Amy Peters' Studio Buzz

A little bird told me...

I have had a twitter account for a while now.  

It was on auto-pilot, being updated by robots. I had ALL but abandoned it.  So about two weeks ago I decided to look again to see what's all the hub bub was about.  The last time I did I didn't really GET it. 

Ok...I sooooo get it now.  How much fun is this?  In the course of a few weeks I've "met" so many amazing blogging women that in my real life I probabaly would have never met. 

We will be posting special discount codes and all kinds of fun stuff! So join me...You'll find me at @AmyPetersStudio 

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Art Day...

How do you stay inspired and creative?  

Our family loves making art.  This started when I was little and is the reason I became a jewelry artist. My mom was a stay at home mom and signed us up for every art class she could find. The first class in jewelry I took was jewelry enameling at the age of 8. That class inspired a life long love of jewelry. 

This christmas I returned the favor.  

I gave the kids and grandma easels filled with every kind of art material available.  So much fun!

 

Grandma June has Parkinson's disease, so doing art often helps with her tremors.  

 

Both Kyra and Nikolas painted some of their favorite characters....Pokemon.

Nikolas then spent most of the afternoon outside painting picture of our hillside and garden.  He wanted to recreate the waterfall picture!

 

 

Watching Mythbusters while playing Mythbusters...

My kids are hooked on the show Mythbusters.  One of the non-Etsy Christmas gifts was the Mythbusters game.  Kyra bought it for Nikolas with her allowance money.

So when the marathon was on last night, the kids decided they needed to play the game while watching the show.

Double dose of Mythbusters!

A Merry Etsy Christmas...

This year I went shopping with a mission.  I wanted to give as many handmade gifts that I could find on Etsy. I love supporting artists and Etsy is great for that! Those of you that saw all of my treasuries earlier this month now know why, I was busy shopping!

I did pretty good, about 75% of our gifts were from Etsy this year.

Just a few of the family favorites!

1. Just Give Me Peace

2. Design Dude

3. Salutations Crochet

4. Allen Designs

5. Charte Chic

6. Nannyems

7. Monkey Tree Creations

The favorite presents by far were the felting supplies.  I found a great little creatures book at Michaels, then got some starter sets from AsherJasper, Fantiny Critters and Amber Rose Creations on Etsy.

In addition I got LOADS of wool from the happy sheep at Crazy Quilt Homestead.

It keep Kyra, Aunt Mim, Nikolas and I busy for much of the day! Seriously...how cute are all of these guys! Nik at 9 years old was responsible for the silly pizza!

We had a very Merry Etsy Christmas. 

Good thoughts...pass them on...

The other day I got a phone call and an email within about a 10 minute span. In my mind they melded together...I could do a little something about this...

The first was a phone call from my sister.  She owns a bakery...talk about a stressful time of the year to own a business based on food and service.  She had a customer call her to complain. The issue wasn't anything that my sister did, I think the customer was just having a bad day. How much does it really cost us to be kind, compassionate and thoughtful in our daily lives? 

Then I got this amazing email from a customer that was trying to replace a pocket thought she had lost.  It so reminded me of yesterday's post.

"I believe that carrying that little token helped me through some tough days this year, otherwise, I wouldn't be so desperate to replace it!  I gave me comfort when I didn't have my husband with me.
Anyways, thanks for your help!!"

Unfortunately, she didn't have any stores near her with any inventory left a few days before Christmas. So I mailed her a few with a note. 

Keep one for yourself and pass the others on to someone who could use them!

It got me thinking...

What if we could all think about someone else for awhile.  Put down our baggage and stresses and just give of ourselves.   

Give the gift of time, thoughts, kind words, small gestures not just this season, but always. 

I'll start...

The first 50 people who:

1) Comment here on how you'll use them.

or

2) Comment on Facebook on how you'll use them.

THEN...email me at amy (at) AmyPetersStudio (dot) com with your snail mail address.  I'll send you 10 pewter tokens (pocket thoughts or love tokens).  One to keep and 9 to pass along. That's the only catch, they need to be shared along with your good thoughts. 

Hand them out at church, to the homeless man on the corner, to a friend in need, a neighbor having a tough week...

Good thoughts...pass them on...

Merry Christmas,

Amy

 

Sneak Peek....

Just had to share....

My photograher is still working on the shot, the bracelets kinda bunched up a bit in shipping. 

Introducing our new Heart Button Bracelets.  They will be available at the first of the year, just in time for Valentines Day.  Words include: Friends, Sisters, Loved, XOXO and Always.  5 fun and flirty leather colors!

LOVE them! 

Good Luck charms work...

What I've known for years...

I finally have scientific backup. Last May a team of psychologists at the University of Cologne in Germany. Did a study to test how superstitions and good luck charms affect outcomes of various tests.  They helped.

Well...DUH...

The history of talismans and good luck charms go back as far as the human experience. 

For me all began with a ring I made in high school.

One of the first pieces of "real" silver jewelry I ever made was a ring for my best friend John.  I shaped it, hammered it, stamped it out and soldered it together.  When I and gave it to him he laughed and teased me, making fun of the solder joints not really matching up.  His silly way of saying thanks, while still being a guy. It's what he did next that still brings tears to my eyes.  He tied it onto the laces of his track shoes. 

John was amazing at triple jump, being 6 foot 4 didn't hurt. That year he went to state finals and while her never went to the olympics or anything like that....my ring went to state finals with him as his good luck charm. 

That experience from 30 years ago was the reason my first designs from my company included word and message rings. 

Over the years I've added in many collections to pay hommage to the amazing tradition of talismans, good luck charms and amulets. 

1. Matte Chokers

2. Pocket Thoughts

3. Button Bangles

4. Rings

5. Itty Bitty Modern Talismans

 

So while you are working on your New Year's Resolutions....

Think about a good luck token to help you accomplish your goals. 

 

Handmade Christmas

So when I got home yesterday I had a surprise in my mailbox.  Well, not REALLY a surprise, since I stalk her blog...

Three thoughts went through my head when I saw the envelope...

1) GOODY GOODY GOODY...I Love Michelle's art.

2) Hope it's not ruined since the envelope was a little wet.

3) ooohh...gotta get my camera this can be tomorrow's blog post.

How adorable is this wrapping?

On the tree already two minutes after getting into our house.  Does it get any better than this?  Look at how cute she is with her little antlers!

Don't feel left out...

Michelle posted some great gift tags for instant download here.

Someday I'm going to grow up and be just as crafty as Michelle!

 

 

Procrastinators Unite.

So you had all these plans this year.  You made all those lists and just knew you would not be waiting until the last minute to buy Christmas gifts. 

riiiiiight....

Let's get real, if you are anything like me you have most of your shopping done, but still have a few last minute things to buy. 

I think us procrastinators should stick together. We are here to help!

Here goes....

FREE upgrade to 2nd day air shipping for any order over $75.

So now you'll look like you thought ahead and ordered the perfect gift months ago. Enter CODE: HELPME for free upgrade to second day air shipping.Place your order by December 22nd at 1pm PST.  We will get it to you by Friday December 24th. 

 

Who are you trying to fool?  Eveyone knows you....

How about a printable eGiftCertificate instead!

Just submit your order and we'll send along the gift certificate for you to print. 

Buy that gift certificate now, so you can get back to your egg nog!

 

 

Tamales, our new Christmas Eve tradition...

Those of you that know us, know we LOVE Mexican food. But...Especially Nikolas. I recently found a Tamale Making Class locally. It gave me a chance to cross something off my 44 things to do before I turn 45 list.

Nikolas and I took the class.

When he woke up in the morning he was so excited. He reminded me "Mom our tamale class is tonight" So cute! 

 

First we made a dozen tamales to bring home. Then, Nikolas and I got to taste test them.  Yum!  It really was so much fun being in the class with my Mr. Man. Everyone in the family loves tamales so much.  We decided that it will be our new Christmas Eve tradition.  I love traditions. New and old.

Interested in making tamales?  I've found this great recipe online for Pork tamales.   Or this great vegan option for our cousin Justine.  

I'm off to shop for all of the fixings tonight and prep everything so we'll be ready to assemble and eat them on Friday night!