Snowflakes in the window...

Quick pics: some shots of our front window - not very good because of the glare. Well actually more like an almost-mirror-like reflection. I tried to do an arch to frame our Christmas tree when the blinds are up, and I used white copier paper and light blue translucent paper. I pretty much winged it, so some of the first ones are square.




Here are some close-ups. Some are folded so there are 6 prongs, some are 8. I put the tape on the holes and not on the outer edges so they would look like they were floating.

Hope this inspires you to do something crafty for your Christmas decorations!



Aloha, ~Su

And in line with the snowflakes...

My newest blog I'm following had this tutorial on snowflake garlands. I want to make tiny ones to put on the tree! You can make them too by going here to download the pdf. Thank you Holly!

Still Christmas Decorating!

December came and we immediately went and got a tree - 5 feet for $19.99! This is a far cry from past years of searching around last minute for ANYONE who was selling a tree. A big thank you to Koolau Farmers in Kaneohe for having a great tree guy who gave suggestions and held up every tree I asked! We were the only ones there, I love it!

And so the decorating began. We got plastic "glass" ball ornaments at the dollar store at Windward Mall. All their Christmas goodies were 20% off. We were especially glad they were plastic because of the kids - Baby #2 just turned 1 and loves to grab everything and shove it in her mouth.

I guess I was influenced by the white paper ghosts I put in the window for Halloween back in October... Or maybe it was this month's cover of RealSimple which sported a big glittery snowflake? I am such a sucker for this magazine.... So I cut a whole bunch of snowflakes and Baby #1 helped me tape them up to frame the tree. Turned out cute. I'll try and get a pic up later.

We also bought a little poinsettia plant for $5 while getting the tree, and when I got it home I thought, gee, it's so little and I only have one. So sad for me!

Anyway, in my browsing I found this pattern for a poinsettia pinwheel!

So I'm thinking I'll do a bunch of them and stick them into the potted plants out front to liven up the yard. I'm thinking of picking up some red craft foam so they'll withstand the wind and rain. Thanks so much to Heather Bailey for the great tutorial. Her blog is a great place if you're feeling crafty, or just wanting to live vicariously through her craftiness!

Aloha! ~Su

BRB... return from the back burner

WOW! Last time I blogged was JULY??? Well, quick recap....

The family got well, I got busy at work, then got back to working my way slowly toward nursing school by signing up for a Chemistry class. As a result, the jewelry enterprise got put on the back burner :P . Then I got the flu, and just when I thought I was better I caught a cold with the two kids. We are reduced to the sniffles and are almost well. Almost.

This Chemistry class is the first step in updating my science credits. MAN! My brain was rusty, but I was determined to do well. So far I've made it through one quiz a week and two midterms with an A average. I've definitely surprised myself, especially considering I have mommy brain x2.

Anyway, during my hiatus from jewelry I was still surfing my favorite creative inspiration site, Craftster.org, and dreaming about things to do. I decided I needed something creative to balance my Chemistry class. This is something I used to do in college so I wouldn't burn out. I decided to make a Poppet, something I've been wanting to do since they were born back in 2007. Once I set my mind to start I couldn't stop, and so once a week, as a reward for passing the weekly quiz I would work on bringing my very own Poppet to life.

It took a month worth of weekends and one late night when I just couldn't stop before I was done. Don't be afraid - it only took so long because I sewed the entire thing by hand and crocheted her hair and dress. We (the girls really) have named her Kat... because she's a "cat". The simplicity makes so much sense, reminds me of being little myself and how I named the things around me (Beary the bear, Camoolie the camel.... I kid you not!).

So here she is, and I must say, I haven't completely cured the urge. She has her own thread here. And here is the Long Awaited Poppet-Along if you'd like to get sucked in... uh, I mean inspired. Hehe. Many thanks to ghilie for emailing me the pattern and all the other poppet folks on Craftster.org for all the help, support and inspiration. I've started to cut more pieces so I can sew up more of them because I can't help myself. Just waiting for school to end so I have more time. Incidentally, it would probably take less time if I got my sewing machine fixed, so that's another thing I need to get done.

By the way, if you're one of those who wants a Poppet badly but just haven't made one yet, I'm taking a poll.
Is it because:
a) I need a push, I'd buy a Poppet kit with all the pieces ready to sew and stuff.
b) I don't sew or don't sew well, I'd buy a Poppet "blank" to embellish with eyes, hair, clothes etc.
c) I think I could make the Poppet but clothes and hair? Don't think so...
d) I'm truly intimidated and would buy one ready made or have one commissioned.

If any of these are you, please let me know. I'm thinking about adding Poppets, kits and accessories to my shop at subringas.com if there's a market out there for it.

Aloha! Susan

BRB... Is there a time frame for that?

Two weeks ago the entire household ie. Grandma, Dad, the two girls (and apparently my older daughter's doll "Babydoll") caught the flu. The nose swab results came back from the Dr's office as Influenza A, and it was too late for the kids to take Tamiflu. We were in for the long haul.

That was July 11th. My post on Facebook:
"Susan Castillejos... is hanging a quarantine sign - pretty sure the flu has taken over the entire house... even grandma spiked a fever!"

Today I have finally made it back to the computer to start thinking about my Etsy shop, my Facebook, my Blog and my Twitter now that I do not have to play nurse to my own little hospital of patients. Thank goodness I never succumbed to the flu! Can you guess my last post on Facebook?

"Fam still sick, off to work, brb!" That was last week Thursday, and here it is already Tuesday! Is there a time frame for brb aka "be right back"? Does it mean leave to do just one thing and come back immediately after? Did I tell a fib when I used the term "brb"?

Well anyway, whatever, here I am, back, and it took all morning to catch up and then write this post. So now I'm off to work and I'll brb!

SALE EXTENDED!

Extended 4th of July sale!

FREE SHIPPING and 10% OFF until July 10th Midnite, Hawaii time.

Please type "4th" in the NOTES section when purchasing and your discount will be refunded through Paypal.

Newest listings:

Blue Ceramic Basket Weave and Czech Glass Drop Earrings,
Summer Day Hoop Earrings - Wire Wrapped Glass and Sterling Silver,
and Wire Wrapped Blue Swarovski Crystals and Gold Filled Hoops.

Aloha!
~Su

Fourth of July Weekend Sale!

Happy 4th All!

Etsy, the online place for Artisan shops, is having a WEEKEND DEALS! Sale, and I've decided to participate by offering FREE SHIPPING and 10% OFF.

If you're following this blog, you'll get a little more. Go to the top of this page and click on Follow this Blog, which I'll verify when you buy something. You'll get the FREE SHIPPING, 20% OFF (that's right, TWENTY PERCENT!), the free polishing pad, and upgraded giftwrap with free gift card by request. Just let me know what to write in the card if you are sending your purchase as a gift. Go HERE to SHOP.

Please type "suBringas blog" in the NOTES section when purchasing and your discount will be refunded through Paypal. Sale runs From July 3rd to July 6th Midnite, Hawaii time.

Aloha! ~Su

Busy, Busy Bee

Been busy humming along...

I've been trying to keep up with my dreams of new jewelry ideas. Literally. Every night I dream of a new piece, or sometimes if I'm lucky the same piece for a couple of nights. The hard part is trying to take the dream to the sketchbook. The time-consuming part is figuring out how the dream translates into a piece, and then shopping for materials. The making is the exciting part, even though it can be frustrating when something is not working out the way you thought it might. But the dreams have been steady.

To buy time while I work out the new pieces, I reworked some pieces and relisted. I took my classic PIKO Earrings (which is what I started my shop with) and reworked them in sterling silver instead of craft wire, snapped some new photos and put it up. I also put up some better photos of my Crystal Romance Earrings. I think the only other relist I'll work on is a single listing of the Crystal Romance Necklace, since the dreams are all under the Hawaiian influence.

I did finish a piece that I've posted a sneak peek here for you. I'm still composing the listing and working out the material costs, so stay tuned. My Mom covets this pair of gold and olive green dangle earrings, and I must say, I love them too. This is my first work in gold and I think I am HOOKED!


And with that I'll bid you all Aloha ahiahi ia oukou!

Trading Logos

It's all about networking nowadays, just ask my hubby the networking guru himself, Pete Castillejos - Hawaiis Mortgage Guy Dot Com. He's been networking since I've met him 9 years ago and luckily some of it has rub off on me. He's the one that got me into Twitter and Facebook, and I am now trading logos and links with other great people on the web to grow my little network.

Please visit Pete at HawaiisMortgageGuy.com if you're thinking about refinancing or purchasing a home. It's a buyers market and the rates are really good right now. He'll give you great advice and a great deal.

Also, please visit my really good friend Kelli at DiamondGirlHawaii.com for the best deal on diamonds and fine jewelry. My husband went to her to have a custom maile leaf (designed by another friend Darin) cast in 14k white gold in honor of our second daughter Maile. I wear it every day!

I'm sure there are more friends out there, so I'm going to work on a better way to share some space here with people that I feel confident about recommending their services to you.

Aloha! Su

Twitter, Facebook. Blogger - Oh My!

As you can tell from the time I am up quite late tonight. The one great fortune is that God smiled down upon us and sent the kids off to sleep. Not so fortunate is wading through my email, checking my Facebook, setting up my new Twitter and now coming over to blog about everything. Sigh... and all that beautiful shiny new wire sitting in the bag waiting to be formed into wondrous adornments, not to be touched tonight. No, nothing on the craft table will be played with tonight because I have squandered all my time in cyberspace, working on the marketing side of the biz. I shake my head and earmark tomorrow's time for actually making stuff to sell, instead of just talking about it. At least I'll be popular with the search engines!

It's been a very long time since I've shipped anything with online postage so last night I was having a bit of a problem. I've been using Firefox as my browser for years and I guess I forgot that Paypal shipping labels are a bit fussy. Between my Mac iBook G4, my old HP inkjet printer and PayPal/Pitney Bowes, I can only print shipping labels through Safari. After half an hour and several misprints I finally remembered this quirk and got labels printed.

Today I'm shipping out my Green Piko Earrings for an Etsy buyer. I totally LOVE these! They were one of my first inspired creations, one that was spun off my Piko Bracelets, which were gonna launch a whole line of jewelry. Suffice to say I got side-tracked with life and came back because of a wedding! I'll get back to those after the store gets a little more stock and the piled-up laundry count comes down from 6 loads to something more manageable.

I'm also shipping a silent auction donation for an old friend of mine over in Texas. I'm sending her a necklace and earring set that is listed in my Etsy store which I created for my cousin's bridesmaids. You can see that here. The silent auction is for Team Chip Booster Association in support of her Tae Kwon Do team. If you'd like to donate something let me know and I'll connect you to her. They'll be fundraising for the entire month of June in preparation for competitions starting in July. Drop me a line at designs@subringas.com and I'll hook you up!

Just a closing note, this is the 5th silent auction I've donated to. Other organizations: Hawai'i Arts Alliance, YWCA of O'ahu, Waikiki Yacht Club - paddling program, Honolulu Business Network - Christmas party. If you have a worthy cause that needs a donation, I'll try my best to make something for you.

Time

Seems there's never enough of it! It's amazing how much time all this internet stuff takes out of my day. Today I am trying to get caught up with my photos. There's so much involved: download pics from camera to computer, sort photos for personal or business, upload to Shutterfly for personal, upload to Shutterfly for business, tag, organize, title, comment... WHEW! Not to mention blog about it hehe! This is going to take a while!

suBringas has a new home!

Aloha!

After trying out several different types of blogs and photo sites and using up a colossal amount of time and patience, I've finally decided to move suBringas Designs to my own URL, and build it through Blogger. Unfortunately that involves a whole lot of moving, shifting, recreating, renaming and re-pointing.

So, for historical sake I will be slowly shifting over and consolidating. Please pardon the inconvenience, and ignore the shutterfly website and the wordpress blog.

Mahalo!

Su

My Bio

I am an artist at heart and crafter by trade, creating since 1989. I received my BA in Art at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, taught ceramics and arts & crafts to children in the City & County Parks & Recreation Division, and advocate for education and all the Arts.

I hope you enjoy the things I've made as much as I've enjoyed making them.

Majority of my work is done in sterling silver, crystal and semi-precious stones. My favorite thing to do is special orders. Currently I am hooked on wedding things, such as wedding party jewelry, floral jewels, tiaras, etc.

Mahalo for stopping by, and visit often for new items and weekly specials.

subringas.etsy.com

susanbringasdesigns@mac.com

At First....

I started in Wordpress because it was supposed to be pretty good.

Then I went to Shutterfly because it was so easy to add pics. Unfortunately, too easy for anyone to "borrow" my pics. So, scrap that....

Then after a brief search of other crafty people's blogs I landed here. Ok, enough history on this.

SHUTTERFLY Flashback 2: Moving Right Along...

...although not quite footloose and fancy free.

This summer's resolution was to list one item a day in my Etsy shop.

I thought I'd be fine with some items already in my shop including the wedding order, and some items on my work bench waiting to go. Well, the wedding items moved to the SOLD section on the same day, so I decided to list my first pair of earrings. With the kids distracted and the pics already waiting in my computer, I was able to create a listing for my red crystal hoop earrings this morning. By the end of the day, my good friend was asking to scoop up 3 pairs including the red hoops! Now, I'm not ungrateful, but I just have to shake my head and laugh at myself because the shoppe is nigh empty with little left to post! Hahaha! Gotta love my friends for the great support. Well, TGI soon Friday and I'll have some time to make more stuff, take some quick photos and refill the virtual shelves.

One day at a time, but I'm off to a great start!

SHUTTERFLY Flashback 1: At Last...

... as Etta James says. I should have been doing this long ago but Shutterfly has now created the perfect vehicle to house my journal/archive/etc. AND it's FREE!!! Love it! I'll try to post every night to catch up on what I've been doing, then attempt to keep up with my creative musings and tinkering. Enjoy!~Susan

WORDPRESS Flashback: Hello World!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!


Um, suffice to say I never did much, but it LOOKS really awesome! go here: http://subringas.wordpress.com/