Reflection

Photo by Jeff Scooler

www.ScooyouPhotography.Etsy.com

Wow, another year is almost over. It flew by sooo fast! All in all, it was a good year. Yes, we had our struggles, especially financial ones but we got through it and we still have our house. 

My beautiful, wonderful son turned 5 and started pre kindergarden. I can hardly believe it. Where did the time go? Seems like a minute ago he was a newborn. 

I met a wonderful person, Clare. She was a customer who quickly turned into one of my closest friends. I reconnected with a beautiful soul, Shell. She also was a customer of mine, several years ago. We lost touch for awhile but we are connected for life.

I talked and met with my biological father who I haven't talked to for 7 years. It didn't end well but at least I can put the pain he has put me through behind me and move on. The whole in my heart is still there but slowly healing. 

My jewelry got into another store called Divinity's Splendour Glow which is in Arlington, Mass. Business has been good. 

Hubby and I celebrated our 7 year marriage anniversary and our 10 year anniversary of being together. Our marriage is stronger than ever. He continues to make me laugh everyday. When times are hard, that laughter can get you through anything. 

I am truly blessed and grateful for everything I have. I can hardly wait to start a new year. I know 2009 will be one of the best ever. 

Winter Wonderland

My, we have a lot of snow! It all started on the day of my son's 5th birthday party, Sunday, Dec. 14th. I don't remember how much snow we got that day but just remember being freaked out trying to make it to my moms house for the party. It quickly turned icy. 

It snowed all last week. On my sons birthday, Thursday, Dec. 18th, there was very little snow left. He was in preschool about an hour before we were called to pick him up. It started snowing like crazy and continued to snow almost non stop for the next 3 days. We weren't able to make it to Chuck E. Cheese that day. So, we stayed home, ate cupcakes and made a snowman.

 

Thursday, Dec. 18th                                                  

Then Saturday, we got a huge storm. I'm not sure just how much snow we got. We have drifts that are at least 3 feet tall, some probably taller. Our little snowman got buried. You can see its little head poking out. Its gotten much worse since the picture was taken on Saturday. I can't get outside to take anymore pictures. The snowman is completely buried. The snow is almost up to our windows. We haven't gotten mail in two days, the banks are closed. No planes are taking off, the city of Gresham (where we live) has declared a state of emergency.  We weren't supposed to get any snow today but its snowing now as I'm writing. There is another 4-8 inches coming tomorrow so it looks like we will be stuck here for Christmas. 

Saturday, Dec. 20th

We have been stuck at home for 4 days now. Luckily, my hubby is on vacation though we wanted to get out and have some fun. It has been nice to have all this family time. I've been doing a lot of baking. Tonight, we will be making a gingerbread train. Last year, I bought a kit to make a house but didn't have time to make it. We have nothing but time now!  I put a recycling bin outside to collect snow and dump the snow in the bathroom sink so Apollo can still play with it.

I heard that this is the biggest snow storm to hit Portland since 1968. Its still snowing.

Black Friday Sale

Things have been very busy and hectic, I can hardly keep up. I have been trying to keep up with orders and making as much of my winter line as possible. I was hoping to get it done before the end of the year but that is probably not going to happen. Being a stay at home mom to a 4 year old plus running a business is not easy as I'm sure most of you can relate. But I am so very grateful I can stay home with my wonderful son and also do what I love. 

My last sale of the year will be Black Friday, Nov. 28th. It will run from Nov. 28th to Dec. 1st. All items will be 25% off. The very last day to order is Dec. 17th for Christmas Delivery (US orders only). I recommend upgrading to priority shipping for just $2 more if you order after Dec. 8th (US orders only). 

I'm getting so excited for Thanksgiving. Every year I make a delicious roasted turkey with a rosemary garlic crust. If anyone would like the recipe, please let me know. 

Fall

                                              Photo by Jeff Scooler

                                              www.ScooyouPhotography.Etsy.com

How I LOVE fall! It is my very favorite season. One of my favorite things to see is the beautiful yellow, red and orange leaves blowing by on a sunny day. I so enjoy the pumpkin patch, decorating and of course Halloween!! Its even more special when you have a little one to share it with.

Every year, I make pumpkin bread. It is delicious, healthy and my own recipe.

Pumpkin Bread - Makes 2 loaves

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cup dark brown sugar (I use 1/2 raw sugar and 1/2 brown sugar)
• 2 t. baking soda
• 1 t. salt
• 2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. nutmeg
• 1/2 t. ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 cups pureed pumpkin
• 4 eggs

Combine dry ingredients. Combine applesauce, pumpkin and eggs seperately and add to dry. Stir just until combined. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

• 1/2 - 1T. unsalted butter (optional)
• cinnamon & sugar mixture (optional)

Melt butter and brush over loaves. Sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar.

Ads

BUST - OCT/NOV 2008

Mary Englebreit's Home Companion

Oct/Nov 2008

Venus Zine - Fall 2008

Portland City Sampler

PIAC - Portland Independent Artisans Cooperative gathered 100 handmade items from 20 local artists for a unique October City Sampler available at the Sampler Website on October 1st

www.homeofthesampler.com/city/portland.html

Here are some of the items:

Autumn Comfort donated 80 soy candles. I can 

only imagine how delicious they must smell.

I'll take one in every scent please!              

Ruby Girl donated 50 pairs of gemstone

earrings. These are so beautiful and the 

quality looks exceptional! I am in awe of her

skills.

Zeldaloo donated 25 lady dolls. I want one!!

You can tell these were made with lots of

love and details.

Bread and Badger donated 100 etched glass

pins. I love all of bread and badgers items!

I would love to order every item in her shop!

Leah Pellegrini donated 100 glass

dangles. These are so bright and cheerful! 

She has such cool items in her shop!

Eye Pop Art donated 100 mandala window 

decals. How cool are these? I want all of 

them!

Skyisland donated 50 lampworked beads.

She is such a amazing artist!! Her beads and

jewelry is so unique, I've never seen anything

like it.

Lolly-Tots donated 100 stickers. These are 

so cute and cheerful. Her art just warms

your heart.

Trillium Artisans donated 15 catnip slugs. 

These were made with reclaimed, donated 

fabric. What a treat for your cat!

Scooyou Photography (my hubby!) donated

25 Photography ACEO's. He is one of the

best photographers in the world.

I donated 25 pairs of sterling silver pyrite 

druzy earrings

www.pdxindie.com

www.homeofthesampler.com/shop.html

Spirited Autumn Event Sale

Get ready for The Spirited Autumn Event! From Monday, September 22nd (the Fall Equinox) until Monday, October 6, Members of Etsy's Earthpath Artisans Street Team is offering special promotions on selected items in their shops. The event focuses on Fall Themed and Magical items, just in time for Halloween! Use TSAE as a search term to find sales items from our members or click on the link below

http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=tag_title&search_query=tsae

I am offering 15% off the items in my spirited sales section.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=56295&section_id=5644153

Latourell Falls

Photos by Jeff Scooler

www.ScooyouPhotography.Etsy.com

My knee has been injured most of the summer so I haven't been posting much. Finally, its getting better. Last Sunday, we went to Latourelle Falls which is in the Columbia River Gorge. It is quite beautiful there with a very short trail to the fall. Not quite as beautiful as Multnomah Falls but much less touristy. 

I have been working on my fall line. I'm making pieces with rich browns, dark oranges, velvety purples and golden yellows. Several pieces will be made with 14 KT gold fill and vermeil. Here is one of my newest. It is made with warm orange red fossilized coral and hammered 14KT gold filled chain. Vermeil Clasp. I was fascinated to learn that fossil coral is mined in Indonesia from pits and trenches dug in the jungle and along stream beds that was under water billions of years ago. Reefal Limestones are fossil remains of coral reefs. The calcium is leached out of the limestone and replaced as silica. This process is referred to as silification. The result of the silification is the creation of fossil coral. 

Mary Engelbreit Ad

My ad came out! I got it through etsy. Etsy did a fantastic job and the ad looks great. Its in the August/September issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. I love the magazine. I used to 

subscribe and recently renewed my subscription. I LOVE that the magazine features artists , I like to read how they got they started out and how they got to where they are now. I especially love the halloween and christmas isues. I've gotten lots of ideas on decorating and look forward to those issues every year.

Here's my newest piece, Mystic Garden Earrings. This piece took me so long that its the only one I got done this week. I obsessed and obsessed about the perfect stones to use. I drove my hubby nuts, asking almost constantly if I should use ruby or pink tourmaline? It was tedious but I got through it and I love how it turned out. I have enough materials to make another pair but honestly, I don't think I have the patience to make another. I will be listing these on my etsy shop later today. It has faceted mystic topaz, moss amethyst, iolite, labradorite and pink tourmaline.


Today we are going to my moms to make soap. Hubby wants to go to a cemetery to take pictures. Then, we are going to pick raspberries and snow peas.

Gpysy Challenge

My EAST team - The EarthPath Artisans Street Team is having a Gypsy Design Challenge. Team members have taken their interpretation of what the word "Gypsy" conjures up for them, and created new pieces in a variety of media.

So stop by the EAST Challenge page on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/groups/earthpathchallenge to see pictures of the entries, and then go and vote at the EAST blog http://earthpathartisans.blogspot.com/ You can also see many of the entries in the members' shops by visiting the team shop's favorite items page http://earthpathartisans.etsy.com/ Voting ends July 21st

I am not participating in the challenge. Hopefully, the next challenge I will have more free time to create. I have been so busy lately. I opened up a second etsy shop http://www.soulysupplies.etsy.com/ I am selling rare, designer beads and supplies. And I am also helping my hubby run his photgraphy shop http://www.scooyouphotography.etsy.com/ He is very talented so check out his shop for very unique and amazing photography.


Here is one of my newest pieces. Earrings made with sterling silver turkish silver findings. It has labradorite and iolite wire wrapped around the edges. And a blue labradorite briolette in the middle.

Gleneden Beach

We went to Gleneden Beach in Oregon for a week. My aunt has a beach house right on the beach. I've been going at least once a year for the past 27 years!

Gleneden Beach - photo by Jeff Scooler








We all had such a good time. We didn't want to leave. I could watch the waves all day and not be bored. The weather wasn't great. In the 50's and it rained two of the days. It didn't really matter to us. I've lived in Oregon all my life so I'm used to playing in the rain.


Mike Miller Park - photo by Jeff Scooler
We also went to Mike Miller Park which is in Newport. AAA's magazine, Via listed it as a easy one mile hike around old trees and a pond. I wouldn't call it easy. There are very steep hills, I almost lost a shoe! Some of the hills seemed almost impossible to get through. It feels much longer than a mile. My son fell 3 times. I don't recommend bringing children under 7 with you. It is quite gorgeous with mini eco systems, beautiful old trees and a pond. The path is covered with huge tree roots which can be tricky to walk on.

I went to one of my favorite crystal shops, The Crystal Wizard. It is located on the Gleneden beach loop. I got 5 new stones. I could spend hours there. They have a beautiful amethyst geode table and some breath taking lemurian seed crystals. Here is a very unique selenite crystal I bought.

Sale

I'm going on vacation so I'm having a sale while I'm away. All items are 15% off and I'm upgrading US orders to priority shipping. Sale dates 4/28 - 5/6

http://soulystones.etsy.com

Earth Day

Yesterday was Earth Day though we celebrate earth day everyday. We try to be as green as possible. Even my 4 year old knows about pollution and he turns off lights when not is use, he turns off the water when he brushes his teeth, recycles paper, washes out his yogurt containers and recycles that too. My family lives green by using/doing the following:

• Wind power electricity
• Recycle all paper, glass, plastic, plastic bags, cans
• Low flow heads on all sinks and showers
• Eco, phosphate free dishwasher detergent
• Limit driving and combine trips
• Flush only when necessary
• All light bulbs are CFL
• All appliances are energy star
• Limit electricity use
• Recycled paper towels and napkins
• Turn off water when brushing
• Recycle yard debris
• Cut up our christmas tree and use for fire wood
• Natural makeup, soap, body scrub, lip balm, lotion

My hubby and I regulary discuss other ways to be more green, we are planning on taking the following steps:

• Green laundy detergent - I found several sellers on etsy and can even get it scented coconut!
• Green gardening - We do some now but I want to switch to all green products
• Hybrid car
• Green cleansers - there are some new products on the market I want to try
• Compost

I just haven't been able to use the recycled toilet paper, it feels like sand paper! I hope they can find a way to make it softer. I would love to have a house built with all green products and have all our energy, solar powered.

Here is one of my newest pieces. It has a angel aura druzy pendant. There are faceted mystic quartz crystal nuggets, rainbow moonstone and faceted mystic smokeyquartz. The clasp is rainbow moonstone and all metal is sterling silver. It is available for sale at my etsy shop.

Project Night Night

I sold one of my favorites pieces. This gorgeous baltic amber necklace with a amber pendant that has a real butterfly inside. It was hard to let it go. I put so much of myself into my pieces that it feels like a sense of loss when a piece sells. Especially this piece, this piece is special. Its nearly impossible to find amber with large insects inside.

I had the flu most of last week so I didn't get any pieces done. Saturday, we went to a farmers market. Sunday, I worked in the yard.

This week, I'm working on pieces I'm donating to two charities. One of the charities is called Project Night Night. Project Night Night is dedicated to improving the lives of homeless children. Project Night Night donates tote bags with a blanket, book, and a stuffed animal to children in homeless shelters. Project Night Night is helping the emotional and cognitive well-being of each child by providing objects of comfort. They are having a silent auction and I am donating these earrings made with natural pyrite druzies, turkish silver and sterling silver. For more information on Project Night Night, here is their website : http://www.projectnightnight.org/

Spring

Every year, I dread spring. I'm just like a child. When spring comes, it means no more snow days. There is nothing I enjoy more than a unexpected snow day.

Every year, I dread spring until our magnolia tree blossoms. Then I get excited to see all our bulbs bloom. The snow crocuses come up first, then the ice stick tulips.

ice stick tulip

In honor of spring, I created this bracelet with natural lavender chalcedony druzies and bali spacer beads. It is sterling silver and available for purchase at my etsy shop.