Status: Ready to Rock.

Phew! I feel like the snow in a snow globe. I'm back from a much needed trip to South Carolina and my husband's original home base. Somehow, though, I missed a lot of the Christmas hype this year. I think it's mostly because my customers kept me happy and busy (thanks!). 

So now a new year. There's a lot of change headed our way and I'm getting ready to throw my hands up in the air and crest the hill. The rumble of nervous excitement is building slowly, but steadily. Hopefully 2009 will beat the pants off of 2008- I could use a good year about now. I think we all could. Off to dream up some new shop items- you'll be the first to know...

Woo

I've gotten a lot of views today on this piece and I had no idea why. I checked my Facebook ad, but not too many clicks on that. Checked the Etsy Front Page tracker on Flickr- no new FPs for me! Checked Treasuries-nope- googled my shop- no new blog includes- and was about to give up, when I checked the frontpage gift guides. I've made it to their picks for gifts in the $20-50 range. I'm seriously stoked. You can't see my face, but I'm grinning like a fool right now. Makes me glad that that Magnetic Fields song has been playing in my head for two years now. Rah!

Let's hear it for the girl...

Argh.

Today is teaching me patience... sort of. Every time I focus in on what I am working on, I get interrupted.  Over and over. I think the universe is telling me to switch tracks and go have fun making a gingerbread house with my nephews. Definitely. Reading that over makes my afternoon plan seem sickeningly Norman Rockwellian. It won't be. I'll be explaining to my 'phews that they can't feed the pups gumdrops, prying them from the ceiling after they eat the gumdrops, and avoiding loaded questions and overcommitments on already allotted time. Still, I'm gonna have a rad time. 

Happy birthday to my Gram. Woot.

Have a great day tomorrow!

(Oh, I put up some new stuff. ch-ch-check it out j2jewelry.etsy.com)

What a difference two months make

Hi peoples. 

I've been rather busy (thanks) with shop stuff this past week. It makes a girl glad that she got canned at the end of September, though I still haven't found a way to explain that delicately. Yesterday I volunteered at a craft and design show for the Virginia Arts Center. Anywhoo, the job topic came up, as it always does, and I'll admit that I handled the whole, "oh, why did you get fired," question rather poorly. At first I grimaced and left it at, "Well, my boss and I were very different types of people," but it soon devolved to, "She just didn't like me." That is an understatement. She loathed me. Everything I did to prove myself a valuable and flexible member of her staff was met with criticism and suspicion. Such is life, I guess. Her loss, though I do miss my coworkers. Hollah ladies- you know who you are. 

But this is a week for Thanks. Would it be tempting Fate to tick off a few of the things I'm grateful for? Here's hoping it isn't:

1. My Gram, who turns 95 this Wednesday

2. My husband who is both grumpy and awesome (but mostly awesome)

3. My dog who sticks her tongue out when she's asleep

4. My family who are rad

5. That I got fired 

6. My five healthy, happy nephews

7. My post office

-and-

8. books.

Have a good holiday, peoples, and try to remember that they love you and mean well. (And if you don't get that last bit, count yourself extremely lucky.)

erm...

So it's odd to me that the most exciting thing I have on my docket is making eleven guitar picks and watching the season premier of Top Chef. Dogs are walked, tea is steeping, table is cleared off... Now I'm just waiting for a distraction. 

I've posted two more acorns! I also have more from the bough series on the way. Oh, and how adorable is this print of a papercut from elsita? www.elsita.etsy.com  Just looking at it makes the Hulk that lurks within want to tear through sheets and sheets of paper. Hulk not good with tiny scissors.  Hulk drink tea now. Hulk bye!

Acorns

I put up a new necklace and have two more slated for tomorrow... whew! 

This one popped into my head while walking with my nephews. Every Sunday, Jonathan and I join my sister and her two boys for a walk on a nearby trail. We had a competition to find the perfect acorn top and Phillip won. I guess being the shortest pays off sometimes. We also decided ('we' being my sister and myself) that Pip is going to be a box of Dunkin' Donuts Munchkins next Halloween. Now that that's been decided... 

Back to the grind. Ta for now...

Whodathunkit?

I am all aglow, peoples. I'm one of those who fall into the cynical optimist category. That being said, I feel incredible today. Last night was beyond my hopes- especially since I live in Virginia. Politics are a sticky subject... one which I've had to avoid for the past three years as my former boss was on the opposite end of the spectrum. (All of you who actually know me realize how edited that statement is).  That aside, I feel hopeful again. This country is returning to the hands of the citizens after eight years of belonging to the privileged few. I know that that seems a simplistic view, but I believe the government should work for its people and answer for its failings. Eight years of free reign and bad policy have ravaged this country, but now there is hope. Such a small word with such importance. 

Yesterday Jonathan and I visited St. John's church. We were driving around after having taken my Gram (who's 95) to vote. We were both loopy from sleep deprivation, but too excited to just go home and crash. Driving through Churchill, we decided to stop at St. John's as Jonathan had never been in. We took the tour (I mentioned I'm old, right?) which was surprisingly good. I learned that Patrick Henry was an incredible ham. He used a letter opener as a stage prop while delivering his catch phrase, "Give me liberty, or give me death." Theatrics aside, the words dug up my sometimes dormant patriotism. Yesterday I cast my vote and exercised my liberty and it mattered. Talk about a resonating moment...

I hope your day is amazing.

Hello Friday

It's Halloween. Now, you might think I go all out- being a fan of the handmade stuff and all- but I don't. Sure, I made a hilarious Swedish Chef costume last year and carving pumpkins is the only competition sport I believe in, but everything else has lost its shimmer. Handing out candy is awesome until that surly teenager with a pillowcase stumbles up to the door and asserts that he/she is going as a homicidal maniac and grabs for the bucket 'o' processed sugar. Yeah, that's what you need. I'm old. Officially. It just happened. Just now. 

I've posted a new piece in my shop j2jewelry.etsy.com. I dig it immensely and am planning a few more variations. 

I have to go dig a tiger pit in front of my door now. Have a happy Halloween!

 

This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...

I can tell. Or this can just be between us. Either way....

I've never spilled my thoughts on the digital page before. Seems weird, but strangely enjoyable. I hope it works out.

So I'm a maker. I'd say I was a craftsperson, but that makes me think of some androgynous gnome leaning over a chair, obsessing over caning techniques (and all apologies to any of you who would actually fit that description), I'd say I was an artist, but I'm crap at painting, drawing, and only mildly acceptable at sculpture. I'd say I was a designer, but I follow my obsessions rather than any set aesthetic. So that leaves me with maker, and it's a title I'm comfortable with. 

This just in... my dog is dreaming about barking and actually barking at the same time. Freak. 

I have a website where I hock my wares. It's J2Jewelry@etsy.com. If you've never been to etsy, you are in for a rare treat. There is a whole world of makers out there, people, and they want your money. Badly. So badly that almost everything listed is a pretty good deal. It's an amazing community. If you know all about it, then good for you, Smartypants. If not, you are welcome. Visit my site and let me know what you think.