Another Entry

I just now submitted another necklace for a new design challenge. The pictures for "Smoke on the Water" have already been posted here, but I did submit a different photo. That photo you'll eventually see on my website. When I get an entry number back, I'll let you know what it is. I mean, you DO want to vote for me, right??

Right now, I have that picture I told you about earlier: the aquamarine bracelet. Well, I got a little aquamarine crazy and I also have some earrings to share. There are two more bracelets that will become a trio and hopefully get matched up with a necklace and earrings. I don't have pictures of those bracelets yet. I'll wait until I get the whole set ready. So, here is "Aqua Bracelet":

And "Raindrops":

Both of these are all sterling silver (well, except the little crosses on the bracelet) and Swarovski crystal. I love the polygon drops on the earrings. I thought about saving them for necklace pendants, but they just seemed so perfect for earrings. The bracelet is on my gallery page http://www.summersunjewelry.com/gallery.html since it was custom made for someone, but the earrings are available here: http://www.summersunjewelry.com/earrings1.html.

I love March. My first daughter's birthday is on March 1st, an aunt has a birthday a week later, then there's St. Patrick's Day and Easter! Well, tornadoes tend to start dropping in that month, but still there's just so much to love about March anyway. And I'm not even a basketball fan (unless a Kansas school tends to make it big).

Mailing List

I finally figured out how to use my website's mailing list feature--woo hoo! So, I decided to commit to a monthly newsletter for all those that subscribe to my site. I've done a newsletter thing in the past (for our Brownie troop) and found it incredibly stressful. I think I am a recovering perfectionist, however. I created a newsletter for March and I'm actually happy with it! I hope its recipients enjoy it...

On that aquamarine project I mentioned last time. I think I may have finished it. I have to show it to my aunt first (since she requested it) to see if it will work. Whatever happens, I will get a picture of it to post.

In unrelated news, I was perusing my archives the other day and realized something awful! Terrible! I had promised to provide you with www.janniefunster.com and I couldn't find it mentioned! I could have sworn I put in a plug for www.janniefunster.com before. Well, my oh-so-funny friend, Jannie, has a website at www.janniefunster.com and you should really go check it out.

In more unrelated news, my older daughter's 9th birthday is next Sunday. I don't know what to do for her birthday. She doesn't either. She's a very princess/fairy-oriented young lady, but she doesn't want a princess/fairy-oriented birthday. We had a bowling party last year and it was great, but we've had such huge expenses come up that we really can't do it again. On top of that, she's discovered the smartmouth that she wasn't expected to develop until her teen years. The charming experience of that certainly put a damper on party planning. Good thing she's cute.

Well, I finished my newsletter over 30 minutes ago so I guess it's time to go to bed. My sweet hubby constantly chides me on not getting to bed at a decent time. That's just silly. It's only 2 AM.

Elemental Design

Thanks for your votes for the last design challenge I participated in, but I got outvoted anyway. Not to be discouraged, I'm going to enter into the current Stringing magazine challenge called "Elemental, My Dear." The deadline for submissions is February 25th and the voting won't start until March sometime. I'm sure I'll be getting into my campaign mode really soon, so beware! I made this necklace and earring set yesterday after I was hit with inspiration from an old Deep Purple song, "Smoke On The Water." You know, smooooke on the waaater...fire in the sky-y.... Is that not perfectly elemental? This necklace is made from blue-dyed nuts (or the nut husks), red agate and glass. This probably won't be the photo I use for my submission, but I really needed something to put on the blog!



I have an aquamarine project in the works right now. It's a special request for a March birthday gift. I have the beginnings of a super-cute cuff bracelet, but I'm afraid it might be too "chunky" for the recipient. I've got to toy with some other ideas unless I fall asleep with my bead tray on my lap again. snxxxxzzz

It's Official!

Saturday was the day I opened SummerSun Jewelry as an official business! Woo-hoo! I think the hard part is over. I've got my fingers crossed on that, though. My super-wonderful MaMa managed to avoid losing hair over hosting the celebration in her house, my fantabulous aunts (V and M) catered incredibly, wonderful treats, and many supportive friends came! Of course, I heard from several very supportive friends who just weren't able to come and I love them too! :) I told my hubby what my ticket sales were and I got a thumbs up. What better sign of support can ya get from a guy??

So, now what? Well, there's all that housework that's been neglected lately in the effort to take the website live. I did get the Christmas yard decorations put away today. They were already down and in hiding but they still needed to make the trek to the basement. The kitchen got cleaned and my huge pot of birthday tulips (thanks, qd!) moved to center stage on the kitchen table. They're so purrrdy! So, I did some of the critical stuff today but there's just sooo much more. Bleh. I know there's an easy answer to house cleaning, but I'm no arsonist!!

After all the mundane rituals of household hygiene are completed, I can go back to making MORE JEWELRY! YEEEAH!

Oh, I (for some dorky reason) didn't remember to bring my camera to the grand opening. Other brilliant people did bring theirs though, so whenever I can swipe their pics, I'll get them posted. Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and support!