Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday. Growing up, we didn't do Halloween very often at my house. Now that I'm an adult, I've decided that I really don't care if the holiday's roots come from a religion other than my own; most of our modern holidays have been so commercialized and removed from their origins that it doesn't matter anymore. So I'm just going to enjoy wearing a costume and eating more sugary snacks than I should. And if being an adult was going to stop me from dressing up and having fun, then I wouldn't go to the Renaissance Faire. So today I'm baking chocolate cookies for my friends, and tonight I'm putting on some nice black clothes and my hand-painted dragon cloak and my $1 Goth boots, and I am going to enjoy every moment of it.

Oh, and I am going to wear more black, silver, and malachite jewelry than you would think that one woman would own, because it all looks so awesome with my cloak.

If you didn't get enough macabre skull action with last week's Fashionable Friday column, Rotem Gear has an awesome Dia De Los Muertos blog post that you should read. Look at all those cool sugar skulls and nifty t-shirts. I love this sort of thing.

I'd better go hit the kitchen and work on those cookies, it's going to be a big gathering tonight so I'm going to bake a couple dozen.

Of fish and fringe.

The above necklace is one of my projects from this past week: the first in my series of tribal necklaces. For now, these will all be made for myself, to be worn when I dance, but when the gem shows come back to town, I will be looking for supplies to make them for sale, too. The jade fish in this one came from a necklace that I bought at gem show a few years ago; they were strung with cheap silver plastic spacers, and looked cool even like that. Here I've added some Afghani jade tubes, faceted jade rounds, sterling silver fish from Bali, and a lampworked fish by an Australian artist. It's just about choker length and sits pretty comfortably.

In other news, I've just now finished the base row of my belt! It's plenty long enough and rests just right on my hips, staying in place even over the slippery skirt I'm wearing today. Now, of course, it's time for fringe. I just need to decide what sort of dangles I want to put at the ends of the fringe... hmmmm.

I haven't quite decided what I want to make for the website this week, so I need to start thinking about that, too.

Fashionable Friday -- An Influx of Skulls

It's a little strange, walking into a department store and finding skulls on clothing not marketed specifically for Halloween. Strange, yes, but also good. If you have any sort of Goth or pirate tendancies, then you're probably taking advantage of this trend while it lasts. I sure am. Skull-bedecked yoga pants make me a happy girl.

Truth be told, I only have two skull items on my website. One is the above necklace, Death's Garden. The other is my awesome Grunge Skulls bracelet. The problem is that my husband and I like to hog all of the cool skull beads to ourselves. It was hard parting even with these! I guess I will just have to take a trip to the bead store and buy more skulls for busines purposes, and maybe one or two for myself.

But don't despair! If you need more skulls and skeletons than my little site can provide, there's plenty more to be found out there! This skull-patterned halter dress, for instance, is about 7 shades of awesome. If you need a more casual way to show your affection for skulls, how about these Skull Heart and Flower shirts? I love that pattern, and really need to get one for myself! If you're feeling really daring, though, you could let the whole world know that you are a Love Pirate!

Jewelry is a great way to add some skulls to your wardrobe, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a jewelry designer. Bijouboutique's earrings have skulls, style, and plenty of movement. I love them! Keen Designs has a couple of awesome skull necklaces; I like the one at the bottom the best. And for a fun touch, I like this skull bracelet! If that's not enough, ratkiss! has a nice selection of skull jewelry, right on the front page no less.

Once you've got yourself all decked out in these skull items, you might want to check yourself out in the mirror. Well, hey, why not have a pocket mirror with a festive skeleton? And if you want your favorite pampered pooch to rock the skull style, too, Lindsay Designs has you covered with some kewl collars. Lastly, now that you've got all this great skull swag, you'll need something to carry it all in. You know what I like to carry things in? Messenger bags! It's a good thing that this one comes in a Los Muertos print.

Yes, if there's one trend I'm really enjoying this season, it's definitely skulls. I hope you enjoy them, too!

Mmmmmuffins!

I missed posting yesterday because I had to bake muffins. Tasty, tasty muffins. I'm finding that I rather enjoy baking, and since many of my friends are young guys, I don't have to worry about baked goods sitting around, tempting me to eat them. There are no leftovers when I bring muffins to group events!

When I wasn't muffining it up, I made a bracelet for tomorrow's update, and worked on my ongoing belt project. The belt is rapidly nearing completion! Hurray!

It looks like I'll just have the 5 items for tomorrow's update. My evening tonight is pretty busy -- I'm getting together with my neighbors for pizza and a bad Lovecraft film. Even if I'm not there all night, my mind will probably be too damaged by the movie to create anything of beauty. At least the pizza will be tasty!

Tune in tomorrow for Fashionable Friday and a website update! See you then.

On to the next one...

Alright! I finally finished the necklace last night, and it looks great. I also worked up two pairs of earrings, which will be included in this week's update. I have a couple more ideas bouncing around in my head, so it should be an easy matter to have a full and interesting update on Friday. I might even make some stuff for myself.

As a reminder, it's going to be about another week before I start raising prices on my jewelry. Because my website design requires that I change each price individually, not everything will go up at once, but almost every price will be raised within the first half of November. If you've been eyeing something, buy it now while prices are still low!

And another reminder is: vote for me in the Rare Robin Awards! Don't forget that if you vote for at least 3 sites, you are entered into a drawing for some truly awesome prizes. How can you resist that?!?

Still working on it...

Yep, I'm still in the midst of working on the aqua strand collage. I'm having trouble getting the ratios right, so that all of the strands will hang just right, in relation to each other and to your neck. I'm just about to sit down and attempt to finish it tonight, so I can start tomorrow with a fresh project.

In case you're wondering why I've been wanting to use up all these stray beads (hence all the collages), the simple fact is that they were taking up space. Space that could have been occupied by new beads. And so the new beads languish in bags and hidden places, and then I never find them when I'm looking for project-fodder. I'm greatly streamlining things by using up all these beads that I bought years ago, used half of, and then forgot all about.

Now I can replace them with new beads that I will use half of and then forget all about.

Isn't it beautiful?

I've never claimed to be a very organized or efficient person. Quite the opposite. I live and work in a state of barely contained chaos, too much stuff and too little space. I love beads, so whenever I see something awesome that I can afford, I snatch it up. And within the past year I've added kumihimo and polymer clay to my repetoire, so now I have supplies for that, too. And books. Do I ever have books! Books for beading, books for writing, books for gaming, and plenty of books for books' sake. This leaves me very little room to actually work, so periodically I have to go through a stage of cleaning, organizing, and purging. That's where I'm at now.

Probably more than you want to know about my workspace, I'm sure. On that note, it's time to tackle the necklace.

Beautiful Sunday.

The pleasant Autumn weather is still holding out here in Tucson; as I look out my window, I'm treated to a beautiful blue sky. It's very calm, quiet, and just the right temperature. I think this weather is helping to foster my creative spirit. Without the heat to drag me down, I'm free to think and search for supplies and spend hours just beading or writing away.

Ah yes, beading and writing. I was only able to post the one necklace in this week's update, as I ended up being too busy to complete the strand collage. I've got to organize my time a little better, and stop using chill mornings as an excuse to sleep in. On the bright side, I did finish the first draft of my second book, and the wheels are turning for the second draft of the first book, and the plot of the third.

In the midst of all of this, I'm still finding the time and energy to dance. My stamina is back, and so now I've been focusing on trying some new arm accents, and also some stomach-isolating moves. I feel great when I'm dancing and I sync right up with the music.

I haven't quite figured out what I'll be making this week, other than finishing the strand collage. I think I'll spend some time in the bead room tomorrow, looking for materials that will inspire me.

Fashionable Friday -- Greyscale

It's a bit surprising to me that grey is so in this season. But there's no denying it, it's on all the shelves and in all of the windows. And for the most part, it's not even paired with other, friendlier colors. No, monochromatic greyscale ensembles are the look for Fall and Winter. Some are drawing straight from businesswear, with their pinstripes and smart lines, whereas others have a more ethereal look, the shimmer of silver satin.

As an artist, I feel drawn to find beauty, so this week I set out to make something that was at once grey and beautiful. Lady Ghost (seen above) was born of that quest. I purchased the cabachon and vintage beads in New York with the intention of pairing them with black for a more traditionally Gothic look, but I love the otherworldly blending of silver and grey that I've achieved here. Perfect for any formal Winter event, be it the office Christmas party or a night on the town with that special someone.

A subtler grey statement can be achieved with a sparkling bracelet, maybe accenting your business suit. If crystals are your style, try Silver Mist on for size. Or you can adorn yourself with that universal symbol, the spiral, by wearing Cloud Burst.

It's really not hard to find grey jewelry, of course. Silver, after all, is just a metallic grey, as is pewter. Dreams and Jewelry's Aged necklace combines silver with labradorite, a beautiful blue-grey stone, perfect for winter. Weekend Jewelry, in the meantime, adds lustrous coin pearls to sterling chain for a very feminine look. Of course, you need earrings to round out the outfit, so try First Frost from BeadGal Desigs, or for a more Goth-Punk look (something I always like), try Jewellace's Heart Earrings, an awesome twist on crochet jewelry.

I know that I usually leave the men out in my column, so this week I'm happy to say that Weekend Jewelry also has some subdued grey jewelry fit for the guys. I love this leather and moonstone necklace. Actually, I'd wear that myself, but I have been known to be a tomboy!

With the chill in the air, you may find yourself wanting to make some cozy scarves and hats, so why not use grey yarn? This eco silk is beautiful, and it works into last week's theme, too, by being made from recycled soda bottles! How awesome and clever!

If all this grey has you feeling like a corporate drone, you can always express your feelings with Camp Apparel's barcode bag. Quite possibly the most awesome purse I have EVER seen online, and I have seen some pretty awesome purses.

And now, having exhausted yourself with a grey shopping spree, perhaps it's time for a nap, on grey silk pillow cases. Not the sort of thing I would normally list, but Elliebelly is donating 10% of the price to the Komen Foundation, so they definitely deserve a shout-out! Besides, that really is a lovely color!

So remember, even grey can be beautiful!

Slacking off...

Ok, I admit it. Other than making a quick bail for a pendant I wanted to wear, I didn't bead yesterday. Instead I wrote 16 pages on my book, bringing it to just right before the end. I've just got to wrap up the loose ends and set the stage for book 3 and then I'm done. I'm pretty happy and excited.

I was going to take beads to the game, but we got such a late start that I figured I'd spend more time unpacking and packing the beads back up than I would actually working on the necklace. But I did pick out the focal and all the accents for the necklace, so when I finally sit down to bead today, I can jump right into it.

This does mean that tomorrow's update will be pretty small, probably just the two necklaces. But since I've had 19 items between my last two updates, I think that's OK. Next week should be back to my usual standards of at least 4 new items.

Eye Candy

Alright, I have an aquatic-hued strand collage in the works, but I probably won't do much on it until the game tonight. Last night I decided to stop wussing around about my book and start finishing it, and only wrote 10 pages because I knew I needed to sleep. I'm hoping to ride that momentum today.

Lately I've been drooling over the knotted wire jewelry of Loren Damewood. It's understandably out of my budget, but very nice to look at and admire. You especially have to see his Knotted Mail, which is just plain awesome.

Enjoy the eye candy, and I'll be back tomorrow.

Little bits of news.

First and most important, I finished my special necklace last night. YOW does it look great! I am simply in love. You know, I have got to stop making all of this jewelry that I want to keep. Or maybe I should make a couple of things for myself, so I won't feel so neglected.

You may remember Dame Autumn from my Fashionable Friday column two weeks ago. Well, I've been talking her up on my forums, and Dreams and Jewelry just featured her today! I feel like my necklace is in great company, as there are lots of cool items on there that I would love to have. Once you're done at the blog, be sure to visit her site, too. There is some beautiful jewelry there!

Tonight I'll be starting another project, got to keep myself busy. After all, I only have one thing for this week's update and it's already Tuesday. It's probably time for another strand collage, and then maybe a bracelet or two and some earrings to round it out -- I've really been working on stocking up on the earrings.

There are still a couple more days to vote for Erthe Fae Designs (and your other favorite Indie sites) in the Rare Robin Awards! Share the love!

Almost done!

I am very close to finished with my grey necklace. Hurray! It's shaping up quite nicely, I think.

I have a bit of repair work to do this week, but I still think I will be able to have a decent selection of new items for Friday's update. And the Fashionable Friday column is already shaping up to be pretty good!

With the weather growing pleasantly cool as Tucson finally acknowledges that it is indeed Autumn, I'm going to be able to start doing polyclay work again, too. I'm not sure that I'll be selling any of it, but I'll definitely share on the blog. I have a couple of cool ideas, though I'll need to get more tools and supplies to do them properly.

More tomorrow!

Insert Meaningful Title Here

I think I spent about 4 hours last night, off and on, working on the pendant for the necklace I've been planning. It didn't turn out quite how I expected, but it still is awesome. And very sparkly. Today, I get to figure out how to work it into a necklace. Woohoo!

Also, last night I finally started working on my novel again, which is a good feeling. I'm approaching the end, and I might be able to finish the first draft before the end of this month.

Lots to do, but not a lot to say. I'll probably be more chatty during the week.

As promised...

Ta da! There it is, the pendant I made this week. I've only dabbled in bead embroidery before, but recent talk and show-n-tell on my favorite beading forum made me decide that it was time to really get into it. I used Laura McCabe's article in the most recent Bead and Button as a jumping-off point, making some changes along the way to accommodate my bead selection and sense of style. This pendant really reminds me of Amy Brown's faerie paintings, as the fae in them are always wearing stripes and checks. The pendant is hanging from a black herringbone rope that I made especially for hanging assorted things from.

I have a necklace planned for this next week that will use that same technique. Actually, I'm going to start it today. If it turns out, it will be featured on Friday :)

Don't forget to show me some love by voting for Erthe Fae Designs in the Rare Robin Awards!

Fashionable Friday -- Waste Not, Want Not

My plan for this week was to go through my bead collection and use up a lot of those beads that I had just a few of, you know, 10 of this, 6 of that, things that I bought on a whim and never intended to make part of my regular stock. Of course, I was out all day Saturday and then all night Tues, Wednesday, and Thursday, so I didn't bead very much. Nonethless, I was partially successful in my efforts.

The Moss Spirit -- seen above -- not only used a green garnet that I bought "just because," but it allowed me to use up the last of some Czech glass cubes that I used in another necklace, some freshwater pearls that I bought years ago, the olivine crystals from this year's BFAC project, and a number of Czech glass beads.

There were a few bead types that I couldn't quite use all of, so I had leftovers to make earrings! Mulch?!? used the last of the copper-lined firepolish, as well as some paired beads I'd forgotten about, and Presto, Pesto! used the dark olivine firepolished and some random beads from a swap some months back. And while looking for beads to make more earrings, I found some lonely crystals from BFAC 2004, which made their way into Dawn Flowers and On An Angle. Really, earrings are one of my best ways to use "leftovers."

I fully intend to work towards my goal throughout the next few weeks. I have a whole bunch of aqua-capri blue beads which might make a nice strand collage, and there are always pairs and foursomes of beads waiting to become earrings. But in the meantime, I asked around and found how some other artists use their scraps, leftovers, and recycled materials!

Starchild Crafts uses scraps of fabric to make kickin' keyfobs. Meanwhile, Textile Fetish has these awesome patchwork aprons and bags made from scraps. If you enjoy bags made from scrap fabric (and really, who doesn't? They're unique and environmentally conscious!), you should also check out My Diva Shop's recycled jeans purse with its country charm. A more unexpected use of scrap fabic is decorating stationary, which is exactly what Teacups and Tadpoles does!

Dismantled Designs specializes in making clothing out of other clothing. I really recommend browsing through her site, as it's cool to see clothes remade :)

If you'd like to make your own items with scraps and recycled items, you certainly have a lot of options! SixOneSix makes it easy with this box of supplies! Or, you can look for that delicious recycled silk yarn, some chunky recycled glass beads, or the recycled plastic peace beads that I saw at gem show this year. A google search will surely turn up countless supplies. And don't forget that Found Object art is very popular and feasible as well.

With the internet, the world is practically at your fingertips. I hope that this column will inspire you to not only check out the artists and suppliers I've listed, but to search out other sources for recycled and salvaged goods, and ways to use them yourself. And how is this a Fashionable Friday, you might ask? Not only are many of the above items stylish, but in my mind it's always in to keep things out of our landfills!

Gearing up for the update

Whew! I have 10 items done already for tomorrow's update. That is going to be a whole lot of photography, let me tell you.

I spent pretty much all night last night working on the main necklace for the update, and it is just WOW. Maybe I'm a bit biased, since I created it and it's my favorite color, but this is one knockout of a necklace. I keep looking at it going "I wish I could keep this." Because, you know, I really need one more green necklace. What I need is an elegant, medium-length blue necklace. Will I ever make such a thing for myself? Of course not. I'll keep making things in green and black.

I have a big project planned for next week. It's big, because I don't know how I'll make it happen, I just have this vague idea of how I want to put all of these beads together. If it turns out, it will be spectacular. I'm talking about "Wear it to the company's formal Christmas party" spectacular. Of course, I wore a hand-painted panne velvet cloak to the last Christmas party, so my taste is a little skewed.

But for now, it is time to clean up and put away all of the beads and supplies from the last couple of days of creating. They've kind of taken over my couch...

Just beadin' away

Well, I didn't break the camera out today. I had to play a couple of games of Go instead. So hopefully I will be able to post my nifty new pendant tomorrow. If not, I'll photograph it with Friday's update jewelry and post it over the weekend.

Ah yes, Friday's update. I'm working on a very cool necklace for that. I didn't bead as much as I'd hoped to this week, so I'm taking the necklace with me to my Wednesday game instead of bringing the Belt of Doom. Also, while looking for beads for the necklace, I stumbled across another cache of paired beads, so expect lots more earrings this week. Woohoo! Several of these bead pairs are vintage, which makes them even more fun to work with.

I'm going to try to make more time for beading, as I had a few great ideas for necklaces for myself (yes, I'm greedy) and I don't want to cut too much into my production of website stock. After all, the holidays are coming and I want to have a great selection available for all of your gift-giving needs.

Don't forget to vote for me in the Rare Robin Awards! I'll make sad puppy dog eyes at you if you don't.

Change is coming!

They say that change is good. This change, however, is kind of a mixed blessing. Starting on November 1st, I will be raising all of my prices. I've resisted for a while, doing my best to keep prices low while still fairly compensating myself. Unfortunately, the cost of buying supplies and doing business keeps going up. At my current prices, I simply can't keep doing business; it's become impractical. On average, I'll be raising prices by about 20%. Shipping rates will stay the same, however.

I'm telling you this now, so that if you've had your eye on something, you can buy it now before prices go up. That's right, it's my "The price hasn't changed yet!" sale. Ok, so it's not much of a sale. But I felt that it was only fair to give you advanced warning. If only more businesses would do that, eh?

There are good changes coming, too. My beloved code monkey is hard at work on a new website for me. This will include implementing some awesome options, like a search and recommendations. I'm not sure when this will all happen, but I can tell you that when it does happen, it will rock!

Things are cruising right along, beadwise. I already have 2 items ready for this week's update, and I've been working on a personal project to learn a new technique. It has been just way too much fun, so even though it's a bit time-consuming, this technique will definitely show up in a few website items. I might post the finished item tomorrow, so you can get an idea of Things To Come... ooooh.

Back to the beads for me.

So glad it's the weekend!

Ahhh, it feels good to be enjoying the weekend! Today was a D&D day, and to keep my hands occupied between bouts of dice-rolling, I took my ongoing Belt O Doom project. This is a very long belt made with an African Helix in black and varying greens. It's almost long enough to go around my waist now, but I need to add a bunch of extra length for tying and dangling, and then throw some fringe on that baby. It makes a good gaming project, I took it to my Weds game this past week, and I'll take it this week, too. If I keep taking it to gaming, I might actually finish it someday.

Tomorrow, I think I'll work on a bracelet or two for Friday's update. This coming week is going to be pretty busy in the evenings, so I'll have to make up for it by being productive during the day.

The Rare Robin Awards are still going on, so if you haven't yet, you can vote for my website in the Funky Jewelry category!

Fashionable Fridays -- Everything Old is New Again

It seems to me that even going all the way back to the 90s, vintage and retro styles have been big. That trend continues even now, more than halfway through the "aughts." Different decades have held favor over the years, with the 60s and 70s being the big contenders, classy 40s-50s styles sneaking in every now and then, and now, the 80s are screaming "Hey, aren't we old enough to be retro yet?"

In the world of fashion, old styles show up in a number of ways. Designers might recreate vintage dresses, use retro prints, or even recycle old fabric, beads, and other materials for new designs. The consumer has many choices for expressing their own love of recycled fashion, too, either by purchasing these new items, or by seeking out genuine vintage items. Many thrift stores now have "retro" sections, rather than saving the bygone styles for Halloween. eBay is a source of great vintage finds, whereas a web search will turn up many sites that will either sell you vintage clothes, or educate you on the styles and how to tell the real deal from fakes.

As a jewelry designer, I love working with vintage beads. My Dark Murmurs bracelet (shown above) uses 2 different styles of vintage beads and a vintage button. Dame Autumn and Leaf Fall both feature vintage leaves, which are of course, just perfect for Autumn. Vintage beads abound in my earring section, just check out Midnight Stars, Gothic Garden, or Peachy Keen. This is just a sampling of the vintage selections on my site; I rarely turn down a chance to buy vintage beads!

Of course, I'm far from the only jewelry designer inspired by the styles and materials of yesteryear. Elle B uses vintage beads in all of her creations, and I especially love her earrings! Oasis and Canyon are very cool, and the latter features perfect Autumn colors! The Wing Thing works some awesome vintage buttons into her jewelry, check out this faerie bracelet! Vintage style and beads alike are found in Miss Evil Kitty's floral pins. Dejarnette's Minty Julep necklace also caught my eye. And while I don't normally "do" plastic, this 80s robot necklace from Zlanarama brought a huge smile to my face!

I also got a big, cheezy grin when I saw Rotem Gear's vintage-inspired Tofu T-Shirt. Usually I see this graphic used to say something raunchy, so this was a pleasant change! For other vintage-style clothes, why not check out the aprons from Sweet Pea Handcrafts or Modern June? They almost make me wish that I cooked enough to need an apron -- but that would cut into my bead time! ;)

There's no denying the absolute cuteness of vintage purses, but finding the real-deal in good shape and affordable can be difficult. Why not buy a modern day purse based on vintage designs instead? Goodmorning, Morning has some cute ones, especially the Scalloped Bag. 2 Fresh Petunias also offers several vintage-style bags, but I like the Sophisticate Handbag the best, especially the green bird one! Meanwhile, Teacups and Tadpoles has vintage-inspired lunch totes, perfect for kids or adults!

Those of you with kiddoes either of your own or on your gift-buying list might enjoy the Vintage Baby section over at Hip and Little, or One Little Monkey.

After all this shopping, you might feel the need to pamper yourself (I do after all this typing!). You might not think that spa supplies can be vintage-inspired, but Vintage Body Spa is out to prove you wrong with their retro labels and packaging!

This is just a small selection of the vintage and vintage-inspired items that you can find on the web... and just think of what you might be able to find locally, in boutiques, craft fairs and bead stores!

So much inspiration!

The above image is a custom necklace which I was recently commissioned to make. Having received a satisfied e-mail from a very happy customer, I feel like I can display it on the blog now. I LOVED making this necklace. Working with vintage jet is so much fun!

When I was getting the jet out, I was reminded of how much I love all of my vintage beads (for the most part, they're kept in the same place. I am somewhat organized). As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I decided to make some things with them this week. Well, here it is only Wednesday, I've already made 4 items, and 3 of them contain vintage beads. Yay! All 4 items will be in Friday's update, and I might even have a few more items by then.

I'm working on a super-secret collaboration with Deborah of Bead Indulgences, and I just got her contribution to that project today. Because she's such a sweetie, she also included some crystals that I wanted but was unable to get at the gem show. So tonight I'm taking just a little break from website stock and I'm going to make myself a crystal bracelet.

In closing, don't forget to vote for me in the Rare Robin Awards! :)

Artist Spotlight -- Bead Indulgences

I am pleased to be able to announce that my dear friend Deborah has just launched her site, Bead Indulgences. Deborah is a lovely and talented lady who creates some simply breathtaking jewelry. Where my "thing" is beadweaving, Deb has found her niche in wire and maille, and what a fine niche it is! I love how she incorporates a wide variety of beads, from common Czech glass to fantastic carved stones, into her pieces to give them a more unique feel.

I met Deborah on-line in the beading forum that we both frequent, and I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at the gem shows in February. Her husband also does jewelry work, and it was so nice to see the two of them shopping together and sharing ideas. I believe that couples who share interests truly have the richest relationships... although it is hard to share beads sometimes!

If you read Step by Step Wire Magazine, you may already be familiar with Deborah, as she had a tutorial in their Summer 2006 issue. She swore me to secrecy, but now that it's on her site, I can brag ;) Although I don't work well with wire and as such was not able to test it, the project looked very nice and the directions were concise. I hope that in the future she'll share more of her designs with the world.

Deborah does one-of-a-kind work, so I recommend that you check her site often to see what is new and exciting!

A jewelry-ful day!

Just as I'd hoped, today I was able to get some serious beading done! I strung a beautiful necklace which I'm very happy with, and I'm working on a nice woven piece, too. These items will of course be in Friday's weekly update.

Keep watching my link section for more great sites, I added another one today.

In the meantime, please vote for my website, www.erthefae.com in the First Annual Rare Robin Awards, hosting by Rare Bird Finds! If you vote for my site and at least two other great business websites, you'll be entered to win some fabulous prizes. Click on the banner below to get ready to cast your vote :)

Posting After Midnight

Darn my late-night posting habits, making it seem as if I am posting the next day!

Today was regrettably another jewelry-free day, although I did get some business-related things done. Actually, I got a lot done, but it's all boring technical stuff.

Speaking of boring, I'm getting bored with my current blog template and name and stuff, so I'll probably be tweaking it up over the next few days. I already added a new link, to Lois Oster's great lampwork, and I expect to add more links soon.

Tomorrow there shall be beading, oh yes, and new news for the blog, so it feels special. For now, it's back to the pretty faerie book. Mmm, weird Victorian artwork.

Of books and things...

Now that I finally finished the book series I was reading, maybe I can get back to being productive. A word of advice -- don't read Tad Williams' Otherland series. It's not worth the time. I remember enjoying his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series, but Otherland had me constantly complaining while I was reading, and now I don't want to read anything of his ever again.

Standing in the way of my productivity are two other books which I picked up recently, being "Children of Cthulhu" (a collection of short stories inspired by Lovecraft), and "Anansi Boys" by Neil Gaiman, sequel to "American Gods" which is one of my all-time favorite books. While at the bookstore, I saw that Gaiman has a new short story collection out, but it's in hardback, so I resisted. Instead I bought a book on faerie artists... ooooh.

None of these books, however, are 1000 pages of literary devices and false suspense, so I should be able to breeze through them and still bead. I'm hoping to make some jewelry tomorrow. I would have made something today, but it was not to be. Had to do some writing instead.

I'm working on things behind the scenes, business-related and otherwise. Might have news to talk about in the near future. For now, time to ready my faerie book and then catch some sleep.