Beach Vendors

The last time I was in Mexico (1987) I was in Mazatlan sitting on the beach getting a deep dark tan (we cared about NOTHING else) while dozens of tenacious men tried to sell us charms, rings and baskets they carried from turista to turista.  As 16 year olds we thought it was annoying.

Lets just re-think this...

This week, I can be sitting on a lounge chair, at the beach in Playa Del Carmen, and the vendors will be walking by with their wares.  They will be so eager to come 

to were I am comfortably lounging, and sell me things while I am quite in my  leisure..

No need to drag my jewelry suitcase from vendor to vendor, stopping only to unload into the trunk of my car.

Hmmmm!

Sign Me UP!!!

For you I will bring photos of many beautiful

Mexican joyos (jewels) for you to savor.

By the way, this is most definitely a no computer vacation,

see you next week!

Seeing Is Creating

My creative friend Deena Rutter, a brilliant graphic designer, gave me a great new use for a set of Ikea drawers that I have had for years.  I have been using it as my tool chest.

Kinda like the big red metal Sears Craftsmen jobber that the boys use out in the garage.

  I bought it to go under my work desk in my studio but when I got it put together, it didn't fit under the desk (Im not so strong with the measuring tape).  So It has been behind me while I work since.

Finally Ikea started making the drawers narrow enough to fit under a desk, so I bought one.

Funny thing is, once again it was too tall to fit under the desk, Drat, I swear to you I measured in the store.  So my very handy honey put that darn desk on high heeled casters and Viola!  However, then my chair was too short and I felt like I was at the kids table at my mom's family dinners.  Soooo I had to order a different chair that totally fits and now everything is right with the world again.

So after all that here is Deena's idea that I was talking about 20 sentances ago.

Deena is a very smart designer and knows that when you can see what you have you tend to be so much more creative, so she organized all of her beautiful bits and lovelies into these drawers.

I love copying really great ideas so...   I totally copied her!

and here is a close up

Opening these drawers gives me an immediate flood of ideas.  I can switch my little 

Dollar Store bins around any way I like and sometimes two things sitting together you never considered, POW!!!

Thanks Deena!!!

Did you forget your password?

Okay!  So yes I forget my passwords all the time.  Mind you 80% of my passwords are the same But there are those pesky 20% that for what ever reason don't use my goto passcode.  Its those 20% that I can never, ever remember.  

Problem solved...  I found this cute little address book from Cath Kidtson at Barnes & Noble.   I've filled it full of all sorts of secret names and numbers and information that I constantly need while Im at my computer.  

How darling, the birds, the flowers.

The Wagons!

It's just so adorable, and if you wanted to, I guess you could 

even use it as an address book.

Stack of the Week- 400 Sandwiches

This is what four hundred tuna sandwiches

look like when they gather all together to do a little good.

I was always jealous of our good friends who got together with two other families to feed the homeless.  Once a month they make 400-500 sandwiches and take them to the local soup kitchen and hand them out with the other food that is donated to provide a high calorie healthy dinner for the homeless in our downtown area.   Finally, after many months of wishing my kids had an experience like that,  I just got the number and set up a night for our family and two others to do the same.  

Tomorrow will be our fourth month to help out at the kitchen.  The kids love it as much or more than the adults do.  And I'll tell you, we always have great conversations, and feel a lot more grateful as we eat our yummy warm dinners in our own comfy homes!

400 Tuna Sandwiches:

18 Costco sized Tuna Cans

32 Loaves of Bread

1 Gallon of Mayo

2 large Grey Poupon 

1/4 cup of Lemon Pepper

400 Ziploc Bags

Many helpers

Make Your First Stretchy Bracelet with Roxy Marj

A Good Stacker Is A Thing of Beauty

My dear Roxy from Romawinkel sent me the photo of this 

woman from The Sartorialist-  I am in awe of her stacking genius.  Actually I'm in huge envy of her abilities.  

So stunning!!

For this to be so beautifully stacked, there has 

to be a common thread, or theme.

What do you think it is?

Stack of the Week- Rainbows are for Eat'n

This Rainbow stack of yummy breakfast is from I Am Mommy!  

I know what your thinking..

I know, I know,  I want her to be my mommy too!

And a really nice mommy would let me eat this tasty stack for dessert, 

even if I didn't eat my dinner.  

Im not that kind of mommy!

Jewelry Storage on your Bust!

 I found this amazing jewelry storage on  Design Sponge.

What an adorable way to display your necklaces.  I like the table version best but I have limited wall space.   Her inspiration came from the now defunct magazine Blueprint.

I could love both the original and the silhouette version.   I love the Greek influence, but you could do a silhouette of yourself one of your kids or a celeb that you worship.  While you are at it make an extra as a gift!

Growing A Jewelry Business

Sorry for the dearth in posts, It's been a busy two week for allisondayton.com,  we are changing, designing, blogging and growing all at the same time.  I love that we are stretching, in fact it gives me a creativity buzz, but I am definitely getting less sleep. 

We hired Jeneration PR to get the word out about allisondayton.com and Allison Dayton Jewelry Designs Wholesale and of course Stacks of Style.  And she is keeping us hopping around.  We have some exciting magazines we are hoping to be in soon but "O" its a secret sO I better not tell you but I will say one of them is a Red colored Book.  In the mean time we are having fun being intoduce to the blog world.  

Today we were introduced to readers of Style Epiphany.

At the beginning of this week we were in the Mom on the Street column of The Family Groove, talking about spring cleaning!

and they actually passed us on to tons of other blogs.  

Whaooo PR is fun stuff.  Just you wait, next we have celebs coming... Fingers Crossed!!!