Thank you, Etsy!

I was recently informed that my local Etsy team, East Valley Artisans (EVA), was awarded an Etsy grant to help open up a booth at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market. Hooray!!! We will be there every Saturday morning of the year selling lampwork & fused glass items, chainmail, various types of jewelry, baby clothes, gift cards, stationary sets, recycled bottle cap magnets, picture frames, ceramics and more! Everything is handmade by Phoenix area local artists and crafters! We are really excited and have scheduled a meeting for next week so we can get working on exactly what we need and our budget. I have been the team leader of EVA for nearly four years. We started out with a small group of very talented and wonderful women. We have added new members quite slowly. Some past members have sadly gone on to other things, but the group of members we have right now is an amazing group of artists and crafters who are energized and want to make things happen. There were days in the past where I would have a meeting and one person would show up, or where we had an event that wasn't all that successful and I would go away feeling like EVA was done for and I was throwing in the towel. So, I would drag myself to the next month's meeting ready to inform anyone that showed up that I was done ... and then I would see 13 eager women sitting there sharing some amazing resources and ideas with one another. Quitting plan foiled again. ;o) And thankfully so. Something just shifted in the energy of the group several months ago and here we are making headway to our first joint business effort. I am soooooo excited!!!!

For more information on EVA visit us at our various sites:
http://www.etsy.com/teams/5186/east-valley-artisans
http://www.eastvalleyart.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=224379351234

So close to 50! Giveway for 49 and 50th followers.

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve. I did. And ... I had every intention of adding a slew of new items to my Etsy shop on New Year's Day, but technical difficulties arose. I am out of space on my hard drive so can't put any of the photos from my camera onto my computer. So, we wait, patiently. My husband is shopping for a new hard drive for me, and fortunately I have a techie hubby who will install it for me in the next day or two. So I will have new items soon! It was strange. My son's computer stopped working, my has slowed to a near halt and I fried our external hard drive. Ooops! I thought it was very Y2K.

On another note, I have been keeping rather busy and getting ready to start my doula workshop next month. I have a bunch of books to read beforehand. I am excited. It is just another of many things I will do in my life. I am not the type of person to get any job and keep it for the rest of my life. I couldn't live such a boring life. Maybe it wouldn't be boring if you loved what you were doing. I love making jewelry, but it is a hobby and I fear making it into a career might make me love it a tiny bit less. But, we only have this life to live once and I want to experience many, many different things. I keep slowly adding ideas to the book that I will complete one day, which is taking on a very new form. It is a semi-autobiographical novel. There were a lot of things I was upset about only weeks ago that have changed right before me. I feel very grateful for all that has happened in my life and brought me to the place that I am. I was feeling angry and cheated, but the more I reframe things I have realized that all the things that angered me about my past were my little treasures. I have learned so much and that is what life is all about. I am sleep deprived and time crunched, but very happy with all the love that surrounds me ... and so far, I have come out of my battles on top, even though sometimes it takes time to reveal that. There is nothing that I would have changed in my past or done over for fear that it would change my current circumstance. And I wouldn't want that.

Anyway - I am only 2 people away from having 50 followers, it is a milestone that I have been dancing closer to, but never quite achieving it. I will have 48, 49, 48, 49, now we are at 48, and I am ready to move into the 50s. So I am offering a pair of Swarovski crystal earrings to my 49th and 50th followers. I would show you what they look like, but at this moment, I can't. :o( Check out my Etsy shop or website if you would like to see my style.
To be eligible you must leave a comment that you are following me. Thanks!

Happier New Year ... Changes are a comin'!

I haven't been posting much. Been thinking too much and working on new ideas for 2011. I recently took stained glass classes so have a new hobby. Like I needed another one. It is a lot of fun! I still need to finish the project I started in that class. Just needs hooks and patina and then I will post it in all of its beginner glory! :o)

So here is a list for 2011 ...
- Finish my BA. That thing is haunting me. I am so scared of math. I have to do that and finish Spanish. Yep, that is it! I better get on it before they add more classes to my curriculum.

- I am starting my DONA certification for becoming a doula. The workshop is in February. I am really looking forward to it.

- Start a Sunday social community event. We are looking to start up a non-religious, non-political community event that focuses on art, music and bettering our community. More to come on this as it develops.

- Get an EVA booth going at the Phoenix Farmer's market. We just need to figure out a schedule and compensation plan. Then pool our resources to make it happen.

Other personal goals ...
- Start eating more organic and local grown foods

- Doing yoga at least twice a week in prep for 2012 yoga teacher training

- lose 9 more pounds (I have lost 31 now)

- Realign my forces - what does this mean? I am looking forward to creating new relationships with uplifting people.

- Get a pedicure. Haha! I need one and have been putting it off because once the boys in my life are taken care of, there are other things like laundry, sleep, and making things that need my attention.

So what are your goals for the New Year?

Zootique is tomorrow at the Phoenix Zoo

Tomorrow is Zootique! I have been looking forward to this holiday shopping event for a few months now!

Tricky Fox Designs will be there with new dichroic glass soldered pendants, Christmas ornaments, hair accessories and more! If you are in the area, come on out. It is 9am - 4pm! Enjoy the zoo while you shop. Proceeds and silent auction benefit the Phoenix Zoo volunteers who do so much to make our zoo a wonderful experience.

I have been out of the loop

Hello! I have been out of the loop. I haven't posted here or there or anywhere, really. I took a couple weeks to work on my craft fair set up. My son was at his dad's for the week, so I took over his room as a staging area.

Then I did the ArtBridge artwalk in Scottsdale, which I am doing again tomorrow night. It kinda threw me. I was prepared for two 4 foot tables in a row, but they stuck me in an odd spot where I had viability on two sides, so I rearranged things in an L-shape. I didn't like it as much, but made it work.
Then, of course, I have been busy with events for Eldon Fox's first Halloween! It has been a hot October and now into November it is still in the low 90's. My older son, Patrick, carved the cutest pumpkin with a little raccoon on it, but this is what the desert does to pumpkins after two days. My green one's were fine, but his ripe orange pumpkin couldn't hang in the heat.

We had a fun Halloween! We went to my brother's house and went trick-or-treating with his two year olds. Eldon was a monkey, I was a witch and my husband was zombie Jesus. Eldon got his first cold which appeared later than night. It has been a lot of nose blowing around here.

Halloween Party Post + a Mummy giveaway!!!!

Well, it is still too hot in the desert for hot soup during the day, or even long sleeves, closed toed shoes, hot coffee in the afternoon, oatmeal in the morning, and it's not even a good time of year for pie for dessert, wonderful pie ... apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, rhubarb pie ... and it's even too hot for daytime craft fairs. However, the nights are cooling off. No need for a sweater, a tank top will still do, but it is a sign that Halloween is on the way. We love our Halloween around here. It is the date that truly signifies that it will surly be under 8o degrees during the day until February, at least. And, oh boy, by October we are ready for a break from the heat. Why do I live here, again? I often ask that question without coming up with a good answer.

To summon Halloween we must prepare ... so Tezcatlipoca Pitt-Jolie is preparing for a good party! Oh, that's right! Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist is having her Halloween party TODAY! Hahaha! Like I could even forget that! ;o) Good thing Tez has on her finest witch hat so she can party with the best witchy ones in Bloglandia.

And, of course, I have my witch hat on too ... I am pretty much always prepared for a party where cauldrons boil and bubble and a good cackle or two can be heard.
So, I think we will get out a good spell book, like this one that can be found on Etsy at beyondthepoisonapple's shop.
And turn a few unlikable people we might know into frogs and other unpleasant creatures. I can think of a certain someone who I'd like to turn into a snake, but they are doing a good job of that on their own without my help ... so we will move on ... and perhaps carve some owl-like pumpkins to hang out and party with us ...

Or best yet! We will work on Halloween crafty projects! I like making a bunch of earrings out of shrink plastic. Fun! Fun!
Of course all parties have to have a giveaway item. And this one does! I have had this cute little mummy lampwork pendant hanging around for a bit. He is very loved, but now needs a home to call his own. I will decide who Mummy gets to live with by drawing a name. If you would like to be entered into the drawing, please comment on this post. For an additional entry become a follower of this blog.

And don't forget to visit The Tricky Fox Shop on Etsy! :o) Thanks for joining in on some good Halloween party fun ... And thank you, Vanessa, for putting on yet another amazing party here in the blog world!

My very Etsy birthday

Even though my birthday was over a week and a half ago my mom came over and surprised me. She handed me a little blue bag and said, "Here is the rest of your birthday present." I was delighted to see that she had purchased these little earrings from OneGarnetGirl on Etsy to give to me as a birthday present. She just hadn't completed the order on time for them on time to get them to me by my birthday. I haven't been wearing earrings because the baby likes to grab anything that dangles and my small diamonds kept ending up in his crib. The back kept slipping off and that is scary! I don't think an earring post would feel very good at the other end and who know what damage would happen on the way down. But these earrings are perfect and feel very secure. What is most awesome about these earrings is that they match my wedding ring which I had custom made by OneGarnetGirl. All I need now is a matching necklace. :o)


On my birthday, I thought my mother had already spoiled me! She bought me three Frida prints from MyPinkTurtleStudios for my bedroom wall. < (that is a link to her fun blog, click on the picture for her Etsy shop).
And this incredible beehive hat from PixieBell! I have no idea when or where I am going to wear this, but it is very, very cute. I will have to make a couple trips to Flagstaff or maybe our crazy Phoenix weather will give us some chilly surprises this winter.


She asked me what I wanted for my birthday at the beginning of September and I emailed her links to my favorite Etsy items. I expected one of them, not all of them! But I am very grateful.