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!