Take a trip but love where you're at

This week's Listening-Wearing-Making! Inspired by the romance of just hoping in the car and taking an impromptu road trip, and then getting back to realize you really love right where you are. Here. Now. I'd listen to this if I jumped in the car today (and I'd probably head to Big Sur). . . 

Wearing - 

I thought I'd share my outfit from Easter Sunday this week. I really enjoy dressing up for special occasions when I can. When I was in my teens and on into my mid-twenties I spent a lot of time and energy on my outfits almost everyday. Now, with a business to run and a family that I want to devote time to I find myself erring towards simpler, comfort based outfits most days. It makes those days when I do have the time and energy to put on something special feel that much more special!

(I love how Otis jumped up on the coffee table right when the timer on the camera went off.)

I'm wearing: Tangleweeds "Dance" earrings, a necklace that was a gift from Jeff a few years ago (handmade by an old friend of his), a dress from Savers (a new-ish thrift shop in Berkeley) and flats from Urban Outfitters. 

Making: I've been very inspired lately, working on new designs and with new stones. I've been thumbing through old sketches of mine and looking through this book: Fabulous Woven Jewelry. I'm very excited to start making more one-of-a-kind, or limited edition pieces. I won't abandon my classic designs that so many of your love, rather they will be augmented by the one-of-a-kind pieces. Here's a look at what's coming up:

Lastly, don't forget to enter my April Giveaway. I'm offering up a pair of my tailfeathers earrings this time around. Tell your friends! I'll announce the winner on the 30th of April. 

Eggs, Kids, Cats

Oh, this past weekend was so lovely. So relaxed. I spent Saturday with my mom here in Oakland. We went shopping at the big Bead Bazaar that happens a couple times a year at the Oakland Convention Center. I don't have pics from my loot, but I will soon. Just not sure when. My mood today is slightly lethargic, a bit lazy. Somehow still gettin' things done, but at a snail's pace.

Then, Sunday, Jeff and I headed out to Modesto to spend the day with my sister's family and my parents. 

Top to bottom:

1 and 2. Easter egg dying project
3. Noah kicking my butt at Memory
4. Easter morning - in some of my favorite earrings
5. Arlo (the orange one) and Otis hanging out while I prep the egg project
6. Otis at the kitchen counter
7 and 8. My disaster of a work bench

I shared the last couple of photos because they're a good representation of what it looks like around my studio when I'm in "design" mode. Things get messy! And things are gonna be pretty messy through May as I move my studio space while keeping Tangleweeds up and running. But I am so so so excited for the new space!

I hope everyone's having a wonderful Monday!

Easter Colors on Etsy

I'm hoping, this year, to get back to featuring some of my favorite handmade goodies on Etsy. Round one: pastel-hued pieces for Easter.

Webbed in Dust and Light Earrings

Spring Flower Handmade Glass Beads

Fragile strength talisman Necklace - unfurling

Well, there ya go! Not exactly a typical Easter-themed post but a peek into some of the things I've been digging on Etsy. This one was brief (as I had about 5 minutes to put this together) - I'm hoping to do some "meatier" features as I continue to flesh this here blog out this year! There are so many wonderful "hand-makers" out there on the interwebs, it's just nice to share the love in the small ways I can. I hope to share some of the "quieter" Etsy shops here. . . the ones that maybe fly under many people's radars but are full of amazing work. Etsy is a crowded place and sometimes only the most popular shops seem to get attention. Anywho, there I go off on a tangent, but a tangent about my motivation behind this blog feature. If you like, leave a little post in the comments about the type of work you'd like to see featured here and I'll keep that in mind as I work on these posts. 

(Now it's time to go help my Nephew search for some eggs!)

Re-purposing, Easter Colors, and An Old Favorite

It's my goal to post my Listening-Wearing-Making posts every Thursday. But that did not happen this week, simply because I needed an "away from the internet (mostly)" day. You guys probably all know what I mean: when you have too many disjointed days in a row of constant email interruptions, FB wall scans, Instagram "check-ins." I for one will sometimes just find myself in this cycle of work, check (as in check in with any one of a number of internet distractions), work a few minutes, check, work a few (less) minutes, check. I needed to break the cycle so I took a day away. 

Anyways, on to the important stuff! This week I went back and listened to A LOT of Patty Griffin. She gets lumped in the country-americana category a lot, but her music pulls from rock just as much as it does country, so even if country isn't exactly your thing you might still like some of her albums. Her most recent, American Kid, is fantastic. 

Wearing. . . The other day I realized I had worn outfits that were predominantly grey for the last four days in a row. . . I have a sincere fondness for neutrals and less-satuarated colors, but I was surprised by my wardrobe color choice so many days in a row. Then, the next day (and rather unintentionally), the skirt I picked out to wear was a decidedly-easter-egg hue choice. I thought that would be more "apropos" given the time of year than a series of grey outfits. . . 

Making. . .  I mentioned that yesterday I took the day away from the internet. Well, I used it for a jewelry "play" day as I like to call it. I call it that because I take it as free and open time to experiment and create whatever is speaking to me at the moment. A lot of good stuff comes out of this time, even if it's not literally a "productive" day in the studio it is "productive" in the sense of filling my creativity and inspiration cups back up. Which is oh-so-important when you're making a business of selling designs you create (be it jewelry, paintings, sculptures, etc, etc.) A lot of my play time yesterday was spent cutting apart old tins and experimenting with different color and metal combos. 

Well, it's Friday now isn't it? I hope everyone's got a great weekend ahead of them! Jeff and I are going to be headed to my sister's for a BBQ and general fun with the kids. I'm going to dye some eggs today using this technique found on the Posie Gets Cozy blog. I'll share some photos of the results next week. Happy Friday everyone!

Celebrating

Last Friday was my 33rd birthday. Jeff and I went out for a lovely dinner at Penrose in Oakland. I got to dress up (something that is a rare occurrence lately) in this blue lace dress I scored off the clearance rack at Anthropologie a little while back. We sat around and ate oysters, fried abalone, deliciously fresh asparagus, and more. It was relaxed and low-key and pretty much perfect. After dinner I thought that we'd try and find somewhere good for dancing, but I must admit I was ready for bed by 11! One thing that I am noticing about getting older is how much easier it is to get up early everyday but how much harder it is to stay up late.

Last week I had said I would have more photos from my Disneyland trip to share with all of you. I still need to finish going through all of them, but here are a few that I especially liked: 

My sister is already in the works planning the next Disneyland trip! Hopefully I'll be able to take the time off from work again and join them for part 2 (not 'til next year). 

For now tho I'm trying to get re-focused on all things Tangleweeds. I have a slew of fairs in May and that means I need to start making like a mad-woman. I've got a set of engagement rings (for a custom order) to finish, and jewelry photos to edit. Right now it's back to the workbench for me!

(Also, if you didn't already see yesterday's post, check it out for April's Tangleweeds Giveaway. You have until April 28th to enter!)

April Giveaway

It's here! The next Tangleweeds Giveaway. As I said when I set up the last one, I'm hoping to offer this contest once a month through 2014. This month, I'm showcasing one of my favorites from the new collection: the TailFeather earrings. Last month I had you all tell me what your favorite season of the year is (and why), this time I want to know what your favorite kind of bird is (and why). Simply leave a comment on this blog post and you'll be entered to win these earrings. Contest closes April 28th and I'll announce the winner on the blog here on the 30th. Tell your friends and good luck!

Travel Stones and Tail Feathers

This week's edition of Listening, Wearing, Making. . . 

My boyfriend is always making me playlists on Spotify (a much appreciated gesture!) He put a Haim song on a couple different playlists recently, which prompted me to go and listen to their full album which I discovered I absolutely LOVE. So dancey, but not predictable. At least, that's how I would describe their music. Take a listen!

Lately, I can't stop wearing these TailFeather earrings from the new collection. I love the simple yet slightly unusual shape of them.

Making. . . I've been making a new batch of travel stone necklaces for my spring and summer craft fairs. You'll see in these photos the turquoise and lapis that I've had in stock for a while, but also new ones: peach moonstone, tigerseye, and silver mist jasper (those are the square-ish ones.) I'm really loving how these colors look all mixed up together. The new stones won't be available in my Etsy shop for another month or so, but you can always request them when you purchase any of the older/classic ones. 

Well, tomorrow's my birthday, so I better hop to it with work today (I'm taking tomorrow off.) Then on Saturday I'll be vending at Jack of All Trades in Jack London Square in Oakland. Drop on by and say hello if you're in the area!

Studio time, Birthday, Springtime Sale, and Ramblings

Well, I'm back from my trip to Disneyland. It's so much fun to see the park through a kids eyes (my 6 year old nephew). While it can be challenging juggling the demands of two young kids and the needs of the adults, it was such a wonderful break from my daily routines. 

Now that I'm back I'm slowly getting in to full-time work mode. Honestly, I had to take a day off after the trip just to rest and re-charge my batteries. This week is my birthday as well, so Jeff and I will take some time to celebrate. I'm keeping it low-key this year. . . for a lot of reasons. Mainly, I just don't want a big party this year. I want quiet and relaxation and good food. If I could afford it we'd be headed to a little spa in Mendocino, but alas, that is not in the cards for now (hello, I owe more on taxes than I thought I was going to, money crunch time). Which brings me to my next point-of-business: It's time for my spring sale in my Etsy shop!

(Help a girl pay her taxes!) I'm gonna be frank 'cause that's the kind of mood I'm in this morning: Money is super tight right now. I've gotta pay my taxes in a few days, I have a stack of craft fair applications to pay (that is serious money) and my business credit card is due any day now. Soooo, why am I sharing this with you? For one, it's the reality of running this small handmade business. Sometimes I feel like us hand-makers get so caught up in always showing the sunny, beautiful side of what we do that it can make people feel like everything must be amazing for us, all of the time. And, secondly, I've been noticing a trend with bloggers lately to try to showcase the "real" side of things and not just the pretty stuff, and I have to say I like this trend. It's a way of showing the behind-the-scenes of how we make the making happen. 

Don't get me wrong, I feel very lucky to be able to do what I do. I just think it's healthy to share the whole picture every now and then. And I've always got a spunky 6-year old named Noah and an orange tabby named Arlo to remind me what really matters as I stumble and trip and sometimes walk steadily through my days. 

(p.s. I'll have lots more pictures from my Disneyland trip next week when I get done going through the 150 or so pictures I took!)

Disneyland Here I Come

Well, folks, I leave for Disneyland with my sister's family tomorrow at the crack-o-dawn (4am) so as you can imagine, I'm still functioning in over-whelmed, busy-mode. It's okay tho, a few days to just walk around and be a kid again will put everything back into perspective =). I still wanted to drop in with another edition of listening-wearing-making. . . but it's a bit abbreviated. I don't have the "wearing" part as I accidentally deleted the photos off of my camera before uploading them to my computer. Just one of those weeks! 

This week I've been listening to a lot of Gaslight Anthem. They're sort of punk-rocky. . . Something I don't listen to that much, but it's great for energizing me in the studio.

Making. . . .Well, if you've taken a look around this site you've already noticed the update and the release of the new collection! As you can imagine I've been busy making lots of the new pieces, but especially these ones, the Creekside earrings. . . 

These are a popular design; I sold several pairs at last weekend's Treasure Island Flea. I love the rough-rustic texture on the brass "stems" of these earrings. (And, in case you're wondering the ear wires are gold-platted surgical steel, so they're suitable for sensitive ears.)

I probably won't be back to the blog until next week, when I'm back home. I'm gonna try to take a bunch of photos on the trip, so look forward to lots of snaps of my nephews and my sister, her husband and I goofing off at Disneyland. Next week I'll unveil the April giveaway too. In the meantime I hope everyone has a fabulous rest of their week!

Maybe Vacation

This past weekend I vended at the Treasure Island Flea. Saturday was such a mess! Wind and rain, obviously not a whole lot of shoppers came out. But Sunday made up for it: sunny and just a little bit breezy. Today it's been hailing off and on here in Oakland. What whacky weather!

(first photo from Saturday - the view looking out from inside my booth, second photo from Sunday)

Honestly tho, I'm going into this week completely frazzled by the amount of work I have to get done in a fraction of the amount of time I would usually have. I'm headed to Disneyland with my sister and her family on Friday, which will be loads of fun. But let's not kid ourselves! It's not easy (like really really not easy) taking time off when you run your own business. I'm feeling a bit conflicted about taking this time off, even tho I know it is exactly what is needed to keep the creativity and motivation flowing freely. 

Al right, time to work on my new linesheets. Enjoy the day everyone!