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I wrote my Pieces of Me blog (this blog) for about 6 years and kept it over at Typepad.com....life has evolved and I no longer write it but transferred it over to Blogspot for posterity sake I guess.

My newest attempt at blogging can be found here.... Wandering Lees

Open Studio Days

Happy Summer!  Now that it is summer I decided to do something a little special/different with my business.  I am going to have "Open Studio Days" throughout the summer.  My plan is that one day per week--most likely a different day and/or time to accomodate varying schedules--I will have what I'm calling an "Open Studio Day".  Basically this will be a day to come to my studio to pick up orders, discuss future orders or see my creations in person.  It's not going to be a formal 'Open House'--but I will actually be dressed, will have pieces available for purchase out and might possibly have some treats for any visitors that may stop by!  Otherwise it's a scheduled day for me to plug along and make new jewelry--I'm not a schedule kinda person but with the kids home on summer vaca I needed to attempt to schedule some more formal work time!

I have a lot of local customers that like to see my jewelry in person, discuss options and pick up their orders if they are local and it's sometimes a challenge to pick a day/time that works for both of us.  I thought I'd try this and see how it works! 

My first Open Studio Day will be this Thursday, June 16th from 10am-4pm. 

Email me at lisaski@me.com for directions or any questions/comments. 

I will always announce each "Open Studio Day" on my Facebook business page (http://www.facebook.com/JuellaDesigns).  If you are not local to the Redding, California area, please join my Juella Designs Facebook page--ALL FANS, regardless of location, receive free shipping on their orders when they use the coupon code found there!! 

Next week's Open Studio Day is scheduled for Wednesday, June 22. 

Summer Cut!

Before:

After:

There were a few tears shed as I cut it...but he's cute no matter what!

Befores

I'm in the mood to paint things!  Now that school is out and summer is finally here, I have the urge to freshen up our back patio area.  I want bright and comfortable.  I'm in the midst of about 6 different projects so none are complete but I wanted to share some befores and hopefully soon I'll share the afters! 

One is this bistro patio set I inherited from my Grandmother...

I've renovated it once before...it was a dark gray with sage green padded seat and a glass top.  The weather has done a number on it and 'somehow' the glass top ended up in pieces...hmmm....  I plan to brighten it up and bring it back to functional once again.  I stopped by the fabric store to look for some outdoor canvas to redo the seats and my head just about exploded from all the choices!  After a couple trips back, I think I'm keeping it simple and going white with solid red cushions. 

This cabinet is a $5 find I made this morning at a local thrift store!  I need a place to store all the shoes, balls, gloves, etc that seem to be laying all over the patio at any given time.  It needs some love and it's pretty ugly but it's sturdy and has potential!  (And no I'm not talking about the pug in the picture!) 

And lastly a garage sale find from about a year ago.  I was inspired by an idea for this huge wooden frame I've had stored away.  I dug it out and am getting to work! 

 

I think I need to start paying Dexter a modeling fee....

 

Project Organize: Hairstuff and a crafty recycle/reuse

I have a problem with vintage luggage.  The problem is I keep buying it because it's so cool looking and then I don't know what to do with it when I get home!  I recently picked up a little blue train case at the Roses & Rust Vintage Market from my friend Zizi of The Green Mum.  Immediately loved it for the size and the color.  Did I have plans for it?  Nope!  I thought about it a little bit and decided to revamp it and use it for all my hair goodies. 

I raided my daughter's fabric stash and found a really bright, fun fabric and glued it to the inside which had been gutted.  Love my new storage trunk!! 

 

Before:

 

After:

In Use:

Say what? I have a blog? Oh yeah!

Sigh....I suck as a blogger once again.  Sorry about that.  Well guess I'll jump in once again and try to keep up. 

We are now on the first day of summer vacation for the kids and I'm sure it's going to go super duper fast.  The kids and I would love to be lounging in the pool, but alas it's raining and cold out.  We have yet to hit summer weather which I think is bizzare for Northern California...any day we'll be thrown into 100+ degree temps.

Well what have we been up to in the last couple months?  I'll share some highlights via Instagram pics...

We became geocachers and have been having a great time on this worldwide treasure hunt.  A goal for summer is to create and hide our own geochache.  

I took place in The Burlap Harlot Show...I can't wait for the next one this fall...for more information check their FB page here.... The Burlap Harlot Show

My kids, Mom and I on Mother's Day....we had a beautiful Mother's Day...shared the day with my son who turned 9 years old...whoa!

Kids are moving up in the Scouts!  Ella bridged into the Brownies and Jacob moved up to be a Webelos.

We took a long weekend to the Bay area mid-May to explore a bit of San Francisco and to spend two days at Maker Faire.  Maker Faire was incredible--for the kids and for us.  We saw so much and there was still so much to see.  Maker Faire is put on by Make magazine and  Craft Zine....two great sites for all kinds of maker goodness.  For more information on Maker Faire you can check out Maker Faire.

We also took another extra long weekend at the end of May to Southern California.  We celebrated Aaron's brother 40th birthday and toured the Hollywood area.  We ended the extra long weekend in beautiful Pismo Beach.  Already planning another trip back to Pismo.  ;-) 

 

Introducing my newest line...Simply Change

I am so, so excited to introduce my newest line of jewelry, Simply Change!  This line features coins from all over the world, stamped with words or phrases and strung on a variety of mixed metal chains.  I will add pretty beads and charms sometimes as added accents.  Every piece is truly one of a kind! 

I was inspired to make this line for a variety of reasons.  One being the quickly rising cost of sterling silver.  I still love, love sterling and will continue to work with it, but I want to offer jewelry in a more affordable range as well.  I was also inspired by seeing the many beautiful and interesting coins from around the world.  My son is a coin collector and I began taking notice of some of the coins.  Without doing a thing to them, some of them are so beautiful!  I started collecting them myself and have had dishes of them sitting around for months just waiting to be used in some manner. 

I wanted to incorporate what I have been doing, making custom and personalized jewelry but with a twist.  That's where these old coins come in!  I want them to be talismans of sorts.  Talismans are objects worn to bring specific qualities into your life, such as strength, happiness and protection.  I have been stamping powerful words and phrases onto sample coins and will offer these for sale.  But I will also take orders for custom and personalized pieces...I will stamp whatever you like--be it powerful words, names, dates, anything unique and meaningful to you. 

I hope you like my newest line!  You can go to my Etsy site to see the current coins I have listed at Juella Designs Etsy Shop.  I will be listing new ones all the time.