Some wonderful advice (from a pretty awesome blogger)

I struggle with this CONSTANTLY and I am really trying to wrap my head around how to better organize my studio/brain to be better at working from home and being a better entrepreneur. (because frankly I feel like I suck at it sometimes!)

Over at Paper N Stitch, Brittni has put together a list of great ideas to implement into any at home business routine (mine especially) and I don't know about you, but it's really helpful to me to see things written down in a list!

Please take a look!

(I am going to so some planning for my own space this evening when I get home from work, I think a white board on the door asking me if I finished what I needed to that day -with a list of what I wanted to accomplish- is a good starting point for my brain!)

Here is a shot of her beautiful desk set up, and a link to the post as well!

I love how tidy and bright it is!

Thank you Brittni!

The trouble with etsy

is that I find so many things that I covet.

Like THESE for example.




I found them both here at ShipWreck Design's shop.

Neither of them are in my size unfortunately, but the images are so great! I would be tempted to order that wolf shirt if they had it in small.

sigh.

Another shop update!

I've added this little lovely thing into the shop just this morning.
Hand engraved sterling silver Feather Fossil Pendant!





xo

Shop Update!

I've added all of these beauties to my etsy shop just this very moment!







Woodgrain band rings!
One of a Kind Woozy ring!
Loveknots!
Eternity pendant with chain!

I've got a couple more lovelies to add tomorrow, but now I've got to hop on La Beasty-clette and head to work!

Have a wonderful day in the sunshine if you can!
xo

Prepping up packages for a couple of Mini PenPals

I have been thinking of putting together little books for the Girls to share with us to mail back and forth while they live in Calgary.

My plan was to make little books like I saw here (Oh Bleubird! I love your blog!) It's such a good idea, and The Girls love crafts so I had to do something similar.

But I just picked up a couple of tiny moleskines instead of making little books (I actually looked around for scrap paper to make books, but we don't have any! Just printer paper and Geoff needs that for school.)
But the wee moleskines are perfect, they come in packages of two and the new cover colors are great. We went with bright green and neon green for this project.

For THESE TWO goofballs!


Once they discovered this game, it was all over for anything else for a while!


Uncle Dave got in on the action too.


Awesome.

Wedding bands

A while back I made this ring for Ben and Yona, a lovely couple in Vancouver.

And they contacted me to make their bands for their big day too!
I can't really take any credit for the design of these, as once we started talking about it, they knew what they wanted.
They wanted to use the same materials that are in her engagement ring (recycled 14k gold, silver and copper) and they wanted them in layers so that when they looked down on their hands, they would see plain silver bands, and the copper is sandwiched between the silver and gold so that the gold was against their skin.






I hand forged these babies, which was a learning curve for me as well as an enjoyable therapeutic process (nothing like hammering the crap out of some metal to get your Negatives out!) and I am really happy with how they turned out. So subtle and elegant, the copper peeks through on the sides of the bands to really warm them up and the gold inside lining is so luxurious!

They recieved them in the mail yesterday and love them!
Congratulations again Ben and Yona! I just know that you will be blissfully happy together!
xo

Major surgery... for a Dino.

We had a night of serious drama while the girls were up, the first weekend in fact. They were playing in the back yard, flinging two stretchy weirdo animals into the air by their stretchy arms when suddenly there was tears.

Dino's arms were ripping off!





We took them both inside to see if we could repair him.

Beans was very happy once he was all done, but I never saw Dino again.
Perhaps he'd decided to stay in for the rest of the trip?

FORGING

Whaat?!

I've been working on a pair of commission wedding bands for a lovely couple in Vancouver and I am just about the head back into the studio to work on them some more.
His is just about ready (I think I have to size it down a bit, it's feeling a bit too big to me) and her's will be ready shortly. The gold is being difficult, but I know how to wrangle it now and it will submit before long.

I worked the early shift at work today so that my Mom and Kristy (The Sister) could make a date of seeing Eclipse.

We do this now. Mom doesn't like crowds (neither do I frankly so this new system works just fine for me) So we take the day off to watch Teen Vampire Romances.

No judging.

I have no doubt that come November we'll do the same thing for the first of TWO Harry Potter movies that had better be better than the LAST ONE PEOPLE. I am sorry, but let me go on a bit of a rant here.

The first 5 HP movies were AWESOME. Don't even try to front like you didn't LOVE them.
But the 6th... what is it called?? Oh Right, Harry Potter and the Half Assed Budget.

Not. So. Much.

I am currently reading the Deathly Hollows RIGHT NOW and it. is. RAD.

And while we were watching the trailers this afternoon at Eclipse, they showed the D. H. trailer and it looks pretty good. But I wouldn't put it past them to skimp out on the Harry Potterness that is CRUCIAL to the movies.

I am sorry, I think that I might be 13 right now, and having a bit of a fit.

I am going to eat dinner (something besides the 3 (!) brownies that I scarfed upon walking into the house) and go to work in the studio to try to get myself together.

No pictures, sorry again.
Maybe next time.

One Year

One Year ago on Saturday I married my best friend.
(And 8 years ago on Sunday we got together!)

Here's to many more years of awesome, and the adventures to come.

xo

McMillan Metals

My friend Patrick now has an etsy shop!

The bike ring is so cool and the button earrings are particular favorites of mine.

A cat named Kitty and a human named Munchkin.

So our nieces have left the island and life is getting back into it's normal rhythms again. I won't say that I won't miss them, because I already do. It's hard to not love someone who is SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU at all times.

I am really looking forward to having them around all the time when they move out here.

I'm just saying, they are pretty awesome.

And they demanded stuffies. In the nicest way possible of course!
I asked them what kind of stuffies they each wanted the first weekend they were here.
Beans said she wanted a human. What will you name him I asked her. "Kid" And Sweetpea wanted a kitty. "Because I like being a cat"

Okay. What ever you want.



I made up a cardboard pattern for each shape and precut 3 of each in the fabrics that I brought up with us. That way there was no scissor drama to deal with. They are only 4 after all and I don't have any kid friendly scissors. I had snips with me and they were like a magnet for Beans, she immediately had her hands on them! They are sharp little buggers so I very calmly told her that they were VERY sharp and that only Poppa and Auntie Jana used them. She was very cool about the whole thing and explained to me that "if she wasn't careful she might cut her finger and bleed her head off"

So she gave them back.

I had the same fabric markers from Christmas and they both went straight to work on their dolls. Very cute!

Once they were done drawing their dolly faces I stitched up the sides and then they stuffed them.


They sleep with them now too. Ohmygodtheyaresocute!