Quit Your Day Job Inspiration

Although I am not interested in quitting my day job and becoming a full time jewelry maker, I found this Quit Your Day Job article on Etsy to be very inspirational this morning. 

Quit Your Day Job - Staroftheeast

The thing I found the most inspirational was really the way they organized all their supplies and general office materials.  It is fantastic!

Look at this wonderful long table...

I just DIE for these awesome drawers. If I had just one of these (and the space in the office for it), my life would be a lot more organized...

Ooh, fun things to look at on a Wednesday morning...

Charley's Window

This is Charley's favorite window.  He likes to peek out it and look for Andy's car.  He also likes to spot other puppers getting a walk and bark angrily like he's going to do something about it.

Granted, he can BARELY see out the window.  I think really the only thing he can see is the top of the trees.  He very enthusiastically watched from his perch for most of the evening yesterday as I sat at my jewelry table and made these:

And worked on these for lovely bride Natalie as a gift to her mother in law:

I hope your evening was lovely and you are able to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather!

Pretty Little Things

Well, it was an adventurous weekend.  On Friday night, we had a fantastic evening with Ryan, Stephanie, Greg, and Stephanie.  Good times were had by all!  Saturday was spent at a baby shower back in the hometown.  Sissy Beth kept that entire event very entertaining for me.  :)

Today was a day of fun.  I met my mom at the mall for a bit, but mostly I spent the dreary, snowy day inside at my jewelry table.  I made these pretty things...

And these pretties with pineapple quartz (which practically glows in the dark it is so luminiscent)....

And these, in pretty shades of grey and lemon yellow (VERY popular this spring)...

I hope your weekend was grand!

Spring Arrives with a Smile

A Purple Spring Flower
Originally uploaded by noahg.

This picture perfectly expresses my happy feelings about spring right now. It is 60 degrees and beautiful today!

Granted, it is scheduled to snow tomorrow, but I will take this brief reprieve for all it is worth... :)

Flea Market Find: Sweet Fan

Andy and I found this sweet fan a few weeks ago, and I am so excited about it.  I have been looking for a cool old fan for quite some time, but I wasn't willing to pay big money for it.  This fan surprised me by working on the first try!  I was fully prepared to convince Andy to fix it because it didn't cost much.  It does have a bit of an oscillation issue, but Hub is going to fix that with a minor repair.

Now we just need winter to make its final exit so I can use this fan without shivering!

Happy St. Paddy's Day from Puppers

I decided Pep and Charley needed a little green in case someone decided to pinch them.  Charley didn't necessarily enjoy this little adventure, so it was a short photo shoot.  He is giving us his snarly face.  Pep seems pretty hip on the whole adventure.

Pep looks regal even when he's wearing a woman's scarf on his head like he's getting ready to go for a ride in a convertible and he doesn't want to muss his hair.

He he.

Happy St. Paddy's from a real live Irish Bridget!  Go drink some green beer, but not too much because it's only Wednesday!

Artsfest - We're IN!

Dad and I got into ARTSFEST!

I am so excited!!!  Artsfest is the festival in my area that (in my opinion) holds the most prestige.  This is a big step for Spring Patch!  I'm going to have to get going with jewelry making in the next month and a half!  My dad is going to have to get serious about jewelry box making, too.  We are going to be busy!!

Okay, so here are the details:
Saturday, May 1st - 10-6 p.m.
Sunday, May 2nd - 10-5 p.m.

Come visit us!  I haven't got our booth assignment yet, but I will get it in the mail soon and share that info as well.

YAY!!!

Charley's Angry Face

This is Charley.
Charley is an Italian Greyhound. He is skinny by his own accord, not because we starve him (just FYI). :) In fact, I buy fancy schmancy dog food that has extra calories and protein in order to keep Charley from being too skinny. Hubby and I call Charley the Weasel because he is always dissatisfied unless he is hanging out RIGHT on your person. For example, last night I was working on these (please excuse the horrible light):
Charley was not thrilled. He kept giving me his angry face because I wouldn't make room for him in my chair. It looks like this:

Oh, Charley.

Spring Patch and Brides

Hello! I hope everyone is surviving the sleepiness that is the Monday after "spring forward".


One of the most fun parts of putting together jewelry for Spring Patch is helping brides with bridal jewelry ideas. I have made jewelry sets for several brides along the way, and I am currently working with one bride on her lovely purple and magenta wedding jewelry. I have created matching bridesmaid earrings, and now we're working together to put together bracelets for the bridesmaids and jewelry for the mothers. It has been a lot of fun, and it is inspiring me to work toward creating a line of bridal-oriented jewelry. I have already done some jewelry and veil fun for my lovely cousin Ashley (that's her above), so the idea continues to percolate.


It's lunch at work, so I am headed to the bead store to look for specific shades of pink! :)

I am Thinking Along these Lines

Candy Buffet and Dessert table by cupcakes & cartwheels
Originally uploaded by ArtisanCakeCompany

These are the colors I'm aiming for my friend Suzannah's baby shower, which is happening next month sometime. She is having a baby girl (name TBD). I have already bought some fun paper lanterns in the colors of watermelon, light brown, cream, and pinkish orange. I am pumped!

Scratch the Original Plan

Oh my. I started this blog in a half second of consideration and then pretty much immediately abandoned it.

However, I see a lot of reasons to start this back up again, so I will be getting much more serious about actually blogging every once in a while. I was trying to make this blog just about my jewelry, but it seems that is just silly because I don't have something interesting to say about jewelry every day or sometimes even for a couple of days in a row. Since the jewelry making aspect of my life is just a part of a whole life filled with a job, a house, a husband, a zillion relatives, and two ill behaved pups, I am just going to write about whatever I'd like and not worry about whether it's jewelry related.

Next blog--parties! I am pumped about my preparations for two very fun parties in my future. I will send you pics of my recent plans and acquisitions soon. :) If I have learned anything in life, I have learned it's okay to scrap the original plan, and that's what I'm going to do with this blog. Tee hee. Happy Friday to you!

Love to you! B