Hazelnut Cottage

A Day in the Life of...

My life right now, is pure and utter chaos, as I am sure it is for most artisans and craftspeople who make a living selling their art. This is what my day looks like:

7:00am - 3:30pm: Take care of the kiddos all day, squeak in breakfast and maybe lunch. Go through emails, orders, Etsy stuff and feel really bad that I am neglecting my little one. Mutter about the dishes piling up in the sink again and throw in a load of wash that I will inevitably forget to throw in the dryer and have to re-wash. Repeat.
3:30pm - 5:30pm: Tidy-up, work some more, play with the kiddos a bit, do the day's dishes. Hubby cooks dinner so HOORAY!
6:30pm: Scarf down dinner, apologize for leaving the table while everyone is still eating. Work.
7:30pm: Help get the little ones out of the shower, put one to bed.
9:30pm: Sit down to work-work.
2:00am: Realize that I didn't do the dinner dishes yet. Discover the wash I did earlier that now needs to be re-washed. Sigh...
2:30am: Quick 2 minute shower.
7:00am: Repeat

It is no wonder I am going insane. This is really my life. Ack. Reassessing my choices right at this very minute.

So, anyhoo, I am working late again tonight. Watership Down is keeping me company as I pack up these early Christmas orders. I’m wondering about closing up shop sometime in December. I realize I just can’t keep up with my Etsy sales, wholesale accounts and now 4 scheduled trunk shows. Yeeesh. This is a good thing tho', right? Just trying to find that balance, one where my work life complements my family life and doesn’t turn me into a grouchy mama, hypothetically speaking, of course. Ha.

Meaningful Jewelry and Mommy Jewelry at Hazelnut Cottage

Hope your Thanksgiving Day was lovely!

I am ending this year with a *BANG* at the shop for this busy, gift giving season. Have a gander at a few of the latest sterling silver jewelry offerings at Hazelnut Cottage! (I will be taking custom orders up until December 4th. New custom orders will start up again in January 2009!)

Deeply Desired Custom Necklace $78

 
Mama Bear Custom Necklace $82

I’ve a bunch of new earrings too!

Retro Girl Earrings $42

Princess Earrings $78

! :) !

**{SALE! SALE! SALE!}**

YAY! Meaningful handstamped silver jewelry is on sale *NOW* at Hazelnut Cottage!

WOOHOO! Who doesn’t just loooooooveee a sale?! Here are the details! email me if anything is unclear. The official sale doesn’t start until Friday, but shop NOW for best selection! Many of the pieces in the shop are one of a kinds, or will be out of stock shortly, so for Christmas arrival shop today!!!

* 25% off EVERYTHING in the shop, officially from Friday, Nov. 29th thru Mon. December 1st!
* Place an order now for best selection, but don't click the green "PAY WITH PAYPAL" button. Wait for me to send you a revised invoice and pay that instead :)
* Cannot be combined with any other offer/discount/sale
* Excludes custom orders
* FREE shipping on all orders over $100

Overwhelmed Again

Okay, more overwhelmed today. I need a mama’s helper. Any volunteers (Rocky?!)?

Finally finished my new Christmas packaging for my Hazelnut Cottage shop on Etsy. Hooray! The images are a combination from my website and etsy shop. Now I just have to decide on my new background photos and retake those to make the shop look more cohesive. It needs a bit of an overhaul, but ack, later!

And pssst! I’ll be having a B-I-G sale at the shop this Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1,  2008! The HUGEST and ONLY sale of the season! Woohoo!

Update

Swamped over here...sleep deprived...almost smothered in dirty (and clean) laundry...SEND HELP! I repeat, SEND HELP!

In addition to filling my regular orders and planning for the upcoming homeshowing I will be hosting next weekend, I just found out that I scored a trunk show with my fabulous jewelry making sister at The Ala Moana Shopping Center’s Pacific Place Tea Garden (see photo below!)

Le Reve Brise & Hazelnut Cottage
Present the
Fall / Winter 2008 Collection
at the
Pacific Place Tea Garden at the Ala Moana Shopping Center, Mall Level

on
Friday, December 5th 5-8pm

I’ll try to have some inventory! Ha (weak, nervous laughter)...

I must be out of my MIND.

It’s a Wonderful Life

Sometimes when I’ve lots to do, I put on a movie to make the work seem less like work. Tonight, I am watching “It’s a Wonderful Life”. I am amazed at the amount of people who have yet to see it! It’s a bit early for the whole Christmas festivities to begin, but honestly, I watch this classic all year long!

And I’m not a crier at all, but I always, and I mean ALWAYS tear up when Mr. Gower hits George in his sore ear! Sob!

So if you haven’t, pop some pop-corn for us will ya, and pull up a seat! :)

What it Looks Like Now

“One of the clearest signals that something healthy is afoot is the impulse to weed out, sort through, and discard old clothes, papers and belongings...When the search and discard impulse seizes you, two crosscurrents are at work: the old you is leaving and grieving, while the new you celebrates and grows strong.” ~Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

So, to remedy my too dark ends, I decided to cut it. Tadahh! This, I suppose, is part of my purging? I’ve lopped off a chunk of my hair. This is the shortest it has been, in oh, I think, 20 years?!

(Of course, it didn’t look this short in the hair magazine!!!)

 

...but I like it. It’s growing on me and makes me feel rebellious and strong for some reason!

Hair Disasters

Well hello.

Have you ever had a hair disaster? The last major one  I experienced was in high school. I went to a 'Glemby Salon' (used to be housed at Liberty House here in Hawaii) where my bangs were cut so short they almost stuck out as if pulled by some magnetic force. Imagine Dumb and Dumber. Oh, yes. I cried and cried...but what can you do about too short bangs? Only time will heal that injury my friend. Time and a great hat. I was 14, entering my freshman year in high school had my coke bottle glasses and braces.

So, why am I writing about this, you may ask?

Well, have you ever thoughtlessly, and in a rush thrown a nice 'brown' haircolor into your shopping cart at Longs Drugs? Have you ever gone home, finally found the 30 + minutes you need to color your hair for a new look and reveled in reading all those magazines you never get around to reading? Have you ever looked in the mirror while the color is developing and thought to yourself, "Hmmm...my but that color looks DARK...I'm sure it will look different when I wash it out?" Have you ever then thought to yourself, well, it's still dark because my hair is still wet? And then it dries...And have you ever ran back to the store to get another color to 'correct' the first color? Except now, the ends have somehow gotten darker than the top and after speaking to your stylist, you realize that your only choices now are:

a. hightlighting the whole thing to 'lighten' it
b. chopping a bunch of it off
c. letting it grow out (see my first 'Glemby' experience)

Needless to say, I will be sporting a new haircut and probably highlights sometime next week. Woo-hoo.

Meanwhile, look for me under the nearest hat.

Revelation: I am an Art Hussy

Yes, I said it. I am an art hussy. So there. I’m workin’ on the “and proud of it” part now! Man, there is so much that looks like FUN to do that I really don’t know where to start. Just as soon as I gather up all of my materials for my next new venture something else lovely comes into view. It’s like you are starving and peniless, and someone takes you to a cheesecake factory and says they’ll treat you to dinner (hint, hint) and you want to eat every single solitary thing on the menu, all at once!

See here? A bit of collage I am working on...I’m still quite shy, but am giving you a peek, so please be kind...

 

...and some photography I am working on...

And just look at these! Middleberg Folk Art Studio is the featured artist on Etsy right now and I just love, love her items. Not just beautiful and fun to look at, but her papier mache art seems so fun to DO.

Peace Dove Wall Hanging $45

Lady Hare of the English Rabbit Society $71

Friendship Apple $15

I just adore so many things about this woman’s work. The mixed media-ness of what she does. Her artistic process sounds just heavenly. Working first in clay, she then creates plaster molds and fills them with recycled newspaper pulp and binder, then sands and paints each piece. Sigh...I can just see myself now, all covered in newspaper pulp!!!

So you know what this means don’t you?! I’d better start saving up all of my old newspaper...

Election ‘08

...wow...a historic election...with a new leader at the helm, may God be with us all as we continue to face tumultuous times ahead, and prayerfully, better times ahead as well...