Jewelry Design

Friday was my last day as a jewelry designer, definitely a bitter sweet day! Since we design our jewelry over a year in advance, the majority of the things I've designed haven't come back from the production sector in Thailand. 

I have seen a few, and it is the craziest thing:

From sketch to 3D object, it is amazing what the crafters in Thailand can do!

As much as I'm excited to start my new job tomorrow, I will definitely miss jewelry design and the magic of creation that happened there. Anyway, here are a handful of my designs from the past few months! Maybe you'll see them around! 

PSA

Your friend has lip gloss on their teeth and their crush is approaching. If you are a good friend, you tell them so they can fix it right? Right.

Are you judging her for having some gloss on their teeth? No.
Are you trying to offend her? Definitely not!

This is what this post is. I'm just trying to make the best of an awkward situation

New moms:
Posting pictures of you baby breastfeeding and or taking a bath with you is not something you should share on social media.

Hold on, let me say that I am not trying to call out any one person on this one because it seems to be a rising fad to post these pictures. I've seen them a multitude of times from many different people. I don't know if this is a side affect of pregnancy brain or what, but all you cute new mommies love to show that skin!

Now there are a few angry things you might be thinking:

1. Well if you don't want to see it, just unfriend me!
I don't want to! I like you! If I didn't, I wouldn't say anything. In fact I think your baby is pretty dang cute and don't even mind the 1-1,000 pictures you post of them each day... so long as they are not hanging off your ta-ta's.

2. You don't understand, you're not a mom!
You are right. I'm no mom. I'm not even that great of a wife.

But I do know that as a rational portion of the non-mom population, it's pretty gross seeing an insta where the only thing bleeping out my friends nether parts is her equally naked baby.

3. It's a natural, beautiful thing!
Girl, so is sex but you don't see be posting selfies in bed with a "Wow this is great!!!" caption. No! NO!

4. It's not like you see anything!
I have never heard of a circumstance where that was a good excuse.

Again, I'm not trying to insult you, just maybe give you a little perspective? I can tell it is a very special, intimate thing. But keep it somewhere special to you, not on a feed where the next picture down is someones bathroom selfie.

Also, if you are taking requests, please post more instavids like this:

Anyway, take it or leave it, at the end of the day:

Happy Joy 4

Things I am happy about:

1. San Antonio Spurs are in the 7th game of the NBA Finals tonight. We just might get that 5th ring. 

I mean has there ever been a team like this???? 

Win or loose, Spurs forever. 

Also, bandwagon Heat fans? (AKA all Heat fans)

2. A few weeks ago we where lucky enough to snag tickets to a Mumford & Sons concert in Austin. 

You thought they couldn't sound better than they do on the CD? Wrong. These guys are legends in the flesh. Gives me the tingles just thinking about it. 

Unfortunately  a day after our concert, the basist discovered a blood clot on his brain and the band canceled a number of their shows while he recovers. Get will soon Ted!

3. Breck just brought me this piece of cake. 

What can I say? Food makes me happy. 

4. Breck got a summer job at Best Buy! Let's say it all together now: 

Employee Discounts!

All the other bloggers be making summer wish lists like:

And I'm just:

5. I got a new job too! You'll never guess what industry it's in...

ADVERTISING

SAY WHAT??? I actually get to use my degree? What is this? 1990?

Needless to say I'm tickled pink. 

Ever since graduation I've been watching my friends fly off to New York and California and becoming super star advertisers while I sit here thinking:

But my day has come! I start July 1st as "Lead Designer/Storyteller" and I can't wait!

BONUS:

During my final interview, my new boss mentioned this blog was a contributing factor as to why they chose me. OMG. 

DIY Restoration Hardware Map

Ever been to a Restoration Hardware? It looks like this:

Yeah.

So after a walk through you're just like:

Then you look at a price tag.

One of my favorite things in the store is thier huge street map of old Paris. 

Unfortunately this girl doesn't have $1,800 to spend on wall art. Thus:

1. So the first thing you're going to want to do is find the map you want to use. You're going to want it to be really, really large so make sure when you're searching to set your search tools to larger than 4MP. 

When you find the one you want, you have two choices:

a. If you have Photoshop, use the guides to split the map up into sections that will fit on a single page. The bigger you want it, the more divisions you'll need to make. I ended up using 35 pages. After you've placed the guides, copy/paste each section onto individual pages. Then print!

b. Convert the image to a PDF. When printing, select that you want a to print as a poster. You'll be able to choose what size you want to the final product to be. Then print!

2. Trim those edges! Kinko's has paper cutters that will make life soooo much easier and you can use them for free! 

3. Lay out the papers edge to egde and measure the length and width. Mine was 70.5 x 40 inches. 

4. Go to Home Depot grab an employee and find MDF in the lumber aisle. Ask him/her to cut it down to your measurements. It's a free service!!! While your at HD be sure to grap some hanging supplies! 

5. Gather all your supplies!

6. Get Mod Podging! I started at the top corner and worked one page at a time. 

Brush the Mod Podge onto the surface, then onto the back of the paper and adhere. Smooth out the page to prevent any bubbles. Once you've got all the pages down put another layer of Mod Podge over the top to seal it all in.

7. Get your hot husband to figure out how to hang it. Hold the level when he needs you to. 

8. Hang your masterpiece and enjoy!!!

Oh yeah... this cost a total of $43. So... $1757 in savings!