Four Corners

Well, three corners. How cute are these new state charms? The little heart can be stamped over any city. These are the three states I have lived in. Ronnie and Ben were born in Texas, Lila in Maryland, and Noe in California. Hmm, maybe a little out of proportion. Maryland is certainly not bigger than Texas and California! What are your special states? You can wear your heart on your own state when my etsy shop re-opens soon!

FindIt, FoundIt

Edwin is an avid reader of Reddit. Hence, the giggling from his corner of the room while he is "working." Yesterday, he stumbled upon FindIt, a sub-Reddit, and saw there was a FindIt near the Oakland BART station on his commute home. I can't imagine his expression when he pulled this out from under a bush: The kids sure got a kick out of that story! Here are some of our creations. Now he has to plant his own FindIt!

A little reorganization

My work desk had become totally unworkable. Seriously. I am embarrassed to even show this before picture (but it makes the after picture more dramatic). All it took was a $6 peg board from Home Depot, and several hours of uninterrupted concentration, and now... Now I really can't wait to start stamping and re-open shop!

Be the change

My etsy shop is closed for a couple weeks while we travel a bit and I reorganize my business and shop. In the meantime, I've had a bit more time to EXPERIMENT, and I don't mean the anterior segment microbead injection I did last week, but with new jewelry designs. Here is another take on Ghandi's famous and inspiring quote, "be the change you wish to see in the world." It's a thick sterling silver strip, stamped, oxidized, brushed, formed and tumbled for a unique look. I also played with some new components to put together these sweet, simple earrings. The central piece is a sterling lotus leaf, and tiny swarovski crystals hang from the bottom. More to come!

Resident crafter

Ronnie, of course! Her favorite medium would be MIXED. Here is a clay and stick statue, with mama and baby birds. This one is paper collage And lastly, wax and ink. All crafts, all the time. I like her style!

Leon's getting LARGER

You asked, and now it's here! LARGER lowercase letters! How cute are these 1/2" initial discs?


Find these guys in my etsy shop in silver and gold.

Insta-gastronomy

If you live in the Bay Area, there is no excuse for not trying Chez Panisse at least once. Organic locally grown food at its best. Good coffee and desserts. Chez Panisse in the "gourmet ghetto" in Berkeley. So now we can say we've been there! All it took was a babysitter. Maybe next we'll try French Laundry.
Linking up with LifeRearranged for InstaFriday!

Reflection of eclipse

I didn't have a filter to get the actual eclipse. It was so bright, there was a reflection of it at the top of the picture. I learned too late you just need to put sunglasses over the camera. Well, next time.

New Bracelet! New Necklace!

Leather and links Simply stacked Find 'em in my etsy shop.

Nina Designs Blog Partnership

I was invited by Nina Designs to take part in their blog partnership program. Nina Designs creates some of the most beautiful and unique jewelry supplies, and is also a big supporter of the artist community. You will find Nina Design's pieces scattered through out my shop. So I was certainly excited to get a bag of surprise supplies to have fun with. Here is what I received: After getting a few new findings, and also digging through my own stash, I put together some really fun pieces!
I paired the turquoise silk cord and caramel deer hide leather with some chunky antique brass findings to make this bracelet set. I kept the bronze lotus simple, and made a long 22" seed bead chain to hang it on. The seed beads have a touch of bronze color, and bring out the warm tone of the lotus. The scroll hearts and bronze earwires hang great with a cluster of tiny garnet and sapphire gemstones. Lastly, I couldn't resist doing a little stamping! The bronze charm holder was perfect for hanging on four little bronze charms with my little people's initials. Noe and Lila got the little lotus leaves, Ben got the rectangle tag, and Ronnie got the disc. Thanks, Nina Designs, for this fun opportunity!

Farewell to Fort Lauderdale

Every year in May, I go to the annual ARVO meeting - Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. For the last 11 years, I've been attending this meeting in Fort Lauderdale, but much to everyone's dismay, it will no longer be held in Fort Lauderdale. Here is my post from the ARVO blog as my final farewell.

What will you miss?
by Lisa Ostrin

With our final Fort Lauderdale ARVO now over, I am wondering what everyone will be missing about our yearly meeting place, the last 11 years for me, and many more for others. Perhaps it is the conference center, where we know exactly where the strongest wi-fi and best snacks are. Perhaps it is familiar places to stay. Perhaps it is your favorite places to meet and drink. Well, I know what I will NOT miss – all the beautiful and inspiring people, because for sure, we will meet again in another corner of the world. What will you miss? Until next year!

Busy in Science

ARVO is going by so fast. I'll be home tomorrow. I wonder if the kids ever noticed I was gone?

Brass monogram cuff

This is a fun new bracelet. I've got several new, and DIFFERENT, antique brass designs coming next week, so stay tuned!

I'm off to sunny Florida tomorrow for the annual vision research conference. I was invited to post on their blog! Check it out here, and scroll through for posts "by Lisa." Ok, I guess you can read the other posts, too.

Pretty little letters

New raised script letter necklaces. Choose your letter in sterling with a rimmed border, or in polished brass on a rimless sterling disc in my etsy shop!

Sunny Days

It was a beautiful, cool, sunny weekend in Berkeley. While the boys went to Little League, the Ostrin girls went to the Marina for a beach clean up as part of Ronnie's girl scout service project. Ronnie filled an entire bucket with junk. Lila was busy looking cute and collecting shells. Noe was pooped! And I didn't miss Little League after all. KRON 4 news was there doing a piece on spring, and Ben was front and center! He's the cute one in the white helmet.

Christmas in April

It's never too early to start planning for the holidays! Customize your own dogwood or rhododendron ornament in my etsy shop today.

Boboa

Weekday dinners are HARD. And monotonous. Endless searching on pinterest for "fast family dinners" isn't even very helpful. So last night I gave in and took the kids for Chinese, and it was a fun break. The kids sat at the counter and watched them make boboa drinks while they ate.
We couldn't resist. And I was so glad not to be on my hands and knees after dinner cleaning up Noe's remnants. Don't worry - I left a big tip for that one.

Leather cuffs for him and her

Just in time for Mother's Day and Father's Day



Get them in my etsy shop before they are all gone.