lots of love.

***Song of the Moment: undertaker, by M. Ward***

I’m POOPED, to say the least, but I can’t take any days off and here’s why:

You know that AWESOME book I keep rapping about, well…

on THURSDAY, JUNE 17TH, starting at 7 pm, there will be a book signing for the AUTHOR of The Handmade Marketplace, Kari Chapin.  I am sooo excited to have her in my shop and for the opportunity for you all to meet her.  If this is the first time you are hearing about the book, I shout—GET IT!  It is one of the most useful books that has ever come out for us crafter entrepreneurs.  I am so honored her publisher wanted to do the signing at my studio and even more honored that I’m a small blip in the book.

Please come by on Thursday and say hello to us!!

1722 NW Raleigh St.,  Suite #101 (on the corner)

Can’t wait to see/meet you again!

xo~betsy

***Song of the Moment: Ladies on Parade, by Benji Hughes***

To entice you:

proud new owner

I hope you’ll stop by the booth tomorrow and say hello!

Happy early Mother’s Day (especially to my sweet mama)!

xo~betsy

***Song of the Moment: Prehensile Dream, by The Bad Plus***

We stayed at the historic Charleston Place hotel, right in the middle of downtown Charleston.  The moment we got in there, we were overjoyed with the decor—-the warmth, the detail, the tradition, mmmmm.  We immediately jumped into photo-shoot mode.  Seriously, for at least 30 minutes, my mama, sis and me took pictures of the gorgeous room and each other in it.

So. much. FUN.

Chocolates on your bed.  Whaa??  Who does that any more???  love.

That moment stood out as one of my faves of the whole trip.  I mean, what’s more fulfilling than being completely goofy with the ones you love most?  So I combined it into my Outfit of the Day.

girly dress:  Free People from Radiance in Hilton Head.  (a new boutique who will be carrying my line)!

graphic tights: from Philly’s Bus Stop boutique (another loyal betsy & iya seller)!

boots: Frye.

new earrings and necklace: betsy & iya

Turns out mama has some SKILLZ with the camera…go mama!!  I heart this new head shot!

And then…ahhh…my favorite shot of all—the real deal, iya.  Sis, you melt my heart.

More on this east coast journey to come (including: my trip to Etsy headquarters, the NU hotel in Brooklyn, and sweet memories of childhood beaches.  Also, I’ll be listing those new key/chain earrings for you today.)

I hope you’re holding your Monday’s hand and skipping all the way into the sunset!

***Song of the Moment: Blues for Mama, by Nina Simone***

]]> http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/outfit-of-the-day-charleston-place/feed/ 1 http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/random-pop-men-jewelry/ http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/random-pop-men-jewelry/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:44:54 +0000 betsy http://www.betsyandiya.com/blog/?p=1789 Ummmmmmmmm… I’m smitten.   Yes, by W, always by W (I mean, we just went on a random road trip 100 miles outside of Portland, to spend time and money together on roulette and slot machines, just for the heck of it…whaaa?), but ALSO by this RAD artist on Etsy:

DMD metalsmith

???  !!!!!!!!  ? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  l.o.v.e.

These hot hot hoops were just on the front page of Etsy.  OH my MY.  I can’t even HANDLE how much I want to buy these.  I am so inspired by this dude’s designs.   I love his entire shop.  I want to apprentice with him!  The uniqueness, the precision, the detail—I want ALL of it!

marry me?  (like in a totally-platonic-fellow-jewelry-designer kind of way)?

In other news, Darling Monday has arrived and I’m feeling okay about it.  Always waiting, always there, always ready for us to take her on and embrace her, dear friend.  We could push her away or choose to embrace her.  Today, I’d like to walk with her, hand in hand.  I hope you all grab your own Mondays by the hands and skip with them right on over to Tuesday.

xo! ~b

***Song of the Moment:  Soil, Soil, by Tegan and Sara***

Remember that awesomely amazing book I told you about?  The book every indie crafter, artist, etc should own?   The one I told you I was in??  This one:

The one with advice and contributions from hot hot hot folks like, Grace Bonney from Design Sponge, Emily Martin of the black apple, and Matt of Etsy.com (to name a few)?

Well, the book’s awesome author, Kari Chapin, has organized a discussion panel for the Etsy Speaker Series—and (you guessed it) I’m ON THAT THING!

A great group of folks who were featured in the book, including the author;

Kari, Kim Werker, Jennifer Judd-McGee, Liz Smith and yours truly, will talk about selling crafts locally, globally and online, LIVE at 7 pm eastern time TONIGHT!!  wheeee!  I am SO SO SO grateful to be included in this.  Kim gets to the point better than me:

“The panel will be a live event there [at Etsy headquarters] (if you’re in NYC, you can sign up for free here). If you aren’t in NYC or you can’t make the event in person, you can catch it live in the Etsy Virtual Labs. I’m not sure if they’ll record the panel for non-live viewing, so watch it live if you can! (Note: The panel starts at 7pm Eastern time.)”

Speaking of Kim, she said she’s “stupid excited” to see Etsy in person (I couldn’t agree more).  Which makes me stupid excited to meet her.  I spent many parts of my tryst with Vancouver, BC trying to explain to my Canadian friend what “stupid excited” meant.  I don’t think he ever got it, but I’m hoping this post will help.

In the spirit of what-to-wear-to-Etsy-tonight, I offer you a glimpse into my Charleston Outfit of the Day:

(these earrings are some of my favorites from the new Old Turns New line.  lookout for them in the shop soon)

Okay okay okay, we gots to get on the ROAD!  Yesterday, Charleston.  Last night, DC.  Today, NY.  Brooklyn, here we come—

I’m STUPID excited for all of it!  Kari Chapin, you’re… too much for words; thank you for—well, everything.

(new stores in SC and DC—lookout for ‘em!)

miss you guys (wish me luck)! xo~betsy

***Song of the Moment: Walking, by the Dodos***

“Greetings. Very first I desire to say that I actually like your blog, just discovered it the past week but I’ve been following it  since then.  I appear to concur with most of your views and beliefs and this post is no exception.  Thank you for any excellent blog and I hope you keep up the very good function.  If you do I will carry on to browse through it.  Have a great evening.”

no need to encourage a great evening, that comment made it ALL right.

I will go forward in the day with my good function and hope you all continue to browse through it.

Here’s to all of you and your own good functions!  xo~betsy

***Song of the Moment: You’re My Best Friend, by Queen***

Coffee.  Lady Bug.  Salvaged wood.  Record store.  Astral Weeks.  Rega Turntable.  Surprise-a-friend Sunday.  Saint Cupcake.

Dakota and the Humane Society.  Swedish meatballs.  New sheets, high thread count, mm.  Pictures in toy bins.  Colanders.  Frozen yogurt.  TJs and free coffee.  Good talks and reading.  Scrabble.

Silence.

I feel like I could live in these perfect creations by the inimitable Betsy Walton.   The colors and their combinations astound me.  I own a favorite shirt by the artist which was a gift from W (I think he purchased it at Crafty Wonderland…I’ll be there again for the spring show).  I didn’t put it all together until I started seeing her work more and more around town… and finally I realized she is in some of the sweet stores I also sell in.  It’s official:

I am smitten.  (Plus, she has a great first name…)

so, like me,  take this color and get through your Mondays!   ~betsy

***Song of the Moment:  Sweet Thing, by Van Morrison***

I wish I could say my own version of the lovebird earrings was born out of this scrumdiddilyumpscious lady image…

Don’t you just want to be friends with her??

Happy dappy Monday to all you lovelies!  I plan on having a productive (and Olympic) week; this Oregon sunshine has really had a bolstering affect on me!

(don’t forget to enter the Giveaway!…you have one week!!)

***Song of the Moment:  Sun is King, by Laura Veirs***

It turns out that my Old Turns New line is super popular; I never even had the chance to add most of them to my online shop.  I have nearly sold out of the pieces I created for the Junk to Funk show and subsequent holiday events.  Radish was a HUGE champion of that work during the holidays and after…and I’m so thrilled by it all.  This line has shocked me out of ANYTHING ordinary—and i LOVE it.  I can’t wait to make more.

In the spirit of sustainability, I’d like to introduce two folks whose work embodies that idea.   Two folks who truly inspire me and who I’d like to collaborate with one day:

1) Isaac B. Watson and his amazing Focal Length Designs.I WILL own one of his rad cuffs one day.  I am awed by his creative, agile mind and his infectous, positive attitude.  Every time I see him, he makes me feel happy.  Isaac and I have already been cooking up some steamy yum ideas together.  (Remember that men’s jewelry line I mentioned…???)

speaking of collaboration…check out the amazing project he’s working on with Etsy and local art school PNCA:  I Heart Art, Portland.  I’m sad that I won’t be able to make the opening meet ‘n’ greet on February 26th, (because I’ll be at the OLYMPICS..what!?)…but YOU should definitely go!

2) Lindsay Jo from Maple XO.

For 5 years, Lindsay Jo (a super betty skateboarder), has transformed old, otherwise useless, skateboards into fine fine pieces of jewelry.  I looooove the bangles she makes!  We sat next to each other at the Radish Underground event, where we were making custom jewelry for Valentine’s Day and well…we sort of…fell in love (in a fellow-crafy-jewelry-maker-on-valentine’s kind of way).

I’m so excited about the possibility of working with these two geniuses one day.  I’ll definitely let you know when the magical meetings occur.

In the meantime…Happy Tuesday!

***Song of the Moment: The House with Two Front Doors, by The Finches***

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