An impromptu giveaway!

Wanna play?

We are squeezing all the goodness of Halloween into three days.

We started with taking the girls to the pumpkin patch.

We went through the corn maze,

Checked out all the pumpkins and gourds...

There was even a little hay ride with friends!

Tonight we are going to carve pumpkins, and that got me to thinking....

Let's have a pumpkin decorating contest!!

How about it?

The prize will be a $ 25 gift certificate to any of my online shops.

All you have to do is send me a picture of your best Halloween pumpkin!

It can be carved, painted,  or decorated any way you want! 

(just keep it PG rated ;-) )

These two will be the judges!

So send me those pumpkins!
amymarez@yahoo.com

To give you time to send in those pumpkin pics, the contest ends on Wednesday at noon CST.

The winner will be announced Wednesday evening!

I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

I'm calling it...

Turquoise.

With a Frill

I did something really unusual for me.  

I bought this gorgeous Kingman Mine Turquoise cab from Ed over at Stones in Motion on Etsy.

It came in the mail at the beginning of the week.  And I was so moved by it's beauty I had to make something with it right away.

Ordinarily I hold onto stones for quite awhile before I am ready to let them go.  

So it is quite unusual for me to use a stone immediately.

I wanted something simple, but substantial.

This stone sings pure and true all on it's own.  

I had planned to hang it on a simple chain, but then I decided to kick it up a notch with a frilled chain.  

I love the texture in these sterling beads.  

As always, all my pieces are available for reserve.

If any of my work speaks to you, feel free to contact me at 

amymarez@yahoo.com

*Handmade* Holiday Shopping Guide

I am a big believer in shopping local, and in supporting people in the artisan community. 
One of the greatest things about Etsy is all the wonderful and talented artists I have discovered. 

I hope this will be the first of several Holiday Shopping Guide features that I do here on my blog.  Every one I highlight here I have ordered from in the past, and recommend them highly!  I hope I am able to lead you to a great undiscovered talent!!

First up is Lauren Alexander.  I first found her work on Etsy searching for Owl paintings to give to my owl crazy daughter. 

 This was my first Lauren Alexander pruchase!

 This one I bought for the Panda lover in my life!

The quality of her prints are excellent, they are shipped quickly and quite securely.  And I just love her work.  So bright and cheerful.  I've already purchased her 2012 calendars for my girls!  They are going to love them!

You can find Lauren's work here.  I hope you'll stop by and give her some love!

Magic Moon Catchers...

 

 These earrings ended up differently than I had originally intended.  

You see, a few days ago a friend asked if I had ever thought of making 

dream catcher earrings.  

Hmm..

Right away I started designing them in my head, made a quick sketch and decided to make them when I had time....

As I began making these earrings yesterday, they evolved from my original design...

into Magic Moon Catchers.

The stick pearl tails are reminiscent of dream catchers.

It seems the idea stuck in my head and decided to come out in my work.

I love it when that happens!

A pair of crescent moons in patterned sterling silver feature 8mm fabulous rainbow moonstones.  The tails are made up of fresh water stick pearls and lapis beads. 

These earrings measure 4" in length from the top of the ear wire. 

I posted a preview pic yesterday, and have had a couple of inquiries.

If you would like to reserve these earrings, I will be listing them in my
own store.  Email me at amymarez@yahoo.com
if you are interested! 

WIP Wednesday

Magical moonstone!

Custom cut off date...

Hi all!  Just wanted to pop in real quick with a little shop announcement.  I've already changed the announcement at my Etsy shop stating that I'm not taking on any more custom work.

My plate is nearly full, but I didn't want to spring this cut off date on my followers without a little advance warning.  It all just snuck up on me so fast! 

So, for FaceBook, Twitter and my blog followers, I am setting the cut off date for custom orders available for Holiday delivery to Sunday October 30th.

If I've already discussed an order with you, you are already in line and need not worry! 

I still have a bunch of new earrings to list, and I hope by keeping custom work to a minimum I'll have some time to create some really special pieces! 

Back to the bench y'all!  This is my first day trying to make something in nearly 2 weeks!  Let's hope I still remember how....   ;-)

Charm Necklaces...

All listed now in my Etsy shop!

These charm necklaces are a combination of all things I am into right now.  Roller printing, copper and bronze clays, ceramic beads.

The charm necklace is my new favorite thing.  I love making charms, I love putting the necklaces together, and I love wearing them!  They are too much fun to fidget with.

In other news, my oldest got the entire family sick.

 (including my poor Mom who had the misfortune to visit while we were passing a heinous cold around to eachother)

She is happily on the mend and the rest of us feel like crud.  I hate being sick...

Maria Tallchief

While getting a pedicure with my mom on Monday, we watched a PBS special on Maria Tallchief. She has utterly captivated me.

You can read her biography here.

And you can see her dance: 



She is still on my mind....

Grateful....

I just want to say Thank you , thank you, thank you to all of you wonderful people who stopped by the show over the past couple of days.

My build your own charm necklace was a big success, and I enjoyed seeing many of my creations go home with some of the nicest people around.

My favorite parts of the whole show were:

Buyers who were "handmade" buyers, they knew what they wanted and what it was they were getting.

The customers I had who thanked me for doing what I do!

The customers who have returned every year for the past three years to add to their Amy Nicole collections.

Past customers who didn't buy this year, but still came by to say Hi and to inquire if I remembered them. (Of course I remember you!!!)

And a lovely blog reader who stopped by to tell me that she reads my blog and enjoys my posts.  

You all made every ounce of extra work involved getting ready for this show worth it! 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!  :-)

Listening..

over and over.

Poppy ring...

 

This poppy ring is going to the show with me, but I'm going to be offering this ring made to order in both of my shops!

New!

Sterling silver initial pendants!  

I kinda envision these as a necklace worn at about 15-16" and layered with other necklaces.  

Or it even works by itself.  I hope to get some pictures taken soon. 

These will be listed made to order in both of my shops!

Square

Has anyone used Square to take credit cards?  What do you think?  I want the good, the bad and the ugly!

Today is it!

I could probably go right up to the last minute thinking I still need to make something else for the show.  So today is it.  I'm cutting myself off.  Today I'm finishing up odds and ends, chains and clasps, a few jump rings, headpins for beads, and that's it.  I have to stop and say this is it.  This is what's going on the table, and it's just going to have to be good enough.  (It will be, I'm just psyching myself out)

My Mom is coming to stay for a week starting Friday.  I don't even want to think about metal anymore.  I think I've mentioned before the bad dreams I have about metal sometimes.  I know it's just a manifestation of work related stress, and they aren't really bad dreams, they are just not that relaxing.  Almost like I don't get a break from thinking about it.  Even in my sleep.  So, anyway, now the rolling mill has been added to the mix of my dreams.  I find myself having to process sheet metal in it in my dreams...

I just really need a break.  My Mom will provide that in the form of shopping til we drop.  And pedicures.  After a week of shopping (something I rarely do) (except on line for supplies), I hope to come back renewed and ready to rumble!  :-)

Oh, and my jewelry shop will close at 12:00 pm on Saturday the 15th.  I'll be keeping my findings shop open, and orders will ship as usual!

Taste & See

This is it!  I only do one show a year and this is it.  Come visit me and check out my "Build your own charm necklace" section and racks of earrings in bronze, copper and sterling silver.  I also have plenty of gemstones and natural stones mixed in there too.   I'll also have my hand stamped sterling silver pendants available for special order. 

The pumpkin decorating and carving contest is new.  I like that a lot!  That's reason enough to come.

I know my girls will be there ready to check it out.

I hope to see you there! :-)

I just noticed the flyer doesn't have the address on it:

1000 Tinker Road
Colleyville, TX 76034

The final push...

If you'll forgive my ramblings, this post is mainly going to serve as a to do/already done list in preparation for my show on Saturday and Sunday.

I'll be doing another post with the details about the show later today.

Last night I put together a clearance section.  I have pieces that are at least a year old, if not two, and I am ready to have them gone.  That means they are mm away from going to my personal jewelry collection, being given as gifts, donated, or just plain scrapped.  Everything is priced for the cost of materials only.  And the clearance section is pretty big!  I surprised myself at all the pieces I had tucked away from last years show, and just stuff in general that didn't sell on Etsy.    I'm going to display them in a black tray. 

Last year I did a "buy two get one free" tray that I made most of my sales out of.  They were all sterling or gold fill with gemstones and glass beads.  Simple designs. 

This year it has struck me that maybe the reason I hardly sold anything else on my table was because of that tray with the "bargain".  And then I read an article about how department stores set up their stores in a way that you have to walk past all the new stuff before you finally get to the ratty, disorganized clearance section.  And that they make it hard to find, and ratty looking on purpose.  They don't really want you to buying clearance when you can buy new. 

So, needless to say, instead of having my bargain tray up front, I am going to have it on the back far corner.  I'm torn because I really do want to see this stuff go.  And there is some really great bargains in there too. 

I'm almost finished with all the pricing.  Still have a bit more to go. 

I have some pieces to finish off.

A big batch to be oxidized and finished.

I need to locate all my displays, dust them off.  Iron my table cloth.  Find my cash box.  Get cash. 

And a hundred other things, but that's enought to focus on for today.  One day at a time people.  That's all you can do.

Meet Charlie

If ever I had a spirit "animal" it would be a crab. Not technically an animal I know, but it is still the creature I most feel an affinity to.

Hubby found Charlie gray and dull at Lowes. He helped the girls paint him, and they were so excited to surprise me with him.

Charlie and I get along great in the shop together. I don't bother him, and he doesn't bother me.

And he's great at guarding the mill ;-).

Sterling cuff bracelet....

First, I want to thank you all in your continued support of reading and commenting on my blog.  I'm not always the best at replying to your comments, but I read them all, and you guys always lift me up with your words!

Ok then...

I've been desirous of late, of a sterling bracelet for myself.  

And, I wanted it to be a cuff.

I just hadn't decided what it was going to look like yet!

Yesterday I wasn't feeling well, and started to take a nap, but then decided to get up and go tinker around in my shop.  

I've worked with so much copper and brass lately that I wanted a treat.

Ahhh yes.  The silver.

I took this length of 12g sterling round wire I had and made about a dozen small rings with it.

And the whole time I was doing it, I was like. 

What in the world are you going to make with these?

Next thing I knew....

I had created myself the perfect little silver cuff bracelet.  

It is exactly what I wanted, although I didn't even know it until it was completed.

:-)

After all the madness around here settles down..

Oh, I didn't tell you about all the goings on around here?

Well, it begins Friday night with the girls having some friends over for "pizza and pj's"

we're going to watch a movie, feed our faces, paint our nails.  You know, just be girly.

Saturday night my 9 year old is going to her first ever concert!!

In a suite at the Cowboy Stadium .

Taylor Swift live!

One of her friends is having her 10th birthday party there.

Some party eh?  In my day we had balloons and pin the tail on the donkey. 

If we were extra lucky we got a pinata too.  

But I am so excited for her.  It's her first concert, and most certainly a big deal as we would never take her to do something like that.  

Next week is that mad dash to wrap up show details, and get ready for my Mommy to come visit.

So, after the madness, I'm going to offer this cuff in my shop in all different finishes.  

Shiny, oxidized and brushed, matte finish non oxidized, etc...

Have a good rest of the week all!  The weekend is almost here!

Nothing is safe...

I'm rolling everything in sight.

Happy Monday!

I'm feeling a bit manic.  I am in overdrive getting ready for my show in 2 weeks. 

I have so much admiration for people who do shows on a regular basis.

It is a ton of work!

My usual pace tends to be.....

almost leisurely.

I like to savor the joy in making.  

Now I am just busting stuff out without really even thinking about it. 

I have nightmares of having an empty table.

And as a direct consequence, I find I am beginning to overflow in certain areas.

Earrings.

Are you surprised?

I love making earrings.  

I'm going to try to come back later with a few photos of the goodies.  

and,

I want to introduce you to Charlie.

He's my new shop mascot.

See you in a bit.  Have a great day all!!!

Two birds, one stone...

I talked a little bit earlier about how important I think it is to shop locally, and to buy handmade.

This post is going to be a two fer....

I want to show off my new background, and also to tell you about Mary Howe.  Mary is an artist living and working in the Grapevine area.  She specializes in murals and faux finishes.

She also happens to be my daughter's art teacher!

One day while picking my daughter up from her lesson, I spied a sample board she had done, and asked if she could make me one as well.  

I couldn't be happier!  

So, if you are in the area and are looking to have some furniture refinished, some faux painting or a mural, contact Mary!

You can find her here.