Quick update.

I've had a very busy holiday season this year. Thank you so much to all of my customers!!! I have a lot of plans for 2012, and I'll be busy with organizing my craft room so that I can make all of the new designs that I have written down on random pieces of paper.

I'll get back to blogging more regularly soon. Now that Christmas is over I can focus more attention on my blog and designs.

Thank you for reading. Happy New Year!

New members of the family.

After a year of sporadic begging we were able to finally adopt two kittens!

We went to the Kitsap Humane Society during a free adoption sale. (saved about $300!) There were kittens everywhere. Most were adopted or weren't ready to be adopted yet.

We spotted these two lovelies in a cage together, and they were the only kittens that were playing and wrestling. We wanted playful kittens, and I loved how the tortoise kitten had a half black and half orange face. We just had to have them. Unfortunately they needed to get surgery (spayed) before we could take them home so we had to wait a whole weekend for them.

The tortoise shell's name was Moon Beam, and we decided to change it to Katniss (from The Hunger Games) The Siamese's name was Sally, and we changed it to Rue (also from The Hunger Games) Their new names fits their personalities. Rue likes to sing and be in high places, and Katniss is a crazy offender and very very playful.

I could go on and on, but in summary: they are so very cute and playful and "melty" I'm sure I'll post many pictures of them in the future. <3

There is a Winner!

We have a winner for the recent My Memories Suite Scrapbooking Software Giveaway I hosted.

Congratulations to Teresa from POP embroidery!!!

Fun key fobs, original key straps, embroidered gifts and personalized ID badge holders ALL available at POP embroidery!

She's also on Facebook. Be sure to like her page.

I hope you have an amazingly fun time trying out the software. Beware - it's addicting!

Inspiration Behind the Piece: Celestial Watch

There is something calming about the night sky with the moon and stars hanging in balance in all of the nothingness that is the universe.

I created this Celestial Watch in different stages. I first found the watch face and bought the star beads to match it. I knew I wanted to use black and silver and eventually found the perfect beads. They are dual colored, and they match perfectly with the other components of this watch.

I didn't know I needed to use the gunmetal stardust beads and the antiqued silver pewter spacer beads and the swirl toggle clasp until I sat down and placed the components alongside one another. Everything about this watch design - the colors, shapes, textures...all happen to be a beautiful contrast, but yet one and the same. Silver, black, and grey; just like the universe above and around us.

Thank you so much for reading. This Celestial Watch is currently available here.

Free Software Giveaway!

Today I have the honor to give away some digital scrapbooking software from My Memories Suite to one lucky reader! There is no catch, just a simple and easy giveaway. With this scrapbooking software you can create cards, photo books, scrapbook pages, and more all on your computer. It's not just for scrapbooking. Their website offers templates, kits, papers, and embellishments for very low prices, and they even have a free page!

I took a little bit of time to play around with my free copy of this software, and it was really fun and easy to learn. Between what was already included in the program as well as the free kits I downloaded from their site I had so much to work with.

Right before I was contacted to do this giveaway I was starting to look into how to make collages and cards digitally, and this software is the perfect thing. I included my partially completed collage. It started out as a blank white canvas, and it was so easy to turn it into what you see. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to collages so I might not be done with this one for a while longer.

If you take a look you will notice the fonts. The program has WordArt incorporated into it, and I can choose from a ton of fonts and colors. It's digital so I can rotate the font backwards or to a 90 degree angle if I wanted to.

Once I place an embellishment and start working on something else I can easily go back and change it. I decided to fade the snowflake decoration on the left side of the collage instead of it being a solid white like the notebook. And speaking of the notebook, those are beads! Cute colorful little beads, which is one whole embellishment.

This collage is just one of the many things you can do with this digital scrapbooking software. You can use any .jpeg or .png file to import your photos right into the software so make a lovely scrapbook page or a Christmas card with a picture of your family on the front.

And if you download digital scrapbooking kits and images from other websites this software supports those! Unfortunately their terms of use do not allow finish products to be sold.

So how does this giveaway work?

1. Visit My Memories Suite and check out the Digital Scrapbooking Kits. Pick out your favorite one and leave a comment on my blog with a link to that item with a brief explanation of how you would use that kit. Remember to include some way for me to contact you.

2. For an extra entry tweet this blog post on Twitter, and include your Twitter account in your comment entry. You can tweet this as many times as you would like, however, it will only be counted as one entry.

3. Only one entry per person (with the exception of those that Tweet.)

Be sure to follow my blog so you can find out if you're the winner!

For more information on My Memories Suite check out their social links below:

Blog
Facebook
Twitter

They also have a YouTube Channel.

My readers can also use this exclusive code: STMMMS8587 for $10 off the MyMemories Suite v2 scrapbook software.

Not into scrapbooking, card making, or other digital crafts? You can still enter this giveaway for a friend or family member...the holidays are coming up.

Thank you so much for reading this post. I hope I inspired you to enter the giveaway for a chance to win this great software. Remember the giveaway ends Wednesday, November 9th, 2011. The winner will be announced shortly after.

3 Quick and Easy Halloween Recipes

I was browsing online for a quick Halloween themed recipe that I could surprise my hubby with since we both work that day and won't see each other. All three recipes courtesy of AllRecipes.com

On this quest I found 3 quick and easy recipes that you still have time to do!

The first recipe is Green Grog. 25 8oz servings

Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 (12 fluid ounce) cans frozen limeade concentrate
• 2 (12 fluid ounce) cans frozen lemonade concentrate
• 2 (2 liter) bottles lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage
• 1 (750 milliliter) bottle rum
• 2 quarts lime sherbet

Directions

1. In a large pot, combine limeade, lemonade and lemon-lime soda. Stir in rum (add more to taste if desired.) Mix in the lime sherbet.

The second recipe is S'mores Apples. 6 servings.

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 Granny Smith apples
• 6 wooden sticks
• 1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Insert wooden sticks 3/4 of the way into the stem end of each apple. Place apples on a cookie sheet covered with lightly greased aluminum foil.
2. Combine caramels and water in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring often, until caramel melts and is smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Dip each apple into the caramel and gently run apples around insides of saucepan to scrape off some of the caramel. Scrape excess caramel from the apple bottoms using the side of the saucepan.
3. Combine the miniature marshmallows and graham crackers on a dinner plate. Roll the apples in the mixture to coat. Place on the aluminum foil and chill.
4. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Drizzle over the apples and return them to the refrigerator until ready to serve.

The third recipe, which is the one I might make on Monday is Mud and Worms. 4 servings.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 12 chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies
• 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 2 cups milk
• 1 (3 ounce) package gummy worms candy

Directions

1. Place the chocolate sandwich cookies into a resealable plastic zipper bag, and crush with a rolling pin into crumbs. For a more mudlike appearance, untwist the cookies and scrape off the creme filling before crushing cookies.
2. Whisk together the chocolate pudding mix with the milk in a bowl, stirring for 2 minutes. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the crushed sandwich cookie crumbs into the bottom of a serving bowl, and spoon the chocolate pudding over the crumbs. Smooth out the top of the pudding, then top with the rest of the chocolate cookie crumbs to resemble dirt. Poke gummy worms halfway into the dirt. Refrigerate until serving.

These all look delicious. Are you planning to cook or prepare any treats this Halloween?

Work in Progress Wednesday 10/26/11

This week I have more inspiration than actual progress, but that's part of the fun.

I have some cameo pendants that will be made into beaded necklaces, although the skull one might turn into something more manly.

I have a few necklace starts at the top of the picture with amethyst, lampwork glass, and swarovski pearls.

There's an owl key chain hiding in the top right corner, and below that a pair of cute rose hair pins.

The blue and pink earrings were previously featured here. The bottom left corner is some starts for cell phone charms. I want to use the rune pendants for something so I pulled those out of their storage (along with the black and grey snowflake obsidian pendants) and there are some flower hair pins as well.

To the left of the colorful earrings are some tech/geeky charms. I was thinking maybe zipper pulls or cell phone charms? Not exactly sure yet.

What is Work in Progress Wednesday? It's a meme from off of the internet somewhere. I've decided to start posting some of what I'm currently working on every Wednesday for your viewing pleasure and my motivation. I have to finish what I show you...right?

Reasons to Send Holiday Cards This Year

It's getting to be that kind of year where you are thinking about how to spread the holiday cheer with gifts to your friends, your family, your coworkers or classmates, and the list always seems to grow...

And you come to the realization that you cannot afford to provide a gift to all of these people, but you can't shake the feeling of wanting to do something for them. I often feel the same way. I try to think of small inexpensive gifts to get everyone, but even this ends up being expensive because I want it to still be "nice."

So the solution is holiday and/or Christmas cards. Yes, the idea seems simple and "not enough," but last year when I was writing out all of our cards my husband wanted to give some to his coworkers. The night he came home after handing them out to everyone he told me about their responses and comments. Many people told him how unexpected and appreciative they were because they never get holiday cards from anyone, and the card he gave them made their day. Hearing this made me feel all fuzzy inside.

Giving people well thought out personal holiday cards is the best inexpensive gift that you can give them. They can display the card in their locker or desk at work to read during times they are having a bad day, or they can take them home to put out on the table.

Last year I sent maybe around 50 cards, and I received less than 5. In honesty it was disappointing, but I clung to the thought that the people I sent mine to appreciated the thought.

Cards don't have to be expensive or handmade. This year I found a great deal on plain cards, and I plan to write out a nice personal message/holiday greeting in them. The image on the front of the cards are nice and festive enough, but people will focus on the handwritten note inside.

Though I must say on more than one occasion at work a coworker gave everyone a card, but they just signed their name and didn't add anything to the simple printed message "Happy Holidays" that was inside. I know I should be grateful that they took the time to give me a card, but it just felt really impersonal.

A few questions for my readers: Do you ever send or receive holiday cards? How does it make you feel? Do you plan to send any this year?

Thank you so much for reading.

Inspiration Behind the Piece: Celtic Tree Necklace

This Celtic Tree Necklace was inspired by a friend of mine. She loves all things trees and copper and green.

I wanted to make something extra special with the tree pendant, and I was hoarding the green beads until I could come up with the perfect design.

When holding this necklace the beads are so lustrous and sleek. I can safely say that this is one of my favorite pieces that I have ever made.

But where are the Celtic symbols? You can't see it very well in the picture, but that triangle bail that holds the tree pendant has Celtic designs on it as well as the top round part of the toggle clasp.

Thank you so much for reading. Please check back as I will continue to write the inspiration behind some of my pieces.

Work in Progress Wednesday

What is Work in Progress Wednesday? It's a meme from off of the internet somewhere. I've decided to start posting some of what I'm currently working on every Wednesday for your viewing pleasure and my motivation. I have to finish what I show you...right?

Today I have a few bookmarks: dog, dragon, and coffee.

Some bracelets that are almost finished.

A rocker necklace with a big guitar pendant.

Some random 1337 letter beads...not sure what to do with those just yet. I recently used some of them to make wine charms.

Thinking of using the cherry and castle charms to make cell phone charms. Or maybe key chains?

And the pearls will be made into earrings.

Thanks for browsing! What are you working on this Wednesday?

Facebook vs Google +

I recently conducted a survey with 86 participants regarding their views on Facebook vs Google +

The majority voted that they don't need another "social network"

Once Google + launches their business pages, and the site gains popularity I wonder if it will surpass Facebook?

I personally can't wait until they release the business pages, though I can't say whether I'll use the personal page.

What do you think?

Work in Progress Wednesday

Here are a few projects that are on my desk waiting for completion:

Earrings
More Earrings
Long Chain Necklaces
Pearl Bracelet & Earrings Set
More Earrings
Misc. Pendants

What is Work in Progress Wednesday? It's a meme from off of the internet somewhere. I've decided to start posting some of what I'm currently working on every Wednesday for your viewing pleasure and my motivation. I have to finish what I show you...right?

I'm Leaving Facebook

Both my personal and my business page are going to be deleted soon. I am claiming back my free time. I can't even begin to think how much time I have wasted on that website. Aside from the many privacy violations I would just rather be using my time productively. I want to make things. My friends have other ways of contacting me, and there are other ways for me to keep in contact with the business pages I liked. Such as:

• RSS feed their website. Whether it's news or new items I have set up my Google home page to have RSS feeds from my favorite news and merchandise sites so I can see their latest updates without visiting their website.

• I can sign up for their email newsletters so I can keep up to date when I'm busy with other things.
  

• I can spend the hours I was on Facebook [to] visiting their website on a weekly basis just to check in and browse.

For the __1337 Art fans there are several ways you can stay in touch:

1. Deviant Art
2. Flickr
3. Twitter
4. Email Newsletter
5. Website
6. Tumblr (new!)
   
7. RSS my Arfire Shop
8. ESS my Etsy Shop
9. Email
   

Another great thing about this change is that I can spend more time updating this blog! I have plans to start including Work in Progress Wednesdays where I show off what I am working on at the moment, I want to start doing Artist Features again where I post an interview of a great artist and a few pictures of their work, and I want to show off my studio craft room a bit and provide some general tips for organization, stuff around the house, etc. And post more green/organic/natural things. So there are many things coming soon.

Don't forget you can sign up to receive my blog updates in your inbox. Just find the box on the right side of this page.

Thank you so much for reading. I look forward to blogging again soon.

Quick Update.

So we moved, and the new house is amazing even though we have found a lot of quirks and odd little details, but that is just how it is with lived in houses. We still love it. I took a few "before" pictures of my craft room, and if I ever feel that I reach an "after" point I'll take some pictures of that too and write a post with them. The room is a little smaller than my old one, but I think that is a good thing. Things in this room so far are closer, and I don't feel so microscopic when I'm sitting in it alone.

At first I was set on lime green walls, but after much thought (irregardless of my husband's 'No! I don't want that ugly color in this house!' comments) I decided on grey. It won't be painted for some time, but when we do get around to painting the color won't be too dark as to affect my jewelry photo shoots in a negative way, and it has way more personality than dirty white walls. White walls are so boring and uninspired.

It's moving time.

We are due to move at the end of the week, and we have barely packed. We aren't panicking yet, but I'm sure that's going to change when it comes to our days off from work and have to scramble to get everything packed, moved, and cleaned. My husband says to focus on my craft room, and he will get the rest of the house. Okay!

I was browsing through this crafty storage blog, and I'm looking forward to my new room and how it's going to be once everything is unpacked and organized. I foresee painted walls, mounted shelves, cute containers and jars, and tons more to always keep me motivated to create something new. Maybe one day my room will look as amazing as some of the rooms featured on that blog.

Do you have any pictures of your craft/work space? I'd love to see them. Please feel free to leave a link in the comments.

Thank you for reading.

Greens to Go - Health in a Bottle or Glass

Can you get 6 servings of fruit and vegetables a day in one 16 ounce bottle of water or glass? This product says so.

I went shopping the other day at Costco and found this interesting product. It's made with real organic fruits and vegetables and uses a natural sweetener - Stevia. It comes in little pouches that you can put in your purse or lunch box, and all you need to do is dump it in a bottle of water and shake it up. (or put it in a glass and stir it)

As I type I'm drinking my first glass of this stuff. I love the color green, but not this kind of green. It doesn't look so great, but the flavor is pretty decent. If you check out some of the reviews on Amazon, the "aftertaste" is the Stevia sweetener. It takes a little getting used to, but it's so much healthier than sugar. I'm still waiting to hear what my picky husband thinks of it, and I'm going to stick with drinking this every day for awhile to see if I feel an overall "improvement" in myself.

I see it coming in handy in the afternoon at work. I always crave flavor instead of just water, and with this I get both.

I do not work for the company that makes this product. I just wanted to share what I found to help out my readers in case they are looking for an easy way to consume healthier foods.

Thanks so much for reading.

A Must See Film: Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead

After browsing my Netflix instant cue for something new to watch this film caught my eye. I thought it would be a nice background movie to watch while I played around on the computer.

Well shortly after clicking "play" I was hooked and just watched the entire thing.

FAT, SICK & NEARLY DEAD is an inspiring film that chronicles Joe's personal mission to regain his health while traveling across America, juicer in tow, and inspiring others to do the same.

Source: Amazon.com

But it's a lot more interesting than that. There is Joe who makes this major change in his life and "cures" his illness enough so he does not have any more outbreaks and can stop taking his medication. Then along his journey he meets an obese man that is desperate for help. In the end they lost so much weight and looked so much healthier.

And it all started with a juice fast.

This film is very inspirational, and it makes you think about your health and how it is all in your hands. No matter how far you have let yourself go there is still hope for a long and healthy life.

You can watch this movie on Netflix or Amazon.

Stumbled Upon a Great Author

If you haven't yet heard of The Mortal Instruments or The Infernal Devices series yet you need to go check them out now!

I can't remember where I first heard about Cassandra Clare and her books, but I'm thankful to whomever it was that led me to her enchanting stories.

The Mortal Instruments series is about shadowhunters and nephilim, and an ordinary girl that soon discovers that the world she lived in is nothing like it seems. If I had to compare it to other stories or movies currently out in the world, I'd say it was a mix between Harry Potter and The Sword of Truth but not quite as epic. I have only read the first three books in this series as of yet, but they are so gripping and entertaining. I love them.

There is going to be a movie soon to, and I've read over the Internet that it's supposed to be the next Twilight and Harry Potter craze.

The Infernal Devices is fairly new; the second book is due in December 2011. It's a gripping adventure that includes magic and downworlders: warlocks, vampires, and other supernaturals. December feels so far away, but it will definitely be worth the wait.

For more information about these book series you can visit the author's website:
http://cassie-claire.com/cms/home

Thanks for reading! I hope I've inspired someone to also stumble upon these great books.

Time is Unreal.

My online presence has been lacking. Long story short I've had some personal health issues to deal with as well as my husband and I are in the process of buying our first home.

I've had so many hopes and dreams I wanted to accomplish this year with __1337 Art. I do still hope to achieve some of them, but I have to take things slow and work around our moving schedule and settling.

What I will continue to do is add new items to my Etsy, Artfire, and Zibbet shops and hopefully in time before the holidays I want to have my personal website up and running so my customers can shop directly from the site.

I will update again when I'm ready to spend an afternoon adding new items to my shops. You can also follow me on Facebook to get instant access to new listings as they are posted.

Life is too short to hope and dream but not take enough action to make these things a reality.

Goal this year.

I am kind of thrilled with myself. My main goal this year is to successfully sell in 7 different online shop/venues. I just spent countless minutes, maybe even hours going through some of my inventory and sorting/organizing it. I think I'm really going to reach as well as surpass this goal. After looking at my older pieces and my newer ones I'm getting so excited to create and make things work.

I have so much to photograph and list. Yay 2011! <3

Where Products are Shipped

Ever wonder how your order from 1337 Art is prepared and packaged?

This is (ideally) how my shipping area is supposed to look. I took this picture after I first set it up, and after I played over there it got messy and temperamental when I tried to keep it "clean."

I'm currently moving it across the room so I can use this shelf to hoard my beads for easier access. My work tables are in front of that white drawer. Think upside "L" shape.

Once it is all set up (again) and personalized I will post another picture. Maybe if I keep posting pictures it will inspire my office / studio area to clean itself? And again, when the whole room is redone I'll post those pictures as well.

Thank you so much for reading!

A Vampire Book Worth Reading!

As an early Christmas gift my hubby gave me a signed copy of this newish book "Risen" by Krystal Lawrence.

Yes, it is a vampire book, but it's not the Twilight vampires, nor is it Anne Rice's vampires. Krystal Lawrence has created her own un-living, reacting vampire in this suspense thriller (with a dash of horror!) I wasn't sure at first what I thought about this vampire, but by the end of the book all I could think was "Well done!"

It was a pleasure to read. The characters and their situations are so real - you don't often get that in a book. A real page turner.

You can purchase the book here. I really really hope there's a sequel.

The author, Krystal Lawrence, lives in the Pacific Northwest and is writing her second book. Her website is as follows:

www.darksidestories.com