Please support small businesses today!

I've been watching all that has been going on in my country for a while now.  People are pissed off.  They are pissed off that there is such a huge gap developing between the haves and the have nots.  And I know one small way everyone can help close that gap a bit.

Buy from local and small businesses this holiday season.  Start now.  You can even patronize small businesses online.  It's a small easy step in the right direction.

Please do this.  It will help everyone... including me.  Shop small businesses and keep the money out of the hands of those Wall Street execs.

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/divapixie

http://www.artfire.com/

Greenhouse groundbreaking.

We decided to break ground on our greenhouse project today.

For those of you who don't know, or more because I probably have been REALLY bad about updating my LJ lately, Lee and I have decided to tackle to project of building a greenhouse form mostly recycled materials. The inspiration for this project was our friend Jola, who has such a greenhouse attached to her little shed. We figured if they could do it, so could we.

Anyways, we purchased our 10' 4x4 posts this weekend and today we got started digging the holes for said posts. These five posts will be our support for the frame of the greenhouse, which will also be attached to a thus support by the existing shed.

So, Lee went out with the post hole digger and started digging... and hit concrete! I shit you not.... there was a sidewalk completely buried... and partially under my vegtable garden. This explains why my cucumbers did so poorly this season.

After much digging, prying and lifting.... we had quite the large stash of concrete panels and even somecurved pieces that were used as a drain next to the sidewalk. This was some old school concrete pouring.

We removed three sidewalk panels and 4 pieces of "drain" as well as two old bricks and one random large rock. UGH. After all this was taken out of the way, we tooksome bamboo pieces we have and some twine and found our line for the first side of the greenhouse. We measured out where our first two posts on that side should be located and then marked those places with some spray paint. Then it was all "hurricane Lee" from that point on. He dug a 24" hole with the post hole digger,injuring his knee and nose in the process. No worries, just bruises and small lacerations... no sprains or breaks.

Doesn't look like much huh? Well, one two foot hole dug.... only 4 more to go. Then we are on to placing and Quickcreting in posts. It's the first step anyways.

Some new pieces....

I have been a very busy bee on many fronts lately.  Jewelry is included in those.  I've created a whole flock of new pieces.  I would like to take some time to feature a few of them here.  For the sake of picture sanity, I'll divide them into multiple posts.

This cameo is a tortoise shell vintage cameo surounded by a rose gold colored copper wire crocheted into a sort of basket.  I then wove colored freshwater pearls around it in two layers.  I have plans to do a Viking crocheted copper chain to accompany it.

In stark contrast to the above piece, here are is a simple pair of earrings.  I used swarovski bicones, freshwater pearls and faceted glass beads along with the silver plated wire and findings to create these lovely drop earrings.



A pretty picture of beads...

... just because I can.

Cosmos!

I have and always will adore cosmos.  They are such a delight to grow.  The tall fern like plants, the delicate daisy like flowers and the bright colors make them such a wonderful addition to my garden.  They attract butterflies and honey bees and lots of different beetles.  They alaos distract grasshoppers from eating any nearby vegtables.  Grasshoppers love to eat cosmos, flower petal and all.  While some people might find that distressing, I don't mind.  I have several eggplant and tomatoe plants nearby that appreciate the bug distraction.

These cosmos reseeded themselves all over my lawn this year.  I had to literally dig up the small seedlings and place them inside the garden liner to save them form the lawn mower.  And while it took FOREVER for them to bud and blossom, now look at them. 

And the winners are....

$50 gift certificate goes to Oana!
$25 gift certificate goes to Marija!
$10 gift certificate goes to Megan Morin!

Thank you all so much for your entries.  There were over 200 names in the box today!  That is outstanding!  Keep your eyes on my blog for more giveaways and great deals!

Winners, please email me at divapixie25@gmail.com so I can send you your gift certificate codes for my Artfire studio.

ONE HOUR LEFT!

To enter my giveaway! Hurry! I am drawing the winners of my three gift certificates at 12pm (noon) CST.

Nelly, our resident monarch

One morning about 6 weeks ago, I went out to the garden with my camera to capture some photos or our morning glories.  I saw a monarch butterfly sitting on a leaf of the grapevine airing out its wings.  I could tell that she was damp because she had probably just hatched out.  Pretty little thing.

Well, apparently she likes our yard.  She has been sleeping in out elm tree at night and I find her and several of her butterfly friends on the zinnias, sunflowers and cosmos in the yard everyday. 
I named her Nelly.  It's a good butterfly name.

Oh no.

CRAP IN A HAT.

So, I went online to my bank account to check to see if my overnight deposit had been posted yet (it had) and I noticed something.

I am SHORT $160. I have two major bills coming out of my account this week sometime and I am SHORT $160. Oh. Dear. God.

And I double checked all my figures…. they are all correct. CRAP.

Anyone want to buy some jewelry, jelly, jam, anything i make? Anyone?

Need help.

Autumn is here and so is my GIVEAWAY!

Happy Equinox to everyone!  I hope today finds you balanced and well.

Now, onto the important stuff.  I am holding a GIVEAWAY!  I want to drum up some traffic,views, and perhaps even some sales in my Artfire studio.  I also want to giveaway gift certificates to my Artfire studio!  How cool is that?  I'll be giving away THREE gift certificates to my studio on September 30th.  There are tons of ways to enter.  Some activities will earn you more "chances" to win.  So... here's the skinny....
1.) Like my Facebook page= 1 chance
2.) Make a comment on my Facebook page that doesn't include a link to another shop= 3 chances
3.) Make a comment on my Facebook page telling me about one of my jewelry pieces= 5 chances
4.) Follow my on Twitter= 1 chance
5.) Tweet about my blog or giveaway= 2 chances
6.) Tweet my Artfire studio or a piece from my Artfire studio= 4 chances
7.) Follow me on Tumblr= 1 chance
8.) Like a post on my Tumblr= 1 chance
9.) Reblog a post on my Tumblr= 3 chances
10.) Follow my blog= 1 chance
11.) Blog about my giveaway on your blog including links= 5 chances
12.) Make a comment on a blog entry on my blog= 3 chances
13.) Make a purchase from my Artfire studio= 7 chances

Now that you know how to get your name entered, here's the information you will need to get started.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/FoolsandJewels  Facebook page for my jewelry
http://divapixie.tumblr.com/
http://divapixie.blogspot.com/
http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/divapixie
http://www.twitter.com/divapixie

If you tweet something, please send me an email with a copy of the tweet, the link for the tweet and your name to be entered.  If you blog about my giveaway, please email me the link to your blog entry.  I can be emailed at divapixie25@gmail.com

And now... the REALLY important stuff.... more info on the PRIZES!  I will be drawing three names on September 30th.  First prize will we a $50 gift certificate to my Artfire studio.  Second prize will be a $25 gift certificate to my studio and third prize will be a $10 gift certificate to my studio.  These certificates will be emailed codes that can be used in my studio on Artfire.  If the amount of your certificate does not fully cover the cost of your order, the difference will be owed.  A gift certificate does not imply free shipping.

So, get out there and get entered to win!

Big things are a foot!

I have been picking my brain and other's brains as well for over a week now trying to come up with some kind of promotion I could run for my jewelry studio on Artfire.  Lots of ideas were given, considered and toseed around.  I think this morning I finally have something solidifying in my mind.
I am going to do a giveaway.  I did one last year with this blog that proved successful enough.  This year I want to include every facet of my promotional online exsistence.  I want to offer more chances for entry into this giveaway and include my Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Artfire studio and this blog.  I am going to only offer gift certificates as prizes for this giveaway.  And i am going to make sure and clarify things that were muddy last time.
Keep watching my blog this evening for more details for how to enter.  I can't access all these internet elements on my computer at work.  Check back for details.

A few words.

I would like to take a few moments to share a few words about things that have been on my mind as of late.
First, I have come to believe that drama for the sake of drama is a waste of valuable time and energy unless it is put onstage.  I've been reading and experiencing a lot of drama lately that seems to exsist for no other reason than to simply stir the pot.  Teenagers do this because they honestly feel they have nothing better to do.  Adults do this to feel some semblence of control and belonging.  Neither actually happen and both are a waste of time and energy.  Why bother?
Seriously, going out to pick a fight or even being passive aggressive in the hopes a fight will break out and you can jump in.... it's just stupid.  That being said, having a disagreement is bound to happen.  Passions and beliefs flare and cause lots of things to be said.  But if you can express them and then release them, it's the best step.  Sometimes the other party( or parties) involved will be reluctant or even downright refuse to let it go.  Just say "oh well" and walk away.  That is now their issue and not yours.
Of course, this can all be easier said than done.

Second, why do some people insist on bothering me about being friends with them when I am clearly not interested?  Allow me to ellaborate.
My first love, let's call him R, was my boyfriend in college.  We dated for 2 1/2 years.  We had talked about marriage.  We did things that serious couples do.  Then his mommy told him he could do better and so he dumped me over the phone on Christmas Eve.  I went batshit for the next 6 months.  Seriously, I plead insanity.  We tried to be friends.  I got jealous and cranky.  We tried being friends with benefits.  I was fine for a while, then got jealous and cranky when he decided it was OK to boink a new girlfriend and an old one at the same time.  Then we tried being just friends and I did the whole "la la la, we're just casual friends and i can act like you mean nothing to me, out of sight out of mind" thing.  Then, in the middle of that phase, I realized something.  I didn't like this person.  If we hadn't have dated, this would not have been someone I'd have made friends with.  I disliked him.  I still dislike him.  He acts holier than thou towards me because he is 9 months older and because he graduated college a whole year ahead of me.  He listens to his mother and not to himself.  I would NEVER have picked him to be a close friend. 
So, why did I feel obligated to attempt friendship with him now?  Why?  The relationship was ended and sour at that.... so friendship is not necessary.  So, I told him I didn't like who I became when I was around him.  I told him I did not want to speak to him or see him ever again.
And yet... the douchebag has repeatedly attempted to friend me on Facebook.... 7 TIMES.  I reject his request everytime.  He even wrote me an email asking why we can't act like adults and talk and catch up.  Because.... I DON'T LIKE YOU.  Not even a little.  And I tend to avoid people I don't care for so as not to cause drama for the sake of drama.
He calls this childish.  Fine.  Call it what you like... I just think it is necessary to stay the hell away from you.

That's what's been on my mind today.

Flowers in my garden

I realize I haven't really shown any pictures of the flowers in my garden this season as of late.  And there really are some lovely ones.  I have a glorious hibiscus plant in a pot on my porch.  It is a new hybrid from Burpee called Cranberry crush and it is amazing.  This is it's second round of blossoms in the first year of growth.

I also planted some Scarlet O'Hara morning glories in the back yard alongside the vegtable garden.  They are a fushcia color which mimics red in the right light.  I adore them.

And the zinnias.... oh the zinnias.  I plant zinnias every year but this year they have been particularily lovely.  I have plans to plants more colors of zinnia next season and in more places.  The butterflies we have had because of them is astounding.









Garden update

Well.... let's see if I can summarize this without being too longwinded about it.
Lee backed over the peas with my car.  They didn't look very good anyways.
We have had over 40 days this summer of over 100 degrees so the broccoli bolted and then died.  We did get two good harvests and it was delish. 

We had plenty of good spinach and lettuce in June and then that went to seed.  The excessive heat really does take out alot of vegtables.
So far this summer though, the slowest vegtable to produce has been the tomatoes.  Don't get me wrong, I've been watering them to keep them growing and alive and I have tons of tomatoe plants.  They just reserved the right to flower and produce until these past couple of weeks.

In stark contrast, the pumpkins this year grew and fruited FAST.  I have 4 pie pumpkins already harvested and cured.  And there are a few more starting.  It's insane.  I wasn't expecting them for a couple more weeks.
Everything else seems to be sort of on time and if not then only delayed by a few weeks.  And that is only because I ran the sprinkler a LOT this summer.

Back after a hiatus again.

I just can not seem to motiate myself during the summer to blog about anything.  And so much has traspired over this particular summer that I am almost uncertain about how to compose this "I'm back" blog post.  Perhaps a list with select details will be best.

1.) The garden looks phenominal though as usual some things grew better than others.  I have lots of pictures about that to post at a later date.  We had some hellish weather this summer which made my watering of the garden more of an obsession than a passing chore.  Because of that, the plants grew big but haven't really officially started producing vegtables until these past few weeks. It's bizarre.  We had pumpkins ready to pick and cook before we had ripe tomatoes.  Positively strange.

2.) My friends have some serious drama going on.  One married couple split up the same day as another married couple... each of the dumpers leaving their respective spouses for the other. So.... it's been an odd social season for us.  We can no longer just call couple #1 and couple #2 for dinner or drinks because... well.... they are now single #1 and single #2 and couple #3.  It's a big, fat mess and we are all forced to deal with it. *sigh*  Doesn't make a god case for marriage does it?

3.) I have been busy doing Farmer's Market things once again this summer.  Since we've had 40 traight days of 100+ degree weather, produce has been slim and thus we have almost all resorted to making some kind of baked goods and crafts to sell in the mean time.  I discovered that Dodge City is comprised of a number of dog lovers.  So, I began making and selling homemae dog biscuts.  People and dogs love them. I've also been making homemade english muffins and scones which are becoming a big hit as well.  I've done quite well this summer.

4.) Lee, my boyfriend, moved into my home in January of 2011. Things have been going well for us.  So well, he got a promotion at work.  He is no longer an assistant manager of customer service at the car dealership but has been transfered to a different section and made a proper manager of customer service.  In other words, when your car breaks down or has the oil changed or is making that weird noise, he's the guy you talk to to schedule an apointment with the technicians.  And he's damn good at his job too.

5.) On the jewelry front, not much has been happening in the way of sales.  However, a lot has been happening in the way of PR for my jewelry studio on Artfire as well as my designs in general.  I've had pieces featured in Bead Trends magazine in the past and have pieces that were selected to be featured in the November and December issues for 2011 as well.  This July I received an email from the editor asking if they could use me as the Designer Highlight for the February 2012 edition.  It's a full 10 page spread along with a head shot of myself and bio page.  I am SUPER excited about this opportunity and will therefore be getting pieces put together and shipped off in the next 2 weeks.  How cool is that?

That's a good update thus far.  More to come later.... including pictures.

Another garden update

Things are continuing to pop up out of the ground in our garden.  We finally did get the pumpkin garden planted with pumpkins, watermelon and cantalope as well as flowers to fil in the space.  Things are popping up in that garden though I haven't photographed it yet.

Our other gardens are just zooming along.  We have brocolli heads beginning to form.  The onions are growing taller.  There are cucumber and yellow melon sprouts and last night the zuccinni came up as well. The carrots are sprouting and the peas are growing larger everyday.  I've had to this the radishes and beets as well as the lettuce and spinach. 

See how my garden is growing!

Things are growing in my gardens and how!  Check it out.

The onions are coming up like gang busters.  We have planted yellow and red onions. 

The peas I planted in the tire are doing well.  There are 4 shoots so far and I put some more pea seeds in there not long ago.  Can't wait to have fresh peas.

And look how big the potatoes have gotten!  WOW! 

This evening we are planning to tackle the pumpkin garden and maybe pull some weeds in the herb garden.

Garden season is upon us!

I have the spring fever bug bad.  I have been itching to get started on my garden work for almost 6 weeks now.  So much so that I had started many of my herb and veggie and even some of my flower plants inside.

Anyways, this past week the winds were too high to get a proper start on the garden.  However, this past weekend was the PERFECT time to start.  And with highs in the 60s-80s for the next week and a half, I am so ready.

I started with my 4'x8' garden box.  I have brocolli, cauliflower, tomatoe and pepper starters inside already, as well as some garlic starters.  Those went in the box.  Then I started lettuce, spinach, nasturtiums, and beets from seed.  Top it of with some marigold plants to help with pest control and voila!  My garden box is in and growing.

Lee and I had heard that planting potatoes in old tires worked realy well.  Since Lee knows the tire guys in town, he inquired about getting some old beat up tires for this purpose.  I planted two kinds of potatoes in tires as well as one tire of peas.  All are coming up like gang busters now.

I also dug out the old dead foliage from last season from one of my flower beds.  I put in some new dirt and peat moss and planted African daisies, black petunias and snapdragons.

And this is just the start of my gardens.  Wait till you see the new herb garden addition, the pumpkin patch and the veggie bed.  There's so much more to do yet.  I'll keep you all updated.  SQUEE!





The muse is still visiting!

I am still creating new pieces.... lots of them.  I seem to be inspired and motivated and these are the results.

    
      
All these pieces and MORE can be found at my Artfire Studio. http://www.artfire.com/users/divapixie

Rob Kalin SCARES me

So, I have a Livejournal in addition to this Blogger account.  That is my very personal and limited journal whereas this one is more public.  On Blogger, I follow a number of other blogs for various reasons. Makes for excellent reading material throughout my day. At any rate, one of them I follow is called Etsy Bitch.


Etsy Bitch was founded on the principle that they wanted to help change Etsy by pointing out what needed to be fixed. This mission has changed... considerably... especially given that Etsy is turning into a complete and total MONSTER. But I digress. What I want to talk about briefly is something I saw in a few recent posts on this blog.

Apparently, Inc. magazine did an interview with the CEO and founder of Etsy recently and the article hit news stands and the internet yesterday. I became curious about what the man behind the monster had to say, so I went on over to the website and read the article.

WOW. That was the one word I came back to repeatedly. From reading this article, it became clear that the journalist was having a hard time trying to report exactly what was going on. To his credit, the journalist did try to stick to the point of just reporting the facts and quotes from the person in question... and just by doing that the truth about this nut was revealed. He's freakin' scary.

If you are interested.... here are the links.

www.inc.com/magazine/20110401/can-rob-kalin-scale-etsy.html#



And here's Etsy Bitch if you are looking for some more although snarky info.

http://etsybitch.blogspot.com/



Seriously..... SO glad I ditched out of Etsy while I could and am now happily instated at Artfire. Whew!

More new pieces

I have been a whirlwind of creating recently... and I want to share some new pieces with you, my readers.

 

I have big plans to start working on some new pendants and rings this evening as well.  I have started making pieces for a lady with a fashion website that offers clothing, jewelry and accesories for dwarves.  I thought it was a great idea and agreed to do larger bulk orders for her.  She wanted rings that are more adjustable for that exact purpose.  I am planning to work on those shortly.

APRIL FOOL'S SALE!

Since today is the last day of my Spring Cleaning Sale, I decided to up the anty as it were.  Today only, everything in my studio is a whopping 20% OFF!  Yes, everything.... new pieces, old stock, puppets, destash..... EVERYTHING!
Fools and Jewels

Come on over to my studio and check it out!

New pieces!

I have been busy creating and listing new pieces in my studio all weekend.  Here's just a few samples of what's new.

Come on over to my Artfire studio and see what else is new!  Fools and Jewels

Beaded crystal prisms~ a new endeavor

A while back I asked my sister what she wanted for Christmas and she gave me a simple answer.  She wanted a couple of crystal prisms to hang in her kitchen window.  My nieces like to chase the rainbows that they make.  i can remember clearing doing this with my sister when I was a kid as well.  I decided I would bead a wire to attach the prism to for her. 
As I was doing this one evening, my boyfriend remarked how lovely it looked and pointed out the prisms in my livingroom window.  He inquired about perhaps beading them as well.  And then once I had finished them and hung them up, he stated that there was the possibility others may be interested in them as well and they could be an item that may sell well.  I don't know about that but they sure turned out nice.

Spring Cleaning SALE!

I have decided to clear out some of my old jewelry stock to make room for new stock. This means savings for you!  From now until April 1st I am offering 10% off everything in my studio!  If you tweet, blog or Facebook this sale, please leave me a comment and something special might come to you as well. ;)

Come on over and check it out!

http://www.artfire.com/users/divapixie

Catching up

Wow.  So much has happened since I last wrote.  Both on the jewelry front and on the home front.  In the past two weeks I have:
~Caught a BAD head cold.
~Had my parents and grandmother come for a week long visit.
~Fixed up my kitchen.

~Hung curtains in the livingroom.

~Worked on my final concert for my students at school.
~Been filling a large custom order for resin buttons.
~Been recruited to do a jewelry line for an online fashion website.
~Been asked to sew some quick curtains for a local community theater production.
~Helped my father sand, water seal and assemble a cedar bar for my dinning room.

Yep... that about sums it up.  It was a LOT.