Buddhas and Bhangra!

Two of my favorite things... I added a few awesome Buddha listings from Etsy to my favorites the other day, and later this weekend I'm going Bhangra dancing with some friends, so it's the perfect time to combine the two in a post.

First off, Buddhas... check out these fabulous finds from Etsy!

Okay, I know I make jewelry, and not only should I just get the items I need to make these myself, I should wear stuff I make, so when people compliment my jewelry, I can hand over a business card. But this Etsy artist just did such a wonderful job with these, I'm beyond tempted to just buy them. So awesome! Great work from Boots Raven Designs!

I also looked through quite a few Buddha photos, and trust me, there are a lot on Etsy, and found this black and white photograph to be one of my favorites. It's the "Sukothai Buddha" from Bomobob. From the listing: "In the ancient Thai capital of Sukohthai, one of the many magnificent statues of Buddha stands watch over the deserted ruins of the city." I want to visit Thailand so badly, and this is just one of the reasons why -- to see beautiful Buddhas like this one.

I've found some of the coolest soaps on Etsy, and this one from Windy's Creations is no exception. It's so beautiful... how could anyone dare use it?

I love jewelry that's created with help from nature -- unpolished gems and wood, especially, so, naturally, I love this bangle from Valle Girl Designs. On the outside it reads "namaste" and on the inside "I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me". How lovely!

I looked through Etsy at some of the malas that were listed, and I was really drawn to this one. It's made with 108 opalite rounds, tied together in a beautiful green thread, with a guru stone to match on the end. It's listed in Rebecca Moon's shop, and she gives a great description about the stone and the chakra it's linked to: the heart chakra: "This love center of our human energy system is often the focus in bringing about a healing. Thus, the words "Love Heals All" have great truth... Learning to love yourself is a powerful first step in securing a healthy fourth chakra." Well said and beautiful work!

Finally, a little love for a local artist. This painting, "Blooming Meditation" is by EyeCon Artist of Portland. Such beautiful, vibrant colors in an awesome piece!

And from Buddhas, to Bhangra! I'm so excited to go out with friends Saturday night for the final Andaz night at the FEZ ballroom in downtown Portland. Although I'm sad to see the last Saturday of the month event move out, I'm sure it'll be quite the party, and I hope some of my friends who aren't familiar with Bhangra will be able to come. It's music I've LOVED for years and have soooo much fun dancing to!

This photo's from Bhangra at the FEZ more than a year ago.

Anjali is the fabulous DJ who'll be spinning Saturday night. Check her out HERE!

And perhaps the most well-known Bhangra-infused music around... M.I.A.! Awesome video...

Okay, that's it for tonight. I'm exhausted! Tomorrow Sarah and I are headed to the coast to hike up one of my favorite hikes... Saddle Mountain... then hit the beach with Kai

Love,
Katery

She's crafty!

...and she's been busy being crafty! Check out the goods I busted out over the last few days...

I went to a wholesale fair on Sunday and loaded up... I found this beautiful dyed appatite and made this sweet necklace for KATU anchor Deb Knapp.

I also finished this baby... a complex necklace for Elena. It's got rock crystal, sterling, freshwater pearl and crystal components... all tied together by sterling chain.
I'm happy with how it turned out! :)

I also made a few lariat necklaces... haven't done that before, and thought it'd be cool.
This one's sterling and opal glass...

This one's gold filled chain, raw brass, and swarovski crystal...

And a sweet little pair of turquoise and raw brass earrings...

I busted out this four-stranded freshwater pearl necklace this morning. Love it!

And another find at the wholesale fair... I think this graduated azurite round necklace is for moi!

And speak of crafty... check out the apron my girl Anita busted out for me. I told her I like damask paired with bright colors and voilà! I scored this awesome apron!! I LOVE it!
...and so does Mike, apparently. :)

That's it for now.

Love,

Katery

I heart dahlias!

They're my favorite flowers, I've decided... Ever since I discovered them at Mike's cousin's wedding a couple of summers ago. Her mom, Mike's aunt, did the flowers at her wedding, and I absolutely loved them.

See what I mean? I liked them so much that we asked her to do the flowers at our wedding... and she did a beautiful job again... If Mike and I had been married late summer, dahlias would've been in our wedding flowers for sure! I now love going to farmers' markets over the summer and buying beautiful bunches in every color. I'd love to go to the Dahlia Festival on Swan Island, too. Amazing!

In the meantime, I've been looking up some of my favorite dahlia-inspired craftiness on Etsy. Check out what I found this evening!

An adorable dahlia laptop sleeve from Dahlia Handbags... love the fabric!

And talk about stuff I need... this beautiful little clutch from FIAZCO.

I LOVE it, and I really like how the fabric print continues from one side to the other. So pretty!

This lovely dahlia-print serving bowl goes so well with my kitchen... I love the colors! A great piece of art from an Oregon artist! Check out Yoga Goat on Etsy for more fabulous finds. :)

And a great wool piece to add flare to any jacket, cardigan, hairstyle... so many possibilities. This was handmade with love by Felt Sew Good. Eco-friendly and recycled, too!

And I heart the silver work on these sweet little earrings. They remind me of Thai silver, but are handmade right here in the Northwest, in Bellingham, Washington, by Shizen Designs. I guess us Northwesterners really love our dahlias!

Finally, perfect for my little pooch, I'm thinkin' Kai definitely needs a new collar. It will be her summer-wear for the season. She's laying next to me spazzing out and dreaming right now. She's clearly upset she doesn't have this great-looking collar from Pinky's Pet Gear.

And since I'm blogging about dahlias, it inspired me to put in a little order on Etsy for some pretty dahlia cabochons. I ordered large ones for necklaces, and some smaller ones for earrings. These are going to be beautiful!

So, that's it for tonight. Not only do I have a little dog sleeping next to me, but a little sister, and a Sherlock Holmes movie that's about to end. Time for bed! I'll blog again soon... as soon as I upload a ton of great pictures I've been wanting to share.

Love,

Katery

Holy Crazy Weekend!

Birthday fabulousness! What a fun weekend! Friday night -- Erica's birthday and Saturday night -- Melissa's birthday! Two of my best friends, and a ton of fun and celebrating. :)

First... Friday night...

The birthday girl at dinner... 80s night here we come!

Could there be any more hot pink and jean jacket-ness in this picture?

The place was pah-Acked , as Erica would say...

And Saturday night... an evening out for Melissa's birthday!~

Mike and I... heart..
Hot mamas! P.S. How weird does that shirt look on me in this picture?
Like, hello, you can almost see my boob?

And on Saturday, I totally pulled a "Cher" in Clueless. I just couldn't decide which dress I liked better... green or blue? What do you think? I need feedback here, people! I mean it... I need comments. I love comments. Comment! :)

In the end, I went with neither of them. Since I spent SOO much money for all the birthday festivities, I decided to be good. But that doesn't mean I can't go back later, right? ;)

Also, being good, but wanting to see if I need these, behold the Ray-Bans. Are these too hipster for me or just cute? I was quite surprised by how much I liked them!

Of course, they do remind me of this guy...





And at the risk of sounding old, what must his mother be thinking? Also, which part of his face hurt the worst? And just how much did RayBan pay him to do that to himself? I read online it was a promotional stunt. Crazy.

Anyway, I leave you with this, what is perhaps my favorite 80s song, inspired by a FABulous night at the Crystal Ballroom. So much fun! (Huh-hem, speaking of Ray Bans, this video is freakin' awesome)!




Love,
Katery

A lovely evening...

What a fabulous week this is turning out to be!

On Monday I got to go see a show at The Roseland with two of my favorite people, P-town and Melissa. So much fun and such a great performance from Metric. Awesome!




Again, they were amazing.... check it out:


Then Tuesday, (aka Erica's birthday!!!), Mike and I went over for the first outdoor evening of the year at Julie and Donald's. Can't call this one a BBQ because we went inside for dinner after hanging out in the yard for a while. Fabulous evening!

Kai in the hammock...

And playing DJ with Donald's phone... remote access to iTunes. I was DJ "A.D.D." according to Julie... :) Also, note the sweet Gin Basil Smash Donald made for me. Yummmm... and so pretty!

And Donald's ice ball... along with what was left after we devoured pecan pie...

And after a few of those drinks... my ride home. Chrissy on Donald... and me on Mike. Nice.

Now back at home for a lovely evening of "me" time. These tulips are getting prettier every day. I scored them free at work yesterday. Another lovely thing about this week... free flowers!

Earlier this evening I went over to Freddy's to get groceries... and decided to try this. Dear Lord. Boxed wine. I know... it's just that I've been dumping out too much wine when I don't finish the bottle... and I'm sick of it. I just want a glass... not many glasses... sometimes. So, hence the black box Merlot. Not too bad... and it's four bottles that won't go bad for weeks!

Finally, painting my nails this lovely new shade of pink, another find at the store. I've gotta say... I will only paint my nails with OPI these days. It goes on so much better, looks so much better, and stays so much better. Don't buy the cheap crap ladies... only OPI, and you won't regret it. That's my rant for the evening... I'm going to finish Sense and Sensibility now. <3>


Love,

Katery

La La Liberty

Okay, I'm really, really obsessed this time. Liberty of London has arrived at Target, and so I arrived at Target after getting off work tonight. This collection made me want to redecorate my bedroom, (which I didn't, as I'd like for my husband *not to kill me). But I want to. And apparently I'm a big fan of pink and black and white, (who knew -- I guess anyone who's ever looked at the layout of this blog). Anyway, the stuff is flying off the shelves at Target. It's MUCH more expensive in London, and so people are buying it online and in stores here, and selling it for more there. Crazy! Anyway, here are my favorites... of course, just about all sold out online already...

Awesome peacock tray...Fabulous pillow... I NEED... :)

Sweet cruiser!

And what I actually ended up with... A great peacock top for work and play... and a comfy, cute little nightie... that's now being worn as I blog. Love it!

Anyway, this is a quick one, but a couple of other little updates...

I got some great stuff at the Dava Bead wholesale room yesterday. Love the freshwater pearls... and got a ton of raw brass to make beautiful things in coming weeks!

These tulips make me happy... is it weird that I like tulips better when they start falling over?

Got these curtains at Target tonight. Just how cheap do they look? Well, I don't really care, 'cause they were $5 apiece!

Thank you to the lovely Anita K. for the flower micro photo tip on my Sony. Dude, she's the best. I can now take pictures of jewelry again. Made this necklace for a co-worker... Gold, sterling, and oxidized sterling chains, with a quartz briolette and oxidized findings. :)
Okay, that's it for tonight. Tired from working! Off to bed!

Love,

Katery