April Fools : Shop Handmade

Can anyone explain to me why moustaches are so popular on Etsy? They are like a disease; there are necklaces, pencils, coffee cups, kids clothes, and everything in between.  I know it’s the novelty that has kept them on Etsy front pages for over a year, but why the moustache?  Anyway, I did include some in this treasury, but also check out the rest of these items; Etsy crafters sure make some hilarious things.

Vacation : LA & San Diego

I've traveled all over the west coast for work to places like Los Angeles, Waikiki, and Seattle.  But, I've never stayed a while to be a tourist and I've never brought Matt with me.  I had a great excuse this past weekend to finally stay a while and bring Matt with me.  My brother who recently moved to San Diego was in a performance of the Little Shop of Horrors and I didn't want to miss it.
Here is a recap of our trip in photos:
Thursday: we spent the morning hiking to the Hollywood sign.  There were amazing views of the city.
We continued our Thursday by visiting the job site in Malibu, having lunch on the Malibu Pier, checking out Madame Tussaud's and then saw our first hockey game at the Staples Center.

Friday: We drove down to San Diego from LA.  It's about a three hour trip.  We got to stop at Stone Brewing Co. on the way - what an incredible place, good food and good beer.  We had a chance to catch up with Bryan before his opening night and then saw Sam Tripoli at The Comedy Store in La Jolla.

Saturday & Sunday: We spent all day exploring the parts of San Diego we haven't visited before.

• The Little Italy Saturday farmer's market
• Old Town where we had the best margarita in San Diego (probably because it was only $5)
• Visited Ballast Point Brewery and home brew shop
• Saw Bryan's play which was phenomenal!  He played the dentist in the Little Shop of Horrors. 
• Ate breakfast at The Mission (by far the best breakfast in all of San Diego)
• Went to a craft brew and local food festival!
• Walked the beach on Coronado and tasted the beers at the Coronado Brewery
• Ended our vacation with a dinner in Little Italy.  I know this will cause arguments, but Little Italy in San Diego puts the North End in Boston to shame.

Most people relax on vacation - we like to go on adventures.  Now that I listed everything we did, I can't believe we fit it all in! 

About Meg : The Day Job

There is something I didn’t mention in my introduction post.  Between stringing pearls, networking with other crafters, being an awesome wife, stocking my panty with homemade sauces and granola, brewing beer, exploring the outdoors, training for another century bike ride, and sleeping;
I have a day job.

Actually I have a 7-7, commute to California every other week, high stress job in corporate American and it isn’t half bad. 

I’m a project manager for a national construction company that is based in Boston.  I’ve been working there since I graduated from college.  I work on high end restaurants and some are even for celebrity chefs.  I enjoy the designers I work with and helping their vision become real.  This week, I was on another site visit, which may or may not be on Malibu Beach J

I'm lucky this week that Matt was able to join me for a mini vacation.  We explored LA yesterday and are headed to San Diego today to visit my brother.  I'll tell you all about our trip when we get back.

About Meg : The Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog – Miss Meghan Elizabeth.  Just a few months ago I started Etsy Shop where I sell my handmade jewelry.  Crafting has always been a hobby of mine and right now I’m using Miss Meghan Elizabeth as my creative outlet and I love it.  The next step for me is my blog – where I want to share my ideas, other crafts, and my favorite adventures.

I was planning on doing a classic “Etsy” artist interview as my introduction blog post, but they are all the same and I want you to actually finish reading this post.  Instead, I’m going to share some of my topic ideas and hope that you’ll comment and tell me what you’re most excited to read.

• My incredible husband and best friend: I plan on featuring our many adventures, including out goal this year of hiking one summit each month
• My sister is getting married next summer and the planning has started: I can’t wait to share my tips on making your own invites.
• I am a huge advocate of shopping local and plan on reviewing craft fairs, introducing you to local artists, and celebrating holidays with handmade finds.
• Farmers Market Finds: I’m just as passionate about coking as I am with my jewelry, possibly more.  I plan on sharing recipes, cooking tips, reviewing Food Network Magazine each month, and introducing you to lots of craft beer.
• I’m completely self taught in jewelry making and I’ll share with you the engineering process when I develop new designs.
• And of course, shameless promotions featuring my jewelry collections, new items, and what’s selling.

So that’s my intro and I hope at least one of my features has left you excited to come back for more.  I would love it if you’d leave a comment and tell me which one – or maybe you have another idea for my blog!

Thanks so much,

Meg

Happy St. Patrick's Day

My Irish Green Hand Knotted Pearl Necklace

Happy St. Patrick's Day from me to you!
Even if you're not Irish, everyone has fun on this green wearing, Irish kissing, beer drinking holiday.

This will be my second St. Patrick's day with an Irish last name.  This might sound silly, but when I married Matt and changed my name I was so excited to have a completely Irish name: Meghan Kearney.

So Cheers to you! What kind of beer will you be celebrating with?  Matt and I will be enjoying our homebrew of an english pub ale.  Oh yeah, in addition to making pretty jewelry, my husband and I make our own beer - I promise to blog about that another time!

Erin go Bragh!

New Listings : Turquoise Pearl Collection

Thank you to my new followers and to everyone that checked out my first blog post!  I'm excited to continue to update you on the progress of my new buisness as well as help you learn more about me.

On Sunday I featured my turquoise pearl collection.  I've just finished listing the rest of the items and now the entire collection is available at my Etsy shop.

Check out the Turquoise Collection and feel free to poke around the shop while you're there!

Turquoise Pearls : Miss Meghan Elizabeth : Collections

Visit the entire turquoise collection available at etsy.com


A large part of being an Etsy seller, is also being a supportive Etsy buyer.  Now that I’ve settled into a design niche with my jewelry I’ve begun sourcing my materials from other Etsy sellers. (Share the Etsy Love!) 

get this dress

I found these vibrant turquoise dyed freshwater pearls from Uncommon Beads and couldn't pass them up.

Turquoise is one of my most favorite colors because it reminds me of summer!  This collection would pair beautifully with all kinds of summer dresses. 



 About the designs:

Turquoise Cluster Pearl Earrings – Sterling Silver

Together, these earrings uses fourteen pearls wire wrapped onto sterling silver chain.  The earrings hang 1 ¾” from the top of the ear wire.  The ear wires are high quality sterling silver and can be worn by anyone with metal allergies.

Meghan’s Turquoise Freshwater Pearl Cluster Necklace

The Pearl Cluster is my signature design, and when I had enough turquoise pearls left over from the rest of the collection, I had to make a cluster.  The pendant hangs from an 18” sterling silver chain adorned with a small clear Swarovski crystal at the clasp.

Elizabeth’s Pearl and Sterling Necklace - Hand Knotted

This piece is a completely new design that I’m very excited about, so excited that it got its own name: The Elizabeth. This piece is made up of an 8” hand knotted pearl strand finished with a sterling silver chain and lobster clasp.  It is designed to be worn two ways, checkout the pictures below for the examples.  It can be worn as a short 16” pearl necklace or, it can be worn as a long 20” asymmetrical necklace.  I think the versatility of this piece makes is very unique – and a must have in your jewelry collection.