52 Week Challenge: Week 16

This is a perfect representation of what last week felt like. It just flew by in a blur!

The weird thing is that when I look at the individual things that I did last week, it's not that much different from any other week. But it feels like all those things happened 2-3 weeks ago, rather than within the past week. Strange!

Don't get me wrong, quite a few good things happened last week and I wouldn't change any of it, but I do feel a little off kilter... like I time traveled and skipped a few weeks without ever knowing it!

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone! Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day celebrated.

I'm a firm believer that every little effort counts, so I do little things everyday to reduce the amount of resources I use. If my son makes a huge mess and his clothes need pre-washing, I bring them into the shower with me. Once the laundry is done, I hang them dry. When I boil pasta or broccoli for dinner, I let the water cool down and then give it to my plants.

One of my favorite "green" items I have right now are the shopping bags shown in the photo! They fold up to about the size of a wallet, so I carry them everywhere and whip them out whenever I shop. I got them at Christmas Tree Shops, but I'm sure you can make one easily if you are handy with a sewing machine. (Unfortunately, I am NOT! LOL)

The best part is, these small gestures take very little effort AND save you money!

What kind of things do you do to help the Earth? I'd love to find out!

Also, if you don't know about them already, please visit sites such as care2.com, The Rainforest Site, and Red Jellyfish to make a small difference everyday!

P.S. If you add salt to the water when you boil vegetables and/or pasta, please don't give it to your plants! My mother insisted that I mention this :)

52 Week Challenge: Week 15

There's one thing I've learned in the last couple of weeks - It's hard to take good photos of flowers! Seriously, I keep taking picture after picture of flowers in the neighborhood, but once I come home and look at them on my computer, my first reaction is, "Eh..." They all end up looking ordinary at best, down right boring at their worst.

It's like they emit this charming energy that can't be captured in a photograph. You have to be there in person to experience it. Though I have managed to take a flower-related photo that I liked this week, it's still not the actual flower. Just the petals.

The pear tree in front of our house is shedding its flowers now, and there are literally pools of white petals where we normally see puddles of rain water. As I crouched down low to inspect them, I noticed that a lone petal from a cherry tree on the far end of the street had somehow found its way and settled on top.

I just found that to be such a soft, lovely sight even though many of the petals were getting old and shriveled. It's a sure sign that Spring is not going to last too much longer, but it was gorgeous while it was here!

52 Week Challenge: Week 14

I'm getting later and later in posting these 52 Week challenge photos, but I do take the pictures during the allotted week ;)

This week was a bit of a struggle though, and I had to make do with a photo I took Sunday night. As late as it could be! It's a left over slice from my hubby's ice cream birthday cake. Thus the water droplets on the sprinkles...

Since I wasn't too happy with the original shot, I played around with it in Photoshop and turned everything sepia except for the sprinkles. In the end, I don't think you could really tell that I did all that work. Oh well! You can't hit the ball out of the park every week.

Sneak Peek: New Project

A little while ago, I mentioned that I was sorting through lots of beads and getting ready to work on a new line of products. Well, I got side tracked after that, but I'm back at it again and have a photo to show you. I wonder if you can tell what it is!

I don't want to reveal exactly what it is yet, but I'm tentatively calling this new line "Jewelry for Your Home". I haven't seen anything like it before personally, so I don't even know if there is a proper name for them.

Anyway, I'm working on more colors and more different styles, so stay tuned!

52 Week Challenge: Week 13

Whee! Yesterday, I actually got a chance to walk around and take photos, without my son OR my dog tagging along! I definitely enjoyed the fresh air, the warm spring sun, and most of all, freedom. I know, I know, the photo doesn't show any sign of spring at all, but it's what caught my eye...

About 3 weeks ago, we had a massive storm that took down numerous trees and did all kinds of damage. Ever since then, I've been noticing many strange sights. Clean up have been very slow, so there are still trees down everywhere, and random objects sitting around on sidewalks. The shoreline, especially, have a treasure trove of old rusty things and other astonishing collections of human pollution.


In spite of that, though, Mother Nature is showing her tenacity and spring colors are everywhere. Check out these daffodils! The tree right next to them was uprooted in the storm, lifting them up in the air. But they're still blooming as if nothing happened. Aren't they amazing?

Monochromatic Raibow Treasury

Treasury time again! I had so much fun doing the celery treasury that I had to do it again :) I had this one ready to go, and finally managed to get one. I just love colors! Especially the entire color spectrum!

Also, don't forget, I'm doing a Etsyversary Sale this weekend in my Etsy store!! I'm offering woldwide free shipping, plus 20% off my Spiral Chain Maille bracelets.

My Etsy Store is A Year Old!

Holy Molly, how time flies! Exactly one year ago today, I signed up for an Etsy account and started listing items. To celebrate, I created this fun and colorful bracelet! It was inspired by the colors of confetti.

And of course, you can't have an Etsyversary without a sale! I'm offering free shipping on all items for the month of April, even for international customers, so please stop by my store and browse around!

But wait! There's more!! (I've always wanted to say that. LOL) For this weekend only, I've marked down ALL of my spiral chainmaille bracelets! So you can get the Confetti bracelet above for 20% off. Or my Everything Is Coming Up Roses bracelet shown in the banner, or my Something Blue bracelet, or any other spiral chain bracelets. If you don't like the color combinations you see, get the Custom bracelet and choose your favorite colors! But only through April 4th, so hurry!