A Pretty Rock Jewelry » 52 Weeks

On Hiatus – Sort Of

Yazmin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:04:03 +0000

By now you’ve noticed I missed posting my next 52 Weeks post for the week. Sometime this weekend, I decided it was time for me to step back even more. The thought may have formed between the swollen ankles and the mounds of baby clothing I was washing. What I failed to do was make the announcement. Consider it made.

I’ll still be doing the Bump Update, since Baby Girl seems to have no intentions of leaving her apartment any time soon. Plus, I enjoy sharing with you all what is going on as we get ready for her to arrive.

In the meantime, just know I’m sitting on my couch with my feet propped up, desperately trying to keep them from swelling. Oh and you can find me on Twitter, since I’ll also still be working from the couch. Don’t be a stranger!

Lesson: Learn to Step Back and Re-Assess

Yazmin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:11:00 +0000

Ever find yourself trying to do everything at once? If you’re like me, it’s that overachiever streak in you. It’s so seductive, sometimes it’s just hard to fight it. Or, you don’t even realize what’s going on until it’s too late.

Weekly Desktop Part 35 – Made in England by Gentlemen

For example, have you noticed the frequency of my postings? When I first came back to blogging, I set some realistic goals – one 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion post and one Baby Bump Update post a week. I don’t think that’s too much.

However, as I progressed and got back into my blogging routine, I found myself wanting to play catch up on my 52 Weeks posts. That urge to get back and run with the rest of the “pack” of bloggers doing the same program was starting to consume me. Slowly, one post became two and two became three. The past two weeks, I’ve had four total posts a week. That’s a lot of blogging!

I don’t know about you guys, but for me, blogging is not always an easy thing. Sometimes it takes me a bit to really nail down the idea of what I want to say, then find the words to say it, and then find an appropriate image related to the blog post. (I do the last one mainly because I like pictures. While I’m linguistically inclined, pretty blogs still call my attention more immediately than a meaty, intellectual blog. Not that I’m calling my blog “meaty” or “intellectual”…)

What I found is I’m yet again spending my time on the things I shouldn’t be… maybe even, as Megan has mentioned, procrastinating with “work”. Here I am, doing something that doesn’t make me immediate money and delaying the real work I should be doing.

I don’t usually mix my baby related posts with the jewelry posts, but as I’ve found our baby spending increased this past week in preparation for Baby Girl, I’m reminded we all need to learn to take a step back and re-assess our current direction. If I don’t do billable work, our baby fund is that much less funded. The smaller our baby fund, the less time I get to bond with Baby Girl, the sooner I must return to work, the less there is to throw back at our debt snowball, the less time to actually think about how to bring my jewelry business back with a bang. Realization can be such a kick in the butt.

And this lesson… *this* lesson in particular… is one I find myself re-learning over and over and over… well, you get the picture. So, no worries my friends – I’m still here, I will just be cutting back my posting to the original plan of 2 per week: one baby related and one jewelry related, with supply destashing posts thrown in here and there once I get the new light box setup. I hope you continue to stick around for the ride.

What lesson do you find yourself regularly facing?

This post is part of the 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion {affiliate link} series by Tara Gentile of Scoutie Girl. If you’re interested in participating in the group, pick up her e-book today! {affiliate link} You can start at any time.

The Vacation I Won’t Have For At Least A Year

Yazmin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:00:38 +0000

Obviously, while I’m so very happy Baby Girl is on the way, I’m mourning the future loss of many things. One of them is vacations. Not that we took very many, but when we did, we always went FAR AWAY. Usually California or Puerto Rico. I enjoy both for very different reasons, but this summer, I’ve really been missing Puerto Rico.

It’s not that I do different things each time I go, but more that I do a lot of the same things. Things with fond memories attached. For example…

Last meal in San Juan by La Mariposa, on Flickr

the first stop after getting off the plane has to be for food. Specifically, Bebo’s BBQ which is on the rental car strip across from the airport. Best. BBQ. Fast. Food. Evah. No particular memory attached… just some really darn good food.

After that, anything goes on the trip, but somewhere along the line and not in any particular order I would…

View from the farm by A Pretty Rock, on Flickr

make a trip up to the farm to see how things have changed…

quenepa food porn by bazu., on Flickr

eat some quenepas if they’re in season, because they remind me of an older cousin from my childhood who used to have a bag of them ready for me when I got to the farm…

Best. Soda. Evah. by A Pretty Rock, on Flickr

drink a Kola Champagne, because there’s nothing like it here in the states…

Fritura shacks near Loiza by A Pretty Rock, on Flickr

take a drive to the fritura shacks on the beach, although the ones found in Piñones are so much better than Loiza…

Grateful 285 by A Pretty Rock, on Flickr

Untitled by A Pretty Rock, on Flickr

Cheers! by A Pretty Rock, on Flickr

spend time with family just hanging out and eating. We seem to do a lot of eating on our vacations…

What about you… have a favorite vacation spot?

A Question or Two for You

Yazmin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:19:19 +0000

As you know, I’ve been thinking more and more about firing up and getting back into designing jewelry. I realize I have a lot of things on my plate, but as I’ve mentioned before, I really miss the creative release I get from creating a piece. It gives me an emotional boost much different from designing websites and providing solutions for my web clients.

Monster Question (210 x 297 mm) by BoAndFriends on Etsy

As much as I try to move past it, I keep coming back to ideas of opening up both my old Etsy shop and the website shop. As if I have time for all of the responsibilities of running the two stores, web work, destashing supplies and the arrival of Baby Girl! I may be setting the bar much higher than I can clear.

So I want to pick your brains. Should I forge forward with my plans of opening shop so that I’ll be ready for the holidays or delay all of that until the New Year? Am I out of my mind for even thinking of making these plans with Baby Girl on her way?

Let me know what you think. I’m interested in your opinions and personal experiences.

Thanks!

Inspiring Me Rainy

Yazmin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:16:25 +0000

We were supposed to have a rainy week here in “Hotlanta”. Clearly weather.com is way off on this one, since I’m sitting at my desk considering closing my blinds because of the brightness of the sun.

rainy days by marqos, on Flickr

Regardless I was looking forward to the rain, because rainy days remind me of…

Cloudy Day Queens – 8×12 Fine Art Photograph by judemcconkey on Etsy

cloudy skies…

Let Love be Your Umbrella Necklace by EmilinaBallerina on Etsy

umbrellas…

Puddle Play by Pe11e, on Flickr

puddles…

Gourmet Amaretto Hot Chocolate Mix (Large) by tetoncocoacompany on Etsy

hot chocolate…

Untitled by A Pretty Rock, on Flickr

and of course… labradorite. And if I had some time to work on some new pieces this week, I would definitely pull some of these stones out!

What do rainy days remind you of?

Studio Tour – Storing Materials in a Small Space

Yazmin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:20:45 +0000

From the beginning, I’ve been a fan of attempting to organize my materials. Notice I say “attempting”. My best efforts fall short sometimes and I end up with workspace hurricanes.

When it comes to supplies and materials though, I think I’ve managed to keep some sense of order. One thing that has remained with me for a long time is this rolling file box I purchased several Christmases ago:

It was perfect for me to use to take my supplies with me to shows so I could have the whole arsenal to work with. In addition, it takes up a small footprint under my desk setup. I love using available space for out of the way storage.

As far as the materials themselves, I use two different types of storage boxes. One for larger or more gemstones, the other for smaller or less gemstones:

Having the clear boxes really helps a lot in finding things quickly.

How do you store your materials?

Inspiring Me Colorful – Catie’s Blue

Yazmin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:34:01 +0000

It’s very few and far between when you find someone who really gets an idea. For example – color. There are tons of artists online, but so many of them do not have a good grasp on color. I am one of those people every now and then. Some days I really get color – other days I fail miserably at the concept. It’s the reason I like doing backend web work more than designing front end color schemes.

Caties Blue: Carolina Earrings

However, I have an online friend who *really* gets color. She gets color so well that she’s even created an e-class on becoming a Color Rockstar. If you don’t know who I’m talking about yet, let me introduce you to Brandi of Catie’s Blue.

Caties Blue: The Maria Necklace

I love visiting Brandi’s blog, because so many of her posts revolve around color inspiration, whether it’s her ideas or those of another artist.

Caties Blue: Minty Fresh Necklace

And if you like eye candy, it’s another good reason to add her blog to your RSS feed reader.

Caties Blue: Camilla Earrings

For me, she’s a treasure trove of inspiration. Which artist inspires you?

Weekly Failure Baggage

Yazmin — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:08:21 +0000

I feel I haven’t been very successful lately when it comes to the jewelry business. You may realize that already since you haven’t seen me post much jewelry or destash many supplies. Other things always end up higher on my list of to-dos any given week. To me, that’s a minor failure on my part.

your failures do not define you by unsoundtransient, on Flickr

However, that doesn’t stop me from keeping those tasks on my to-do list. I also don’t let my “failure” define me. You never know when you’ll be able to make the time for things. You never know when you’ll have the creative spark to fix a problem. You never know what can happen in any given week. You just never know.

And I’m making an active choice to focus on other priorities. Although in this case, I have a few other to-dos to complete first (creating new lightbox, picking new background) before I can even move forward with listing any new jewelry or supplies. And I do have new jewelry to list.

You? What weekly failure baggage are you carrying?

Success! One Lofty Goal Complete!

Yazmin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 05:58:20 +0000

Success Watercolor – PRINT by stephaniecorfee on Etsy

That would be me! ;)

If you read my last post about lofty goals, you’ll know that I felt like I was a bit overwhelmed with them and my looming pregnancy deadline. Fortunately, one of the goals was much easier to complete than I had imagined.

One of the problems I encountered when moving this website from Textpattern to WordPress was an issue with broken links. I won’t bore you with all the technical details (but in case you want to be bored, you can read the more detailed post on my web development blog).

Suffice to say, I was able to go through 400+ broken links and get them fixed quickly with a handy plug-in. The other 2700+ plus links were handily redirected by WordPress itself. (Thanks WordPress!)

I’m so very happy I was able to find a solution that didn’t take me days to implement and complete. I know many of you have been generous in linking to my site and it’s nice to know that I won’t have to ask you to update your links in order to make sure they are not broken.

So… yay me! *Pat on the back*

What’s your latest success?

Lofty Goals – Update

Yazmin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:00:06 +0000

While dropping off the face of the earth with this pregnancy, the lofty goals or lack thereof, that I set back at the beginning of the year have fallen through. I initially wanted to revise my 101 List, but as you can see, it is no longer a part of my website. The news of baby girl’s coming really threw a wrench into a lot of my plans, but it was a much welcomed wrench.

Mini Goals Clockboard by MaryKateMcDevitt

With that, my goals have clearly changed. The focus with this website/blog is still the same, but I’d really like to continue destashing/using the gemstones and other supplies I already have. In full, I’m aiming to:

Build new light box.
Select new theme background for photos.
Clean and reshoot or repurpose older jewelry pieces.
Destash excess supplies once a week.
Create at least two new piece a month.
Create an organized and compact storage/craft area for my jewelry business.
Prep new website for launch after baby girl’s birth when things fall into a routine.
Clean up newsletter mailing list.
Create mailing list templates for the next 12 months, setup mailing schedule and alerts in calendar to verify and update content.
Fix broken back links in blog due to new backend. Done!
Catch up on my 52 weeks blog posts.

Sadly, I feel like I’m running out of time to really work on many of these. As one of my twitter peeps pointed out, it’s not long now before baby girl is due and we’re in a single digit week countdown!

But enough about me… how are you doing with your lofty goals?

Inspired by Sweet Georgia Peaches

Yazmin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:47:23 +0000

It’s peach season here in suburbia Georgia.

While the Georgia Peach Festival has come and gone,
peaches are still in season well into October.

With peaches come sweet thoughts of peach tea…

And who can forget… peach cobbler.

But peaches also bring me another kind of inspiration…

Thoughts of fire opal agate

and carnelian colored pearls.

And you? How do you find inspiration from the season…through colors, through shapes, or is it something else?

Gulf Oil Spill: Clean Up With Crafting!

Yazmin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:00:47 +0000

Some of you may know this about me, but my husband and I used to own two red-eared sliders. Jason and I bought these two tiny turtles as a wedding present for ourselves in Florida from a mall puppy mill…er…pet store. We didn’t know any better when we purchased them (meaning, we should have attempted to purchase our turtles from a reputable reptile dealer) and were happy and content to bring them into our family.

Over the years, we spent tons of time taking care of our turtles until their individual demises. Turtles are meant to live long lives. Unfortunately, one of ours was visually impaired. His eyelid never fully separated, so he had trouble seeing his food to get at it and defending himself from our other male turtle, among other things. He passed away at 6 years old. Our other turtle passed away a year later. We can’t explain it, other than he was lonely which doesn’t make any sense to us, since turtles are solitary creatures and generally do not need company.

Needless to say, turtles are still very close to our heart. We’ve continued to maintain our turtle website off and on throughout the years. And of course, when events like the gulf oil spill occur, my heart breaks to see all these mammals, birds and sea turtles coated in oil and dying in the clean up fires.

Dirty South by kk+, on Flickr

gulf_death_turtle2 by sum1nil, on Flickr

Fortunately, there are organizations out there concerned about the health and safety of the marine wildlife. Even BP Oil Company, the cause of this particular catastrophe, is making efforts to monitor the affects of the oil spill on the marine life after coming under close scrutiny due to how they were handling their cleanup:

Rescued Turtle is Examined by BP America, on Flickr

But the real heroes of this story are the organizations who have always cared. The organizations who have been there for the marine life from the beginning. What’s even better is that there are other organizations trying to help out as best as they can. Craft Hope is one of those groups.

Craft Hope is currently running a project where they are helping out several organizations by sending them handmade wash towels and rags. I have to admit, I’m generally a sucker for whenever the craft community comes together for a cause. Finding this project on Craft Hope was definitely a treat and I couldn’t wait to get started.

However, due to the overwhelming goodwill and donations by amazing crafters, Craft Hope has supplied the gulf coast relief organizations with towels for years! Years! Can you imagine? How awesome is that. Unfortunately for me, since I didn’t get a chance to help out, Project 8 is now on hold. If you’ve known about the project, but haven’t made the towels for donation by now, you can stop. There’s literally no place to store them… Just look at one of the stash photos that Kim, the project volunteer, had ready to go in her house:

You should also see the rest of the box photos and read her blog post on the delivery of the boxes to The Institute of Marine Mammal Studies.

Craft Hope did mention in their post that they would be checking with other organizations this week to see if there were others that might be in need of the surplus of hand towels. Make sure to check their blog for Project 8 updates.

How about you? Did you participate? I’d love to see your photos and/or blog posts on the towels you made. Leave me a comment with a link to let me know!

This post is part of the 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion series by Tara Gentile of Scoutie Girl. If you’re interested in participating in the group, pick up her e-book today! You can start at any time.

Help Me Pick A New Backdrop

Yazmin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:00:39 +0000

One of the things I fret about in regards to my jewelry is taking an attractive photo. If you’ve sold online at all, I’m almost positive you’ve heard time and time again that your photos have to be good enough to grab a visitors attention. I’m always looking for ways to improve my product shots… and so should you.

Part of the process involves thinking about the background I use to shoot my jewelry photos. I know I’ve struggled with selecting backgrounds and improving my current look. With this “break”, I’ve felt that it was time to think of a new look, a new feel for my jewelry before I come back full force.

This past week, I decided to be deliberate about searching for a new background. I originally started photographing with flowers as a prop. I know that I’ve always loved flowers:

But you have to admit, sometimes their beauty can be distracting.

You also already know I favor feathers:

But “been there, done that”… a lot!

The thought crossed my mind to use a bed of glass beads:

Yet, I figured it would make it difficult to photograph the jewelry laying flat. Which has left me to narrow down my new background selection to two choices. This first one I found by chance:

I’m in love with the idea of the bokeh background, but I’m not sure how I feel about the glass as a “stand”. I think changing the color of the glimmers to something that will compliment the colors in the jewelry would be a good idea, too… in theory.

The other choice was to go with something dark, but with a pattern like so:

Right now I’m partial to the brown mat. But I need your help bloggy friends… looking at these photos, I want to ask your opinions. What do you think about these last two photos in regards to a background? I want to avoid buying props for both backgrounds, so I’m looking for some direction from you!

Favorite Custom Orders

Yazmin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:00:32 +0000

If I’ve missed anything about the jewelry business, I’d have to say it’s the custom order requests. I always appreciate custom orders. They provide a type of validation you can’t get from simply selling an item you created. Having someone ask you to create a custom piece is always an amazing feeling, no matter what you are creating. Wouldn’t you agree?

Just to reminisce a little, here are links to a few of my favorite custom order posts:

Last Minute Mother's Day Present

Latest Custom Order

Alter Ego

How about you…do you have custom orders that you loved for any reason?

My Favorite Tool

Yazmin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:00:16 +0000

It’s funny to think that while change is a constant and inevitable, some things never change. A while ago, almost 2 years ago to be exact, I wrote a post on my favorite tool for the Etsy Blogger’s Carnival. Simply put? A dowel.

And even while I have not been creating jewelry for sale since earlier this year, I still think of the dowel as the best tool I own. For a simple $0.25, it helped me create a numerous amount of designs, something I could have done, but not so expertly without its help. The dowel has paid for itself a million times over.

How about you…has your favorite tool changed over the years, or is yours still the same trusty tool you’ve come to know and love?

This post is part of the 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion series by Tara Gentile of Scoutie Girl. If you’re interested in participating in the group, pick up her e-book today! You can start at any time.

Compacting my Photo Lightbox

Yazmin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:01:39 +0000

A while ago when I was a participating member of the Etsy Blogger’s Street Team, I wrote a post on my photography setup. I made mention that I wanted to revamp it and compact it somehow as it takes up a good chunk of the table in the craft/guest room.

With baby on the way, I thought I should revisit the idea to see if I could do with something less. Maybe even something that I could whip out in the downstairs office for impromptu photo shoots and that would easily collapse.

Since my photography is usually what’s involved in the second stage of any new pieces I launch, it’s important to me to have a decent setup that delivers, regardless of how much I spend on it. One that I can set up and break down easily is just a plus. What I have now is clearly neither of these:

So the bulk monster remains upstairs and I continue to avoid taking photos with it.

Luckily, I’m not the only person who has need of a collapsible light box and there are several reviews out there:

I’m definitely leaning towards the first link, with a foam core setup that bounces instead of diffuses light on the subject. Anyone else tired of their big, clunky, homemade light box solution? Try one of these out with me! I’ll be sure to post photos of what I decide to go with and I’d love to see what you decide, too.

Seasonal Inspiration

Yazmin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:06:24 +0000

Inspiration is sorely lacking in this house lately. Thoughts of babies and colors and pretty pink things have overtaken thoughts of beads and jewelry and business. But such is life right? Always in a constant state of change.

Searching for inspiration, I tend to look outside first. I feel like there is only green as far as the eye can see. (May have to do some pot gardening to get some color in my landscape.) Is it just me, or what do you think?

However, I do have this beautiful little cactus garden that my mom and aunt created for me when they visited last month. I keep it at the front door and glance at it often. Apparently, the dead plants I had in the house were not to their liking. To each his own. ;)

What I find most interesting about my cactus garden (aside from the fact I am taking care of it as taught and some of the plants are *still* dying) is this one cactus in the middle. It is crowned with a beautiful trio of blooming flowers:

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the flowers look like they were hot-glued onto the cactus. Here I was thinking how beautiful it was to see a cactus bloom…clearly not the case in this situation. (Do cactuses even bloom?)

Regardless, I like the colors and find them inspiring…enough for me to pick out pearls and gemstones to make a new piece or two:

Who knows? Maybe I’ll just grab some wire later tonight and spend an hour making something. I’ve gotten this far so far, right?

Falling Out Of Love

Yazmin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:40:21 +0000

When I first started creating jewelry, I took a class on pearl knotting. I found I really enjoyed the process. I liked the way the silk felt as it glided across my fingers. I liked the rhythm and routine…set pearl, loop, tighten the knot…set pearl, loop, tighten the knot… There was something easy and simple about it. It was soothing and mentally calming. Still have tons of silk cord cards to prove it, too!

After a while, I found myself bored with it. It seemed that my necklaces all looked alike. I found the repetition and routine, which I used to love, lacked the stimulation it once did. I developed callouses on my fingers. It wasn’t fun anymore. So I stopped and started looking for my next big love.

It’s been a long time since I’ve played with pearl knotting. Since then, I’ve seen tons of beautiful new ideas and designs with pearls and silk. I may just give it a try once again… Everything deserves a second try, I say.

How about you – have you ever fallen out of love with a technique?

Falling in love with crafting

Yazmin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:22:23 +0000

Can you remember your first crafting love? Remember the first thing you made with your own two hands? I can.

An army of hearts! by Pavoreal, on Flickr

No, this isn’t a picture of my first love. (But a very cute picture of “love” by my ever fantastic online friend Angela of PavoReal fame, who by the way just had her baby last month named….Jazmin! You know she totally named her after me! ;) )

My first love had nothing to do with jewelry. I never had a Bedazzler. (Fess up…you know most of you out there did.) I never owned the jewelry bake oven. My first love? A can of spray paint and an old pair of jeans. Sounds silly, right?

I loved those jeans, though, and I remember having them for a very, very, VERY long time. I also remember my mom threatening me to stop me from spray painting all my clothing, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog post.

If you’re not participating in the 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion group, let me know what was your first love…If you’re part of the group, I’ll find it on your blog! ;)

What do you want in my shop?

Yazmin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:57:25 +0000

Ever been to the Tuscon gem shows? Me neither. It would have been on my 101 list, but I’m a realistic gal. I knew there was no way I was making it to a gem show anytime in the next three years.

However, there is a gemshow in town this weekend. And I aim to misbehave. ;)

“Freshwater pearl strands” by Helmetti, on Flickr

I have a list of gems and pearls I want to look at, but I’m curious…what gemstones would *you* like to see more of in my shop?

A Pretty Rock Jewelry » 52 Weeks

On Hiatus – Sort Of

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Lesson: Learn to Step Back and Re-Assess

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The Vacation I Won’t Have For At Least A Year

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A Question or Two for You

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Inspiring Me Rainy

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Studio Tour – Storing Materials in a Small Space

Inspiring Me Colorful – Catie’s Blue

Weekly Failure Baggage

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Success! One Lofty Goal Complete!

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Lofty Goals – Update

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Inspired by Sweet Georgia Peaches

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Gulf Oil Spill: Clean Up With Crafting!

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Help Me Pick A New Backdrop

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Favorite Custom Orders

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My Favorite Tool

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Compacting my Photo Lightbox

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Seasonal Inspiration

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Falling Out Of Love

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Falling in love with crafting

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What do you want in my shop?

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