Today is December 21st, and the world has not come to an end.  As if logical people thought it would.  Anyway, I''ve attached a picture of these recycled coffee cans.  Simple to make and fun to decorate.  You can use them as simple decor, storage, or a planter.  You may also use to replace a gift bag.  Very fun!  With Christmas almost here, I of course want nothing more than to get it behind me.  I am joyful that our son is home for a week to share the holiday.  He of course came home sick and exhausted, so hopefully he can recover before he returns to his normal duties.

I have begun my creative process once again, with renewed interest in knowing how special handmade items are.  They are not mass produced or sold in magazines, they are unique and more thoughtful than any other gift you could give.  Useful gifts are always my first choice, to me it makes no sense to give a gift that will just collect dust or end up and the thrift store after spring cleaning.  We are never to old to learn new things, no matter how well learned we are at something, chances are there is still something we don't know about it.  Explore, use that brain of yours, keep in young by keepin it engaged.

Christmas this year is simple.  The older I become the more I appreciate the true reason for this season.  It is not about money, marketing, and selfishness.  It is about the birth of Jesus.....  With that comes renewed hope and restored faith.  There are many who are doing with less this year, or who have been knocked so far down the ladder they feel there is no hope. But there is..........

Less than 10 days from Christmas, can't wait for it to be over......... is that wrong?  I do celebrate what it truely is Christmas stands for, and love that my family raised me to know what the reason for the season is.  So many of our youth have no clue, other than gifts and selfishness.  Money is nice and gifts are nice, but what matters most is  that we celebrate it's meaning.

With this year to an end it has been fun with new life changes presented.  So thankful for all the blessings and good health. 

As for my jewelry and crafty life, I've done well with Park Lane  www.myparklane.com/mwebb and have also had renewed spark for getting creative again.  My mom upgraded me with a new sewing machine, which I've so far used once, and had a ball trying all the new stitches.  I also recently sold a beautiful Agate wire wrapped pendant on Etsy, which was a pleasant surprise. 

With a new year upon us, and my last year of school (if all goes well). I can get myself busy to make enough money selling items to help me with my school loans that are frightening.  We will see! 

OK here is an update......  I have been in a slump, not really wanting to do much since my crazy end of the month in October.  I questioned if I had taken on to much with Park Lane, keeping in mind I am a procrastinator.  I have a good party tomorrow afternoon, which I am now super excited about.  The reason for my excitement is due to the fact in my first month with Park Lane, I qualified Level 2 for sales in my first month, which wasn't hard to do.  With that said one of the things I recieved was the months sample jewelry.  Yes, what you see above is just a few of the items I recieved for FREE!  I was going to purchase the bracelet, but now I don't need to.  How great to have the new months jewelry to show, and get it for FREE.  Being qualified for Level 2 also earned me $400 in jewelry credit and a few other complimentary items to help me in my shows.

I am so excited and once again blown away by the quality of the samples I feel I will be able to sell easily.  One thing I have found is that I have problems as do others with catalog shows.  Currently I have 4 out, but they just are not producing.  I feel the key is to have that short period of time to actually show the jewelry and have customers try it on.  This is very important I think, however with the help of having my website up, there has been no change in that department.  I really hope I can secure at least1 or 2 shows each week.  Once I start back to  school 1 show a week may be all I can handle.

My Park Lane slump is over, thanks to decent sales in October I am well on my way to hopefully having another good month.

I made it through a busy week last week.  I started with a nice catalog show on Thursday Oct. 25, then a Hostess show Oct. 26th, then ended with an afternoon show Oct.27th.  All three shows went well, which helped me to achieve my first month goals.  Keeping in mind Park Lane does not require any quotas, you work at whatever pace you prefer.  However they offer encouragement if you would like to take part in certain Super Start goals, which I am doing.  I am taking this experience as it comes. 

So far all is good, and I've qualified as a Fashion Director with the company.  I can also sponsor others who live out of state or in Canada if interested in trying Park Lane.  My web site www.myparklane.com/mwebb is now active as well.  If all goes well and all my catalog shows hold I should be up to my personal goal for November. 

As for my personal handmade jewelry I was contacted my a young girl who found me on Luulla.com under happigirljewelry.  She requested to review one of my items and would award it to someone in a give away, which I am all for, so I will ship this to her this week.

Ok so the following week after my show.....I think it was October 3, Park Lane had an event at the Salt Lake Hilton, in which I was asked to model the In Style Rose Gold collection.  It was a good time, and there were many ladies and a few men that are involved with this growing business. 

I had my first solo show on October 11.  I was a bit nervous, and was only to get one booking, but I made it.  I managed to have an equally lucrative show, much like my own.  With that said I have nearly met my first months Level 2 goal on my own without having a new recruit.  I have two shows this week, so will be interesting to see if I can secure more bookings.  The commission is good, I cannot complain.  And though I will meet this months goal, it is nice that it is not expected it is my personal decision.

Today with my commission check I was able to set up my website http://www.myparklane.com/mwebb  I encourage you to all take a look.  If you become interested in wanting to buy, host a catalog party, or become a Fashion Director please let me know.  Though we may live a distance from each other we can still work together to achieve your goals.  Canada is our newest addition and the first outside the United States.

Ok, I did it!  I had my first Park Lane Jewelry party.  It was a new Fashion Director/Host, and made my $5 kit (yes the kit is only $5, and comes with $1,000 worth of jewelry).  I invited about 25 people, and had 7 show up, which was perfect.  I also was able to get 5 bookings.  Yes, we had to play fun games and hand out tickets to motivate people to book, but they booked and also bought some items.  I am excited!  I look forward to making a few extra bucks on the side with this.  Of course I will talk more about this as I go along.  I am sure I will have good experiences and not so good. 

If you have been unemployed for a while and have a few people who love jewelry, especially if it's free, let me know.  I can not only help you become independant but can also get you out of the house and feeling some self worth again.

Ok, I am only a week away from my start up hosting party on the 29th.  I have met with my mentor 3 times, and feel ready for this new adventure.  I cannot believe how nice these items are.  I went to Chico's, Nordstrom, Macy's, and Dillards, and they didn't have as nice of jewelry as I find with Park Lane.  I am anxious to see if this first party has a decent turn out, and if I can truely move forward.  I feel extremely comfortable with the structure of the entire company.

I will write a review of my first Girls PL Party next week.

Ok, I am in with both feet.....  No I will not stop being crafty myself with what I enjoy making.  But I am really impressed with the quality, company ethics, and opportunity to rule my own world.  Keep in mind I have little or no expectations, seeing as though this is new to me.  I have never sold stuff before, so I may like it or not like it.  I do know that I am pretty motivated to try and make it work.  And if I did not try I may kick myself later for not having done it.  One thing I did like was that there are so many things a host and customers can get for near nothing.  There are some people who find negative attitudes with everything, however, weighing the pros and cons, this for me has more pros than I have ever found before.

Again, I am only testing the waters at this point.  I will post my journey along the way.  Nobody knows what the future holds............

The day is starting out pretty good so far.  I checked my email to discover I made my first sale on Luulla.com ( www.happigirljewelry.luulla.com ).  This is shipping to a woman in Myrtle Beach,SC.  So excited, and with also incorporating Park Lane jewelry into my hobbies I will surely be busy.  My Park Lane will never mix with my handmade items or be sold on Luulla.  But with having both available I can accommodate any budget.  Now, keep in mind I have never hosted a party before.  This may or may not be "my thing", but I am willing to give it a shot.  And if nothing else I get free jewelry.

However, keeping my own jewelry creativity going helps keep my mind off other things, so I believe it will all come together nicely.  I will keep my blog updated...

It has been a long while since my last post.  With having started a new job June 4, I've not been actively creative.  A bit of a dry funk I guess you could say.  Not selling anything on either site I am on, and though I have had my things featured a few times on Luulla.com, I am just not being productive.  Though it is my fault for not listing my 100 items, that is a lot of work.  Which some or all would say that I am just not interested in selling if I have not done that, which maybe is true.  I may find another site to post on, or just go back to Etsy, not sure, something to think about. 

So with this photo, this is what I have enjoyed over the summer, animal watching.  This is a baby that was born around June, and is getting quite big.  The other day he was learning how to make fence posts squeek if he pushed on them with his back side.  He's pretty cute, I was surprised at the lack of babies this year around these parts.

Has anyone heard of ParkLane?  I went to a little country fair and a gal was setting up her Park Lane jewelry displays.  They have very nice things at reasonable prices. Just curious.

Can you believe it is already July?  June has ran by me, as I have started a new job, and have just focused on that during June.  So far I have no  complaints, it pays the bills.  However, the never ending dream of having my own shop gets further and further away as the years pass.  I visited a local tourist mountian town today, and had a great time.  Again it made me dream more of how sweet it would be to have my own little rustic store.  Though I know there are issues there as well, when running your own business. 

With July now here, I am going to try to get back to a design schedule.  I may even dabble in other gift items that are not jewelry, we will see.  For some that are already thinking of Christmas, now is a great time to start shopping.

This photo I attached is a pair of little wacky wire earrings, made with fire polish beads.  Something fun to wear, that have a little sparkle.

With our world now moving with technology of Kindle, Sony, Nook, & many others.  Sometimes you may get a itch to pick up an actual book.  To feel the tangible product, turn the paper pages, and see real ink.  While on vacation in central California I picked up a few little bookmarks.  After adding a little bling to each one and setting a reasonable price of only $6, I figure it is something that at some point will need.  It does not matter if you use this for church on Sundays, for your favorite magazine, or even a novel or journal.  Good old fashioned bookmarks will never go away.

In addition to bookmarks, I also threw up some of my gypsy bracelets, which are pretty kewl.  They are random glass beads in a variety of colors strung on memory wire.  These are fun to wear, especially casually.  You can check them out in my store www.happigirljewelry.luulla.com

I'm Back!  What a fun week, we left last Thursday May 24th  to go visit family in Central California.  On our way we had to go through the Sierra Nevada range, which is the top picture, many pretty places to see there.  Then we drove to the San Francisco Bay on Saturday May 26th.  Yes it was crazy busy, but that is to be expected due to the holiday weekend.  It was so kewl to see everything.  I had never been over a bridge like that, and it wasn't to scary at all.  The Warf is where we visitied, and it must have taken near 45 mintues just to drive through and find a parking space.  After parking we sent to eat at a nice resteraunt for some fresh seafood.  After this, we went to the dock and found an old ship to tour, as well as take photos of the places on the bay, such as Alcatraz in the bottom picture.  This was the first time I had seen cargo ships...........  they are huge!  The day was windy, but we did tour the little Aquarium, which was fun as well.  Pricing was not as I had expected, and I look forward to spending time in the city within the next year...........  but will skip the holiday weekend.

With this experience, it was interesting to see the different colors on the coastal areas.  Water, though merky, can still be a pretty color to incorporate.  I did visit a small bead shop in the town of Modesto, pricing was a bit high, and customer service was not great, not sure if I'll be back.  Also didn't have a good selection.  With being so close to the Bay, where imports can be less expensive, I was hoping to get reasonable pricing.  O'well, they need to make a living right! 

I am posting a few new items today, on happigirljewelry.luulla.com .  Check them out, pretty copper and crystals.

So, I now have a new store I want to invite you all to check out.  www.happigirljewelry.luulla.com .  I am very excited to be apart of this new Handmade ONLY seller site.  Etsy, appears to have some very opinionated sellers, which if you open the door to that, you can only blame yourself. 

I am speaking of a thread on Etsy I started, and all in all the majority were very helpful and nice.  I even managed to get private help from a seasoned seller, so I am grateful.  Anyway, there are some who are just not good communicators, and come across wrong in my opinion.  Some of the feedback I recieved.........that I did not want to take in at first, has actually been good for me.  I have started updating good photos, and I've gotten help with writing better descriptions.

I will be making regular updates to my new site, and I am not sure at this point if I will relist with Etsy once my items expire.  I would love to just use luulla, but we will see.

Update for my second auction on Tophatter.com.  I did my second auction, and though I could not log onto the site during my auction, I did sell............again, at a substantial discount.  So, it appears that I need to try less pricey items..........  may try some steampunk since it's crazy popular, and ALWAYS brings good returns.  I have another auction planned for May 14, at the 5pm auction, which will be for some pretty copper and glass bead earrings.  We'll see if anyone bites........  I do love the auction energy.  Outbid has potential to do well, but there is absolutely NO advertising done my the site owners.  They are using us as the sellers to do that for them......... 

This picture above is a new items listed at www.happigirlgifts.etsy.com .  It's genuine Agate and Turquoise.  Beautiful Agate, loved this color combination.  This measures the average 7.5", and is sure to get attention. 

NOTE:  if you like my blog, or have any comments or questions, please let me know.  I try to update my blog each week.  Would like to hear from some of my followers.

So last night I tried Tophatter for the first time.  I ended up selling this set for a substantial discount...........but it sold!  So I scheduled another auction for May 9, 9am auction, which means it could take over 3 hrs for my item to come up, but it's all fun.  What was exciting is that it sold to someone in Rochester, NY.  Though I love my local clientele I'm building, it was neat to sell to someone on the other side of the country.

Today I have an order to fill so will be completing that, as well as whatever else stirs my motivation.  I did buy a peice of board today from Lowes so I can work on a pyrography sign for Mothers Day.  Getting ready for a busy week, we'll see what I have to say come next weekend.  As always you can catch me on Tophatter this wed morning selling a beautiful Jasper and wire bracelet......

This is not a very good photo, but I sold this today.  This was a nice peice, made of authentic turquoise and spare silver chain I had left over.  The larger center stone was a recycled stone from an old pair of earrings. 

I spent today looking at other options...........non Etsy.  Though I like Etsy, I have not had any sales from there recently.  So I took a peak at two auction sites.......  Both of which I will try.  One was Outbid.com , which is new and doesn't charge any fees while they are getting themselves out in the market place.  The magic there is to let people know when/where your auction will be.  The site seems to be pretty user friendly, but could use a couple helpful items.  For example, there needs to be a way to re-list an auction so you do not need to re-enter all info again.  It would also be fun to see the bidding process.........maybe you can, don't know, I didn't get any bids.

But I do have an auction coming up May 4 at 5pm PST, for a black n blue glass beaded necklace set.  You can see me at Tophatter.com.  I've heard some positive and negative things about it, we'll see how it goes.  I like the energy, feedback, and speed of the auctions.  However, I have heard that it can be tough to get paid...........  we will see.

This past Saturday the 14th was really productive.  With weather being cool and stormy, I took it upon myself to do something different.  So I took out a new dress pattern and made myself a cute summer dress.  It only took abour 3 hours on my first try.  Which means it'll take just over an hour if I make another.  Then after that, and getting laundry done, I made a some jewelry......all new designs.  It was so much fun, I made two rings, a bracelet, and a necklace. 

I plan on getting new pictures online this weekend, which will be awesome to update my etsy page.  I am also looking at some more prestigous crafty type events I can be apart of this summer.  I have not done this by myself before, but I think it'll be a lot of fun........  I'll need someone with me for sure.

So, this morning before work............yes I had to work on Easter, but the good lord still loves me!  Anyway, I updated this picture of one of my favorite unique pieces.  I call it free style wire.......  It is a great way to use up stray beads or an entire color palet all at once.  The necklace looks great, a real accent SWANK peice.  Beautiful! 

I was just playing around one day with wire...........  gotta love wire.  And I had this idea to make something larger, but not ugly and gawdy like you find at your local craft store and hook it to a ribbon to sell.  I had so much fun making this, and have another one I plan to update the photo on this week. 

It has been a few days since my last post, I have been in a funk.  I haven't done a thing, except for going to our local GemFaire on saturday.  I go there knowing it will be to crowded, but that I may find one or two things at a reduced price that I've been wanting to incorporate into my designs.  I did find some beautiful beads in which I will begin working with and posting on my etsy page.  I also learned that if I want to attend this Faire in the future I should go a couple hours before they close, it appears that around 3pm people are leaving the parking lot. 

I did make a new Indian Agate bracelet last night, which turned out really nice.  I will post that as well, maybe this weekend.  Rememeber you can check out my site at www.happigirlgifts.etsy.com

This has been the project over the last few days........  Actually that's not true, we've been working on Charlie's music recordings since 1999.  What has brought it to life is having our own studio equipment.  With all the studios we've tried to work in, none of them (except for in Nashville) could or would capture what Charlie wanted in his creations.  So here is a newer one to check out.

The work week is over, I now am enjoying my two days off.  Also getting ready for a late winter storm that's moving in tonight.  I attempted to sit down and rework an old peice of jewelry, but just wasn't feeling it, so I went out to look at jewelry supplies.  And again, prices are not cheap.  I find better pricing online for most things.  I am still loving the antiqued metals I've worked with.  I hope to have two more necklaces online tomorrow.......  but am anxious to try gun metal.  With our spring colors being that of fruit (orange, yellow, red, aqua, blue) bright, bright, bright.  We have no sissy pastels this year, except for mint green, which looks great on any skin tone.

After spending another day at work, I was actually able to sell a few of my items to co-workers.  This really helped motivate me to keep at what I am doing.  I do work on my jewelry each week, and try to post new items on my www.happigirlgifts.etsy.com site each Saturday.  I have been given various types of advise which has been helpful in getting myself known.

Since the time change yesterday, the weather is awesome, in the mid 60s, but expecting a winter storm this weekend.  Love having the front door open in the evening to let some fresh air in.  Love it!

This week I ventured to a place I never thought I would.  I've become fond of antique looking metals, such as this antiqued copper in the picture.  I love it!  And priced at $27 I feel it's a steal being that's it's handmade.  I always thought I would be faithful to silver or gold..........mostly silver tone.  But, as I have been learning new things and trying to think outside the box (for me is sometimes hard).  I have made a new friend with this color, and will also try antiqued gold and gun metal. 

Very excited also to announce that I am going to attempt to have bead kit parties.  Just small groups, nothing to crazy.  If I could have 2-5 people every two weeks or so it would be great....  You have to start somewhere, and I love to see the lights come on when someone learns somthing new.  I get just as excited........

As for today, I am focusing on making nice business cards to hand out with some samples.  I also will be riding my Honda Metro to a friends house where's she's going to teach me to make tamales for my birthday present............excited.  The weather here in N.Utah is to be in the mid 60s today, and time change is tomorrow, I am soooooo excited for time change.  Going to start prepping my garden space, putting house plants in new pots, and cleaning the yard and getting the outside kennel ready for the dogs this summer.  Also getting a fun visit from my parents the weekend of the 23rd, whoo hoo!

Yesterday around 4-5PM a snow storm blew in.  This morning I woke up to near12" of snow.  Strange this is only about the third time we've had snow like this during our winter.  Which I am not complaining, it's been a wonderful winter for Northern Utah.  Most of the snow should easily be gone  by Friday.  With that said, our time change is this Sunday, and I can't wait.  With gas prices rising each week, it will be nice to ride my scooter rather than put gas in my car.  Currently I work about 13 miles from home, so riding this to work will be an option. 

Over this past weekend I purchased different color metals to use in my jewelry creations.  I'm excited to use this, and didn't think I would ever turn away from traditional silver color.  But I am liking the eclectic possibilities of what's to come.

I am not alone with having personal hobbies and talents.  This clip is a song by my husband Charlie Webb.  This was written a few years after returning from Nashville, which is when many of his best songs were done.  Nashville was great, loved the three years we lived there.  But we were wanting to move back near home out west, so we packed up and moved in June 2002.  Charlie has other songs on youtube at this time as well. 

I have to say I love making these.  I have wanted to find a way to make nice looking crosses since I began my jewelry adventure 4 years ago.  I was so excited in January when I found a pattern to make these.  The copper/Turqouise cross is small and delicate, half the size of the larger saphire crystal one below which measures 2x1-1/2.  These are such fun to make, the first time I made one, I went a bit crazy and made a half dozen.  Priced at $20 or less it's a bargain, seeing as though its all made by hand, no assembly line, just me.  You can wear one on a chain, tie a ribbon to it and use it as a bookmarker, or hand in your car from your rearview mirror.

After getting through another birthday yesterday, I am now anxious for spring.  I now focus on our time change in two weeks.  This photo is from a pretty little place in the mountains called "Cascade Springs".  Pretty place to visit for an afternoon.  I will be posting some more of my creations in the next couple days.  I may even post other non-jewelry items.  I have a few weeks off school, so I will try to take advantage of the time.

Being that I am new to blogging I will tell you a little about myself.  I am currently living in northern Utah, a native of Southern Nevada, I grew up in a small farm town outside Las Vegas.  In my blog I will share stories of my Jewelry and other items for sale, plus add any other tidbits I may have on my mind.  Not always pertaining to my creations, but will be something for sure. 

I began making jewelry after becoming unemployed in 2008.  Though my whole life I've enjoyed various crafting type projects.  I've knitted, sewn, refurbished, and also love pyrography.Being out of work for 18 months was tough, yet, after that I just have not been satisfied at any of the three jobs I've held since.  The freedom I experienced spending my days creating anything I wanted, working when ever I wanted is now in my veins, and I cannot seem to shake it to conform to the Corporate world full of ungrateful and unethical bosses.  Currently I'm working towards my Psychology degree, I love talking and helping people, so I hope it will help make my dreams come true at some point, though I have no idea what that dream is.  I just know it's not the path I'm currently on.

At the age of 39, I am married 18 years now, and our only son (child) moved out of the house 3 weeks ago.  We are fortunate that our son has a good career at 20, and is now enjoying freedom as a young adult. 

I hope you all enjoy my blog, and please feel free to ask any questions you may have..........

As I began making jewelry I found that this is what I love to look at.  Delicate  and elegent peices that can dress up a casual wardrobe, or be worn to a formal event.  I love elegent styles of the 40s-early 60s.  Inspired by the glamour of dressing up just for a dinner party, movie, prom, or weddin.  Back when women took pride in their appearance, and men had manners.  This is the type of crystal jewelry I could picture wearing that would sparkle like diamonds.

happigirlgifts.com/etsy