Confessions of a Jewelry Designer

Friday, May 23, 2008

Sterling Silver Poll

I have added a poll asking which style of sterling silver jewelry you prefer, either oxidized or antiqued sterling, or more of a shiny bright silver.

I have had a few inquiries in my Etsy shop about listing more bright silver pieces. I think my preference is the oxidized look. But with as many questions as I am getting, I think it may not be a bad option to offer a wider variety of bright silver in my shop. What do you think? Vote now on the poll in the upper right, or leave a comment.

Thanks and Happy Memorial Day!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

And The Rain Came a Pouring Down

So the Spring rains have been beautiful! The fence in my backyard goes all shades of green - - so pretty!

Then looking up ~ what gorgeous colors ~ just as the clouds were breaking up!

I love Spring!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Mother's Day in My Etsy Shop

I ran a Mother's Day special in my Etsy shop. You had to read about the rules here in my blog and then put a note about your mom in the message to seller box. The response was huge! One of the requirements was that the sale had to be over $15 in order to qualify for the discount. I had many people who just wanted to share about their mom and put comments in anyway... It was so nice! Several people were grateful to talk about how they felt about their mom...

Here is a sampling of what some folks wrote...

Mother's Day Thought: I am 48 years old, but I still sorely miss my mom(my). She's been gone now for over 15 years and, on the one hand, it seems like eons since she was here. On the other, I still remember her stroking my hair when I would hug her just like it was yesterday (and my mom stood 3" shorter than me!) Of all things, this is the absolute, strongest memory I think of when thinking of my mom and Mother's Day. I miss her so...

Hi. Here is a little note about Mother's Day. This is only my second Mother's Day and my first where my son is old enough to actually give hugs - the best present ever! As a mom, I finally get why my mom has always told me "You're my whole heart." I know my mom would be content with just a hug too - but garnets are her birthstone and I couldn't resist! Moms take the cake!

Hi! I know my order isn't enough to qualify for your Mother's Day discount, but I wanted to leave my thoughts about my mom anyway, if that's okay. :o) My mother is my best friend. I hear so many of the women around me, some of my friends even, complain about their mothers, and I feel so blessed to have this wonderful woman as my mother. Of course she's imperfect. Of course she has made mistakes. But that only means that she has experience to help me in my life. She knows what life is about and she loves me enough to be there to guide me when I need it. She loves my children just as she loves me and it gives me such joy to see her interact with them and be able to watch them grow. I love her so much.

I have great memories of my Mom :) She always had time for me, and taught me about antiques & plants.

My Mom is what motherhood is all about, she is 93 years old and still worries about all seven of her children, now ranging in age 46-65. She has been an inspiration to all who know her and love her.

Wow - - Thanks everyone for sharing!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Marjorie Jean - - My Mom

My mom, who I am named after, and my granddaughter is named aft

er, is one of the most amazing women I have ever met. She is unique on many levels. She is complex on many levels. She is beautiful on every level.

As Mother’s Day approaches, I wanted to give you a little bit of insight into how I feel about my mom and bullet point some of her greatest qualities:

She is organized beyond belief
She can pull some sort of a baked good out of the freezer at any time
She has beautiful skin and she always smells good
She is always color coordinated
She has amazing faith
She is methodical
She has a tender, loving way with elderly people
She has a great memory
She has been a faithful and loving wife for 50 years
She is a chronic list maker
She is a great cook and likes to use a recipe
She loves my jewelry (was that a plug to my website? Shamefully, yes.)
She has the same friends that she has had since she was a young married woman

Growing up, my mom and I had a rough go of it. I can remember some pretty tough times as a teenager. They mostly centered around my quick tongue, my messy room (who cares – it was MY room), and the constant barrage of chores. I gasped at the thought of being like my mom when I “got old.” As I look back, I did have a disrespectful tone, my room was always a mess, and I begrudgingly and with constant reminding completed my tasks. I sure thought I had it all dialed in when I was a teenager, but you know what? I would have made a terrible mom. Thank goodness I had such a great role model! Thank goodness there was Marjorie Jean.

I once sent my mom a Thinking of You card, that pictured a Mother and Daughter on the front of the card. The daughter was dressed in stylish white capris, a turquoise tank top, strappy little sandals, a beautiful chain necklace with a pearl accent (another shameless plug) and a cute little haircut. Standing next to her was her mother dressed in white long pants, a turquoise tank top with a matching long sleeved sweater with pearl buttons, some sensible shoes, a strand of pearls, and an Up-do from the hairdresser. The caption read:
No matter what she (insert your name here) did, she was slowly turning into her mother.

You know what? I can’t wait to turn into my mother.

I love you Mom!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Late - - April Recipe

Chili Verde

2 lb. pork sirloin roast cut in 1" cubes
1 can chicken broth
black pepper to taste

1 medium to large yellow onion diced
1 yellow bell pepper diced
1 red bell pepper diced
1 orange bell pepper diced
1 jalapeno (or whatever sort of hot pepper you want and if you want more heat use 2)
1/2 tsp. fresh minced garlic
(1) 12 oz. can LaCostena pickled green jalapeno peppers (I don't use the WHOLE can ~ but I am kind of whimpy that way)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
(3) 4 oz. cans of diced Ortega style chilies (anaheim peppers)

8 Tbsp. flour
8 Tbsp. milk

Cook the pork in the crockpot for 6 hours(ish) until it is tender. Add the next set of items and cook in the crock pot for another 6-8 hours. About 1 hour before serving make a reux with the flour and milk. Add to the chili verde and stir several times to incorporate.

Serve either as chili, topped with shredded cheese or as a chili verde sauce over bean burritos.

Typically I will cook the pork in the crock pot on low through the night, the day before I am going to serve. In the morning I add the vegetables before I go to work and finish up with the reux when I get home.

You can download a printable version by clicking here.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The Rest of the Story

So, I have had several people say "So how did the rest of the weekend go with Maycie?" Well... here is the rest of the story...

After the OUR nap on Friday things were fairly smooth. Happy times were had by all. I have those magnet letters on my refrigerator for Maycie to play with. She figured out they stick to the dishwasher face as well as the refrigerator. It was big hard work to move each and every letter, one at a time, over to the dishwasher and back, not once but several times. Then it is also fun to take the letters and bring them into the bathroom and throw them in the toilet.

Saturday was too windy for us to go to the zoo as planned, so we hung out at home and read books, sang songs, tortured the dogs and all around had a wonderful day! Scooter, who has an uncontrollable tongue constantly wanted to lick Maycie. So after several times of pointing at Scooter and saying "No!", Maycie learned to point and in a little staccato voice she would command "No!" From that point forward she was the boss of the dogs. They would trot by and she would command "No!" Perfect....

We worked hard on learning to blow kisses, sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider (complete with hand motions), and blowing bubbles. It was a fabulous weekend. I was sad when her mommie came home and swooped her up. Out to the car she was whooshed with her sippy cup, Singing Pizza Elmo, and zebra minky blanket... Wait did I just hear "Itty bitty pida"? Yep... that's my girl!