How I Relax

I love this week's blogfire challenge! I'm supposed to tell you how I relax - which is a great topic! There are two main ways I relax. Reading and beading. Since this is my jewelry/craft blog - I'll tell you about the beading. Is that ok? Good.

Now some pieces, while I love the results, actually take a lot of work. I fiddle and fight with them, and while I may love the results, the journey to get there isn't exactly restful. This piece is one of those:

Spring Bubbles Necklace

This is one of my favorite necklaces, don't get me wrong, but the beaded beads I used took me a awhile to figure out! These were the first one's I'd ever done, and if I remember correctly there were at least 4 that ended up in the garbage because they were just way too wonky. 

Other beaded projects are very relaxing to work on. Especially when I already know the pattern and its something repetitive that you don't have to really think about a lot. This is the perfect example of that:

Spring Beaded Lace

I often work on pieces like this when I need a break from things that are more mind intensive. So I'll pick this up when I've been stressed out, or when a project isn't working the way I want and I need a break, and I can watch things online and just zone out. I call this my zen beading. It's very therapeutic! I turn off all of my chat windows, laugh at my shows, and bead. I love it :)

Go check out this week's giveaway! Perfect for coffee lovers :) 

A Love Story

Before I share my story - don't forget to enter this week's Giveaway! 


I'm part of the Blogfire Guild on Artfire - only I haven't been a very good member! Working to be a good member again, and that means participating in our blog carnivals. The current blog carnival's first option is: 1. Love (this can include love items or thoughts on love or a story about love) So I decided it's time to tell you my love story!

Dancing in the Dark

Have I ever told you guys I used to be a dancer? I was. I used to be a swing dancer, in fact, I used to be friends with some of the best dancers in the area, I wasn't competition level or anything, but I was fairly decent. Then I got sick and that all changed - but that's not important to this story!

Four years ago I was at the peak of my dancing, and I had an opportunity to take a ball room course at the community college I was attending. The problem with dancing is that it's addicting, and I always wanted to learn more! It's a good thing I did.

I tried to get to know everyone in the ballroom class. I even made a few friends! I remember this shy guy who could barely dance, never took his blue coat off, and seemed to mess up more when he danced with me. I didn't think much of that, there were a couple guys I had that effect on! I just put it down to the fact that I came into the class knowing how to dance, and that gave me an edge on most of the rest. 

Love to Dance

I was part of a on campus Bible Study at the time and that shy guy, who's name is Moses, started going. We both ended up going on a trip to LA to work with the homeless. It during the preparation for that trip that I found out he wasn't 19! He was 22. Which, at 24, made a big difference to me! Yes, he looks young. 

Mo still wasn't on my radar that much, but I made a point to get to know the members of the team, especially the shy one's, so that included Moses. Some where along the line I realized he liked me. Then I realized I liked him too. We went out a week after the trip on his birthday, and the rest, they say, is history! We celebrated our 3rd marriage anniversary December 15th and we'll be celebrating 4 years total together on his birthday at the end of March! 

In the Kitchen with some Coffee

The current Blogfire blog carnival theme is to either show off your work space - or talk about items in the kitchen! Now I was planning on showing off my workspace, but I've been having migraines all week and so getting it presentable enough to show off just wasn't going to happen. So I went looking for some fun kitchen items! In a coffee theme of course, because I love coffee! I used to be a total caffeine addict...but that's an entirely different story.

The Country Workshop has this plaque for sale - isn't it darling?

I'd certainly put it up in my kitchen! (Much to my hubby's chagrin)

I have to confess that I already have a towel and oven mitt set that's coffee themed.

AND, to my shame, it was bought in a big retail store.

BUT someday it will need replacing,

wouldn't this set from Desert Rose Gifts be perfect?

What would the kitchen be without some good soap?

DECA candle and bath has some COFFEE soap - does it get any better?

Now I must stop dream shopping...

Valentines Day - Artfire Style!

Now I must admit that Valentines day has, historically, not been one of my favorite holidays. In fact, I used to absolutely hate it! Why? Well, as a long time single girl/woman it was a slap in the face reminder that I WAS single. Some years I faced it defiantly, others I drowned it in chocolate. Now that I'm married (I know, it blew me away too) I actually like the holiday!

This week's BlogFire Carnival is all about either Valentines Day, or items in Red/Pink. Since I finally like the holiday I decided to show off one of my pieces, and some great gift ideas from three of my friends! Now ladies, if you've read this far and hate Valentines Day, you could always buy this as a gift for yourself! Why? Because your special. I said so!

Love the Pink Multistrand Necklace

Miniature Raspberry Pie Earrings

Love Heart on a Stick

Chocolate Tea

*Hugs and Kisses*

Awesome Knitting and Crocheting

The Blogfire Guild's current them is showing off awesome knitting and crocheting! Well it just so happens that I have friends in both of those camps, and so I thought I'd show of their work!

Meri makes all sorts of fun things to put in her shop, but I have a special place place in my heart for these dolls she makes. The one shown is the Chess Black Queen Fairy. Not only do I think her work is very impressive, she was sweet enough to make me a purple fairy for Christmas! I was sooo suprised - and excited! My fairy, Lira, sits on my desk and watches over me while I work :)

Yvonne of Handerbeitskram is another artist I've had a lot of fun getting to know! We've both done a trade, and she ordered a custom order from me, and both transactions went wonderfully. We also talk on plurk all the time and have many of the same interests (like sci-fi). I've been learning to knit - and I really admire her handiwork. She also has bunch of great yarns in her shop so make sure to check it out. I picked these fingerless mitts to feature because I love all the bright colors in them!

I Just Can't Decide!

The current BlogFire assignment is to blog about our favorite crafting technique, but the problem is I just can't decide! I will say that I'm a jewelry artist first and foremost, but I also really enjoy crocheting, knitting, cross-stitch, hand quilting, and I'd love to learn more things!

Even in the jewelry world I enjoy many different techniques. I love bead weave, but I also love knotting hemp, stringing pretty patterns, doing wire work, and there are even more things I'd love to learn how to do! You can see this reflected in my shops and here on my blog.

So how do I pick a favorite among all of those?

I suppose I'll just have to say that my favorite craft technique is whatever I happen to most engrossed in at the time! I've spent a lot of time working on my bead weaving projects today, so I could say that's my favorite today, except for the fact that I've been working on them so focusedly because I want to finish them before I start some other projects!

Yes, I'm a little crazy.

Tuesday's Tips #5

Can you guess what today's tips are about? That's right - joining teams and guilds! I chose banners from two of my favorite teams to start out this post today. The Etsy Bloggers and the The Stalkers. I'm on several other teams (more on that later) but these two hold special places in my heart! The bloggers because they are the team I have been a part of the longest, they have some awesome people, and they feel like family :) I'm still pretty new to the Stalkers over on Artfire, but I love the mission of promoting others, without telling them what we're doing! 

Ok, enough about me, WHY am I bringing up teams and guilds? Because I think that they are a very important part of the selling experience. 

If you remember last weeks tips I talked about making connections through your blog. Well, another important place to make connections is in the communities that you sell in. Forums can be great tools as well, but I think that teams and guilds provide the core of the support you need.

Simply put, most teams exist for a purpose. It might be to promote a particular type of art or craft, it might be a unified passion, it might even be a common location, but whatever it is you are likely to be surrounded by a community of people who have similar interests. If you have a question or need support, these are the best people to turn to! I've learned a lot from my various team mates and I consider it to have been invaluable experience. 

I also know that MANY of my sales have been either direct sales too or trades with team mates. Now how great is that?

Before I say anything more I should say that I don't know as much about other selling venues. I'm on etsy and artfire - but look around whatever other sites your on and see if they have teams or guilds or something similar! 

So how do you find the team/guild that's right for you?

1. Location based is always a great way to start. It's the best way to find out about local events and resources.

2. Does your shop specialize in something? Like jewelry, paintings, cards, or knitting? Well there's probably a team all about YOUR medium! Which can be great for personal growth in your artwork :)

3. Do you have a passion like blogging, being a Mom, or living green? That's right, there's teams for that too.

Things to look at when choosing teams to join:

1. What are their requirements? Do you meet them?

2. What do they require of active members? Is it going to put to much on your plate?

3. Is it an active team? Or is it just kinda sitting there doing nothing? A team that's really active might be too much for you if your schedule is full, but on the flip side there's really not much point in joining a team that's completely stagnated.

Now since I'm talking about teams and guilds I want to give a shout out to my teams and guilds! Before I do...just be aware that I'm a stay at home disabled woman ... therefore I have more time on my hands than most of you!

On Etsy:

 ~ The Etsy Bloggers - because we love to blog and we love each other! Search "etsybloggers team" to find our stuff :)

~ Team Big Damn Crafters - geeks who love the show Firefly and love to create new items inspired by the show! Search "teambdc" to find our stuff :)

~ The Etsy Bead Weavers - because we love to work with tiny little beads to create beautiful creations :) Search "ebwc" to see our monthly challenge item and follow our blog to vote in the challenge each month! Search "ebw" to see the rest of the teams incredible work :)

On Artfire: Still getting to know these guys - but having fun!

~ The Stalkers - Not as scary as it sounds! Each week our fearless leader picks a different shop - and we all go out to promote it! I love doing this :) 

~ Pacific Northwest - There's that local connection I was talking about!

~ Blogfire - Um, did I mention that I love to blog? I missed the last carnival and I was sooo sad :(

~ Artfire Beadweavers Guild - Haven't really had a chance to get to know these guys yet, but I love to weave beads so there I am!

So what teams are YOU on? 

Guild Crazy

Now, I am not always what most people would call sane. Yesterday I think I proved that. *guilty grin* What else was I supposed to do the market I was supposed to be selling in was cancelled, and I had just upgraded to a paid artfire acocunt...

I've been on artfire for a couple of weeks now. Originally I signed up as a free member. I figured I'd start loading my shop and getting comfortable before I went paid. Unfortunately I have so much inventory to put on-line that I quickly ran through my free listings! So this weekend I bit the bullet and signed up for a paid account. Now I'm having way to much fun because there's so much I can explore! 

I knew one of the first things I wanted to do when I went to a full account was to sign up for the Artfire version of my dear Etsy Bloggers - Blog Fire. So I went searching through the guilds to find it. Um, yeah, I might have gotten carried away. >_> I made myself stop when I found the Blogfire group, but they damage had already been done! In addition to my 3 etsy teams I'm now in 4 Artfire Guilds! But seriously, they all look like they are worth it. So here are my new Guilds:

Honestly - as a BHR host - how could I NOT be a Stalker?

Pacific Northwest Artfire - because I live in a GREAT part of the country!

Blog Fire - because Blogging is what I do.

ArtFire Beadweavers' - because weaving is my passion!

I still have a lot to learn and need to get to know my new team mates - but I'm excited! If your one of my dear Etsy friends who's ALSO on Artfire, put your shop address on here so I can add your shop to my market. If your someone who'd like to be a new friend- all friends are welcome! Introduce your self and leave me your shop addy :)