Thanks Ya'll! How bout a "freebie"...

Well the "Bogo" sale is off to a great start for the weekend!!! Thanks everybody!! So I got a reply to my e-mail that I mass produced this morning and it was from somebody that makes jewelry and had a shop on Etsy and thought she had done all the "right things", but didn't get hardly any sales and she gave up. She was wanting to know "how I did it". So in a round about way, I basically summed up what this little picture is saying "whatever you chose to do in life, you have to put your heart into it". That's what I do and people tell me it shows. I couldn't even imagine not making jewelry just about every single day of my life. You have to be passionate about it, love it and wholeheartly dedicate yourself to it to be successful at it. The number one thing is never, never, never give up and never get frustrated ~ your frustation will show in your work and people will notice. Okay, so enough about that lesson for the day. Let's get on to the "free" stuff!These awsome little earrings ~ appropriately named "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" will be given away on Monday!!! All you have to do to win them is comment on this blog post! Ozzy will be picking the winner this time ~ Good Luck!!!

After some requests, I listed a "Gift Certifiate" in the shop. It's a great way to give somebody something from my shop, without stressing over picking it out. Let me know what you think about it ~:)

Well, I gotta run for now and get ready to go meet friends for dinner & listen to the "Moon Shine Babies" ~ And then tomorrow night @ 6:00pm I'll have my jewelry on display @ Poppies Gourmet Market. I'll be set up in the Garden so people can shop while then enjoy music from the beautiful & talented Nikki Talley! Poppies will be serving up some great food & spirits, too! Come out and see me if you live in Transylvania County! Whoo hooo ~ August is looking good! Have a great weekend everybody!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." ~ Jack London

shhhhh...you're the first ones to know....

...I'm having a "bogo" sale in my shop starting this Friday {July 31st}! ALL beaded necklaces will be "buy one get one 50% off" {discount will apply to item of equal or lessor value}. This will be a great opportunity to start your Christmas shopping and snatch up something for yourself, since most of the necklaces that are sold will not be re-listed. I'm just giving you a "heads up" so you can take a peek :)

I have lots of new things listed also, like this awesome necklace I made today:I named it "Poetry In Motion" and I do think it's one of my all time favorites, ever!!

Off to cook dinner! Happy Wednesday!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are." ~ Baron de Montesquieu

What a great weekend!!

...a weekend of fun & friendship, that is :) I hope everybody had a great weekend!!Belle Chere' was awesome!! I've never been to a festival this large. This shot is just from one of the four streets that were blocked off & literally "full" of vendors as far as the eye could see {click on the picture to enlarge it and you'll see what I mean}. We had so much fun with Anne & Mike ~ of course, this was the best part:Anne ~ waking us up with biscuits from scratch, fresh homemade sausage gravy, scrambled eggs & gourmet coffee ~ so we promptly made"pigs" of ourselves & headed out to enjoy another day of the festival! And this is one of the coolest things I saw - not sure what it's supposed to be exactly, so I'm calling it the "frozen Medusa":whatever it takes to make a living ~ I'm happy for those that are brave enough to do it.

Whew ~ I got my fun over for the weekend and I got several really cool glass pendants, so be on the look out for new stuff in the shop, starting tomorrow!!!

Happy Monday, Everybody!!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them." ~ Henry S. Haskins

I Love Thrift Stores!!!

So I've been reading lots of things on the internet, visiting lots of sites, Etsy top sellers, etc., learning new ways to package things up, recycle, reuse & just basically "cutsie" things up a bit for packaging my items to send out to my customers. One of the things I read, and really really, loved was to use pages from old books for wrapping, making boxes, note cards, etc. Well, even though I have a gazillion books, I couldn't bear the thought of tearing them up. So I went to "Goodwill" today and got 2 old "World Atlas" books {because the maps are just so wonderfully colorful} and I got 1 old dictionary and this:It's called "Fields of Gold" and is an awesome, 155 page book of inspirational quotations from ancient and modern times. Of course, I'm not about to cut this up, but use it for my ending blog quotes. I'm going to go right in order, starting on page 1 {they may not make sense sometimes, but it'll be interesting to see when they do}. And to think, it was .99 cents! I love thrift stores!

I love this, too! It's brand new in the shop and called "Paper-n-things" ~ The pendant is made by my wonderful friend, Susan over at "TV Tray Art". She makes some awesome things. In fact, she's working on something special for me right now ~ hee hee I can't wait to see it!! Of course, it will be shared right here when it's finished.

Speaking of finished, I'm off to make something new!!! I hope you are all having a wonderful week! Happy Thursday!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

This quote is under "Opportunity" ~ the very 1st one in the book ;)

"There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. We must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures." ~ William Shakespeare

Happy Sunday!!

So yesterday morning I was up early, loaded up my car and headed down to the Tailgate Market to set up. On the way down the hill I had to stop and catch my breath at this......it truly looked like a painting. The light fog that had settled over the little pond was simply beautiful against the background of the magnificent mountains. At that very moment is when I realized {once again} that this is where I truly belong. All the worries of the rest of the day went away in that very second.

And what a great day it was @ the market!Lots of my friends came out to see me, including Sara & Jayden. Jayden reluctantly shared some some of his blackberries with meand I have to say that those were the biggest blackberries I have ever seen!And another gorgeous day is in store for today! I'm off to make a few new things, then head down to Lowe's to pick out paint for the living room ~ I'm thinking a greenish/gold ~ I'll keep you posted on that project. Then it's off to dinner with some of our awesome friends!
Have a wonderful day!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Now may the warming love of friends surround you as you go down the path of light & laughter where the happy memories grow." ~ Helen Lowrie Marshall

And the winner is {insert drumroll here}....

...but Stacy, since you already have a pair of these earrings, I'll send you a surprise :) Thanks for all the comments, everybody!!!

This is a brand new necklace that I just made today and listed in the shop. I named it "Circle of Life" ~ I love it!! And this is a necklace I listed yesterday {that I love more}......it's called "Love, Life" ~ I'm in love with that pewter tree pendant from "Green Girl Studios" ~ they are just awesome!

So I'm busy getting ready for the Tailgate Market tomorrow!!! If you live in Transylvania County, come out and see me. I'll be there from 8 til 1 ~ lots of fun, good eats, plants & treats ~:) Speaking of treats, I'm loving my dahlias that are popping up right now ~ this one is my favorite so far:Now I know I've mentioned "Picnik" before, but now it's even better! Look what I did with a picture of some of our friends:{you'll have to click on it to enlarge it, so you can see the difference}. Anyway, I removed blemishes, removed wrinkles, gave them "fake tans", whitened their teeth, gave Kim a little blush and gave the whole photo an "air brush" ~ it's amazing!!! I love Picnik!!! You should try it for yourself, if you haven't already. It's totally worth the $25/year, I promise.

Gotta run for now ~ I need to go whip up some dinner ~ Happy Friday!!!

♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Success isn't something you chase. It's something you have to put forth the effort for constantly. Then maybe it'll come when you least expect it. Most people don't understand that." ~ Michael Jordan

Look Ma ~ No Cavities!!

Yay!!! I finally went to the dentist today {after Wayne made me an appointment}. Now my teeth are all nice and clean and, once again, I have no cavities! I've never had one in my whole life. I get my teeth from my Daddy's side of the family. I just hope my bones are as strong. So, to celebrate this historical event, I'm giving these away:The are called "Mellow Yellow" {which is NOT the color of my teeth, by the way} and they are just gorgeous! Of course, if you don't win them, you can always grab up your own pair in the shop. And, all you have to do to win them, is comment on this post! That's it!! Lita will be picking a winner on Friday! Good Luck!!

Whew ~ I've been a busy little bee lately!!! Just look at all the new stuff I made last night {after 10 pm} ~ and it's all thanks to "Pandora Radio"! This is the most awesome thing EVER!!! Stacy, get ready for a new addiction! All you do is sign up {totally free} and then type in what you want to hear. The site automatically starts playing similar songs that you will probably like. If you don't like them, you can just check the little "don't like" thumbs down and it will not play that music for you again. For instance, I put in "Pink Floyd" and have been in 7th heaven ever since! Flash back music that has me motivated!!! So sign up and have fun!!! ~ here's the new stuff ~ tell me what you think:
"Mermaid Wisdom"

"Little Mermaid" ~ my personal favorite :)

"Knowledge Tree"

"Grow Strong"

I'm just loving all of these new beads & pendants that I got from "Green Girl Studios" ~ they do amazing work ~ I hope you love them, too.

Happy Tuesday!!
♥ & peace always ~ kathy

"The greatest use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it." ~ William James

Paper-n-things........

I don't know what it is about school supplies & art supplies, but I've always loved them!! The more paper, pens, markers, paperclips, folders, hole punchers, ink stamps, etc. I can have, the better! So we went to see "Public Enemies" {the new Johnny Depp movie} after I got my social security card all applied for. Somehow the "safe place" we had put it became so safe that we could not find it, after looking everywhere {literally}. It was just as well, since I needed to change my name on it anyway. Plus, the trip was certainly not wasted! Lucky for me, we got to the theater a little early so I was able to check out the "Big Lots" right next door. Ah.....what a score!! Not only did I get several packages of scrapbook embellishments, a whole pack of fuchsia card stock {which I'll be using for my mailing labels & boxes}, I got these awesome books:and they were only $3 each! I've been "digital scrapbooking" for years, which I LOVE!!! Here is an awesome site, where I get just about all of my page kits. Plus, you can sign up to get "free stuff" every Friday ~ pretty cool. Now, I have stacks of brightly colored paper & card stock that I somehow "collected" over the years that just sits in my closet. I do use some of it often, but I could never use ALL of it {well, maybe}. Anyway, I ran across this article/video on Etsy, from the talented Ms. Mary, on how to make your own paper boxes:

this is my 1st attemptpretty darned cute! Paired up with some scrapbooking embelishments and pretty ribbon, they'll make the perfect little packages for some of my jewelry! So, the next time you purchase something from my shop, you may get a nice little surprise box, too :) Since my "creativity" is eeaking out all over the place, these are some new necklaces I just made:"Sand and Sea"

"Styx & Stones""Marquis"

welp, off to make more....Have a wonderful weekend!!

♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." ~ Thomas Moore

P.S. The movie was pretty good {considering you get to look @ Johnny Depp for 2.5 hours}, but it was rather drawn out and boring. It could have easily been a 2 hour movie ~ but I enjoyed it, none-the-less.

What a great day!!!!

We had the best party ever yesterday!!! Everybody had a wonderful time & just raved about Wayne's grilling abilities!! I think it was the first time he literally "manned the grill" and just cooked up all sorts of goodness ~ burgers, beer brats, hot dogs, portobello mushrooms & peppers:Besides the grilling, there was lots of other awesome food and Chuck {one of our visiting house guests from Louisiana} made the best carrot cake ever! It was the "Moon Shine Baby" birthday cake and was devoured within 10 minutes:So when we woke up yesterday morning, it was raining. The forecast called for the rain to continue and turn into scattered severe thunderstorms by mid-afternoon. The chance of rain was 80%. Wayne looked at the radar and, sure enough, it was headed right towards us. He wanted to post-pone the party, but I was insistent. I waived my little crystal around in the window and said "please, please don't rain during our party". And do you know, it didn't! It was real overcast, which was actually great and nobody burned up! So after an afternoon & evening of food, fellowship, cornhole, hula-hooping and lots of beer,

the party broke up around 10ish last night. With everybody leaving and saying that it was the best party they had ever attended ~ Wayne and I sat out by the chimenea, drank some more of the beer and gave each other a nice little pat on the back and then, it started to rain ~ ever so softly.......the rain Gods cooperated and today, I'm ever so grateful. I'm also grateful for my friends, old and new, for all of you, my "cyber friends", near and far. But most of all, today I'm thankful for my awesome husband and my wonderful life in the mountains...

Happy Monday Everybody!!!
♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"Attaining inner simplicity is learning to live happily in the present moment. Keep in mind that life is a continuous succession of present moments." ~ Elaine St. James

Happy 4th of July Everybody!!!

This is a picture of me & my Sister, Karen when we were kids ~ my Mom scanned it and e-mailed it to me ;) Hee hee....

Anyway, the winner of the little goddess necklace is Katie!!! Congratulations, Katie! Ozzy picked #2. I hope everybody has a safe & Happy 4th of July weekend!!! We still have house guests and we are having a huge party on Sunday!! Burgers, Brats, A Keg of Beer, Hotdogs, Watermelon & Cornhole!!!! I'll have pics on Monday!!!

♥ & peace always ~ Kathy

"There are two ways of spreading light ~ to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." ~ Edith Wharton