Like Sparkling Glass

Wednesday item of the week in my Etsy Shop!

~Silver-Platted Copper Necklace~
inspiration: sparkling shards of glass from broken bottles, laying near a field of wildflowers




Enter the code "tangleweeds blog" in the message section of your Etsy receipt to receive 30% off this hand-forged silver and copper necklace. Discount applies to this item only, from now until June 1st, 2010.

Temescal Street Fair

Summer is coming up soon soon soon! As is my schedule of arts and crafts fairs for the sunny and warm four months of the year. The first one, the first BIG fair I've done in a few years will be the Temescal Street Fair. I've been working my booty off getting ready for this show, perfecting my display, making dozens and dozens of new pairs of earrings and pendants. . . I think it'll be fun event!

I hope to see you there!

Tangleweeds on Facebook

Finally! Yes, finally I have created a page for Tangleweeds on Facebook. It's only taken me nine months to do it! (I changed my business name back in September of last year.)


So, yes, if you love my work and want to stay up-to-date on all of my Tangleweeds goings-ons, then why doncha "like" my page? I'm going to be posting new work, craft fair updates, and maybe even some tutorials on it.

Here's to the next part of the journey!

Mimi Kirchner

Etsy feature of the week!

For this Thursday's feature I thought I'd share with you the handiwork of Mimi Kirchner. Her dolls and other fiber creations are made from primarily vintage and recycled materials. And they are full of whimsy and character!

Tattooed Lady doll- dark lady

Kitty Doll


robot man in plaid- nerdy

School girl doll

red stripes Tattooed Lady doll

Stop by her shop and take a look for yourself!

Horseshoe. . .

. . . because we could all use some good luck every now and then!

Wednesday item of the week in my Etsy Shop!
~hand-forged brass necklace~

inspiration: some of the strange, but beautiful shapes found in nature ~ the way a bent tree trunk can resemble a human, buddha-hand lemons, and the other-worldliness of orchid flowers (just to name a few)




Enter the code "tangleweeds blog" in the message section of your Etsy receipt to receive 30% off this hand-forged brass necklace. Discount applies to this item only, from now until May 25th, 2010.

Ironing, Jewelry, and Cats

Just a normal day around the house. . .




The jewelry bench. . . (it's never very tidy!)



Okay, back to work! I'm super buys these days getting ready for a slew of arts and crafts fairs I have lined up for this summer. The first to come is the Temescal Street Fair on June 6th. More details coming soon!

Oh the recession. . .

I'm sure most of those of you who read this have been feeling the economic pinch lately. And if you yourself are doing pretty well, all things considered, you probably know a slew of people who have been hit hard by these tight times.

I have definitely been feeling the money pinch myself. In order to make ends meet I have had to really watch all of my "non-necessary" spending, relying on all of my frugal ways from the past, when I went to school full time, worked part time and never had that much money but was grateful for the free-time I had instead.

And, while it can be fun to find new ways to be frugal (I sometimes like to look at it as a game, a challenge to myself to save more money, spend less money) it can grow tiresome and bleak if you don't stop and treat yourself, albeit reasonably, once in a while. With that in mind, I've decided to add a few new goodies to my shop, sort of based around this idea: that while we all need to be watching our pennies right now it's nice to once in a while splurge (in a small way) on yourself and those you care about.

African Turquoise Sterling Silver Earrings

I've added these tiny, sterling silver earrings to my shop. They all feature gorgeous stones in beautiful, saturated hues. And right now with the earring sale I'm having in my shop, they're only $12.75 per pair.

Carnelian Sterling Silver Earrings

Grey Moonstone Sterling Silver Earrings

Here's to small pleasures even when times are tough!

Edit: There will be more of these earrings, in copper, going up in the shop tomorrow!

Red Leaves

Wednesday item of the week in my Etsy Shop!

~hand-forged steel earrings~
*part of my spring/summer '10 collection*

inspiration: red-winged blackbirds flitting about overhead, or foraging for grub on the neighborhood lawns




Enter the code "tangleweeds blog" in the message section of your Etsy receipt to receive 30% off these red leaf and steel, hand-forged earrings. Discount applies to this item only, from now until May 18th, 2010.

Month of May SALE!

I love earrings. Really, really love earrings. Especially in the spring and summer. They are the perfect piece of jewelry when the temps start rising and the thought of wearing more than the bare minimum is out of the question! They add a bit of glamour, but in an easy, care-free way.

So I thought I'd pass along my love of earrings with an earring sale all this month of May. Take 25% off any earrings in my Shop.







Hope to see you there!

New Feature

I've been sellling on Etsy in one capacity or another for the last four years. Over that time I've window shopped many a wonderful Etsy store. If I had more funds you can bet I'd be buying from the plethora of amazing stores far more often. But, given my tight budget, I usually end up "favoriting" all of the shops I find myself drooling over, which has led to 20+ pages of favorite shops. There are so many shops in my favorites catalogue that I someitmes can't find the one that I"m looking for!

So I thought I'd start a new feature on my blog: Every Thursday I'll have an "Etsy Feature". It'll specifically feature an Etsy seller. I'm thinking I'm going to leave it open to all types of Etsy sellers. I might feature a vintage seller one week, a jewelry artisit the next, a furniture designer the following, and so forth and so on.

So, for this week, I bring you, Poaplum, a lovely little jewelry and bags shop.

The lovely woman who runs this shop creates unique but beautiful jewelry creations out of fabric and cardboard. First and foremost, I love the textured, 3-D nature of her work.

This fabric necklace is probably one of my favorite pieces in her shop right now. The best part about it? It can be worn 3 different ways. Also, besides being eco-friendly, her work is pretty easy on the budget. One of her colorful, circular, cardboard Caracol necklaces will only set you back $55. Not bad, if you ask me!

Oh, and this cuff bracelet. Even being made of cardboard it still looks classic, like a piece I'd want to wear every day.

More examples of her work:



To quote her from her profile on Etsy: "“Eco-friendly”, fun, practical, and most of all, original, that is how I want my work to be!"

Take a stroll on over to her shop and get yourself one of her amazing one-of-a-kind pieces!

Busy weeks

My weekend was lovely lovely. Jeff and I took some time on Sunday, just for the two of us. We started the day off at the farmer's market where we picked up delicious goodies like smoked salmon, strawberries, a baguette, and mixed greens (complete with nasturtium blossoms!) to take with us to Marin. We went for a lovely hike at China Camp (I had never been there before).


Lucky us, we saw a pair of mallard ducks and their baby. So freakin' adorable! Also sighted: a slew of lizards, some sort of small black snake with an orange-ish ring around it's neck, a few snowy egrets, a hawk, many crows and vultures, and a colorful bounty of wildflowers.

But now that the weekend is gone, I'm really trying to focus and buckle down to work. I have a pretty busy show season this summer and I'm starting to see all of the places I'm lacking. Do I have enough inventory? How does my display really look? Should I stock up on more packaging materials? So, instead of freaking out I'm trying to simple buckle down and get to the work now, before the time has all flown away. I'm trying to embody the balance I spoke of back in my post about Calistoga. I just feel better when I live my life balanced.

All these busy days have called for comfy outfits that are also bike friendly, since most of my errands are run by bike! See more at Wardrobe Remix.



Well, that's all for now. Back to work!

Labradorite Antique Treasures

Wednesday item of the week in my Etsy Shop!

~hand-forged earrings~

~inspiration: digging through piles of old jewelry, getting the dust and dirt under my fingernails, discovering a gorgeous gem in a pile of junk




Enter the code "tangleweeds blog" in the message section of your Etsy receipt to receive 30% off these brass and chain, hand-forged earrings. Discount applies to this item only, from now until May 11th, 2010.