In the shopping mood?

Here is a great blog, two birds boutique, with lots of amazing finds if you are in the shopping mood. And who isn't? It's that time of year! :-)

They have featured my tiny heart necklace today....thank you!

Last minute gift? New handmade shop in Castle Pines: Four Seasons Marketplace

It's that time of year.....gift giving is just around the corner! Time to think about a little something for your child's teacher, the kid's coaches, your best girlfriends, etc.

But it can be difficult to come up with something unique (yet often last minute!).

Enter a great new shop right here in Castle Pines that features handcrafted items from artisans all around Colorado. It is called the Four Seasons Marketplace, and is located in the Safeway shopping center (next to Goodwill), right off of Castle Pines Parkway. See here for google map location and holiday hours.

Lots of things to choose from.....bath and body, photography, glass work, home decor, candles, and of course, jewelry, including many items from my shop: lime green modern.

So spread the word....love supporting local small businesses!

Obsessed with the infinity symbol.....

 in·fin·i·ty/inˈfinitē/

Noun:

The state or quality of being infinite. An infinite or very great number or amount.

So lately I've been a bit obsessed with the infinity symbol....it's a great idea for the modern girl who's not into hearts and flowers......a little gift of infinite love.

I've also decided to offer a small and larger version of the symbol, in a short length and a longer version to layer with other pieces.

Enjoy all the infinity jewelry!

New jewelry is here...

So after a lazy summer with the kids, I finally got down to business and made a whole bunch of new things that have been sitting on my ideas to-do list forever!

I decided to create a section in my shop called New Jewelry, so if you are a repeat customer, you can easily browse what's new.

And keeping with my simple aesthetic, most of the pieces are modern everyday pieces, like the simple square, comfortable and pretty much match anything.

A few of my new favorites: the infinity necklace:

And the sideways cross:

Enjoy!

New silver charm bracelets are here....

Can't believe summer is over (my kids are back in school), but it finally gives me a chance to get some new stuff in my shop!

I get a lot of requests for my necklace charms as bracelets, so I have created some fun new charm bracelets with my more popular charms.

What I like about them is they are delicate minimalist pieces, but are sturdy enough for everyday wear (believe me, I make one for myself and test it out for awhile)!

Have many more to come, but have a few listed on Etsy right now! Enjoy!

The "About" page on Etsy....

So Etsy has just added a super cool new feature to our shops....it's the About page.

Basically the shop owner can add a lot of great photos of their studio, making of the product, etc; and really show the buyer that there is a real person behind the shop....and not a mass produced factory somewhere pumping out widgets.

It's now becoming my newest addiction, reading all these super interesting About pages of some of my favorite sellers (since I buy A LOT on Etsy too!).

Just go to your favorite Etsy shop, look to the left side, and you will see the About feature for the artisan.

Want to know more about me and see my messy work table? :-) lime green modern

Have fun!

Lime green modern is OPEN!

So I have officially reopened!!


What an experience the last few months have been. And though having cancer is not something I would wish on anyone, it's good to know that you can survive something big and come out the other side ok. :-)

And what can I say to all the wonderful people who have supported me...really words aren't enough. So here's a big THANK YOU!

I'm slowly getting all of my listings back up (you can't edit in vacation mode!). So hang in there with me as I get back up to running normally.

What's new? I am now making most of my simple silver earrings and all of my beaded earrings in upgraded Argentium sterling silver wire.

Argentium is just like traditional sterling silver (92.5% silver and 7.5% copper). Argentium simply replaces some of the copper (which causes silver tarnishing) with the element germanium. The result...the beautiful shine of silver without much maintenance. Just rinse with water and mild soap occasionally and use the polish pad I provide you to add a great shine!

Gotta love simplicity!

Feeling great!

So I wanted to update everyone who has been following my journey! (And thank you to everyone for your notes, convos, post comments, etc;....truly appreciated!)

I am feeling great! :-)

I was finally cleared by my surgeon and physical therapist to resume all my "normal" activities, including hammering silver! I feel so lucky that my breast cancer was detected so early and I was able to avoid chemo, which would have greatly prolonged recovery and getting back to normal.

I am working on building inventory now, so when I reopen in May, everything will be ready to ship, as always!

If there is one lesson I have learned through all of this (other than keep the faith), it's get your priorities straight!

So once I do reopen, I am thinking about being open 4-5 days a week, and then closing on weekends. This way I have plenty of time to create quality work, and my health and family life do not take a back seat to getting orders out.

All orders placed while my shop is "open" will be mailed out before I "close" shop on the weekends, so my customers will get the same speedy shipping from me!

(I just can't seem to turn off my "shop" brain on the weekends with orders coming in, and I end up working all weekend to not fall behind.)

I'm looking forward to reopening, so let the new journey begin......

On the road to recovery......

So, here I am....day 7 post-op from a total bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction due to breast cancer.

And the good news is.....well, there is a lot!

1. I am feeling so much better! Still have a ways to go, but at least I don't feel like I'm imploding, like day 3-4. They weren't kidding when they said that's when the "real" pain would hit (all the numbing and anesthesia was out of the system by that point.)

2. Surgical pathology came back fantastic! No lymph node involvement, nothing was bigger than anticipated, and healing is going really well so far.

3. Fingers crossed!! Doctors are thinking I should not have to do chemo because we caught the cancer so "early" ....final ruling will be next week after the medical oncologist reviews everything!

Just wanted to say a huge THANKS to so many of you that have emailed, facebooked, and convoed me! I really needed to hear all that positivity days 3-5, and it really kept me going. :-)

I will be busy over the next month or two recovering and doing my physical therapy...and then should get clearance at the 6-week post-op mark to return to all normal activities (including hammering silver!).

Have an awesome weekend!

A routine mammogram saved my life.....

Hi everybody....

I have had to close my shop for now, due to some very unexpected medical news. I am hopeful to return in April after surgery and recovery (not allowed to hammer for 6 weeks post-surgery!)

Unfortunately I found out at the beginning of February that I have breast cancer (I just turned 42!). It was found on a routine mammogram. I am one of the lucky ones that caught it "early", so hoping for the best with a March 8th surgery date and close follow up. Not sure if I will have to do chemo yet, but keeping fingers crossed that I won't.

I normally would not be so open about things, but my hope is that if my story inspires someone else to go get a mammogram...well, then it's worth it!

A routine mammogram saved my life....so don't put it off!

(The butterfly pic was taken by me on a fun outing with the kiddos to the Butterfly Pavilion.)

Tiny heart necklace giveaway!

Want to win one of my tiny heart necklaces, just in time for Valentine's Day? 

Check out the uber cool fashion blog by one of my very sweet customers called Found in my Closet. 

She has an amazing sense of style and has great "instructions" on how her cute outfits come together. Even inspires me to think about getting out of my "black shirt and dark denim" uniform that I usually wear while in the studio and put on something cute!

Just follow her blog instructions to win and this tiny heart could be on its way to you!

Silver beaded hoops......

Over the past year at lime green modern, I have received several requests for sterling silver beads on my earrings..... so I am introducing quite a few new hoops with beads over the next week or so.

These are simply my classic circle hoops, with the addition of some super shiny round beads, lightweight but sturdy. The great thing is the beads are easily slipped off of the earrings, so if you want to change the look back to the simple hoop, it's very easy.

Currently I have the 4-mm multi-bead series listed, with a larger 5-mm 3-bead series coming soon.

Large hoops, with nine 4-mm beads. (pictured above)
Medium hoops, with seven 4-mm beads.
Small hoops, with six 4-mm beads.

Enjoy!

IKEA love.... modern wrapped canvas

Last year I purchased this large 48 x 48" thick canvas during the Aaron Brother's penny sale (buy one, get another for a penny....goes on in January and July). 

I got as far as hanging it up, with every intention of painting it a fun color, but a year later, a blank canvas still sat there.

Well, with the joy of our new IKEA opening, I get so many ideas from their fabric, but unfortunately I don't sew. At all. Not even a little.

So I decided to wrap my canvas with this awesome heavy decorator weight fabric instead. For the grand total of $7.50 (1.5 yards of Kajsastina large daisy fabric, on sale even!) plus a cheap staple gun and I was on my way.

The secret to this wrap is a lot of ironing beforehand! Get that fabric as good and wrinkle free as you can before you attempt to wrap. Then start stapling the sides a little at a time, pulling very taut as you go. You will have to remove a few staples and readjust a bit here and there, but I had this thing done in about 10 minutes, not counting the ironing.

The result: a modern wrapped canvas for minimal cost, and when I get tired of it, just put new fabric on there!

Happy 2012!

So the new year is settling in at lime green modern.... a perfect time to start creating some new things!

My ideas usually sit patiently drawn in my idea/design book until I have the time to make them and try them out personally to make sure they work "in real life" use.

So up first are my new half moon hoop earrings. These are great because you just slip them on and go! And for complete versatility, I have made them in a small, medium, and large version.

They are super lightweight and a nice alternative to the classic circle hoop... enjoy!