My vow to get organized. Just watch.

Steve's band Strawfoot had a show on Friday night at the Lucus School House in Soulard. That place is very cool. No smoking. You do not find that in St. Louis very often. They played along with "The Bottom's Up Blues Gang" and a burlesque act. I was curious to see what this burlesque act would be like. It was great! The girls were very theatrical, a little silly, but fun with their plungers and yellow plastic cleaning gloves dancing around on stage taking most of their clothes off. This was after their solo act. They climbed up on stage and danced around. So silly. Before that my roomate Beth and I went to our friend's parent's house who just so happens to be the chancellor of Washington University. They had a bowling alley in the basement. That's all I think I have to say.

It snowed this weekend! Unfortunately it did not last very long. There are very few lingering remnants of snow. I need at least one good snow a year. I love the snow. Not too many people agree with me here in St. Louis, but I think it is beautiful. It always puts me in a good mood. Although it was not the best snow we ever had, Steve and I pretended like we were snowed in. We watched movies all day and I made butternut squash soup. And we drank Bailey's and coffee.

My goal is to get extremely organized. I have to be one of the most unorganized people that I know. My car is a mess! and it is brand spankin new. I am going to get so organized that I am able to produce a piece of jewelry every day, I wrote a children's book a long time ago that I have yet to illustrate. On my snow day, I created a couple of characters for the book, and am going to try to work a little on that each day, and also am going to teach myself how to sew. I need a variety of things in order to keep my interest and creativity at it's peak. I made a bracelet today. My first bracelet...I have not decided if I am going to put this one up for sale yet. The more I look at it, the more I like it, but I did not like it when I first finished. I am always like that though. I spend so much time on something, and when I am done, I have trouble not hating it for a little bit. So here it is:

"Branch" Bracelet--a piece a day
(sterling silver, vintage tin)

Ugly hands

I have man hands. All of this filing and cutting. Wooh! And I about cut my finger off today. Those damn birds. But I think they turned out nicely. I'd wear them around my neck. I love making jewelry, especially this "a piece a day" thing, because I have a new accessory to try out every day. Not that I am wearing the merchandise, just making sure that it lays nicely, or nothing weird happens while it's on. So back to my hands...they are crusty and a tad black as you might see in the picture. (which will be posted soon...my batteries died in my camera) They smell like liver of sulfur, not that I have not washed them. And they hurt, I am not complaining, I just find it comical about how ugly my hands have turned. All of the nails are uneven because I file a chunk off of a different nail everyday. There is no point in a manicure because it would be a waste of money being that it would last about five minutes after I started filing jewelry. Liver of sulfur is also stained under my nails. MMMM! lovely. Not to mention the cool scars I have from my bite wound. It is all worth it though. Dogs and jewelry! I will give up the beauty of my hands for the two.

"Goldie Hawn" a piece a day
(sterling silver, patina on copper necklace)

Visit from Chi-town!

This weekend my friend Amy came to visit from Chi-town. Unfortunately I felt a little under the weather, but I still had a great time and am feeling better today. We ran all over town, and I don't know if it was because I was sick or because I am old that I felt so worn down. I love my friend Amy. She said that she was going to start a blog of her own, and I think that is a great idea, because she is one of the most hilarious people that I know.

Today in the news...two of Saddam Hussein's main men were hung, one, his stepbrother was decapitated from the hanging. And it was all over the news. And I would not mention it again, but I think it is rather ironic that it is MLK day and people are celebrating the execution of these men. I do not think, no matter how horrible people are, they deserve to have celebration of their deaths. It is inappropriate. I do not understand what is wrong with this world that we live in. Where do people come from that are so heartless. I wish there was a way to rid the world of all of it's hardship. I think if Martin Luther King had a choice, we would have a vigil for the two men who lost their lives today. Our world deserves better.

On the lighter side of life, I finished a pair of earrings today. They are birds. I have an obsession with birds as of late. There is something free and wonderful about them. I had a wood pecker in my tree out front yesterday, and it inspired me. I am going to start bird watching.

Silhouette of a Robin--a piece a day
(patina on copper, fresh water pearls, and 14k gf wire)

Please ignore the crappy photo. I am not quite set up yet for good inside photography. But, watch and I will improve. I am wanting to buy a new camera. Something small with a good amount of megapixels and whatever else I would need to take good photographs of jewelry and anything else my little heart desires. I took a photography class in college, and I did not really learn much, especially about digital. So, I need to relearn. If anyone has any suggestions for a compact digital camera, by all means, please let me know.

It is so cold outside. I have these puppies, and they go to the bathroom like a hundred times a day, and it is so hard to stand out there waiting, and waiting, while they play and frolick, and don't pee or poo. They are lucky they are so cute. I kind of get lost in their silliness even with the 20 degree weather. Here are some more recent photos of the cuties. I cannot even handle how cute they are. Moose is a monster. They are only 8 weeks old, and I can hardly pick up the Moose anymore. Brownie is super smart and jumped the gate from the kitchen today because she can't live without me. But, she is in her kennel right now sound asleep. They are getting spade and neuter and all of the good stuff from the vet tomorrow. Wish them luck!

I don't have a lot of time, but I made a new piece today and I wanted to get it posted. I am applying for a couple of shows tonight, and I am having trouble deciding which pieces to submit. I never thought it would be so hard, but I think I have spent too much time with the pieces to make a good decision. Anyway, here is my new piece.

Venus--a piece a day

Finding the time

Today was my first real full day of making jewelry. I finished two pieces. It feels so good to be doing what I love to do all day. Steve and I were talking earlier about how hard it is to find time to do those things that you love. Like when you feel guilty for painting or making jewelry or hanging out with puppies because there are other things that are more important that need to be done. So, I decided to make the thing I love my job. And when I am sitting there grinding metal, I feel very happy that I now am required to make jewelry because it is my job and my lively hood.

My new plan is to make a new piece of jewelry every day and post it. Kind of like the a painting a day sites, but with jewelry. Meanwhile, I will work on bigger more intricate pieces. Today is lucky day, because I finished a daily piece, and a more intricate necklace. This will not happen every single day for a while, because I still am working at County Glass. But the contract is almost completely approved and completely complete...forilla!

"Balanced" earrings--a piece a day


"Fly Away" necklace


This weekend my ma and I stopped into a place on 12th street in Soulard called Pets in the City. I started talking about the puppies I am fostering and the woman there is a part of an animal rescue called Gateway Pet Guardians. I will post a link to their website. I am going to adopt the puppies out through them. They have a great adoption policy and are sure to find the best possible homes for the pups. I think I may start volunteering with them as well. There will be an adoption event at the Petsmart on Kingshighway on Jan. 20th. If you would like to meet Moose or Brownie or any of their other great dogs, come on down.

Dogs, and Blogs, and Jobs...and the new year.

This is the mother of the puppies. The owner said that she is part chow, but she looks like part lab to me. And do not worry, her baby maker is being fixed as soon as she is ready, so the little mama will have no more pups.

Blackie was adopted! I'm sure the wonderful family who adopted her changed her name (which I would love to know), but I am so happy that she is going to have such a great home. Fifteen acres of land and an 11 year old to love her for the rest of her life. I think she is the perfect dog for an 11 year old. I don't know if I can top that home for the other two dogs. I am becoming rather attached to the other two. It is much easier to keep my two eyes on two dogs though. Moose is a hunka burnin' puppy love, and Brownie is the sweetest little girl in the world. Their homes are going to have to be awful special.

Other news...I've applied to two shows...one in IL called the Old Town Art Fair and the other Laumeier. I will find out of my acceptance in Feb for the one in IL and in March for Laumeier. There are a lot of other shows I will be applying to, so I will keep posted.

I began cleaning my "studio" basement. I should have taken pictures before I began. If there were laws against making jewelry in such a mess, I would be arrested. It is not too late to take pictures, because although I did a ton tonight, it still looks, to the unknowing eye, like I did nothing. So I will post before and afters...Amie getting organized. We shall see. Also, I took photos of my booth and how it will look for my first show. I am sure it will evolve over the years, but this is it for now. Instead of burlap, I decided to use the fabric I bought for a table cloth as my backdrop curtains. I bought some old furniture to display my jewelry. I think it matches the pieces I have made so far quite nicely.


I am still working at County Glass (my business), so the jewelry making is not as productive as I would like it to be. However, the sale of the business is getting closer! I can smell it. And then I will be free!It was a great experience owning and operating a glass business for three years, but I would have become a maniac crazier woman if I had continued much longer. The decisions I have made for this new year feel good. I hope everyone out there is looking forward to this year as much as I am. I would love to hear about the new and exciting decisions that you have made as well.

anti animal guy and jewelry

There is so much to be done over the next couple of weeks. My "studio", basement is a MESS! But that is the least of my concerns. I must finish the few pieces I would like to use for applying to shows. Here are a few of the works, some finished some still in progress.




All of the pieces are either made out of copper or sterling silver.
I am so nervous about the whole thing. It is exciting as well. Such a change of life. I have decided not to go back to social work school next semester in order to make jewelry and art full time. Lots of changes and big life decisions! We will see how it goes.

I also need to set up my booth again, since it blew over in my back yard after waiting for my attention for a couple of days after setup. Christmas happened and I had no time to get back to it. So, I just bought this tent, and it has two bent poles. I frustrate myself. I did not like how the burlap turned out, so I will be racking my little brain to try and figure something else out. I will be applying to shows soon, and should be getting responses pretty quickly, so we will see if this was a good or bad idea soon. Keep your fingers crossed.

I am sitting here watching David Letterman while I write this blog. The animal guy is on. It drives me batty that they do that. I think animal education is important, but I don't think it is good for the animals to be dragged in front of huge, loud crowds. I am not a big fan of the animal guy.

Puppy Christmas Craze

Christmas was nuts this year, especially after getting the three puppies on Christmas Eve. They are so cute though. I never reaIized how much work three puppies are. It seems like all I do is clean up doggy urine. Sometimes at Christmas time I just want to drop off the face of the earth. I love seeing everyone, but I wish there was more meaning to it. It seems like it is more of a stress for most than an enjoyable time. My family is huge, so it is a bunch of hustle and bustle with little time to talk to any one, much less everyone.

Here are some pictures of the puppies.They are 5 weeks old. So small to be taken from their mother, but she got sick and had to be separated after they were born. She is a sweet lady though. We are not sure what these pups are, but the mama looks like a chow/golden mix (but, I'm no expert). We know they have some husky in them, because they have blue eyes. That might be the baby daddy, but he has taken off leaving the mother to do all of the work. I think they are going to be nice sized dogs. Especially Moose. We have tentative homes for 2, but don't let that stop you from trying to adopt. We will be picky about the homes they go to, but if you have some love and attention to give to a puppy forever, we would definitely like for you to take one of these cuties home.

This is brownie. Very creative, I know. But if I name them too creatively I will get attached. Give me a couple of days. Brownie is a little quirky girl. She is independent from the other puppies more, but will sit on your lap and snuggle for hours. She was the scaredy dog shy one at first, but has come out of her shell and is probably the most energetic, playful one of the three. I think she will be the smallest.


The tan and white one in the back is Moose. Moose is a loving little guy. Very playful and snuggly. He has a big personality, and will be a fun, fun dog! I love Moose. I love them all, but I really love Moose.


Here is Blacky. I think she might be the smartest of the three. She is snuggly, and has recently been toted around a lot by a little 3 year old, so I think that she may be good with kids. Isn't she adorable!


I am thankful that Christmas is over. I am going to find a way to make it more enjoyable for myself for the rest of the years, because it is just too much at this point. Trying to please everyone, meanwhile pulling my hair out from driving to all corners of Missouri. Not to mention all of the consuming. I would just prefer for the rest of my life for people to donate money to "A Place to Bark" for Christmas for me. If I ever open my own rescue, you can donate to me. I think I am really lucky, and would prefer to help others who need it more.

Saturday was a bad day

Saturday, I closed Floyd's tail in my car door. It was locked and he was screaming and I couldn't get it open. So, when I went to unlock it he bit me. Suffice to say, he got himself out before I was able to actually open the door. Ouch! He ripped his tail. At that point I didn't realize that I had a bad bite wound on my hand. When I looked at my hand I thought I was going to pass out. It's not that bad, but it freaked me out. I think he came pretty close to the bone. So, I didn't go to the doctor, but I took poor Floydy pants to the vet. He had to wear one of those cones on his head, but it wasn't big enough and I've been shaking a can of pennies at him for about 72 hours every time he goes to lick his wound. Floyd still loves me, and I don't blame him for biting me.

My website has been slightly updated...if you click on the logo in the upper left hand corner it will take you to photos of my recent work. There will be more to come as soon as the puncture wounds on my hand heal.

I will be receiving at least three puppies this week that need a good home. If anyone is interested or knows anyone who might be interested I will post photos as soon as I get them.

Sewing together burlap...hmmm. As I mentioned earlier, I bought this twine, then I bought a needle that doesn't fit the twine and even taped together they will not fit through the burlap. So, I unraveled the twine. It's a lot of twine, so that took a while. It still doesn't fit. So, I went and bought eyelets. I still have to unravel all of the twine in order for it to fit through the eyelets. Welcome to my world. Again, I need to plan a little better, but I am going to have the rockinest booth ever!

If you have read previous blogs, I told a little joke about my fingers bleeding from making too much jewelry. Not a joke, apparently. It hurts to hold sharp metal objects for long periods of time, while grinding, and grinding, so, when you've grinded through your skin, you don't necessarily realize that you've hurt yourself because it already hurt really bad before that, thus the bleeding.

I will be applying to my first juried shows very soon. I sure do hope that I get into some of them, since I am no longer employed and do not have any other direction but to make jewelry. The designs occupy all of my extra brain space. They feed off of one another floating around in my head. It is super hard to withhold from executing ideas when I have other things that need to be done.

Other things...I have two dogs, Frankie--the good dog (chow chow, german shepherd mix) and Floyd--the horribly goofy and defiant schnauzer/lab mix. Floyd is a nuisance. He chews on walls, purposefully knocks things off tables with his big fat snout, has chewed approximately 16 pairs of underwear and 4 socks, plus 3 nice shirts and 1 not so nice shirt, also 2 bras in the six months that I've had him. He is turning into a rather expensive little creature. He also thinks my cat is a squirrel, except one he has trapped in his house, so she is for his own play/possible eating. Cerveza, the cat HATES Floyd. And I think before Floyd Cerveza was a pretty easy going, like all creatures type of cat. No mas, her trust has been broken by the Floyd forever. These are the Days of my Animals.

Besos! (as my friend Laura would say)

I almost have all of the necessary components for my booth. I have had a hard time finding very much info on putting a booth together for art fairs, especially jewelry, so, I thought I would share my experiences. I was going to use fabric to cover the inside of the walls of my booth. Has anyone ever priced fabric? My goodness it is expensive. So I'm going for a rustic look to match my jewelry, and I have these old burlap coffee bags, (boxes of them, don't ask why), in my basement. Ive decided to try to sew these bags together with twine. I didn't like the natural color of twine, so I thought I'd die it dark brown on my stove. What a mess! I don't know how many people asked me yesterday if I died my hands brown on purpose. Maybe I could have been a little more careful. I think that is the story of my life. To be more careful. Think before I move, so I don't run into furniture and such, don't stick your hands in a big vat of brown die, don't throw hot tweezers on your gas lines. No, I did not blow up my house, yet. That is the lesson for today regarding booth set up. Move slowly, so as not to bruise, blow up or make your hands look permanently dirty.

Also, I emailed the CEO of the RED campaign about making some jewelry for their campaign. He has not emailed back yet, so if anyone knows him, pop him a line and tell him that Amie King wants to help their cause with jewelry. Thanks in advance!

My first post! Am I Eking...this is my title because I've decided to sell myself, I mean my art online and I'm super afraid that people will not be able to find me or my website because of the way my parents spelled my name (after Pure Prairie League song). So, my grandma of 30 years I think has finally caught on to the spelling, but I'm sure many of my potential clients will not catch on so quickly. I'm going to try really hard to keep up with my blog. It is a little strange at this point to put it all out there. I think it will get easier with time.

I have finally decided to bite the big one, sell my business in order to pursue making art full time. wooh! I wake up in hot sweats at night over the whole thing, but I know that it is the right thing for me. I will soon be crunching out as many pieces as my little hands can manage without too much bleeding, so keep posted.

Oh! And I also want to save the world...hence the social work school. I am going to dedicate some of my jewelry to causes of worth. A portion of the proceeds will go to the cause of choice. I'd love to hear ideas on this.