Brain Dead, Blame the Kids

My drawing has finally finished and Necklaces are ready to be shipped! Congrats to Kayla White and Sabra Handy for you new items!

This past week I finally decided to make myself a necklace! What kind of sales person am I when I don't ever make myself something to show off =P It is Fluorite with handmade Clay cap and beads. Linked onto leather. I love the way it turned out. I am definitely having a teal phase. I do need to make some more spring time items soon as well.

The past few days have been quite unsuccessful. I think my mind wants to do so much and has so many ideas that when I actually have time to work it shuts down. Artist Block? I blame the children. You are so used to all the noise and madness going on that when silence finally comes, your brain stops working. Of course with my crazy toddler that rarely happens. I say this as she still keeps getting up from her bed at 10:30 when we put her to bed two hours ago. Story of my life.

Speaking of my toddler. She is 3 to be exact, and I will say she is the MASTER of the terrible 3's. MASTER. She does the throwing the fits, crying, yelling completely ignoring you and purposely doing the opposite that you tell her to do. She thinks doing all of this is absolutely hilarious! I think she enjoys slowly watching my sanity dwindle away day by day. My husband thinks it will get better as she gets older. I on the other hand am convinced it will get worse as she gets older. The older she is the more trouble she can cause. World watch out, Red Rainah is on her way. Fear for my future and I will fear for yours.

Of course after the fits she tells you she loves you, gives you the biggest smile and all is right with the world again. This face is what keeps her alive at times.

These two pictures fit her personality perfect. In the last picture she is sitting with our (23lb!) cat Vincent Price. I told her to smile and this is what she gave me. Yup, Rainah all the way. 

Win a FREE Necklace!

  It is time for a Facebook Drawing!!! If you "Like" my Facebook page and share the photo you can win a free necklace! (You pic one from the picture if you win). The Labradorite stone necklace could be made for a male or female. All you have to do is:
1. Go to Facebook.com/artfulparadox (make sure you are logged into Facebook)
2. Hit "Like" button
3. Scroll and find the picture that looks like this:

4. Hit the "Share" button.
And that is it! You are entered. You are able to to share once a day. The drawing ends
Monday 4-14-14

 Spring has finally (mostly) arrived! There are few cold days here and there, but the great thunderstorms I love have started and the flowers have started blooming.
   There is a small pond in walking distance from our house and we just love walking there. A few weeks ago we just happen to walk there at the perfect time! There was a tiny patch of sand with some freshwater shells! They are pretty big for that tiny pond, I was impressed.

  I also have been inspired to try different styles for spring. I made a "shabby chic" style necklace, that I actually really enjoy with the Amethyst Cluster I bought from a wonderful gem show we went too. I have not posted it on Etsy just yet, but if you private message me on my Etsy or Facebook and still order it or a custom order like it.

I have also done some more Fluorite stone necklaces of course. They are available on my Etsy page. Etsy.com/shop/artfulparadox. Of course there are other items available that are new as well. Follow my Etsy page to keep up on new items available. 

Now I am off to try to work on my booth for some upcoming shows I would like to join! I need to set up my booth and take pictures of it before I can send it an application. With as picky as I am, this will be tricky. =P Wish me luck!  

Birthday Month

I have had a busy busy month. Both of my girls birthdays were this month. Aria, my older one is 9 now and Rainah is 3. How this happened I have no idea…. Didn't I just have Aria last year??? =-/ I don't feel old at all..really. Well a new season and growth spurts means that new bikes were in order! They LOVE them. Since this is Rainah's first bike she hasn't grasped in yet (considering it has been so cold we were only outside testing it for about 10 minutes and gave up). I think she will catch on easily though.. besides the steering.

I guess I jinxed the weather because this month we had almost a week of snow days, and let me tell you after the 2nd day everyone in this house was cranky and ready to leave. Now we are planning for another one. I can't say I am excited.

I have had time to work on many late night projects being bundled up at home! I am quite happy about that. I had a custom order of wine glasses for a wedding. She said they were exactly what she wanted, so I must say they were worth the 3 day ache in my hands from kneading the clay lol. Also, the awesome necklace I made my husband for christmas that I forgot to post! It is fluorite wrapped in clay with sterling silver and wood beads. It has inspired me to purchase a few more Fluorite stones and to make a few to sell. =) I will post pictures of those when I am done.

Time to Hibernate

So far we have been lucky this winter. Though it has been extremely cold, we haven't had any major storms here. I say this as ice starts covering the roads, but it is Kansas so it could be 50 by tomorrow for all I know. My littlest is definitely getting cabin fever! We went to the bank drive through today and she cried as we pulled back into the house screaming "No!! Go bye bye! Mommy Please!!!" I for one am and always will be ready for summer. I despise the cold and could live the rest of my days never feeling it again.

Since we have been locked at home I have been able to reorganize my whole working area (I will take pictures later), and started experimenting with more items. I have made a wine glass wrapped in polymer clay. I am loving how they turned out! I also made an asymmetrical rose necklace. https://www.etsy.com/listing/177789165/purple-polymer-clay-rose-multistrand?ref=pr_shop

Now if I could just get as motivated to clean my house!! Haha. Maybe someday…. possibly… we will see.

The idea of a stay at home mother

  I will admit it, I was one of those girls that thought being a stay at home mom would be simple, easy and even a dream. Well let me tell you, I have been one since my youngest was born (she is almost 3) and I will be the first to tell you… I was wrong! Never in my mind did I imagine so much screaming, cleaning, and most of all whining. Granted I have two girls so that definitely comes with the territory. My soon-to-be 9 year old is a mixture of the teenage attitude with the little girl whine. The 3 year old has my whine with daddy's bad boy attitude. I never expected to not ever sit down being home all day! Don't get me wrong I love my girls and wouldn't change them (I say this now because they are both asleep :P). I just definitely need have a night away, it has been a few months. On a good note, there is not a day that goes by the Rainah (3 year old) is not cracking me up because of the goofball she is. Aria (9) is doing GREAT in school. She was even chosen to be in her school spelling bee! Unfortunately the night before she was suppose to do it she got deathly ill and had to stay home. We were both devastated. It turns out she had pneumonia so she was out the rest of the week. She is definitely feeling much better now and has her energy back. School again tomorrow, YAY!!

  So in the past few months I will say it has been busy! I got married finally after 3 years being engaged. We decided to just go do it a month before. We went to Colorado and got married in Cave of the Winds. IT WAS AWESOME! I will be honest, at the moment I don't know if I was more excited about getting married or the awesome caves and tunnels around me. We had a small amount of people there which was perfect and got to visit other places during the weekend. The next day was for sight seeing. It was rough trying to fit all the sites in one day with 10 people and my girls but we did it! We visited Manitou Cliff Dwellings and drove past Garden of the Gods, then returned back to the cave to get some  souvenirs. For the last day it was a necessity of my now husband to visit the Denver Broncos stadium. Now that I think back on it, he almost cried there…. there were no tears at our wedding.. hmmmmmm. I won't bombard you with pictures form it all, but here are a few that my friend/photographer took. More will come later and I will explain my hair/accessories/bouquet.  Such a great time!

  There is tons of more jewelry to show you as well, but I think I have added enough photos for the night. =)

I AM BACK! Finally!!!

So, it has been awhile since I have written. I was having issues with my blog and couldn't get pictures to work so I just gave up…..for a long time. BUT, I am back! Hopefully all is better now! 

You would think I would have tons to write about, but life as a stay at home mom in a small country town doesn't exactly make like the most adventurous. Ok, I take that back. I get plenty of adventures with my kids, some I would have preferred not to have but they are there nonetheless. 

I have been working nonstop practically trying to make enough items to open a booth around town. I have lots of new items to show. If you know me at all you know I am obsessed with stones, and fairies. I haven't quite figured out my preferred way to incorporate fairies into my jewelry yet. Though I have been finding BEAUTIFUL stones to use for my jewelry and I am LOVING THEM! Most of them are available at my Etsy shop, so please go look! 

Etsy shop: Clay Section

Polymer galore!

For some reason my blog hasn't let me post lately but here is another try!

I haven't had much time to write, I've had back to back birthdays! Sheesh! I've also been working on polymer like crazy! Here are a few items. Most are up at my etsy shop.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/125615578/purple-and-green-polymer-flower-clay?ref=pr_shop

The rest you can see at my Facebook page:

Facebook/artfulparadox

Go like it!

Metal Clay

I have been dying to work with metal for quite some time. The look of it just inspires and excites me. I love the shiny sterling to the matte look of stainless steel.

As of right now silversmithing is out of the question. So I am opting for a cheaper option in the near future. Metal Clay. That is the main reason I started with polymer, for the practice. The more I research and see the more the itch is taking over!

Before I start trying to convince my husband it is not a waste of money to start saving for I would like more info! I can't find any jewelry stores that have Ny or any classes so the Internet is basically my only form on information.

I will just make a straight forward list of questions if ANYONE has an answer to any or all I will be quite grateful!

-Is it a lot like polymer?

I wanted to do the less expensive route of torching, can I make rings with a torch brand that is softer?

Any specific brands better than others?

What tools do I REALLY need and what are just for the sellers to make money?

Can I use my polymer tools I already have?

That is all I can think of at the moment. To be honest I know nothing of metal yet so don't even know where to start! Very overwhelming!

Ok, that is all that is on my mind tonight :)

How fun is this!?!

Ok not much to tell just have been doing lots and lots of work. Loving it! I have a drawing on my Facebook page for people who like and share it. Free men's/women's wrap bracelet! Look and like my fb page to see which ones
:)


Facebook.com/artfulparadox

I've been painting and polymer out the wazoo! And now I am mixing the two for much added fun! (The bottom is the mixed one)
All for sale

What do you think about them all!? Please comment and leave feedback!

New items

New items up at my etsy shop!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/121522056/small-polymer-pendant

https://www.etsy.com/listing/121523044/small-polymer-pendant

I also made some custom orders (robot). One is shipped and one is almost done so no pics... Yet ;-)

Kale Chips Anyone? Pinterest Experiment

Sickness still roams around the house. It seems it will never end let me tell ya. I was so sick the other day when I came back from my Dr. Appointment I left my keys in the ignition and now my car is completely dead. So obviously I guess my errands will have to be put on hold for a day. Of course today it's in the 50's and tomorrow it will be back to freezing. Go figure right.

I did have a little bit to get some jewelry making in though. Most are up at my easy store, some not quite yet. I also have a custom order I will be starting soon too. Soon if I ever get the time and patience I will do a tutorial. :)

So Official Pinterest experiment #1Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips http://www.foodess.com/2012/01/salt-vinegar-kale-chips/#more-3414

This time I give them a 5 (scale 1-10).

Let me say this first in my defense. I might be Italian, but I was never raised to cook or clean. The fact that I even attempted is a Martha Stewart Miracle for my family. I don't know spices, oils, or anything really. So this experiment was not a great success BUT given my lack of cooking experience it is worth trying again.

I will admit I changed a few things. Instead of Olive Oil I used Healthy Balance Oil (because of course that sounds healthier than olive oil.. Right?) and I put a sheet of foil under them instead of coating the pan.. Hey less cleaning... Anyway, the recipe called for 2tsp of vinegar. Since my stomach has been a little upset I only used half of that (1tsp) and ground Sea Salt instead of Kosher salt (I didn't have any).

Ok, so the taste was great. Just fine, my issue was getting them crisp. I did two batches to make sure they weren't piled on and cooked for 6 minutes then flipped and another 3 minutes at 350. They were still limp. So I put it in a few more minutes, same result. I got impatient so I put them all on there (the 2nd batch was cooked and had the same results) and bumped it up to 425 for about 3 minutes. They burned.. Of course. Though they didn't burn enough not to eat so I will eat them anyway! So like I said next time I might actually follow the exact directions (to be honest I'm not sure what I could have done wrong to result in them not being crisp though). No foil? We shall see

Quick post

I have finally been able to finish and post my polymer pendants, a few men's bracelets, and my painting! Yay!! Busy momma here!

Etsy.com/shop/artfulparadox

Men's jewelry

I have been slacking big time on posting my men's jewelry on etsy. I have many,
Just haven't taken pictures yet. I guess I know my plans for the weekend!!

You can still look on my Facebook page and find some or custom orders. Here is one ready to send!

Life is a blur

I will admit, the last few weeks have been a blur! I waited until the last minute for all of my Christmas preparations. Before I knew it, here it was and my family was over. By the way, I will never understand the reason I decided to start Christmas every year at my house! Well, at least it was only Christmas and not Thanksgiving too.

Oh, and for the new cookers out there. Leaving the neck in the turkey is a bad thing... Even if it won't come out. You find a way! Hah fail on my part. Oops?

Aria is sick yet again, coughing and runny nose. Her fever has finally broke, but the girl is coughing constantly. I kept Rainah from her for the first few days, but it was apparent yesterday that it wouldn't last any longer when Rainah would try to use her butt to push through the door when I would open the door to check on Aria. Then she proceeded to scream hysterically and cry calling "Aria!!" when I shut the door on her. Since her fever broke the day before I decided to give in. Now the trouble brews again in the house. =)

Besides being Dr. I have spent the last few days making some orders for clients and revamping my whole FACEBOOK page and adding to the ETSY site. All of my items on my etsy page now have a link from my facebook page to make them easier to browse and buy. Yay! Also, TONS of new earrings, and items are still on sale for the last few days.

Facebook.com/artfulparadox
etsy.com/shop/artfulparadox

A few weeks ago I was reading through my friends blog Threeblindwives.com  and saw she made a tutorial for baby leggings from pinterest. HOW CUTE! I have wanted to start trying different "Pinterest" DIY projects and blog about them. See if they work, are worth the time etc. Sooo, why not start here! I ended up using older socks that were wearing out on the bottoms and didn't want them to go to waste. Still super cute though!

Here is the tutorial.:

http://threeblindwives.com/2012/12/16/diy-no-sew-baby-leg-warmers/

Rainah with her leg warmers =)

Polymer Pendants

So I finally got some feedback on some Matte sealer that can work and got a chance to try it (well something similar to her suggestion). Here is what I made so far. They are not up for sale yet, call this a sneak preview. :)

With the fairy door and leaf/clock gadget pendant I tried the method of cooking them without the bezel then putting them in, not sure how I feel about the outcome of the fit. The last 3 I cooked while in the bezel, still didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to fit, but was a bit better. Have a look!