Snapshot of the Day: The Mill Rock Kids

Sometimes going to a really funky townie bar is just what you need to unwind. This place was way out of the way, and it was every bit the bar you'd expect it to for being at the end of a really dark road in the woods.

When I asked for a Heineken Light, I got the deer in headlights look. Which was followed by..." Uhhh I think I saw some way in the back of the fridge?". The lovely lady bartender then disappeared for what seemed like 45mins, and came back with a Heineken Light, which was a year old, no doubt. Skunky beer only added to the ambiance of the night though.

We're fun people. We can go anywhere. We have photographic evidence.

Help get Jes Hudak on LILITH FAIR! Please VOTE!

Remember my friend Jes Hudak? I've introduced you to her and her music a number of times via this blog. Now, I am here asking you to pitch in and help Jes get a spot on the upcoming Lilith Fair Tour!

All you have to do is listen and vote on OurStage.com, you can sign in with your Facebook info OR just quickly sign up with OurStage. I know it's a pain to have to sign up for things but I'm asking you this ONE TIME to overlook that and help Jes out, since you know, it's just her future we're talking about here! SHe needs to get into the Top 10, right now she's at 15! Woohoo! So close!

Here's how it works:
Ourstage.com is an awesome website that allows fans to decide what makes it to the top of the charts. You can set up a profile or use facebook to login and start judging right away! Head to the following link to enter the judges chambers, and all you have to do to help out is vote "National Holiday" #1 when it comes up in the judging. CLICK HERE TO START VOTING!

So come on guys, be a pal and vote for my girl Jes! The website is kind of a pain it might take your through a couple other artists as well as Jes, but PLEASE hang in there and get that vote in :) Your efforts will be VERY VERY VERY much appreciated!

Song Lyrics & Opinions FROM YOU!

WANTED: Awesome song lyrics to immortalize in METAL

(Well until it's melted down and turned into dental fillings...)

Whilst I love making cute little Dinosaur and Camera silhouettes for the (semi)masses, I need to diversify and challenge myself to keep myself engaged in my work. Plus, if I don't change things up once in a while I fear my brain might liquify and drip out of my ears. Too much information? Perhaps. But, it had to be said.

So, I come to you asking for your opinions. What is your favorite ONE LINE (maybe 2 if theyre fairly short) song lyric? Maybe you have a few? Maybe you'd like to share them with me ? :)

Don't forget to include song title and Artist :) And no worries, so long as you don't choose a Miley Cyrus or Madonna lyric this is totally nonjudgemental...

Crowd participation is encouraged. Help me pool together the most excellent of song lyrics and help make the world a better place :)

Let's all just go ahead and live inside this song...

Shall we? Why yes, yes we shall. Just ignore the Fight Club stuff, listen to the tunes and free your mind. Exactly. Enjoy.

Yikes! Lets play some Catch Up & Pearl Jam...

Just when you thought I was back on track with my blogging, I go and ruin it by not blogging for a whole week! Jeez! Get it together, Ashley!

While I haven't been able to blog this week, I can assure you there was very good reason.

The first reason...
Business has been booming! It's been so exciting for me to have such a great flow of sales and press mentions, I feel like things are FINALLY starting to come together for my brand :) Oh took what, 5 years? Hey, I'm no complaining, at least its happening!

The second reason...

My little sister Alex graduated from Endicott College! So I had to travel to coastal Massachusetts, to the beautiful Endicott College campus, right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, and watch as my sister and 500 of her classmates graduated! It was a VERY windy day, so lets just say it was NOT a good hair day for most people in attendance, including myself. However, there was an especially cool aspect to graduation... award winning actor,Forest Whitaker, was thier keynote speaker! It was quick interesting and exciting to sit and listen to him speak. He even stood up there and shook every single one of those 500+ graduates hands as they walked across the stage. Very cool, Forest, very cool!

The third reason....

Shortly after returning home from a marathon weekend of graduation excitement my sister and I got in the car yet again to drive 3+ hours to Newark, NJ to see Pearl Jam. Wow, Newark is seriously yucky! But WOW, Pearl Jam is AMAZING live! The Newark crowd was not very energetic, and I unfortunately sat behind a section of the tallest people on earth, but the band still sounded incredible and I CANNOT wait to go to another show! I'll be ponying up a whole wad of cash to get a better seat, and better my chances of not having to watch the show from behind Sasquatch.

Anyway, I guess I'll leave you with a Pearl Jam tune to enjoy! Stay tuned to the blog, I have a couple new pieces getting ready to be rolled out into the Etsy Shop and I'll make sure to announce them here first!

So without further ado, here's Eddie and the guys performing an AMAZING live version of Crazy Mary, for your listening pleasure!

Snapshot of the Day: Vemelope Frolics

I hope at this point you've all gotten a chance to see me at work in the video from my last post, "The Making of the 'By Heart' Ring"! I especially proud of it and I've even had it reposted by a lovely local media/news blogger! How fun!

Anyway, I don't have too much to say today because I'm a busy bee once again. I'm preparing for another trip out towards Boston, but this time, it's for my little sister Alex's college graduation! We're all growing up so fast, it is officially freaking me out!

So I leave you with a lovely spring snapshot I took of my darling Vemelope Sweetie Pie Lover Lambchop! Just a day in the life of a super spoiled but equally sweet Miniature Dachshund :)

Video Alert: Watch Me Whistle While I Work!

Ever been curious about what goes into making a piece of jewelry? Well, curious-itize no more my friends! I thought I'd share with you all a fun little video I made of myself making one of my signature 'By Heart' Rings from start to finish. So I guess I don't really have much else to say in this post other than, I hope you enjoy my cinematic blog debut :)

Making of the 'By Heart' Ring from Ashley Nizolek on Vimeo.

P.S.- A suer huge thanks to Sarah Daly and Lizzie Mackie for providing the soundtrack to this video :)

I Love You, Mom!!!

Just a quick post to say Happy Mothers Day to my lovely mother! I love you Mom, you sure are swell :)

This is a picture of me with my very pregnant Mom when I was roughly 3 and a half! My little sister Alex is in there somewhere too :) Thanks for always dressing me in style Mom! Your THE best!

Anchors, Whales, GSD's & Dino's! YIPPIE!

Good news blog buddies! I found some time in my busy schedule to work on some new cuties for my Etsy Shop! YAY! Let's all jump for joy! I had a lot of fun with this round of new designs, I'm especially excited about the little Dinosaur. Is he not the cutest thing EVER? Let's name him! Please leave suggestions below :)

In other news, today I'm heading off to the Boston area to attend a lovely Gem Show and then continue on to see my little sister, Alex, who is about to graduate from college! Yikes! The time really does fly by! So, I'm headed out there to help her with round #1 of moving some of her belongings back home. Should be quite the task because my sister has a shopping problem...

I love you Al, but I'm just sayin'...you need help :)

I'll be sure to take some pictures while I'm wandering the Gem Show and then fiddling around in Beverly MA to share on this here blogski :)

WHile I'm gone, make sure you check out all the fun NEW GOODIES in my Etsy Shop! Pass it along to your friends :)

Damian Marley? Yes please!

I have gone through "musical phases" for as long as I can remember. Some are longer than others, some are more deeply connected than others. It's not to say that any of the music pops out of nowhere, it's always something that I've listened to along the way, but it's like a true reawakening to certain sounds and words. It's a welcomed phenomenon in my life. Music is probably my single biggest creative inspiration. Does it always relate directly to my designs? No. But it is what gets my creative kinetic energy moving again when I feel like I'm dead in the water.

Right now, I'm in a full fledged Damian Marley phase. I've ALWAYS listen to him, always loved his music, but it's almost like I wasn't HEARING the music until more recently. And now it's like a rainbow bomb went off in my head. I'm so much more motivated, feeling creatively strong, I'm having a new appreciation for things I was maybe beginning to take for granted. Maybe it's not ALL because of the music, but the music certainly was the catalyst. It's a weird phenomenon, this musical phase thing. I'm always in awe of how struck I can be with music almost instantaneously. It's like a light switch goes on and the sun comes out. I think it's my one TRUE love. Music is always there for you. Or at least it's always been there for me :)

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my thoughts with you all. Thanks to Damian Marley's music I'm feeling renewed right now, and I can't say I hate it! Can't wait for the Distant Relatives album on May 18th! Woohoo! Ok ok, it's time for me to be productive but I'll leave you with the song I woke up with in my head this morning...

Cinco de Mayo & NEW Jewelry!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! And a very Happy Birthday to my cousin Annie!
I love May, it's half Spring, half Summer! Woohoo! Perfect! Ok, just had to get that out of my system.

Anyway, you'll find some new jewelry in my Etsy Shop and I have more to add in the coming days! I'm even going to a gem show on Friday so lets all cross our fingers that I find something amazing and inspiring! I think I'll be searching for vibrant chunky stones but I can't say I won't be lured in by other things too. I always am.

So, while I work on some more new designs today, you can check out the new stuff I've listed in the shop, like the items shown above, to occupy you for now :)

Enjoy a Cinco de Mayo Margarita or two today! :)

The Little Things: Thing #3, Sugar Snap Peas!

Crunchy. Fresh. Sugary. Healthy. Green. Delicious. Snaptastic!

I don't know what happened to me, but all of a sudden I'm obsessed with raw Sugar Snap Pea's! But they MUST be raw! No cooked Pea's are welcome in my house! It reminds me of those dreaded days as a child when my Mom would choose to make peas (I could never figure out WHY because they were disgusting!) as the vegetable with dinner even though we all hated them. I was forced to eat at least a spoonful. A SPOONFUL! Like, a big spoonful. That of which I tried to swallow whole and not allow to touch my tongue. I'm telling you, I suffered as a child! My eye's are watering at the thought alone! Good story, I know...moving on...

Back to the kind of peas I actually don't gag at the thought of...Crispity Crunchity RAW Sugar Snap Peas! Do you ever like the "feeling" of chewing a certain something or other? For example I LOVE the feeling of those Vanilla Wafers that taste kinda like ice cream cones. And my best friend Lindsay, HATES the feeling of chewing the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. It's weird to say you like the feeling of chewing something, I know, but, if you haven't gathered that I'm marginally eccentric in my ways by now, I guess it's about time for you to catch up with the rest of the class!

Anyway, I love the "snap" of Sugar Snap Pea Pods, it's so satisfying! Snap, snap, snap. Simple yet glorious all at the same time. I've been enjoying my Snap Peas with a little but of homemade Dill Dip. Highly recommended.

Dear (RAW) Sugar Snap Peas,
YOU. ARE. AWESOME.

(If you are cooked, that statement is immediately rendered false.)

That's all for today :)

A Fawn is born!!!

Well, not REALLY, but sort of! I've added a darling little Fawn necklace to my shop :) I'm totally smitten with it myself, so I hope you love it just as much! I've also added a happy little Ice Cream cone silhouette necklace, you can see it here.

Anyway, I'm off to enjoy this sunny spring day and play around with my new lens! YAY! My neighbors have a whole mess of tadpoles in their pond, I think I might try to capture some on film...or...digital pixels?

Oh yes, and Happy Kentucky Derby Day to all you racing fans!