My Poor Neglected Blog

I am so sorry about how I have left my blog to sit here and rot! I just have not had the inspiration to write anything lately, I hope that I can change this but I am not a writer so I find keeping a blog to be difficult!
So I figured for today I am just going to list the shows that I have in the next couple months!

I am hoping to be at the Harvest Moon Festival in Clearwater, MB on Sept 17 from 10am to 4pm

Morris Craft and Bake Show in Morris MB Oct 15 10am to 3pm

Morris Ladies Night in Morris MB November 4 6pm to 11:30pm

Morden Art & Craft Sale in Morden MB 10am to 4pm

Creative Collections at Crescentwood Community Center Winnipeg MB 10am to 4pm

Mall in the Hall Glenwood Community Center Winnipeg MB 10am to 4pm

Tuxedo Community Centre Holiday Craft Sale Winnipeg MB 10am to 3pm

I will add more if I manage to get into anymore sales in the coming months!
Thanks

Welcome to Krystal Ring Kreations!

Hi, My name is Kristin and I am a Chainmaille Jewelry Artist!

I enjoy making Chainmaille and love it when someone else likes my work!

If you want to see my Pieces you can check them out on ETSY
and ArtFire

You can also find me on FaceBook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Thanks for stopping by!

On the Hunt! Catching Me Some Fruit Flies!

So for some reason we have an infestation of fruit flies (seems to happen every year around this time, not sure why)!
I finally hit my breaking point with the little buggers and have decided to evict them to the wild out doors that is out back yard!

I started by taking a glass and adding a splash of Apple Cider Vingar, and about an inch of apple juice, take some saran wrap and secure it to the glass(I used a pony tail/hair tie I seen laying on the counter)

Then I took a fork and stabbed the top a few time to give the little buggers a great entrance!

Place your nifty little trap in an area that seems to be a popular hang out the our flying friends!

Just make sure to keep an eye on it cause those little guys seem to be able to get in no problem but have a hard time making it back out so once you get a bunch inside your glass you will need to set them free in a fly friendly location (I choose our back deck) just lift the top off and blow in the glass a bit to encourage them to freedom! Replace top and put it back to catch a few more, maybe even move it around the house if they seem to be scattered! (I currently have mine sitting next to some ripe Bananas)

Congratulations you have just freed numerous Fruit Flies from the confines of your home!

St. Norbert Farmers Market

So I have officially survived 2 Wednesday markets and will be returning for a third this upcoming Wednesday! Is much quieter and relaxed than the Saturday Market but still filled with an interesting selection of vendors! Jewelry of all kinds, produce, henna tattoos, sewing, baking, flowers and so much more. I just wish I had more money to spend but since making money is the idea of going to the market to begin with I will just have to continue to live without all this wonderful things!

The weather forecast for next Wednesday has went from being 35 degrees and sunny to 32 with a chance of showers! I can only hope that the temperature will go down a little more yet before the Market cause I am not sure what will happen if it is that hot! We all might melt into puddles by the time it is over!

Anyway the market runs from Noon to 6 on Wednesdays so come on out and enjoy the day!

Canada Bracelet

Oh Canada Collection!

Oh Canada!!

Curated By: KrystalRingKr...

ArtFire.com

Craft Tutorials

PlayDough for sale!

So I decided that since my Play dough I made turned out so nice and Cassidy really loved playing with it I figured why not share the love!
So I am going to be making a bunch of Play Dough to sell at the Farmers Market!
I do hope that they sell other wise I am going to have a heap of playdough on my hands, or in my fridge I mean!

I hope to make 8 different colors and sell them individually in those ziplock style containers! I haven't decided on a price yet but I will try to keep it reasonable!

Homemade Play Dough!

So I made a batch of Play Dough the other day and I have to brag and say that it turned out beautiful!
My Girl had a lot of fun playing with it! I don't know how long it will stay good I am storing it in the fridge so that it will last longer!

My Girl and her Purple Dough! After I took this pic she just wanted my camera so that ended the Dough playing!

Here is the recipe I used, I have seen this same recipe online a few times so I am not sure where it came from originally but it works marvelous!

1 Cup White Flour
1/2 Cup Salt
2 TBS Cream of Tartar
1 TBS Oil (I used light Olive Oil, but I think any Vegetable oil would work fine)
1 Cup Water
Food Coloring (be prepared to use lots I used over 40-50 drops)

Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add Water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3-5 minutes, the dough will become difficult to stir and form together. Remove from stove and place in a bowl and add food coloring, knead for 5 minutes! Make sure to keep it covered in a sealed container or plastic bag when not in use so it doesn't dry out! I put mine in the fridge!

You can also flavor your dough with extracts, I think lemon, peppermint, or vanilla would be nice and I will have to try it when my girl is a little older! Cinnamon can be added to the dry ingredients for a nice holiday dough!

ArtFire & Etsy

I now have a Studio at ArtFire and a shop at Etsy ! My new ArtFire studio is just starting out but I have hopes that it will do well! I plan to keep my Etsy Shop as I do not mind it there the fees just suck! So have a gander over to my shops and let me know what you think! I also have a Mini Blog over at Tumblr as well as my FaceBook Page and Twitter ! So I am keeping busy!

Summer Markets

So I sent in an application for a local Farmers Market and I have been waiting for over a month to find out if I should be getting ready for this Market or not and it starts in under a month! I called the number on their website and left a message last week cause I just want to make sure they got my application since I haven't heard anything I am starting to wonder!
I don't want to leave a bunch of messages and sound like some kind of crazy lady, I just want to know what is going on!
I am starting to turn into a crazy lady just waiting for any info!

Bare Foot in the Grass!

My babe ran around outside barefoot today! Spring is here and summer is around the corner! She was so cute and not sure about walking on the grass but she got used to it and even ventured out to walking on the crushed rock! I can hardly walk on the driveway barefoot but she was cruising! I guess when you only weigh 25 lbs it isn't as hard on your feet!

Now we just have to enjoy the warm weather before the mosquitoes decide to make an appearance!

Soaps!

So all my soaps are now ready to go! I just have to decide on a price for them! This seems to be the most difficult part of all, I am starting to get a handle on pricing my jewelry and now I have to figure out how to price soap! I have a wide range of types and sizes! I have Peppermint bars that are quite thick and Sweet Orange Bars that are a lot smaller! Olive oil soap that is in between and Lime scented ones that are a completely different shape! I just not sure where to start, but I guess I will have to do my best and if I mess up it will probably all be OK!

Crosses fingers!

Free Shipping!

I have been neglecting my blog lately and feel that it is time that I pay it a little attention!

I have been slowly switching all my items over to have Free Shipping to USA and Canada, and I know how everyone love to get something for free even if it is just shipping, but I know that free shipping is one thing that gets me excited cause I just hate shipping costs added to my bill after I have decided how much I will allow myself to spend and then the shipping puts me over and then I either have to bite the bullet and pay more than planned or just give up on the whole idea and more often than not I just say screw it and buy nothing!

So since I haven't finished switching over all my items I am offering a coupon for FREE SHIPPING on all my items!  Please feel free to use this coupon to get free shipping on your order! Just enter the code " FREESHIP " at checkout! KrystalRingKreations

Little Girl growing up so fast!

So my baby turned two the other day and we decided it was time for her to leave her crib days behind her and switch her to a toddler bed! Since DH was on the road and my Mom is back from San Diego she helped me convert her Crib to a Toddler bed, which is a simple process but you just feel like you need about 8 extra limbs to do! Anyway so we manage to get it all changed around and put the new Ladybug bedding on her bed and DD manages to get in but can't figure out how to get out! Then we had a revelation, my Mom had a set of those Doggy steps to help dogs get up on furniture but her dog has never used them so we put them up against her bed and away she went in and out of her bed! Oh so cute!

Then came the real test would she sleep in it and not fall out! Well she went to bed no problem and slept straight through till morning when she woke up she climbed out of her bed and came to my room and woke me up! and to my surprise she also had a dry diaper so I took her potty! and away she went! I consider it to be a smashing success!

She is currently in her bed sound asleep! aaahhhh!

I also managed to reduce her toys and books to less than a 1/4 of what she had! She had so many she didn't even know what to play with and the house was wall to wall toys! Now it all fits nice in her shelving unit with room to spare! Hope we can keep it like that! Here is an after picture! One of those buckets is empty so just in case we have extra room!

Now the toys are currently in the basement hiding from the Monster Child who likes to spread them all over the house! I hope she can get some valuable play time with less instead of just scaling the mountain of toys and being overwhelmed by the choices!

Birthday Season

For some unknown reason the end of March is Birthday Season! My Daughter just had her birthday yesterday (2 years old already!) as well as my MIL and 2 friends of ours! Hy Hubby's Birthday is today as well as our niece who is 3 today! There are more in the family as well!

What is up with March? Some unseen force causing all these birthdays in March or does it have something to do with July long weekend since that is most likely when they were conceived!

Well all that matters is that they are here in my life now! So here I am wishing all the Birthday's of March a Happy Birthday! Hope you all enjoyed your cake and ate it too!

Measure Up!

I usually don't find the time to make treasuries put today I sat down and put my mind to it and created this cool one! Everything is made from Measuring Tapes! I would never have thought you could do so much with a measuring tape, I just use mine to measure with!!! Anyway here it is http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d8945d669646d91835ef1da/measure-up

So Spring is here!

Apparently spring has decided to show it's face in the great white north! The snow has turned from brilliant white to either brown or a dull gray with black smudges all over it. Not to mention the skating rink our driveway has become due to melting during the day and freezing at night! Some grass is starting to peek though, but unfortunately in these parts spring can also bring flooding and this year they are forecasting a big one!

Chances are we will have to evacuate while the water threatens and creeps up to our homes! Needless to say I am not excited Evacuating with a toddler is going to be quite a headache but I am sure that we will survive!

Currently I don't know when we will be evacuating but I am thinking I should at least start making a list of things I can't forget!

On a plus I have been busy creating and making some new items for my shop! I have these new star earrings that are adorable! At least I think they are here is a shot

I am having trouble deciding if I should have sterling hooks on these or just regular hooks! So far I have done both the Yellow and Blue pairs have steel hooks and the rest have Sterling! The sterling hooks doubles what I have to charge for them but they would still be under $10! Would you pay more for sterling hooks? I know I would since I can't use cheaper hooks since my ears quickly start to resemble Dumbo if I do! Should I give an option or just pick one and stick with it? I would prefer to just stick with sterling but that means I will have to purchase more hooks which I currently don't have the extra funds to do! Maybe I will steal hooks off some of my earrings I made a couple years ago and are just sitting around, hey now that's a good idea!

Did I just have a full conversation with myself? Well as long as I wasn't arguing and losing that is all that matters right!

Anyway thanks for reading if you are still with me after all those ramblings! Please feel free to leave some thoughts below I would love to know what you think!

Saturday Night Special

Hope everyone checks out the 10% off sale I am having in my shop today just use Code SNS3192011 at checkout! It will be running till 3am Est Sunday the 20th of March! www.krystalringkreations.com

You can also find more sales at Saturday Night Special !

My Light Box

This week I thought I would show everyone who is interested how I made my almost free light box! I know that a lot of you already either bought or made a light box but there is always a few who are not able to buy one and just don't know where to begin in making one. So this is for you!

I took a clear frosted storage bin(found mine in the basement) and put it on it's side took to crane type lights(bought ours a few years ago to use at shows) then place a piece of white paper or nice material inside so it covers the back and bottom (at first I used a piece of a poster board I had left over from another project till I found a nice piece of satin while cleaning up a back room!) Put your camera on a tripod (bought mine at Dollarama, but it is starting to wear out and will need to be replaced soon)!

Now turn on your lights, place items inside, adjust lights and item till they look good, set your timer on your camera and voila you can take your pretty picture!

Now sunlight is the best lighting to use but if you live where it is hard to come by this is a good substitute! My lights use halogen bulbs but if you want the best effect try to use daylight bulbs(Home Depot should have them) and there you go! Not a perfect light box but it does the trick and can be made with stuff you have on hand or relatively inexpensive items!

If you have some good tips on picture taking please comment below!

Saturday Night Special

My sale of 10% off with code SNS31211 will be running till 6am Est time on Sunday March 13th, 2011 at Krystal Ring Kreations!

Also don't forget to check out all the sales on the Saturday Night Special ! There is no need to join the SNS team, just browse through the sales and see if one spikes you interest!

My First Post

Wow I never thought that I would ever have a blog! But here I am typing away! Anyway I just wanted to welcome everyone to my blog and let you all know that I will try to think of something interesting to write at least once a week!
I have never been one for writing so I hope that you can all bare with me as I stumble around in the dark here and try to provide an interesting read!
If you care to check out my Etsy store where I sell Chainmaille Jewelry, Knitted items and someday soon I hope to have a selection of Handmade Soaps here is the link www.krystalringkreations.com or if you look to the right there should be a preview of my store!

Thank you for reading!
Kristin