Feeling St Patricks Day...and other reasons to cook a "destination meal".

Hubby and I are not well to do in any sense of the word. Like many Americans, we simply "get by." Sometimes by the thin ice we most certainly skate.

But, every year on this very date -- we have the fight on wearing green.  I personally am wearing two green shirts -- though deep down (thanks to my Mother's love of genealogy) I know I am not the slightest bit Irish.

However, I and two of my three kids have red hair that runs deep.  My oldest, in fact, who is in his teen years actually seems to be getting a fully red beard.  But, with the red hair, everyone assumes there is a wee bit of Irish in us.  The wee bit is actually Scots -- which if you know your history were invaded by the Vikings (pirates historically) from much of Norway and present day Denmark (where hubby and I were married).

This southern Denmark -- areas of which were Prussia in the past -- is where it is most likely our Red hair lineage comes from, and quite possibly that wee bit of Scots on my Mom's side.

So, on Saint Patrick's Day, we wear green so that we are not inadvertently pinched.  We also celebrate -- as though we are Irish -- because it's just sort of expected after all these years I suppose.  On days like today -- even though it is Monday and I have a ton of stuff to do for the shop and hubby is out doing his Army training -- I make a destination dinner.

What I do is simple -- I peruse Pinterest fora bit and pull in some ideas on Irish Fair -- knowing full well that hubby drank the last Guiness last night.  I then make a few things that need to be mailed and package items up -- and I come home to start making Irish Soda Bread and something with it.

Hubby then chooses our "destination movie"  something that is set in the area we are "visiting" through our dinner and drink. Thus -- we get to "feel" like we are traveling a bit even though we are barely skating by like much of America.  It sort of takes the sting out of things and allows us the freedom to pretend we travel as much as we would like.

Seriously, try it.  I will be donning my Irish flag socks, wearing a few shamrocks on my ears, drinking an Irish Red and trying a few of these:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27514247697214888/

While it won't make me Irish -- certainly I will be enjoying the views of Ireland on whatever movie it is hubby chooses.

Water Sign

It is again a bit dreary here outside Seattle -- but that doesn't mean I am not longing for ocean waves.  Plus, Who doesn't love a little teal to start their day?

Some great ideas here for Spring -- am I right?

Magic Happens -- or so the saying goes.

I am going to come out and say it once and for all-- I do believe Magic Happens.   You're probably wondering where I come to this conclusion from, having had a rough month or two -- mostly personal but partly frustration in the shop.

See, in the shop -- summer months are notoriously slow.   Like snails pace -- or more accurately, it takes time for a caterpillar to become a butterfly.  And honestly, who wants to be online shopping when you can be out in the markets, enjoying the sunshine and that one guy selling "Cadillac peaches" who gives free samples?  The juice just drips from your chins, right?  Delish.  It's what summer is all about.

Photo Courtesy the Very Talented Vermont Photographer at Moonshine Designs and Photography.

I have fought the urge to put my shop on vacation mode -- and just go out to enjoy the sun.  Instead, I have just sharply focused when I do things, so that I can spend the summer with the kids, still clean up a bit around the house -- and keep the shop fruitful.

I also made one slight change in the shop that has done a world of good for my psyche.  Usually I have on my listings:  "Ready to Ship in 1 business day."   But, a few weeks ago, I changed that to "Ready to ship in 1-2 business days."

I know, I know, it doesn't seem like much  -- and generally I still get everything in the mail within a 24 hour period -- even on weekends which are technically not business days.

But, in giving myself that little bit of leeway for the summer -- I am now free to have an item sell at say 2 pm, and get it in the mail the next morning without dropping whatever I am doing for the day, but still be within what I promise.  Just knowing I have that takes a load off, I must say.

Granted, when school starts back up, I will most likely return to the "1 day processing time"  -- but the shipping will remain the same -- free and super fast. (I do first class mail for free -- during the holidays, expedited shipping will have a bit of a fee.  First class generally gets across the country in 2-3 business days).

But the one day has left me with some fun in creating -- which means magic for my poor weary soul. 

This Sapphire Necklace is more about technique for me -- plus it is September Birthstone Jewelry, so I had to add it.  I was perfecting my wire wrapping by doing these rosary style dainty necklaces.  So Much Fun.

I am adding this because in addition to being a rare form of apatite -- I love how much fun I had with the photography.  It's a necklace, and individually wire wrapped in sterling silver and this beautiful Green Apatite.

Simple and elegant -- these are the color of the year, and a little bit like Angelina Jolie's famous emerald earrings.  These are Emerald Quartz -- created by heating the clear quartz to bring out the green.  I am not a scientist, so I don't understand all of the techniques -- but I do know they sure are pretty.

I made these as a process piece.  I wanted to perfect the "all in one piece" earrings that these really are.  They are Natural Peridot and Freshwater Pearl, on a one piece "ear wire".

I have made heart hoops before -- but I have not played much with the precious stones on them -- leaving them to showcase the "hoop" more than  the stone.  With these shaded ruby heart hoops -- I played with both the ear wire and the stones to make something very unique.  And I made them in gold because then I wouldn't steal them for my own jewelry box.

I am adding these pearl earrings because I just can't get enough of the color.  Classic and elegant -- the perfect holly red for holiday events.

Oh Gosh, Not the Creativity Slump!

I am sometimes pretty markedly creative, like so creative I get that wisp of a thought that "This Rainbow Necklace will change the world!"  Then several people favorite it -- and my ego rises. I get happy, go-lucky and so excited that people think the same of that rainbow necklace I thought.

Then I wake up to a dreary Seattle morning with no desire to even edit the photos I took the day before for the shop.

I am not a psych major, so I can't tell you in all honesty where this sudden slump comes from.  It's like: OMGosh, this can not be happening -- just after this massive surge.

I woke up like this on Monday -- after having a fabulous surge of creativity that lasted quite a while actually. Most of those new items are similar in nature however -- so maybe it wasn't as big of a surge as I thought.

When I get here -- to this out of creativity place, I write a lot.  I tool around the interwebs.  I look at other items by other creative people and I try to get sparks of imagination. 

Or, I set everything aside and I take the kids to the pool, or out to a park, or something, and just take the day off from the shop.  (Not really as still throughout the day I edited a few photos here and there to post, and watched my shop so I could ship orders quickly).

It's like lightening really -- so fast and furious. But worth the ebb and flow that it works in.

Maybe I should look at my gemstones once more and see if something "sparks" -- or maybe, just maybe I should walk for a while with the kids, after all -- even though they are older now -- they do still see the world in a very different way from me.

Rainbow Necklace

Inspiration...or something like it.

Here's the cold, hard truth:  I can not draw to save my life.    No, I mean it, if I had to draw a picture to literally save my life, the consequences would be grave.

There is only one thing I am worse at than drawing, and that is spelling.  Luckily -- there are all kinds of programs for that, to help a girl out.   But, even with all my schooling (You know, just a few classes until I finally get that master's degree), I still can not spell -- and I have to work rally hard at proper grammar.

But back to the main topic -- okay I have my coffee ready, so I can certainly write this, right?

So when you have inspiration, I see that most of my artsy friends see things in their mind's eye, and often, if they design like me, they draw it out.  Huge hindrance for me, since, again, I can not draw.   Literally, I need help with a circle.

This is not to say things do not inspire me -- they do, and I look for inspiration everywhere, the autumn leaves, the winter snow, the many colors of spring and summer.  But, my favorite place to find inspiration for my designs?

The lyrics to songs.

Seriously, I sit there, or am running around the house picking up after my three kids like a mad woman, with crazy red hair and half bleached pants, blasting my iPhone (which is currently charging so that I can do this inspiration thing while cleaning again today) and a lyric, or line from a song will hit me and I will see colors and stones in my head.

Then, since I can't draw, I have to make it.  Then and there.  At least the design elements.  Maybe it's not the stones I saw in my head, because potentially I do not have those on hand -- but something has to be made so that I capture the essence of what my mind saw. 

Then, I will go back to the song, holding the piece and sort of give a yes or no as to whether it works.  Most of the time, however, it doesn't, and I see something else when it's produced -- or even in the middle of production. 

Currently, one of my daughter's favorite song's is "Firework" by Katy Perry.  Listening to that, I saw a fire work earring design in my head -- it was difficult to make it because I wanted it to be perfect, and colorful -- but I am pre-show right now, so my gemstones are a tad limited.

I ended up with these because of my gemstone limitation right now -- I will still have to work out the full "Firework" design.  More stones, more colors, more wire wrapping, but still a hoop earring -- remember watching fireworks as a kid on New Years or the 4th of July?  Yeah, that's what I am going to Evoke there. 

That set above, while beautiful, became "Fire"  without the "Work."

How are you inspired?

~Maggie~

Trails and Tribulations of Custom Work

When I get an order for something custom, I am filled with adulation.  I am ecstatic, I can hardly wait to match gemstones and design to personality.

It's so much fun when it's someone I know too -- love it. Oh, this person loves this color, and has such and such personality, I will put this together with that in this artistic way.  It's really my favorite part of jewelry design.

My mother recently gave me some Hessionite Garnet that she has been holding onto for at least four years -- I remember she bought them before I went to Texas. That was exactly 4 years ago.

They are AAA grade teeny tiny hessionite garnet briolettes, and when she handed them over so that I could work them out for the store, I knew I would have to honor her and wire wrap about a million little garnets.   This would be a design for her, though she probably didn't know it when she handed them over. I would custom design something for her personality. 

Hessionite Garnet I can not bring myself to post -- because the design detracts from the beauty of the stone.  Don't you just want to start humming Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain"?

But the thing is, I love these stones myself -- and while I can't possibly pull off the fire color with my red hair and coloring, they are lovely. They invoke a desire to make something inspired by a song.  Maybe I will do that.

But, back to custom work -- yes I do do a lot of custom work, and honestly I give the customer options.  When someone asks for something custom, they will generally know that person better than I would, so while I can choose stones for color and personality, design has to be a work with the person ordering it.

I recently designed this as a first option custom job, but I said to the customer, "Her's will be blue stones to go with her coloring."

So I showed these to the customer, who wants something special to give to a special someone for the holidays.  Turns out my dogmatic approach to blue for her coloring isn't going to work -- her favorite color is purple, but the design is spot on.

Luckily though, my friends who want something special custom made and designed know to ask early for it, because I will give them choices -- after all, anything they didn't choose for their personalized design can go in the shop.

Bt here is the thing:  it's October now, the holidays are in December -- if you want something custom, ask me now, because I have a couple of gem shopping trips coming up in November and to custom design something absolutely unique for who you are thinking of -- I will need to add certain gemstones to my list. 

When you ask me for something custom, tell me what you are thinking, and I will gladly give you options, so the jewelry you give this season is absolutely one of a kind for your gift.

It's almost time for Scorpio's birthstone, and some long winded discussions on inspiration.

As for Inspiration, Richard Dryfus and Audry Hepburn discussed it well in 1989's "Always:"  Inspiration Mission

~Maggie~