My ABC's for the New Year

A friend of mine, Merrie Wolfie, posted the beginning of her list of ABC's for the new year on her Facebook page and I thought, "how clever! I need my own list of ABC's!" So I copied her idea and I'm sharing them here with you. By the way, Merrie is a super talented tarot card reader and she does readings over the phone and through email for those who don't live near her in Tucson, AZ and I would highly recommend her services. You can find her here at Aha! Tarot on Facebook- and tell her I sent you, maybe I'll get a discount next time!

So here are my ABC's! Some are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and some I couldn't pick just one- no rules here, just words that attract me and hold the feelings and hopes I have for the new year. I think 2010 is gonna rock!

2010 ABC's

Adventure,
Belief,
Connections, Courage,
Dependable,
Energized,
Focused,
Generous, Gratitude,
Health,
Inspired,
Joyful,
Karma, Knowledge,
Loving,
Motivated,
Nesting,
Organized,
Prolific,
Quality,
Receptive,
Service,
Tenacious,
Undaunted,
Victorious,
Wonder,
eXcitement,
Yes!
Zen.

love this quote

"Write it on your heart that each day is the best day of the year."
- Emerson

Merry Christmas!!

I know it's a couple days late, but here's my best Christmas wishes to all of you! I hope you all had the most wonderful Christmas ever, I know I had a great holiday. It was a little strange to get out of the hospital just a few days before Christmas, but after a couple days of crazy shopping it was so nice to be at home in my own space with the tree all lit up and my pooch runnin' around and D and my family with me. Spending time at home with my peeps was just what the doctor ordered. And man, I must've been nice this year because Santa hooked me up! I've got so many new goodies to play with, I can't wait to start making and photographing and printing and everything! It's gonna be so much fun, and the best part of it all is that even without all those amazing and super-thoughtful gifts I would have been just as happy sitting around on Christmas eve eating Italian food and laughing out loud and making a big country breakfast for D and my parents on Christmas morning. There really isn't any greater gift than being around the people you love.

Well I must go to sleep now, but I'll share some new work with you soon!
xoxoxoxo!

First Jewelry Show!

It may have taken me a week, but I'm finally here to share my experiences of our first attempt at selling my jewelry! Now, I've been making jewelry for years off and on; but this year I decided to invest in some better materials in bigger quantities and really work on my skills as a jewelry artist and make the leap to trying to sell my little designs. I started looking for opportunities to show my work somewhere before the holidays and I found a dance studio in Austin that was having a holiday open house and craft bazaar. I thought the small venue would be a good starting point since they were only expecting 150-200 people to come through and it was only $25 for a table. After I had made the commitment, I spent most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday making jewelry and getting things ready for the show with LOTS of help from my mom. My dad even volunteered to drive us up and help with the set up and tear down. It was truly a family affair! I don't know what I'd do without my parents and family- I'd probably just be wandering around town waiting for someone to take me in and tell me what to do with myself.
Anyhow, since we didn't have a ton of inventory to display, the setup was pretty quick and easy. And right away people began to come over and compliment us on the necklaces, bracelets, earrings and even our props! So that felt really good. You know it's always a little nerve wracking to put yourself out there and open yourself up to criticism- no matter how great your parents say you are. I mean they're supposed to think you're great, right? Either way we had a good time and got some great feedback from the shoppers. Unfortunately I didn't have it together enough to think about taking pictures at the start of the show- I didn't look together enough either- so we only got a couple shots of the table near the end of the show. The display was a little boring, but I have some great ideas for next time.

Room with a View

You know what I love? Ellen. She is so funny and positive and I love how she's not afraid to look silly or make a fool of herself- it's so refreshing! For those of you that may not be my immediate family or close friends, you probably don't know that I've been in the hospital since Monday. I went to see my doctor because my finger turned purple and started to hurt and apparently that's a pretty serious thing. Who knew? Anyhow, they were very concerned and insisted that I head to the ER that night. I really was not expecting to end up enjoying the week here, but it may have been a blessing in disguise. Through an exhaustive battery of tests over the past few days, a slew of specialists think they have narrowed down the root cause of my liver disease and are hopefully now treating the right thing. So that's good. Unfortunately, it means I've been here a full week. And that kind of sucks.
But back to Ellen, out of all the daytime TV, I think that might be one of the most enjoyable hours during the day. I've been trying not to just watch TV all day, especially since the speaker is really horrible and has all this background noise and gives me a headache after a few minutes. But I think Ellen is really great and have you been seeing all the awesome gifts she's been giving away? My mom and I are determined to go to her show next December and get in on the loot! You can also register here to win all the prizes she's giving away on air as a home viewer too. How sweet would that be?!

So that's my hospital story. Hopefully my tests will come back well enough to go home soon. Like today. In the meantime, I do have a nice view of pretty flowers and the medical center here in San Antonio due to my sweet friends and relatives. Thank you so much you guys!

New Blog!

Hello Friends!

I'm so excited to write the first official post on my new blog! And not only because it's always fun to start something new, but because there is a great reason for the new name and address. And here it is....... As of this past weekend I have officially launched my business and I'm calling it shop 1031! I had been mulling over prospective names in my mind for quite a few months and not really coming up with anything that I liked well enough to commit to when I was struck with inspiration. Now anyone who knows me well, knows that I grew up in a faith-filled home and that through the years I have counted on my trust in God to help get me through some rough patches. And although I might not walk around with a purse sized Bible and zealously ask people if they've been saved, I do have quite a few verses that I carry around in my heart that I rely on for guidance and inspiration. While visiting family (Jaime and Wes, I hope you don't mind if I just claim you as family- the whole "boyfriend's sister's husband/daughter/etc" is just too cumbersome!) in South Carolina, I was reminded of one such verse that Wes had chosen for the T-shirts for their flag football team. I Corinthians 10:31 states "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Back at home in San Antonio I thought about how I wanted to remember to keep God first in my life whether I'm making jewelry, training my puppy or keeping the house neat without choosing a name like "Jesus' Jewelry Company". I also wanted the name to be versatile enough to handle any type of art, craft, or venture I came up with and grow with my work in any direction. So I found a quiet way to remind myself of what's most important and I think shop 1031 is kind of cool in its ambiguity.

So that's the scoop and this is the new space for my little adventures in art, life, and crafting a business from home. I'll be updating with pictures of new jewelry designs and business updates along with my normal ramblings on my little life. I've got to do some work now, but soon I'll let you all know how our first show went this weekend in Austin!