Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas Spirit Found

Just before Christmas arrived, I posted about how I was not ready for this holiday season. Time snuck up on me, I didn't have gifts prepared for anyone, and I was in a pretty bad "Bah, humbug" funk. I found a little bit of holiday spirit the Monday before Christmas, when my husband said, "Hey, let's run down to the mall and find some gifts for one another. Maybe we'll get some dinner and catch a movie, too." This idea shortly turned into a, "Hey, let's sit in Barnes & Noble until almost closing time and then pick out some books for one another" trip (which is actually a pretty good day in my eyes.) We then had a lovely dinner at Olive Garden. The only thing that would have made it better is if I'd had the opportunity to run into the Michael's next door and browse their stuff, as I haven't been to a craft store in what seems like eons. There's something about spending a day out with my husband that always lifts my mood. Combine that with festively decorated stores and Christmas music on the radio, and presto - instant holiday cheer.

It's good that I found my Christmas joy, because the next night, we picked up my mom-in-law, sis-in-law, and nephew and headed down to James Island County Park's annual Holiday Festival of Lights. The night could have gone better, to be totally honest, what with endless delays, getting a little lost on the way, and hella-bad traffic. When we finally got there, it was all we could do to keep my daughter from running off like a maniac. She was so excited about the Christmas lights, I think she actually forgot to look at them. It didn't exactly turn out to be the relaxing, fun family jaunt that I was hoping for, but nothing could beat the simultaneous "Wow's" and "Look at that's" coming from my little one and her cousin.
Daddy and Ciannon enjoying the Christmas light show!
Christmas came and was overall very good. My husband and I actually celebrated Christmas #1 and Christmas #2 this year. My mom-in-law, thinking that everyone would be celebrating on Christmas Day proper, decided to invite everyone over for brunch and presents on Christmas Eve morning. My aunt, quite separately, decided that she would have lunch and presents on Christmas Eve as well. I had already decided that I was going to attend Christmas Eve service at church, since I had missed out on the entire Advent season due to family illnesses. So, as you can imagine, our day was quite full. This was Christmas #1. After it was over, I quite enjoyed being able to relax that evening with some pizza and watch  The Muppet Christmas Carol with my husband, mom, dad, lil' sis, and her fiance. Pizza on Christmas Eve has been my husband's family tradition since he was a child, and since I love pizza, I gladly honor it. Watching The Muppet Christmas Carol has been my family's Christmas Eve tradition since the movie was released in 1992, and though my husband doesn't care for the Muppets, he allows me to carry on this tradition, mainly because he doesn't have a choice.

I knew Christmas #2 was going to be a good day when my two-year-old woke up and the first words out of her mouth were, "Christmas? Presents?" She actually got into ripping open the presents this time, instead of letting the adults do all the work. I believe her favorite gift was a tie between all of them. We then sat down to a nice breakfast of grits, eggs, sausage, bacon, and biscuits prepared by my mom. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying our gifts until dinner, when Dad and Mom grilled up the not-so-traditional Christmas dinner of steak, mac-n-cheese, baked potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob. It was good enough that I almost want to make it our usual Christmas dinner from now on. (I guess that will depend on where we end up living, because no one wants to grill out if there's three feet of snow on the ground.)

And speaking of snow, we didn't have a white Christmas, we did get snow all day on the 26th. None of it stuck, but snow in SC is a rarity in and of itself, so I happily watched it fall and thanked my lucky stars for such a miracle. So, as unprepared as I was, Christmas came and went, and I find myself all the happier for it.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Not now, Christmas.

I love Christmas; it's tied with Halloween as my favorite holiday ever. That's saying a lot, because I LOVE holidays. Not this year though. Christmas is less than a week away, and all I want to do is curl up and hide. I haven't bought gifts, made holiday treats, or anything. I've been forcing myself to listen to Christmas music, and Tuesday we're even going to see our local Festival of Lights, but I'm not really excited. And I don't know why. I guess someone forgot to pass the holiday cheer my way. Go away, Christmas, come back when I'm ready for you.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Cataclysm!

Oh, Blizzard, you have done it again! Just when I was starting to think I could live without World of Warcraft, you introduce Cataclym, and my passion is rekindled. Since December 7th, I've been playing during pretty much every spare moment. Both new races are fun to play and follow interesting story lines, I like the newly incorporated cinematics in the game, and I especially enjoy the music. The new zone Vashj'ir is graphically stunning. You get a sense of vastness there that wasn't in previous zones. Actually, all the new areas seem more broad, like they really are part of a larger world, as opposed to being their own closed off little zone. Vash'jir especially feels like this to me, because it seems you can literally see for miles down there under the sea.
Think I can solo this bad boy?
And now, I have something very serious I want to talk to you about. I may not have ever discussed it here, but I am a die-hard Horde player. I love the warrior-clan culture - the emphasis on blood, glory, and honor. It moves me on a primal level in a way that the more "sophisticated" Alliance culture could never do. Now the Shattering has occurred, Thrall, our beloved warchief, has left to help the Earthen Ring mend the world. This fills me with great sadness and great pride simultaneously, but what I really want to talk to you about is this: I've always known Thrall was epic, but after seeing him in his new role in Cataclysm, I think we should vote for him as our next president. If you need evidence, here it is:
Thrall holding the frickin' planet together!
There. Thrall is using his shamanistic might to keep Azeroth from ripping in half! We need someone like this leading the country. In the wake of recent disappointments, there has been a lapse of confidence in our leaders' abilities to get things done. Were Thrall our commander-in-chief, I know our country would recover. The economy would pick up, healthcare would be affordable, and no terrorist would ever think of attacking us again. A vote for Thrall is a vote for America!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Cheaters Never Prosper?

Ha! I did it! For a week now, I've been banging my head against the wall trying to figure out how to make the content wrapper on my blog transparent without making the text and pictures inside transparent as well. I would be lying if I said I understood coding at all, so I've been scouring the internet for an easy tutorial. I learned random facts about parents, children, inherit opacity, and CSS, but I really couldn't find anything that would help me. As I was sitting, staring hopelessly at my blog wondering if I should scrap the whole transparency idea, it hit me. I hit print screen, opened the image in paint, cut out a portion of the content wrapper and saved it as an image. Then, I set that image as the content wrapper's background, and erased the opacity codes I had put in. Presto! A transparent looking background without the transparent text. So yeah, I cheated a little, but it achieved the desired effect. ::Weeps:: I'm so happy.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Making Progress

I'm getting there, slowly but surely! You may have noticed a few changes to the blog; I'm getting close to having everything the way I want it. Stick with me!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Worldbreaker comes!

We now interrupt this site's maintenance to bring you THE SHATTERING! That's right, Blizzard has released the big, pre-Cataclysm patch for World of Warcraft, so that's where I'm going to be. I'll be making little changes to the blog here and there, but the completed product will probably take me longer than I originally anticipated.

Currently Under Construction

Bear with me as I'm making changes to my blog's layout. When it's all done my blog should be more organized and user friendly!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Limbo

Looks like it's about time for a status update. I haven't posted since, um, April, right? Okay, I'll catch you up on what's been happening. Over the last 6 months, I've been packing up and paring down our possessions in anticipation of moving out of NY. I also put my Etsy business on hold so I could get everything in order for the move. I have been travelling back and forth to SC to visit family and such, and in August, I lost my grandmother. Then my husband left the Navy after ten years of service to his country at the end of October. We had big dreams to move back to Jacksonville, FL, where we could be close to friends and family, unfortunately, work is hard to come by everywhere, and my husband has had no luck finding a job in his field in Jacksonville. We have been trying since August to sell our house (without success, I might add). I don't care what the experts say, the economy stinks. So, needless to say, we've had to revise our gameplan. Although it's not financially ideal, we're going to take the house off the market and keep it until the market recovers a little. My husband has opened his job search to the entire Southeast. We have our fingers crossed for a job in TN or NC, but our only requirements at the moment are to live somewhere within a day's drive of the family and to have enough money to pay the bills. Last Friday, we packed up our essentials and moved in with my parents in SC for the holiday season or until my husband finds a job, whichever takes longer. As of now, we are officially in limbo. I'll let you know how it goes, heh.

Monday, April 19, 2010

My SC Treasury

Hi! I know it's been a while, but now I have something to talk about. I've been wanting to make an SC-themed treasury for some time now, but I've never been lucky enough to snag a treasury space when one became available. However, Etsy has introduced Treasury East, which allows users to create treasuries at their leisure, so I took the initiative to put one together yesterday. Here's a screenshot:

Here's the permanent link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/e085ea1dfc6fcb4b4f1f9600 . Feel free to click on the items and leave a comment or two!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Long time, no see

It's been a little while since I've truly posted anything. My treasury post was an unexpected, slapped together post, so I don't count that one :). There are two reasons I haven't been blogging. One, I started a new weight loss regimen and a new blog along with it. I've been focusing primarily on that blog, since I'm serious about reaching my weight loss goals this time. The second reason I haven't been blogging here is I've been working on the new look for this blog on my test site, and things aren't really working out like I'd like them to, so I've been focusing on trying to make that right so I can get the new look implemented on this site. Oh yeah, there's another reason too. I haven't had anything to say that's worth blogging about! I'm seriously considering expanding this blog to include more than just topics about my crafting. That's all just conjecture at this point. Anyway, that's all for now. Maybe I'll have something to post about soon.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Truly Flattered!

Imagine my surprise this evening when I log onto Etsy and see that I have been featured in a treasury! Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=119312

I was quite flattered that my "A Thousand Welcomes" Black Celtic Knot Sign was deemed worthy to be featured along with all these other great items. I want to send a big thank you out to Barn Owl Primitives for choosing my sign to be in this treasury just in time for St. Patrick's Day! Barn Owl, you rock!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Not much doing...

So lately there hasn't been much going on in my workshop. I've been focusing on spring cleaning - getting closets organized, sorting things out to go to Goodwill and the yard sale we're having this May. I've gotten two closets completely organized (just curious how long they'll stay that way). I continue to find clutter, clutter, clutter, and I'm not sure where it's coming from. I'm not a sentimental person, so I don't hang on to stuff just because so-and-so gave it to me. I also like items in my home to have a practical use in addition to being decorative, so I don't typically keep kitsch. To be honest, I do have a few items I just like to have around, but there aren't that many, so it confuses me to see the piles of stuff I have accumulating in my designated yard sale corner. Wherever it's coming from, I hope it generates some pocket change at the yard sale!

Anyway, that's what I've been up to. See you next time!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

I got a present!

My husband went out to Barnes and Noble the other night to pick up some new books to read. While he was there, I he picked up something for me that's pretty nifty. It's box set consisting of colored pencils, a pencil sharpener, 80 different Celtic knot designs, and a book about the history of the Celts. This kind of thing is right up my alley, and all the examples of knotwork should provide me with some inspiration for new signs.

Now for a confession. I set out at the beginning of this year to increase my shop's inventory to at least 50 items. My intent was to post a new listing every other day or so to keep myself near the top of the searches. Well, it's pretty obvious that I haven't kept up with my shop. I still only have a meager 14 items in my shop, and the last time I listed a new item was back in January, I think. My heart just hasn't been in it - the item listing, that is. I think I'm not going to try to fight it. Right now my intuition is telling me just to pull myself away from my shop and work on other projects. I really want to make my shop great, I just don't feel that the time is right. Is that bad?

Thursday, March 4, 2010

New supplies

A few days ago, I ordered some new supplies, and today they arrived. It always feels like Christmas when I get a package in the mail. So I'm off to go look them over and do some creating. Now if I could just get my lazy bum in gear and list some of these new creations...

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

New Look (For now)

I've decided to go with the "Outer Banks" background from Shabbyblogs.com for now. I love the beach, as you guys all know, so for now, this will be the look of my blog. I'll continue attempting a custom layout on my test blog and leave you guys in peace. Enjoy!

Under Construction

You may notice that my blog looks different. Well, I'm working on a custom look. It's been a while since I've played with coding, so I'm trying to get a feel for all of this again. So if in the next couple of days you come by and things are broken, missing, or out of place, that's alright. Eventually I'll get it back in working order, and hopefully have a nice new functioning layout that I'll want to keep. For right now, things around here will be SNAFU, so bear with me.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Moving and Future Shop Plans

Good news! After ten years of service, my husband will be hanging up his sailor hat and transistioning out of the Navy. The upcoming months will be filled with anticipation, excitement, and a little anxiety. Our plans are to pull up stakes and move to sunny Jacksonville, Florida! We lived there once and loved it. When we moved to New York, we left behind friends and family, but relocating to Jacksonville will put us within a comfortable proximity to both. Not to mention, we'll be close to the beach, which is one place I've really missed since our exodus to the North.

So, what does this mean for my shop? Well, I'll definitely be going into Vacation Mode during the actual move, but I'm not sure just how long it will take for me to get back up and running. That will all depend on how long it takes for me to procure my FL business license, how much disposable income I will have to buy supplies to make new items, and how long it takes us to get settled in as a family. I'm also considering taking a little while off to build up my inventory, take some great pictures, and work on my product descriptions. I also may need to go into Vacation Mode prior to the move so we can take care of all the move preparations. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.

Now, I've been doing some serious thinking, and I have a change that I have to make to my shop that will be tough for me. I've been doing some research and adding it all up, and I'm not making a profit. After Etsy fees, PayPal fees, shipping and handling, and all the other miscellaneous expenses, I'm only just managing to break even. For now I'm fine with that, but if I ever want to use my shop to help supplement our income (mainly by paying for Christmas and birthday gifts, small expenses we don't normally budget for), I will have to raise my prices. There is no question. I hate to do it, because I like a deal as much as the next person, but I will not be able to continue doing business if I maintain my current price point. I just can't. That said, I think my buyers will understand.

Another change I will be making to the shop once we get settled into our new home is offering international shipping. Right now, I only ship within the US, and I realized what a great disservice I was doing myself, because several items in my shop have hearts from people in Canada, Australia, etc. So, come 2011 at the latest, I will gladly ship internationally!

Well guys, that's all for now. I'm off to get some housework done. See ya later!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Recovering from burnout

Recently, I wasn't in the mood to make blog posts. To be honest, I wasn't in the mood to do anything, especially work on my shop. Occasionally, I get into these funks, and I just have to pull myself up by the bootstraps and get back into the swing. I've made some changes that are moving me in a positive direction, and things are looking up.

At any rate, I've been taking a look around my shop, and I'm thinking of making some changes. I like my banner and my avatar, but I'm thinking I can do better. I'd also like to get a new layout for my blog and Twitter page. All in good time, though. Right now I need to post a few more items. The sad thing is, I have lots of items ready to go, but I always go blank when it comes to the descriptions. I'm just going to have to suck it up and crank out some new listings!

Well, that's all for now. Check back for some new posts in a few days!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Quick update

I know it's been a couple of weeks since my last post. I'm about to head to bed, but I just wanted to say that I *am* still alive. I also haven't gotten any new listings posted in my shop either, but I'm hoping to change that in a couple of days. Well, that's all I have time for now. See ya later!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Another Sale!

I hear my little one stirring, so I'm going to have to make this a brief post. I MADE ANOTHER SALE TODAY! YAY! In honesty, it was about the last thing I was expecting to happen today, but it happened. I'M SO HAPPY!

Okay, now that that's out of my system, time to go take care of the kiddo. Have a good one, guys!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Whoa!

Okay, so I have no idea where this week went. Tomorrow's Sunday - what the? I didn't list any of those signs I was talking about in my previous blog post :(. I did, however, list two new necklaces and edit the photos and tags of another necklace. I'm so glad I started taking pictures outside in the natural light. I'm also glad I found the macro setting on my camera; my pics look SOOOO much better. I also have started using http://www.picnik.com/ to correct the exposure, crop, and rotate my photos, so even thought they still aren't perfect, they're much closer to being Etsy treasury worthy (wink, wink, hint, hint). See for yourself:

They're much, much better than this old picture:


Well, that's all for now. I'll try to post some more this week. See ya later!

To check out these necklaces, click on these links:

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Celts, Pirates, and Polka Dots, OH MY!

It's been my intent over the past week to work on painting some more wood signs for my shop. I like to make jewelry, but Etsy is pretty inundated with jewelry as it is, and I'm not sure I have what it takes to really be competitive in that market. I am pretty good at painting, and I like to make fun signs, so it is my hope that one day, lots of homes will have an Ashley's Crescent Moon original. Some projects I have finished this week definitely run the gamut when it comes to subject matter.

CELTS
I listed two signs this week with a Celtic motif. They both have the same design, but one is black while the other is green. They feature a Celtic knot and the Gaelic words, "Cead Maile Failte," which means "A thousand welcomes." The custom order I did earlier this week was for this same design in a neutral brown tone. Anyway, I got the idea from a sign I saw on The Pyramid Collection's website, which featured the same Gaelic phrase on a slate plaque.

Pyramid Collection's sign can also be personalized. Pretty cool, no? My signs are quite a bit different. You can see in the two photos below:

I like how they turned out, especially the black one (I favor black quite a bit in both decor and dress). However, until the green one sells, it is being displayed in my living room because it matches my curtains :). Both my husband and I have Irish in our blood, so it works out nicely for the time being.

PIRATES
A long time ago I saw a sign that made me laugh out loud. It read, "The beatings will continue until morale improves." Now, I don't know where this phrase originated, though it does sound kind of piratey. Morale is very important on a ship, and I can see some hard-nosed pirate captain threatening to beat his crew into happiness. This is what my sign will be all about. It will be black, sanded for an aged effect, and will feature the Calico Jack flag (pictured above) at the top with the words, "The floggings will continue until morale improves." I chose "floggings" because the word is funny to me, plus it seems to fit the pirate vernacular. I don't have the sign done right now, but I'm hoping to have it finished and listed by early next week.

POLKA DOTS
I am not, and have never been, a girly girl. That said, I do have my moments, and I had one of those moments this week. I was reading on the Etsy forums that aqua and hot pink is going to be the hot new color combination this spring/summer. This strikes me as funny, because I've been seeing this color combo for a while now, especially in quirky decor and gifts that are intended for fun-loving, cocktail drinking, fashion following glamor girls. At any rate, I decided to jump on this band wagon by painting a totally cute sign featuring the famous quote by the duchess of Winsor, "You can never be too rich or too thin." I even made a sparkly fun beaded wire hanger to go with it.


I haven't listed this sign yet, mainly because I need to determine an appropriate listing price, but I also hope to have this one up for sale by the end of the coming week.

Anyway, that's what's been going on behind the scenes at the Crescent Moon Shop! Check back in to see what else I've got in store!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Nap Time Blog

Before I get up to do housework, I thought I'd sit down and type out a short update. I made the sale on my custom order, and my buyer said she loved her sign. ::breathes sigh of relief:: She even said that she might order one for her neighbor, too! Maybe this really will be the start of success in my shop. Someone I don't know likes my stuff. And if there's one out there, maybe there's two, or three, or several hundred. I sure hope so!

In other news, I'm really getting psyched about the Village Yard Sale that's going to be happening May 1st and 2nd here in my little town. Every year during the first full weekend in May, everyone pulls out their tables and tarps and sells their no longer wanted goodies. However, it's more than just a big rummage sale. Lots of people also put up vendor tents and sell baked goods, crafts, you name it. One lady in town does custom photography, and she counts the Village Yard Sale as one of her art exhibitions, that's how big it is. I'm excited because this may give me a little more exposure, which may lead to more sales online. If nothing else, it'll help me clean out my inventory so I won't have as much stuff to pack up and move once my husband is done with his time in the Navy.

At any rate, I said this was going to be a brief update, so it's time to hit the housework while I still have time. TTFN!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Late Night Blogging Session

It's been a few days since my last blog, so I thought I'd post an update about what's going on in my shop and in my life. I got my first custom order in the shop just the other day, and I'm in the process of working out all the details with my potential buyer. I'm pretty thrilled and pretty nervous all at once because this will be my first "real" sale (my first two were to family), so I really want to get this right! You would think it would be easy, since all my buyer wants is one of my signs, just in another color, but I know that one person's interpretation of beige isn't the same as another person's, so I'm sending my buyer color samples and such to make sure everything's up to snuff. My hope is this order will be the start of success in my shop. I don't want to make a killing, or even a living, but making enough sales to not have to dip into the savings for Christmas or a vacation would be nice.

I'm also excited to know that when I stop by the post office on Monday, my button necklace that I purchased from The Paper Button on Etsy will be there for pickup. I could have gotten it today had I gotten the gumption to go to the post office before it closed. I have no one to blame but myself  for that. Still, I'm anxiously awaiting Monday, because I love the necklace and can't wait to try it on!

Now, as far as my personal life goes, my goal recently has been to wean my almost 14-month old off the bottle. She's been without it for about a week and a half now, and during the day she hasn't missed it one bit. However,she is just getting to the point where she will sleep through the night again; apparently that little glitch in her routine messed up her sleep schedule. Anyway, my concern now is making sure she gets calcium and vitamin D, because for some strange reason she absolutely refuses to drink milk from a sippy cup. I have tried all the different models of sippy cups that we own (we have 4 different kinds), I've tried watering down the milk, adding sugar, you name it. She has a doctor's appointment this week, and I will mention it, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter that she's not drinking milk as long as she's getting proper nutrients from other foods. My next goal is the pacifier, but I won't attempt that for a while yet.

Anyway, that's what's up with me. I have a few new items for the shop that I'm hoping to list next week, so be sure to stop by and see them. Ciao!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Look what I found...



Procrastinator that I am, I just got around to cleaning out my birdhouses yesterday. Lo and behold, one of them had a nest inside - with three tiny speckled eggs! I believe the nest was abandoned during the summer, after a big windstorm caused a branch to fall and knock the birdhouse off the fence. Each of the eggs had a tiny hole in them, as if they were attacked by another bird.

When I saw the nest with the eggs inside, I was pretty delighted. I've been wanting to take a more natural approach to decorating, and having the nest in my home will be a step in the right direction. Besides, I think it will be a neat item for my little one to take to show-and-tell when she gets old enough for school. Right now the nest is in an airtight bag to kill any bugs that may have been living there. Once it's ready, I'm going to include it in a nature vignette with moss and pebbles. I'll post pictures of the finished project when I get around to it.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Nifty!


Have you seen this before? It's called liquid cardboard. It looks like a gathering of corrugated cardboard that forms a vase, but you should see what this puppy can do. It can change into several differently shaped vases, platters, and bowls. And get this - it's environmentally friendly! It's made from recycled materials and contains no harsh chemicals. Isn't that a daisy? Read more about it here: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/lica.html

Just had to share!

My First Treasury

I'm so excited. Yesterday, I was able to create my first treasury on Etsy. I've been in a beachy mood, so I did a search for nautical items, and I came up with a great list of things to show off. Check out the link here: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=83445

I'm totally in love with the Flirty Sailor Button Necklace, and I'm seriously thinking of telling my husband it's what I want for Valentine's Day. Maybe I won't wait that long ;).

Anyway, I have to go get my day started. I'll be back later for more posting fun. Enjoy the treasury!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Collecting Rocks

As a child, I collected rocks: big rocks, little rocks, shiny rocks, rough rocks, rocks in all colors. I especially liked the granite chips in the gravel paths all around my elementary school. I remember how interesting I found the gray and white speckles, how much I liked the rough texture, and how I especially prized the ones with shiny metallic flecks. I would come home, my pockets loaded down with my treasured finds, and then dump them all on the floor to pick out which ones I would display on my dresser. Mom would eventually convince me to purge most of my collection, lest my room begin to look like a quarry.

When I got older, I learned to be a little more selective in my rock collecting ventures. When I traveled somewhere new, I would look for a special rock to remind me of my trip. Back home, I would only pick up a rock if it had unique features, such as a neat shape, an interesting texture, or unusual coloring. Today, I still pick up a rock if it looks cool, but my tastes lean toward crystal rock formations.

Recently my eye for rocks has led me to create a few necklaces that I just think are the bee's knees. The first is a large, rough amethyst on a rope chain.

I love the natural feel of the rough stone, and just look at how the light plays off it. Beautiful! My second creation I really love. I actually had to convince myself to list it instead of keeping it!


This one is just right up my alley. The stone I used for the pendant has some really cool markings and coloration. Combine that with the chocolate brown, braided leather cord, and it is a totally earthy, natural, and just plain beautiful piece of jewelry.

On an unrelated note, I've been trying to improve the quality of my pictures. I took these photos outside yesterday, and I think they look much better than my previous listings' pictures. It's kind of nice to have a naturally white background with the snow on the ground, and the fallen branch in my backyard provided some additional interest.

I've got a few more rock necklaces that I'd like to list in the near future, so keep checking back to see what I've dug up from the rock pile!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

New Look

Well, I spent a few hours working on it, and now the blog has a new look! I like the two left and right sidebars better than just the single, right sidebar. The background, header, and font colors now match my Twitter layout, my Etsy shop banner, and avatars. I was hoping to achieve a cohesive look between venues, and I think I have.

I am also now following some new blogs here on Blogger. I ran into a few of my fellow Etsians blogs today and yesterday and decided to add them to my list. There are so many talented people on Etsy, and for me this is a way to get to know them better.

Over time, I will probably add more widgets to my blog and increase the list of bloggers I follow, but for now, I'm off to bed.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

I'm back!

Well, thank heavens, I arrived at my house safe and sound at about 5:20 PM yesterday. After two weeks down South visiting my relatives, I sure am glad to be home! My little one and I had a pleasant drive up I-81. It's very scenic, I'd recommend it any day!

Now that I am back home, I am ready to hit the shop again! Two weeks off has given me some time to think about items I'd like to add, and my goals for 2010. All will be revealed in future posts, but for now I will say that things must start with some general cleaning and organization of my work area. I didn't remember leaving it so messy, but suffice to say, upon returning home, I thought a train had come through there! On top of that, I brought home some new materials to work with, so I have to find a home for those as well. I will be taking the next couple of days to unwind from my trip and get my materials in order so I can start creating once again. I can't wait!

P.S. I have marked down my Kringle's Tree Farm sign by 20%! If you've been thinking about it, now is the time to order for next Christmas!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AshleysCrescentMoon