Feeling Healthy

Once again, my immune system has triumphed over the evil tyranny of germs, and I'm back to feeling more-or-less normal. This means dancing, going to the gym, and yeah, working on the game room. It also means more jewelry making. The Grass Moon necklace is already in progress, and I have a pretty clear vision of what I'm doing with it, so it should probably get finished this week, if I'm not too busy.

My BFAC project has been delayed, which is why I'm able to work on FAE Team projects without guilt. My crystal supplier lives in Colorado, a strange place that gets SNOW in the SPRING. I hope to have my rivolis in hand by the end of the week, but I don't know if I'll start the necklace right away, or make my Egg Moon necklace, too, to make sure I don't miss April's deadline.

Workin' in the Game Room

Spent a chunk of today working in the game room, rearranging things and then mudding drywall. So not how I wanted to spend my Sunday afternoon, but I'm quite tired of the unfinished state of said game room. I want to finish it and get it properly set up! We've been living here for almost two years and most of our books are still in boxes -- this is not an acceptable state of affairs.

Now that the sun is down, I'm looking forward to a bit of relaxation and dancing!

Mythical Messengers -- Crow Moon

The sunshine was perfect today, so I was able to photograph and list Mythical Messengers, my entry for the Crow Moon Art Dare. I was going to do a normal strung piece, but that wasn't exciting enough, so I dug around in my bead stash until I found this purple ribbon and black chain (the latter has been in my collection for close to 10 years now). Mixed-media isn't my strong suit, but I think this one is pretty cool.

This is a definite return to my roots, too. When I first started out, the vast majority of what I made was black, purple and silver. Goth jewelry sold pretty well on eBay back then. I may not dress Goth very often anymore (greens and browns look so much better on me than black and purple!), but I still love the aesthetic, the music, the literature, and the jewelry. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to further my Goth/steampunk cred by drinking some absinthe (Goth and Green!).

I miss my lights!

You may have noticed that pretty much all of my photos now are taken outdoors, on these bricks. There are a couple of reasons for that. I like natural sunlight, the bricks make a decent neutral background, and I have no clue where my Ott-Lites are!

I used to do photography in a little light box with my two Ott-Lites on either side. But I haven't seen those lights in forever. I went looking for them back in October, because I needed to bring one along to the Tahoe retreat, and I couldn't find them anywhere. Luckily my parents do a lot of arts and crafts and had a spare light to loan me for the trip (a real necessity, the lighting was awful in the conference rooms!). I figured my lamps would turn up eventually, but months later I still haven't come across them. I think I'm going to have to break down and buy a couple more the next time JoAnn's puts them on sale. I'm sure that as soon as I do, I'll find the missing ones in some painfully obvious place.

The point of this is that I made two new necklaces today, but by the time I finished them it was almost 4pm, which means long shadows for photography. I'll have to take pictures tomorrow!

Achoo

I had to stay home from my dance classes today, due to still being sick. It's an annoying feeling, knowing that I missed out on fun and learning due to some stupid germs, and now next week I'll have to work hard to catch up.

There's not really much else to say, I didn't do anything today. Hopefully all this rest/laziness means that I'll be better tomorrow, maybe I'll even finally go back to the gym.

Keep the Sap Flowing -- FAE Team Art Dare!

The weather was beautiful today, so I snapped a few pictures and listed Keep the Sap Flowing, my entry for the Sap Moon Art Dare. The colors in the leaves should carry you through Spring, Summer, and Autumn. I love versatility in my jewelry!

For more great FAE Team dare results, see this post at our official blog. Most everyone else went for the Crow Moon theme, which I still hope to make something for before the month is over! I do so love corvids, and I have the perfect Green Girl bead for it (Oh Green Girl, is there any challenge that you don't make the perfect bead for?).

New jewelry tomorrow, weather allowing

I finished my Sap Moon challenge bracelet today, but it was cold and wet out, so photography was a no-go. Hopefully things will be nicer tomorrow and I can take some pictures. I might even make more jewelry tonight! I'm in a kind of beady mood. It's nice to have full access to my beads again, now that my brother-in-law is no longer sleeping in my guest/bead room. I'm sure he wouldn't have minded me coming in there to get beads, but since I don't like people coming into my bedroom, I try to stay out of other peoples' rooms as much as possible.

I should have the crystals for my BFAC project by the end of the week, so I'll have to stick with small projects until then.

Sarcasm dog sums up my day

This picture of Maggie rolling her eyes pretty much sums up how I feel about today.

It's just been one of those annoying days. My brother-in-law flew back to NY early this morning, and I figured I'd spend the day like any normal, houseguest-free Monday... Go to the gym, go grocery shopping, catch up on some chores, bead, dance, and maybe, just maybe, have a bit of a belated anniversary celebration with Chris. Instead, I woke up feeling sick. Then I had to deal with some internet drama, then my husband's boss decided that he should take a business trip to Phoenix. Tomorrow. Bah.

So Monday, I say nuts to you. I roll my eyes at you, a la Sarcasm Dog.

On a completely unrelated note, don't forget to check out this week's Layne's Legacy -- Beading For A Cure auctions!

Dancing at Faire

Look who danced on stage with the dancers and musicians of Ghazaal Beledi! It's me! And my classmates Jacqueline (in the orange), Meghan (in the magenta) and Jen (behind Meghan)! The other magenta skirted dancer in the corner is Jen Bentz, one of the Ghazal Belede dancers, and the blue skirted lady in the back is the dancer who spotted us in the audience and came up with the idea to pull us up... I didn't catch her name because I was too excited.

This photo comes courtesy of Jen's husband Sam, who took a lot of pictures and a little video while we were dancing. My Mom has video, too, but she hasn't sent it to me yet. I'll share it here when she does.

Sorry that I haven't had time to actually post much this week, it's been crazy and now I have to finish getting ready for class.

This week in auctions!

Grace Danel's stunning beaded bag is just one of this week's beautiful auctions! Be sure to look at them all, choose your favorite(s) and bid as much as you can! You know you'll kick yourself if you let something that you love pass you by. And don't forget that your bid will help Layne's Legacy -- Beading For A Cure make a generous donation to the NCCRA later this year.

Tomorrow I'll blog about the wonderful time that I had at the Renaissance Festival!

Auctions end tomorrow!

Don't forget that the first round of Layne's Legacy -- Beading For A Cure auctions end Sunday afternoon! A new round of beautiful auctions will also start, but I'll be at Ren Faire all day, so I won't post about them until Monday. If you're the impatient sort, like me, you can visit the Auction Preview page on the official LL-BFAC site, which will show you what will be auctioned when. It's also a nice way to see all of the items together!

The above necklace is by Dulcey Heller, and like all of our items this week, it currently has a criminally low bid, so you should consider making it your own. Dulcey always wows me with her imaginative designs. She made one of my all-time favorite LL-BFAC necklaces.

Enough with the rain already!

Those of you who have read this blog for a while know that I usually really like the rain... but seriously. We had lots of rain before my mother-in-law visited, perfect weather for the week she was here, and then the rain came back. It especially likes to hit on the weekends, which makes it impossible to enjoy any outdoor events or do much-needed yardwork (because the rain is of course making lots of weeds crop up). Now my game room roof is leaking, and my Dad generously offered to come over and have a look to see if it's an easy fix... and we haven't had a dry day since Saturday when it started leaking! Thankfully it's finally supposed to stop tomorrow, and the weekend is even supposed to be nice. Finally.

But for now, I'm just going to sulk because it's too cold and muddy to go dancing in the park!

Crow Moon Inspiration

I'm almost done with my Sap Moon bracelet, but I still need to decide just what I'm doing for Crow Moon, the moon I most want to interpret. Last week, my friend Theresa posted this awesome painting called "A Murder of Crows" which I think is the perfect inspiration. The crows look so ominous, and then there's that cardinal, who clearly thinks he's some sort of badass. You should visit Theresa's She Loves Shiny blog to see more of her work and little treasures she has found.

It's Auction Time! Get your bids in!

The 2010 Layne's Legacy -- Beading For A Cure auctions are up! Click Here to view this week's auction offerings. Please remember that as per eBay's draconian shill bidding rules, neither LL-BFAC board members nor their family members are allowed to bid on these auctions. However, their blog readers are, so if you don't fall into either of those two categories, you should be free to bid as often and as generously as you like.

The above necklace is by my friend Deb from Bead Indulgences. I have got to make one of these multi-strand woven necklaces some day. They have so much presence!

Once again, I've written all of the auction descriptions, though this is the last year that I will be providing that service.

New BFAC Kit is the Best One Yet!

That's right, I received my 2011 Layne's Legacy -- Beading For A Cure kit in today's mail! I think it's the most beautiful kit we've ever had, very elegant colors... and that's all I have to say, because I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone else!

I'm already contemplating what I want to do, of course. I'm torn between bead embroidery, or bezeling some rivolis. Decisions, decisions.

The 2010 auctions start tomorrow!

Congratulations

Carol Diane H. is the lucky winner of the earring drawing over at my Facebook fan page! *throws virtual confetti* Congratulations, Carol!

As I mentioned previously, there will be another giveaway of some sort next month, this one not Facebook-centric. I have no idea what the prize will be, but I promise I'll make it just as beautiful as these earrings are.

Anyway, my three hours of classes last night were great! In addition to the usual Anaya-style tribal class that I've been taking since the summer, I'm now also taking a class on finger cymbals (aka zills), and learning a drum solo choreography. I don't usually do choreography, so it's forcing my brain to work in a different way while my body is also learning new moves. Combine this with a stuffy head and the fact that I didn't get to eat a snack between classes, and it will be a miracle if I remember what I've learned so far when I return next week. But still! It was a great time and I'm sure I'll enjoy the classes even more next week when I'm back to my usual health.

Don't forget!

You can still enter to win these gorgeous earrings by becoming my fan on Facebook! The drawing is tomorrow night.

And now I must go get ready to drive up to Tempe for three hours of dance class. Woohoo!

Pretty Stone

My last couple of posts have been really long and rambling, so here's one that's short and sweet! The above picture is the cabochon that I bought when we took my MIL to the gem show. It's opalized flourite, aka Tiffany stone aka Tiffany Opal. The site that I linked to is hideously unattractive and hard to read, but it does contain lots of information about the composition and origin of this pretty stone. I picked this particular cab because I liked the near-symmetry of the shape and the high concentration of purple. Once I got it out of the dim tent and looked at it in better light, I found that I also liked the pattern, which is almost like a lightning bolt shooting down to a shadowed landscape.

Earrings! You can win a pair!

As promised last week, some new goodies made with Valentine's Day Beads from Artbeads.com. These two pairs of earrings feature the glass heart beads that didn't quite match the ceramic heart pendant that I used for The Sun Spirals Ever Onward.

I didn't pay much attention to the description, and thought that the brown hearts in Herbal Love Potion were bronze metallic, but they're actually dark brown pearl. The finish is slightly satiny and very attractive. It seems pretty durable, too, and didn't have as much excess pearl-coating around the hole as some pearlized beads do. There's a bit of angling at the hole on a couple of them, but they still hang straight and are perfectly heart-shaped.

Hearts in Motion features tortoise shell glass heart beads. I love tortoise shell because it's such a warm, earthy color. In these earrings, it's joined by Swarovski crystals and crystal pearls as well as red tiger's eye, for a rainbow of yummy brown shades. These hearts are even more well-formed than the brown pearl ones. I like this size of heart because a 4mm Swarovski bicone nestles perfectly at the top.

Do you know what else is special about the Hearts in Motion earrings? I'm giving them away! To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is become a fan of Erthe Fae Designs on Facebook. Current fans are automatically entered into the drawing. On Friday night I'll draw a random name and the lucky winner will receive these beautiful earrings free of charge.

(Boring official rules: Contest is only open to US residents age 18 or over. My family members are exempt from the drawing, even though I know they're my fans, because that's how these things go. Earrings have a retail value of $25. Winning fan will be notified via Facebook on Friday night).

I know some of you aren't into Facebook, but I have plans to start doing giveaways every month, and each time the way to enter will be different, so everyone has a chance to win something.

Speaking of winning stuff, do you know what's even better than winning a free pair of Erthe Fae Designs earrings? Winning a $1000 Artbeads.com shopping spree! That's a lot of beads. The contest is about to close, so don't forget to enter before it's too late.

FTC Disclaimer: The glass heart beads used in the above earrings were provided free of charge by Artbeads.com for promotional consideration. I have provided my honest review of the free products given to me.

Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, and Buttery Spirits

Sky Will Feed My Heart, ACEO by Carapace.*

February is the month of the Snow Moon and the Hunger Moon. Snow and Hunger often went hand-in-hand in the old days. You had to get through the winter relying largely upon preserved foods that you'd set aside during the warmer months, and if the snowy days stretched on, your stores could dwindle down. It's a scary thought, isn't it? These days, most of us take food for granted. If there's nothing in the pantry, we either go down to the store or even treat ourselves to a meal out at the restaurant. We rarely have to think about rationing our food stores, stretching them out until warmer days return.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. The Hunger Moon made me think of Buttery Spirits. These gluttonous faeries eat and eat and eat, but they can only eat ill-gotten or misappropriated food. For instance, an innkeeper who tries to grow wealthy by serving his patrons only the nastiest meat and watered-down drinks may attract such a spirit to his cellar. The implication is not that the faerie is there specifically to teach the innkeeper a lesson, only to gorge itself on the only food it is allowed. Any moral revelations and changes of heart are purely incidental.

It's interesting that the Buttery Spirit does not act out of morality, because faeries are often described as having their own peculiar set of morals -- some of which match up with the traditional Christian values, others which are quite different. They're said to hate lazy and churlish maids, they hate to be spied on, and they often react strangely to gifts. Of course, we won't even get into their habits of abducting babies or beautiful women and leaving changelings in their place. That would be too far of a digression from the topic at hand.

I gave The Hungriest Pixie Ever a light-hearted description, but I could also have played her up as a relative of the Buttery Spirit. Perhaps the owner of the pomegranate tree sells only the nasty, over-ripe fruit, keeping the must luscious ones for himself. Disgusted by his greed, faeries descend upon his tree and devour the best fruits, leaving behind nothing but husks.

As for the Snow Moon, I have nothing more to say about that. Snow and I are not good friends.

Exciting clicky links for related blogginess:
Snow Moon, Hunger Moon on the official FAE Team blog.
The Snow Moon on Mermaiden Creations in the Otherworld.

*Not actually an ACEO. For some reason I thought it was.