Bellydance Costume

Sometimes I put my beading supplies and skills to work for my bellydance costuming needs -- although I would like to point out right here and now that I did NOT make all of that green seed bead fringe, because I hate doing fringe and that much would take forever and be really boring, since it's just one size and color of bead. No, I totally cheated and bought that stuff pre-made on eBay.

What I did, however, is add some extra fringe made with freshwater pearls, Czech glass beads and Swarovski crystals for extra visual interest. And I raided my chain supply for some nice looking copper chain. As for the pretty copper diamond medallions, those were sent to me by my beading and bellydancing friend SaraBeth. I'm glad I found the perfect project for them!

Someday I'd like to do a really intricate beaded belt and bra set, even though that's not really the fashion for my style of bellydance. I just think it would be awesome to make one. But for now I have a lot of easier dance costume projects in the queue ahead of that idea.

Created During WWWC

I created this crystal bracelet during Wild Wild West Con. I suspected there would be some down time, so I made sure to pack a few bead projects. I love the rusty color of Indian Red Swarovski crystals for steampunk beadwork, and they're perfect with bronze iris seed beads. The star clasp gives it a nice Victorian air. I call it Star of the Machine Age. I know the Victorian era wasn't called the machine age, but I think it would have been in an alternate history where mad scientists made steam-powered devices, don't you?

Anyway, much of my time at the convention was spent either beading or dancing. One of my favorite memories of the show was when I was hanging out in the booth with my brother's girlfriend, and we were both dancing along to some Beats Antique that was coming from the bellydance show on stage, and a man in the aisle was also dancing a little bit outside our booth. So I said "Come on! This is the dance party booth!" and he got really into it and danced his way in, and we were all rocking out... until the song ended. Then he looked really embarrassed and shuffled away!

Well, random dancing guy, there was no need to be embarrassed. We all get carried away by the music sometimes, and any booth that I am in is a safe space for dancing. No judgement, my friends, no judgement!

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.

Awestruck

 I am awestruck by how beautiful these images are! I knew that Sata and Rachel would be great at modeling, but I had no idea just how wonderful it would be to see so much of my jewelry being worn by fully-costumed dancers... Especially when photographed so professionally by Liora K!

Check out the Tribal Jewelry section of my shop for more images. I haven't added them all yet, but I'm working on it! Some of them will show up in other sections, too, because I couldn't resist throwing in some beadwoven pieces, like the herringbone rope that Rachel is wearing, layered with a Ganesh necklace.

Belly Dancer

I made this Silver Siren belly dancer pendant a while ago, and put it on consignment at Plaza de Anaya. Sadly, it did not sell, and since I am no longer taking weekly classes in Tempe, I pulled my consignment to list it on Etsy instead. So now you, the general Etsy-shopping public, have your chance to own this very elegant beaded pendant! There will be more dancer pendants in other colors eventually. I really love these vintage dancer images.

As for dancing itself, I am still obsessed! I'm in classes at least three days a week, practicing all the time to stay on top of troupe choreographies and my own solos, and performing once or twice a month even in the heat of the Summer. I love it even more than beadwork, and that's saying something. If you want to know more about what I'm up to, it's best to follow my other blog, Confessions of a Dance Pants Addict.

There she stands, this lovely creature

Treasury inspired by the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song Lovely Creature, and my attempts to work out a belly dance solo to it. Also inspired by items in my Etsy favorites, as you can tell from all the olive shades.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 One thing I am seriously thankful for this year is the ability to be part of not one, but two great dance communities! Here's my beloved Anaya Tribe in the Phoenix area...

And my wonderful friends and classmates here in Tucson! (Also photographic proof that I wore red and didn't look horrible).

It's hard to believe that we're near the end of November already. This year has flown by in a flurry of activity, and there are certainly things I planned to do and never got around to. But over all I'm feeling pretty happy and accomplished.

But I really should be making potatoes right now, so I'll cut this short. Before I go, let me mention that all this weekend you can use code "thxabunch" for 15% off of your entire purchase of Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs.

New coin bra

 Being in a troupe called for me to make a new coin bra! It's been a work in progress for a couple of months, as I would stop at a stage in which it was wearable but not quite done yet. I think it's done for now, though I may eventually cut off the original straps and replace them with something sturdier.*

The trim is made from a belt that I loved which was simply too small for me. It was a bit difficult to stitch down to the bra, but definitely worth it to have embroidery and mirrors instead of simple brocade ribbon. I added the coins by hand -- that was this week's project, and it only took me less than 4 hours, spread across two nights of DVD-watching (season 3 of Parks and Recreation, in case you were wondering).

The center piece is a kuchi pendant. A couple of the dangles were missing, but no big deal, I just rearranged them to make a hole in the middle and attached this scarab pendant that I've had forever. There is definitely something to be said for having DIY skills and a huge stash of beads to pull from.

My next bra project will be more fusion-y than traditional tribal and will involve covering the entire bra in fabric. I'm pretty excited about it.

*Belly dance purists -- I know a lot of you have a pet peeve about coin bras that are clearly lingerie bras with stuff sewn on them. I get it. But everyone in my troupe wears this style of bra and we always wear a tie top or Turkish vest over them, so that pretty much only the trimmed parts show.

Do I have some Treasuries for you!

It's been a while since I made a steampunk Treasury, so that's the theme that I decided to work with yesterday. Lots of great steamy items from my friends in FAETeam. I'm thrilled that RobinRed is now part of the team, because I've been admiring their masks for a while and now I can include them in my team Treasuries!

With the holidays coming (yikes!), gift guides are now a trending topic, so I decided to make a Gifts for the Bellydancer guide which in no way serves as a holiday wishlist (yeah right, I'm not kidding anyone).

Speaking of gift guides, Andrea included my Black Rose Gothic Necklace in her jaw-droppingly beautiful Treasury: For Your Favorite Gothic Beauty -- Gift Guide.

Not specifically a gift guide, but Lisa's Argh Matey is a great collection of pirate-themed items that would also make great gifts. I'm happy to have one of my steampunk escutcheon necklaces in there!

Belly Dance Picture!

I'm busy cleaning my bead room/putting together a package of beads for a swap, so instead of something business-related, here's a picture of me dancing! I honestly have no idea what I was doing when this was snapped, but whatever. I still feel pretty ;) This weekend's performance was at Studio 455, where they currently have a display of photos from and related to the All Souls Procession, which was really cool! Behind me there's a picture of a dead, mostly-skeletal animal AND a dead bug being eaten by ants. I really should have taken the opportunity to get super Gothed-up and danced to something really dark and heavy to go with the dead things!

Happy new homes

 Although Saturday's show wasn't the rousing success I had hoped it would be, I did actually make more money selling jewelry than I spent on new belly dance costuming goodies, so it was still good! And I'm very happy that several pieces went to new homes where they will be worn by dancers that I admire.

This necklace event went home with one of my troupemates, which means that I will get to see it often! She wore it for our photo shoot, which meant there were three of us wearing my jewelry in our professional photos. I'm so happy and excited!

I did create some new items that didn't sell, so I will soon be adding them to my shop Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. I also plan to get some more destash lots listed soon, too, so if you're looking for more beads (especially leaf beads) keep an eye on the shop or this blog to find out when I have them up.

My Dance Life

Since I know that not all of you read my other blog, Confessions of a Dance Pants Addict, I thought I would take a few minutes and update you on my belly dance life -- after all, things get kind of boring around here when I post nothing but Treasuries!

The above photo is from the Healing Through Dance benefit this past weekend. I'm pleased to say that we raised over $600 for the Sessoms family, and Plaza de Anaya allowed us to leave the rack of donated costumes in the store, so that number will probably go up!

Things are going very well in my dance life. I was recently invited to join The Anaya Tribe, Anaya Tribal's new student troupe. It means lots of extra drives up to Tempe and very little free weekend time (because Autumn is the busy season for dancers here, due to the lovely weather), but it also means lots of fun, lots of time with my dance friends, and lots of performance experience! We're performing at a charity thing this Sunday, but our first open-to-the-public performance will be at the Desert Shakedown on October 8th.

And don't forget that I will also be vending my jewelry at the Shakedown! I will have everything that is in my Etsy shop, plus things that I haven't listed yet. I am hoping to have Square set up on my phone so that I can finally accept credit cards, too! But if you can't wait that long for a jewelry fix, please visit Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs and do a little shopping. You'll be supporting my costume and workshop addictions!

Oh, and lest you think that Phoenix gets all the belly dance love, I also have a student performance coming up here in Tucson next month! For most of my classmates it will be their first time performing. I'm so excited for them! I wonder if they'll get hooked like I did?

Please come to this event!

If you'll be in the Phoenix area this Saturday, come to the Healing Through Dance Benefit Show and Sale! I will be among the numerous dancers performing, and I'm also donating a pair of chandelier earrings and a goddess necklace to the raffle. Other prizes include private belly dance lessons, gift certificates for brow waxing, and more! There will also be a rummage sale for gently used belly dance costume items. Lastly, after all of the performers have danced, we'll put on some music for open dancing.

All proceeds go to help the Sessoms family pay for PJ's cancer treatment. PJ is the mother of my very awesome classmate Jacque, who will also be performing a solo! It's going to be an awesome night for a good cause, so please attend and donate if you can!

Come out to dance and shop!

Will you be in Tucson on Saturday? If so, you should stop by Fluxx Productions at 414 E 9th St, where we'll be having an awesome, dancey day! There's workshops, performances, and vending... including my jewelry! If you just want to shop, come by during the lunch break from 12-1:45pm. If you'd also like to see some great local dancers and my teachers from Anaya Tribal busting some moves, show up at 7:30 for the hafla, which only costs $5, is expected to run until 10pm, and will also have vending! I'll be there, but at some point I'll have to leave the booth to take my turn on stage :)

I haven't tested my booth set-up yet, but I expect that I will have an assortment of tribal necklaces and all of my earrings, bracelets and anklets with me. I hope I'll see you there!

Treasureful

I'm back on my Treasury Tuesday game! Last week was weird, as you may have noticed from the lack of posts, but yesterday I was back to normal and I curated this collection of dance-themed art and adornments from FAETeam!

I also had the pleasure to be included in one of Mermaiden's beautiful treasuries. Turning Away from Summer is a wistful collection, dreaming of crisp Autumn days. Ahhhh.

Treasury Tuesday Makes Me Dance!

Ok, so I felt like making a belly dance treasury. I decided to step out of the FAETeam box again and just make a treasury full of whoever I felt like featuring. I did put fellow FAE Mermaiden in there, because every dancer needs at least one of her chiffon roses. I have two and they are LOVELY. I will have to get more, to match my other costumes. The two I have are, big surprise, green, but I do occasionally wear other colors when I dance.

This particular treasury was inspired when I saw the silver hair pin and silver bindi in my suggested items feed on Etsy. They just went perfectly together, and I knew there were plenty of items in my favorite belly dance shops that would go with them. I played "Monochrome" by Collide to help inspire me.

I was also included in a Treasury, which was made before Tuesday, but I'm going to include it in this post because it's so pretty:

Do you want to win an anklet? Of course you do.

I'm so excited that I can finally announce this! The wonderful Aquariann is hosting a giveaway of the above anklet at her blog, The Art & Tree Chatter of Aquariann. Just in time for Summer weather, too! I actually wasn't sure what I wanted to offer for the give-away (I was thinking maybe a gift certificate), but when Aquariann suggested this anklet would be perfect, I knew she was right. Not only does it go well with the theme of her blog, but it helps to promote a line that I'd like to draw more attention to. And it's very representative of what to do, which is to say that it is 1: green 2: leafy and 3: something you could wear to belly dance.

And would you believe that there's more exciting news coming down the pipeline for me and Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs? I have been a busy little gal behind the scenes lately! Oh sure, it seems like I spend all my time hanging out on Facebook, going to belly dance classes, and reading China Mieville novels, but I really do get some work done sometimes.

By the way, I've decided to continue my weekend sale all through the week! I really want some spending cash for the belly dance workshop I'm taking this weekend, which is probably the last big workshop I'll do until November (probably). So remember that if you want to buy something, you should use code DISCOUNTME for 20% off!

90 days of dance practice!

Hmmm... I don't really have a lot of good, recent pictures of me dancing. I used to drag Chris to all of my performances, and he'd snap pictures and/or take video, but lately he's been busy or sick when I've danced, so I've had to rely on what other people post on Facebook. Oh well.

Yes, I'm taking a break from my usual promotion of my business Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs (ok, shameless plug out of the way), to talk about my exciting life as a belly dancer! You may remember at the start of the year, I decided to set the goal of practicing for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, and then I started a separate blog to chronicle my progress and also to just chat about dance, which meant that there was a lot less belly talk on this blog. I did promise to post the occasional update, and I think that three months of dance is worth updating about!

That's right, for 90 days in a row (not counting one day when I was really sick), I have danced every single day. I've taken classes, I've been in workshops, I've danced at parties and concerts, and I even had two performances so far this year. I have been one busy dance girl. Daily practice has been great for me -- it's done wonders for my shimmies and my belly rolls, and really improved my knowledge of my tribal move vocabulary. If you want to read more about it, feel free to check out my other blog, Confessions of a Dance Pants Addict.

Treasuries and Things

Elvensoul beadwoven fantasy necklace (shown above) was included in this beautiful Faery March Madness treasury. Much more interesting to me than all this NCAA basketball March Madness! Thank you rainwaterstudios for including me.

For Treasury Tuesday, we had a Spring theme, so I created Spring Flies In, celebrating faerie wings.

Not a treasury, but one of my anklets was featured in Aquariann's Friday Finds post, which had a belly dance accessories theme. She attended Art of the Belly this past weekend, and I have to admit I'm a little bit jealous! The line-up of workshop teachers and performers was really impressive, and I bet there was some nice vending, too! I had really hoped to go to a major belly dance festival this year, but home repairs got in the way, so I'm staying home and taking workshops in Tempe instead. Maybe next year!

Word of the Week: Passion

Andrew Thornton is posting a word a week for the next year, putting out the challenge that anyone who wants should blog and/or create around that word, and share the results. To kick it off, he chose the word "passion."

Now, I did just finish reading a cheesy fantasy romance novel this week, so it is tempting to go off on that sort of passion, but I try to keep my blog family-friendly, so instead I'll talk about my main passion in life: tribal belly dance! The picture above is from my first solo performance back in May 2010. Let's not get into how bad my arms/hands are in this photo, we're talking about passion, not criticism. So! Passion!

There are few things that move me as much as dance does. Sometimes it's a nearly transcendent experience for me, when I really connect with the music and my heart is thrown wide open and joy just flows out. And sometimes there's passionate frustration, when I just can't get a combo to click, or I keep stepping on my veil, or my finger cymbal gets caught in my hip scarf during recital. And sometimes, when watching one of my idols dance, it's all I can do not to weep from the sheer awe.

I wanted to create a new tribal necklace to celebrate my passion for dance, and to celebrate being more than 7 weeks into my 365 days of dance, but I didn't have much time to work on it, and what I attempted didn't work out right away. Instead, you can admire this picture of Innana at Dusk (which I made and wore for my solo performance), or go to Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs and check out some of my unique tribal necklaces.