SPRING Shows

With the beginning of Spring we also start to see the beginning of show season. So far I have a couple that are locked in and a couple I'm waiting to hear if i've been accepted.

To start with Sheny Boutique in Houston will be hosting an Earth day event on April 17th! I will have some of my Alice in Wonderland pieces such as the Door Mouse and Teapot, Looking Glass Necklaces, Cheshire-cat earrings, Alice and W.Rabbit earrings, and my favorite the "Advice from a Caterpillar" necklace.

I will also have some one of a kind rehab pieces I've designed from vintage pieces I've discovered in my "treasure hunts". Will post some pictures soon. I'm going on a little hunt this weekend to see what I can find! ;)

WHAT: Recycle Reuse Rewear:
Bring your old jewelry and "recycle" it by making a new one!

WHEN: April 17 12-4pm

WHERE: SHENY Designs Boutique
713.480.8824
1740 Sunset Blvd.
Houston, Texas 77005

The second show is in Richmond, VA. I found out today that was accepted into the Spring Bada-Bing Show which is presented by the Richmond Craft mafia. I've never done this show before but I hear great things about it so i can't wait! Hope to see you there!

WHEN: April 18th, 11-4pm

WHERE: Plant Zero- 0 E. 4th Street, Richmond, VA 23224

Little Bit of Braille

As you know one of my signature collections is the braille pendants and necklaces as well as braille keychains and now also rings. The other day I received a really great gift from a fellow jewelry designer, Leslie Ligon of braillestone.com who found me through Etsy and we talked about our designs and common interest in braille.

Leslie lives in Dallas and promotes Braille literacy within the sighted and blind communities through her braille jewelry like the bracelet she sent me. (to the left) It consists of the whole alphabet in braille with the letters on the inside.

A portion of her sales proceeds are donated to Braille Without Borders and BrailleInk.

On that note... A little bit about this type of writing. Braille can be found in almost every public space and often goes unnoticed by the sighted...but take a closer look next time you're in a public elevator or office. You'll find those clever embossed dots next to numbers and buttons and next to offices and restrooms.

Named after its inventor, Louis Braille, the braille system uses a basic “braille cell” which consists of six dots grouped in two vertical columns of three dots each. The dots in the first column are numbered one through three and the second, four through six. Organized groups of dots in the cells represent letters and numbers. For example, the letter “D” (in the chart below) can be expressed as “dots 1, 4, 5.”

The story of Louis Braille is actually quite interesting as well--
Louis as an 11 year old blind student revised secret military code and used it the basis for written communication for blind individuals. The original military code was called night writing and was used by soldiers to communicate after dark. The code used a twelve-dot cell two dots wide by six dots high.The problem with the military code was that the human fingertip could not feel all the dots with one touch.

Louis Braille's revised reading method is based on a cell of six dots. This improvement enabled the fingertip to encompass the entire cell unit with one impression and hence quickly move across cells.

Another interesting tidbit is that His published code,Procédé pour Ecrire les Paroles, la Musique et la Plain-Chant au Moyen de Points, also contained a braille music code based on the same six-dot cell. Cool, right?!

Tutorial Tuesday

I've been "starring" all these DIY tutorials on my blog reader. There are so many really cool ones and I thought I would share a couple. I'm hoping if people like this then perhaps I can share a couple more every other Tuesday?
ENJOY!

Convert mirror frame to magnetic chalkboard.
(via design sponge)
I've actually made this one but I used magenetic paint under the chalk paint on plain ol'plywood. This made it a lot lighter. The drawback would be that the magnets are not super strong.

This was my version:
Jonathan Adler-Inspired Pottery (via Renest)

This looks pretty amazing. I can't wait to try this.

SHELVING UNIT (via the brick house)
Lastly... I rarely see great DIY shelves... that don't look...well DIY.
(Thinking about college dorms with plywood and furniture ;)

Definitely requires some commitment ;)

* New Designs *

Quick little sneak peak on some things i've been working on.
Onyx teared necklace, 14k GF braille necklace, Heart Hoops, Mini luchador valentines, XOXO pearl necklace, xoxo linked braille necklace

Hearts for Haiti

If your in d.c. superbowl weekend stop by to do some valentines shopping for charity.
My little Hearts for Haiti trunk show will benefit Partners in Healths (PIH) efforts : StandwithHaiti.org

PIH has been working on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years and urgently need your support to help those affected by the recent earthquake.

So stop by and do some feel good shopping for some V-day treats.... and of course some yummy sweets!

CHEERS TO THE NEW YEAR

Happy NEW DECADE!
Now that the eating has slowed and new years resolutions struggles with inspiration... I'm going to start by offering a little bit of cheer to the new year with a sale on selected earrings and necklaces.

Treat your self or a loved one with a little cheer or sweet reminder to keep your spirits fresh and snappy with a little bit of style. ;)

Last Minute...

Just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays! As well as thank everyone that has shopped with me this season! Looking forward to 2010 with extra holiday "bling"!

F.Y.I.- Holiday Orders-
the last day i can ship and hope it gets to its destination by or before the 24th is December 17th.

I ship via usps.com with delivery confirmation. shipping time takes anywhere from 2-5 days.

If you need your order shipped faster please contact me to do priority shipping which is a little more but is supposed to be faster ;)