Lazy, hazy days of Summer

A touch of Christmas for you even though our weather here in northern California is very much like summer. While my friend in Illinois was cozy in her slippers, I was in my bare feet!

We had such miserable batches of heat this summer and now we are being rewarded with the most perfect weather. I took my walk yesterday at 3:30 in the afternoon and the sun was still warm and the air was still. Just incredible in the middle of November.

A section of the condos we live in have been getting new roofing. When the company quoted they could start in early November I expected months of these condos with plastic sheeting in the midst of
rain. But the project is nearly complete with not a raindrop in sight. Sadly, this all is a reminder of the water situation over here as well. Lakes have been dangerously low for a few years now.

Today I have photos of some fun Christmas items from my MomsArt shop on Etsy: a delicate clear glass ornament filled with the most amazing handcrafted origami "lucky stars". I purchased the stars on Etsy and they are each so perfect. I

cannot imagine my fingers being able to craft such teeny perfections. They are bright and shiny in jewel tones. I also punched some Christmas tree stickers from my favorite and most popular "Paris Chic" paper. The pinks, blacks and whites are so pretty and there are 5 patterns that make the set a whole lot of fun.

Lastly, no more jewelry consignment for me. I don't enjoy the pricing structure, so I have in my hands a necklace that is so pretty in black and white (left). Thanks to Lezlie Belanger, it's got a big handcrafted round focal bead topped by a tube with delicate white swirls, all suspended from a black silk ribbon. Available at RockerJewlz.etsy.com.

My birthday is the day before Thanksgiving this year which is already next week...wow! We will probably go to Kincaid's in Burlingame, a wonderful restaurant across the bay from the SFO airport where we can see jumbo jets arrive and depart but don't hear them. They have the most scrumptious food and elegant atmosphere. Then we are off to be with my in-laws.

My wish for you is that no matter the situation in your lives that you are thankful for whatever good you have.

Cha-ching!

I'm so excited...I received my first consignment check for half of the jewelry I sent to a Manhattan salon & gallery. It was a total surprise to receive it in the mail...and it was $7 less than the external hard drive I was just leaving the house to buy to house all my business computer backups...perfect!

Last year I designed this first business card you see. It was a blast using www.iprint.com to totally design my own business card, from photos, to fonts to colors. Every detail was chosen by me...and man, I went back


soooo many times between possibilities and loved every hour...I mean, minute of it! Since I've focused so heavily on cupcake jewelry (and confetti & stickers) I thought for the new batch, I'd get some of my cupcake photos on the new cards. these are my Buttercream cupcake earrings.

This time I have cupcakes on the front for RockerJewlz jewelry and a pink handpunched sticker on the back for my paper goods shop, MomsArt on Etsy.

So much fun. I also discovered how simple it is to ship
via Paypal from my computer.

It's WONderful not having to drive up to the post office now. It's only a couple of miles, but hey, that's 45 cents each trip whereas I can now just walk down the street and drop my package in the post office box.

I'm working on a few more sets for the salon/gallery that will include summery pieces as well as some experimental pieces with Lezlie Belanger's amazing black & white beads I've been playing with.

I'm going to be toying with wirelace, hand dyes silk ribbon and charms to do what I've had in my head a long time but wasn't challenging myself to try.