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I don’t know if this is a chain restaurant or just one or two locations, but I know there is one just down the street from my office. I have been going to EVERY other restaurant around my office so far except Salata just because the idea of eating a salad sounds so boring to me. Today though I decided to go and BOY is it good! It is somewhat like Chipotle in that you go through a line and pick your lettuce type, your meat, your veggies, fruits, dressing, etc. You can get a wrap or a regular salad. I got a wheat wrap with:

• spring mix
• tomatos
• blue cheese
• feta
• chick peas
• egg
• peas
• apples
• pesto chicken
• herb vinaigrette
• almonds

Their soup is really good too. I got tomato basil and it tastes so much like La Madeliene’s but cheaper. I was expecting it to be more expensive based on the price list they had on the wall (wrap = $7, add chicken = $2, add small soup = $2), but it wound up being $10 including tax ($7.39 for the wrap and $1.85 for the soup, plus tax). I think I’ll be going back again soon and trying different combos of ingredients. They have so many options, I can’t imagine I’d tire of it too quickly.

Finally, a new pair of earrings! My sister works for an interior design firm out in Lubbock, TX and they hosted a charity event last weekend. As promised, I made a pair of earrings to donate to their silent auction, but despite shipping them priority, they did not arrive in time. That means of course, that they are now for sale! They have little andalusite rondels and gorgeous white keshi pearls.

I just love how these pearls look like little Lilly of the Valley flowers. Expect to see more of these in my jewelry soon. I’m thinking about making more of these earrings using multi-colored tourmaline or sapphires.

Speaking of which, a month or so ago I bought some new gemmies! Included in my big purchase were these keshi pearls you see featured in these earrings, a couple strands of pretty multi-colored sapphires, prehnite briolettes, and gorgeous giant moss aquamarine rondels.

Oh yes, I also added a new ring to the rings page. It has actually already been sold, but I’m posting it anyway just in case anyone is interested in custom-ordering one.

The plan from the beginning of this website was to feature an artist, preferably an Etsy artist every week. It’s taken me awhile now to get around to kicking this off, but I’ve got a bunch of wonderful Etsians in mind that I just can’t wait to tell you all about, so without further adieu:

Motley Mutton makes the most amazingly life-like adorable needle-felted animals. Never heard of felting? It’s an increasingly popular craft that generally involves transforming loose fibers of wool, llama/alpaca hair, mohair, etc. into anything from beads to purses to soapcoverings to wall art. These adorable chicks are one of my favorites of hers. They sold out quickly as do all of her animals.

She also makes an extensive variety of needle-felted mini animal necklaces. Pictured here is one of her Orangutans. She has also made ducklings, rats, rabbits, squirrels, pugs, kitties, snow leopards (pictured below), sloths, foxes, possums, sheep, bears, deer, goats, coyotes, raccoons, ferrets, armadillos, and more! Check her shop often because as I said, she sells out very quickly. Also, be sure to check out Motley Mutton’s non-Etsy website at MotleyMutton.com. She’s got a gallery there with pictures of some of her amazing works that have sold. Don’t forget to look at her About Us page for pictures of some of the animals on the farm she lives on, and adorable pictures of baby raccoons she has rescued.

Currently for Sale:

I started a new full time job two weeks ago and it has just been taking up all my time! That and I’ve had some things (good things) going on in my personal life that have been taking up a lot of time. I really have not picked up any wire or spent much time online in quite awhile now. Now I’m getting the itch to start playing with my pretty gemmies. There is a gorgeous london blue topaz briolette crying out to me! Hopefully sometime this week I will get a chance.

It is snowing here in Texas! It usually happens here in Dallas once a winter. This year it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen, but then here we go. A little late, being March, but that’s north Texas weather for you - it was 95 one day last week. Now there’s an inch of snow on my lawn. I’m driving a rental car right now because someone hit my car (while it was parked and I was not in it) and was nice enough to stick around to give me his insurance information. Boy did I get an ugly rental car too. I think it looks like a cross between a PT Cruiser and a hearse. It is black just like the one in the picture (which I got from autobytel.com, so credits to them and all that jazz). Somehow that picture makes it look more SUVish than it really is. I feel strange driving it, like I’m piloting some sort of a batmobile or something ridiculous. No offense to any of you guys who drive a Chevy HHR, but I’m just not feelin it! Hopefully I won’t have to drive it in any ice tomorrow.

A little late, I know! Trunk show was pretty neat all in all. I split a table with another Etsy artist, Color Theory. We got there a bit late and didn’t get the most ideal table location, so sales were slow for us. It was really fun to see everyone else’s booths and merchandise. I think I had about 15 items for sale, so my little display was so tiny!

While getting ready for the trunk show I decided to revamp the Delilah Earrings a bit and decided to oxidize them. I think citrine looks really great with oxidized silver. Also I had a couple new items at the trunk show, including the labradorite and aquamarine hoop earrings which I’ve also posted up for sale on the jewelry page. Also new are some stackable hammered rings which will be posted later this week, and a new pendant that I will be offering later down the road.

In case you notice that most of my items are “out of stock” or “sold” it is because I have temporarily pulled my merchandise from my web inventory so I can bring it to my trunk show today. I’ll readjust and make unsold items available once I return. It’s 7 am now and I’ve been up literally all night finishing up on pieces and arranging little details. Now for an hour of sleep before it’s time to load up!

Hmm that title was supposed to be clever but I don’t think it worked. Sounds too much like a preacher. Well things have sure been busy around here these last 2 weeks. It really seems like things are starting to fall into place one thing after another. It’s nice actually, but the timing is what is really amusing me. Let me explain…

I recently joined an Etsy street team - Etsy Dallas. It is basically a collective of Dallas-area artists and handcrafters whose purpose is to help promote each other and organize sales. Because of my involvement with Etsy Dallas, even as short-lived as it has thus been, I have had several great opportunities including my upcoming trunk sale and 2 more potential shows this Spring, and also a few promotional/networking opportunities.

Another good thing is that I’ve recently made several sales. I would say this is due to the 25% off sale that I’m currently running, but I’m not entirely sure because I had a similar sale during the holidays that did not yield this effect.

Some random purchases/etc… Business cards, new exciting packaging that I will be testing this weekend, new wire in sizes I’ve never tried, a tumbler (polish-y goodness), a host of new tools and gadgets to make my jeweling-life much easier (thank you Christmas gift certificate gods), and new photography props/ideas.

A few other neat things going on… I have a wonderful opportunity to contribute some jewelry to a charity silent auction in Denton. This charity is actually close to my heart because I volunteered with them recently for a year providing on-call crisis support to sexual assault victims, so I am excited about this opportunity to be able to help them once again. I also am currently in discussion with a local business concerning a potential consignment/gallery type opportunity in late spring. And of course, the final thing is that I’ve finished my website!

All of this has basically “gone down” in the last couple weeks, which is what has got me pinching myself a bit, I must say. Now I must bid you adieu because I’ve got an order to fill, ZZ’s to catch, and of course, a ton of preparation for my trunk show this Saturday.

In honor of Valentine’s Day I am offering a sale. Almost all of my items are currently on sale with the exception of my paisley pendant, which I just added today. All the sale items are 25% off the Etsy prices, which may differ somewhat from the original prices listed here.
 
Note: Paisley pendant has now sold, but feel free to contact me if you are interested in something similar.

Here is a pretty little preview of things to come. I’ve got a nice little stash of pretty gemmies to work with. This isn’t all of them, just my favorites really.

Stranded brios and rondels: blue ruby zoisite, labradorite, mixed berl: aquamarine and morganite, tundru sapphires, two strands of tourmaline, citrine brios, garnet brios. Loose brios: spessartine garnet, rose quartz, brown chalcedony, smoky quartz, pink tourmaline, iolite, peridot, tiny rubies, garnet marquise, champagne quartz, gorgeous ruby zoisite, garnet, apatite.

Welcome to my new website! I have been working furiously on putting it together and getting it ready in time to put the address on business cards and have them printed for my February show. In case you haven’t heard, the Etsy Dallas Street Team that I am a member of is having a Valentine’s Day trunk show on Saturday February 9 at the Southside Lofts on Lamar St. in Downtown Dallas. It should be really awesome - there will be 41 artists total comprising several different media.