Weekend Deals on Etsy - Buy one, Get One!

Gosh, I feel so car salesman-y.... But, I am holding a Buy One, Get One Free sale in my Etsy shop this weekend. For every item you buy, you get these earrings free. Just enter "weekend deal" in the "Notes to Seller" during checkout. So, get some holiday shopping done!

There are TONS of Etsy sellers doing the same all weekend long. Click Here for just a sample. You can also search "weekend deals" on the home page and get a ton more results of shop owners offering Buy One, Get One deals.

Have a great weekend!

Quiet night...

Well, a super busy week came to an end...all the family is gone - even my hubby is gone out of town. So, it's just me and the dogs and a seriously delicious dinner. I thought I would treat myself to a bit of a naughty dinner tonight...butternut squash pasta with brown butter. A couple weeks ago, hubby and I went to a little restaurant, La Medusa, and had a delicious dinner. I had a pumpkin pasta and just had to try and recreate it. Now, I'm no recipe writer, but I will do my best....

BUTTERNUT SQUASH PASTA AND BROWN BUTTER

Ingredients

1/2 butternut squash

1 shallot - diced

1 clove of garlic

small handful of sage leaves

dash of nutmeg

2/3 cup of ricotta

1/3 cup yogurt

Olive oil

salt and pepper

2 TBSP butter

pasta sheets

freshly grated parmesan

Directions

Preheat oven to 425

Peel the butternut squash and cut into small bite size pieces. Toss with a little olive oil and salt and pepper and roast for about 30 minutes.

While the butternut squash is roasting, saute the shallot and sage leaves for about 5 minutes, adding the garlic at the last minute or so. Cook your pasta according to the package. I used lasagna sheets, but I would have liked to use fresh pasta sheets. They are shorter and wider and just seem cooler. However, if you are less lazy than me, you could make ravioli too.

Stick the shallot mix and butternut squash in a food processor and add the ricotta, nutmeg and yogurt. Puree and add salt and pepper to taste.

Put the butter in a saute pan on medium to medium high for a few minutes until it starts bubbling and turns brown.

Place a couple pasta sheets in a bowl and add some of the squash mixture. Top with the brown butter and parmesan. Enjoy.

New Goodies!!

I've spent the last couple days making bezels, setting stones, filing, sawing, polishing...Whee! So, here they are....Look for these new goodies in my Etsy Shop in the next couple days. I will hopefully have time to post them super soon. More jewelry tomorrow and a super fun weekend coming up. My mom will be here and it's my sister's birthday, so lots of good stuff coming up!

Oh, and check out the pink Opal ring in the middle...remember that stone?? Oh my gosh, I am in love with it...

Studio Song

So, the White Denim album "Fits" just came out today - so now I can finally download my new favorite song - "Regina Holding Hands" - perfect for a day in the studio. Go ahead and take a listen - make sure to give the song 1 minute and 20 seconds and you'll fall in love...

I'm hoping to take some photos of all the goodies I've been working on in the next couple days...so keep your eyes peeled for those on my blog and in my Etsy Shop. Then, Thursday my mom comes for a visit - Hi Mom! (She's the only person who reads my blog, I think :). A good couple weeks coming up...

New stone setting projects

Ooooo...here are a few fun stones. I've been working on a few of them already. The big pink one is actually an Opal from Greece. I got it from a guy who got it from THE guy who found it and cut it in Greece. You will be surprised when you see what I'm doing with it...Oh, I love it! Then there are 3 Labradorite stones (1 bigger and round and the other 2 smaller and square), a Peruvian Opal - the triangular shaped one and then a Chrysoprase. It will be fun to show you what I do with them all! Wheeee!

A little blog love...

I had a really nice little blog feature this morning in the Seattle PI featuring my holiday collection! The blog is written by a gal who runs the Urban Fashion Network here in Seattle.

Very nice!

Now off to get my hair done. Nothing like a fresh cut and color...it's going to be a good day!

Launching my Holiday Collection '09

It's here! I am so excited to release and announce my Erin Jane Designs Holiday '09 Collection! It's only about 20 new pieces, but they are all FANTASTIC and so perfect for dressing up for the holidays, gift giving plus lots of basics for day or evening. Something for everyone! It's such a great feeling to have been able to include items that have soldered elements. For so long I've had design ideas that I've thought I can't do because I don't solder...well, not anymore! Yippee! I've been working so hard learning these new techniques and having even more fun. I'd love to hear from you on what you think of the new designs. Leave comments or email me at erin at erinjanedesigns.com.

Here's a little peek at what you'll see...

Metalsmithing and other new endeavors...

Wow, I've been so busy! A couple months or so ago, I decided to give metalsmithing a try. I've taken a couple classes before, but never really applied the things I learned in my own studio - thinking I couldn't have all that fancy equipment in my house, plus I wasn't ready or willing to spend the money. But, in fact, you can do a whole lot with some pretty basic tools...and a whole lot of patience. To refresh my memory, I bought a few books for reference and gave it a go. Oh! And YouTube! Good god there is a ton of cool stuff on there. Tutorials galore. I started with just some basics - soldering posts on to earrings, soldering circles and hoops closed, etc...I loved it! It was so satisfying. Since then I've set a few stones and even made a few rings! I can't even tell you how much fun I've been having. The items I've been making have been taking forever though. I'm used to pumping out tons of pieces of jewelry a day, but with some of these new techniques that I'm still a novice at, I can only get a few done a day - at the most :).

I'm also getting ready to release a small holiday collection for Erin Jane Designs. I'm hoping to get my photos finished, pricing done and launched on the website in the next couple weeks. I haven't released a new line since last spring, so I'm pretty excited. You'll see a lot of examples of my soldering...I couldn't really get enough. I'll keep you updated and also post some teaser photos :). Some seriously cool stuff.

One of my favorite (and most time consuming!) items I did recently, is this ring. I'll be putting it in my Etsy shop SOON! Here is a photo after I made the band, bezel and backplate and pulled it out of the pickle - plus the crystal quartz stone I would soon set. Then, the after...bling!!

I'm also working on a necklace setting - it's still a work in progress. Ugh, and it might be for a while. I'm having such a hard time polishing these little guys. I'm learning that there are still so many tools that I still need to make the job easier.

More to come soon...!