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!

What I've been doing...

I've been neglecting Patty's Pretty Things, and I know it. It makes me sad, but sometimes, life takes over and the fun stuff has to be put on the back burner. As I've said before, I try not to "work" when my son is home, unless he's sleeping, and I've had another project come up, and it has really taken a lot of time. I've been PAINTING my house. So far, I've painted walls and cabinets in 2 bathrooms, including this one:

The color used to be kind of a taupe-y yellowish color, which wasn't bad, but it looked tired and blah. Since we had the new tile put down for the counters, it really needed a new paint job too. And since I was painting THAT bathroom, I needed to finish up the cabinets in the other bathroom too (just white), where I also replaced the hardware.

Next up, was the hallway (same color as the bathrooms, so no pics - the color is Classic Taupe, by the way), and THEN, the kitchen. We recently had quartz counter tops installed, and I wanted to continue to lighten up the kitchen by painting the walls a lighter color. They used to be a darker sea-foam green color, and now they are "Turtle Dove," which is a very pale mint color.

Why am I doing this? Well, it was just time. Our house looks dingy, and new paint is sprucing things up. I have 3 bedrooms and 2 living spaces left to paint, but those should be much easier than the kitchen and bathrooms (I hope!!!!). I hope to get started on a bedroom next week, but for now, I'm resting my arms a bit - painting is a WORK OUT!

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My Etsy-versary is coming up on March 1 - I've been on Etsy since 2009! I have a couple of fun things up my sleeve to celebrate, and to apologize for ignoring my pretty things. So stay tuned!

Some new stuff

I finally had some time last week to sit down and play with my clay again, and I decided to play with some chalks and ink treatments, and came up with this sunburst pendant! I like the rustic and "unfinished" appearance, and the colors are just so bright and lovely!

For a little more color, I added some orange howlite and red web jasper, and hung it from brass chain. I'm really happy with this little necklace, and fingers are crossed that it finds a good home!

Happy 2012!

After I closed up shop, I cranked out some ornaments for gifts. These stars were for Stephen's teachers. I also made 4 in gold - 8 in total. They were all well-received, from what I hear. :-)

I made this little bird for my Aunt, who LOVES birds! She had purchased 3 custom bird ornaments earlier this year, and this one was just a little bit different. I realize the photos are a bit blurry - I was about to package them off for shipping when I remembered that I wanted to take a picture!

This is the other side of the ornament. It's hard to tell, but the color is kind of a light blue-granite color.

I really liked making that bird! I'm planning on writing up a little tutorial for it in the next couple of weeks, and I'll probably make some for sale for next holiday season. I also came up with my idea for new family ornaments for next season too - PENGUINS!

I have a lot of new ideas for this year, but I'll probably take a little longer getting everything created than I'd like. I've undertaken the project of painting the interior of our house, as well as tiling a back splash in our kitchen after we get our new counter tops in a couple of weeks. It should be a busy spring here!

How about a giveaway?!?

I'm making up for my bloggy absence with TWO posts today!!

On Wednesday, my precious baby is turning 5. FIVE! I can hardly believe it!! I am so lucky to be his mom, because he is such a great kid. And he's just so handsome, too, isn't he? :-)



So, in honor of this momentous occasion, I've decided to celebrate! I'm going to give away TWO $5 gift certificates to my shop. All you have to do is leave me a comment and tell me a birthday memory from when you were a kid, or about your own kids. Simple, right? That's all you have to do! And on Wednesday morning, I'll put all of your names in a bowl and let the birthday boy pick two out. All I ask is that you leave your email address in your post.