Wedding Wednesday

Today I am starting a weekly wedding Wednesday blog post, and I have decided to begin with peacock blue inspired items (since that is the color I will be using in my wedding)!

Wedding planning has been a little bit difficult for me, since I am looking for 100% vegan items, and I want everything to be as eco-friendly as possible. I originally thought I wanted to have a shade of green for my main wedding color, but when I found items in this beautiful peacock blue color, I was easily swayed...

I am pretty sure I will be ordering a pair of these beautiful bridal flats. I absolutely love them!

These are custom made bridal flats by HydraHeart on Etsy, and they are awesome because they are 100% vegan!

I found these super cool invitations. I love how they are simple with just the two peacock feathers on them, and they are oh so pretty!

These are made by pinklilypress on Etsy.

When it comes to cakes, my fiance and I are looking into the possibility of getting a raw cake made from Cafe Gratitude. They can make cakes, cheesecakes, and pies. And, you get to choose whatever combination you want! Plus, they have so many amazing flavors! As you can see, I am quite excited about this... If you have never had cake or dessert from a raw food restaurant, you MUST try it! SO GOOD!

I don't know if I actually want to use a cake topper. But I did find this adorable one that I just have to share with you!

This is a custom made love birds cake topper by CountrySquirrelsRUS on Etsy.

I love the simple and earthy feeling of this layout with the beautiful paper dahlia flowers! It feels natural and is perfect for a more rustic wedding!

Made by OctoberHill on Etsy.

I also love these cool crepe paper rose flowers! They are a great inexpensive way to decorate for your wedding or even an engagement/bridal party.

Made by FabricatedFamily on Etsy.

Lastly, I came across these beautiful wine glasses. They have been hand-painted with boldly colored peacock feathers with a non-toxic glass paint. These are almost too pretty to use!

Made by marywibis on Etsy.

I hope you have enjoyed looking through these selections... I know I sure had fun looking for them!

Front Page!

I am so incredibly excited! My Globe Trekker Silver Compass Lariat Necklace made it onto the FRONT PAGE of Etsy last Friday, August 6. Unfortunately, it was at 3 a.m. California time, so I was not actually able to see it when it was there... but so cool anyways!


And then, to my surprise, my Frothy Cappuccino Vintage Beaded Necklace was featured on the FRONT PAGE of Etsy this morning! Once again, it was super early in the morning (4 a.m. my time) so yet again, I was unable to actually see it there... oh well, i'm still ecstatic!


My new goal... get on the front page at a normal hour of the day when I will be awake and can actually see it! haha...

Where has the year gone...

I can't believe it has been almost 3 months since I have been here... I guess I have just been too busy with life...

I was working on custom necklaces and earrings for the bridesmaids (including me) in my sister's wedding, and that seemed like a never ending chore. She is so incredibly picky, and wishy-washy, that I was about to tell her I would not be able to make the jewelry... but after much stress and patience on my part, I was able to design a beautiful set of jewelry for each of us. Everyone loved it, and that made it worth it (I guess...)

Here is a collage of the necklace, earrings, and me and my sister:


I shall be blogging soon about our garden, what's new in my shop, my new studio, and an upcoming giveaway! Stay tuned...

The Pleasure of Growing your own Food.

I have wanted to have my own garden for years now. The only problem was that when we were living in apartments, there was no place to put a garden. I couldn't wait until we were able to get a house so that we would have a yard for my garden (as well as for my dogs to run around). Well, now we finally have our first house... but no yard.

I decided not to let our non-yard get in my way. We bought some organic seeds. We bought a small greenhouse seed starting kit. And we started the process:

After the seeds germinated, the seedlings started growing quite quickly! We had not yet decided what we were going to plant them in. We tried finding garden boxes online, in stores, anywhere we could think of. Alas, we could not find anything that would work for us. The boxes needed to be a certain size in order to fit alongside our driveway, and they would need to have casters so we could wheel them around so that they would have full sun.

Our seedlings were outgrowing their small greenhouse, and we could not wait any longer. Our only option was to build our own garden boxes.

I love my civic. We can fit ANYTHING in it. You would not believe what we have been able to fit in my car...
Yeah, we don't have an electric saw... but I actually really LOVE the saw we bought. I was able to cut the wood quickly and smoothly (and get a great workout for my right arm...)

My cutie pie! He is so handy! He designed these boxes, by the way.

We put the casters on... almost done!

Planting my garden bean seedlings. YAY! I now have my garden.

We planted garden beans, spinach, broccoli, delicata squash, zucchini, yellow summer squash, and I also got a raspberry bush, blackberry bush, and a blueberry bush. I am so excited and I can not wait for my fresh home grown organic veggies and fruits!

Picture of the Day

african tortoise

no pictures...

I am really bummed because our SD memory card is broken. It was working just fine as we were taking pics on our walk the other day. Then all of a sudden, the camera says "this card can not be used"... We did some research on it and found that we would have to reformat the card (losing the most recent pics we took). Even after we did that, it still did not work. BLAH. I hope to go get a new one tonight so I can take pics of my new items for my shop. I have some super cute rings that I made from vintage clip-on earrings and vintage buttons that I am really excited about, as well as plenty new pairs of earrings.

On another note, I finally found out how to make quinoa the right way last night. Only problem was that it finished cooking quicker than I expected, and started burning on to the bottom of the pot. Yummy! Besides the burnt part, it turned out perfectly though...

My soon to be sister-in-law will be visiting us tomorrow through Sunday! We shall have to think of some fun things to do with her while she is here...

randomness around town...

with the weather so incredibly wonderful as of late, we have been able to go on walks around town quite frequently. i am loving this weather!

cute duck outside the post office

beautifully vibrant flowers

our shadows

and a random piece of fence with a mail box on it in the middle of someone's yard

Is it March already?

Well, I guess it has been a while since I wrote anything here. I have been busy trying to organize our new house (a never ending process, it seems). I am also trying to plan my wedding, and I am having quite a bit of difficulty in choosing a location for it...

Anyways, it is a new month, and therefore time for a new sale in my shop.
March's sale is:
Buy 1 item, get 10% off your purchase
Buy 2 items, get 15% off your purchase
Buy 3 or more items, get 25% off your purchase

and, as always free shipping to U.S. and Canada!

Here is a sneak peak of some new items arriving soon in my shop:

spread the love.

for valentine's day my fiance gave my this beautiful orchid. i have wanted one of these for the longest time, and i was the happiest girl in the world when he surprised me with it.

it is so beautiful! i love it!


it is so soothing to have a beautiful piece of nature in my home.

nature.

I just made a new treasury late last night inspired by nature. I must say, this is one of my favorite treasuries that I have made! I love the way the colors look together, and the random selection of items. Come check it out: nature.


I love it!

My Creative Haven

I used to live in a one bedroom apartment in which the living room was also my studio. It was a hassle to set up my "work station" each morning and then take it down at the end of the day. Well, we recently moved into our first house, and I actually have a room designated for my studio!

Exciting, huh?

Only problem is we have much that still needs to be unpacked, and my studio is full of boxes. Literally. There is a small walking path through the room. That is it. So, I was resorting to the living room/studio scenario again...

And then, I commandeered the dining room! It is not perfect. My cats spend a good chunk of the day trying to figure out how to play with my beads. Then one of my dogs gets lonely and wants to sit on my lap for a while... But it does beat the living room situation.

Here is my temp studio:

It is a complete mess right now, and I need to organize all my supplies better once I get in my real studio. But for the time being it is working out okay...

Treasury Thursday

royal gala earrings by amaniworks

I was quite excited when I noticed that the treasury count was down to 355 this morning. I decided I would wait around for it to drop below 333 so I could make a treasury. I love making treasuries, and I have not had much of a chance to make any lately.

Today I was in a purple mood. I titled my treasury "Purple People Eater." Remember that from when you were a kid? One day I decided to dress completely in purple to preschool. I don't know why, I guess I just really liked my purple outfit (even my velcro shoes). One of my teachers called me a purple people eater. Hah!

Check out some of the great items I found and included in my treasury:

tile coaster set by the salty peanut

purple hoot by cbunnybinx

purple people eaters by SooSun

February Sale!

For the month of February, I will be having a special sale!

Buy any 2 items, get a 3rd item (of equal or lesser value) 50% off! Come visit my shop, and start saving!

Welcome!

Welcome to amaniworks! I specialize in making jewelry and accessories for you and your home. Feel free to visit my shop!


We have finally moved into our new home, but we still have so much more unpacking to do. I still do not know where all my supplies are, nor do I have the space to sit down and create. I am very much looking forward to the day we are done unpacking, and I can sit in my studio and have space to stretch out and get inspired! Until then, here are some of my new items for 2010:

ivory and gold earrings made with vintage beads

adorable owl earrings

elegant ice blue briolette earrings