Oh! To Live the Life of a Dog

Wouldn't we all like the life of a well cared-for dog? My little Bichon, Gigi, has it so "good". Every morning afte her breakfast she chews her bone for a few minutes then sacks out on her very posh bed. Her only care is that squirrel that likes to hang out outside her favorite window.


Her daily schedule follows:

6:00 am out of a piddle, then breakfast
chew bone, early morning nap
9:00 take a walk
mid-morning nap
12:00 sunbath on the deck
lunchtime nap
4:00 eat dinner
watch out window and bark at squirrels
6:00 start watching for Daddy to come home
jump all over Daddy when he comes home
take a walk
A few minutes of playtime
8:00 early evening nap
9:30 sleep on Mom and Dad's bed
10:00 into crate for the night

Don't we all envy her!!!

By the Light of the Moon

I love Moon Flowers. They are related to Morning Glories, but they open in the evening and stay open until morning. I have a very good crop this year.

They have a lovely scent and are huge flowers. Supposedly bats like to visit them at night for nectar. Although I have never witnessed it. That's ok.

This is my favorite chair, but the climbing rose has sort of taken over. I've been too busy making jewelry to tend to the yard.

The weather is cooler now so maybe I'll get out there soon.

A Craft Attack Weekend

Last Saturday the Hornet's Nest Etsy Street Team sponsored a Craft Attack fair. We had so many talented vendors and nice attendance by the public. I had pretty good sales and met some really friendly buyers and sellers. Danielle Anthony took some fabulous pictures that can be seen on her blog. Link: http://dreadsky.blogspot.com/

That's a good thing because I forgot my camera. The weather was beautiful although a little windy at times. I fixed my display problem and only had one necklace display that blew over, however, at the end of the day while I was taking a load to my car my tent blew over and broke. Since then I bought a new one that is even better.

Thanks to the team the first Craft Attack was a success. I will definitely do it again.

Weekend Craft Show

This past weekend I participated in a craft show featuring mostly Etsy artists. We had to contend with the possibility of Tropical Storm Hannah coming nearby and deluging us with rain. Luckily we had a lovely day, only a little windy at times. I'm hoping the next show in October is better attended. I really worked on revamping my displays for the show. I think they turned out fairly well. Although I never seem to have enough space for all my jewelry. My next project is to come up with some way to weigh down my jewelry displays; they kept blowing over. This is an ongoing process.

AN INSPIRING CHALLENGE

What an inspiration for us all! An acquaintance of mine has taken on the challenge of hiking 1000 miles on Smoky Mountain Trails during the next year to raise money for our local Girl Scout Council.

The inspiration is not only in this challenge alone, but also for those of us reaching those milestones of leaving our forties and of our children leaving home. Her goal is to raise $20,000 for the Hornet's Nest Girl Scout Council in Charlotte, NC.

Being a Girl Scout brings back fond memories from my younger days. I know I learned a lot about reaching goals and being independent because of my participation in scouts. The Girl Scouts continue to be an organization dedicated to teaching young girls about leadership and believing in themselves.

I have included a link to her blog so I can track her progress. I'm looking forward to reading the updates as she completes her trips. This is a great cause and I hope she reaches her goals. Anyone interested should visit her blog to learn more and consider contributing.

http://smokyscout.blogspot.com

**An interesting note about the name Hornet's Nest. During Revolutionary times the people living in the area known today as Charlotte (Mecklenburg County) stirred up so much trouble as they fought against British rule that the area became known as a "hornet's nest".

ETSY ARTIST FEATURE OF THE DAY

Today I'm featuring Muddy Fingers Pottery. I love birdhouses and the one pictured below is very cute. Muddy Fingers has other nice pieces as well.

Go to http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5393498 to see Muddy Fingers' work.

ETSY ARTIST FEATURE OF THE DAY

I admire beautiful wire wrapped jewelry. Lilithu's shop on Etsy has some of the most intricate designs I have seen. Having tried some wire wrapping myself I know how much work is involved. Her pieces are exquisite. Take a look at this piece.






Check out her shop for other beautiful designs.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5337452

An Etsy Artist Feature of the Day

Today I am featuring the designs of Contrariwise. She works magic with silver wire. Take a look at her shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5280132

These swirled earrings are a design I especially like.

Winter??? or Spring?

Here in North Carolina it's easy to forget that it's still winter. We've had some warm days and things are starting to bloom. I picked these daffodils the other day before it turned cold again.

These Lenten Roses are blooming all

over my yard.

It's nice to know that winter won't last forever.

A Challenge for Me

I have found that photographing my work for the internet is very challenging. I have been working to improve my pictures. I have tried the following:

Making a Light Box - I used a tutorial on Instructables. It didn't cost me a thing because I had all the materials right in my basement. I used an old moving box, some thin white cloth, and duct tape.

Trying different light sources. Right now I am using some halogen desk type lamps at the sides of the box and a gooseneck desk lamp over the top. I just bought a GE Reveal flood type bulb today. I don't know how it will work yet.

Purchased Photoshop software to edit my photos. It is definitely better than the HP software that came with our printer.

Using a tripod and sometimes the timer option on my camera.

Adjusting the white balance to incandescent and adjusting the EV setting for each picture. I have been experimenting with different EV settings for each pose and then choosing the best look when I edit the pictures.

These are some things I am trying. I have been trying to replace all the pictures in my Etsy shop, but it is a slow process. I think the pictures are getting better.

My Weekend

I spent the past weekend taking a Silversmithing Class. It was a great class. We made a pair of sterling silver earrings and 3 bracelets. I learned lots more about soldering and finishing silver pieces. I'll be adding some items to my Etsy shop as soon as I get more supplies. I added some pictures of my work. I will be taking part 2 of the class in March. Now I just have to find the time to use all this new knowledge.

Back at Work Today

Last week the belt on my jewelry tumbler broke. When I tried to order a new one they were backordered for about a month. I was so bummed. I can't get the polish on my wire work without that tumbler. I decided to search the internet for another source and low and behold Ebay had the belts. They were cheaper and better quality. They arrived yesterday. Yeah!!

Today I had two tutoring students out sick, so I had extra time and spent all of it working on some new earring designs. They are in the tumbler now. I hope to have pictures in a few days.

It felt great to be able to get back to my jewelry designs.

First Blog

I am a jewelry designer trying to work on promoting my shop on the web. I am working on creating this blog. It is a work in progress. This is definitely a learning process for me. We'll see how it goes.

Visit my website at:

http://beadsnbanglesbykim.etsy.com