Sale Number 20!

Well, I am officially no longer an Etsy newbie. I made my 20th sale this week! And it was another international sale. This time I had the privilege of sending my 'Best Friend II' pearl earrings all they way to Australia! I was so excited. I have to acquire another great strand of pearls like those so I can continue to make my best seller.

I also created a pair of custom order earrings that will be used on a bride! How very flattering to be chosen for such an honor. To know that my earrings are going to be worn down the aisle makes me a little nervous but proud all the same.

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This week I also had the privilege of being in two treasury lists! The first one was by Jennifer Gardner who is a fellow Charlottean and also sells unique and beautiful jewelry on Etsy. Turns out she works not far from my house! Go figure. We have become good email friends and I hope to meet her in person at some point. I really appreciated her including me in her 'Carolina Girls' list! It was her first list and she very thoughtfully included me. Thank you Jenn!

The second list was by Jamie of vaughnellen on Etsy. I was the first person she ever talked to on Etsy and the first person she convo'd. I was flattered and touched that because of that she included me in her first treasury as well. It's so nice to be remembered for the little things. Jamie makes some really beautiful jewelry as you can see by visiting her shop. Here is her beautiful list.

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And me? I've been playing outside with Kevin, running around in the warm air and telling him to watch out for fire ants! Yes, it's that time of year again: allergy and fire ant season. My car is covered with pollen. It's got this yellow glow to it. The pollen count is so high that when Kevin and I stepped outside today we both sneezed in unison! Everything is blooming or already bloomed, the leaves are coming out and the tulips are up. Mine aren't flowering, of course. I won't dig up my bulbs and divide them because of the fire ants. So I grow these pretty green leaves and that's it. I have one little bud on my candytuft and that's probably all it's going to do. The blueberry bushes have rebloomed nicely. They began blooming earlier in January of February and got zapped by frost. But they have come out nicely. My hydrangeas probably will not bloom very well as they got zapped too.

Yes, I was a pretty good gardener. I just won't do it here anymore because of all the fire ants. I used to love to garden. That ended when they plowed down all the trees next to our house to extend our housing development. We were at the end of the cul-de-sac and had nothing but trees on the southwest side. I was in tears the day they raped the forest down. I swear I could hear the trees crying. We used to see deer, foxes, possums and now we only see fire ants. THEY moved in when the trees got raped. Now instead of a nice forest with lots of critters and homes for the critters, there are 13 houses that are so close together you can spit from one neighbor's house and hit the next. It's really sad. It's no wonder we have global warming and pollution so bad we can't breathe. The trees are being clear-cut. They give us so much. We NEED trees. Don't get me started. It's a hot topic for me, raping the land for 'progress'.

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Something I have been doing lately besides being a mommy is doing a lot of experimenting with my light tent. I'm trying to figure out what lighting setup I like best, what backgrounds, etc. I'm getting better, but I haven't quite got what I want yet. I plan on rephotographing all my items so they look better and more professional instead of taking pictures on my boulder. I like my boulder. I personally like the look, but I'm sure a lot of people don't think it's very professional. And if I want to ever be featured on someone's blog or site or something like that I want to look professional. So I bought a variety of paper to use as backgrounds today when Kevin and I were out and about. We went to Lowe's and I got some floor tiles to use. I like the look of one of them especially. I'll post a picture when I'm satisfied.

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I have made some things but am still playing with the pics. However, I did list three pairs of earrings. Beautiful oxidized sterling and bubble gum pink turquoise earrings, and a pair of almost gothic looking yet romantic swarovski crystal and oxidized sterling shoulder dusters.

The third is a simple pair of shiny hammered silver petal shaped dangle earrings. These would be great to wear every day.

Hopefully I will find a suitable method for photographing my pieces and it will become my new style. We shall see.

Until next time....