Pretty Little Gift Set

Have you started your holiday shopping yet? I'd like to mention that I've got these cute little matching pendant & earring sets in many different stones. Because they're handcrafted and unique, they make a thoughtful gift, and they're inexpensive enough to outfit practically every lady on your list! You can see a nice selection of colors, ready-to-purchase in the Pendants section of my Etsy shop! Fast shipping, too--I promise!

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Statement Pieces

Because I spend most of my "creating" time making what I call regular inventory (the same style of earrings in 10 different colors, or the same ring in mulitple sizes), I don't often have the time to create special one-of-a-kind "statement" pieces. I have lots of little pieces of paper with designs scrawled on them that I've come up with over the years, but I have to carve out special time to work on them. Usually a statement piece will take quite a bit more time to make than regular inventory does, so I can't help thinking about how many rings I could be making in the same amount of time!

But recently I just had to let the true creative beast come out and make something special and spectacular. This is it. A sterling silver neckwire with an asymmetrical curve and two very large white marquis cubic zirconias dropping from each end. Can you imagine the comments and looks of admiration you would get wearing this to a holiday party? One-of-a-kind. Spectacular. Truly a statement! (It's available for sale in my Ruby Lane shop.)

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Happy Birthday to Me!

So, today I'm officially eligible for AARP and the Red Hat Society! (Uh...yippee?)

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Eeeww!

I saw a pink Volkswagen Beetle on my way home last night. I can't begin to imagine driving a pink Volkswagen Beetle!

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A Little Productivity

I'm happy that I finally got inspired enough to make some pendants last week. Sea glass! I've got tons of it, the finished pendants are quite affordable (average about $20), and it's always a great seller because each one is a unique work of art.

The good news is that it only took one afternoon to make all 10 of these pendants. The bad news is that it's taken me 4 days to shoot and edit the photos for them, so they're not all posted yet. My goal is to have them all up in my Etsy shop and/or my Artfire studio by the end of the day. (Feel free to click over and check on my progress!)

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Hooray For The Good Guy!

It's pretty cool when you get to witness a random act of kindness firsthand. This morning as I was driving to work, I saw an oncoming car in the distance pull over off the road. As I got closer I could see a small dark lump in the middle of the road. Turns out it was a gopher tortoise--a threatened species in Florida. It was trying to cross four lanes of a moderately well traveled road. The guy who pulled his car over got out and picked the tortoise up just before two cars would have come up on it in that lane and as I was passing by in the opposite lane. In my rearview mirror I saw the guy carrying the tortoise safely to the grass and woods on the other side.

An interesting side note about the "threatened" status of gopher tortoises: When we bought our current house three years ago, the sellers were required by law to disclose that there are two gopher tortoises living on the property! We still catch glimpses of them once in awhile--usually one or the other, but not both at once--wandering around the yard in the middle of the day, eating grass. They'll probably be around long after we're gone--gopher tortoises live upwards of 100 years!
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Still Nothing

I've waited a few days to post again. I've had this page up on my computer all afternoon, hoping some kind of inspiration would hit. Nothing. I've had a grand total of 5 people walk into my store today. I just can't get motivated with that kind of inaction surrounding me! I've spent an hour or so poking around on other people's blogs. Maybe someone said something where I could take an idea and run with it. Nope. But I just couldn't bring myself to close the page without writing something.

Happy Thursday, anyone...?

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On The Upswing

September is traditionally the slowest month of the year for me. So you'd think I would get a lot of extra work done, right? Like making more inventory, taking pictures, writing blog posts, updating my Etsy shop and my Artfire studio...

Well, not really. The slower my business is, the slower I seem to move. It's so hard to get motivated. I've spent far too much time the last couple of weeks "playing" rather than getting any productive work done. Oh, I have made some inventory (check out the fire agate pendant picture!) But I've been playing computer games and revising my MP3 playlists, too. Fun, yes, but not particularly helpful for making money!

So I'm glad September is over. It's not that business jumps up by a large amount on the first of October, but the anticipation is there. I'm looking forward to more business, and to being busy. Somehow the more I have to squeeze into my day, the more I do squeeze into my day.

And the cooler weather doesn't hurt, either!
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