I heart hair.

I've been on a real productive kick lately. I like it. I heart hair. I heart hearts in hair.



I hope you do too! In the shop

World's Tiniest Snowman

On a personal note, meet the tiniest snowman. It pretty much got kicked over as soon as these shots were taken. He couldn't wait to do that.

Mad Scientist

As you may recall I've been working on sawing sheet metal and I covered my eye with a heart and apparently confused my sister. But anyway, so way back in this post at the end of it I mentioned how I'd be working on something with hearts that is Beads In The Belfry style. What is that style? cute, quirky, sharp. I actually put up some jewelry pics on Facebook and one of my people on there said my work was cute but sharp. I really liked the sound of that. It also had me wanting to make the joke that that's what my mom considers me. Ayo! *rimshot* I'll be here all week!

Anyhoo, I've had this in my head for mooooonths and finally got to it and thankfully, in time for Valentine's day. Yay science! Specifically chemicals and romance!



Find it in the shop here. I gave it like twelve different names because I cannot resist a pun or a clever title. Even if it means squishing them all in at once. But I think I forgot one. I think I could have totally named it Mad (for love) Scientist. Ah well. You gotta leave something for next time, no?

Ack! Vote for Me!

I could hardly believe my eyes! My Love Grows Necklace has been included in an Etsy poll for expressing LOVE!!! Vote for me here!

http://www.etsy.com/voter_list.php?ref=voter&room_id=28

More New Things!

So I've wanted to try some new techniques for a while now. One of these is riveting. Riveting is the process of connecting metal together without the need for heat. You can also use it in conjunction with heat. That's what I did. I tried it last month, thought I had a good thing going and then realized that my technique needed a bit of work. How did I come to this conclusion? I was getting all set to show off a ring I made to relatives on Christmas day and the bead fell off in my pocket. Talk about embarrassing. Nobody knew what happened but me so I saved face. lol.

So I tried it again two days ago and voila! I love this ring. I also have to say I lost this ring. That's right. My personal version is gone. boo. Technically my son lost it but since it was on my watch, I lost it because can you really blame a 2 year old for being 2?

So, I'll have to wait for it to pop up or make myself another one. Maybe I'll make myself another one when I make one for you! hint hint. It's in the shop and already well loved! It got 4 hearts in the first day I posted it! That's got to be a record for me or something.

In other news, I have been avoiding trying to bezel set a ring for the longest. I have all the necessary things to do so. I just haven't done it. Kind of like how I took forever to saw. Something is wrong with me. lol.

Anyway, I got this awesome large bead today and I simply must try this thing (bezel setting) sooner than later. Here is a shot of me with my new bead. Can you tell I'm happy?


I also managed to chip said bead so it is definitely not going to be for sale. All mine, mine, mine! I may take a better picture later so you can actually *see* the bead or I may wait until I've actually bezel set it in a ring to show it off. It's going to be a really big ring. I showed the bead to my neighbor who also is a bead enthusiast and she was soooo excited!!! It's nice to have someone in my building to share the excitement of a new bead with. :D I believe it's carved jade but I'm not sure. Frankly it could be a really cruddy plastic button for all I care. I love it! Until next time kidlets!

The Four Ds

So lately I've been ruminating on why the things I want to do take me forever to get done and yet I end up playing on the internet all day long (which really is not as fun as it would seem). If I were to look at myself honestly I would have to say it is because I am lacking in one of the four Ds.

What are the four Ds? I think they are desire, drive, determination and discipline. At any given moment I am three of these but rarely do I get to that place of all four. Because discipline, she eludes me most often. And because she does, it leads to some other Ds that I don't like so much: disorganization, discord, disaster, defeat and depression.

This pesky thing I lack affects so many different areas of my life negatively. I like to be the fly by the seat of your pants kind of gal but really that's kind of hard to do when you've got a spouse, a toddler and a mortgage. I've got to get my act together.

So with that in mind I am actually putting tasks I need to accomplish on a calendar. A calendar has been my nemesis for as long as I can recall. My whole body tenses up just thinking about plotting out what should get done and when. I like options and to me, a set schedule has often looked like a loss of options and freedom and so I've resisted it at almost every turn.

The one exception is that I'm good about keeping to a schedule for my son because I know my dysfunction should not lead to his misfortune. So I've gotten to thinking why do I let this dysfunction lead to *MY* misfortune????? I'm tired of that and It is time to make the calendar my friend.

Today I put myself on a little timeline for this afternoon while my son naps. Of course I've gotten off track (It's my first day! cut me a little slack.) but thank goodness I have the chart because rather than being WAY off track, I am just a little off track and I cleverly left time in the schedule for such a thing to occur so that I can get back ON track.

For example, I allotted a certain amount of internet time and let me tell you when you only have 15 minutes you get a lot more selective about what you decide to do! I noted I don't have time to do as much dumb stuff which can only be to my benefit!

People who do things of significance don't do it without discipline. Martin Luther King Jr. had desire, drive and determination. But he also had the less flashy and equally important (heck, possibly more important) discipline to follow through with his plans and reach his goals. And because he had the four Ds, he made the 5th D possible. Dreaming. Dreaming big dreams that would become reality.

So all, wish me luck as I work out that last D and make the calendar my friend!

New Year = New Skills

Happy New Year everybody!!! With the new year comes new things. So my next step on the path to world domination (oh you didn't know? Consider yourself put on notice) is to add to my metal working bag of tricks.

To that end way back in August of last year I bought sheet metal, a jewelers saw and a bevy of other accoutrement. I finally got up the nerve to use them for anything but the tiniest of jobs. I am so excited!!! Above is my first attempt and I am pretty pleased!

I always have tons of ideas floating and I am going to try and get one of these done soon. Clue - it involves hearts and my general quirkiness. ;D