Naps & Earring Cards

It's been a really crazy week! I actually stopped and took a nap at 4:30 today. I heard this podcast this week about the importance of napping so I figured it was alright! Do other people have weird guilt about taking a nap? If I take a long one, like 1 to 2 hours, I wake up feeling awful. James can take a 3 or 4 hour nap. When I was a single mom, working a 40 hour desk job and taking college classes, I used to take 10 minute power naps between work and school. They totally worked for me. I also used to take naps in my car at lunch. Apparently a lot of people do that. The woman who wrote the book was saying that lots of people are even sneaking off and sleeping on the job. It's totally siesta! Anyway, that was a little rambley...naps are good. The end.

I made a bunch of new necklaces this week and got them up on the site. I also got new earring cards. They are clear! And, they have my logo and website printed on them. So exciting! I was making my own by stamping and punching holes in tags. I think this will help me be a little more efficient. I also took a few minutes to make some play earrings for my cute little niece. Her mom told me she really likes to wear earrings. It's kind of fun to make play jewelry.

Tonight I am listening to my 1972 mix. Yeah...

new favorite necklace

I have a new favorite necklace. I put this on last week and I have been wearing it every day since. I am one to find something I like and wear it constantly. I do this with shoes too, I get a pair I like and they become my signature shoes - at the present, it's black flip flops.

Also, I just recently had this catharsis that I really like simple jewelry and it's okay for me to make it! I always thought that everything I made had to be super involved with intricate design. Don't get me wrong, I like big, chunky jewelry too but I am glad that I evolved to being okay with making simple stuff.

I am working on another very simple necklace right now that involves a little orange crescent piece that I found at the flea market in Paris.

Anyway, just wanted to share that I am really liking this three circle necklace. This necklace is on the website right now so you can get your very own. The three silver metal circles are recycled from a piece of vintage jewelry and the ball chain is sterling silver.

Whistle while you work...

I listened to this thing recently that was about how what you listen to when you are working affects what you do. Lately I have been listening to jazz music when I am making jewelry. It started with a bunch of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Brad Meldau and stuff like that and then I added in some older jazz like Django Reinhardt and Sidney Bechet. The older jazz makes me feel really happy and energized.

When I am in business mode, like doing accounting, working on my website, packing orders or organizing my studio I listen to podcasts like Fair Game, Fresh Air or news from NPR. So, I was wondering what other people listen to when they work. Comment and let me know!

Rainy Day Blues

It's rainy here today. I can't believe it had to rain on the day I was planning to make rings and new resin pendants. I don't know if it is well founded but I have a superstition about doing gluey or painty stuff on rainy days. I once painted some furniture on a very humid day and it was forever sticky. Seriously, I put one of those vinyl tablecloths on top of the table and the cottoney underside stuck to the table. My sister later stripped the bed frame. I painted the pieces for my very first apartment. I wanted everything to be black. This was the early 90's which is really the late 80's stylewise. I must have been inspired by that awful black laquer furniture that was in vogue at the time. I don't know. Anyway, I can't work on what I wanted to do today so I gotta make another plan! Maybe I will update the website.

Yesterday I made up a bunch of new charm necklaces, all one-of-a-kind. I hit a really good flea market last weekend and got a bunch of great new stuff. Can't wait to share it.

In other news, James, Forest and I went out to Krause again on Sunday to celebrate Father's Day. First we swam, then we hiked around and then we swam again to cool off. On the way home we had Mexican food at Rosies. It was such a great day. Swimming and Mexican food, are you kidding? It was the best day.

Watched a great documentary recently: Guns, Germs and Steel. Highly recommended!

Snake vs. Pedicure

Yesterday I took the afternoon off and went swimming with my friends, Sarah and Melissa. We went to a beautiful swim hole outside of Austin. It was so relaxing to float around the spring fed pool and check out the waterfall! Melissa and Sarah were brave enough to go under the waterfall and check out the little cave. I stayed back because I am a little freaked out by nature sometimes! A funny thing happened when I was walking up to the restroom. I thought I heard a rattlesnake in the bushes. I freaked out and tried to run but ended up falling down. My flip flop went flying. I got a skinned knee, sprained my wrist and wrecked my fresh pedicure. When I told the girls about it Sarah said "snake vs. pedicure."

Lest you think I have been idle, I have been working like crazy in my studio. I've done more metal work, I am getting better with the soldering. I also did a new batch of rings and resin pendants. I didn't even get a chance to photograph the resin batch before I whisked it off to my Parts and Labour shelf. I am definitely going to do more very soon. I was super proud of this batch. Other than creative stuff I spent my week doing other piddley business stuff around the office that must be done in order to keep this ship moving in the right direction.

Last weekend, Jason (my brother) and Courtney came for a visit along with their little one, Maddie. It was nice. My niece is just the sweetest, most calm baby you've ever met. I have so much love for her!

Art Addict and Bolsa Bonita Blog

Two new things I must report:

Ornamental Things' jewelry will now be sold on a new website called The Art Addict that launched last week. The website also offers gift art and fine art. Check out their super cute website at http://www.theartaddict.com/.

My friend, Liz Potter of Bolsa Bonita, is finally blogging. I have been exchanging epic emails with this girl for years and telling her she would be a natural for blogging. If you are on her mailing list, you know she has a gift for writing fun emails. Her blog can be found at http://bolsabonita.blogspot.com/.

Oh, and one more thing, I have added comments to my blog! Hooray! I welcome your comments!

Kerbey Lane and Yard Work

My jewelry is on display at Kerbey Lane Cafe (the location on Kerbey Lane) in Austin for the entire month of June. For anyone who isn't from Austin, Kerbey Lane Cafe is an Austin mainstay. It's been here forever, it stays open 24 hours and has the best queso you've ever eaten! They saw my work at Blue Genie last December and invited me to exhibit and sell my work there. Yay!

My friend Sarah Eastep has just launched her latest line of jewelry on her updated website. Be sure to check it out! Maneki Collection. It's gorgeous! Sarah has a great eye for lovely little pieces.

We spent all day Sunday working in our backyard. We got one of those big tent things from Target that has the mosquito netting and built it in the middle. We moved our vinyl aqua couch and our hand-me-down lawn furniture into it. We also hung a light in it that I bought from a thrift store a while back. It is so nice!! We got one of those mister setups and tried it out but it was just too misty. It made everything wet so we took it out. We might try putting it on the back porch later on. We also planted more flowers, cleared more beds, mulched, transplanted some flowers and turned our compost pile. It was a tough day of work! You can see more of the results on my flickr page.