And a bah! humbug! to you and yours!

Another year almost gone, another revolution around our star, another cold winter (I really don't like the cold!), and another mad shopping season (returns - the horrors!). For me its not really about the shopping (though hey, I won't turn down a present, feel free send all winning lotto tickets to me), the holiday parties (seriously, who *cares* whose cookies were better? either they're good enough to eat or hard enough to be used a weapons - both are cool), nor religion (I don't need converting, thanks). It should be about being glad of what you have, and sharing what you can with others. It should also be something celebrated 365 days a year, not for just a few days in December. Appreciate what you have every day you have it, because you never know when it may be taken away. And folks need help year round, not just during the holidays. Remember that.

Regardless of what one believes or doesn't believe, I think this sums up nicely what the holidays are all about. What they should be about, year round.
Out of the mouths of babes (even if written by an adult....)





Happy holidays whatever you celebrate (even if its just celebrating getting a long weekend!)

BOGO 50% Off - Last Day!

Monday Nov 30th is the last day for the Black Friday-Cyber Monday Sale!
Buy 1 Get 1 50% Off! Everything in my shop included!
Get some great jewelry or art for yourself, or as a gift for the holidays!

And as a special bonus for readers, YOU can get a FREE pair of earrings with any purchase!
Upon checkout just enter the code "Bijoutery's Blog" in the 'note to seller' field, and you'll receive a free pair of holiday earrings!

So come check it out at
http://www.etsy.com/shop/bijoutery

Newest member of the family!

So as always things have been hectic and I haven't gotten to post as much as I intended to (really, I will get better about that - one of these days, lol). One of the more recent happenings has been a new member of my little family - meet Shelby!


Shelby was a rescue from our very own yard. Someone unfortunately dropped him off, and we decided to keep him. He's about a year, year and a half, old. We think he's a collie/golden retriever mix (known as "gollies" apparently!) Very well behaved, I've been able to get him to respond to a few basic commands already.



Overall he seems pretty happy, lots of room to run around and plenty of critters to bark at. His favorite thing is to bury *all* his bones under the leaves - come spring we'll probably find them all over the place!



JD true to form, disapproves the acquirement of a new pet; however as long as I keep him in treats, he's decided that Shelby can stay :)

2nd Annual Christmas in July Sale @ Etsy!

Yup it's that time again! The 2nd annual Christmas in July Sale is underway at Etsy! The sale will run July 8th thru July 22nd. Come join me and JD (the cute little guy pictured above), and get some of your holiday shopping done early this year with some great sales.

I will be offering Free Shipping worldwide throughout the sale at my store - buy as much as you like, it all ships free! Plus I currently have a special "sale/clearance" section for extra savings! Come check it out!

Etsy, iCraft, 1000 Markets venues new and old....

Well I finally canceled my account at iCraft. Just wasn't the right venue for me, which I realized after my first year on there came and went with no sales despite some good advertising, being on the front page there, etc. But it's a nice little place to find handmade goods and I wish the site well.

Etsy is still my main place to hang out, though sales have slowed, probably due to the economy. Art is one of the first things to go when you're broke - totally understand! I can't buy as much as I'd like either, though I've made a few small splurges :)

Trust me, even if you can't afford that $40 raku bowl you've been eyeing or that $25 print of the cows, you can still enjoy little works of art! Try a cool mug or a colorful ACEO (art card editions and originals - ie they're small little works of art the size of a baseball card) - or hey, even a sparkly piece of jewelry ;) It'll not only make your day a little brighter knowing you got a little something for yourself, but know that you've helped support an artist and made their day brighter too!

While I did close out one venue and am continuing with another, I did decide to check out a new handmade venue called 1000Markets. It's a nice setup, a very clean and modern looking site. For those who don't know, its still in 'preview mode' simply meaning its not officially launched yet as they're still working on a few things and planning for a advertising blitz I believe. But it is up and running for those who want to open a shop, and folks can go ahead and buy there. The only thing so far that I don't like is that no international sellers/buyers can really utilize it - yet. 1000Markets uses Amazon Payments instead of Paypal, and believe it or not Amazon does not have their payment system set up to accept international accounts at this time. However this is in the works, and I suspect it will make many an international seller and buyer happy when they can join in the fun :)

So in the meantime feel free to visit my "old" shop on Etsy http://bijoutery.etsy.com
Or my "new" one on 1000Markets http://bijoutery.1000markets.com
(keep in mind I'm still uploading items to 1000Markets so its kind sad looking, lol, but feel free to buy there and make it happier!)

Mad Scientists Exposed!

Well, sort of, lol! The team is currently being featured in one of VickiDianeDesigns' "Artists of Etsy Exposed" treasuries - check it out at http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=41570 Currently the treasury is at the top of the 'hot' list with over 1000 clicks and almost 300 views! Pretty cool!

Seeing as treasuries expire (this one will early Thursday) here's a pic of some of the fab team members - And yes that's me hiding behind the fossilized coral :)

Guess I can't really blame the groundhog...

...for more winter huh? Punxsutawney Phil (the rather famous weather predicting groundhog) has decided we're in for six more weeks of winter here in the US. And irony of ironies, we had snow today! I guess if its gotta be cold, we might as well have snow!

And for Groundhog Day, I created this fun treasury on Etsy showcasing some rather cute groundhogs, beautiful wintery items, and happy spring items!

You gotta admit, that Punxsutawney Phil is rather cute huh? Guess we'll forgive him for bringing us the "bad news". lol What can I say, I'm just not a winter person. Come to think of it, not really a summer one either! Now fall is a season I can get behind :)

See, pets really are smart!

And are even helpful with things like science lessons...





Unless they're the evil mad scientist type of course, hee hee hee



For more info about today's science lessons brought to you by the letter "C"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_(optics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrodinger_cat

CPSIA - get informed, get involved

The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. This law was initiated in reaction to the recent scares of lead poisoning in children's toys. While we all agree that eliminating harmful toxins such as lead is a good thing, the way the US government is going about it is not. It goes to extremes and does not incorporate common sense.

Why should you be concerned?
This law affects anyone that buys items, or makes items, for children under 12. Parents will see rising costs in not only toys, but school supplies, clothing, books - ANYTHING used by a child under 12 must be tested. Since these tests are very costly, the prices of these items will rise, which in our poor economy is not a good thing.

Businesses will suffer, particularly the small business owners such as those on Etsy (handmade goods are not exempt from this law either). For makers of limited or one of a kind items, this law may very well force them out of business, since these tests are often destructive (hence you'd need to make more than one of every item you want to sell, one for testing and another to actually sell). Even non-destructive testing is nearly prohibitively expensive for all but large manufacturers.

If you would like to get involved, please contact your senators and representatives and let them know that this law needs to be modified. While nearly unaminously approved when initially voted on, many apparently didn't even realize what this law would mean. To look up representatives you can check http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html and to find senators check http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

More info about the CPSIA can be found at http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

A Gemology Quiz and Smelly Fish

Just two of my latest treasuries on Etsy!

The Gemology Quiz is one of my favorite to date and I hope to do some more. (Hopefully next time I'll take a screenshot w/o Etsy's little rainbow graphic, lol) There are some really fabulous gemstones available on Etsy - either as supplies or jewelry! Do you recognize these stones? (No cheating!)



And a fun treasury of beautiful blues and gorgeous greens all featuring our little fishy friends :)

Hey, I'm not dead yet! And neither is my blog...

Maybe it kinda looked like it seeing as I haven't posted for a really long while! What can I say, life got in the way :)

But I'm planning to start blogging again! Weekly at least is my goal, but more is better!

So what happened you might ask that precipitated the little hiatus my blog took? Well for starters I moved in September to Tennessee to do an internship for school at Oak Ridge National Labs. August was spent panicking about setting up said internship, and September with moving and learning my way around a new city which involved getting lost a lot (still does sometimes! lol) Since then I've been wrapped up with learning my new job (I do environmental stuff), as well as writing up yet another new thesis proposal - on said environmental stuff :D And December I was rather swamped with holiday sales (a pleasant surprise!). But now that the holidays are over, and my proposal is done, I'm finally trying to work on things I've kinda let go including my blog, flickr, etc.


Speaking of Flickr, for your viewing pleasure...



When JD goes to sleep at night with his favorite duckie plushie, he often has rather fanciful dreams...




Sometimes he dreams of being King JD, lord of pookie-dom...




Or resting away in peaceful Rivendale among the other elf rabbits :)