I love you beth!

So, my best customer and supporter, Beth, needed some gifts for her brother's girlfriend and for her newly graduated babysitter and guess who she commissioned??? :) here are some pics of what I handed over (parting with the gold, amazonite and pearl earrings was a little tough...)

getting really close!!!!

despite many distractions and having to work my jewelry endeavors in after the kids go to bed, I am getting veeeerrry close to opening my etsy shop!!! I have finished my logo/biz cards and jewelry cards and I've started the arduous process of setting up the shop and it's policies and putting together the final photographs for each piece. I am so excited to have my work out there for all to see and a little nervous, too. I'm crossing my fingers that all goes well and I have at least one page of items for sale by the end of the week!

found a new way to get those creative juices flowing...

I spontaneously decided to create some new work for a jewelry design competition and boy did it get me to stretch myself creatively. The funny thing was that the overall theme of each category was it had to be SIMPLE (no beadweaving or fancy wirework) actually made coming up with designs harder for me rather than easier! Also a challenge was using only beads that could be purchased by the average beadworker (as in no bead show stuff that I haven't tracked as to who I bought from and no one of a kind pieces). I also worked with materials I wouldn't usually have dominate a design, like swarovski crystals, resin beads, and glass...I entered my work in four categories and now it's up to the judges to see if I make the finals. Here they are in the following order: Category: Pearls, Category: Crystals, Category: Glass, Category: Resin/Plastic.

Took some time out to design a logo...

Well, I got back to my graphic design roots recently for a friend...I had some fun designing a logo/business card/letterhead for her new naturopathic clinic, Blue Lily Naturopathic . She was a dream client and if you live in Portland, OR, well, check her out! Not only is she a well-qualified naturopathic doctor, she gives great massages :) aaaaahhhhh...

I loved the font I used for hers so much that I used an iteration of it in the new design of my own logo for the new shop that I'm working on...more on that soon soon soon!