good friday!

yesterday's sales were great! if you are in PDX you can find never felt better at PRESENTS OF MIND on hawthorne and 36th or you can visit their new website at presentsofmind.tv. they were so nice and took great interest in me and my stuff...i am really pleased and hope the relationship continues for a long time! i know they were looking for more types of pins and so i have a semi-custom order down the pike plus they liked my new glass pendants and asked for a quantity of those.
it was great. you can't really tell from the picture and the pattern on the table cloth, but this is their haul from yesterday. hurrah! :)) and then of course, me wearing the sample and my rack ha ha!

anyway, that gave me a lot of renewed confidence to take the time to make new accounts and get myself out there where i need to be. lets hope the confidence lasts for a bit.

some fabric pendants

tonight the small glass pieces i ordered came in and i made these with vintage fabric in between. i think they are unique and pretty...i am forever in love with the dotty fabric and will be so sad when it runs out. i could use some new swatches, they go for so many different things like this, buttons etc. anyways i love the way these turned out and hopefully i can show them off tomorrow. i finished packing and pricing all my jewelry for the shop to go through--so i am hopeful for a good sized sale. or at least enough for more supplies and some display stuff. i need display stuff very, very badly for my table. it is seriously an emergency! i like these, hope you do too!

two more! i'm hooked! :)

it just keeps getting better, and more fun.

i have made up my mind to start a personal project of my logo's colors/poppies for my store's window. the fictional store that lives in my dreams as of right now. but how lovely would it be to have a sunny window with the blue sky and red poppies--made by me! kind of big thinking for someone who just started, but i think i can do it and besides it would make this simple girl VERY happy. now, that is what i am talking about.

stained glass shards

make great pendants! i scored a HUGE box of shards to recycle yesterday and tried my hand at these so far. they are harder because they aren't straight and smooth but i think for my first time they came out OK. i kept the small square red one for myself and it is really cute on. i think i am enjoying this all a little too much if that is possible!

oops! my lack of photoshop skills is showing!

i really wish i knew what all those buttons and bells and whistles on photoshop actually *do*...i could use a photoshop for dummies book!

today i am getting all my jewelry ready to take into a new store on friday called presents of mind here in portland. the gal is super sweet and asked specifically for jewelry after perusing my site so lets cross our fingers for a good first sale and a continuing relationship with them! i am also taking time since i have a sitter ha ha to goto my other two stores i have woefully neglected and see if i can't hawk some wares there as well. i need money for supplies like crazy.

so this week is all about new items (i am trying my hand at more glass pendants, the supplies are on route to me now) and also small crochet projects. i am jazzed, stressed and worried all in one! woot!

some more pendants....i heart these!

i painted dotty flowers on these tiles, which i am really digging on. i hope someone else finds them cute as well! :)

poolside picnic pendants!

i just listed these three pendants on both etsy and my website. they are really simple and kinda of mod don't you think? plus you can be patriotic without being cheezy on fourth of july ha ha :) i will be making some more in different colors today, and i hope to have a nice bowl full for the upcoming craftshows. for $8 you can't really go wrong.

this weekend if going to be choked full of jewelry making, crocheting and getting over this cold i have had all week.

aw! the jen cake!

norma of CAKE SACHETS was nice enough to name a crocheted cake after me for doing a write up for her for indieshopping. you can see the "jen" here, the very last one on the page. the little baby blue number. that is so nice! that was the random act of kindness for today and i hope there is many many more.

tampon cozies!

happy to have this custom order completed and going out today! now i turn my attention to more soldering practice and cleaning house for my wholesale accounts this upcoming week. i am dedicating friday of next week to going by all the stores, so i have a little over a week to get it all in gear. i am stressed by this, but not worried. everything always falls into place every time i need it to.

since i am in a crocheting frame of mind, i will try and get some other pouches done during ghost hunters tonight. :p gotta love the ghost hunters!!!!

uh oh! mama has a new bag!

i finally got the right materials for soldering pendants today and this is my very first one! not sooo shabby, could have been a lot worse, eh? i look at it this way, it can ONLY get better! ;) the jump ring is wonky, but overall i give it a 3 out of 5. pretty nifty!

also, i got contacted again by a local store here for a new wholesale account. here is where i commence the crazy and all that fun stress i heap upon myself. i have over a week to get my jewelry together (they are most interested in jewelry and maybe pins) to wow them for a big sale. a week to sweat bullets and lose sleep! yay. why do i do this to myself? why!!!

new ad!

here is my new ad for june/july. i rather fancy it :)

i went through my site and re-did some catagories. while i was at it i cleaned house a little as far as deleting sold items from view. i need to put older items on sale this week to truly clean house.

i am looking forward to the handmade bazaar in a month and i would like to have some new pins and earrings for it. plus new table displays are HIGH on my priority list. i need a fancy earring tree like you have never known. i have a lot of danglies that just don't do well on a card lying flat on a table. i also need a new table cloth, but i think i will make one out of oil cloth. there are some cute designs and they stand up to everything life throws at you at a show. :)

happy fathers day and have a great week!

tender loving empire in PDX open now!

i finally got off my butt and got out to the store, not sooo long after the grand opening! it is REALLY CUTE! and right when you walk in by the door there is my pouches so that was a nice surprise for me. the store looks awesome with a gallery side and a retail side with a great mix of accessories, clothing and household items. i wish them the best of luck! visit their site, or the store as soon as you can. tenderlovingempire.com
they are located on nw lovejoy and 14th here in portland.

etsy show in fabulous raintown usa!

well, it was a rainy cold day where we looked SOOOO good, but the weather just did not cooperate! already there is talk of a second sort of do-over show so stay tuned for that info. we were typical PDXer's, that is for sure. a little rain never killed anyone--it just doesn't make for good sales at a craftshow :)

anniversaries, skulls and craftshows o my!

it's our 3rd year of marriage, and here is to a lifetime! i am making us anniversary cookies, and saving the celebrations until sunday. my birthday!!!

the weather is dreary and it may rain through the weekend (the ETSY craftshow eep!) but rain or shine we are going out and selling our butts off! but sunday we are going to the rose festival's carnival and having some down home fun on some scary, wonky rides that go upside down. yay! my kind of fun right there.

i finished up the few skulls i was working on and it is all down hill from here. if these don't sell i will put them up for sale on my website and etsy (grumbling about shipping the whole time--i really don't want to have to ship them but that is just me) and perhaps try around town at some shops who may be interested in having them either for sale or for show. fun stuff!

oh and i got notification about july's handmade bazaar (my favorite!!!). can't wait for that one for sure. more info to come when i get it. :)

skull city

ugh it is dreary out today! but these certainly cheer me up some, if not just for the fact i got two more done and ready to go. this weekend is fastly approaching and i really have to hustle to get everything i wanted to finished. and i just don't feel the "hustle" right now. i mostly feel the "crawl back under my covers and sleep" vibe. ;)

mini skull numero uno

i was saying that i *would* have had two of these if my little one would not have thunk to test gravity out with it. gravity 1, skull 0! but here is the one i do have finished, with some more drying up. it is a mixed media, hand painted piece that could hang or sit on your shelf or mantle. 5" wood plaque for scale. i quite love it, and i hope they sell well at the shows and beyond.

the weather is so beautiful...i have some gardening to do and the hubby is working on the skate ramp. our mower died, rip, and i don't know exactly what we are going to do about that. our yard is way too big for a push mower, but that may be the way for us to go.

enjoy your weekend!