|
|
|
 recently i was contacted by two really fabulous & creative people from austin, texas named catherine & jason. they asked me if i would be interested in becoming a participant in their latest endeavor austinhandmade.com. austin handmade is an online retail space dedicated to austin artists and creators of beautiful things. when they told me all about it, i had no choice but to say yes...i loved the concept behind the website and after meeting them in person i was even more impressed. they are having a website launch party on thursday october 16th at gallery lombardi starting at 7 p.m. here is a link to the evite for more information about that party. hope to see you there...if not, be sure to check out the website austinhandmade.com to see what the fuss is all about! ;) cheers! xo diane
i watched this video and thought more people should do it too. for the sake of our future, please vote this election!!! cheers! xo diane
if you live in austin, tx then the place to be tonight is first thursday down on south congress ave. its a monthly celebration of all things austin...live music, art, & good food. there are loads of street vendors with items ranging from candles & clothing to mosaic work & jewelry. speaking of the latter, i have been setting up a booth in the guero's taco bar parking lot now for the past 2 years! i found this photo on flickr and it just happened to show my booth in the background. (you can click on the picture to be taken to the "first thursday" website.)  first thursday is a great way to get to know austin's crazy side, well really, does it have any other? its a great place to find unique hand made items and do loads of people watching. so come on out and see me! hope to see you later! cheers! xo diane
If you know anything about music, you've probably heard of the Austin City Limits music festival that happens around this time every year. Its a three day musical extravaganza featuring some of the hottest names in music today. Click on the image below for more information. There are still one day tickets available for today & Sunday.  Speaking of Sunday....  I am SOOOOOOO looking forward to seeing the Foo Fighters again. It's been way too long since I've seen them. As a matter of fact, the last time I did was when they were playing much smaller venues like the Riviera, & the Aragon Ballroom both in Chicago. I just wish my friend and fellow Foo-lover Caroline was here to go with me. I'm happy that they moved it back one week from past years. Septembers in Austin are pretty hot and spending all day out in the sun doesn't leave you with much energy for the headlining show at the end of the night. But this year's weather is shaping up to be nothing less than perfect. Warm, sunny days and cool, dry nights. Mmmmmm. So rock on all you ACL festival goers. Maybe I'll see you there!
if you've been following my blog at all you will notice an astounding and major change has taken place since yesterday. i've been meaning to customize my blog for sometime and finally i just took the plunge today. i hope you like it. the program that i use to build and design my website, freeway express, is the same one that allows me to create my own template in blogger. thank goodness that i have my blog account here! now that i've redecorated, i hope to be blogging more frequently. cheers! xo diane
its been several weeks in the making and finally the new FALL line is here! i've been so busy creating new graphics that reflect my modern sense of style and i hope you all enjoy them. i've used rich colors in addition to simple designs to create graphics that i can call "tasty". here is an image of my new front page...but really, you have to dig around the site to get an appreciation of all of the new goodies available.  i am really excited about the new pet i.d. tags that are available. there are 50 different styles from which to choose AND you can also custom design your own! they are lightweight which also makes them great for smaller pets too. my cat, gunner, has been the test model for these for about 2 1/2 years. (you think i would have put them on the website before now! sheesh!)  so, i'm excited to say the least and i am looking forward to a wonderful fall/winter season. cheers! xo diane
i've been busy working on making these new square glass pendants. i do all the artwork myself on my trusty mac, then print out the images and seal them under a piece of hand cut square glass. i couldn't find the right bales to use (most of them WAY too expensive) so i decided to make them myself. bales are the metal finding that you attach to a pendant to allow it to hang on a piece of cord or chain. often times when i can't find just the right finding, i figure out a way to create it on my own. i think that also keeps my pieces truly like no other. here are a few pics to see just how many of these i've made.  the most popular designs i have right now are the owls (which i also drew myself!)  austin is gearing up for its 7th annual austin city limits music festival happening sept 26th - 28th. if you EVER get a chance to come down here for it, do. you won't be dissapointed. the foo fighters are headlining this year as well as beck, robert plant & allison krause, david byrne, the raconteurs, gnarls barkley, vampire weekend, hot chip and many more. parts & labour is a store where i sell my work and they are going to have a booth setup at the festival. i will be showcasing funky bauble magnet sets and these fabulous square pendant necklaces. you can find the bird designs here and the graphic designs here. oh, and i don't want to forget to say that i got a blog mention on the fabulous purplepinkandorange blog yesterday. amy is so creative and generous. you MUST go check out her blog and see what's happening in the indie world. cheers! xo diane
 Are you interested in learning how to make your own jewelry or perhaps how to sew your own purse? With workshops, classes and studio time available The Stitching Studio is the place to make that happen. Whether you are a beginner just learning the fundamentals or an advanced crafter perfecting your technique you will love the variety of classes being offered here. Now is the perfect time to get started...come join us for a fabulous grand opening this Saturday from 1pm to 5pm. Meet the teachers, shop for some handmade goodies, and get inspired by all the crafty classes you can take. There are even classes designed for you to hand make your own holiday gifts! I will be there selling my jewelry and registering people for my Swarovski® beaded ring classes offered next month. (Sept 6th, 9th & 30th) So come out and see all the great things you can make yourself! cheers! xo diane
since i've been back from my vacation i've been gearing up for a busy fall season ahead. i have decided to start teaching classes at the stitching studio here in austin starting in september. i will be offering a class in which you can learn how to make your own swarovski® crystal beaded ring as seen here:  they aren't as difficult as they look, but do take some time and patience. check out the stitching studio's website for more details on how to sign up and to check out the other great classes they offer. they will be having a grand opening party on saturday august 23rd from 1pm to 5pm. if you are feeling crafty come on by and see what's being offered! cheers! xo diane
hey everyone, as promised i am revealing a big surprise to all of the tasty jewelry blog readers... i am offering 25% off of all merchandise on tastyjewelry.com! this is your chance to get that necklace you've been eyeing, get your pet that cool new i.d. tag, or just stock up for christmas gifts! (yeah, i know a bit early to be thinking about that, but think of how ahead of the game you would be!) here's the deal: use the code SUMMERTIME in the "discount voucher" box during checkout then hit recalculate to activate the discount. its that simple. :) this offer ends friday august 22nd so get on over to tastyjewelry.com and start looking. have a great day! cheers... xo diane
**here's a little announcement** i will be closing the tasty jewelry offices for 2 weeks starting july 20th and returning on august 3rd. any orders placed during this time will be taken, but won't ship out until august 4th. thanks for your support and keep subscribed to this blog because i have a surprise for my readers when i return!!!! ;) xo diane
i don't know what's happened lately. i seem to have fallen off the bloggers wagon and into some strange abyss. i've been getting organized and going through all my stuff getting rid of the old and not adding anything new. (thank goodness since i don't have any more room anyways!) the old stuff is going to be listed over on my etsy site under the "jewelry" section. basically i'll be listing discontinued items from the website and will also feature a ton of one-of-a-kind items that never made it there. there are many times when my creativity strikes and i just have to make whatever it is that's "calling" me. i've found some really great treasures that need a good home. and while you're over there check out my beads and other jewelry making components...if you're crafty they might be right up your alley! in the meantime, here is a pic of my current studio setup. i have to be completely organized or i won't be able to find anything. enjoy!  i will be returning to the daily blog as of august 3rd since i really miss the challenge of writing everyday. so look out! cheers! xo diane
i've been a busy girl again, this time adding some new home accessories to the site in the form of candle holders. i came up with the idea when i realized that i had some really great ribbon that i wasn't using and some candle holders that needed to be fancified! here are the results... this one is the fancy one, available in 15 different colors and patterns!  and these are the mesh ones available in the three colors you see:  if you click on each of the pictures you will be taken to the website for more details. i hope you like them! i love 'em! cheers! xo diane
i've been busy going through all of the CRAZY stuff i have in my studio and with the new update to the website i've decided to clean house. so i have a little shop over at ETSY where i plan on selling funky components & kits (so you can make your own jewelry) and limited edition jewelry which is no longer available on the website. check out these items i've listed recently. funky craft kits  printed acrylic rings  keep checking back for new items! cheers! xo diane
seeing as i have not blogged in about 2 weeks you might be wondering where i've been. well, i have been as busy as a bee updating my website with all sorts of new designs using original artwork. here is an example of one of my new offerings where i've used my original artwork, printed it onto acrylic, then added a metal ring accent. this is a new design since i've put the disc onto a post style earring. cute and lightweight.  please head over to tastyjewelry.com and check out all of the other new goodies. keychains, ped i.d. tags, tea light holders etc. i'll be posting a new item every couple of days just to showcase them. i'm so proud and really hope you enjoy all of the hard work that i've put into this update. oh, and while you're at it please vote for me!  i'd love to be a contender for this award. cheers! xo diane
 well, i did it! i am proud to say that the "blog-a-day" challenge in may was a complete success. each and every day i would take time out of my hectic schedule to come up with something to write about. sharing moments of my life for the past month has been pretty rewarding. i've learned that when i read blogs i love to see pictures...seeing as i'm such a visual artist that didn't surprise me at all. i attempted to deliver a picture with my blog postings as well. sometimes it just wasn't possible, but i think i made up for it with multiple pics on other days. i have decided to keep up with posting on a regular basis...although its probably not going to be every day. so here's to walt, venus & nicole who were posting along with me. cheers friends, we did it! xo diane
i just got home from a wonderful lunch meeting with my friends anne marie and ann where we talked about my teaching classes at ann's stitching studio in the upcoming months...more on that later. when i got home i realized just how behind i am on making magnets for local stores and upcoming shows and just about had a panic attack! not really, but when you see the amount of graphics that i printed you will know how deep into it i really am. here is a pic of the sheet of graphics that are in addition to the ones i already have cut out.  and here is the pile of the ones that are ready to go:  those don't include all of the "austin rocks" ones i still need to do and the "tasty jewelry" ones too. whew! i better stop typing and get to work! have a great weekend. xo diane
i'm not going to go on and on about my theory of what made me sick, i just know that i got it and bad. i've never felt so awful in my entire life. i'm tired and shaky....enough said. i'm going to go lay back down and drink some more water. diane
happy memorial day. we've been cocooned inside so far today watching the third installment of the matrix series "revolutions" and are now thinking about our next move. it has rained on and off this morning leaving the backyard a bit of a soggy mess, but i'm not made of sugar, so i'm not going to melt...unless the heat continues like this! yuk! we are going to smoke some pork ribs and if they turn out as good as they did last time then look out. complete with the red ring of smoke and all. if we do them i will get a pic of them up and cut so you can see that ring. in the meantime, i'm getting a bit sleepy and still have loads of work to do. cheers! xo diane
well, this was a well-deserved lazy saturday. after working so diligently all week on new designs and taking over 100 new photographs, i have allowed myself to take a day off. carlos and i rode our bikes down to uncle billy's brew & que for a pint of their anniversary ale and some eats. i got the pulled pork quesadillas and he got a super delicious cheeseburger. hey, i didn't say it was going to be a healthy day off, just that i was taking one. i will be back to work tomorrow, however, to continue work on the necklace, home accessory and rings pages for the website. cheers! xo diane
|
|
