Oh, yeah...

White Sea Necklace
Originally uploaded by Jamilary

...and my online biz is picking up a little bit. I've had quite a bit of interest lately, including lots of Etsy conversations sent to me. Here's the necklace I just sold to a customer in CA for her June wedding. I added some pearls to a design that I had already (and shortened it) in order to meet her needs. I love to make custom items, by the way. In fact, her request has made me rethink the original design.

Back, Back, Forth and Forth

Centennial Olympic Park - you're so pretty!
Originally uploaded by Indie Craft Experience

Well I touched down in Burlington a few hours ago. Whoop-di-do. I think there's a frost advisory tonight.

The only consolation is that I'll be headed back home to Atlanta...
next Thursday.

Yes, the summer craft show season is fast approaching. Next Saturday (June 7th) I'll be in Centennial Olympic Park for the Indie Craft Experience. And the Stone Mountain Village Arts and Crafts Festival While I was at home, I was ticking things off of my to-do list.

Get a canopy/tent - check
Figure out how to stake said tent - check
Order more biz cards - check
Send items for the swag bags to ICE - check
Make more jewelry - check

I still need to get a way to process credit cards. I've heard of Propay, which can be done over the phone. I'm just not sure how my customers will feel about me entering their credit card info into my cell phone. So, I'm still researching. I also have to get some signs made, but that shouldn't be a problem.

And in terms of my birthday, the Sky Hike's opening was delayed until the 31st. I'll have to see about going when I go back. So, instead we went out, drank, ate, and were merry...not exactly in that order. All I needed was my city, anyway.

starlight starBRIGHT treasury

I made an Etsy treasury tonight.

New Items Posted

Alternative Cheria Earrings
Originally uploaded by Jamilary

There's a lot going on in the world of Jamilary. I've posted a few new items in my shop today, including these earrings (listed in the posting for the Cheria set), the MS Awareness bracelet (finally!) and a few others. Go check 'em out!

Birthday Wishes

Sooo, my birthday is next Saturday (well, actually, my mom's birthday is that day, too (see #3)), and I have no idea what I want to do for it. Suggestions, please.

I think part of the problem is that since moving to Vermont for school, my gift to myself has been going home to Atlanta to celebrate my birthday...and Thanksgiving...and Christmas...and New Year's...and Flag Day...and Boxing Day...I'm just content to be home. But now one of my friends (and she knows who she is) is stressing me to make some concrete plans. I guess since my birthday falls on or around Memorial Day (a fact that up until a couple of years ago, hadn't dawned on me - ha! I can be so self-centered), in the past, the agenda has been pretty much set. No work on Monday, so it's usually been all about running the streets! I mean birthdays are really important to me, but I just have no idea this year. Last year, we had a Memorial Day/birthday BBQ, which was fun, but I just didn't want to stress getting all of that together this year.

I actually like the idea of something out of the ordinary. I just found out about a new attraction at Stone Mountain Park.



The Sky Hike, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution "includes bouncing across suspended wooden bridges, scaling nets and scooting along narrow logs...[as well as] a vertical climbing wall and a winding slide." Call me crazy, but that sounds like fun. At the very least, it would be memorable...and afterwards we could get still get out in the streets...

Etcetera, etcetera

So, I'm starting my first full week without classes. On the one hand, I can't believe that I just completed my 2nd year of grad school, but on the other hand, I feel like I could describe every second. Long story short - grad school makes life hard, but the truth is, when I make myself think about it, I'm grateful to have the difficulties I do. I chose this path, and there are many people who wish they had this opportunity. So with classes out of the way, I can focus more on my research (i.e., mechanisms underlying substance use in kids with psychopathic traits..."psychopathic traits" is so not PC (and not 100% accurate), but it's probably means more to most people than "callous-unemotional traits") and my clients. I conduct individual and group psychotherapy in the community and at a women's correctional facility, and I love it. Being a therapist has made me become so aware of how common psychological problems are, and, at the same time, it has allowed me to see past my clients' problems. I sure would want someone else to do the same for me. Check this out, for example, for the forgotten moms in jail in Vermont.

I'm also on to ticking items off of my Jamilary to-do list. The 7th Indie Craft Experience (ICE) is in less than a month (June 7th), and I found out that I'm also in the 36th Annual Stone Mountain Village Arts and Crafts Festival the following weekend (June 14th and 15th). Coincididentally, I've just had 4 sales in my etsy shop in the last 24 hours, so I'm feeling quite encouraged. But, there's much to do, like buying a tent and sign for the shows, making a lot more jewelry, and deciding on items for the ICE swag bags. Yes, that's right, the first 500 shoppers receive swag bags filled with items/coupons/deals from the vendors.

And of course, regularly updating this blog is also on my eternal to-do list. I've made a decision to not apologize when I haven't posted in a while. I see other bloggers do it all the time. I don't want to turn this into a chore, though. When I have something to say (or more importantly, the time to say it), I'll write. I anticipate having both now that classes are out of the way, but I make no promises.

And while I'm on the subject, I just wanted to "speak" (a.k.a write) about my purpose in creating a blog. This is all for me. It's not some desperate attempt to be the center of (your) attention. It's a selfish move. I'm using this as a forum to promote my biz, and then I'm not. Occasionally, I'll write about other things like having MS or things that piss me off. Again, you can consider those posts to be selfish because they are my attempts to bring your attention to things that I'm thinking about. Thought you didn't know someone with MS? Don't really know what it is? Well, at least I got you thinking about it. Curiousity and interest are what lead to researchers finding a cure and funds being appropriated to the cause. Research and money lead to a cure; your sympathy does not (although support and consideration go a long way and are appreciated).

So, I'm off to take and upload more pics to the etsy shop. Here's a start: