November is Here

It's November folks! For the first time since starting Tangleweeds over five years ago I actually am not in a complete tail-spin panic about it all! My fair schedule is a bit lighter than usual in December, so that is helping. Which, speaking of fairs, Renegade just happened this past weekend. SO MUCH FUN. And so many great folks: happy customers, talented makers. This fair always helps to remind me why I do what I do ( because, honestly, not all fairs are all that great at reminding one about the positive things about running a handmade business.)

Below, some pics from the weekend. . . 

Life lately has been feeling, well, good. That might sound simplistic, but it is really the best and most accurate way to describe how I've been feeling. I don't talk about really private matters here on this blog (and intend to keep it that way), but without going into a ton of detail, I've been dealing with some health stuff this year that has been challenging. A few months ago I started seeing an accupuncturist and taking some traditional Chinese medicine. In short, I am starting to truly feel like a different person. Let me correct that, not a different person so much as a much happier and shinier version of me. The point of self-care as an essential part of the maintenance of life has really been brought home to me these past few months. 

On that note, I am here to say I'm going to be returning to semi-regular blogging this month, starting here, and with my next GIVEAWAY! Yes, it's been a while, but I'm bringing the giveaways back. I'll be posting my next one on Friday, so check back then to see what goodies you can enter to win!

Also, something I've been wanting to do for the LONGEST time: I'm going to start a blog series all about starting and running a handmade business. I'm not sure when I'll get the series going as I'm going to do some "market research" to find out what folks would like to learn more about. One thing that I've come to learn over the years is that, even if I may not do everything perfectly, and I may not always know what I'm doing (ha!), I do have a (small) wealth of knowledge that I want to share with other folks who may want to do something similar to what I do. There's a possibility of some other blog series in the works, but I'm gonna start with just one for now and see how it goes. 

In the meantime remember to check back Friday for my next giveaway!

Music Festivals, Kids' Birthday Parties

Life has been full of lots of little celebrations lately. My nephew, Chase just turned 2. I went to his birthday party on Saturday. On Sunday Jeff and I went to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco. In some spare time last week I also managed to check out Lauren Napolitano's art installation at Redux in Alameda (see photo second from the bottom). And of course, there's been lots of jewelry making in the midst of all of this. 

I'm leaving for Boston next Thursday and will be gone for a week. Looking forward to a vacation, some time to step back from the work and get rejuvenated for the holiday season. My Etsy shop will stay open while I'm gone, altho there will be a slight delay on shipping those orders out.

Also, we just had a full moon eclipse in Aries last night! Pretty powerful medicine for letting go of unnecessary baggage. . . And being an Aries myself I can't help but feel it's significance. Ya know, even if you don't take all of the astrology/moon phase/chakra stuff 100% literally they're all really great tools for slowing down and thinking about and reflecting on where your life is going. 

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Round Here

As I sit down (or stand at my makeshift standing desk as it may be) to put this post together a little apology about how I don't blog that much these days starts to burble up inside of me. Instead of apologizing tho I'm making this concrete decision: I'm gonna blog as often as I can when I have the time and when I want to and I'm going to stop apologizing for whatever the duration in between posts may be. How does that sound? Good? Good! Life's busy for us all these days. . . 

The photos in this post are sort of a mish-mash of photos from my little trip to Sebastopol for the Gravenstein Apple fair and from arriving back home. Top to bottom:

1. Otis, happy I'm back home
2. Some new work. These won't be available until the holidays. I'm fine tuning a bunch of new designs, many of which will be OOAK or very limited edition.
3. Drinks and dinner at East Bay Spice Company, in Berkeley, with Jeff. It was my first time here and I really loved this place.
4. A window display at Field Day and Friends in Oakland. That's one of my large moon necklaces!
5. More moon necklaces. I really can't make these fast enough this year!
6. Booth set up at Gravenstein Apple Fair in progress.
7. And ta da! Booth set up done!
8. Close up of part of my booth.
9. Rosemary's Garden - a wonderful herbal emporium in Sebastopol. I picked up some herbal tea blends, handmade soap, and some tincture of achey joints while I was there.
10. The dress I wore to work at the fair on Saturday. I love this dress! Hence the hotel room selfie.
11. Stopped by Flying Goat Coffee in Santa Rosa Sunday morning before heading to the fairgrounds. The shop is very clean, high ceilings, BIG, and everything is yellow, white and black!
12. Ear cuffs shipped off to a salon in Santa Cruz after getting back from the fair.
13. Lastly, a dress I picked up on a big thrift shopping excursion when I got back home. 

Well, I'm working on paper work today while I recover from a yoga class I went to earlier this afternoon. The class kicked my butt! I'm supposed to go back on Friday. Fingers crossed I have the will power. . . 

Happy hump day everyone!