OMG OMG OMG!

OMG I got my first Etsy Front Page! Woot! *Happy Dance!*




It's the Miriam Necklace, one of my personal favorites and the very first piece I made for my shop!!! How's that for serendipity!!!

What a great day!

All for now,
Nugget

**Tap Tap Tap** Is This Thing On?

**eh-hem**

I JUST HAD MY FIRST TWO SALES IN THE ETSY STORE!!!!

whew, that felt good!

All for now,
Nugget

Yea I Did It!!!!!

I've been wanting to create my very own jewelry empire for some time now, and I'm happy to say that I've finally taken steps to achieve said domination!

You may have noticed I added a wee Etsy gadget to the blog, and as a result of the opening of my Nuggets of Goodness shop, I have started another blog, which you can find here.

Long story short, and because I am a shameless marketing whore, I probably won't be posting a lot on this blog for a bit, cuz, well I'm going to be posting on the other blog. There, I said it. But I invite you to check it out, because I'm sure you'll find it equally as enthralling, AND it's more sparkly than this blog!

You just can't beat sparkly. I mean come on!!

Nugget

What I Learned in Preschool Today...

Little Nugget is not ready to dislodge herself from my butt just yet.

For the last month or so, I have been eagerly awaiting the coveted yet elusive "Mommy Alone Time." I've heard about, read stories, but thought it was just a fairytale. Until last week, when we had a meeting with Monkey's preschool and they said she could start. Today. What? Seriously? OMG! Since that moment, although struck with guilt over the degree of excitement brought about by said news, my mind has been all a-whirl with what to do with my new found freedom, known as the Morning Session.

I have long sought to return to jewelry making and my dream of building a crafts empire, you know, just in case my evaluation doesn't go so well at work this week. I dropped her off, holding back the tears until I got back out to the parking lot, then timidly went about the business of "Mommy Time." An hour later, I got a phone call. From the school. OH. NO. My empire, dangerously behind schedule, will have to wait. Little Nugget had been crying for an hour!!!

:-(

Apparently I am the human equivalent of a giant squishy pacifier of comforty-goodness for my Sweet Babygirl. Sigh. I got her calmed down (don't know how, but we'll take it) and decided to stick around. Because there would be no staying for the Little Nugget if Mommy wasn't staying too. So we went outside and hung out on the playground for awhile, and she dug it. And the boys dug it too. Sheesh. She's 3, and already the boys notice her. One little boy even stuck his tongue out at her, giving Mommy the perfect opportunity to explain that really that's all she needs to know about boys, they're silly, have cooties (except her Daddy and Grandpas), and should be regarded with skepticism or avoided altogether. Her response to this was to get up and go play "kick the ball" with her new little boyfriends. Sigh.

I wonder if we get to fingerpaint tomorrow....

Nugget

UPDATE: Oh. My. God: I forgot the funniest part of the story: one of Little Nugget's boyfriends asked me if I was her SISTER!!!!! LOL, His Mommy taught him well!

One Step Closer to World Domination...

...one piece of jewelry at a time! As pledged to you last weekend, I completed the challenge to myself to make some jewelry. Since I don't have a dedicated spot to work in, I decided to hold off on getting out my torch and instead worked with beads. Note the sweet organizer I mentioned in the previous post, lower left, black. It's actually made for scrapbooking, but served my purpose very well indeed. Got it at Michaels, clearance. FYI. Anyhoo, I set up shop on the kitchen table, and Hubby Nugget distracted the Little Nugget with the promise of outdoor play so that I could have some "alone time" with my jewelry toys. But the Babygirl knew Mommy was up to something cool and forbidden, so she insisted on coming back inside where she could be of assistance. She's very helpful that way.

In this photo, the Little Nugget is holding on to Mommy's fabulous Craftmates bead storage containers. Mommy bought them because the compartments lock to keep the contents safely ensconced in their plastic goodness. It works very well. Except when Sweet Babygirls throw them on the floor with all their might. Three times in one afternoon. From that point on, I elected to embark on the jewelry adventure whilst the Little Nugget napped quietly in her bedroom. It was really better for everyone that way.

So here's the net result of my jewelry production: behold!
















On the top is an eyeglass chain I made for the reading glasses I need because I'm friggin' OLD. So might as well make something snazzy to dress them up, I say. Glass beads and Swarovski's on that one. Got a little experimental with the photography, too. Glamour shot!

On the bottom is the first piece produced, a bracelet of citrine, pearls, mother of pearl, river stone, dichroic glass and swarovski crystals. I don't usually work in shades of yellow, so this was fun. I found out how rusty I was, too. Had to do one of the strands several times before I got the hang of the knotting again.

This sweet little bracelet was made just for the Little Nugget, who is enthusiastically learning her colors and is rather fond of wearing jewelry (good girl!!!). It is made of vintage and non-vintage glass beads I had on hand, strung on memory wire, nice and indestructible for a highly spirited toddler.

So today at work, I (allegedly--I was working!) saw that I had a comment on my last post from none other than Hazel Wheaton, the editor of Art Jewelry magazine--can I just say that I majorly geeked out in my chair, jumped up and down like the uber-dork that I am. Her words of encouragement meant a lot and will go a long way to kept the inspiration alive. I plan to continue making jewelry regularly, not just on holiday weekends. It shouldn't be a luxury, I enjoy it too much to deny that to myself.

Jewelrynugget out!

Did I Mention I'm the Jewelry Queen?

Self-proclaimed, of course. Jewelrygirl, to be precise, Queen sounds so stuffy. Boy, from my posts, you'd think gardening was my passion. I totally dig it (ha!), but I've been obsessed with jewelry, jewelry design, jewelry making and jewelry history for many, many moons (you can count them in decades). You probably wouldn't know it by looking at me. I don't wear too much, just wedding ring, antique engagement ring and simple hoop earrings most of the time. Kind of got out of the habit once I had the Little Nugget.

But I have a hankerin'. I get them every once-in-a-while. They feel...decadent. I feel the desire to make some jewelry. I get these ideas of things to make, they just pop into my head, I get the feeling, I buy supplies/tools/organizers/whatever, then....it goes away. Oh I jot the idea down in my sketchbook, but I never seem to get around to the MAKING part of jewelrymaking! Seems I get caught up in the supplies, tools and organizers and forget about the best part. Could it be possible that I love jewelry supplies more than the actual making part? I will admit to having a short attention span, so it could be. Maybe it's enough for me that I had the idea, it's done. Nope. I really would like to make something.

I bought a new organizer today (don't laugh Hubby Nugget! It's the best organizer, better than all the rest!!!!!), and the latest copy of Art Jewelry magazine, and I am motivated to make jewelry again. I have some ideas rolling around in my head. And I pledge to you, dear reader(s), I will make some jewelry this weekend, with God as my witness, I will make some jewelry this weekend!!!!

If I don't, you are free to mock me mercilessly.

All for now,
Jewelrynugget