What Do You Celebrate?

Scott and I just celebrated the 11th anniversary of our first date tonight. Our first date was February 28, 2000 in Central Park in College Station. We have had many wonderful dates since then...even after our marriage!

My question to you is...what do you celebrate?

Leap of Faith. . .

I did it.  Tuesday I took a huge leap of faith and resigned my teaching position---effective at the end of the school year. 

I've wanted to be a designer of one kind or the other since I can remember.  I used to spend hours designing clothes on paper and dreamed of being a fashion designer.  As I grew older, I gained an interest in interior design and even floral design and thought maybe I'd pursue one of those.  Needless to say, for various reasons, none of that worked out, and I ended up with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (a fancy way of saying Elementary Education). 

I never completely forgot about my desire to design; I just used it to decorate my house or make purses or some other craft.

Then one day in January of 2005, I discovered a new designing passion after browsing a how-to book on making gifts for people.  One project in the book was making earrings from sterling silver wire; this started the creative juices flowing!  I started researching how to make jewelry with wire and where to get tools and materials. I was HOOKED! I truly believe it was Divine Inspiration.

Fast forward to February 2011 and I have a website, a blog, an AMAZINGLY supportive husband, and WONDERFULLY supportive family and friends....All this combined with much prayer gave me the faith to step out.

I am so excited to embark upon this journey of learning and growing; the goal is to honor my Lord and Savior through my business--He is truly my rock and my salvation from which all my creativity flows.

Check it out. . .

Check out http://www.keeperofthehome.org/ to win a Big Berkey Water Filter ($209 value) from keeperofthehome.org and savingnaturally.com.

Keeper of the home deals with frugality, stewardship and sustainability, natural products for home and body and much, much more.

My brother and his family have a Big Berkey Water Filter and they LOVE it.

Tonight's Project. . .

My project tonight is based on a design in a new book by Kim St. Jean, Mixed Metal Mania: Solder, rivet, hammer, and wire exceptional jewelry.  I took a class from Kim at Bead Fest in Arlington and really appreciated her teaching style and creativity, so I was excited when I learned that she had a book coming out.  It was so much fun to tackle this pendant.

The glass is a piece of sea glass given to me by the Assistant P.E. Coach where I work.

Dumas Demons...

I posted a new style on my website today...A necklace with DD for Dumas Demons. I have an old friend that lives there, and she requested one a while back.  It was a request that took me out of my comfort zone at the time, because I was still wary of soldering two items together.  Her request, though, broke me out of that mindset and opened many new possibilities.  So a huge thank you to Christi for her request...

It can also be requested with other letters for your favorite team or person.

Dumas Demons

Belated Birthdays...

We had a wonderful weekend visiting my parents.  We were finally celebrating Mom's and my birthdays...the first time we were going to do so, Mom was sick so we had to postpone it.   Ate some GREAT Mexican Food in Floresville, TX at Olivia's...I soooo miss Mexican Food from the San Antonio Region--sigh.  In particular, I miss PUFFY TACOS!!! If you are ever in the Floresville area you should give Olivia's a try.  It is inexpensive and delicious! 

Do you like Mexican food? If so, what and where is your favorite Mexican Food Restaurant?

Cheers,
La La

Good Stewardship. . .

As I was deciding to take the step to the world wide web, I tried to find a way to make sure I was taking at least small steps to be a good steward of the earth the Lord has given us.  It came to me one day...recycle!  No, not sort my plastics and glass, but use cereal and other boxes that people normally throw away to make boxes into which to put the jewelry I sell.  I set about letting others know that I would gladly take their trash.  It has paid off.  I now have boxes coming in from wonderful co-workers from which to make cute little boxes for jewelry. 

I also use various types of shredded paper as filling in the boxes instead of purchasing toxin laden plastic coated cotton on which to place the jewelry.  To help protect the purchases inside the shipping boxes, I recycle protective packing items that I receive when purchasing items from my suppliers. 

I end up not only conserving resources, but also saving money which is passed on to the customer through better prices!

Some times things don't go as planned. . .

Well, I didn't quite get my last project up on my website...life has a way of getting in the way!  Still working on it...stay tuned for updates.

Meanwhile, here is something I made for my WONDERFUL husband for his birthday.  I'll admit that I approached the project with a bit of trepidation. I had never made jewelry for a man before, much less my quite opinionated husband.  However, it seems to be a hit because he wears it quite often...or at least he's pretending really well!

Cheers til next time. . .

. . .Back in the Saddle...well, mostly. . .

I've not posted in awhile because I've been under the weather. . .imagine that. . .too sick to talk!!  If you know me, you know that's rare:-) Haven't been creating jewelry either, so I gave it a try today because I'm tired of lying in bed.  Here is the result. . .still have to add the patina to it to give it the vintage feel, but other than that, I will be pricing it and adding it to the website this weekend!