The Inventor's Gala Ball.

Check it out! My first piece of steampunk jewelry! I call it "The Inventor's Gala Ball" and if you follow the link, you can see a couple more images. I made it on Friday night, and it started with a few beads that were sitting on my desk. I'm really happy with it, and in fact, I want to keep it... but I've got to learn to let go, so it's up for sale.

I used one of the new Earthenwood Studios "steam stones" as the focal. I can't wait for Melanie to have these on her site so I can order a whole bunch and go wild designing with them. In the meantime, I'll be happy with what I have. I like the warm brown glaze on this gear. It reminds me of leather upholstery.

On the subject of steampunk, I'm still reading Perdido Street Station, and I'm really hooked on it. Yeah, the story is a bit slow, but I'm still fascinated by the setting. And of course, the plot feeds into my obsession with wings. I'm a little more than halfway into it. I'll probably finish it by the end of the week, but it's hard to say, since Chris will be off on Thursday and Friday and he might want to go out and do things. I'm enjoying having a book that's dense and wordy enough that I'm not done with it in one, two days tops.

On a completely different subject, don't forget to check out this week's BFAC auctions! I have two favorites this week: Protector (the eye necklace) and Evening Out (the evening bag). Both are still at a ridiculously low price for the amount of work and artistry that were put into them.

Not a whole lot else to say. I'll probably list some more leaf beads on Etsy today, and then work on a necklace for a bit.