Thanksgiving and a Black Friday Find

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Thanksgiving day was a little crazy for us, with 15 adults, 3 kids, and 2 dogs crammed into my sister-in-law's house! But it was nice to spend time with family, and with everybody pitching in, we had massive amount of yummy food! The next morning, we were too tired to get up early for the Black Friday doorbusters, but we did go shopping later in the day.

And now, we get to the reason why I wanted to post! We didn't shop too much this year, but I got this ADORABLE turtle from a small toystore we happened to find. I've actually wanted it for years, but I thought it was a little too expensive. So, when I found this at the store and realized that they were doing a store-wide 20% off sale, I jumped on it!

It's made by a company named Cloud B and is called Twilight Turtle. It lights up and projects real constalations on your ceiling! And you can change the color of the light from green to blue and amber at the push of a button, too. Now, after bath, my son will just sit there quietly as I dress him in pajamas. He loves switching the colors and thinks it's really funny when stars are projected on his belly.

It truly is magical! I highly recommend it for anyone with small kids!!

It's THAT Time of the Year Again!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and for the last 3 years in my house, that has meant Christmas Card Photoshoot Time!

And this year, it was much harder than years past. My son is old enough to know what's going on now, so it's hard to get a natural smile out of him. He will either pose too much and give me a smile that's closer to "I'm in pain!" than "I'm happy", or he'll just completely avoid eye-contact because he's bored and wants the whole thing to be over. As you can see, he completely covered up his face in the end.

I did manage to get a couple of good shots though. So hopefully, I can finally mail the cards out to Japan in time this year!

On a different note, I will be participating in the Etsy Cyber Monday Free Shipping deal this weekend. So be sure to browse through my store and find a nice gift for your friends and loved ones!

Brand New Set

Since the reopening, I've listed 13 brand new items in my store, with one more on the way very soon. But my favorite of them all has to be this Silver Stardust and Aqua Blue Crystal Necklace! It's part of a set, actually, although I'm selling the earrings separately in case someone wants just one or the other.

I've been sitting on these silver stardust beads for years, saving them for just the right inspiration. They are just soooo pretty, I can literally sit and stare at them all day long. And now I finally got a chance to do them justice!

The combination of stardust beads and the swarovski crystals is simply spellbinding! It's too bad you can't see the actual item because they glitter and shimmer constantly, and so much prettier in person.

It's the perfect set of accessories for the holiday season and special occasions!

New Swarovski Colors Available for Custom Jewelry!

When I was little, I used to LOVE staring at my colored pencils. I would arrange and rearrange them in the box, and would just drink in each and every color. It had this amazing calming quality, and I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of happiness when they were in perfect order.

Now that I'm a jewelry maker, I don't deal with colored pencils much. But I still need my colored-pencil-substitute to keep me sane, so I get my color fix with Swarovski crystals. They come in so many colors and finishes, not to mention shapes, that I can't possibly afford to order them all. But every missing color feels like a gaping hole, and last month, I finally caved and ordered a couple more new colors.

So, now, I've got 50!! colors of crystals for you to choose from when you order one of my custom jewelry! And yes, if you are a color addict like me, you certainly can order a bracelet with every color of the rainbow!

The custom bracelets and earrings are available in my store, and a necklace is also available upon request!

I'm Back on Etsy...Finally!

At last! I finally reopened my Etsy store!

It took a full month longer than I had originally planned, but I'm glad that I took those 2 months off. I got the most important thing done, which is get my business license, and most of all, I'm really glad for the time and attention I was able to give my son during those 2 months. It was a nice change to be able to go out for a walk whenever he wanted, or read him books after books on command. I think I may have to reevaluate the way I spend my day, so that I can set aside more time for my baby.

Still, I'm very excited to be opening my store again. It's nice to have an identity other than "Mommy" once in a while!

I need your Vote!

WHEEEEE! I entered a photo of my son in a local photo contest, and it was chosen as one of the 5 finalists! Now I need your vote to win! Please go to http://www.silive.com/photo-contest/index.ssf/2009/10/time_to_choose_a_fall_scenes_p.html and vote for Autumn Walk!!! Poll will be open until noon on Friday, Nov 6th!