First Sale :)

I am very excited to have my first sale on Etsy. Kate's lovely sister Amanda bought a pair of Custom Light Blue Cat Eye earrings. :) Sweet, thanks Mandy!

I made a light box today. I'll add a picture later. It is not quite right yet, but it is better then nothing. I think I just do not have the right light, the one I have is hard to clamp on things. It is also too yellow and I swear I could smell burning, but I do have a crazy nose! According to Noah (my love), I either "hate it" or it "smells bad." He is so right! Those truly are my catch phrases.

My Etsy

All right, my Etsy shop is up and running: http://www.etsy.com/shop/scaltro

Now I just have to constantly work on marketing my products. Since I am starting with no funds at all, facebook will have to be the start. Let's see how far social media will get me...

Santa Cruz

Noah and I biked at Wilder Ranch in Santa Cruz for the first time this weekend. I wish I could go there everyday! It was so beautiful to be in the woods with a view of the ocean. The wildlife was great. I love the CA lizards. We heard some cicadas or crickets when I was taking pictures of flowers that made the coolest noise. The redwoods were hard to photograph but the flowers, lizards and ocean were not. Here are some of my favorites.

The rest can be found on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/nmeyerhans/sets/72157623925544730/

My Studio

This is where I spend most of my time, so I thought I would share some photos. It is no longer my craft room, I now call it my Studio. I am so lucky to have an entire room that I can devote to my creativity. I tried to keep to neutral with different wood tones, baskets, fabric bins and glass in my Jewelry area. I also mostly used what I had and as it turns out, I had a lot of really awesome useful things.











I love to spend time in here and especially love how quick and easy it is to create something. Now I just need to add a chair so Noah can come hang out and talk to me while I work. :)

Jewelry Findings Organizer

This may have been done before, but I feel like a genius right now because it is working so well. I have always hated this spice rack on the counter, but I bought it, so I felt the need to try to use it. I almost always went for the spices in the cabinet rather then the rack, so it was essentially wasting counter space, which currently we are lacking, so it needed to go. Now, can it be re-purposed, or should it go to Goodwill so someone else can figure out a way to reuse it. Aha, I have a great idea...
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I am so excited at how well this works. The site I order findings and beads from www.allseason.com puts everything in a little baggy with a sticker label noting size and price. The label was easy to take off and affix to the top or side of the jar. This is helpful since some findings are sterling silver and others are not. The flip open cover makes it so easy to get things out. I am so happy about this. My studio is so perfect to me right now and I just love it.

Creative Leftovers

I was raised Italian, so when I cook, I cook for lots. There are only two of us and we seem to often have leftovers. I get really annoyed when we throw out food. It makes me feel like we are throwing out money. So I try to get creative with leftovers; patiently sitting in the refrigerator waiting to be eaten. I am conscience of the fact that if we do not eat the leftovers in a few days, they will probably never get eaten. But I do not want to throw them out, so what do I do? I make a new dish out of an old dish, and make sure that there are no leftovers this time!

Tonight I took leftover quinoa with sautéed veggies and turned it into a yummy looking Casserole. The dish originally contained quinoa, onion, mushrooms, carrots and peppers. I added more of all the veggies, some leftover chicken, spinach, almonds and Raisins. Yes, raisins. I saw a recipe online that added them and it sounded good and even though I hate raisins, I figured I would give it a try. I also added some orange zest and squeezed some fresh juice in as well. I added paprika, a splash of rice vinegar and ground pepper.

I am very excited to see how it all comes together. It smells unlike anything I have ever made. I tend to use sautéed garlic and onion (What I call it Italian air-freshener) as the base for most meals. I want a new flavor and am really enjoying playing with the locally grown fruits and veggies. Soon I will have to grow my own.

Idea of the Hour #1

I swear my brain never stops. Even when I sleep I look like I am thinking! I've seen pictures, they are very funny.

So the idea of the hour today, Friday March 26, 2010, 3:53 pm, is to turn a bike chain and tube into a bracelet. This is inspired from a bracelet that Julie Silvestri once made that I absolutely loved. I always knew I wanted to make it and I finally have time to try."It's Friday, I ain't got no job, I ain't got shit to do!" After 4 days of chains soaking in Citrus Degreaser, hours of scrubbing, and many hand washing later, I am ready to take apart the test chain and play with the pattern. I can't wait to see how long this takes to become a finished product...