BIG NEWS...my blog is moving!

Why hello there!

Bet you thought I wasn't around anymore, eh?

Well I am, and I'm here to tell you good news!

I have a brand new website!

Up until now, my domain name just redirected you to my Blogger site but now, my domain Second Surf is actually a website! Pretty cool, eh? What I'm most proud of is that I've done it all by myself! ~well, mostly....with a lot of help from my amazingly talented, patient and handsome technology director ;)love you Mr. Mike!

Here's a little sneak peek!

What this means for you:

*If you currently subscribe and follow me on google, blogger, or another feed burner, you'll need to update your reader. all you have to do is enter http://secondsurf.com into the little do-hicky in your reader and that should do it!

I won't be posting anymore on my blogger and I've moved ALL of my posts & comments over to the new site! YAY!

It is still a work in progress and I'll be adding more functionality over the next few weeks but I was too excited to hold back anymore! There is also a shopping cart on over there and that's fully functional, although a little empty, but I hope to remedy that very very soon!

Back!

It's been awhile, no?

Here's my little break in photos.....



Sweet Antique Quarter ring from Old Money Corp.
Sweeet old cowboy boots purchased at a local consignment store
Random cat showing up to stay...
A short hike....
Sweet kisses from the newest member of the family....that's my bro (daddy) in the background...
A packed house at Indie Craft Parade

Indie Craft Parade is almost here!

What?! Only 48 hours until Indie Craft Parade! I'm well on my way to being prepared but still running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Please stop by and say HI if you're in the Greenville, SC area on Friday or Saturday! I'll be in booth 51!

A Cup of Soup, Shop Updates and more....

I'm a day or two behind posting this, so bear with me because I have lots to say and this is going to be a whirlwind, so grab a cup of coffee or tea or vino and sit down and buckle up....

I've been so busy over here in my little corner of the globe. Making, making, making. I was stoked to not only be in the Etsy Finds last week and that is in the middle of me making my new Erudite Collection as well as preparing for Indie Craft Parade. Then, on Friday, I had a nice little stint on the Etsy Front Page which led to some sales as well as some custom orders!

I know KJ is cursing right now, because I said I wasn't gonna do it. but I did. I couldn't help myself.

The new batch of Whisper pendants all hanging out together on my favorite rusty thing.

In the midst of all this fun, Lori Anderson over at Pretty Things put up some new designs from her Cup of Soup Challenge....my first thought was a big freak out because I had let the Whisper Collection dwindle down a bit and it was slim pickings up in that section in the shop....



Soooo, I've been busting a hump up in here trying to fill up the Whisper Collection since I know you are going to be inspired by Lori's designs. They are to die for. I mean, putting that copper piece around my focal is pure genius. So go have a look-see, if you haven't already because...well, Lori just plain ROCKS.

Make sure you keep tabs on that Lori girl, because you never know what she's got up her sleeve...like maybe a giveaway...or two (wink,wink). I know she has an awesome one going on right now if you help support an artist in need who lost her studio in a fire....and methinks there might be one more...


Wait, holy hell! I almost forgot to tell you about the owls....



These damn lovely owls. (sorry, I have a potty mouth)

Let me tell you about the owls. I suppose the owls are a bit like children to me. I don't have any children but bear with me here....

You give birth to them and you raise them right and they go out into the world and start to make you proud. Then one day they come home and tell you otherwise, like they hate you for giving birth to them or something or are going through that awkward teenage phase and brought home some god-awful boyfriend...So the owls retired for awhile and I left them to brood in all their owliness on their own...And I suppose the owls started to grow up and finally brought home a respectable mate (i.e. Lori's brilliant owl bracelets) and now I trust them again.

Okay...that was weird, I know....

..just go with it...

In the actual version, I stopped making the owls, as much as I loved making them, because they weren't selling, and because most of my work is one of a kind, I don't keep a lot of inventory and I can't AFFORD to keep a lot of inventory.

But I'm hearing out there in the ethos that people like the owls again so here is my solution:

I'll be selling the owls in made to order sets of 4 (or more). You can have them in all one color or a mix of the colors below. They will be $22 for 4 and you can have them in my four current colors plus my two neutrals:

COLORS
flannel (baby blue)
persimmon (peachy pink)
sage (soft leaf green)
lavender (light purple)
turquoise (deep teal blue-green)

NEUTRALS (not shown here, but available upon request)
white (not a bright white)
taupe (a nice earthy beige)

I do two finishes:

Antiqued: an all-over rusty aged brown (this is how Lori's owls were done)
Distressed Brown: This preserves the overall integrity of the color used in the polymer clay, but has the deep brown finish in the crevices.




For the not-so-selective, I'm also going to offer an OWL GRAB BAG for $18 for 4 owls. They will be a color selection randomly selected by me, which means they will have prototype colors that I am testing and small runs because I often still use the owls in my own work.

The owls will be available in my shop here as soon as I can upload the listings in the next day.

So whew, I'm tired...I need another cup of coffee....this one is cold now.

Stopping in....

Hey friends! Just stopping by to do a few updates. Let's see:

1)If you signed up for my giveaway, please check to see if you were a winner. I'm still waiting to hear from 2 of the 3 winners. I will wait through July 9th to hear from the other two, otherwise I will draw again! :(

2)I've discontinued a bunch of items in the shop. Owls, birds, and more are GONE for regular purchase! However, I've brought back my BEAD GRAB BAGS to deplete some of my existing stock.

For $20 you get a grab bag of 10 beads. And a little birdie told me that there might be owls and birds in there.....Check out the details here....

3)I also have two new collections. The Breeze Collection is currently up in the shop where I'm adding to it daily! The second collection is under wraps for now ;) and will get a big reveal in the very near future.

4) I'm working on a completely new website and hope to introduce it by the end of the summer. It will be a cohesive site with a shopping cart, blog, and information all in one. I'm really excited about it!

Aloha,
b.

An update!

Hello Lovelies! Sorry I've been a bad blogger and haven't been in touch! We all get so busy, no? Truth is, I've been working on some new things! Here's a couple photos and keep an eye on my vintage and papergoods shop, Kit of Parts, because I've been making and unearthing a bunch of great new things!

aloha!

Ta Da!

Alright, I know the suspense has been killing you. You want to see the craft show display, right?? Well, I'm afraid the build up was a lot bigger than the actual finale. As I prepared, I decided to use the K.I.S.S. method until I figured out what worked and what didn't in reality. And it looked pretty good! But next time, it will look even better. :) I'll be excited to see the transformation. I need to find a lot more fixtures and invest in another table or two. Since I sell such a variety of things, I really want it to have it's own boutique feel. Everything on one table just was sort of a jumble. I separated it into halves, so it wasn't too confusing. When I set up at home, I had it all arranged together, but it didn't feel right.

After all that, I almost forgot to take pictures, so parts look a little sparse, after some brisk sales. :)

Swoon.....

I've been so busy working on my first craft tent display and production for it! I am so excited and can't wait to show you all some pictures. My hands are busy painting and my fingers are getting calloused from wrapping wire! Hopefully, it won't be all for naught or else I will.....ahemmmmm, have lots to list in my shop next week!!!

So as soon as I post this off to you I'm out to the studio to work my rump off.

I will leave you with the gorgeous work of Sugarboo Designs this morning for inspiration. I first saw these awhile back on Poppytalk but I didn't know they had such an extensive line of work until I saw them over at Coastal. Rebecca Puig & her husband Rick started Sugarboo Designs together a few years ago. Their mission is to make handmade products that add soul to the home. Each piece is made one at a time and many are based on original paintings by Rebecca.

And //shockingly// enough, they're from Athens, GA. All my favorites right now seem to be from Athens. I think we need to coin a term for all the great work coming out of Athens, sort of like the Black Mountain School??? Okay, maybe not. It was just a thought.

p.s. I would just like to add that the last piece with the frame with the Pueblo indian prayer is one of my very favorites. It reminds me of my family and why I wake up and do everything that I do everyday, especially my dear grandpa who passed in April. I was not able to be home for his funeral but I included this quote on the arrangement we sent....such a blessing we enjoy from all the lessons learned from our family :)

so it looks like this...

Just got in all my shipping supplies for the new jewelry line. Thought I would post a little photo of how it looks.

aloha!

bienvenue!

So what better way to spend ALL day sunday than reformatting and redesigning my blog....I've been looking for a template that would enable me to add more content and I think I finally stumbled upon what I was looking for. Oh! How I would love to pay someone to do it for me!!!! You know what they say about "champagne taste and rootbeer budget....."

I'm sure you'll see me tweaking things a bit for the next couple days (weeks!) but I hope you like the improvements I'm making....

covered in paint....

i've been a busy b. this week working on new work to list on my etsy store. I had my first sale from it this week and i'm very excited about that. It's giving that extra push to get my rear in gear and get those paintings i've been procrastinating about finished.

in addition i've also posted some new things on my kit of parts etsy store that i hope will delight and inspire you to create and spread love and peace to those around you.

i've taken some measures to reduce the work load at my full time job so i can devote more time & energy to my web offerings...

btw, if you are looking for some of my older work that is still for sale you can find it at my ebay store as well as my other hobby which is combing sales for lovely used surf/skate gear and home decor items.