Full Circle - New Places, Favorite Places

This last week was all about finding my groove with my work/Tangleweeds schedule as balanced out by time for self-care. As I write this I'm dealing with a nasty cold, (boo!) bringing home the importance of taking care of myself even when things get really busy. I'm working from home today, resting as needed.

This past weekend Jeff and I went to Down Home music in El Cerrito for a free music show. It's a great place if you have a love/interest in country, americana, roots, blues music. While we were over there I finally stopped by the little button shop, Exclusive Buttons. They sell vintage buttons and the selection is amazing. Be forewarned tho, they're only open on Fridays and Saturdays. The buttons I picked up may find themselves into some one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces later this year. I'll make sure to share photos if and when they do!

In the studio there was lots of work on the classics: the swoops, the featherlight necklaces (which are currently sold out in my Etsy shop, but more will be added later this month), and the full circle earrings. 

I also decided to have a little sale for the rest of the month. This season I'll be discontinuing some designs to make room for new ones. A lot of the designs are older ones that I have either re-invented at this point, or they've ebbed in popularity. Everything in the shop is 25% off with the coupon code "jan2015" for the rest of this month. I figure it's a sweet little way to pick up something you've had your eye on for a while before it's gone for good! That last photo at the bottom is an example of one of the deigns that'll be discontinued. 

Al righty, it's time for me to make a big pot of tea and go curl up in bed with a book for a bit. I'm hoping this cold runs it's course in a quick manner!

Listening-Wearing-Making: The Jeans Edition

With the new year I've been listening to lots of new (to me) music, especially country. Leslie Stevens and the Badgers are more folky than country, so if you're a country hater, don't run away! You might like these guys. I stumbled upon them thanks to Jeff a week or so ago when he was playing some old iTunes playlists. I love Leslie Steven's girly but slightly gritty voice. 

Wearing . . . Lots of sweaters! This time of the year my studio gets pretty darn cold. Sometimes I'll even start the day in not one or two, but three sweaters layered over each other for warmth. This particular one I found on a recent thrifting excursion with my mom in Livermore. I fell in love with the leaf motif. 

Outfit details:
jeans - old (from UO - proof that every now and then I actually wear jeans)
sweater - Goodwill (in Livermore)
booties - Convert (a little show shop on 4th street in Berkeley)
earrings - Tangleweeds (the Falling Leaves design w/o the green only stones)
necklace - Tangleweeds (a single Drape style necklace in cream)
 

And making: This time of year, while I am working on jewelry for my spring time fairs and local shops, I'm mainly busy with taking and editing photos, updating my website and so forth and so on (and I'm not quite ready to share a lot of the new designs that won't be coming out until April-May.) So in lieu of new work, I thought I'd share a photo from my upcoming look book, Everyday Magic. I'm actually going to get this one printed, so I'm pretty excited about it!

I don't know about you guys, but this week has simply flown by for me and I still have so much left to do. Time to get re-priortized with the rest of the day!

Full Circle - Weekly Recap

Good morning and good Monday folks! 

My first point of business 'round here: I'm going to be changing my "weekly recap" posts name to "full circle". The name feels right 'cause these posts are my way of looking back over the last week and seeing where I've been and what I've done (and sharing it with all of you), in essence coming back "full circle" to Monday from last Monday. And it's the name of one of my classic collections, yet another reason it felt right. 

This last week was my first week "back to work" with Tangleweeds. I must say it felt great. Taking a break right after the holidays always helps to re-charge my batteries, both creatively and around more practical matters. But this year I'm striving for a bit more balance, and this last week  definitely held a better balance: farmer's market shopping with Jeff, thrifting with my mom in Livermore, and time to practice my new found passion and hobby: weaving!

If you follow me on Instagram, then you've seen that this last week I was spending some time getting my studio cleaned up, including creating a small showroom space. This took the better part of Monday and Tuesday, but I was so glad I had the time to do this. I can't begin to explain how satisfying it is to look over my shoulder while I'm sitting at my desk, typing this blog post, and see my work all on display. I still have a bit more work to do to get the space completely ready for any sort of open studio time, but it will happen this year! Overall this last week was a lot about planning and laying out the groundwork to make my goals this year for Tangleweeds happen. 

Now, I gotta go prep for a small photoshoot that's happening tomorrow. I'm putting together a look-book for a tradeshow I'll be showing at in February. 

Here's to a wonderful week everyone!

Looking Back on 2014

Wow, what a year it was! I have to say I didn't realize how much fun it could be looking back on my photos from last year (mainly Tangleweeds Instagram.) I have a small personal goal that I take and post at least one photo to Instagram everyday. It's my way of making sure I stay involved with social media for my biz, but it's also my way of making sure I stop and take the time to document all that I'm doing over the course of a year. It was a bit hard whittling down the 352 photos to a manageable dozen or so, I must say!

Looking back was a really awesome reminder of just how much I did this year. I'm not trying to sound full of myself, rather I am someone who constantly pushes herself to do more. I'm rarely satisfied with what I've done, always wanting to push myself to do more (I am working on this, working on appreciating accomplishments. The hamster wheel does need to stop turning every now and then.) 

This last year was a smorgasbord: time with my nephew (in Disneyland!), visits with the neighborhood goats, hilarious cat photos, a trip to Boston with my honey, began to teach myself how to weave and more. I hired and kept on my first part-time (permanent) employee, vended at so many amazing events (highlights include the KPFA Craft Fair and the Gravenstein Apple Fair), expanded on my re-purposed tin collection, released my largest collection yet (the Essentiality collection in the spring), designed and created a series of wall hangings (more to come this year), got back to posting outfits-of-the-day (even if it was rather infrequently), and landed my first shop for Tangleweeds in Japan. 

I worked harder and longer hours than any other year in my life. I know this without tallying the hours. The counterpoint to that: I had to better learn how to slow down and take care of myself. I started seeing an acupuncturist and continued to learn about herbs and herbalism. Overall, I tried and am trying to be the best caretaker of me: the physical, the emotional and mental, and the spiritual. 

Remember how I said, up above, how I'm rarely satisfied with what I've completed. Well, looking back on 2014 I'm feeling pretty darn content and happy. 

And here's to a wonderful year to come!

Autumn, you have my heart

Thanksgiving is next week. The leaves are falling and in beautiful colors. I'm dreaming up new designs for after the holiday rush. Planning for a bunch of holiday fairs. Life is good!

Don't forget to enter my fall jewelry giveaway if you haven't already too! Here's to a lovely week everyone!

Fall Time Giveaway

Well, folks, after a few months off from offering giveaways, I'm back! This time around it's for a set. It'll arrive all gift-wrapped and ready for gift giving it's that's what you choose to do with your winnings =). But what you do with it is totally up to you! If you win you'll get one of my Egyptian necklaces along with the coordinating earrings. This giveaway is for the set pictured, with the salmon-pink accent. Read below for the deets on entering. . . 

To enter simply leave a comment on this blog post about how you take the time to honor the onset of fall and the changing seasons in your life. It doesn't have to be anything big. For example, I always buy those warty pumpkins and put them on my front porch this time of the year. I'd love to hear what YOU do to make this time of the year special. 

I'll select a winner Thanksgiving weekend and announce the winner December 1st. Good luck!

Sweater Weather, Banjo Pickin', and River Rocks

Sweater weather. Yes, it would seem that it's finally here in the San Francisco bay area. Time to layer it up with tights, cozy dresses, leggings, boots and booties, and (of course) Tangleweeds jewelry. The sweater vest in the bottommost photos I found on clearance at Anthropologie during my trip to Boston. It's one of my favorite new pieces. It has a very "grandma" feel to it. What are some of your favorite pieces this fall season?

I'm doing this installment of listening-wearing-making a bit out of order (cause I felt like it =). Here's a bit of what I've been obsessed with ever since Jeff and I went to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in October. This is the best video I could find of Abigail Washburn and Bela Fleck, you just gotta get past the first few seconds/minutes of some promo stuff. If you like banjo music, you'll like this!

Making - Lots and lots and lots of the River Rock earrings from my Shapes of Fall Collection. I've been sort of flumoxed by how popular these have been. Pleasantly surprised as they're one of my favorite new designs. 

I hope everyone's week is going swimmingly! Remember, tomorrow I'll be posting about my next giveaway. A little tease for you: it's gonna be two pieces this time!

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!

Fall Equinox is Here

Yes, fall has arrived! Which in the bay area of course means lots of warm weather still to come, but the seasons evolving still gets me all excited for changes: for cleaning and de-cluttering (and not just the home, but the mind too!), for newness in the yard (plants changing colors, some curling up in hibernation for the cold weather to come), and (of course) new jewelry designs! 

I didn't think I was gonna be able to pull off a new collection in time for fall, but it happened! Called Shapes of Fall, this collection is inspired by this beautiful season and features many organic, natural shapes. I've gone less geometric with these pieces and more free-form. And, for the rest of the month I'll be having a 25% off sale in my Etsy shop with coupon code "SeptemberAir." The sale is good on ALL pieces, not just the new ones, fyi. 

I hope everyone has some time to stop and appreciate the beauty of today, the equal balance of light and dark, the changing colors, all of it! I had "scheduled" in some journaling and quiet relective time today, not realzing that I had scheduled it for the equinox. How more perfect could that timing be!

(Lastly, I'll be updating my events page with the rest of my events for the year soon, along with sending out a newsletter to all of my email subscribers. If anyone wants to be added to my newsletter, simply head on over to this page here and I'll make sure you receive my next installment.)