in harmony

Here is a preview of a new treasury with some beautiful, chic items from Etsy in different shades of pear. Click here to check it out. I seriously can't wait for spring!

This next picture of the cat is exactly how I feel when I look outside to the 5 ft. snowdrift piled against our windows. Sometimes I am scared to walk out our door for fear that one of the many 4-5 ft. long ice-daggers will slide from the roof and spear me to my death. Ok, that may have been a little dramatic, but it is definitely a concern. Oh, and the walkways are just as bad. Our apartment complex set up a little snow shoveling schedule where each tenant takes a week etc. Yeah, that worked. It usually just ends up with our neighbors shoveling the snow from their stairs—onto ours (I am not sure they got the concept). Anyway, Sky went out a little while ago and chiseled at the ice for hours until his hands were bruised and covered in blisters. From inside it sounded like he was mining for diamonds or something.

So needless to say our stairs are treacherous; they are covered with about 15 layers of ice and snow piled on top of that. Our mailman left a sticky note on our mailbox recently, “Someone has got to shovel the ice off these stairs. They are dangerous!” I felt so bad, especially because we rarely use our front stairs so they are extra bad. I hope he didn't fall. Next winter: tossing the flimsy snow shovel and getting a jackhammer.

P.S. isn’t this cat the cutest thing in the world? If it could talk, I would do anything it asked me to. So if you ever see me in the school library petting my computer screen (uh, that wouldn’t be weird) just know I am probably looking at this adorable cat picture.

gold and turquoise ring/ boys night

This ring features turquoise gemstones hand twisted and placed with care. To order click here. So, my husband is having a boy’s night with some buddies tonight, and I, well, I am obviously blogging. I am soooo cool. It’s fine, it’s cool, go on your man-date; I will hangout with…myself. No I’m kidding, it has actually been a lot of fun. I met up with Brandilyn and Dave and their double date at the taco bus! Fifth wheel! Yes! I think they felt bad for me. Oh well, I will partake it their pity, and I will enjoy it! Ha ha. The only bad thing that came out of the whole deal is that I still smell like the taco bus. I am having a hard time deciding if the smell is making me sick or making me want to eat my jacket, hmmm.

Anyway, I hope that Skyler is having a marvelous time! Well, not so marvelous that he doesn’t want to hangout with me anymore. I can be cool too Sky! I can be cool like the guys! I can eat more junk food, talk about my muscles, refer to world of war craft characters in random conversation and laugh real loud at my own jokes (oh wait, I already do that one). Anyway, boys will be boys...Oh speaking of, have you ever seen this video? It kind of really cracks me up. Best part? It is really quotable.

bib necklace

New necklace! This bib necklace works well for a statement piece, just ask me, I have been wearing one for days! Ha ha. It is made out of a lovely dyed blue-green quartz gemstone. To order click here. It is also available in light pink crackle glass, I will post photos when I get a chance!

So, I have had a lot on my mind this week… It is midterms. My sister/b.f.i.t.w.w.w. (that stands for best friend in the whole wide world if you were wondering) moved to Germany where she is going to live for the next 3-5 years. (The worst part is I can’t call her to tell her how bad I miss her because she hasn’t got a new phone yet—sniff.) I also forgot to take a quiz. Got an $85 parking ticket. Oh, and I miss my dog.

So needless to say now that some of the craziness for school is over, I think I need to pamper myself tonight. I might fill up a (another) hypothetical cart on the Anthropology website and pretend to buy it, write a blog post, make a list of what I am going to do and check it off as I complete each item, take a warm bath, paint my toenails, call my sister’s non-working phone 10 times, and go into hibernation until school and winter are over. Good idea? Yes I think so too.

lovely in lace

This elegant necklace is made of beautiful ivory lace hung in an asymmetrical manner from an antiqued chain. To order click here. Oh and since there are only very limited amounts of this lace there are only two available, because, um, well, I want one ha ha.

So lately I have become quite the online-window-shopper. It is kind of really ridiculous. In the last few days I have gone to multiple different websites, put all sorts of items in my "cart", and spent hours (of homework time) whittling them down to the must haves. Then I shut my laptop and forget about them, well only sort of forget about them if you know what I mean. The funny thing is I actually feel like I am accomplishing something—this could be serious.

ballet [ba-ley, bal-ey]

So, I am a comm. major with a broadcasting emphasis, and last semester I was in a class called broadcast multi-media video journalism with a good friend of mine. She is an adorable and talented videographer (I didn't even know that was a word until spell-check didn’t underline it). Anyway, she wanted to film something on campus for her next news package but didn’t know what to do it on—so I told her she could film the dance class I was headed to right after class.

So she shows up with her broadcasting kit and tripod. These kit consists merely of a 50 lb. container, and a 0.5 lb. camera. There was one semester when I had classes arranged is such a way that I had to carry my dance bag, art bag (yeah the huge black ones), laptop bag, broadcasting kit, and tripod around…it was amazing. When my back started hurting I began trying to leave stuff at home, “No, I don’t think I need that extra pencil in here today”. People on campus would walk by me with this look that I can hardly explain… It was half: Oh I feel so bad for that bag-lady, I mean girl, and half: I am SO glad that is not me. Anyway, our instructor introduces her, and I could almost feel the other dancers glaring at me through their smiles for not giving them advanced notice or something. I mean come on people—I didn’t know either! If I had I probably would have rethought my itty bitty super-staticy little blue skirt, that generally disappears half-way through class under my big baggy t-shirt. And…my hair…well that’s another story.

Anyway, she filmed most of the class and later on that evening she asks if it was ok if she turns the focus from the ballet program to me. I said yes, thinking of how funny class would be with me, her, and everyone else watching the video of me that she filmed. “Oh, you do…ballet? Hmmm, that’s, nice.”…long silence.
So anyway I am not sure what my favorite part of this video is, my half-missing skirt, my hair, my random mess-ups (not an on day that’s for sure!), or the me-after-dancing-for-hours-look. Probably all of it! But either way, I think she did a great job! So after this unnecessarily long introduction I introduce her package "beauty and the ballet"...

Giveaway winner! & little black earrings to go with your little black dress

Ok, here is one of my newest designs. These earrings feature lovely black feathers, black briolette cut glass beads, and gold-plated ear wires. Click here to order them. These earrings also come in a few different colors. Wouldn’t these look great with a little black dress? I know finding the perfect little black dress can be a lifelong venture, but worth it? Yes. Well I wouldn't really know, but I would like to think so anyway.

Oh and speaking of giveaways! (I wasn't really talking about giveaways) but either way I need to announce the winner for the last giveaway! For those who don't win, Tania from what would a nerd wear is giving away my new jade necklace! So you still have a chance to win! Yay! We are all winners!!... No? Ok, maybe not. But we can all potentially be winners. So click here to check it out!

Anyway the winner for the coin and key necklace giveaway is Miranda who said...

She has some great pieces, I really like this one: http://www.etsy.com/listing/45219990/blackberry-necklace

Congrats Miranda! Just email your address to sarahsteed007@hotmail.com and I will send your necklace!

you and me

     

    

    

This weekend was literally the best. We made breakfast, picked up a few chocolates, and spent the day in Lava.

Things I loved about this weekend:

1. Skyler lookin fly in his new leather jacket I got him for V-day!
2. The photos I got of Skyler before he realized I was taking photos. Yes, success! He is adorable.
3. Skyler.
4. The flowers Skyler got me. He got them in a pot so they would last longer—not always true; it might test my plant-caring abilities. The thing that really concerns me is the five foot tall snow drift in front of the only sunshine it would ever see.
5. The Thai restaurant. So delicious.
6. And this photo (below). Before you think I am a total creep I will explain... Initially I was trying to get a photo of the hot pools from above, but with all the bushes and fences and the fact that I only had my close-up lense with me—this is what I ended up with. Ok, ok, bushes, fences, and close-up lenses don’t really help my argument, I know, maybe I am a creep. But I think this photo really describes Lava to a T if you ask me.

Oh and happy Valentines day! I hope it is the best. Ever. I found these on Etsy (of course) and they are some of the cutest cards. Ever. I just wanted to share the link. They are made with real flowers!

crafty vs. crafty

So here is a little before and after project I did last summer. I found these chairs second-hand, obviously, and I couldn’t believe the wicker was in such good shape. I snatched them immediately and gave them a little makeover.

Random thought: every time someone says, “Oh you are so crafty,” I picture myself slowly tapping the tips of my fingers together sequentially saying, “Eeexcellent.” You see, there really are two very different ways you could take it—hence my confusion. The first way, is generally a complement—unless you put a little too much lace on, well, everything. And the second way, refer to dictionary definitions below, is the way I tend to take it. I wonder if that means something? Maybe I am subconsciously shrewd, devious and cunning in my crafting. Any thoughts?

craft•y (kr f t )
adj. craft•i•er, craft•i•est
1. Skilled in or marked by underhandedness, deviousness, or deception.

crafty [ˈkrɑːftɪ]
adj craftier, craftiest
1. skilled in deception; shrewd; cunning
2. Archaic skilful

because I love YOU

I never really enjoyed Valentine’s day much. For years the best V-Day I had was when my mom (yes, my mom) bought me a basket of fresh strawberries, balloons, and a little teddy bear. What more could I want?! I mean, besides a man that is. The next runner up would have to have been when I found a heart full of chocolates in front of my locker, with who I wasn’t…expecting, in the corner giving me the nod. Anyway, you get the point. All that changed with Sky though; he is literally the best. I just want to take this opportunity to let Skyler know how much I love him…oh yeah, he doesn’t read this. So instead of taking this opportunity to let you know how much I love Skyler, I will refrain and tell him later. But for now, I have compiled a list of To Do’s for Valentines Day—on a budget. I love lists, I now love Valentine’s Day, and I love like budgets. So without further ado, I present the list:

• Make heart shaped pancakes for breakfast and go back to bed to eat them.  
• Pick each other dead tree branches from your neighbor’s yard, and put them in a vase on the table.
• Secretly change his computer screen to an “embarrassing” photo of you two kissing.
• Tuck a handmade valentine in your Love’s jacket pocket before he heads out the door.
• Download the Stellarium program and go star gazing in your living room.
• Pick up some fine Italian at Little Caesars and eat it somewhere overlooking the city.
• Cover your apt/house with doilies from the dollar store, trust me, he will love it, ha!  
• Cut the leftover doilies into hearts and “Heart attack” the neighbor’s lawn that you took the branches from, while wearing a black uni-tard—ninja-like. Warning: chances are you might have to do this one by yourself.
• Make a giant poster of yourself wearing a ridiculous heart apron and give it to him with a serious face.
• Write each other love notes that you can’t open until next Valentine’s Day.
• Stage your first kiss all over again—it might be better this time around.
• Make a video of you and your man telling your story.
• The day/evening wouldn’t be complete without Whitney Houston love songs playing in the background on Pandora.

pretty in pink

Isn’t she just beautiful? She is a good friend and the sister of the girl in this post. This asymmetrical necklace is a favorite of mine. It is made of unique dark freshwater pearls, glass pearls, and various sizes of chains hanging from a delicate pink/purple ribbon. The ribbon is tied carefully and burnt at the edges, and the flowers themselves also feature the dark purpleish-blue freshwater pearls that are found on one of the strands of the necklace. The necklace also features a hand-twisted clasp. You can click here to order it.

So looking at everyone’s 30 for 30’s is making me wish that I did one myself. They seem like so much fun. Maybe I will improvise and do a 3 for 3 or something instead. 3 for 3= me running around in the same shirt, pair of pants, and shoes for three days. WHY are you not wearing a coat?! Um, well…you wouldn’t understand.

I suppose I will have to refrain. But I have some fun ideas for V-day on a budget that I will hopefully post tomorrow. Have a wonderful day and stay warm!

Oh and you still have almost a week to enter the coin and key necklace giveaway! Just become a follower and leave a comment here.

V-Day coupon code: valentinesday

So I found some adorable gift ideas on Etsy for him and her. Let me know if you would like to get any of the links!

Don't you guys love the "i love you" in binary? My husband saw all this and was like yeah, now everyone is going to know that I am a nerd. Ha ha, a very cute nerd. P.S. I never knew how much guys hated thick wallets; I got this card holder for him in the dark tweed. It looks awesome and had great reviews, here is the link. 

Oh and last but certainly not least I am doing a Valentines Day discount in my Etsy shop! Just go here and enter valentinesday as the coupon code at your purchase to get 15% off everything! I will ship everything right away!

ice cold and loving it

Ok here is the update; I did decide to skate in our parking lot. Ha ha, and it was fun! Refer back to this post if you have no idea what I am talking about. And if you are wondering, I will report back to my sister very soon. Our neighbor’s even poked their heads out their window and said that they were thinking the same thing, and an older guy walked by and said they used to skate on the streets all over town.

Living here in the winter can be hard with all the slipping, sliding and nearly freezing to death daily (or a combination of all three–not preferable of course) but since I hate the cold, I am trying to have a good time despite the cold. My challenge to myself is to do all the things now that I won’t be able to do in a few months, such as: ice skating in the parking lot, sledding/snowshoeing to class (very possible), making snow angels, making snow cones, making a snow cone business (I can see it now), and skiing. By the way, we went skiing (maybe I shouldn’t say skiing, after all I was the only one skiing) with our good friends Brandilyn and Dave last night, it was a blast! What do you do for fun in the cold? I could use some more ideas because honestly I think the snow cone business is a no-go; 10 (maybe 2) years ago it would have been at the top of my list.  

sunny with a chance of rain chandelier earrings

These earrings are one of my newest designs. If you can't tell I am a little sick of the winter weather, so yes, there is color. These earrings feature blue and orange beads, teardrop red agate gemstones, hand twisted wire and dainty gold colored chain. To order click here. They are pictured on the gorgeous Crystal. I took these photos this past week and lets just say these are a sneak peek (hint: she also has a sister.) And I know that the phrase is officially "cloudy with a chance of rain" but have you ever been out when it is raining and sunny? It is the best.   

As some of you may know I am currently living in a winter-wonderland, well -20 isn’t actually that wonderful—maybe just winter-land. So, I am taking my trash out down our long, almost empty parking lot to the dumpster; thinking of how miserably cold this weather is, (insert: British swearwords) lets just say my happy scale was swaying to the down side, when I slipped on the ice and almost face-planted. It was then that I had an idea…

Let’s go back in time a little: Little Sarah wants to be a professional ice skater so she can have large bouquets of flowers and teddy bears thrown down at her from eager fans. She wished more than anything she had a rink in town where she could wear her little secondhand skates at (besides the terrible little pond that had cracks and holes the size of the Grand Canyon). Medium Sarah decides to venture the terrible rink, wishing everyday there was a “real” rink in town…caught you up to speed? Well big Sarah (ew I really don’t like that; it is what my family calls me to distinguish between me and the new addition (little Sarah). “Hey BIG, HUGE, GIGANTIC Sarah… can you get me a drink of water?” Needles to say, I proposed that they call her little (itty bitty little) Sarah and just call me Sarah, it’s really that simple. Anyway forward time until now, and big Sarah has an ice skating rink—literally right outside her backdoor! P.S. the Love of my life had a pair of Riedells made for me in the style that I always dreamed of—they don’t even make them anymore! Insert “awwwwws”. So I call my thrill-seeking sister right? And she is like, “In your parking lot? No, that could be dangerous! Don’t do it!” You are kidding me right? She owns her own motorcycle, lives in foreign countries and jumps out of speeding airplanes on a regular basis! I must not be hardcore at all in her eyes. Sniff. Anyway, I will post a photo or something if this “crazy” idea actually turns into anything.

Oh and don't forget to enter the necklace giveaway! Just follow the blog and leave a comment here. Have a splendid day!

Flower Basket Boutique

Ok so here is another store I sell at called the Flower Basket Boutique, such a beautiful place. It was actually the inspiration for this necklace. The whole shop is filled with stylish clothing, delicious smelling candles, and the most beautiful fresh flower arrangements. If you guys are ever near center street in Provo, be sure to stop in. I got these photos from their website, it is also beautiful if you want to check it out.

Oh and here is a picture of me with one of my very best friends, seriously.

So this is me and my dog Buddy. He is the best. He used to be the family dog, but when we moved to the Midwest for a while he went to stay at my uncle’s farm. Buddy really loved it there and they really loved having him there, so it became kind of a permanent thing. However, at the last family gathering we arranged a custody exchange ha ha and I got to have him for a few days. Best days of my life! Sniff. We frolicked together in the frozen field behind our apartment, chowed down on food, and slept when we got tired from eating and frolicking. I am kidding, well, kind of. I should really stop telling stories like this—as if it isn’t apparent that I really like my dog. It reminds me of this dream I had about Buddy a week or so ago; we went to Paris together. Random? A little bit. So I was telling this girl in my class about it and she just looked at me and said, “Oh, that’s…weird.” Must be a “cat lover”. Either way, word of advice: don’t tell strangers that you had a dream about you and your dog taking a trip to Paris together. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

skeleton keys and sisters

Ok, here is a necklace I made a little while ago. This necklace features three lovely skeleton keys in various sizes hanging from an antiqued chain with a hand twisted clasp. To order this necklace click here. Let me know what you think! Oh and guess what?! I did a clothing swap (more like wardrobe swap) this weekend with my good friend Brandilyn! You might remember her from this post. Yeah adorable girl with the adorable store, yep that is her. It was like I had a sister in town again! Sister=two closets. You know, unless your sister is extremely selfish and then, well, I am sorry. But anyway assuming you have a relatively unselfish sister, there is an obvious benefit.

My big sister and I were the same height for maybe two years or so—it was great. We shared EVERYTHING. Life was good…....and then I grew. A lot. My sister started looking swagger in my pants, and I started to look like a hippie in her high-waters. History brief: hippies were not in style at the time. “Hey girl! Where is the flood?!” Oh, and shoes were even better. Yes, I have large feet. I said it. Or maybe they are just large compared to my sisters itty-bitty-size 6-feet. Trying on her shoes could have been an Olympic event, “OK Sarah is up! Trying a 6 this time! This is unbelievable!" It was a little (a lot) like that scene in Cinderella where the step-sisters are trying to stuff their feet into the dainty little glass slipper.

Anyway, besides the fact that we are not as able to share anymore, she is also half-a-world away most of the time. So Crystallynn if you are reading this, no hard feelings, but I got a new clothing sister. AND she has blonde hair so it is kind of like we are unselfish step sisters or something! No? OK, maybe not. Anyway we are the same size, and I kind of feel like I am capitalizing on this whole double closet thing again.

So if you guys don’t have sisters or friends that are the same size, you can always stop by the little clothing shop in the town I grew up in called “My Sister’s Closet”. I am sure girls without sisters or with selfish ones flock into there daily to get a taste of the sisterly love.

Oh and p.s. another clothing-sister I have is Emily, she also has a super cute blog. Check it out!