Lil' Rush

I went and saw Rush this weekend. My favorite part of the show? As always, Rush puts on a rockin' show with crazy cool lights and things going on to watch. Their new tour has South Park in their own band, Lil' Rush, doing their version of "Tom Sawyer". What none of us could figure out, though, is it from an actual episode? We have about two thirds of our DVR filled with South Park episodes, so we should know this. If you know, please tell me!!

Happy Accidents and Cupcake Thieves

It was about midnight when I went sleepily to the medicine cabinet to take a couple Benadryl before turning in for the night. Drowsily, I looked down at the counter where the cupcakes for a Hannah Montana cupcake guitar I was doing sat. "Funny," I thought, "it looked like more before." I counted them-21. I needed 24. I baked 24. I was tired, but sure I made 24. I counted the tins to make sure. Yep, two pans of twelve means 24 cupcakes. I counted the cupcakes again. Somehow three had gone missing, and I needed these frosted and ready to pick up first thing in the morning. Never mind that Lady was looking at me like this the whole time I baked them:

She couldn't have eaten them. Not my puppy! Besides, there was not one shred of evidence, no wrapper, or even so much as a stray crumb around.

I woke up Josh. Why would he eat them? How could he do this to me? Its midnight, I'm out of eggs, and I need three cupcakes.

Me: "Did you eat any cupcakes?"

Josh (still asleep): "Cupcakes? Who has cupcakes? What's a cupcake?"

Me: "They're gone! Vanished! What am I supposed to do now?"

Josh (waking up, sighs heavily): "C'mon, let's go to Paducah"

Because the nearest place to buy eggs in the middle of the night is apparently half an hour away, and I have the husband of the year, who is actually willing to make that drive.

Well, as it turned out, Josh didn't eat my cupcakes. I should've known that- he hates cake. What can I say? I was half asleep and not thinking straight either. I also wouldn't hear of driving a hour round trip for eggs, so I improvised. Serendipity stepped in, and my solution was good ol' fashioned Rice Crispy Treats. Here's what I ended up with, a half Rice Crispy Treat and half cupcake Hannah Montana guitar:

I was never so glad to see an order leave my house.

New Butterfly Jewelry

Butterflies are always popular. I have a certain obsession with them; something about them fascinates me. The newest of my butterflies:

New Turquoise Jewelry!!

After alot of requests for turquoise jewelry at craft shows, I have spent the last few months searching high and low for the best, top quality turquoise to incorporate into my jewelry. As they started to show up in my mailbox, I bagan to hoard and covet "my precious" until inspiration hit. Well, that day was yesterday, and I have (and will continue all week) to list new high quality sterling silver necklaces and earrings in my shop. Here are some of my favorites:




Be sure to visit my shop to see what else is new, and for my blog readers, this week only, enjoy free shipping on orders over $10 with the coupon code: DASSHIP01

Enter the coupon code into "message to seller" in checkout and wait for a revised invoice before paying. Happy shopping! xoxo

The Birds Flew the Coop!

The baby birds flew yesterday! In the meantime, here are the latest (custom) pendants in my collection:

Have a beautiful day! xoxo

The Birds Part II

I've gotten a little braver in the past few days. I watch the baby cardinals out my bedroom window several times a day, waiting for the right moment to throw open the window and lean in for some closeups. Everyday they have a little more feathers and open their eyes more. So ugly they're cute! Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Eyes open:

Eyes closed after the flash scared them a little:

So, in the spirit of all this magic and wonder, I am having a contest. Comment to this post with which day you think my babies will first leave the nest. Everyone that is right will win a free mini painting, bird earrings, or a bird pendant. The pictures above were from yesterday, so make an educated (or wild) guess. Thanks for playing! Good luck!

Proud To Be Lowbrow

Apparently I have been putting all my jewelry in the wrong category in my Etsy shop. I thought "jewelry" covered it, but in browsing yesterday by category, I stumbled on jewelry similar to mine, (but hey, not all hand drawn with all the love I put in) under "kitsch". I guess I never knew really what this meant, because according to Webster's dictionary, it is:

kitsch
Pronunciation: \ˈkich\
Function: noun
Etymology: German
Date: 1925
1 : something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality 2 : a tacky or lowbrow quality or condition
— kitsch adjective

Gosh, I thought it was just fun, retro-ish, maybe a little pop art, fifties funky, that sort of thing. Lowbrow?! That's a little harsh. I consider my stuff to be high quality, since I consider how abusive I am to jewelry, and design everything to stand up to that. I spend alot of time hand drawing what others would just photocopy some graphic and glue on, and I definately never considered anything I make "tacky". I prefer "funky" or even "unique". Nonetheless, I tried putting some of my things in the "kitsch" category just to see what happens. My newest, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not earrings:

As it turns out, kitsch is a pretty broad term, that apparently means something different to everyone. Some really cool artists are considered kitsch. My favorite, Russian born South African artist Vladimir Tretchikoff, was considered "the king of kitsch" (quite a title, don't you think?), and also one of the best selling artists of all time. One of my favorites, Ballerina:

I'm not even in this dude's league, but I'll settle for being kitsch, even lowbrow, for now. If you're up for a little educational reading, you can read more about this fantastic artist here.

Or just waste some time browsing Kitsch on Etsy here. Have a kitschy day! xoxo