I have a fun post up over on the Etsy blog about Valentines Day gifts! I put so much work into the post that it makes me laugh thinking about how psycho I was while trying to finish it before we left for vacation, to the point that I told Will to go take a walk so he would not be in the same room as me so I could concentrate. HOW ROMANTIC! But seriously, it’s a goodie, so go check it out.

The next shop update will be this Sunday, January 29th at 10am PST/1pm EST. Not only will there be brand new necklaces – including the clay beaded necklaces and a newly redesigned brass drops – but the shop is completely redesigned! I’ve been slowly working on this for ages and am launching this just in the nick of time before January comes to a close. The new shop is easier to navigate with larger photos and includes a slideshow with a lookbook. Plus, I finally redesigned my packaging as I thought it was high time.

Let’s talk about the new brass drops, as it’s my #1 best seller and I don’t want anyone to be worried about the change. The necklace has a new chain that’s now solid brass rather than plated steel, so the finish will last longer. I also hand oxidize each chain to get it to that perfect antique-like color that isn’t too shiny, but the more delicate chain does lend to a bit more of a classier look to the necklace. It’s still a perfect everyday necklace, but I think it dresses up a bit more than before. For the first time in years I’m raising the price just a little bit because the cost of the new materials is higher and takes much more time to create.

The ceramic woven necklaces now use the same chain as the new brass drops, and I shorted the chain just a bit* so that it hits on the breast plate a bit higher to show the colors off better. I’m experimenting with a few of them using brass beads as well and being a bit more dainty. (* The exception is H & I, which are leftover from the last update before I shut the shop down, fyi.)

Lastly, I’m retiring my signature classic woven necklace. It was what started it all, but interest in the other necklaces is higher these days and I’m ready to move on. If enough people are bummed out about this I’ll reconsider, but for now this feels right.

I hope you guys like the new shop – please let me know if you run into any issues! I’ll send out a reminder about Sunday’s update to my newsletter subscribers tomorrow.

I recently had the pleasure of doing a little photo shoot for the wonderful new Echo Park boutique, Myrtle. The owner, Whitney, has an amazing eye and put together some great looks for the shoot that we shot in the store with two lovely models, Lauren and Taylor. The bright LA sunlight threatened to ruin a good time (constant slapstick-like running around to avoid the sunbeams and dark shadows) but we totally made it work thanks to great team work. If you live in LA or will be here in the future, definitely stop by the shop – Whitney has curated an amazing selection in a wide range of prices. Not just clothing and accessories, either! Cute books, soap, stationery and other fun things – all made by talented ladies.

Credits
Photography: Kate Miss
Styling/direction: Whitney Bickers
Models: Lauren Rothery & Taylor Curtin
Designers (top to bottom, left to right) all styles sold at Myrtle:
Blouse by Gretchen Jones, skirt by Shabd | Tank by This Shirt Helps, Skirt by Gretchen Jones
Dress by Filly
Dresses by Alexandra Grecco | Dresses by Study New York
Dress by Filly, locket by Bonbi Forest | Blouse & skirt by Kelly Bergin

Please feel free to re-post any of these photos without asking permission as long as you include proper credit! That means you too, Tumblrs and Pinterest-ers! Credit, credit, credit.

Earlier this week I thought, “It’s a crazy week, but I can handle blogging as well! No big deal!” And then Wednesday rolled around and I thought, “Who am I kidding? I’ll have to skip Weekly Goods! But I’ll have time to read blogs tomorrow so I can do Friday Bits, no big deal!” And then today rolled around and I was like, “OK, screw it. When my favorite bloggers don’t post for a few days I don’t even notice and I find apologies for absences more annoying than absences.” But this isn’t an apology, I just wanted to make you jealous of the french toast* I rewarded myself with after a batshit week and also say au revoir (excuse my French, it’s the toast talking) as we head to Seattle tomorrow for a few days. I have some sweet guest bloggers for two of those days so that I don’t feel compelled to write an obnoxious apology post next week. This trip is exciting/weird/nervous-making as Will’s dad is flying out to meet us and finally meet my family. We decided that after nearly five years of dating perhaps it was time. No big deal. My family won’t embarrass me at all just as Will’s dad won’t embarrass him. Right, Bill?

It’s quite possible that I owe you an email, and for that I will actually apologize for, but I need a week off big time. TGIF, y’all! Have a great weekend.

*Square One, the only good thing – and I mean good – about the crappy five-block radius around my apartment. Thank you Jessica and Lisa for rescuing me from my apartment!

I know I said I’d be less personal on this blog, but we have some unfinished business, right? There are so many ways I want to say thank you to you guys that I don’t even know where to start. So I thought I’d have Will start, because it’s a funny thing to spend a few months writing about the health of someone that most of you barely know, and have never heard his side of the story. I asked him to write a guest post for me because I know how much he is appreciative of you guys – he talks about it to everyone all the time, especially about the fundraiser that truly saved us from a dark place. And I thought that you guys would love to hear it straight from him, along with some good news and test results.

—–

Hi guys, Will here. I am a little nervous, Kate letting me post on her blog and all. Hopefully she likes what I write and I can do it again sometime, maybe even guest blog in the future.

But seriously, I am writing this post because I feel like recently I got to know a little bit about so many of you readers. Either from Kate telling me little stories, or from the tons of nice comments left after you all heard about my recent health issues. Some of you even bought a piece of my work during the fundraiser, or mailed a card or care package to brighten my spirits. (I was mailed a lot of soap; I hope that was not a sign that I should shower more :) Going through this experience of being really sick, and seeing how this blog and its community of readers was not only supportive of me, but of Kate, was awe-inspiring. Not only is the power of the Internet inspiring, but also the power of total strangers doing completely wonderful acts for one another – that was really amazing to see.

I went to my doctor on Monday, I heard good news but not exactly the news I wanted to report back. I wanted to shake hands with my doctor and hear that I had beat cancer, end of story, but frankly that is not how cancer works. Everything looks great on my tests and it seems to be gone, but I must be kept under constant scrutiny thought CT scans and blood analysis for the next few years. But we don’t have to go back to the hospital again for three months! I did amazingly well on the chemo – it was an absolutely horrible experience, but with Kate’s help I was able to keep my spirits high and stay healthy, no fevers or infections. I actually did so well my doctor asked if I would like to volunteer as part of a new counseling program, helping new patients go through the same process.

So for now the coast is clear. Kate and I can go back to some sense of normality and back to our routine. Thank you all for everything, from a prayer or good thought to a surprise care package (with soap in it). I literally could not have done this without Kate, and I don’t think she could have done this without all of you.

Editors note: we both really, really like the soap you sent.

The last few years I’ve spent the week leading up to the new year deep in thought about what my big personal goal will be for the new year. Last year it was to handle critique better and be less sensitive, the year before to be less negative. It’s funny because the year I wanted to be less negative I worked really hard at it all year, coming back to it constantly. But this year I completely forgot about being less sensitive and handling critique better. I think because the theme of the year quickly turned to just adapting. Adapting to a new city, adapting to a new workplace, then adapting to working for myself, and then the biggest bump in the road of all: cancer. I feel like I let all my goals and organization fly out the window in the last few months while my main objective was surviving, just making it to the new year in one piece.

While I do feel stronger in so many aspects, jaded and wiser to the world around me, I also feel like a mess. This year has to be about organizing my life – largely my business. It has to be about getting back on track and focusing on making decisions to grow and expand rather than just trudging along at the same steady rate. Figuring out if this whole freelance business is even financially a sustainable thing for me.

But besides that, at the risk of sounding incredibly sappy, this year I want to apply the lessons I learned in humanity and compassion from everyone who supported us during Will’s treatment. I want to be a better friend and family member. I want to be the person who calls rather than the person who waits for the phone call. The person who sends birthday cards or things for no good reason other than knowing you needed a pick me up. And maybe this will be the year I finally start volunteering for something, to give back.

Some quick goals:
- collaborate more with other creative people
- get this blog back on track – more features, more polished
- make more music with my brother
- walk, walk, walk everywhere
- make happier memories in LA – hit the restart button on this neighborhood
- get more photo gigs
- open my print shop back up
- focus on making our neglected apartment look better (cheaply!)
- hang out with people in person more

No simple tasks, for sure, but life is short and I wholeheartedly believe that 2012 will be a better year. It has to be.

What about you guys? Anything inspiring on the horizon?

Well, we had an interesting Arizona Christmas spent mostly in a retirement community in Mesa and a little town up north. I learned how to shoot a gun, bonded with an 80 year old man over vintage cameras, watched Will slowly turn back into the healthy and chatty guy I know, thrifted an amazing haul with friends (last photo), ate more red meat than my poor stomach ever wants to see again, and saw some of the most beautiful scenery in my life. Also, I left my digital camera at home. I brought along a disposable camera Anabela sent me recently, and indulged in my Instagram addiction instead (above, of course), which was fun. I’ll share the film when I get it back, I feel like I took totally different photos with it than these. I’m so happy to be home, and Wendy is happy to have us back even more – she will not stop climbing all over me. I hope your holidays were great, friends! Now back to reality…

We are headed to Arizona today and will be gone until next Wednesday, so in my absence I have some wordless posts with a recent roll of film to share. I’m doing a little experiment and not uploading anything to flickr, so you’ll have even less info on what’s going on, but I imagine the internet will be quite quiet in the coming days anyway.

Also, so many people keep asking me what is going on with Will, and I just wanted to say that we’re not saying anything until we get test results back on January 4th, so maybe if you have a little extra room for prayer and healthy thoughts you could think of him in the coming weeks? He has such a fantastic chance for good news and I feel so confident, but we’ve been sidelined by so much bad news this year that we are prepared for anything that needs to come our way. We have so many thanks and love to gush to you, but not quite yet.

I hope all of you who celebrate have/are having a happy Christmas and Hanukkah! See you next week.

Lately, I increased cat cuteness by at least 60% with a homemade bandana and have been making clay beads for kicks. A year ago I was telling a friend in New York how badly I wanted to make ceramic beads but it was too complicated without access to all the proper tools, and she suggested using polymer clay. I thought, “The beads we made as kids for hemp bracelets?? Ew.” Cue a few months later when Jennifer proved me wrong about my thoughts on the clay. So I’ve been experimenting, trying to stay far, far away from any hippie flower patterns and making interesting textures and color combinations. My next goal is to save up for the means to make beads with metal clay, which would require a mini kiln. We shall see.

Some random things to bring to your attention:

• Though blogging is not my forte lately, I did take a moment recently to put together two guest posts for fantastic people that can help you reminisce of a time when I blogged about things other than myself. Remember stuff? Remember when I was really into shoes? Just kidding. I have a holiday wishlist (pictured above) over at my buddy Fallon’s blog A Lovely Being and a curated a collection of awesome prints at A Working Proof.
• Today is the last day to purchase items from Handmade Holiday!
• Or, alternately (or additionally, big spender?) you can buy jewelry in my shop because you are definitely not too late this time. See the beauty of more frequent shop updates? No cat fights over brass drops in the Paypal check out line.
• Lastly, I told Ilana I’d give a shout out to an awesome sale she and other designers I love are having in NYC this weekend on the 10th. The line-up of designers is a dream team and “sale” means actual sale, not just for sale. Read more.