Earrings Giveaway!

I thought I would give you a glimpse into my life. I graduated high school in 1999. Moved away to go to college, hated it, went to the Paul Mitchell Academy of Hair Design instead, graduated in 2001, and I have been doing college off and on ever since. I decided to do beauty school, because my dad's health was very poor, and I knew I wouldn't be able to finish college before I would have to return home to take care of my mom, so I needed a back up plan. Sure enough, I was right, so having the license was a nice thing to fall back on.



While I was in beauty school, I did some crazy hair dos, got my eyebrows tattooed (a post on obtaining perfect eyebrows will come later), I was on the design team and got to design for some runway shows, and I even participated in photo shoots, one of which was even published. (Interestingly, I was chosen to participate in an elect study, where we were given extra education and entertainment, and I even got to take a metalsmith class at the Sundance resort with a group of amazing stylists!)

On the photo shoots, I cut/colored the hair that I designed, created the outfits/pose and did the make-up all myself! So, here is the deal. I am going to post a photo of my crazy hair days and 4 shots of my photo shoots. YOU guess which is the that was published. I will write down who is right and randomly draw the names out of a bag next week. Be sure to post contact info in your guess so I will know how to contact the winner. You will win this pair of vintage Indian charm earrings that are perfect for fall or a Christmas gift!! Read HERE for info on these earrings.


Also, I have taught classes on beauty tips such as skin care, make-up, hair care, dressing... and I thought I would start doing a weekly post on some tips. Please let me know what area you would like to see covered. Feel free to ask questions, even detailed ones and I will be sure to answer them.

Photo 1 (black and white with 2 models (yes, I am the platinum blonde with the extremely narrow eyebrows, I was not supposed to be in the shot, but coersed by some onlookers):



Photo 2 (male model with the blue black hair)



Photo 3 (twisted burgandy hair with warm copper highlights)


Photo 4 (shattered, choppy layers) Factoid. I created this cut. About a month later, a celebrity stylist came to our school to teach us this revolutionary new cut, that looked extremely similar to this one!


xo
Lisa

Etsy Spiffiness

I love this Etsy video. I think it's very informative & full of Etsy spirit. I am challenging all my readers to post this on their blogs (business & personal) in the next few days (if not right now)! & please ask your readers to do the same! Let's create a little Etsy Pre-Holiday Buzz! Thanks to AlwaysAmy for showing it to me, and providing the exact wording listed above!

If you search for Etsy on You Tube, you will find a plethora of excellent (and some lame) videos, so go searching!

I also had to show this lovely damask treasury. So classic, bold and bright!

"Baby Hurt"

So, I was online in the Etsy labs with Matt's discussion addressing resellers, and what we can do to prevent them. All of a sudden, Caleb starts crying (he is sitting right next to me, playing with my toe, I am rubbing his cute little head.) I look, and I see Isaac has a huge, sharp pair of fabric scissors in his hands. Caleb has a little dab of blood on his forehead, so I pick him up, wipe it off and I see no cut.

scissor shirt by Phipps Art

I am comforting him (have taken the scissors away of course), so I begin to nurse him as I look for the cut, and I see nothing. I look up and all of a sudden, Caleb and I are DRENCHED in blood! I immediately start sweating like a mad women, pick him up and rush him to the bathroom. I put him in the bathtub and am searching his body for the wound... he is so covered in blood, that I can't find anything. (Keep in mind, that he is not crying at this point... he is actually playing with the blood as if it is fingerpaint). Isaac is running around saying "baby hurt, baby owie, baby got cut"! My dog is barking, weaving in and out of my feet (tripping me as usual) as I search for compresses and medical tape.

scissor necklace by Mack

Well, after I jump in the shower with Caleb to rinse him off, I find the cut is on one of his fingers. It's quite deep and definately a good chunk is gone. I am panicking, on the verge of crying, still sweating. I jump out of the shower and am trying to compress the wound, I can't find medical tape, so I grap clear packing tape and I tape the gauze down around his finger, and around his whole dang arm to keep the sucker on, because he keeps ripping it off. We get dressed in non bloody clothes and I rush him to our local Care Now. Running down 3 flights of stairs with 2 kids while having a near heart attack, in flip flops and wet hair is no fun, mind you.

band aid sugar cookies by KukisKukas

I get to Care Now, and the Dr. ends up being a former high school acquantiance. Yeah, I am majorly feeling like an ugly failure right now. I am there for over an hour, trying not to tie my rambunctious 2 year old up, all the while, filing out paper work AND holding the compress on my baby's hand. Well, I asked the Dr. do you ever have to stitch babies up this young? She looked a little embarrassed and quietly said, "he is the youngest I have ever needed to stitch up." So, a couple hours later, we are home, with antibiotics, 3 stitches (really looks like it needs a couple more). Great. Give me the mom of the year award right now. Well, it turns out someone DID give me a little blog award! So, once I clear my mind, I will post all of that info and hand out some blog awards myself.

stiched wrist cuff by Greenbelts

As a side note, in my defence, I DO recognize that having a crafting business entails lots of little dangerous things that accumulate around the house. Just the other day, Isaac got into my jewelry supplies and dumped out all my small metal findings. Hubby and I spent a good 3 hours picking tiny pieces out of the carpet. I have locked things up, put them high on shelves in hidden drawers out of reach, installed baby gates and childproof locks. I take great care in putting items such as these away after use, and yet these things still happen. I have actually gotten rid of many things (including furniture) in order to have a safer home, and I am at a loss right now. I am even considering just getting rid of everything and calling it quits. It is a very tough decision, and I am really trying to figure out what to do here. Any advice would be helpful. Advice or sweets. Or liters of root beer. If you would like to send me cookies for my crazy day, feel free to email me. I like brownies as well. A massage at a day spa would be most welcome.

photo by Boopsie Daisy

xo
Lisa

Jewelry Cards

I am sending some jewelry to Oak Boston this week, and I needed to alter my necklace and earring cards to remove my website name. I needed an update anyways, but the graphic designers I have spoken to have either been, too busy to get my order done quickly, too expensive, and yada yada.



So, I came up with this quick idea. I already purchased this cute little custom girl stamp from the sweetest seller ever, SJane and I also ordered my shop name stamp on a clear base from JLMould. The stamp had my whole website name on it, so I cut off the ".etsy.com" part and removed it, I can always stick it together later.

I found these cute premade tags and used my stamps on them (If you want all your tags to look the same, you can buy a tag paper punch and punch them all out on matching cardstock). For the necklaces, I folded them almost in half (after I stamped them) and stapled the sides shut. Now, I WOULD have put those page reinforcers on the back of the tags, except the hole sizes didn't match up, so I will have to fix that later. For the earring cards, I just made a template (for the kidney wires (and them I took a thumbtack and made little holes.



I think they turned out very cute and unique! I will go the professional graphic design route later when I can afford it, but for now, this is going to have to work.

Oh, and if you want to watch a great tutorial on making your own earwires, check this out from jewelry designer LisasLovilies! She has some gorgeous work and I can say I do have a bit of jealousy here :)

Oh, and I MUST post this ring set. It is so mouthwatering (as is pretty much everything in Zenabu's shop!!)

Creating Patina

My Jeweled Ambrosia earrings.

I LOVE me a good patina. I was standing outside my mil's home, waiting for her to answer the door, and I studied her old metal windchime and the natural patina on the lighthouse charm. It was blue and green and a nice river of pale yellow where the rain drips down the side. I thought, this has been sitting here for about 5 years now, how do I get that lovely patina?!


Bangle by Tider Design Gold and black patina with gorgeous etching is lovely adding to the artistic development of the piece.

Well, there is Jax Patina, a chemical you use to paint it on layer by layer that looks gorgeous! You can also patina copper with a torch, and there is also the ammonia method, enameling and eggs, Silver Black or Liver of Sulfur for oxidizing sterling silver (this discussion is reserved for another time).

Or, you can of course, let your metal pieces sit outside for 5 years...



Stacked Rings by Painted Metal

But, then there is this method, shared by the wonderful Vintage Bead Shop, the authority on vintage jewelery and supplies (go visit her shop and get some lovely goodies and kits!) She shares her absolutely wonderful method of creating colorful and artistic patinas. Everything in her photo she has done by hand. Remeber, I focus on jewelry here because well, I LOVE jewelry, but really, this would be great to use on a pair of old candlesticks (like I did HERE), drawer pulls, frames, pretty much anything metal that could use an update.


"CREATING COLOR ON OXIDIZED BRASS COMPONENTS

Materials Needed:
Sponge
Gloves
Paper Plate
Xtra Fine Steel Wool (for buffing, if desired)
Any color paint that is suitable for metal. I like a satin finish paint but you can also use semi-gloss or gloss. If using spray paint, just spray a little into the paper plate so you can dab it on with the sponge. Just a little goes a long way.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Cut off a small piece of sponge and wet it with water. Squeeze out any excess water so the sponge is just damp.

2) Dip the sponge in your paint and blot on the paper plate to remove excess paint from the sponge. When it makes a "blotted/sponge" pattern on the paper plate, you know you have the right amount paint on your sponge. You don't want to much paint on your sponge :)

4) Selectively dab/paint your piece as desired. You can coat the enitre piece or just dab it here or there....your choice. You can even use more than one color for a truly unique and colorful effect (see hearts illustrated in first photo).

5) Allow paint to semi-dry (about 15 minutes), then (if desired) just buff with xfine steel wool to expose the desired brass highlights. Note: On the dragonflies, I paint a thin coat then wipe off the wing edges to expose the dark oxidized patina underneath while the paint is still wet :)

If using for jewelry, you can either brush or spray with a clear satin polyurenthane to provide a nice smooth, hypo-allergenic finish. I like Ace Hardware brand "Great Finishes". It is available in a small can for brush on or in a spray can if you prefer to spray your pieces. "

For MORE excellent tips, tricks and methods on creating patinas, see the Yours Truli post HERE!!!


Amie King Custom Charm Necklace

Now, on a totally different note, I was selected to do an alchemy request for the Neverending Story Childlike Empress' Headpiece, for a Halloween costume. I know it isn't EXACT... but pretty darn close given the materials I could find!




And now, I must be off, as I hear laughter, squeals, banging and yogurty sounding splashes resounding in the kitchen. Oiy.



(10 mins later) Well, I was wrong. It was a brand new bucket of butter. Yay. Why am I here you ask, and not cleaning up the mess? Well, I am composing myself so I can deal with the situation in a calm manner! (Trust me, it is a lot worse than in the photo.)

The Circus

Art by Shawna Nonna

So, we went to the circus yesterday to celebrate my lil bro visiting from the military and also for my nephew's 5 year birthday. The boys (including my husband) had never been to a circus before, and they looooved it! I made my nephew a little birthday badge out of felt that was so cute and super easy, he loved it so much!


Art by Roadside

Which I gotta say, how interesting is it that we went to the circus, since my sister decided earlier this week that she is going to become a professional clown. Not. Even. Kidding.


Dress by Smiley Jones

But, the girl was voted in high school as "Most likey to become a clown", "Most likely to bungee jump at the age of 80", "Friendlist", Homecoming Queen, Varsity Cheerleader captain, she won "Best Swimsuit" at her first and only pageant... and about 8 other class favorite titles that I can't remember right now. What was I voted for? "Biggest Flirt." I wasn't exactly a flirt though...


Circus Train Charm by Jamie Noel

Of course, I took tons of pics of my jewelry yesterday, so when I pulled out the cam to snap some shots, the card was not in there! So, I will have to wait for my sis to let me use her pics. But in the meantime, I will feature some circus prints from fellow Etsy artists.


Wall Tile by Eggman Studios

And for those of you who love random facts, here is the wikipedia entry of circus. While watching the Olympics (my fav is the gymnastics), I saw a segment on training the Chinese gymnasts. At the age of 3, they begin selecting gymnasts to train at specialized acrobatics schools. They learn to master balance, pain and flexibility at such a young age, but the culture is the master at acrobatics.


Bichon Frise by Weller Wishes

*Ancient Rome and China had circus like events, dating far back before Christ.
*"Circus" is Latin coming from the Greek word kirkos meaning “circle or ring”.
*Americans instroduced human oddities as a "freakshow" or "sideshow".


Invitation Set by White Sugar

A word on freakshow entertainers who suffered from medical abnormalities. I would say what I think, but SweetheartSinner says it best: "This era of time makes me feel a little bit sad but at other times I have to wonder if the folks involved didn't feel a bit of agency in not having to hide in "shame" because of their differences.

"

Tags by Rita's Sweet Shop

So Many Things to Be Grateful For!

So, we recently went on a little family vacation to visit my grandparents, and my brother inlaw and his wife. An excellent trip. We visited Liberty jail, where Joseph Smith and others were wrongfully imprisoned during a bitter winter, and Adam-ondi-aman (it is the site where Adam and Eve lived after being expelled from the Garden of Eden and will be a gathering spot for a meeting of the priesthood leadership, including prophets of all ages and other righteous men, prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.)

I can tell you that the spirit is so strong in these places, and it truly is humbling to hear the stories of the early church and the hardships and persecution they went through and yet they still strengthened their testimonies of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, and the restored gospel. We watched the Joseph Smith movie, and wow, what a powerful movie that was, had me in hidden tears a number of times.

We truly loved visiting family. My grandfather is in his 70's and has more energy than I do! He saws down trees, pulls stumps, clears land, builds on his property, gardens and does so many other wonderful things I wish I could do. We ate the most amazing tomotoes that his 72 year old cousin grows. Oh my gosh, the tomatos truly define the fact that they are a fruit after all!

When we got home, we immediately went to the Breaking Dawn release party, waited in line until midnight, and then 20 minutes later, I was the proud owner of the novel. I read it, loved it (some disappointments, of course, but overall loved it) and am now re-reading it with my dear hubby!

My jewelry business has really taken off these past 2 weeks. I owe MOST of that to my Twilight inspired jewelry, so I will be sad when that fades, but I am still super excited and sooo blessed to have the sales that I do. I truly have the greatest customers and I owe so much to them!

Once I finish this novel, I will finish reading The Host, and then I plan on reading a friend's novel (in which the sequel is currently being edited now) called Upon Eagle's Light. I will post about that when I am done.

The burst of sales has only inspired me to streamline my business, become more creative and energy effecient, and take what I do more seriously, hoping to actually help donate some of my profits towards groceries or even rent. Like I said, so many blessings we have recieved this month. As we shift to a new phase in our lives, I am humbled, stressed, and excited to to expand in so many different ways. Look forward for new fun and exciting posts, new featured artists and tutorials, and new and yummy goodies in my shops! All in all, we have had an excellent summer filled with family and new friends, and I am trying to figure out if I should enroll in a class for fall... I better decide quickly, since the semester starts too soon (a kick in the pants after attending my gorgeous sister in law's college graduation on Saturday)!

Also, since I am in a lazy/busy mood today, I will post this most wonderous tutorial ever by this excellent seller, ByToni, who makes lovely and colorful quilts! The tutorial is found HERE on how to make handstamped cloth tags! Be sure you visit the rest of her blog, it is excellent and she is also currently doing a giveaway!