Busy, Busy

In eight days I leave for the blogging conference, BlogHer. I will be meeting bloggers from all over the country. Bloggers who I read and "know". Bloggers who I read and admire. And bloggers who I have not yet discovered.

I am relatively new to the blogging game having only started But Why Mommy last May. Many (okay 99%) of the bloggers won't know who I am. I need/want to make a good impression.

In order to make said good impression, I am going to be very busy for the next few days. There are clothes and shoes to buy. Pedicures to be had. Business cards to order. But most importantly I want to make a good impression where it counts, here (and there). I also want to get my Etsy shop in good shape.

So over the next few days, I will be running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to make jewelry, post it here, get it in the store. I hope that you like what you see.

Showing Some Love

Its been a while since I've posted here. Part of it was laziness and procrastination. Part was trying to decide where I want to take this blog. I'm still working out some things in my head but I figured I should still post from time to time until I can figure things out. So today I am showing this blog some love.

Love is actually the reason for this post. My husband and I recently celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. We have always exchanged the traditional gifts. While the traditional gifts of diamonds, gold and silver can be fun, we are't quite there yet.

The traditional gifts for the earlier years are a bit more interesting - paper, linen, leather, tin etc. For 11 it is steel. Steel kind of had me stumped. Should I buy some silverware? A new grill? A new car? Well no, money is a bit too tight for that.

Then it hit me, the hardware store has tons of steel stuff. I love the hardware store even though I'm not very handy. I just love all the tools and stuff. I've even used some hardware in my jewelry. So I decided to get some washers, nuts and bolts to make a pair of cufflinks for Bubs.

I experimented with a few things before hitting on the perfect design. I took two nuts, a few beads, some wire and toggles and came up with these beauties:




I was thrilled with the way they came out and Bubs loves them.

Day 13 - Valley of the Dolls

Yesterday's brief and gramatically incorrect posting showed some figures I had traced out of fashion magazines. I've been interested in fashion design for a while (heck I even took a design class which was hampered by my distinct lack of sewing ability) and I was looking for a way to incorporate it into my art.




A while back I made some paperdoll earrings with the dolls cut out of magzines. I tried making little outfits for them but I never quite got it right. So when I started this little project I knew I would play around with the dolls again.

I am working on my drawing skill but I don't feel comfortable enough drawing figures yet. So I decided to trace the images and cut them out of paper for this first go 'round. I then took some hand-painted paper to make the dress for the dolly. I think its pretty cute, but I would love to create some more involved designs for the dolls. You'll probably be seeing some more of these creations in the coming days and weeks.