Let's find the key and turn this engine on.

I'm so excited. Tomorrow night I'm going to karaoke at Barbara's Pavillion in super-cool-and-hip Oak Cliff to celebrate my mom's birthday. On the line-up I plan to sing John Waite's "I Ain't Missin' You" and Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight." If I'm lucky, my girl Jen will sing the Ronnie Spector back-up vocals for me. She'll be the Spector to my Money. (huh?)

I freakin' love Eddie Money. So much so that I bought this up-cycled journal on Etsy yesterday:


FRONT


BACK

This notebook is almost as cool as my bright red Trapper Keeper from 6th grade...almost.

Is Anthropologie stalking me?

I'm flattered. I really am. So I get a message in my inbox just now about new Anthropologie clothes for the Fall season. Every time they send me an email I check out their jewelry to see what's new and exciting. Just now I was looking over some of their new necklaces and had several "Nuh-uh, no way!" moments. I swear, they ganked my designs and made their own! Okay, probably not, but the similarities are uncanny. Sadly, I can't post pics off their site b/c they are protected now, but I'll show you my design and then a link to their piece. Here we go; you be the judge-diggity:


Tefi's Dancing Koi necklace vs. Anthro's One-Act necklace


Tefi's Owl necklace vs. Anthro's Thinker & Feeler necklace


Tefi's Bloodstone necklace vs. Anthro's Chrysalis necklace


Tefi's Catch of the Day necklace with Anthro's Catch of the Day necklace (The eerieness is solely in the name, not the design.)

Aaaand then I sorta kinda like maybe just a little bit stole this idea from them:


Tefi's Farrah necklace vs. Anthro's Cloisonne Blossom necklace

Darnit I love Anthropologie. Commission me already! (Pretty please?)

Etsy Dallas!

For those of you yet to discover the wonderful world of Etsy, get your mouse clickin' over to www.etsy.com. You'll find yourself lost among the earrings, scarves, art prints and more that the world's handmade crafters have to offer - Tefi included!

Just to give you a refresher, I have two shops open at Etsy: one that sells my handmade jewelry, and one that sells beads and supplies straight out of my own stash.

There is so much greatness on Etsy that it's hard to stand out. So I decided to start Etsy Dallas. Etsy Dallas is what the Etsy gurus refer to as a "street team," a group of people in the same location who band together to promote themselves, each other, and Etsy.

Last week I sent a slew of emails to fellow Etsy crafters in Dallas and was overwhelmed by the positive responses. So far, the following is a list of current and active Etsy Dallas members:

One Up Designs - modern wall graphics
Atom-In - magnets, clips
Sea Dream Studio - collage jewelry
Shayo - graphic art/prints
Sweet Papery - custom-made rubber stamps
B-licious - bags/baby goods/fabric crafts
Tefi Designs (facilitator) - handcrafted jewelry

Want to join us? Well then:
1) You must have an Etsy shop that is current and stocked. It's okay if you haven't made any sales or are new to etsy.
2) You must guarantee that all of your products are handmade by you or are supplies for crafters/artists (beads, commercial yarn, paint, etc.)
3) You must live in the Dallas area (the metroplex).

If you meet these guidelines, we'd love to have you! Send me an email and we'll get you on board. In the meantime, I'll be coming up with an initial banner and logo. Then we'll start meeting and brainstorming on how we can promote our Etsy shops to buyers and crafty-aficianados in the Dallas area. Exciting! Here's a taste of what Etsy Dallas has to offer:


Owl collage by ShayO


Juliet Primrose bag by B-licious


Frida Kahlo earrings by Sea Dream Studio


Halloween custom address stamp by Sweet Papery


Opulent wall graphic decals by One Up Designs


Peapod I by yours truly

1 2 3 4, Tell me that you love me more...

This is my new favorite video. I bought Feist's new album a couple weeks ago and love it tremendously. Her voice is a lot like Cat Power's but her style is sweeter and folksier. Her look kinda reminds me of Patti Smith back her CBGB days, but Feist has glam. Just check out this video. I wish they'd ask me to be in it! It looks so fun. It's one continuous shoot and the choreographer is fantastic! (And yes, it's the video from the new Ipod ad.)

I heart Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is my one truest software love. Pricey tho it is, it has allowed me to clean up those tacky, unprofessional pics I snap of my jewelry, bringing out the true colors, brightening the background, sharpening the details. I also get to make super cool banners for my etsy shop. Check out my latest (You get a better view here.): I'm also totally smitten with Big Huge Labs. You can make all sorts of neat-o things with your photos. Here're a couple things I made - the first is a mosaic for my recent newsletter and the second is just me goofing around: Weren't the 80's a hoot and a holler?

Holy Cow!

This rock I've been living under has been fabu. No really, where in the world has Tefi been? Move over Matt Lauer - there's a new sheriff in town.

I have been dosing on antibiotics to get rid of this lymphatic mumbo jumbo working its mojo in my neck. Sometimes I wonder if swollen lymph nodes aren't better than yucky nausea. But no matter. The Tef does not stop for any illness! I totally overhauled my website, deleting pages that I no longer use, rearranging the layout of the jewelry pieces and updating some stale photography. Not too shabby if I do say so myself (and uh, I just did).

Also, I've got a ton of new designs photographed and posted on my website and in my etsy store. Here's a little sneak peek:


Bloodstone $45 (the Luxe collection)


Sweet V.I.N.CENT $36 (the Wired collection)


Rory $48 (the Pottery Shard collection)