Crafty Site of the Day Gadget

I just got notice from Beth at Eucalyptus Handmade that my website will be featured on her Crafty Site of the Day gadget, a downloadable gadget for Vista or Google desktop.

Thanks Beth for the promo! What a cool little feature!

"The gadget showcases a different craft-related website every day (crafty bloggers, artists, designers & crafters working in all media, craft organizations, cool craft supply stores, retail stores that sell crafty wares, etc.). It includes a screenshot, a brief description & a link to the featured site. To read more about the Crafty Site of the Day gadget & download it, click on this link: http://www.eucalyptushandmade.com/gadget.aspx "

Craft Congress

It will be a busy busy week around here as I am tying things up to go to San Francisco for the weekend to attend Craft Con! Myself and Olivera Brattich, owner of the fabulous shop, Wholly Craft, will be representing Columbus Ohio! I am really looking forward to this, it should be eye opening and a great opportunity to meet some of the incredible folks at the forefront of the independent design and craft movement!

Here is a bit of the press release:

” . . . This unique business development conference will bring together over one hundred key individuals from the independent/DIY craft and design community. Crafters from across the globe will take part in this exciting opportunity for debate, discussion, and knowledge-sharing in an effort to explore and shape the DIY craft movement.

Craft Con was born in 2007 as Craft Congress in Pittsburgh, PA. This launch event brought together more than fifty indie craft show organizers from across the US, Canada, as well as the UK, to share knowledge, skills and experiences. Topics ranged all the way from guerilla marketing strategy to securing corporate sponsorship. Colleagues from across the world were able to meet face to face for the first time. Establishing a strong and supportive network for those who attended, the event also sparked crucial discussion about the future of the craft movement.

Craft Con 2008 heralds huge growth for the project. The event in San Francisco has been planned via the internet by crafters from all over the world. April’s conference will welcome participants from all areas of crafting, making a special effort to connect younger and upcoming crafters with the experience and savvy of their antecedents. Craft Con will facilitate much broader discussion and planning in key areas of concern for the movement, in particular the viability of sustainable business and enterprise and expanding the influence of crafting in society.

Topics for discussion will include:
Business: Profit Models, Legal Structures, Alternative Business Models, Getting Published; Philosophy: What Does Handmade Mean?, The Politics of Crafting, Crafting Green

Workshops will include:
Project Management, Product Development and Broadening Your Base, Seeking and Retaining Sponsorship, Computer Social Networking Toolbox, Real Life Social Networking Toolbox . . . ”

Visit www.craftcon.org for more info.

cool minty glass

Scrumptious oxidized silver with translucent vintage African glass beads! Find them now in the shop!

sounds in the studio today...

...besides me hammering away making custom wedding bands:

kaki king : dreaming of revenge


under byen : samme stof som stof

spring green

have you seen the new earrings in my shop?

sterling silver, and afghani lemon olive jade...

my favorite color right now: springy olive green.

the color of sprouting spring bulbs!

a few of my favorite things!

well, it finally is starting to feel like spring! it has been a foggy, rainy day, and the crocuses are peeking their little sprouts out of the front lawn!

tristan and i went out for a late lunch after his chess tournament this afternoon, and we rediscovered a hidden gem downtown columbus that i nearly had forgotten about. benevolence is a wonderful little vegetarian/vegan restaurant tucked down a side street/alley near the north market, where we usually end up on a weekend when we are looking for a special lunch out! being a vegetarian for as long as i have, over ten years, i am not sure how i can temporarily forget about a veggie friendly restaurant in this city.


the food was as delicious as i remember from the last time i was there, and the decor made me feel like i was in a lodge in alaska, with long wooden tables and benches made from a vertical slice of a tree trunk, along side antique kitchen tables. i loved the natural wood framing the windows with the plants partially blocking the urban view and making me feel temporarily that i am not in the middle of downtown. i wish i had deep window sills so i could do this in my house!
after lunch, we headed over to the north market to get some jeni's ice cream, which is impossible to resist when i am anywhere near one of her shops. and eating it at the north market is always a treat, since these are 2 of my favorite things about columbus! :) i ended up getting two flavors i had never had before, and i was swooning! i had a scoop of 'lime cardamom yogurt with lingonberries' and a scoop of 'goat cheese ice cream with cognac and fig'! wow, what a combination!

as we sat eating our ice cream, tristan was looking over the railing at the vendors below us. he said, "mom, can i have a few dollars so i can go buy you something? you have to act surprised, okay?"

so he led me down to the flower stand and had me turn my back while he picked out a card and these beautiful hydrangeas! he told me i have to wait until easter to get the card.

it just about melted my heart! :) it was the sweetest thing ever!

winter hibernation

as quiet as my blog has been, it appears i have been hibernating this winter. in reality, i have been stocking up on inventory in preparation for summer... kind of backwards from a bear's instinct, i know.

well, i can't deny that i've been napping as much as possible, waiting for the sun to show it's face again.


we once again are snowed in, reminding me of 'real' winter, as i once knew as a kid in northern minnesota.

we had an ohio blizzard today. entirely different than a minnesota blizzard.

this was the most sleet-and-ice-free snow i've seen in columbus (i didn't know it was possible)!
the snow in the yard was up to my knees!