Betsy & Iya Jewelry http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog Handmade jewelry from Portland, Oregon designer Betsy Cross. Big pieces, mixed metals, confident entrances. Clunky or intricate. Earthy or Army. But always, always, 100% handmade. Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:05:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 I’m going on a road trip and I’m taking… http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/im-going-on-a-road-trip-and-im-taking/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/im-going-on-a-road-trip-and-im-taking/#comments Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:02:22 +0000 Will Cervarich http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=2289 Did anyone else play this game at summer camp?  You’d all sit around a campfire and have to say all the items that were said before you and then add one of your own before passing it to the next sugared-up, marshmallow fiend?  Except usually, you’d be going some place cool, like the moon or Jupiter.

hilarious kid pic from www.wildindiana.com

Well, it’s for realz now, because we’re driving across country in 4 days.  Wow, I just scared myself.  4 days!?  Are you kidding me?!?

So help a brotha and sista out.  What can we absolutely not forget to take on a 3,969 mile drive??  We promise to recite them all before adding our own travel necessity and passing it on ’round the campfire.

***Song of the moment: Nonpareil of Favor, by Of Montreal***

]]> http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/im-going-on-a-road-trip-and-im-taking/feed/ 4 Talking to robots, part II http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/talking-to-robots-part-ii/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/talking-to-robots-part-ii/#comments Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:01:00 +0000 Will Cervarich http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=2285 I couldn’t resist.  I know I said these were going to be for a rainy day, but these videos (continued from here) are amazing.  Our friend, Zach, was in town just recently and said he actually writes his outgoing message down before he records it.  A good idea for sure, but then you’d miss all of this beauty.  Amirite???

***Song of the moment: Desaparaceré, by Deerhoof***

]]> http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/talking-to-robots-part-ii/feed/ 0 Talking to robots. http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/talking-to-robots/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/talking-to-robots/#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:05:38 +0000 Will Cervarich http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=2279 I’ve been sitting on this little goldmine for a little bit now.  This one goes out to anyone who’s ever re-recorded their outgoing voicemail message 18,000 times.  Happy Labor Day, everyone!

(PS – there are 3 more of these saved up for a rainy day…)

***Song of the moment: Robots, by Flight of the Conchords***

]]> http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/talking-to-robots/feed/ 2 Outfit of the Day: Sailorette http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/outfit-of-the-day-sailorette/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/outfit-of-the-day-sailorette/#comments Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:01:56 +0000 betsy http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=2272 It’s HOT out there.  And guess what!?  In t-minus 8 hours, I’m going to be running full throttle down a hill, across a dock, launching into the air, and splashing into pristine Lake Whatcom.  I’m so stoked.

Even though it was just over a month ago that I went on a min-cation, I feel I’ve really earned this one and I’m ready to take it to level 1000.  It’s labor day and I’ve been laboring.  My reward:

In addition to my morning dock full body launch, there’s power boating, jetskiing, wake boarding (W is surprisingly excellent at this, nailing a seated dock landing last year on his first try!), sailing, kayaking, wood burning pizza oven action, hot tub action, anniversary action (it’s almost been one year!!!), and general friends on the beach singing, laughing, and campfiring.  This is going to be one epic Labor Day.

How could this possibly be made any better???  That’s right, folks, the perfect Outfit of the Day.  In honor of my aquatic activities, I shall call this outfit the Sailorette.

Have an amazing Labor Day, everyone!

Sailor Skirt: Bossanova Baby

Secret Orb Earrings: yours truly

Red Wedding Boots: Portland Outdoor Store

EVERYTHING ELSE: thrift stizz-ore!

***Song of the moment: Gin and Juice, Snoop Dogg*** (I mean, come on… does it get much more summer-y than that???)

]]> http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/outfit-of-the-day-sailorette/feed/ 3 Hoda attacks! http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/hoda-attacks/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/hoda-attacks/#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:17:15 +0000 Will Cervarich http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=2267 Hi folks,

Will here.  There’s a reason Bets and me are such a good team and that reason starts with i and ends with Phone.  Bets was all over the behind the scenes iPhone prep shots at our photo shoot on Sunday and I took care of the behind the scenes shoot shots!  By which I mean I took a lot of pictures, but I actually only kept this one.  But it’s RAD, right?!

This is our good friend Hoda in wearable art fashions sculpted by Jen Lamastra being shot by Kellie Kane with an entourage of fans and contributors looking on.  Can’t.  Wait.  For the.  FINAL SHOTS!

***Song of the moment: Armistice, by Phoenix***

]]> http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/hoda-attacks/feed/ 0 Outfit of the Day: black and blue. http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/outfit-of-the-day-black-and-blue/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/outfit-of-the-day-black-and-blue/#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:51:38 +0000 betsy http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=2252 We have been amping up our workouts lately.  Not for any particular reason (except for, maybe, that I turn 30 in..oh… 1.5 weeks and I’m, maybe, having a slight crisis about it??), we just want to feel good, strong, and healthy.

It feels great.  Like if I needed to be on pills for depression, this would be my pill.  I wake up, take my workout pill, and go to work—or vice versa.  BAM, productivity, bright and light happy work for the remainder of the day.  After three days of this back to back, though, I now feel like someone has dragged me from the back of a pickup truck on an inner tube—I’ve been fighting to stay on that tube so as not to skin myself (seriousy, kids, it is this dramatic), and I’ve succeeded, but not without some dings and near misses.  I ache.  I move slow.  I groan.  I’m black and blue.

I’m counting 1.2.3. (thank you, steph) to get in and out of the car, on and off the stairs, opening and closing doors, hammering ear wires, moving my head to the right to answer a question—IT ALL HURTS!!  But at the same time, it feels so good.

Black pants:  Scout & Molly’s

Blue (oooo ahhhh back shirt): Adorn

Feather Hoops:  betsy & iya

$25, feather hoops

***Song of the Moment: Black and Blue, by Dinah Washington***

]]> http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/outfit-of-the-day-black-and-blue/feed/ 2 Google is spying on us! http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/google-is-spying-on-us/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/google-is-spying-on-us/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:16:30 +0000 Will Cervarich http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=2246 …if by spying, you can mean being invited into the shop to take pictures of everything because we’re soooo popular!

That’s right, folks.  We were selected by Google to be included in this program!  Basically, it’s the next step up from Streetview (where you can see a photo of the outside of a shop/house) and a clear indication that Google will be soon able to predict your thoughts and dreams up to three years in advance.  (Baby steps…)

But the coolest thing about this is the fact that we were picked because of YOU!  Google is starting by photographing the most popular businesses as determined by Google queries.  So give yourself a pat on the back and allow us to give you one, too: *pat pat pat*.  Thanks for making Google love us as much as you do!

***Song of the Moment: Neighbors, by Gnarls Barkley***

]]> http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/google-is-spying-on-us/feed/ 1 Weekend Inspiration and Perspiration! http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/weekend-inspiration-and-perspiration/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/weekend-inspiration-and-perspiration/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:16:06 +0000 betsy http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=2216 This weekend, Jen and I finished up the second half of this photo shoot.  I can’t tell you how happy I am, both at how incredible EVERYTHING looked and to have this shoot finished up (not because it was bad or hard or tedious or anything like that, but because my brain is currently spilling over and having this poured out gives me a little sloshing room upstairs).

Here are some behind the scenes shots!

Mohawk Making

Linda in Waiting

Claudine Ebel working it

Jen Lamastra working it

Huzzy "working" it.

We made our models sit on the ground in a parking lot.

That's right... on the ground. In a parking lot. Thanks, girls!

Mohawk Mmmmmm!

Are you joking!? Amazing.

Linda wearing Jen's mini-blind hat

I can’t wait to show you what these girls wore… the recycled fashions Jen made were incredible.  The makeup by Claudine looked wonderful; Kellie Kane, our photographer, was a delight to work with; of course the jewelry by yours truly was stunning, and the models were so patient, generous, bold, and beautiful.  But guess what!  I was so excited down at the beach that I completely forgot to take any shots.

I know.  I’ve let you down.  I’ve let myself down.  See why I need more sloshing room upstairs!??!  Stay tuned for the stunning reveal….

***Song of the Moment, Seaweed, by Fruit Bats.***

]]> http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/weekend-inspiration-and-perspiration/feed/ 2 Etsy Surprise! http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/etsy-surprise/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/etsy-surprise/#comments Sat, 28 Aug 2010 07:01:49 +0000 betsy http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=2208 So let me just start this off by saying I promise this will be the last “OMG I LOVE MY iPHONE” post for the next little bit.  Promise.

This morning, as I was toweling off, W hollered from the living room “Cross! You have to see this!”  And then he totally opened the bathroom door without knocking and I was like OMG, W!  Wut r U doing?!?!

Ok, that last part isn’t true.  But he did pop the bubble of my steamy post-shower sanctuary (maybe my favorite part about a shower) gripping his iPhone and grinning.  ”Look,” he said.  And this is what he showed me:

For the uninitiated, this is a screen shot from the Apple App Store.  It is an Etsy app.  And THAT’S ME in the Etsy App!  How cool is that?!  26OliveStreet has 4554 people who have hearted them and I just happen to be frozen in digital ice time?  How the?!

And that was my Friday morning!  Before coffee even.

***Song of the moment: Sleepyhead, by Passion Pit***

]]> http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/etsy-surprise/feed/ 2 house cleaning http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/house-cleaning/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/house-cleaning/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:09:59 +0000 Will Cervarich http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=2202 Betsy found some unwelcome guests in the studio today! Her aversion to fruit flies is nothing new: she HATES fruit flies.  But I love bananas!  And sometimes when you bring on a new partner, he brings his bananas.

OH!  You’ll also be pleased to know that it only took us three tries to figure out we have to shoot these in landscape instead of portrait, so stay tuned for fatter videos.

Here’s what the Huzzy-cam saw:

And now, the Betsy-cam version:

***Song of the moment: Something to Say, by Stevie Wonder***

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