Wordless Wedensday - Orange!

Wordless Wednesday: Autumn Flowers

Inspired by a Blogger

Last week I read a blog post from Duni about how popular gray, pink and orchid are right now.  She showed some lovely pictures of this color scheme.  A few days ago, I was looking at a necklace that had gotten broken because it had been thrown in a drawer with sharp objects (don't ever do this to your jewelry, by the way).  This is the only picture I have of it:

I got to thinking, when I repair this necklace, I could add some pink and orchid to it to give it a little more pizzaz.  So I did.

This is my Work In Progress picture:

I liked the idea, but I felt the center piece was a little dull, so I added pink to it:

 I like the way the labradorite flashes complement the colors in the necklace.

 I just listed this necklace in my Etsy store today.  What do you think?

Why I Blog

I recently replied to a forum thread asking why people blogged.  I kind of liked what I wrote, so I thought I would share it ...and this totally unrelated photo of a sunflower from my mother's neighbor's garden :)

I started blogging for the same reason I started Twitter and FB - to promote my shop. I hadn't really participated in social media, and I wanted to try everything to see what suits me.

It took me a while to find my voice and start posting regularly. I have found that I like blogging best over all the other social media activities I have tried. I like to write, and a blog gives me a chance to tell the whole story, from start to finish.

I also really like the people I have met by following other blogs. They are funny, kind and interesting! I love the fact that they come from many parts of the world.

Blogging has made me look at my life a little differently. Now, as I go through my day, I try to look at what I'm doing through the eyes of a stranger. Would this be interesting to another person? If so, can I photograph it somehow? I find I am taking a lot more family photos as well. I can see how some people might find this process tiresome, but I like it. It wakes me up from my routine and makes me really pay attention.

As for how it has affected my shop... I am more visible on the web since I started posting and commenting regularly. I get feedback on what's interesting and what people would like to see. Some of my jewelry has an involved backstory. I can link from my listing to by blog entry about it and vise versa. I don't have any sales due to blogging, but I still think it is helping in an indirect way.

I'm pretty new, and I know I've just barely tapped into the possibilities of blogging. I'm still trying to absorb all the good advice out there. I recently saw a really good hub page on crafting blogs my one of my team-mates on the Etsy Beadweavers team:
starrynightsdiva.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Get-Traffic-to-Your-Craft-...
I really like the way she does her blog - she is very engaging and friendly:
www.randomcreativeart.com/


So thank you to all of you who have helped make blogging a great experience.  You are a wonderful community.  Speaking of which, why do you blog?  Do you have a story behind how you got started?

Camping at Seaquest State Park

We're bug bitten, sun browned and dusty.  We've been camping for a week with several other families.  We stayed at Seaquest State Park in Washington.  Seaquest State Park is located near Mt. St. Helens at the edge of the Cascade Mountains at an elevation of about 500 ft.  The campground is a beautiful forested area, full of tall trees, ferns and mossy rocks.  

The kids loved having that play structure so close (we had around 8 to 10 kids with us as families came and went).  We had 3 campgrounds reserved for our group, so they had a large area to play in without disturbing other campers.

Across the road from the campground is Silver Lake, a nature trail and Mt. St. Helens Visitor Center.  We didn't even have to worry about road traffic because there is a pedestrian tunnel linking the campground to the visitor center.  The visitor center had some really good displays and a great movie.  We did not get to it until our last day, but I kind of wish we had gone there earlier in the trip.

I really enjoyed walking the nature trail, which ran about a mile along the shore of the lake and through a marshy, wetland area.  Here are some photos from the nature trail, which we walked several times.

We saw a huge frog, so big I would have to hold it in two hands.  There were also lots of big, blue dragonflies.  It took me a lot of tries to get a photo of one.  It would hover until I got my camera focused, then dart away when I took the shot.  Dragonflies are very impressive fliers!  There were also a lot of beautiful wildflowers.


We had a lot more adventures and a great day trip up to Johnston Ridge on Mt. St. Helens, but this post is getting pretty long.  I will write about Mt. St. Helens later this week.

Until then, enjoy your labor day!  We will be having a BBQ with our friends.  What will you be doing?

My Mother's Necklace

These are pictures of a necklace you will never see for sale. My mother, who is my greatest fan, wanted this one. It was a little long for her, so I took out two star-flower shapes from each end and made them into earrings.

It is truly wonderful to have someone who loves me and supports my dreams like my mother does.

Thank you so much, Mom!