What you missed while I was busy

Another long hiatus. I know, I know. Just means I'm busy.
So here's what you missed when I was busy*
(*I believe I unintentionally stole this title from TheBloggess without even realizing it. You can tell which blogs I read on a regular basis!)

1. Final wrap-up of the Guatemala trip.
On Day 5 we took a boat to the surrounding towns on Lake Atitlan. The first stop was Santiago where we saw the Saint of Debauchery! The Saint is located in someone's home and it's a way for the family to make money. We had to walk up incredibly steep streets to get to this place, but it was pretty awesome!

We walked around the shoppes in Santiago and soon headed back to the boat to cross the lake for San Marcos. This town was much smaller and really didn't have any focal point besides a great view of the volcanoes!
Unfortunately on this day we were all feeling the effects of the food we had eaten after our mountain trek. We ate a cold salad that was prepared with local water. Big no-no. So we took this opportunity to head back to the hostel and lounge around.

The next day we headed back to Panajachel by boat, then boarded the 2 hour shuttle bus back to Guatemala City. Flights the next morning went without hiccup and I was back in the states for Christmas Eve with my family! Amazing trip and now I fear I have caught the traveling bug...I must do it again soon! :-)

@ San Marcos before heading back to our hostel in San Pedro to relax.

2. Second jewelry class at LillStreet:
In January I started my second jewelry class. It is still a beginning jewelry class but it was 10 weeks instead of 5, so we reviewed the basics and then learned bezel stone settings! I have purchased a few of the tools so I can create jewelry with cold connections at home, but haven't made the jump into the soldering tools yet.

My little jewelry studio (aka the corner of our bedroom)

I am hoping to sell some of my designs, possibly setting up an Etsy store since they have a large community already. I really want to design anatomical jewelry and I have a couple examples, but the possibilities are endless! I will post more (and better pictures) soon once I completely finish these pieces and the class.

My skull pendant and my first attempt at bezel setting!

I will update soon with more jewelry / art ideas and products! I need to decide a store name (for Etsy). any ideas??