I was really tickled that my last day of Faire included a visit from one of The Fantastikals, our resident troup of Faeries, and that I happened to have my camera to hand when she and some of our Faire kids met.

It was truly magical and you can see the whole set here.

Have a stellar day!

I had quite a lot to go up this time! Surprising, because I have not had much time to spend in the shop but rather, go in for brief stints at the bench when things slow down around the house.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with river stones, combining them with elements I’ve had around the bench for a while, richly textured and colored copper, handmade ceramic beads, rustic copper chain… I’m calling the whole river stone line “River Run” after the character in “Game of Thrones” – Catelyn Stark’s – girlhood home. While I know she hasn’t got the happiest of endings (spoilers…) it’s still a crackin’ good name!

Anyway, there’s a whole lot of stuff set to go up, and a whole lot of stuff already up. Including the first prototype piece from the new upscale Steampunk collection. Well it isn’t really steampunk so much as it is my idea of how a civilization (perhaps one that is elvish or at least less technological than our own) might respond to finding a stash of our broken technological artifacts. It has a steampunk flavor, but it is not about gadgetry in the age of Steam, no, it is about repurposing the broken bits and pieces into something they were not meant to be, and making the whole much more beautiful in the wearing.

It’s a bit of a short-term line. A dear friend gave me a cigar box filled with truly exquisite vintage watch parts. Steampunk isn’t really my “thing” but I’m enjoying the windfall a great deal. When they are gone, they are gone, I will not be chasing down more of them.

I do love this piece very much. Sterling wire sinuously wraps the fat crescent moon of the watch piece (etched ever so faintly with mandala like lines) and it is fairly dripping with high grade labradorite, smoky quartz, moonstone and tiny pearls.

Delicious!

have the most wonderful weekend imaginable!

And also this:

Okay straw isn’t flowers but, it’s awfully pretty don’t you think?

I’m absolutely fascinated by the perspective she brought to today’s shots. You should go check it out!

I was sitting down drinking coffee and having a muffin and getting ready to blog my winner, when what should I see but my dad walking up the walk for his annual visit!

Except, I thought he was coming on Friday.

And, I hadn’t had a shower yet.

And, I hadn’t cleaned my house yet.

So when he got in there was a little bit of fluster and a lot of sweeping around cats and trying to pretend like the house wasn’t a disaster, and visiting and catching up on stuff because he’s my dad and I love to see him and I don’t see him nearly often enough and so even a day early surprise is awesomesauce.

But in the midst of all that, I plumb forgot I had to announce a winner. I hope you can forgive me!

We had 22 comments… random number generator selected “8″ and that was Alex Draven. Congratulations, you have some awesome sea glass earrings! Drop me a note and I’ll mail your goodies to you!

Thanks for commenting, folks, and thanks for playing in my giveaway! I’ve gotta figure something awesome out for 400…

200 online sales!!

That isn’t counting the live shows, the mail order, the custom work. It’s been going so well overall and I am so grateful for it.

I was feeling a little bit slumpy this past week, like I’d been phoning it in to the shop and the blog. Between not feeling well and things being slow (tax season is never a good time to be in the retail business!) overall, I was feeling discouraged.

Things have been looking up (okay, my attitude has been improving) in the last few days, and now this. This milestone is completely galvanizing. I’m thrilled, grateful, energized and feel like getting back on the horse and kicking some Etsy butt. I can totally do this thing!

I just want to say thank you for all the amazing support.

As a huge heartfelt thank you, I’ll be giving this pair of earrings from the new Mirjana sea glass line away to a random commenter. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post, and I’ll use a random number generator to select the winner next Wednesday, May 2nd.

200! To infinity, and beyond!

I rediscovered sea glass when I was on vacation in Central California last October, and it’s been rattling around in my brain ever since. It lends itself so beautifully to wire wrapping and to sterling silver.

I’ve kind of been a one track girl with it, when I’ve had the opportunity to get into the studio lately.

It pairs really nicely with fine silver, too, and I just happened to have some of that lying around. Like ya do…

Slowly catching up on outstanding orders, custom work and the Etsy shop as we seem to be in a lull with all the health care nonsense. Getting ready for the Port. Replenishing stock and making new things for our grand opening in San Pedro this July. It’s so exciting! Captain Sexypants is helping me figure out ways to do some beautiful DIY displays and I think everything will look amazing when it’s finished. I’ve been hard at work with Emily at The Doyle Treatment and Holly at Raven and Rose Arts on various branding elements to make both my online and Port shops look completely stellar! So excited to unveil everything as it all comes together.

And finally… finally I made it out to Faire for one day this past weekend. 3rd weekend for everyone else, but the first day I’d managed to feel well enough to go. It was awesome. Lovely to catch up with old friends and new and watch the world pass by.

Speaking of the world passing by the guild yard…

You can see just about anything at Faire if you hold still long enough. Also can I just point out that the depth of field in this shot is completely cool and I love my new macro lens like whoah.

Last but definitely not least, I’ll be at the Majestical Roof’s April Art Market this Saturday, from 11am to 7pm. Come down and say hi! I’m extending my online mother’s day sale to the art market. Mention the coupon and you can take 20% off anything on my table.

And don’t forget, 20% off anything in the online shop too… you don’t even need a coupon code anymore, with a little help from Etsy On Sale. It’s all automatically marked down… nothing to remember!

While we’ve been experiencing the same sorts of issues in the economic downturn as many families (two layoffs, loss of insurance, belt tightening) we’ve also managed to maintain a fairly stable standard of living so far. I think this has been possible in large part because we have no debt – no student loans and no credit card debt. Paid those off. We own our two fuel-efficient, economy cars (one 11 years old, one 5 years old) outright. When the first layoff happened, we got rid of cable television entirely and got rid of our landline at the same time. Private school tuition went next. We are all fairly healthy and the kid is at an age where she doesn’t see a doctor all the time, anymore. We don’t travel very much and nobody has any particularly expensive habits. I haven’t bought yarn for knitting or spinning fiber in over a year and I thrift a lot of my clothing.

Surprisingly, all that has been okay. We don’t miss television and the only thing missing by losing the landline is now there are no more telemarketers dialing the house at dinnertime. I don’t indulge in the fancy, fair trade, single origin coffee beans from Intelligentsia anymore but ya know, I don’t miss that either. Trader Joe’s has a pretty good fair trade blend for about 1/4 of the price. I don’t feel deprived in the morning, but I do feel better about spending responsibly with every cup. Scaling back made it possible for our day to day life to remain relatively stable. Yes, we’re a paycheck or two from the edge, but we are not over the edge. What I took away from this was a sense of cutting our life down to what mattered and making better choices with what resources we had.

We have been very lucky in this experience. It starts to get difficult when we are presented with something out of the ordinary. Like a large tax bill or a medical bill. A sick animal needing care. This is the way that the economic downturn has affected my family the most. Our experience is just that – OUR experience. Totally subjective. There are other families who are affected more, or less, but I can’t speak for them. I’m just talking about what it’s like for us. So please read this as one point, one perspective, on a spectrum of individual experiences.

So as I said in a previous post, I’ve been dealing with an as yet unidentified health issue that has been ongoing and really annoying. I’ve got a history of fibroids and ovarian cysts, of endometriosis and other not so fun things. When we lost our health insurance and I was unable to keep seeing my regular doctor for care, Planned Parenthood was pretty good for the basics. For a while that worked out. Planned Parenthood, while cheaper than my doctor, still ran me about $100 a visit. They do offer free and low cost healthcare on a sliding scale. I paid because I did not need free care, just affordable care. It felt good to be able to pay. But then I started having chronic issues and the good folks at Planned Parenthood stated that they could not help me anymore, so it was back to the regular doctor I went.

When I called to book my appointment, I was asked if I had insurance. I said no, I would be paying cash. Well the receptionist told me that that had to be approved by my doctor, who had the final say in whether or not she wished to treat me on a cash basis. They would require a credit card to hold the appointment. It would be $250 just to get in the door. In terms of our budget, that’s the equivalent of our car insurance.

When I got to the doctor’s office, the receptionist took my driver’s license and my debit card. I would get those back, I was told, when they ran my card at the end of the appointment, if it was accepted. I didn’t ask what would happen if it were declined but I imagine I would not have walked out of there and driven home legally.

I saw my doctor. So happy to see her again and such a relief because she’s a really, really good doctor. I’ve missed her.

As the exam progressed, it became apparent that we were running into some issues. She began to throw out things she’d like to do and I had to remind her several times that, “I’m uninsured and paying as I go. Do we have to do that now or is there something we can do first to maybe rule it out?”

I feel fortunate to be able to have this dialogue with my doctor. We’ve been together a long time and through many surgeries and issues. I can talk to her. She listens. I don’t know what I would do if there were a language barrier or we didn’t have a mutually respectful relationship. If she weren’t the kind of doctor who listens.

That too is a privilege that comes with health insurance. It is hard to find those kinds of doctors at Urgent Care or an overwhelmed public health clinic. Hard to get that high quality of care. I may not have insurance now, but in this case, I’m fully aware that I am still reaping the benefit of insurance I once had. Hey, I’ll take it.

We decided to start with labs. Cultures and bloodwork. I don’t know what those are going to cost. Since I don’t have to pay those as I go, I am planning on paying them off in bits and pieces as the bills arrive. It’s not fair to the lab, but, it’s the only place I have any wriggle room and there are worse things than collection agencies if it takes too long to pay.

We are ruling things out, my doctor says. She was obviously distressed and wanted to schedule an ultrasound right away. There was a palpable uterine mass, most probably a recurrence of fibroids – a known issue – but without an ultrasound we don’t know for sure. Not knowing for sure is worrisome and it scares me. She was trying to find a way to practice thorough, excellent medicine, but a lack of insurance makes that hard to do. You can’t just order all the tests you want. At the end of our visit, she looked worried and frustrated. The exam was exhausting and painful and at the end of the visit, I was worried and frustrated too. I go back next month, after all the labs come back, after medicine has had some time to work and hopefully calm things down.

I’m saving up for the ultrasound.

I’m waiting for the lab bill.

After they drew my blood, they handed me a bill and I paid. It was $390 for an hour, an exam, a few vials of blood, some swabs. The debit card went through, thank goodness, and I drove home legally, driver’s license in hand, after paying the parking garage $12 for the privilege of parking in their lot.

I spent $402 all told today, which, in my budget, is groceries for the month.

I haven’t got an extra $402 in my budget but I am not going to do without groceries, so now we get to figure out where that is going to come from. We won’t go out to dinner, we won’t eat meat but once a week, and beans and rice are always tasty, right? Maybe we’ll pay half of something and pay something else late. We will have to juggle and then juggle again when the lab bills start to come in.

We will juggle a little more to free up enough money next month to defray another exam, more labs, an ultrasound…

We’ll get by.

We’ll get by and we will figure out what the heck all this is about, and then we’ll figure out how to treat it. Step by step.

It’s a very stressful process and the whole family is ultimately affected. The current freelance contract ends on Labor Day. The paychecks will end. The money we would normally try to save against that reality is going to pay doctors.

This won’t be resolved by Labor Day.

What do we do after Labor Day?

We pray and we hope and we will keep our shit together. That’s what I tell myself.

I’m unbelievably grateful that it gets to be a process at all. That we can juggle enough to see the doctor, pay for the tests, pay for the exams. Because that spectrum I mentioned? Yeah there’s a point on that spectrum and after that point, you’re just fucked and you don’t go see a doctor at all. I’m not there. But I see it. I see it very clearly.

It’s not too far from where I’m sitting.

More later, after the next doctor visit.

I wish you good health.

Still dealing with weird health stuff, so not a lot of new goodies in the shop. I just haven’t had a lot of energy to work. But I am hoping to do a small update next week. New sea glass pieces, some new Padmavati lotus petals, and a couple of whimsical new assemblages are all on the bench this week.

Mostly I’m just glad that I finally had enough energy to go out and hang with Captain Sexypants at Descanso Gardens, this past Tuesday morning. That really didn’t suck.

All the flowers are blooming and the roses are in riotous color. I missed the best of the lilacs, which is sad, but there were still some out and blooming when we checked out the lilac ‘forest’ on the other side of the Japanese Garden.

I had a little fun with this one in Photoshop, I thought the application of a vintage looking texture gave it a very antique sort of feel.

It was a really nice morning. And I got some great shots of gorgeous spring flowers, some of which are now up for sale on the Red Bubble page (link to your right, towards the top) as notecards and such.

I felt so refreshed after walking about and watching baby squirrels play chase in the leaves that I came back and started playing at the bench.

This is one of the new pieces that I’ve got in progress for next week’s update. It’s not quite there yet, but I’m having fun wrestling with it. Nice to feel the creative juices flowing a bit.

I’ll be out at Majestical Roof’s Alternative Art Market not this weekend but next, April 28th from 11 – 7pm. As always the best artisan crafts and live music that Pasadena has to offer!

Thanks to all who shopped the TIKI sale in our Etsy shop. It was tremendous.

I’m offering a Mother’s Day Sale coupon in the shop between now and the day in question, just enter MOTHERSDAY20 at check out and you’ll get 20% off your entire order! Wow, it’s a GREAT time to shop for Mom!

I melted down all over Captain Sexypants.

Twice.

In one day.

Because I am dealing with some healthcare stuff that has me flat out feeling rather draggy, I’ve been in bed with my laptop, and I’ve spent a lot of time (more’n usual) arguing with people on the internet about healthcare. Especially in light of SCOTUS hearing arguments about the AHCA. Because what else can you do when you’re flat on your ass?

I’d always taken having health insurance for granted. I’ve written about this here before, about how a few years back when the Ex Mr. H&O got laid off, we lost our insurance. We still don’t have any. And no, Ron Paul, we are not blithely “choosing” not to buy health insurance. Maintaining adequate shelter is simply the wiser choice for our family.

It’s easy to insist that there is nothing wrong with healthcare and that we don’t need the Affordable Care Act, when you can conveniently go see a doctor and writing a check to that doctor is not a matter of “well, I guess I won’t buy milk for the children.” My own situation is certainly nowhere near as dire as that, but, going to the doctor does mean some reshuffling. We only use them for real emergencies right now. Well care? Heh. Thing of the past. I’d LOVE to go see my old regular doctors for a checkup. Sadly, without insurance, something as luxurious as a regular physical, tooth cleaning, or pap smear is a whole ‘nother ball game.

Urgent care is the only option for me and my family right now, when we’re sick. For other things, I rely on Planned Parenthood and their (fantastic, but endlessly revolving) nurse practitioners and clinicians, instead of my wonderful GYN. She knew my history and I trusted her to connect the dots when new problems came up. I’ve seen four different clinicians at PP in the last four months and their time is limited. We haven’t got time to discuss my whackadoodle medical history, frankly. If you think that that change hasn’t affected my health and quality of life, think again. There’s a reason I’m flat on my ass on multiple rounds of broad spectrum antibiotics right now, and part of that reason is, people need continuity of care. Without insurance, you don’t get that. Without insurance, you lie awake worrying that whatever it is that’s making you sick might be something awful. You wonder how you are going to afford to see someone who can help you really figure it out. And then, you worry about figuring it out and then not being able to pay for what you need to do to get better.

That’s my reality right now. It comes with some sleepless nights.

I’m actually not complaining here. Well, okay, yes I am complaining. But I’m also aware that we’re doing okay, relative to others, and I am not ungrateful for that. I do count our blessings and I have tried to check my privilege at the door but that’s an ongoing process so please forgive me if I pick it up inadvertently.

I just believe that healthcare should not be this big of a concern for anyone in this country. A lot of folks like me (folks who used to take seeing a doctor for granted) are experiencing what other people living below the poverty line have known for a long, long time. Something is rotten in Denmark. Er, something is broken. It has been for a long time. There is a very nebulous safety net for folks in need but it is full of holes and people are slipping through, having trouble accessing even those very basic services. And every day, more and more folks are finding themselves in need. It shouldn’t be that way.

How do we fix this? Maybe we start by not overturning Affordable Health Care, because it’s the light at the end of the tunnel for a lot of folks. Including me.

I’ve gone on and on about my metal clay teacher, Delia Marsellos Traister of Phoenyx Magyk. Her work continues to grow and it always astounds me. That’s a fine silver coffee go-cup, y’all. She, like, built that. It’s not molded.

Oh yeah. Taking metal clay to places metal clay has not gone before, yep, that’s Delia. SHouldn’t every coffee lover have a solid fine silver coffee go cup?

I don’t remember every other vendor, and for that I’m sorry.

I really liked this display. You’ll be seeing something very similar to these pillars down at my Port shop this summer, we talked out the construction and I asked her if she minded me stealing her idea and she said no, by all means, it’s a great way to use limited space!

She had a great Euro-flea-market aesthetic to her booth and transformed an awkward corner of the MR courtyard into a charming and colorful space.

She was there with another gal whose company, Hephzi Creations, just rocked my socks off. Both had great vintage and resin elements to their work and Delia and I spent a long time trying to entice them to come to the CRAFTED side of the Force.

Another artist I was totally smitten by was Chloe Ching. Chloe was charming and had this fantastic modern vibe to her work, done in traditional metalsmithing style.

There’s just something so clean and appealing to her work.

I sort of fell in love with half the stuff on her table. That often happens at art shows. I’m a sucker for jewelry and I have to admit, my collection has grown a bit since I began doing so many. What appealed to me the most about Chloe’s work, was just how impeccably it was crafted and finished. Every piece showed this meticulous attention to detail and her blog is great if you’re interested in artist’s process type stuff, which I am! I look forward to seeing Chloe get hugely famous!

There was another traditional metalsmith there as well. Bug Wearable Designs. Elegant and sleek and they carry a bunch of her stuff at the Roof.

Other wonderful artisans:
Lena’s Legacy – jewelry made with vintage beads from the golden days of Hollywood.

This artist’s great aunt Lena did beading for many Hollywood stars, the academy awards and the fashion industry. Upon inheriting the ginormous vintage bead stash, her niece set about immortalizing Lena’s legacy by incorporating some of her beads in each piece of jewelry she makes.

Next to Lena’s Legacy, an excellent woodworker! JTP Originals. Strong Asian and Arts&Crafts influences here.

My dad is a woodworker so I know from wood, and this is some amazingly well crafted wood! Exotic hardwoods, inlay, carving, I was seriously in awe of some of the stuff on this table.

And then of course, there was me:

My gal Rachel, from Hearts of Stone, was there too! For whatever reason, I just couldn’t get any shots of her work that were decent (mostly a lighting problem, her area of the courtyard was dark and it was overcast) so here’s a shot from the last show we did in February.
Love me some Hearts of Stone!

Pasadena’s Majestical Roof Gallery rocks, and I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to sell my wares in the company of such nifty, talented artisans!