FAE Street Team Fairy Contest Entry

I'm so excited that I finally got something done! All of my time for the past month or so has been dedicated to the moving experience: cleaning, repairing, packing boxes, unpacking boxes, you get the idea. Unfortunately, I don't have my office/studio/workshop (weeeeee!) set up yet either. I know it should take a priority, but I might be getting a real jeweler's workbench so I've been putting off setting things up until I know where I want it to go.

In any event, I'm a member of the FAE (Fantasy Artists of Etsy) Street Team and we're having a member contest right now based on fairies. Kathryn of Interior Glass Designs is hosting this contest and offering a prize for the winner. Her work is just gorgeous, so I can't wait to see what she's giving away! Even though she's not entering it herself, she designed a gorgeous fairy, too.

I'm so excited to have been able to participate because it gave me an excuse to play with my pliers again. I designed this Fairy Lariat Necklace:


There is an adorably whimsical flower fairy pendant featured on this necklace. She's sterling silver with a small garnet towards the bottom. She measures 1 1/2" long and 3/4" wide. There are three beads wire wrapped and connecting her to the byzantine chain. These beads represent the flowers she dwells among: the bottom bead is wood for the stems, the middle bead is an emerald green Swarovski crystal for the leaves, and the top bead is garnet for the petals and to match the stone on the pendant.


The byzantine chain is one of the oldest chain maille weaves in existence. All of the jump rings that the chain is comprised of, were coiled, cut, and woven by me. There are approximately 1100 bright aluminum rings in this chain, measuring 36" long (including the fairy pendant).


It can be worn double wrapped around your neck, as a super long necklace, or even as a multi-strand bracelet. She is available for purchase through my Etsy shop.

WE & Women's Equality Day

WE Etsy: Women's Empowerment Street Team

Recently, there was much discussion on the Etsy forums of starting a Women's Empowerment Street Team and I, of course, immediately jumped on board. We are not yet recognized by Etsy as being an official team yet, but there is already so much good stuff going on. You can check out our mission statement at our official blog. I am so excited about this team and look forward to all of the good that will come of it.

As a member of WE, I have volunteered to do a once monthly (probably mid-month) blog profile of a notable woman (either historical or contemporary) who has made contributions to the lives of women. You can look for the first installment mid September at the WE Blog.

Sunday, August 26 is Women's Equality Day

It took women 72 years of ceaseless campaigning to finally win the right to vote in 1920. This Sunday, August 26, Women's Equality Day, marks that anniversary.

I am forever grateful to our foremothers and suffrage leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Victoria Woodhull, Frances Wright, Ernestine Rose, Lucretia Mott, Margaret Fuller, Virginia Minor, Paulina Kellog Wright Davis, and so many others. Through much hardship, these amazing women led the way to secure our right to vote and gave us our voice in our democracy today.

The WE blog will feature these women who gave so much of themselves to secure our freedoms as well as many others who have made enormous contributions to many other aspects of women's lives. I look forward to exploring these women and their lives with all of you as a source of inspiration and, of course, empowerment.

We're Homeowners!

I know I've been fairly MIA as of late, but for a good reason! Things have been insane for the past few weeks with this whole house buying process. I must say, dealing with the banks and finding out your net worth is a very humbling experience. And then looking at your bank balance after your have them cut the cashier's check for closing is just damn depressing.

The weeks leading up to closing was spent like so: eat, sleep, work, pack, repeat. And not just packing up the apartment, but packing up tools to be brought over for repairs and such. We're big kids now, we even have a lawn mower.

Then immediately after closing the fun began: cleaning. I swear, I got into every crack, crevice, and surface that existed in this place. Some situations required yoga poses to reach. It was a little insane. I never thought I would be so sore from cleaning.

After a full week of cleaning, repairing, and painting, we finally got a bunch of Scott's absolutely amazing friends together to help us move furniture and boxes over.

And even had one special guest to help us move. ====>>

Needless to say, we're living out of boxes right now. The kitchen and bathrooms were the very first rooms I cleaned and moved in and once our furniture was in, we moved into the bedroom. But, aside from that. . . cleaning, repairs, and unpacking will continue. Oh, well. It will all be there tomorrow.

In close, here's a pic of me being super happy after closing in our very own pool!

Check out more pic's at flickr.