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!  

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

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 =)