Month of May Giveaway

It has been so warm here in Oakland (and the rest of the bay area) this week. When the weather gets like this all I want to wear is sundresses, sandals and lightweight, delicate jewelry. Which makes this month's giveaway apropos! 

Yup, this time around I'm giving away a set of three of my popular Drape style necklaces. That's right three, not just one! If you are selected as the winner you get to choose the lengths and colors for all three of your necklaces. Above (from top to bottom) are the black, turquoise, and soft peach colorways, below you can see the violet and cream. 

After tossing the idea around in my head for a bit, I decided this time around to ask you "what would you wear with your Drape necklaces?" Simply leave an answer to this style question in the comments for this post and you'll be entered to win. You have until May 27th to enter. I'll announce the winner here on the blog on the 28th. Good luck and feel free to share this with one and all!

It's Feeling like Summer

Listening to. . . 

As my post title would suggest, I've got summer on the brain. This weather! I tend towards "road trip" music when the weather warms up. Music like lots of Rosanne Cash. Old and new. This song is one of my favorites of hers.

Wearing. . . 

Lots of tank tops and delicate bead strands (my Drape necklaces). Road trip uniform = tank tops, skirts, sandals and easy jewelry.

Making. . . 

TONS of bangles and rings. I'll be vending at the Urban Air Market this Sunday and these are always popular items at this event. And, since I'm on the road trip bent, these bangles all piled on together would be perfect for said trips!

Back to the workbench for now for me!

Studio time, Birthday, Springtime Sale, and Ramblings

Well, I'm back from my trip to Disneyland. It's so much fun to see the park through a kids eyes (my 6 year old nephew). While it can be challenging juggling the demands of two young kids and the needs of the adults, it was such a wonderful break from my daily routines. 

Now that I'm back I'm slowly getting in to full-time work mode. Honestly, I had to take a day off after the trip just to rest and re-charge my batteries. This week is my birthday as well, so Jeff and I will take some time to celebrate. I'm keeping it low-key this year. . . for a lot of reasons. Mainly, I just don't want a big party this year. I want quiet and relaxation and good food. If I could afford it we'd be headed to a little spa in Mendocino, but alas, that is not in the cards for now (hello, I owe more on taxes than I thought I was going to, money crunch time). Which brings me to my next point-of-business: It's time for my spring sale in my Etsy shop!

(Help a girl pay her taxes!) I'm gonna be frank 'cause that's the kind of mood I'm in this morning: Money is super tight right now. I've gotta pay my taxes in a few days, I have a stack of craft fair applications to pay (that is serious money) and my business credit card is due any day now. Soooo, why am I sharing this with you? For one, it's the reality of running this small handmade business. Sometimes I feel like us hand-makers get so caught up in always showing the sunny, beautiful side of what we do that it can make people feel like everything must be amazing for us, all of the time. And, secondly, I've been noticing a trend with bloggers lately to try to showcase the "real" side of things and not just the pretty stuff, and I have to say I like this trend. It's a way of showing the behind-the-scenes of how we make the making happen. 

Don't get me wrong, I feel very lucky to be able to do what I do. I just think it's healthy to share the whole picture every now and then. And I've always got a spunky 6-year old named Noah and an orange tabby named Arlo to remind me what really matters as I stumble and trip and sometimes walk steadily through my days. 

(p.s. I'll have lots more pictures from my Disneyland trip next week when I get done going through the 150 or so pictures I took!)

Spring, Skirts, Bangles

This week's Listening, Wearing, Making. . . 

I've been obsessed with Buena Vista Social Club this week. There's something about their music that is pairing really well with the gorgeous spring weather we're having here in the bay area. 

Wearing. . . As I already mentioned the lovely spring weather, it's been calling for sandals and gypsy skirts. 

Making. . . Lots of bangles! I'm so glad to have bangle designs as part of the Tangleweeds collection finally. I love bangles myself and on the days when I put more thought into my dress I like to wear lots of them! The "clinky" sound they make is like music throughout the day.

My day is full-to-bursting, so I better hop on over the the workbench while it's still early. But you know I'll be heading outside for a lunch break just to soak up more of this beautiful weather!