Sale sale SALE!

I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop! Click here to view my brand-new sale section! There's fantasy, tribal, steampunk and more. Please note that if you purchase two or more sale items, I will refund your shipping costs. This even goes for international orders.

What do all of these sale items have in common? They're all made with stone or shell beads. The sale is inspired by the fact that Rings & Things is coming back to Mesa on Tuesday, and I want to buy more gorgeous stone beads. As I was debating whether I really needed to take a special trip to Mesa to buy more stone beads (after all, I didn't buy any at gem show), I realized that many of the items that I'd made with last year's stone purchases had in fact sold, some of them rather quickly. Clearly, stones are a good investment for me and I should probably get around to using more of them.

I've also brought back the Daily Special. Today's special is the Forest Singers earring pair. I'm honestly surprised that these have never sold, but then again, I've never been able to get a really good picture of them. Take my word for it, they're very cute! Daily Specials count towards the free shipping offer, too.

Closing up shop tomorrow

Tomorrow I'm closing up shop. Not for good, mind you, just for the holidays. Tomorrow's the last day that I really feel that I can mail things and have a strong chance of them arriving in time for Christmas.

If you have some last minute shopping to do, Snowdrop is today's Daily Special. I've not only taken $10 off the regular price, but this necklace also ships for free. Sure, it's not diamonds and gold, which the commercials want you to believe are all a woman wants for Christmas, but it's still a stunningly elegant necklace, and far more unique than anything you'll get at those mall jewelry stores.

Ok, enough shameless self promotion! Tonight is my last class before the recital. It's hard to believe that said recital is the day after tomorrow. I've been practicing my moves and I think I'll be fine. Chris and my parents will be in the audience, and maybe my friend Helen, too, so at least I'll have some friendly faces to smile back at.

Sparkle Sparkle Sparkle

With the holidays right around the corner, I thought it might be nice to put my Custom Crystal Bracelets on sale for today's Daily Special. Buy as many as you want for $35 each! These make great presents, and they're also the perfect little bit of glimmer to add to your go-to holiday party outfits. Dress up the Christmas sweater, or make your cocktail dress even more elegant.

By the way, the word Sparkle really starts to look weird after you type it three times in a row. I think it's the "rkl", such a weird and unattractive combination of letters, in such a nice and useful word.

Daily Specials Return

I don't handle change very well, so the simple act of switching to a new computer completely threw off my usual routine. Now, more than 2 weeks later, Daily Specials are finally back! Face of the Gorgon is today's offering.

This week I hope to get my camera talking to my computer, and start getting new jewelry into the store for the holidays. Of course, that would require me to spend less time playing video games and more time beading. The beads have been feeling awfully neglected lately.

Turning of the Wheel

Wheel of Destiny is today's Daily Special. This particular brass stamping is one of my favorites. I need to find more, preferably in the states this time (I ordered this batch from Canada, and I hate how long it takes things to arrive from there).

I have some ideas in mind to make another piece or two today. My shop definitely needs more new items to fill it out, especially with the holidays around the corner.

Still my favorite

Elvensoul is today's Daily Special, and it's also still one of my favorite necklaces ever. The colors, the style, the rich, leafy fringe... It's pretty much the essence of my work and inspiration, all in one little necklace. Someday, it will find a good home! If it doesn't sell this week, it will definitely come to Tahoe for Show and Tell!

Speaking of Tahoe, I leave in ONE WEEK and I think I'll actually get Cthulhu done in time! Hooray! Now to see if I can also get my brooch, necklace and Super Secret Jammies done in time. I'm going to try to work on the pajamas in the car on the way to Tempe tomorrow.

Pretty copper

I don't use a lot of copper, but I'm still so happy with this necklace that I feel like I should design with it more often. Mysterious Portrait is not only a beautiful tribal piece, it's also today's Daily Special!

There's not a whole lot I can blog about right this very moment, but I will say that I have a lot of new and fun things coming up later this month! No more boring ruts for me, though my life is now busy enough that I'm definitely falling into routines. It's the only way I can make sure that everything gets done.

It's less than two weeks until I jet off to Tahoe. I still have to figure out how I'm getting to the retreat from the airport. Also, currently they're experiencing lows in the 30s. At least the days are a very tolerable 70s, but I may be freezing the nights away. I wonder if I can sneak Topher along with me so I at least have a warm, fuzzy cat to keep me warm when I sleep?

Daily Specials are back!

Somehow, I forgot to restart the Daily Specials when I got back from vacation. Well, after their long absence, they're finally back today! And Verdant Pageantry is today's special.

I'll be glad when Cthulhu is done, so that I can get back to giving my shop the sort of attention it deserves. I miss adding new items!

Steamy Earrings

Tiger in a Taffeta Dress earrings are today's Daily Special. I'm honestly surprised that these haven't sold yet. They're a good price, and they're beautiful. Maybe the photos are to blame. I'm not really thrilled with that blue background, very few things have looked quite right when photographed on it. At some point, I really need to start the process of taking better images of most of the items in my Etsy shop and on my website. That probably won't happen until at least mid-October, when the Tahoe retreat is behind me.

Today is a really busy day. The dogs are at the vet getting their teeth cleaned, and will be coming home sometime this afternoon. I need to clean the house for tonight's game. I need to get some major work done on Cthulhu. I need to sit down with my companion DVD for belly dance class and find where the moves I need to practice are, and then practice them. I need to string two packages of crystals during tonight's game. Also, I have to try to keep the group on track so we can wrap up our current game before Chris takes off for NY. With all of that on my To Do list, I should probably wrap this post up.

I started at the gym

Medusa Turning to Stone is today's Daily Special. One thing that I love about Green Girl is that she made not one, but two different Medusa bead/pendant styles. This one, and a two-sided flat coin with Medusa's head on the front and a snake on the back. That other one is in a necklace I made for myself and wear all the time, in gorgeous olivine greens. Mmm.

As stated in the title, today I started attending Chris's gym. I guess that makes it my gym now, too. While at the gym, I learned that I suck at squats. I also did a lot of rowing. I also hung out with my friend Casey, who is my learning-to-workout partner, and who does not suck at squats. While I was trying to learn to keep my stupid heels flat while squatting, he was lifting big heavy weights from a squat. So in a way, it was actually good to suck, because I was a lot less tired at the end than he was. I'm going back on Thursday, to learn what else I suck at.

Another night in Tempe

In a few hours I'll be off on my weekly trek to Tempe for dance class. Yay! With any luck, the class DVDs will be back in stock. The problem with practicing during the week is that I have to rely on my mental image of the move, and sometimes I get to the next class and find that I've been doing it wrong all week. It also doesn't help that I don't have a mirror to work in front of -- I rely on my shadow, and my reflection in the TV screen. That problem will soon be in the past, at least, as my friend Helen is going to trade me a mirror for some dogsitting. Hooray!

I'm also trying a new restaurant tonight, one which is right next to the studio and comes highly recommended by the folks at the studio. It will be very convenient if I like them, as it will mean that we won't always have to drive around Tempe to get food.

Tomorrow I'll probably have another Cthulhu post. I got some work done on him last night and intend to do more today, in between housework and class.

Oh yes, and in honor of dance class, Spiral Journey is today's Daily Special!

Busy, busy month!

Even though I'm very busy this month, I'd be more than happy to make you a Custom Crystal Bracelet, which is why they're today's Daily Special!

I guess I must have been bored, because suddenly I have a lot going on in my life. Not only do I have dance class, learning to drive, and beaded Cthulhu to work on, but next week I'm going to start going to my husband's gym, and a couple of weeks after that, I'm off for a week in NY.

The gym is partially because Chris has been nagging me to try it, and mostly because I would like better strength and stamina for dancing. My arms especially tend to get tired really fast, and I know it will be even worse if I'm trying to work with props, especially heavy ones like my sword or my fire fans. Plus, of course, more muscle tone will make me look better in my coin bra ;)

As for NY, it's my annual visit to my in-laws, and I will be putting my Etsy shop into Vacation mode during that time. I haven't decided if I'll take any of my jewelry along to NY. I usually do, because my mother-in-law likes to shop in person -- but tighter luggage restrictions mean I may have to leave my jewelry case at home in order to have enough luggage space left to bring home whatever I buy in NY. That said, if there's something you've had your eye on, you should probably buy it now just in case I take it to NY and sell it.

Anyway, right now it's back to housework and Cthulhu for me!

FAE Team Feature

I'm August's Featured Artist on the FAE Team's Squidoo lens! Thank you, Aquariann, for bestowing this honor upon me.

I'm really enjoying my membership in FAE Team. It's nice to be part of a group of artists working in different media, all with a love of fantasy, faeries, renaissance faires, dragons, and more. I've found my teammates to be fun, friendly, and chatty -- you'll see a few of them posting in the comments section here on the blog on a pretty regular basis.

In other news, I have permission to share my Ugly Bead Project on my blog, so I think I'll do the big reveal tomorrow. Are you excited? I'm excited.

Oh yes, and Summer Dragonfly is today's Daily Special!

It's dog time, not blog time!

This is my favorite picture of Maggie -- I love that I captured her mid-yawn and managed to get a photo where she's showing her true cuteness, instead of looking sulky.

Today Chris and I took both of the girls down to the vet for their annual check-up and booster shots, in preparation for them being boarded while we're in NY. It was a bit of a stressful ordeal for them -- the vet and vet tech were both very nice, but that only goes so far for a dog when strange objects are being put into their orifices! Maggie especially wanted no part of it, though she still licked the vet's nose while being stethoscoped, and walked up to the vet tech for good-bye petting at the end.

Since then, they've spent most of the day in a post-vet drowsy state, showing the appropriate enthusiasm for food and opportunities to go outside, but otherwise adopting a feline-like system of moving from one nap spot to the next, largely based on where I am. AJ's in the office? Let's sleep on the loveseat or behind her desk chair. AJ's eating dinner? Let's sleep under the table or on the back of the couch, the better to occasionally wake up and make sad, starving eyes at her (they got fed before I did, don't believe them!). AJ's not paying attention? Let's go take a nap on the people bed! Silly dogs.

But when I sat down to write this post, Daisy became suddenly animated, barkingly insisting that she needed attention now, then jumping up to put her paws on my leg and nose her way between my arm and body, so that I'm hugging her. This is a frequent trick of hers, and she seems very pleased with herself for doing it. Now that I've turned down her advances, she's back on the loveseat, wearing her "I'm the saddest puppy ever" face. Guess I should go make it up to her!

By the way, Gossiping Pixies are today's Daily Special. Thought I should tack that on here...

I guess it's time to think about Autumn

Autumn Flier is today's Daily Special! With my increased focus on fantasy jewelry, I probably won't be doing as many butterfly and dragonfly necklaces, so you should snatch them up while you still can!

Some of my on-line friends who live in colder climates have been lamenting that with August starting tomorrow, Fall is close on its way. I have a had time getting into this way of thought, maybe because it will be warm well into October here, and maybe because most of our trees in AZ are evergreens, so there's not a whole lot of falling leaves. Maybe it's because I don't go to school, so I don't equate the start of the school year with the end of Summer. Or maybe I just don't feel like beading in Autumnal colors yet. Maybe digging through my collection of leaf beads would help... except that most of them are green. Nevermind!

A couple of other things really quickly...

Class was awesome last night. Learned some new moves, did well at some and poorly at one. We're reaching the point of doing variations and combinations based on the moves we learned in the first two classes, which is pretty exciting. I also bought some nice new additions to my costume wardrobe.

Meri Greenleaf, frequent commentor on this blog, featured one of my necklaces in her blog's Thursday Trove post. Thank you, Meri!

Finally, brooches may be a little delayed, as I'm dealing with a bit of beader's block about them and may even decide to rip out all of what I've done and start over -- I'm not satisfied with how the beads are lying.

There was a raccoon in my yard

I don't have any pictures of the raccoon, so you'll have to settle for this image of today's Daily Special, Athena's Familiar.

So anyway, last night when people were leaving our house after gaming, there was a raccoon under the tree on the edge of our front yard. A raccoon. In the middle of Tucson. I've lived here for 15 years, and I've never seen a raccoon. In fact, come to think of it, I don't think I've seen a live raccoon ever. In my entire life. Seriously.

The raccoon only had half a tail, which made him look rather un-raccoon-like, but he was shaped like a raccoon, had a raccoon-y face, and walked like a raccoon. And to be honest, as neat as it was to see him, I hope it doesn't become a regular occurrence, and that he's the only raccoon in our neighborhood. I worry about the dogs scrapping with him or one of his relatives (let's face it, my corgis aren't that much bigger than a raccoon, but they think that they're the size of German Shepherds, except when they want in my lap, and then they think they're a toy breed). I worry about having to lock my trash cans. I worry about them making a hole in the roof of the house or game room and taking up residence there and making life difficult for me. I worry about rabies and parasites.

But other than that -- hey cool! There was a raccoon. In my yard! A real life wild raccoon!

Oh my, look at the time!

Neon Dragon is today's Daily Special!

It's not so much the time that I'm really worried about right now, but the date. Last night I realized that it's two months until the Tahoe bead retreat, and I haven't started my Ugly Beaded Project or my fully-beaded collar to wear to the reception. Somehow, given all of the other things I have to do (including a fun-filled week in NY visiting my in-laws), I have a feeling that I will not get them both done. I'll probably have to come up with a less time-consuming, but still stunning, new necklace to wear, so I can fully focus on the Ugly project, which I'm really looking forward to.

What is the Ugly project, pray tell? I can't say yet. I need to experiment a bit first to make sure that I'm up to the challenge, and then I need to find out if we're allowed to talk about our projects, or if we have to keep them secret until the retreat. I'll only give you one hint: it's not a piece of jewelry.

Segueing elsewhere, I'm a big fan of the blog TotusMel's Wunderkammer, and today she picked out an awesome cephalopod-themed collection of items. I love it!

Brooches coming soon!

Once again, Mysterious Portrait is taking a turn as the Daily Special.

Once things cooled down a bit last night, I did get more work done on my brooch, and now it's almost done. I'm going to try to do a ruffled netting edge for it, because that always reminds me of waves, and I want this piece to be very oceanic. With luck, I'll get it listed this weekend, and also get to work on one of the other two brooches.

Too hot!

Automatic Ankle Accelerator is today's Daily Special!

It's another hot, humid day here in Tucson, which means that I'm really not getting anything done. Again. Once the sun goes down, I might have more energy. Maybe I'll put some more work into my seashell brooch, which got ignored while I did other stuff this weekend. I'd really like to get more destashed beads listed this week, but that definitely will not get done tonight.

Book Review -- Create Jewelry: Stones

Create Jewelry: Stones is part of a four-book series from Interweave Press, with each book focusing on jewelry featuring beads created from a certain material. The series is written by Marlene Blessing and Jamie Hogsett, two prolific designer/author/editors.

This is the sort of book which is ideal for a beginner beader. It features relatively simple (but impressive-looking) jewelry designs, with a heavy emphasis on stringing but also with some basic beadweaving and wirework projects as well. Many of the projects rely solely on written directions, but the more complicated ones include clear diagrams. All of the basic techniques are also explained in the back, with more diagrams.

In addition to the projects, the book is full of information about gemstones. They say that the book includes a guide to the most common types of stones, but that's misleading. It's a guide to the stones that they use in the projects, and nothing more. Some of these are in fact very common. Some are unusual. Some relatively common stones, like malachite, don't get a mention at all because they're not used in the book. One other problem with this is that they use photographs of the beads used in the projects to illustrate the stone guide, and some of these beads are not very representative of the most common colors and styles of the stones in question.

However, there is a lot of fun stone trivia in this book. It ranges from useful, such as a description of the Mohs hardness guide, and the hardness rating of all the stones used in the projects, to just plain interesting, such as a paragraph on the historic importance of peridot, complete with a photo of a stunning peridot-encrusted throne. The book also includes a birthstone guide, and tidbits about the believed metaphysical properties of many of the stones.

I'm not sure I'd have paid full cover price for this book. The projects are mostly too simple and specific to be of any use to me. However, since it was deeply discounted in the hurt book sale, I feel like I got my money's worth. The gemstone info may prove useful, it's full of eye-candy, kept me entertained with trivia, and I used the directions in the back to make the wrapped loop bails for my upcycled Taxco necklace.

Speaking of stones, today's Daily Special is Celestial Celebration, which features beautiful fireworks jasper!