Spiral Bracelets!

 I am working to rebuild my stock of spiral rope bracelets. Midnight Meandering is a great black-on-black bracelet that will work well with a variety of Gothic styles. I really like the black-lined clear seed beads in the core, they give it a lot of depth.

Purple Overload also features lined clear beads, but in this case it's a shimmering purple at the core. This was a really tricky bracelet to photograph, those pearly outer beads tend to really reflect the light and turn into a blur in pictures. I don't think I'll be designing with them again any time soon.

But hey, enough about that! It's New Years Eve! I hope you all have a fun and safe evening. Thank you to everyone who has made 2012 a really successful year for me. I hope you'll stick with me in 2013, because I have plans. Oh yes. Plans! Bwahahahah.

Did you have some happy holidays?

Did you enjoy the holiday season? Topher sure did! He decided this bit of wrapping paper was a bag and crawled right inside -- you can see his tail in the corner of the couch on the left side, barely. He's also been enjoying the shoe box that the paper was wrapped around, as it is perfectly Topher-sized. Plus there's been so much tissue paper to shred! And we haven't even reached the big gift exchange with my family on the First. Truly, it is a good season to be a Fluffmonster.

Anyway, now that Christmas is past, my Etsy shop is open once more! And starting this afternoon I will be back to listing items in my continuing quest to get all of my current stock listed in the shop. Plus I will keep making new things, so be sure to check this blog regularly for in-progress posts and pictures of the goodies I'm making for myself.

No more Anonymous Comments

My apologies to my friends who have previously used the Anonymous comments option. Spammers have been abusing the hell out of it, and whereas previously Google's filters would catch the comments and delete them pretty quickly, I found that one of my posts had EIGHT comments going back as far as 5 days, and most of not all linking to some really disgusting sites. Excuse me, Blogger, but how exactly did that get through your filters? My site clearly has nothing to do with the sort of content they were offering.

After having to manually delete all those comments, and worrying that there may be others lurking on other posts, I am considering migrating all 3 of my blogs to other platforms. I'll make a decision after the holidays.

Closed for the holidays!

Earlier today I put my Etsy shop into vacation mode for the holidays. Normally I leave it open after my soft shipping deadline just in case someone wants something last-minute and is willing to have it overnighted, but those transactions are just so stressful! So this year one of my gifts to myself is actually closing the store entirely until the 26th.

I will still be blogging in-progress projects, though, and who knows what else, so keep checking in over here. I am in a beading mood. On these cool nights it's nice to watch a DVD with a blanket and a tray of beads in my lap, with endless cups of tea.

Allegory Gallery Seed Bead Fun

 In order to make things more interesting around here, I'm going to be posting more in-progress pictures of projects. I plan to do a lot of seed beading in 2013, so there should be a lot of fun projects for me to document.

My first project involves the Black Beach Bonfire seed bead mix from Allegory Gallery. I shamelessly stole the above photo from their website because it shows the full range of this beautiful mix, whereas my pic below has it in a tube where it looks a little blah.

Because there are so many colors in the mix I decided to go with a simple black onyx cabochon for the focal piece. I'm not sure yet what else I'll be using, but I think there will be some golden key charms to pull out the gold in the mix, and to make it appropriate for Wild Wild West Con in March. I really need to beef up my steampunk stock, and this will have cross appeal for Goths, too. Plus I just really like keys!

Disclaimer: Some items in this blog post were provided for promotional consideration. I am receiving no other compensation for my blogging.

Books and beads, my two addictions

 I love to buy beads, and I love to buy books about beading. But too often, they sit around unused. So I've been trying to use more of my beads, and also to actually make some projects from books and magazines. Towards that goal, I made this bracelet from "Great Designs for Shaped Beads" by Anna Elizabeth Draegar.

This is an awesome concept for a book, because I know I'm not the only beader who has excitedly purchased a new style of seed bead, only to be totally stumped on what to do with them. Take the Tila beads that are in this project. I see a lot of designers doing great work with them, but I have not even tried. I took the easy way out and waited for a book project to grab me! It also let me use some size 10 Delicas (which helped dictate the color palette because I only had 3 colors, because I never use them).

The instructions and illustrations in the book were really clear, I was able to make this bracelet over the span of 3 nights while watching a DVD (I also worked on other projects, so I probably could have done it in 1 or 2 sittings if I'd focused). Another nice thing is that Draegar provides alternate options for a lot of the designs, so if you only have a few Tilas leftover, you can whip up a ring to match, or if you like a necklace but don't have enough beads, she scales it down to a bracelet.

I like this design enough that I might make more in other colors, but I think I should delve into another book first!

Rarh, Bird Tribe!

 Bird Tribe is one of the new tribal necklaces that I made for the Shakedown! It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. I love those rough-hewn matte tiger's eye tabs. They were a little pricey but I just had to have them! I think they combine really well with the lava and coral. Lava is quickly becoming one of my favorite materials for tribal jewelry because I can go BIG without it being too heavy, although these particular lava beads are only about 6-7mm.

As for the focal, I bought it at the same time that I bought the wicked skull in Souleater. I would like to work more with this sort of pendant, but I probably can't justify buying more until one of these necklaces sell (so hopefully one will before the next gem show). I can't help it, I have expensive taste!

Where did you get that one?

 At the Desert Shakedown, there was a kindergarten-age girl in our booth for a few minutes, and she decided to entertain herself by asking "Where did you get this one?" about the focal pieces of every necklace within reach, which lead to the realization that I get beads from a lot of different places. Between that, and a conversation yesterday about whether stories help sell products, I was in the mood to talk about where my beads come from. Married to the Dance (above) is a new necklace, and I included its provenance in the description. But it left me thinking about the varied beads I use in each project, and where I get them, and how I get the idea to bring them together.

Take The Hungriest Pixie Ever as an example. I of course got the focal bead from Green Girl Studios at a Tucson bead show. I ordered the ceramic pomegranates from Earthenwood Studio specifically to go with it, and then the colors of those charms set the palette for the necklace. The freshwater pearls were purchased in bulk at a gem show years ago. The green crystals came from the same gem show, but more recently. I think the moss agate is from a Rings & Things trunk show in Phoenix. The padparadscha crystals are leftover from a Beading For A Cure kit. They all came together beautifully, as if I bought them all to be together, but in truth I just have an extensive bead collection to pull from.

Are you curious about the origins of the beads in any of my other work? Just ask and I'll do my best to answer -- though sometimes I may have to say that I honestly don't remember! As of last month I've been doing this for 14 years now. Whew!

New and Beautiful

I spent the Thanksgiving holiday in NY, but now that I am home I can get down to listing all of the new stock that didn't sell at the Desert Shakedown! That includes this Hamsa of Earth bracelet, made with chocolate jasper and rhyolite. Expect to see a lot more stones this week! There will be lava/basalt, tiger's eye, amethyst and more.

Small Business Saturday!

I'm holding over yesterday's Onyx Friday specials for Small Business Saturday! If you pop over to Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs you'll see items with "SBS" in their title. Those pieces are discounted.

This will be my last sale of the year, and probably my last sale until NEXT Onyx Friday. I put too much into my jewelry to just discount it at a whim. However, I know that we all want a bargain when we can find one, so I chose a variety of items to put on sale. Some are budget-friendly, and some are not. I put faerie, gothic, belly dance, and other designs into the mix so there should be something for just about everyone.

Anything sold this weekend will be mailed on Monday!

Onyx Friday

I am pleased to be part of this exciting event! Here's the official description:

Onyx Friday: a black friday alternative
Friday, November 23rd, 2012
Starts at 8am (PST)!

Get your holiday shopping done at home AND support fine artists and craftspeople all over the country.

Tired of getting up at 5am to go shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving? Trying to fight your turkey hangover and putting on your "fat pants" so that you're comfortable enough to go out and brave the crowds? Fighting a little old lady for the last $40 stereo system on the shelf? Getting run over by shopping carts as you dare to enter the store?

Forget all of that awful business!

Wouldn't it be nice if you could get all of the adrenal rush of shopping at the same time as the rest of the world while sitting on your warm, soft, comfy couch in your pajamas? Stretched out under a blanket on your lap, fuzzy slippers, and hot cocoa in your hand? Shopping away like the rest of America in the comfort of your own home?

And the BEST thing about it?! All of your shopping done in one place, on one day, from artisans and crafters all over the US!

Siren Song Productions presents "Onyx Friday: a black friday alternative"!

We scoured the earth for the finest in crafters, artists, performers, and film makers for an incredible line up of AMAZING products! These artists are offering their items on sale for ONE DAY ONLY and you will not want to miss out on this opportunity!

Whether it's stunning, shiny baubles created with antique beads, cutting-edge clothing , hand-crocheted winter-wear, independently-produced DVD's, or one-of-a-kind accessories or limited-edition fine art, you're bound to find it here!

Eat as much as you want on Thanksgiving, cuddle up with your kitty, and get ready for one of the biggest and best sales online ever!

It's super simple to join in on the sale and fun!
1. Log in to Facebook on the morning of the sale.
2. Go to the "Onyx Friday" event page.
3. Look through all of the beautiful items posted for sale!
4. See one that catches your eye? Just click the link provided to purchase and be directed to the sellers website!

It's that easy!

We'll see you there!

 

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Erthe Fae Designs will have a dozen items on sale as part of this event! Oh, and for those of you who do not use Facebook, you can of course still get the sale prices (everyone can), FB is just the primary vehicle for advertising it. So while you can go to my shop and buy the sale items, you won't know what everyone else is offering without being part of the event.

I love living in the future!

All of these crystal bracelets are coming with me to the Desert Shakedown. In fact, all of my stock is. But my Etsy shop will remain open because we live in the future! Having a smart phone is one of the best things I have ever done for my business. The Etsy app will notify me if anything sells, allowing me to remove it from the table. Meanwhile, as items sell at the Shakedown, I can use my phone to remove them from the Etsy shop. How amazing is that?!?

And of course, I'll be processing credit cards with Square, aka "the best invention ever!" Seriously, if you are a small business like me, doing business primarily on-line but doing a couple live events a year, having Square or one of their competitors is the smartest thing you can do. Especially if you sell a lot of high-ticket items. Sure, someone will probably have cash on hand for a $10 pair of earrings, but do I really want to take a check from a stranger for a $200 necklace? No, I do not.

So anyway, feel free to visit Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs and do all the shopping you want tomorrow, or come see me at the Desert Shakedown to shop in person, or ask me about the Open House that I am having next month.

Strange Souvenir

This necklace is made with some souvenirs from my trip to Seattle. The focal was purchased from fellow bellydancer Tempest at a dance festival in Bothell (which I have decided, against all logic and evidence to the contrary, should be pronounced Bot-Hell), and the awesome drop beads are from a bead store in Bellevue, where we were staying.

I didn't intend to buy any beads while in Seattle. I made no plans to visit bead stores. After all, I have plenty of beads and didn't really need any more. But I ended up buying beads anyway! The Bellevue store was within walking distance of our hotel, so we went on a whim. I also randomly stumbled across a bead store in Bothell while looking for an ATM, so I bought some things there. You'll see some of those next week, if the items I'm making with them don't sell at the Desert Shakedown.

By the way, I'm of course not selling this necklace, as it is way too ME and serves as a happy reminder of my Summer vacation. But I will see Tempest again when I go to TRIBAL FEST (!!!!!!) in May, so I might bring back some more bird skulls to share.

More new pics!

 I took a little break from making new stock to update the pictures on two more listings today! Check out the nice new pictures for Autumn Flier (above) and Mother Moon at Dawn (below).

I am really excited about the new inventory. There's some bracelets, necklaces, hair sticks and earrings. I hope to have time to make even more tonight and tomorrow, before I start tagging and packing everything for the trip up to Phoenix.

Sprucing Things Up

In addition to adding new listings, I've also been working on new photographs for some of my existing items. Elvensoul is one of the first necklaces to receive some nice new images! This lovely elf necklace is of course one of my favorite pieces of jewelry in my shop. It has everything I love: an olivine and bronze color palette, leaf beads, vintage crystals, and an art bead (in this case, an elf by Melanie from Earthenwood Studio).

I'd like to be doing even more with my shop, but right now I am busy getting ready for the Desert Shakedown and for Thanksgiving, so I'm limiting myself to one or two Etsy-related tasks a day.

Purple Crystals

 I finally managed to photograph and list the last two crystal bracelets. These two shades of purple were being especially camera-shy, always showing up too dark, or too fuzzy in pictures. But I captured them at last! Above is Grape Sorbet and below is Velvet Queen.

Both crystal bracelets have sweet vintage button clasps because I have such a button addiction! I love how they make each bracelet even more unique. I think they add a lot of personality, too. The pink striped button on Grape Sorbet is really playful, while the one on Velvet Queen is super glamorous.

Sunny Seattle Summer

 This bracelet takes its name from the fact that I started it during my Summer vacation in Seattle, where it was beautiful and sunny and wonderfully fun. Of course, I didn't finish it until the end of October, but the colors still remind me of my trip.

 I used Jean Power's Caldera pattern which will be in Contemporary Geometric Beadwork! It's the same technique as the Power Puff but with a more complicated pattern which creates endless waves of chevrons. I love the white borders between the various greens and teals.

 I was originally going to do olive and bronze, but let's face it, I do that too much! I needed a summer brights bracelet.

Now that it's finally done, I am ready for more beadweaving and embroidery! I think I am going to particpate in NaSeBeMo, which is like NaNoWriMo but for seed beading instead of writing. Weaving and embroidery every day! Woo!

Frankendaisy

Well, it finally happened. I turned into the person who dresses her pets for Halloween. Well, a pet. The only one who really likes wearing clothes. Daisy LOVES dog shirts and sweaters, I think it's because she knows they make her extra cute and people are more likely to fawn over her. She also loves people and is good with little kids, so last night I let her help me hand out candy to the Trick or Treaters.

After seeing Frankenweenie last week, I knew that had to be Daisy's costume. We're pretty sure she has some dachshund in her, she has a more weenie-like build than most corgis and a more narrow face and flatter coat, plus some doxie mannerisms. Plus it would be an easy costume and not too weird and bulky (she may like sweaters, but I don't think she'd do well with one of those costumes that goes over the head, since she has a long neck and big ears).

I lucked out and found a Junior's size grey t-shirt on clearance for $2 at JoAnn's. It was already a pretty good fit on Daisy, just a little too long. So I cut a couple inches off the bottom and then took a little more off the front of the shirt so she wouldn't trip on it. Then I spent 5-10 minutes drawing stitches and patches with a black marker. I wanted to add bolts to her neck but I couldn't find any Frankenstein makeup kits. Still, the t-shirt was good enough. Lots of people recognized what she was supposed to be.

Daisy had a great time making friends with kids, adults, and even one giant werewolf. She was very well-behaved, other than a few times when she decided to start barking at people because they were walking on the other side of the street instead of coming over to us right away. I'd say the night was a success!

Desert Shakedown!

Well, I am all about the vending this week, but you don't have to wait until March for this one! I am returning to the Desert Shakedown for my third year of vending. This year the vendor marketplace is entirely indoors which makes me quite happy... No more worrying about my displays blowing over, no shifting my chair from one shady spot to another.

Not only will I have my usual selection of jewelry and some new work that won't be added to Etsy until after the show, but I will also be sharing the booth with my friend Sandarita who will have various accessories and some gently loved belly dance costuming. You should come see us. Two redheads in one booth? Fun times are sure to ensue.

Time for more steampunkery!

Guildmistress is one of only 7 steampunk items currently in my shop. Well, it's time to do something about that because my brother and I just got accepted to share a booth at WILD WILD WEST CON!!!! Woohoo! I can't even tell you how excited I am at the thought of spending a long weekend hanging out at Old Tucson Studios in steampunk garb, selling my jewelry to awesome people. It's also an excuse to buy new boots! Tee hee! And of course, shop for more vintage beads, keys, and other cool items to use in my steampunk designs. After all, this is going to be a convention full of other vendors in the genre, so I am going to have to stand out!

Luckily the convention isn't until March, which means I have plenty of time to design and create some gorgeous things, plus gem show is between now and then, so I can really stock up!

What to make? What to wear? How will we decorate our booth? This is going to be awesome!

Desert Raindrops -- BFAC Project

Here's my project for next year's Layne's Legacy -- Beading for a Cure auctions. I didn't add any beads to the kit this year, just a Muscovite cabochon that someone had sent to me as part of a birthday package, some coppery chain, and the supplies necessary for bead embroidery.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but included in the kit was a tube of those new-ish peanut beads. They were a challenge to figure out how to use, but I actually really like how they look laid out in a line for embroidery, so I might have to buy more for further experimentation.

Little shop update

Hello out there! I made a change to my Etsy shop this week -- change for the better, I hope! Now in addition to accepting PayPal, I also accept Etsy's new direct checkout feature. So if you'd prefer not to use PayPal, you now have that option. This also allows me to accept Etsy gift certificates! I'm pretty excited about that, because I'd been considering adding gift certificates to my shop but I wasn't sure how I wanted to do it. Now Etsy has done the work for me!

(I'm also excited because maybe people will give ME Etsy certificates for the holidays and I can go shopping! A lot of my favorite shops are now accepting them)

If you'd like to try out the new checkout feature, feel free to go shopping at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs.

And now, earrings!

Now that I'm caught up on listing crystal bracelets (other than two stubborn ones that refuse to photograph well), it's time to catch up with earrings! These Clear Waters Beaded Earrings feature color-treated quartz and Swarovski crystals. They have a lovely, translucent quality like chalcedony.

These basic drop earrings have always been a best-seller for me. They're a great way to treat yourself to an affordable piece of one of a kind jewelry, plus I make them in enough color combinations that everyone can find something they like. Oftentimes I use beads leftover from necklace projects, so they coordinate with each other. I think I'm about due to make some new ones to get ready for my Autumn vending and the holiday rush.

More crystals!

I am still adding more crystal bracelets to my shop! Only a couple left, though, so I should be completely done with them this week until I decide to make more. I think my focus will first be on other styles of bracelets, however. My stock of spiral bracelets is quite low, and I could use some new strung bracelets, too.

Anyway, I just listed Dark Gloaming Gothic Crystal Bracelet. Tanzanite is a great color for Fall and Winter, it has a bit of a grey undertone that goes well with more understated colors. Not that the Pantone forecast for Fall is very understated, but if you're a Goth, you're probably going to stick with more muted shades like this.

Personally, I'm starting to get excited for Fall. Maybe it's because I remembered that I have green faux suede boots. Maybe it's because I just ordered an awesome new hoodie. Maybe it's because Autumn is the busy season for belly dance performances. Either way, I am ready for Summer to make its exit!

Rings!

I took this photo a while ago but I never got around to blogging about it! Probably because as far as photos go, it is not the best. These rings just kind of lie around when they're being photographed like this. They look so much better on a hand!

I really enjoy making these rings, which are from the upcoming book Contemporary Geometric Beadwork. They work up pretty quickly and easily, which makes them a great way to swatch colors for a larger project while still ending up with a finished item. It's also a good way to fill up color holes in your jewelry collection. Have one shirt in an off shade of green, but you don't want to make an entire necklace to go with it? Whip up a ring in an evening.

The top green one has Dichroic Aikos and 2mm Swarovski crystals as accents. The black and silver is also accented by those 2mms. The bottom two are made with nothing but Delicas. The rounded one is less pokey to wear, since you don't end up having a point facing in to your hand, but I don't like it as much. Really, the points tend to soften with wear anyways. The only time I really had trouble was when I tried to play zills while wearing one that was still stiff and new.

I'll probably make myself a few more of these. I like the idea of having rings to coordinate with most of my outfits.

I hit 100

Hooray! I listed two items today and that finally brought me up to a nice round 100 items in my Etsy shop! Of course, I am not going to stop there. As much as I love seeing that "100", I photographed a lot more than two items today so I will be listing them throughout the week. My goal is to keep my shop stocked with at least 100 items for the rest of the year, so I need to build up a bit of a buffer in anticipation of holiday sales!

The two new necklaces are Baby Bat Necklace (above) and Queen of Love and Beauty (below).

The Last One!

This Alexandrite Crystal Bracelet is the last one from that batch of photos! I need to re-photograph a few that didn't turn out, but I think I'll take a break and get some new necklaces or earrings listed first. I also need to sit down and design some new anklets since I am almost out. A jeweler's work is never done!

They Keep Coming

Ok, I really need to photograph something other than crystal bracelets this week! I love them, but it gets boring to list multiples of any type of item -- there's only so much variation I can have in the descriptions while still adhering to the dogma of SEO.

This beauty is called Spring Snow and it brings my shop up to 95 items! I should hit the big 100 this week, unless a lot of items sell. Please note, I will not complain if I do not hit 100 this week due to sales. Don't hold back on my account! Buy as much as you want. Heck, buy it all. I will happily refill the shop while buying new dance costumes with the proceeds.

Celtic

As I was listing this Knotwork crystal bracelet on Etsy today, I realized that I don't really work with Celtic themes a lot. I don't know why this is. I love knotwork, and I've certainly purchased focals and other buttons with Celtic designs, I just don't seem to use them very often. I should definitely change that, as I feel it's a good fit with the fantasy theme of a lot of my other work.

Loving what I do

I just listed this cute little Lovestruck Crystal Bracelet over on Etsy. In thinking about how to theme today's blog post around it, I was reminded that lately this blog has become really commercial and that I don't really talk about my life at all anymore. So now that we've got that shameless self-promotion out of the way, let's talk about something other than what is in my Etsy shop.

Dancing remains my primary obsession. I'm in classes 4 days a week, and practicing almost every day at home. Later this month I will be performing a solo with a live band, which is a pretty big step for me. I am also still performing with Fire & Gold Bellydance, my teacher's student troupe. My goal is to eventually go pro. You can of course read more about all of that at Confessions of a Dance Pants Addict.

Lately I have been killing time playing Guild Wars 2, a video game which came out last month. Probably not the best use of my time, but it's been a really long time since Chris and I had a video game that we enjoyed playing together. The game has a crafting system, so of course I am a jeweler in game, just like in real life. Unlike real life, my jewelry in GW2 has magical powers.

A less frivolous use of my time is my new blog Politely Worded! For a while now, people have come to me when they wanted a little help writing a difficult response to someone. I decided to spin that off into a blog, so more people could enjoy my writing hobby. It updates once a week currently, but I may switch to 2-3 times a week if I get enough letters to answer.

Lastly, for those of you who care about my four-legged companions, they are all in good health. Lira continues to be very spry for her age, no one ever believes that she is 16ish years old now! Topher has also crossed over into what pet food manufacturers consider senior, but I am in denial about that. He will always be my kitten! My 18 pound fluffmonster of a kitten. Daisy and Maggie are in the prime of their doggie lives and remain convinced that every human was put on this earth to give them belly rubs. I think I'll go back to doing weekend updates with pet pictures.

Back to listing!

I am trying very hard to get my shop up to 100 listings! The fact that many of my crystal bracelet photos did not turn out is slowing me down a bit, but I did get this Night Sky crystal bracelet listed today.

Pro tip: Photographing bracelets laid out on a black pillow against a black background does not lead to success. Especially not when said bracelets are woven out of dark crystals! Some of the lighter, brighter colors turned out alright, but the vast majority of the 111 photos that I took had to be deleted!

It's a butterfly kind of day!

 I just got back from delivering this pendant to Margaret of MZGlass. The cabochon is her work, and I did the bead embroidery. It's liberally embellished with fire opal Swarovski crystals! I like how bright and cheerful it is. As I was getting into my car to leave MZ's place, I saw a huge butterfly fluttering across her yard. No doubt, it's a butterfly kind of day!

Not only did I deliver this pendant (and take home a lampworked butterfly/moth for my own collection), but I also listed this Teal Butterfly crystal bracelet. It features lovely Pacific Opal Swarovski crystals (one of my favorite colors) and a Sterling Silver butterfly clasp.

Warning: Crystal Bracelet Invasion!

 I think a while back I mentioned on this blog how I had found a stash of crystal bracelets that I had never listed on Etsy. Well, I got distracted by a few things, like needing to make a new costume bra for a troupe performance and then going on vacation, but today I finally tackled those bracelets! They're all in the image above, as well as a few that were already listed. I wanted to show a wide variety in the updated listing for a Custom Crystal Bracelet.

Taking the photos was so time-consuming that I was only able to list Picnics and Sunshine Crystal Bracelet today. Consider it the harbinger of the incoming crystal bracelet invasion!

I love this necklace!

The Moss Spirit is one of my favorite necklaces. Definitely one of those pieces that is really hard to offer for sale instead of keeping. But if you could see how much jewelry I have (which would require me to be able to fit it all into one image), you would tell me that I really don't need to keep anything, or make anything for myself. That would not stop me, of course, but you could try.

Olivine greens are my favorite, and I love layered jewelry, and the green garnet focal is just so beautiful. It looks great with the elegant simplicity of Rachel's black velvet choli. I didn't make it with tribal costuming in mind, but it works well, especially for fusion. Tribal jewelry doesn't have to be all kuchi and stones!

I'm definitely glad that I decided to include this necklace in the photo shoot. I have several pieces in this style and NONE of them are in my shop because they are so hard to photograph! They look so great on a person but just do not lay right on a neck board or flat background. They need to hug the real contours of a real body.

Feminist Photos Kickstarter!

Let me tell you a bit more about my totally awesome photographer friend, Liora K. She took all those beautiful images you've been seeing in my shop, but she doesn't stop at fashion photography! She has done a number of artistic projects as well, and is currently trying to raise funds to embark on a cross-country road trip to photograph a feminist in each and every state! You can learn more about the project on the Kickstarter page for The Feminist Photos.

The above image is one of my favorites from the series so far. Not only is the slogan one I can really get behind, but I think the pose shows how women can be strong AND beautiful. A month or so ago, a comics artist that I follow on Twitter posted a sketch of one of his female characters working out. She was a little more buff than the model is this photo, but nothing ridiculous. Someone actually told him that men didn't find muscular women attractive. REALLY? I mean, I'm not a man, but I think there are few things more beautiful than a woman with muscle definition.

Anyway, until recently, I never realized I was a feminist. I thought of feminists as activists. I figured if you weren't part of some specific group that was lobbying congress or protesting in the streets, you weren't a feminist. But it turns out that the very fact that I think that women should have equal pay, and control of our reproduction, and the right to marry other women, means that I am a feminist. I wish that I didn't have to be, though. I spend a lot of time getting sad and angry that I live in a world where any of that is still an issue. Most of the time I feel like I live in the future. Not only am I sitting here typing out something that can be read by people all over the world, but I also own a little phone that allows me to look up things on the internet, process credit cards, take pictures and video, and listen to music. Unfortunately I don't think our social mores are progressing as quickly as our technology is.

I hope you'll forgive me for getting a little political on my blog. I also hope that if you feel the same way that I do, that you'll consider supporting an artist who is raising awareness of feminist issues, and throw a few dollars into the Kickstarter.

Regular jewelry pushing resumes tomorrow. Thank you!

Introducing... Feather Earrings!

You may have noticed some of these feather earrings in a few of the images from the photo shoot! It's true, I decided to jump in on this fashion trend. I have sensitive lobes, so I can't always wear a lot of big earrings, but feathers allow me to go big and bold without hurting myself. The pair on the left made with green feathers and silvered leaves was my initial prototype which I made for myself. They're really fun, in most instances.

Pro tip: Don't wear feather earrings to Biosphere 2. Part of the tour takes you through all of the ventilation stuff underneath, and there's a couple of spots where it's like being in a wind tunnel.

The other two pairs are available in my Etsy shop! Luck in the Wind Feather Earrings are turquoise and grey with Hamsa charms, and Om Feather Earrings are beautiful and earthy with brass charms and shells with Om symbols on them.

Dragon Dreams of Allegory Gallery

 My most recent package from Allegory Gallery contained some great beads! I was immediately drawn to pair the Green Girl dragon focal with the magnesite beads, due to their similar shapes. I added some Swarovski crystals in Sunflower because I am all over that turquoise and yellow combination!

The magnesite beads are really interesting. Before I read the label I thought they were Czech glass with a Picasso coating, but no, they're stones! They have a very smooth, even shape and a bit of a seem on the sides, so I think they are a reconstituted and pressed stone. Just one of the many unusual materials on the market today! I think their mottled appearance is the perfect companion to the handmade dragon.

Dreaming Dragon Necklace is available in my Etsy shop, if you love this combination as much as I do and have to make it your own!

To see what my fellow Design Team artists have been up to, check out the side bar with all of their blogs!

FTC disclosure notice thingie: Some of the items in this post were provided for promotional consideration as part of the Allegory Gallery Design Team.