New Schedule

Well, it's been back-to-school time around here!  My son started all-day kindergarten, and my husband is back to teaching as well... lest you think this leaves me to sit around all day eating bonbons, let me tell you what I'M up to!  I decided to go back to school too!!  I'm only taking one class this semester, since it's been 11 years since I was last in a college course, and frankly, it's taking a bit of extra work to remember how to study again.  Hopefully once I get back in to the swing of things, I'll be able to get a good blogging schedule set up too.

I have managed to make a few things over the past couple of weeks, though!  Everything can be found in the shop, of course.

I'm ready to pull out my clay here soon - I have a lot of ideas in my head right now, and just not much time for implementation.  So stay tuned!!

Still no photos

Sadly, 2 months later, I still don't have a new window in my dining room where I take my photos.  One was ordered, but evidently the contractor didn't measure correctly, so they had to order a second one, which should be ready in a couple of weeks.  In the meantime, I HAVE to find somewhere else to take my pictures today.  I currently have 3 pairs of earrings, 5 bracelets, and a necklace waiting to be photographed.

I did get a picture of this, though:

I've been holding off on working on Christmas ornaments because it's really hot, which makes it hard to work with my clay, and also because they are time-consuming, which makes them very daunting to me right now.  I am planning on making a mold of the bodies for the snowmen AND the penguins so that I can cut down on at least a little bit of the time to make these.  Hopefully my master plan will work, lol!

still no new pictures

...because I still don't have my new windows in yet.  Hopefully it will be this next week, though!  It's awfully dark in our house with 4 of our south-facing windows covered in plywood.  :-(

Is it hot where you live?  It's pretty warm here.  I think the high will be near 100 today, which is cooler than the past few days, although it's pretty humid.  Being from Southern Arizona, I'm pretty accustomed to the heat, but people aren't lying when they say, "but it's a DRY heat!"  It definitely feels a lot worse when it's 100* and humid, vs. 105* and dry... I swear it!

So, I was thinking about a sale... if you enter SUMMER at checkout, you'll get 25% off anything that is ready to ship.  Yes, this means you won't get a discount on an ornament...

What?!?  ORNAMENTS?  Yep.  Click the picture to head over to Etsy and see!

Psssssst!

We were on vacation last week, and of course I had to hit up a couple of my favorite Tucson bead shops... Unfortunately, my usual photo window is currently covered by a huge piece of plywood while we wait for our new windows (hopefully in the next few days), so I can't get any photos of my beads.  In the meantime, however, I just wanted to let you all know that yes, I'm still here, and today I'm planning on starting a prototype for a new style of Christmas ornaments!!  I'll still have the snowmen, but the polar bears were just too much for me, so I'm going to try something else new for this year!  I can't wait to show you all!!!!  :-)

So here's the thing...

I'm tired.  I'm really just exhausted.  This past month has been rough.  We passed a stomach virus around our house, and then after I got caught up from that, my son got done with school.  And on top of all of that, for whatever reason, no one has been sleeping particularly well in our house, which has left me with little motivation.  On top of that, we had a really bad storm come through 2 nights ago, and whatever free time I might have had for creating has been spent cleaning up glass from multiple broken windows, dealing with our insurance company, and picking up broken tree branches.  I'm trying to get back in to the swing of things, though.  It's just been hard.

Prior to all of this, though, I got these gorgeous yellow agate beads.  I love them so much.  This bracelet, and a pair of matching earrings went on a cruise to Mexico with my friend.

 Her trip inspired me to make these earrings that make me think of lemon-lime margaritas.  :-)

 I've been sitting on these acrylic coins for several months now.  They are HUGE!  But they are so lightweight, I knew they were just perfect for earrings.

 And another Christmas bead necklace has found it's way to my Etsy shop.

I do have a lot of new ideas in my head, and even a few new pieces waiting to be photographed (1 bracelet, 2 anklets, and a necklace).  At the moment, I just need some time to take some pictures and get them listed. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things after a few nights of good sleep!

Some OTHER Pretty Things

THIS is what I've been up to for the past few weeks. My parents were here, and my mom and dad helped me tile the backsplash in our kitchen. Doesn't it look great?

We also installed a new range hood. The old one was not the right size for the space, and since we were fixing up the kitchen, we decided that we didn't want to live with it any longer.

The counters are Quartz, for anyone wondering. We kept our existing cabinets, because, well, we didn't want to spend a ton of money.

I have also spent a considerable amount of time painting the interior of our house. I've painted every room except my husband's office, which I will probably get to this summer. We thought that we might be moving, so I decided to paint in anticipation of putting the house on the market, but we are staying put for at least another year, so now I get to enjoy a fresh house, and a GORGEOUS kitchen!! So this is why Patty's Pretty Things has been a little quiet lately. But I'm back in the swing with new ideas, and new inventory, so stay tuned!

Happy Etsy-versary to ME!

Today, March 1, is my THIRD anniversary of selling on Etsy. In honor of this occasion, I am going to give away a prototype of a new product that i hope to have in my shop soon - a ring dish! This is great to have by your kitchen sink, so you can take off your rings while washing dishes, or on your bedside table to keep track of your rings when you go to bed.

The polymer clay dish goes from pink to yellow, and has a gold shimmer dust. The dish has been given several layers of a glossy finish.

(no, you don't get the ring - It's mine!)

All you have to do is leaving me a comment here. Nothing specific, just a comment to say hello! I'll announce the winner on March 8th. :-)

My other gift to you all is a COUPON CODE!!!! SOOOOOOO, if you want to save 20% for the next week on all ready-to-ship items (no custom orders - sorry!!), enter THIRTY at checkout. Happy Etsy-versary!