Last Sunday, Mother's Day, I got quite a surprise when my water unexpectedly broke early and started Jane's entry into the world. She was born that night and weighed in at 9 lbs, 3 oz. She's tall like her brother- at almost 22 inches. 

For those unfamiliar with the odd swings and patterns of pregnancy, "nesting" refers to an expectant mother’s instinct to prepare her home for baby. It actually gives a surge of energy which propels her to clean and do various chores around the home. It is very real and it is something that those around the momma just have to get on board with or get out of the way of. Thankfully, I have an incredibly helpful husband as a partner. I can point him in a direction and leave him alone until he finishes the job. This weekend the biggest job was assembling furniture!
 

A nice little assistant- excuse the crappy phone photo!

Love all the cute dresses & outifts and having them all hung up on display!

I've seen this new Dove video on Facebook a little and I wanted to share it on my blog. I'm thrilled to be having a baby girl, but I also find it intimidating. This video really gave me some things to think about. If you haven't already seen it, give it a watch, and tell me your thoughts.

I really like bohemian styling- more is more is more. Pretty or playful, it all adds interest. I had that in mind when I got the request to make some purse ornaments for the Safety Harbor boutique. Pretty much all of the original ones I made sold. Since I really only do one-of-a-kind pieces, it took me awhile to make more up, but I did finally get them made and posted! (Click on any photo to go to the listing. There are more on my Etsy page: Richarme.Etsy.com)

Here's a few photos from this weekend.

Tampa Upcycle getting pretty for the party

Some of our awesome Crew

Had a great time making Morse Code jewelry with old & young (Photo courtesy of www.minhphoto.com)

Wish I could've done many of these! (Photo courtesy of www.minhphoto.com)

Two years ago, I never ever would have thought that starting an Etsy team would end up like this! My only thought was that this area is full of artist and creative types and yet there was no really active team for us on Etsy. I wanted to be able to talk to other people in the Etsy and handmade selling world, but not just online, as some of the online friendships I'd struck up in the past had turned weird. I wanted to be able to talk face to face and be able to network in a way that would help my business locally. So I started an Etsy Team and spent the first 3-4 months scouring Etsy and looking for people in the Tampa Bay area and inviting them to join the team. That yielded about 300 members and then people started finding us. We kept it on the Etsy site primarily. 
About a year in, I ended up asking another team member to help co-lead. Shortly after that our very first meet up happened. I was so nervous about that, but it was a nice small get together and I could see getting together happening on a regular basis. 

Later that year, we hosted the annual Etsy Crafty Party. It was a smashing success and I knew we needed to add more leaders. So we did! At this point we do monthly meet ups and larger events several times a year. We've got a very active Facebook discussion page and our membership numbers somewhere around 1,050. We were granted our very first Fellowship from corporate Etsy just a few weeks ago. There's a lot to celebrate! And we want our community to celebrate with us. Really that's what it's all about- community, both the artists and the general public that values handmade and vintage things. If you'd like to be part of the festivities, you can sign up here: https://www.facebook.com/events/188927091250206/

I'm a big fan of vintage jewelry- especially stuff with glass beads. I like to pick up broken necklaces and incorporate the beads into my designs. Sometimes it's already a great piece and I'm able to just restring or repair it. I still sell items like that under my Richarme label, but I'm careful to put that it's "restored vintage". Here's a couple pieces in my shop right now that feature vintage beads.

 

I don't mean to abandon this blog entirely. Things have just been incredibly busy. That's the obvious reason, but there's just an underlying I don't have a vision for this blog. Part of me wants it to just be about my life and just post whatever I want- Etsy stuff, spiritual thoughts, Julian & Jane updates, product reviews, etc. Everything I've read though seems to discourage mixing business and personal stuff on a blog. For example,  I'm the Captain of the Tampa Bay Etsy Crew and I do represent the group publicly, but I wouldn't want my blog to reflect on the group because it's not politically or religiously neutral at all! The group has to be both of those things. At the same time, I love having my blog on my business cards and letting my customers know I'm a person and artist and not a mass manufacturer. I just don't know what I'll end up doing.