This week's news....

Things have been moving along on the business side of things this week. (No, I'm not really caught up, but making progress, ha ha) I was contacted by a couple of weeks ago by Jerri who has a nice blog called Simply Sweet Home, which is full of tempting recipes, hints, and other cozy homey things.


I noticed that her lovely graphics were done by Polka Dot Pixels, so I gave Emily's Etsy graphics shop a visit and purchased a blog makeover from her. Check out her blog if you'd like to see more samples of her work. I really love my new look, and am having great fun developing matching business cards, new banners for my shops and other fun things from the great graphics that Emily did for me. I have been looking for a cottage-y 'scheme' forever! Ha, and you can't help but notice that my new theme matches the roses and violets coffee cup that I bought last week. Now I'm going to have to paint my house purple and grow some pink roses along with all my lavender....

I also did some new jewelry designs this week that I'm soooo excited about. I bought a lot of moonstone and labradorite at the gem show last October, and didn't have time to set any of the cabochons during the holiday rush. I wanted to do something special for the charity auction that my best friend and her husband organize every year for the Greene County Livestock Association.(Agribusiness is pretty important here in Greene County) I'm not a farmer, but my friends sure are, and they put on a great banquet every year, complete with local beef grilled on an open fire, The Stoney Creek Cloggers, (they perform at the Smokey Mountain Folk Festival, too) and a rip-roaring auction with everything from handmade collector's baskets, to watercolor paintings to black angus bull semen!!



The first piece I did for the auction is named 'Moondream' and I almost didn't give it up - I really love how it turned out. Now I'm working on another mooonstone pendant and a ring with some more of the gorgeous cabs I have.



The second piece is something else I've been wanting to do for a while, too - making more flowers in metal to keep my buttercup pieces company. I'm so excited about my new 'Wild Rose' series - I'm working on another one to post in my shop tomorrow. I might just make a tradition of introducing a new design series at the auction every year.

I gave up my jewelry pieces, but I didn't come home empty-handed - I bid on this great signed and framed watercolor print by Michael Sloane and won! It's already hanging in my dining room.