I haven't gone away - honest!

The month of December has been a bit challenging for me and I hope all of my regular blog visitors will forgive me for not posting often.

To offer a quick rundown - my husband was in the ER with kidney stone pain and then had surgery a day later (still recovering - nasty - I won't go into details on this). This is his third surgery for kidney stones in the past few years. He's doing OK but is really uncomfortable and cannot exercise heavily or lift over five pounds.

Last week my beloved collie, who has seizures, had a cluster seizure - basically seizing every six hours. Ran her to the vet, who then recommended we take her to Boston to get the seizures under control. After much worry, stress, an evening in the Critical Care Unit and a neurological consult, she is home again and seems to be doing well (although with her legs shaved she looks like a poodle!)

On top of all of this, we are getting slammed with snow in the Northeast (and I know this is also happening in other parts of the country). I've had several nights that I've gone home and spent a couple of hours just clearing our driveway. The piles of snow are now waist high (or higher) and I'm not really sure where I'll pile it if more comes our way. The good news: there WILL be a white Christmas!

My little Etsy shop has taken somewhat of a back seat during this time. However, please know that I will be back blogging and visiting your blogs as soon as things at home calm down a bit.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season with your families and friends!

Oh, happy morning!

I was so excited this morning! I turned on my computer and was featured in TWO treasuries - how flattering! What a nice way to start the day!

thanks Beadinky for featuring my orange marbled earrings!
(beginning of 3rd row)


and also thanks to bdazzlingcreations for showing my Bella Infinity Necklace!
(also beginning of 3rd row)

New items in my shop

I've been trying to keep my little Etsy shop fresh by adding a couple of new items each day. So far the only thing slowing me down is the photography portion - creating new items is fun but taking photos and listing is not my strong suit!

My latest items:

Denim Blues Necklace

Ocean Blue Ear Thread Earrings

Timeless Pearl Leverback Earrings


And how is your busy holiday season progressing?

Whew! Thanksgiving is over!

The US Thanksgiving holiday was last Thursday and it's always a busy time in my house. Fortunately, my husband is a total gem and handles all of the cooking (I peel the potatoes - light duty!) while I clean house in the morning. That afternoon generally finds us snoozing and watching movies (it's just not Thanksgiving without a viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life") while the turkey and cranberry sauce settles in our tummies.

This year my two brothers decided to pay me a visit after the holiday. My younger brother, Scott, had spent the holiday with my Mom in Maine and was on his way back to his family in Wisconsin. My older brother, Danny, drove down from Maine with his family - I had a full house! Isn't that what the holidays are all about?

We had fun shopping and chatting and arguing (good-naturedly of course!) - I really do miss not having my family close by and this time of year it really catches up to me. Now that they've returned to their homes, my house is feeling a bit empty and Amber (re: collie) is looking a bit glum since she's not getting all of the attention she had over the weekend.

OK - now to post a couple of my new pieces of jewelry - more to come!

My stone and crystal sterling necklace



and my latest (and fave)
Dark Beauty Bracelet

Out and About

Oh my - time certainly moves quickly this time of year! My poor little blog has suffered due to the general craziness in life but I didn't forget about it - it just got put on the back burner for a bit.

Well, I've got 5 shows down and only 1 left on my hectic craft show schedule. I've certainly learned a lot from all of the customer comments and what people have purchased once they actually see my jewelry in person. Another great fringe benefit on all of the craft shows is that I've actually been able to meet some of the people on the NH Street Team!

Jodi, from Happy House Quilts, was my first visitor at the Concord show. Along with her hair accessories, she also carries cute items for pets and craft kits for the younger set (or older set if you like to try new crafts also!).

During the Manchester show I was able to hook up with Michelle from Pandy's and Griffin Gear who also happened to be participating. Sherry from ThreadFed also visited during the show - she has really fun embroidery style earrings in her shop.

And last (but certainly not least!) I met Melanie from Bags by Melanie fame. Melanie joined me at the Derry show and was right at the next table. It certainly makes the day shorter when you have someone to chat to during the long hours after setup and while customers stroll through. Check out my favorite (yes! she had this one at the show and I absolutely LOVE it!) from her shop:



Melanie was so much fun to have as a show buddy and I also found out she makes everything without a pattern! This is totally impressive to little ole me - especially since the sewing machine looks like a huge monster that bites. Her fun fabrics and creativity certainly show in her bags - they're fabulous and great quality!

My next show is in Hudson NH on Dec 1st - would love to have more visitors!

It's vacation time!

This time of year things really seem to move along quickly. I participated in my second craft show this past Saturday and have a great day. It really is gratifying when people like your items enough to shell out their hard-earned money to purchase it. If you'd like to check out pictures of my display, I posted some of them in an earlier blog entry. I did make minor changes (it's all a learning experience!) but you get the idea. I have another show as soon as we return from our vacation so there's no time to waste!

This week I have been scurrying to try to replace some of the stock I sold during the show, as well as get ready for our upcoming time away from home. I'm sooooo excited to finally get some alone time with the hubby! To put it mildly, he is a workaholic - and he's not allowed to bring his computer along with us so no checking email, no checking on his team, no customer issues - all of that stuff is going to be put on the back burner so we can relax.

We are heading to Orlando - and, of course, seeing all of the touristy sites there are to see. So far, the week is looking pretty full. We are meeting up with some friends for the first weekend (yeah!!) and will be going to Epcot with them on Saturday. The International Food and Wine Festival will be in full swing so there will be lots of tempting little booths with samples of food from all over the world to tempt the taste buds.

On Sunday, it's off to Universal Studios for the day. Lots to see and do (of course!) but Rich is really looking forward to attending their Halloween Horror Nights event. His favorite holiday and we'll need to go into every ... single ... haunted house. Not too bad - unless you're a total chicken like me! I admit it - I just don't like being scared.

The rest of the week we'll be making the rounds to the rest of all that Disney has to offer. However, before all of that happens, I have to pack! So ....

Heigh ho, heigh ho - it's off to pack I go

So sorry - just couldn't resist! Have a great week blogger buddies!

New item - ear threads!

The latest item in my shop - dainty, feminine and a bit funky! Sterling silver ear threads (aka threaders and strings) with dainty little ruby red flowers.

Click on picture for more information