Midnight Iris

I have several things on my bench right now that I am in the process of putting the final touches on. It just seems that every day life always cuts into my working time.... I did manage to get this fleur de lis design finished up. Irises are my favorite flowers, and I have always loved the stylized fleur de lis. When I got this piece of labradorite with the most beautiful blue flash, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I hope to re visit this design again in the future. I'm offering it as a custom sized ring, and it is already listed in the shop.

In other business related news, I dropped my pro status at ArtFire for AmyNicole. I try my hardest not to put any negativity or drama out into the world, especially when it is associated with my business. So, all I will say is that I couldn't justify keeping the shop. I've been there since September of 2009. No sales at all... ArtFire tries really hard. They are great about helping their sellers in any way they can. They are on top of everything it seems...answer questions uber quick, keeping the resellers out. You know all the things that people complain that Etsy doesn't do..... But if they aren't drawing the buyer traffic, all that other stuff doesn't really seem to matter as much. It makes me a little sad, I really wanted it to work out. I am going to keep RubyMtnBeads there for the time being though.

I guess I have more business news than I thought! I just remembered I need to tell you guys how I'm all official and stuff now. Which also means that I have to collect sales tax on sales I make in Texas. I had been putting this off (as usual), thinking it was going to be a real pain in the butt to get it handled. I even looked into LegalZoom at one point to get them to handle it. But it was going to be $ 200. $200?? I can buy a lot of goodies to play with for that!!! I mentioned this to a friend who has a business in the arts, and she told me that I was crazy. I could do all that stuff myself for free. And she was right. All it cost me was the stamp to mail in the signature forms. And it took less than 30 minutes to fill out all the forms on line. Sweet...

Is it just me? Or is summer the perfect time of year to strap leather and beads to your wrist, wear it day in and day out, removing it only to shower, or jump in the pool? The feel of leather on my wrist takes me back to summers of my youth when I did just that. Actually, I don't think I took them off even in water. Just wore it until it was worn out.

I started playing with leather, I guess about a month ago. Seeing if I still remembered how to knot it, tie it. I was digging around in one of my old buckets of junk, and I found the center part of this bracelet that I had made at least 10 years ago. Hematite and Red Poppy Jasper. I decided that it needed a little something, so I Lashed it to black greek leather, and then I made a little hammered fine silver button for the closure. Since the woven beads were already made, it determined the size of the bracelet for me. It is a size large, and already listed in the shop as well... I definitely have more plans to play with leather, I'm really having fun with it!

Well, I guess I better get on with my day! Hope yours is wonderful! :)