turquoise for May

Here are just a few of the turquoise items from my shop that are 15% off with $1.00 shipping this entire month!

turquoise right angle bangle

dark blue/turquoise embellished square stitch cuff

silver links celestial bracelet

blue embellished square stitch cuff

Peace Piece coordinated peyote triangle pendant (the matching cuff, also 15% off, is listed here)

blue dotted double stranded right angle bracelet

blue accented right angle bangle

Iowa Arts Festival

I'm getting to this post a little later than I planned. I locked my keys in my car this afternoon (only the second time I'd ever done that), which threw my whole late afternoon and evening off by an hour. Thankfully it wasn't more than that.

As some of you may remember, I posted last month about getting put on the wait list for the Iowa Arts Festival. I didn't think that the chances of getting accepted after that were very high, but they offered me a spot yesterday which I accepted! I'm still kind of in shock. I've had the Arts Festival in the back of my mind for almost a year, and now it's really happening. It's only a month away. I have a lot to get ready before then. My inventory is in pretty good shape, especially my bracelets/cuffs. I have a lot of button earring studs finished that I just need to photograph and put on cards. I'd like to make a few more bead woven earrings, though, to expand my lower price range a little more. Whatever else I get done in the next month will be nice to have, too, of course.

I've been reading lots of advice online about craft fairs this week, which has been really helpful because everything else for the craft fair is not in great shape yet. I've compiled a list of what I need to do before then and what I need to bring with me for the Arts Festival. I'll get a packet in the mail from the Festival at some point this week, which I'm sure will clear up some other questions that I have. Any advice that others can provide about anything craft fair related is also appreciated! One specific topic that I'd like some input on is ProPay. I'm pretty sure that I will be using it for my credit card sales and wondered if anyone else uses it. If so, please let me know what you think about it. If not, let me know what you do use. Advice on any other craft fair related topic is much appreciated too!

Thank you much to everyone who commented on my post yesterday. This hasn't been the best week, but finding out about the Arts Festival has definitely been a high point. It's only Tuesday so hopefully there will be some other high points, too. :)

the creative routine (or lack thereof)

This blog is not a place for me to rant about anything. However, I came home from work today and attempted to use one of our newest appliances, only to find that it's malfunctioning. We have not had the best luck with the majority of our appliances in this condo. The past 4 months have been especially bad. I did not have the best day at work and that was the last thing that I needed to come home to. It will get taken care of, but it is still no fun to deal with.

I know that's not much of a rant, but I usually don't like to spend a lot of time on things like that there. I did have one really good piece of news today and that took a lot of the fun out of it for me tonight. So I'm waiting until tomorrow to reveal it. Stay tuned!

Other than being really burned out on this semester in general, things are going pretty well. Jake and I were with his immediate family for the weekend for his littlest sister's confirmation. It's always crazy driving back to see either of our families for a weekend, but it really meant a lot to her that we were there. I will post a few pictures from a couple different things this weekend on Facebook at some point. I've been a little slow about getting non-jewelry/Etsy related pictures posted lately. I brought two bead weaving projects with me. I normally don't get any or get very little jewelry making done when we're spending time with family, but I actually finished both projects! I have a lot of errands and meetings the next couple weeks, which will make weekday picture taking even more tough than normal. I will find some time to get all of my new items photographed at some point, though.

Since we got back, I've been resorting/organizing beads from some of my recently completed projects and figuring out what I want to work on next. More on that soon as well as some more features and other fun things. :)

Top Dropper feature, roses continued

Tara (scarboroughseashells) who was one of my Top Droppers last month also took me up on my offer to feature one of her Etsy items here. She choose this beautiful necklace.

I Feel Teal Beachcombed Pottery and Sea Glass Necklace

I'm also featuring roses today. Enjoy!

Peach Rosebud Cold Porcelain Earrings by doughroses

Roses on Crimson Polymer Clay Pillow Bead Set 283 by tooaquarius

Winter Rose Garden Pearls and Flowers on Knotted by WillOaksStudio

ROSE GARDEN by debger

Greeting Card, Handpainted Roses by SallysOriginalArt

BIRD EGG BLUE ROSEBUD stud earrings by pinkflowercube

Large Pink Rose Flower Button...New Style...Uniquebuttons by uniquebuttons

April Top Droppers

I'm sure that I'm not the only person who can't believe that it's May already! Before I post my Top Droppers for this month, I want to announce my May special for my Etsy shop here.

Take 15% off and get $1.00 shipping on any item tagged "turquoise." Refunds will be issued via Paypal. Please convo me if you don't see a turquoise item that suits your needs/preferences. I'm happy to create a custom listing for you with the same deal.

Thank you once again to all of my regular droppers! I really appreciate your support. Here's the Top 10 for April.
1) My gypsygoods
2) Moonangelnay on Etsy
3) Go Las Vegas Baby!
4) Dave Lucas
5) The Sewing Mom
6) A Rose By Name
7) BeadedTail
8) English Wilderness: Nature Photography
9) Lenox Knits
10) Scarborough Seashells

As always, anyone who is in my Top 10 and has an Etsy shop is welcome to post a comment with an item of theirs that they would like me to feature here. Sharla has always taken me up on this offer. She has a new pair of earrings that I love so I'm going to post those. I hope that's okay! Others are welcome, too. Just leave a comment and I'll include your item in another post this month.

Tranquil Waves - Blue Agate and Swarovski Crystal Sterling Silver Earrings by BeadedTail

I hope that May is getting off to a wonderful start for everyone!