Spring!

I know that most of the country is buried in snow and having lived in places where it is cold and windy and snowy until almost May, I feel bad for you.  However, it is spring in Dallas!  It has been sunny and in the 70s this weekend which makes me so happy!  Now, it is Dallas, so this could change any day now, but usually this is the time of year it starts to stay warm and sunny and makes me love living here so much.

Enough gloating, onto art things!  Once again, it has been a while since I posted (but less than a year, so that is progress).  I was in my first arts and craft fair this fall which was very exciting!  I loved putting my booth together and figuring out how to display my jewelry.  It could still use some tweaking before the spring fairs, but I was satisfied with it as a first attempt:

I also got new business cards from moo.com which I LOVE!  You can use as many different photos of your work as you want, so I didn't have to choose just one necklace to put on the front.  It was funny to watch people flip through them and choose the card they wanted to take.

I am finally adding my big, "wearable art" necklaces to my Etsy shop.  I really like them because they are so colorful and bright, but since they are polymer clay, they are not heavy.  I need to take a few more photos with models, but I already put a few photos on my facebook page.  I have not made anything new in a while, but over the Christmas break I did my first big experiment with printmaking.  I loved it!  I am just using styrofoam from restaurant to-go containers, but it is working really well.  I will try to post some images of my favorite prints for you to see.  Until then, here is the most artistic thing I have done lately: (Settlers of Catan cookies for my brother's birthday)

Earrings!

I have finally put some earrings in my Etsy shop!  I have made a few pairs but I wanted them to look a certain way... I just couldn't make up my mind what way that was.  After a few trials and errors, I added a crystal to each pair and finally go the look I was going for.   I have four pairs that are ready; two are already in Etsy and the other two pairs need to be photographed, but should be there later this week.  Check them out:

Hello again!

Well, if anyone is still checking this blog after almost a year of no posts then you are an amazing optimist and I am awed and impressed!  I am using this summer to dive back into blogging and tweak my Etsy shop, so look forward to more posts about my escapades in art making, cooking and whatever else comes up.

For now, I wanted to share the new line of necklaces I am working on.  I decided to use my drawings as inspirations, so I made a intricate purple necklace and a greenish, turquoise paisley necklace:

After that I decided to try and make large necklaces that were either parts of my drawings or mini versions of them.  Here is how they turned out:

 black and white checkered background with swirls and yellow daisies 

colorful circles/mini mandalas 

funky hanging balls on a streaky pink background

I think I like the purple doodle necklace best, so I am going to try a few more in that style and see how they turn out.  Look for all of them in my Etsy shop this summer! 

In case you are interested in what I'm cooking these days, yesterday I made chocolate banana bread that is wonderfully delicious!  

Broaches

I was in the mood to make something today so I made two more tear drop necklaces and then made some crazy looking broaches.  They are colorful and fun and I really like looking at them all together.  As will all the things I make, I hope other people will like them too and even better, be willing to buy them! 

Sporadic

Apparently, I am a sporadic blogger.  To anyone who still checks and reads this blog, thank you!  I have intentions of posting more often, but it does not seem to happen yet.  I will continue to try and get better!

I worked on a drawing this weekend and was not pleased with it, until I realized that I wanted a more zoomed in version of it.  So here is how it turned out:

And this is a zoomed in photo which is more like what I had in mind:

I guess I will have to try again and experiment with the background some more.  I also have been meaning to share a photo of the new necklaces I have made.  They are not baked yet, but I really like them and I want to make some more in this style:

I am kind of into paisleys right now.  They seem to be showing up in my drawings so I figured I would see how they looked in necklace form.  I have to say I am pretty pleased with the results!

New Necklaces

I have been trying to use some of the drawings I have been working on and put them on a necklace.  It was a bit harder than I thought and I am not entirely sure if I like the result, but they are kind of funky. 

I sat down yesterday to try and make some Valentine's necklaces.  I think they look fun as a group.  We will see if anyone in the land of Etsy likes them! 

I was also in the mood to bake this weekend, so I made a delicious frittata (if I do say so myself!).  And then, wanting something sweet, I made lemon cookies which I decided to decorate:

 I used potatoes, red pepper, red onion, thyme and rosemary