum, copper or brass for the pendant, the chain and all other findings are sterling. Here's a pic:

Read the description of this puppy here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/58627848/custom-stamped-copper-and-sterling-date

To enter:
-Comment on this blog post with your favorite item from my shop (http://spiffingjewelry.etsy.com)
-Tweet this blog post and post a comment with your twitter handle so I can check up on you (and follow you)
-Blog about the giveaway, and post a link to your blog

and DON'T forget to include your email address if you want to actually win. I can't tell you you've won if I can't contact you, crazy person. Do all three of the above for 3 entries. And do it quick, because this giveaway is over FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15TH. Yeah, that's this Friday.

Get on it, then!

A Halloween Treasury!

2010-09-14T23:10:00.001-07:00

My fab Halloween Sweater Clip is featured in this excessively fab Halloween Treasury on Etsy!

'Black+Orange+White=Halloweenie' by misscrochet

Halloween Sweater Guard... spiffingjewelr... $18	Corny and Boo Resin and... misscrochet $13.99	Halloween Satin Poppy H... SugarOwlDesign $13.99
Hollows Eve- Vintage In... themodernthrea... $10.5	SALE/Five Flower Cluste... NoPlainTs $18	Halloween Trio Lampwork... suzoom $34.95
jack on black. hallowee... smidgebox $45	Halloween Tags - Set of... SimplyInviting... $6	Halloween Spooky Kawaii... JstNtime2bhere $3.5
Yarn Wreath Felt Holida... ItzFitz $30	Halloween Stripes and P... BeansThings $6	Fun and Funky Zebra Pri... SeaPinks $14
Vintage Recycled Glass ... kikisvintage $16	Boo Egg Cozy Hats, Hall... natalya1905 $20	Candy Corn Pillow Cover... Modernality $21

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Updecorating my living room

2010-09-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

I very recently (Friday) decided that I needed to redecorate. Perhaps redecorate is the wrong word. I am happy enough with what I have, but it just needed little umph. So I needed to updecorate. Yep.
So you can up-cycle, why can't you up-decorate? Take what you already have and add to it. So that's what I did this weekend. First with the living room, which was pleasant enough, but quite boring, and I've been wanting some color and excitement for some time.

I think I got on this updecorating kick after scoring this awesome vintage granny square quilt on Etsy:

Mr. Spiffing wears that nastyass Boba Fett t-shirt to jog in every day.

Yay for color! Especially with such beige-ness happening in our living room... our couch was a gift from family, and we're so damn picky about colors, we chose the most neutral... which left our beige walled living room quite devoid of color. All our furniture is black, and luckily we have lovely wood floors, but that leaves us with a ridiculous lack of color!
For comparison, our living room at our last place:

*sigh* I miss the old halloween parties.

So I made a trip to Home Goods (I LOVE Home Goods, and would live there if they had rooms for rent.) after getting a little tiny bonus at work on Friday, and snatched up these tow lovely ottomans:

The green one has storage! All our DVD's and extra remotes are no longer milling about the living room.

So of course, I had to add a little bit more color with these fab vases for our peacock feathers:

So the whole package looks a bit fantastic and colorful, though we could still use a rug. (The search is on!)
So what do you think? I kinda love it.

We def need something above the couch... we're going to order a HUGE canvas print of one of Mr. Spiffing's photos, probably in keeping with our Disneyland wall art theme. (huzzah!)

Treasury Alert: Wood, leather & tobacco: gifts for men

2010-09-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Another fantastic treasury on Etsy, all amazing things for men:

'wood, leather and tobacco: gifts for men' by aglaeaschest

help me tag this?!

TOBACCO natural aftersh... portlandgenera... $12	Hero - Sterling Silver ... spiffingjewelr... $16	slim wallet handstitch $30
The Raven - Mens Bracel... Kiss2Keep $77	Hand-finished Extra Thi... birthdesigns $54	Amboyna Burl Sap Wood M... PCwoodcraftand... $59.99
War Buddha print on Ext... BareTree $20	SALE- Tangled Forest sc... ScatterbrainTi... $14	Recycled Suit Coat iPad... MyGreenMonkeyD... $29
Liberty Nickel Tie Tack... ConjuredMemori... $11.95	Dread Pirate Roberts Ol... savor $6.5	I17P NEW Cufflinks Lion... wmdean $19.99
Peppermint Dead Sea Sal... shonnyisley $4.99	Hazelnut Chocolate Whis... whimsyandspice $9	One of a kind, Art Deco... Revisions $19.75

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Brand new business cards!

2010-09-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

My newly designed and uber-chic business cards came yesterday! I LOVE Uprinting.com for their free proofs, and crazy fast service. (Bonus is they are in LA, so once they ship I get them next day!)
Since I've begun overhauling my brand, I've been going with sleek lines and black and white simplicity, with this insanely awesome scripty font that just makes me smile! (As you can see from my newly redesigned blog!)

So without further ado, my new business cards!

Beautiful, no? I'm quite proud!

Would you like a crumpet?

2010-09-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

I would, because I'm Winston Churchill.

No joke, I just stamped that on one of these for my bestie:

New Brass Cuff Treasury Goodness

2010-09-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Lucky me! My new brass cuff is in this fab treasury on Etsy this weekend, I think it's front-page worthy, what do you think?

'I Breathed a Song into the Air' by KneeDeepOriginals

Can you hear the music of these delightful Etsy finds? Thanks to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (and flapyourwings) for the title and to kmberggren for inspiration.

Woodland Songbird -... TheBeadYouNeed $5	Song In My Soul - 1... kmberggren $26	Custom Quote or Son... spiffingjewelr... $20
Raffle Ticket Stick... SunshineandRav... $5	vintage craft suppl... Tanithsoddsand... $4	Whimsical Bird Song... Flapyourwings $29.5
Mixed media, fabric... twocooltexans $20	Ring Holder Coiled ... WaveSong $25	Sparrow II 5x5 fin... sunshineartdes... $8
Love Songs pins FrenchAffairs $5	8 x 10- original fi... songsoflight $25	Tumbler or Large Cu... khphillips $24
Ani ledodi Vedodi L... Simag $45	Blue Bird Corset SlipperySlopeB... $496	Gypsy Love Song Bel... bmused $24

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Last chance to enter my giveaway with alamodestuff!

2010-09-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad blogger, not blogging all over the place about my giveaway with alamodestuff this week, but life has been crazy with a capital K. SO without further ado, go enter this giveaway at alamodestuffblog.com before midnight tonight, because that's when it ends!
Enter to win a custom suede ID bracelet like this one:

There are bunches of ways to enter, to do so, head over to this lovely blog post and get crackalakin!

P.S. If you have extra time (and you should just MAKE the time) you should check out Linda's fabulous seatbelt bags over at www.alamodestuff.com !!

The Striking Viking, meet Thrillist, I think you two will get along just fine.

2010-09-02T06:33:00.000-07:00

My awesome husband's awesome Etsy shop has only been open for a week or so, but it's packed full of hilarious and conversation stimulating art and greeting cards, most of which drawn with his left hand. (He IS right handed, and quite a talented artist!)

So talented, in fact, that the folks over at Thrillist.com asked him for an interview on Sunday, the results of which have been posted this morning in the form of a fab editorial on the San Diego Thrillist page, which is emailed to god-only-knows how many people daily. I'm practically preening here.

So go check out the article (if you haven't already) here!

Some of my faves right now:

Harry Potter Greeting Card

Kristen Stewart, left handed celebrity portrait (and also the lovely bit featured on Regretsy)

Introducing the Blitz! One Day Deal from Spiffing Jewelry

2010-08-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

I am slowly discontinuing many items from my shop, and as I do this, I'll be offering a 24-hour last-chance deal on each of these items, starting with the Marvelous Buxom Necklace, originally priced at $45, now only $30 from now until 8pm pacific time tomorrow:

42" of the deepest, sparkliest, pearliest, shiniest red beads I could get my hands on. Each bead is individually wire wrapped onto silver plated wire, and then hand linked to create this lovely necklace. The beads run in a pattern on this one, as opposed to the random design of most of my other buxom necklaces. They range from small beads to large beads and back again throughout the whole necklace.

It's finished off with a silver star shaped toggle clasp.

This deal is only good until 8pm tomorrow, no limit on quantity!

What I made tonight!

2010-08-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

The custom latitude and longitude jewelry continues to be a major hit! I'm planning on designing a couple necklaces, and key chains to add to the collection this weekend, huzzah! In the meantime, I've almost caught up on my orders! I've been kicking ass to get my lead time down (yay, faster shipping!)
So tonight I finished a few custom orders that I just HAVE to share!

First, a little inspiring quote bracelet! Get your own custom quote bracelet here!

A South Park inspired cuff bracelet! Custom cuff bracelets, here!

"Hi, I'm Scott Malkinson. I have a lisp and diabetes."

The outside left simple, just a date and signed with a heart.

I think I'll also share what I've come to lovingly call the clusterfuck necklace. Quite literally one of every bead (6mm and larger) in my collection, all clustered into a monstrous statement necklace that I'll be wearing on my birthday in 2 weeks!

I'm planning to adorn all the ladies with statement necklaces for the evening, we'll be pub-crawling in style!

Fab Vintage Finds from VintageByAlexKeller

2010-08-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I don't shop vintage very often. It's not because I'm not into vintage. I absolutely adore vintage. And that's the problem. I find sooooo very many lovely things I want to cover every horizontal surface of my tiny apartment each time I look in the vintage category on Etsy, so it's safe for me to just stay away. Until I recently caught up with Alex of vintagebyalexkeller on Etsy.

I found so many lovely things in her shop, and I want to, but can't, buy them all. So perhaps you can save me (and my back account) from destruction by vintage and take some of these things off her hands for me?

Cheese dome $10.99 (a bargain!)

$9.99 Glass Coasters, just lovely!

1940's Typewriter! NINETEEN FORTIES! $99.99 and just amazing.

$14.99 Magazine rack, though I think I could totally use this for papers or veggies, too!

LOVELY footed vase $9.99

Faaaaaab yellow condiment tray! $9.99

I looooooooves me a good sampler! $24.99

I loooove this vintage Tupperware, I grew up with this fabulosity of 80's color. $19.99

Alex also makes upcycled jewelry which she sells at her other Etsy shop:

Where you can find lovelies such as this:

$20, and made from vintage and recycled jewelry!

So why are you still here? Go buy out her shop(s)!

Herbed Chicken salad, and a Jimmy Eat World Cuff Bracelet

2010-08-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

I was a busy girl tonight! I FINALLY got my bracelet mandrel today:

My new bracelet mandrel, a phallic symbol if I ever saw one.

So I was able to finally finish this lovely cuff bracelet:

"Here, you can be anything, anything that scares you." Jimmy Eat World

This is my first cuff bracelet! It's aluminum, so it's not expensive at all! A bargain really at $18 and going up in my Etsy shop quite soon.

After the excited bracelet hammering, it was time for dinner. Some back story: I bought the wrong kind of chicken. (Back back story: I work for a wholesale food distributor and get food in bulk at cost!) So I bought a case of chicken but it came in these funky square trays... think of a giant ice cube tray with a chicken breast in each cube. Needless to day this did not fit in my freezer:

Yes, that's Aquavit, two kinds of ice cream and a whole deli turkey.

So I had to cook all of this chicken, stat. The answer? A shit ton of chicken salad. SO, without further ado, my recipe for
Herbed Chicken Salad
I don't often measure when cooking. I eyeball and add a lot of things to taste. This takes a good amount of trial and error. So, I'll simplify it for you, but know that I just use a bit of this, a crapload of that, and hope it turns out good. (It usually does!)
2 chicken breasts, grilled, baked, or any other method of cooking. (with salt and pepper)
Dice the chicken, dump in a bowl with about 3-4 tablespoons of mayo, and 1 heaping teaspoon of good dijon mustard. Don't go cheap, you can taste the diff. Add herbs! Really, just whatever you like. I have a crush on rosemary, thyme, dill and tarragon, so I added all of them (minimal on the dill, that shit is strong!) and some parsley for more color.
Mix all of this up, and serve it on sourdough, or ciabatta, or whatever bread you like, the sturdier the better. I added a slice of muenster cheese, and usually I go with some fresh spinach, but I cheaped out at Henry's and didn't want to pay $3. Anyways, here's a pic:

Herbed Chicken Salad Sandwich

And now I need to go stamp some metal before 10, so I don't piss of the crazy person who lives above us, or my husband for that matter.
Tomorrow I'm cooking shredded beef tacos, you'll definitely want the recipe for that! (My mouth is watering just thinking about it!)

Gnocchi with sage brown butter (and shark week)

2010-08-02T23:43:00.000-07:00

So I'm up late, since Paypal is giving me hell tonight, and I'm watching a little Shark Week while I cool down. I thought I might share with you what I made for dinner last night!
Gnocchi with sage brown butter
I had planned to make my own gnocchi from scratch, but Sunday afternoon laziness set in so I tootled off to Trader Joe's and picked up some ready to go stuff. I already had tons of butter, and fresh sage in my little herb garden:

And even though I'd read about 6 different recipes, I decided to wing it. I made 2 lbs of gnocchi, boiled, and then into a saute pan with some butter. (Seriously, add a little parm and you could stop there!)
For the brown butter, I used half a stick of unsalted (will probably use salted next time, more umph!) and 8 fresh sage leaves, on medium low heat, stirred occasionally, until the butter was gorgeous brown.
A little bacon action for Mr. Spiffing in the form of some finely diced pancetta sauteed until a little crisp.
At that point all you have to do is put it all in a bowl, and sprinkle liberally with grated parm. Mr. Spiffing, who declared before I even went to the store that he was not a fan of gnocci was mmm-ing right away. Success.
Next time I'm gonna make my own gnocchi. And they'll get wayyyy crispier, and have some parm inside as well. Heaven!!
I made a ton of stuff tonight, but I didn't take pics, sorry. Hubs was already in bed and the camera was in the bedroom, didn't wanna wake him up. I do have to say the sterling stamped stuff is selling fast, and the latitude and longitude bracelets are getting big. It's exciting!
I spent most of my evening making my line sheet, which I will share tomorrow or the next night. It was too much work for me to not show off, and I know I have a few crafty followers who might benefit from my trial and error.
For now, toodleoo!

Cloche Madness!!!

2010-08-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

I only own two fabulous cloches, but I intend to own more in the future, if I'm lucky, it will be some of the lovely ones listed below from some of these awesome Etsy sellers. Take a browse and maybe you'll see why I adore these retro hats so very, very much!

$32 from humade ruching and ruffles!

$65 from bonniesknitting the color! the COLOR!

Worth every penny of $165 from Tissage, and this flower in this color makes my knees weak.

$85 from BoringSidney

$42 from lizarietz, I love the pleats and the slight ruffle to the brim, this hat is gorgeous, as is the rest of this shop, which I would gladly buy out the day I win the lottery.

a bargain at $18 from CelesteCraft, I love the shape, I love the color, I love it all!

I really do rock a good capelet.

2010-07-30T10:39:00.001-07:00

This is my second capelet from MonarchDancer on Etsy, and I really couldn't tell you which one I love more.
Here's the thing, I know capelets are a little passe in the Etsy world, but the Etsy fashion world is about a year ahead of what I see actual people wearing IRL. I should clarify: none of that matters to me.
I decided in high school that I was going to be wearing whatever I liked, regardless of trends. Partly this came from not being able to afford the same Roxy digs as the popular girls, but mostly it was that I rather like being the odd duck.
The result is a sense of personal style that's part punk rock, part girly girl, part 40's housewife and probably a lot more shoved into the cracks.
This sense of style comes through in my personality and vocabulary, as well. I'm often accused of being an old lady, and I'm the first to admit I pretty much should have been born in the 20s.
So yeah, I'll rock my capelet, thankyouverymuch.

It's 1am and I'm thinking about 2nd dinner

2010-07-30T01:11:00.000-07:00

I should be asleep but I find myself wanting to share with you what I made for dinner. I was lazy as hell and used some fresh filled pasta from the grocers, roasted chicken and proscuitto borsetti. They look like little moneybags. The proscuitto wasn't an obvious flavor in them, it was kind of a generic saltiness, but they were pretty tasty. What made the dish was the goat cheese and garlic bechamel I made for them to swim in! Here's how easy a bechamel is:
Goat Cheese & Garlic Bechamel
(2 servings)
2 T butter, melt in a saucepan
2 T flour, whisk vigorously into the melted butter, let cook for a minute or so to cook off the floury taste, while whisking of course
1 1/2 cup cream, milk, half & half, whichever you have handy. I used part heavy cream, part half and half, because I'm a nutter for cream.
Here's the tricky part!
Whisk the milk/cream a little at a time into the flour & butter mixture (French folks call it a 'roux'). Don't pour the cream in all at once, you'll end up with a lumpy pot of crap. I add a little at a time and whisk until its all incorporated.
Now add about 1/2 t of salt, pepper if you want it
1 t of crushed garlic, I used jarred, keeps forever and I don't need a special tool to make it
here's the good part:
about 5oz of yummy, tart goat cheese, crumbled
Go ahead and crumble the goat cheese right into the saucepan, add the garlic too and whisk until the cheese melts down and the sauce is smooth. Now, if you're anything like me, at this point your husband is smacking your hand as you eat this sauce out of the pan like it's soup, so hopefully you've cooked the pasta already, or you're in danger of breaking out some bread just to dip (not a bad idea).

Crappy cell phone pic, but check out the steam! haha

What would make this way better is to crisp up some proscuitto in the oven and crumble it over the top, maybe with some peas and a little tarragon.

And I am SO close to going to reheat the leftovers right now, but the heartburn that will wake me up at 3am will SO not be worth it. Best to save it for a little lunchtime bragging tomorrow.

Night, then!

Shoe Clip Extravaganza!

2010-07-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

ChloeANDMaddie

marietfemmebridal

pompandplumage

sofisticata

cherryblooms

radokri

emeraldangel

KirahleyKreations

Find lots more fabulous shoe clips on Etsy!

What I want...

2010-07-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

It's that time again. My birthday is a month from Sunday, so I need to make my Etsy wish list known to those who might be shopping for a gift for lil' ole me!

We'll break this down into categories this time... first up, 'Someday when we can fit three cars and a kiln in our garage and still have room for a pool table.'


From TheVintageGoldsmith It's only $850. Plus, I have 9 unadorned fingers over here...


From terrazaglass. I imagine the way this would just make my studio sparkle with color.

$398 from yystudio, but it's freaking cashmere! I mean, quality costs, right?

Next category: 'You obviously like me a lot more than I like you.'

$140something from spectaclealamaison, a gurgle-worthy handbag if I ever saw one.

$120 from tropacopy, the only thing I want badly enough for my biz to ask for it for my birthday (Uppercase too, if you're feeling generous.)

$250 from glamarita, and worth every damn penny. Just awesomesauce.

And then there's the: 'You're my new best friend!'

$42 from lizarietz. But beware I have a larger than average head. All those brains, ya know.

only $20 from StellasKnits, and a farking amazing color, too.


$38 from Kinies, and it ships from Malaysia, so order it now to have it in time for my birthday!


$27, a bargain from haveitsweet. Heaven. In. My. Mouth. And maybe yours, if you're nice, I'll share.

I'll have bunches more to add in the coming days, but I can tell hubby wants me to come to bed, and it's already 11:23. So much for going to bed at a decent hour. Goodnight and buy me things!

-Annie

Things what I made this evening

2010-07-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

Two custom pieces to share tonight:

Custom Twitter-pated necklace, $18


Custom stamped double-tag bracelet for my cousin Lindsey!

Sooooooo proud of myself, learning to use Mr. Spiffing's fancy camera these last few nights. Can you believe these pics were taken indoors, at night, under ugly yellow light bulbs? I think they're pretty fab for such craptastic lighting!

Personal notes:
Mixing business with pleasure, I'll prolly start adding fun tidbits about my personal life at the bottom of my posts, so you can read about jewelry or read about me, or both. Or neither, I'm not the boss of you.
Didn't cook today, just have avocado toast for dinner, which is a special kind of heaven in its own right, but nothing worth bragging about in the blog-world. I did some brainstorming for my novel, decided to make one of my characters Irish instead of British. I do love a man with an accent, but British is overdone enough, and a British vampire would make me wanna kill myself. (Yeah, I do know I'm about 3 years too late on the vampire thing, don't care.)
I also started planning my menu for Christmas. Maybe you don't know me that well, but this should give you a bit of insight into the kind of maniacal ball of anxiety I am. I need to plan. And plan in advance.
So I'm planning dinner for 3 on Christmas, so far I know I want to make the following:
Roasted whole duck -I've never cooked duck before, this is a thrilling challenge.
Mashed potatoes -what the eff kind of Christmas would it be without potatoes, butter and cream all haphazardly squashed together?
Creamed Spinach -I'm rebelling against green bean casserole
Caramelized pearl onions -I'm thinking white wine, bacon, herbs and lots of butter
Stuffing -I know I can do something more exciting than my sausage & sourdough stuffing, but a little more brainstorming is needed

That's all I've got so far. Making this list makes me realize that I will be cooking much more food than three people can eat. I wonder who is awesome enough to garner a Christmas dinner invite to the Spiffing household?

K, that's all for now, I gotsta go print shipping labels so I can go to bed at a decent hour tonight!

What I made tonight

2010-07-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

I might try to get this to be a regular segment on the ole blog. Since I regularly create custom orders now, and they're just a tremendous amount of fun, and my customers' creativity just makes me nuts, I think I should share some of these lovely creations!

Custom Sterling Silver Latitude & Longitude Bracelet, $35

Petit Diable & Petit Ange (little devil & little angel) bracelets (I'd be lying if I said these weren't adorable!)

Guys wear jewelry too.

2010-07-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

I just haven't made much guy-jewelry up until now. My husband rocks one of these:

You can see it on his actual wrist, lookin' oh-so-manly:

He likes to wear it with the tag on the inside of his wrist.
Hero is just the tip of the iceberg, since I've been developing tons of new men's jewelry to tap into this unsaturated market. Here are a few more goodies either made just for men, or rock-able by both sexes:

#1 Dad bracelet, customizable, of course

Rad-Humble Pie bracelet, what positive adjective would you use to describe your man?

Drunk, Warning Label Bracelet, all of the warning labels are totally unisex

Custom children's name bracelet

Custom Latitude & Longitude Bracelet on suede cord

3 month update...

2010-07-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

Yeah, 'cause it's been that long since I've blogged. I'm a horrible blogger. This is why my potted plants all die and I can't even keep rosemary alive on my patio. SO much has been going on that I couldn't possibly recap it all. Suffice it to say I've been busy, which is such a very good thing! Orders have started to come in steadily and I'm never without jewelry to make. Weddings continue to pop up regardless of season, which is fine by me, because I adore making bridal jewelry. I did a few shows that weren't what I wanted them to be, but I think I've figured out what's working for now and I'm sticking with it.

Lots of new jewelry is either already in store or on its way! I made tons of new stuff for a show that was a complete bust and now I have to list it all (yay for you!). I've had a steady stream of friends coming to help in the studio with packaging and all of that fun stuff, and a coworker's daughter comes by every week to help out as well. I'm pretty much one step away from hiring someone for reals, though I still can't afford to do that.

My packaging has changed! A lot! And I'll have pics soon of all of that. And my website and Etsy theme have gotten makeovers as well. So very much to tell and so little time to do it. I'm hoping to get some more reviews and fun stuff coming back soon, so stay tuned! In the meantime, some pics of new items to please your eye:

In which I brag about my inherent craftiness

2010-04-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Begin with:
Hand-me-down Mary Kay luggage, gifted from an amazing coworker.
Giant box of scrap ribbon. (Knew I was saving it for something!)
Hot glue gun, lots of hot glue

End result: AWESOME craft show luggage and jewelry storage that don't have the Mary Kay logo on them!

Also, found these nifty containers at Wal Mart today for $3. I've been going C-C-C-CRAZY trying to find a nice way to display my wrap bracelets. Cha-ching!

Why you should come to the Queen Bee Market

2010-03-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'll be there! Well, not just that, but dozens of other amazing handcrafting artisans who make all manner of unique and wonderful things. And the best thing about the Queen Bee Market is that it's not a traditional craft show with booths and tents and such, this is a mostly indoor market set up as a boutique!

Each vendor has a 6x3' space to set up their display, and there is a central checkout for ease of shopping! It's going to be amazing!

Learn more about the artists who will be there at www.thequeenbeemarket.blogspot.com!