Allegory Gallery: Seelie Bracelet

 Spring is here, which means it's time for cute little sundresses! And cute little sundresses need fun, casual jewelry in Spring colors! Thankfully I had these funky bright green beads from Allegory Gallery, just waiting to be made into the perfect bracelet. They're some sort of glass with an interesting coated and drizzled effect. I haven't seen anything like them before and I'm curious to see how they'll hold up. Allegory Gallery also provided the silver-lined clear cube beads. I don't often use cubes in my beadweaving, but they make really cute spacers, especially since this bracelet has a rectangular focal.

And what a focal it is! The little charm is a pewter piece from Green Girl Studios. The back features a quote from a WB Yeats poem: "Come away oh human child, to the waters and the wild." I love the poem and I love the faerie. I have 3 or 4 of these charms, so since this is a bright Seelie bracelet for Spring and Summer, I think I'll make a dark Unseelie one for Fall and Winter.

 Little Swarovski crystal bicones in Light Olivine add just a touch of sparkle. The glass beads have large holes, so the 3mm crystals help keep everything lined up perfectly. Plus I really feel that a bracelet like this looks better with 3 types of beads than two.

Check out what the rest of the team is up to!

Peggy Li

Sally Russick

Penny Neville

Cindy Cima Edwards

AJ Reardon

Amy Cousin

Genea Crivello-Knable

Brenda Salzano

Shannon Chomanczuk

Charlene Sevier

Jess Prill

Rebecca Anderson

FTC disclaimer: Some beads in this post were provided for free in return for promotional consideration.

Purple!

Here's a treasury for all of you purple lovers out there :)

Two Treasuries

This week's FAETeam treasury has a faerie and mermaid theme! I like it a lot.

Only one feature this week but it's a really awesome one -- A Celebration is a Dia de los Muertos themed collection and it has a lot of beautiful items in it. Mr. Skully-Man fits right in!

Changeling Baby

Please forgive the horrible photo, I cheated and didn't use my light tent and that was a horrible mistake!

This is the custom necklace that I recently made for one of my dance classmates. She asked me when I was going to make a purple and silver faerie necklace, which lead to us working together to come up with the right necklace for her... She picked this baby faerie on a leaf from my huge selection of Green Girl pewter faeries. She also wanted moonstone, which I didn't have on hand, so she provided some stone chips from a broken necklace that belonged to her mother. Czech glass and Swarovski crystals provide two tones of purple, and the repeating motif makes it simple but beautiful. We're both happy with the results!

If you'd like a faerie necklace of your own, check out my selection of Faerie Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs, or contact me for a custom order.

So many exciting things!

I have finally added hairsticks to my jewelry line! There's just one catch... For now, my new line of hair accessories is only available at Plaza de Anaya in Tempe, Arizona. They'll be a Plaza exclusive until at least mid-August, when I'll evaluate how well they're selling and such. I'm really excited about them. I do also have some earrings at Plaza and I'm hoping to add a necklace or two when I get the chance to make some.

So if you've been wondering why I haven't been listing much on Etsy, it's because I was busy making things for Plaza and then making tags for them. I've also been working on my LL-BFAC project, so I'll be posting some progress pictures next week. I'm doing bead embroidery again this year, which makes me very happy.

In other fun and exciting news, I wrote a guest post about The Nuckelavee for my friend Janine's blog, Athena's Armory & Apothecary. It was so fun to step out of my normal business mode and write about one of my favorite subjects, faerie lore! By the way, when you're done reading the blog, make sure you also visit Janine's store, she does great work. I bought an awesome set of chainmaille juggling balls from her as a gift for my Dad!

Hello and Good-Bye!

Whatever Faeries Think About sold before I could link to it in this blog! The Greenman earrings also sold, to the same person. It feels like some things are flying off of my virtual shelves almost as fast as I make them! I have to say, that's a nice feeling :)

Operation: Buried in Beads III -- Code Name Muffin Tin

 I'm starting to imagine Operation: Buried in Beads as a series of really bad 1980s-style action movies. For those who are new to my blog, Operation: Buried in Beads is what I call my ongoing project to use up my ridiculous stash of beads. My efforts are thwarted by my own bad habit of buying more beads even when I haven't used or put away the results of the last few shopping trips.

The Muffin Tin Challenge was a really good way for me to use up a lot of those extra beads. For instance, the necklace above (called Whatever Faeries Think About, but not yet listed) used up an entire strand of black lava beads, and a polymer focal that I bought years ago.

 Catch of the Day, which I just listed on Etsy today, allowed me to not only use a really cute octopus clasp from Green Girl Studios, but also the rest of the black lava strand that I used most of the other week, and the last of some tiny green glass beads that I've had forever.

This necklace is neither named nor listed yet, but it allowed me to use up two partial strands of glass beads, the last of the chartreuse luster ovals, and the last of the golden bronze pearls that I've been nursing along for almost as long as I've been in business. Well, not quite. There was an odd number of the glass beads and pearls, so there's one of each left, but don't worry, I'm going to hang them from a hair pin, so they'll be used up soon. Oh yes, and the pretty olive and gold polymer dragon was also purchased years ago. I probably intended to keep it for myself, but let's face it, I have WAY too many necklaces and the other green-loving dragon-lovers of the world deserve some one of a kind jewelry, too.

I actually used up a lot of other stuff that has been around for way too long, but I ran out of time to edit pics today, so I'll get to those later this week.

Happy Fairy Day!

Did you know that today is Fairy Day? Well, you do now! It's also Pollinator Week, which seems fitting because I'm sure that if faeries were real, a lot of them would spread pollen about. 

FAETeam Exhibition!

Have you seen the latest FAETeam Exhibition? It's called Fairies, Elves & Pixies, Oh My! and it features a lot of great fae folk created by a lot of talented fae artists! Of course, two pieces of my faerie jewelry are in there. There are so many beautiful items this time around, I don't know that I could pick a favorite. The team has really been growing and attracting new, amazing artists.

Please pardon this short post, I have a lot to do before I leave for dance class in 5 hours!

The Model

Ok, I was supposed to post this yesterday, but time got away from me.

Here is the necklace that I used some of my apatite beads in. It also features a lampworked faerie bead that I purchased at the September Best Bead Show a couple of years ago, and a lampworked bead made by a guy who was in the lampwork class that I took through Parks and Rec a long time ago. Plus some unidentified green stones -- guesses range from green turquoise to serpentine to Australian chryosprase. And there's just a few Swarovski crystals accenting the focal.

I strung this necklace Sunday morning before work, to go with the dress I was wearing. I've actually known for a while that I wanted to use the faerie and unidentified green stones to make something to match that dress, I just didn't have heavy enough SoftFlex to handle those heavy beads. So it's quite fortuitous that I waited to order it until after I got back, because otherwise I wouldn't have that beautiful apatite in the necklace.

Happy Fairy Day!

Today is Fairy Day, and I would have forgotten all about it if not for Facebook! Thank goodness for Twig the Fairy!

I did two and a half things to celebrate. First, I finally photographed and listed Miss June, the faerie pin-up girl inspired by the Egg Moon challenge back in April. I also decided to have a faerie-themed sale in my Etsy shop, so you'll find 9 faerie, elf, and dryad items in the Sale Section, with discounts of up to $25.

The half thing is that I'm wearing one of my favorite shirts, this tanktop, but I put it on before I knew what day it was, so it doesn't really count ;)

Miss July, The Grass Moon Faerie Pin Up

Oh my goodness! Jewelry! New jewelry! On my blog and in my Etsy shop!

It seems like lately, I've mostly been talking about dancing and how busy I am, so it's time to get things back on track by sharing Miss July with you. Yes, my entry for the April challenge is named for July. I thought she looked more like a Summer faerie, since she's wearing bright yellow and orange and running through really tall grass. Well actually, maybe she's a tiny faerie and it's normal-sized grass. It's hard to tell with the wee folk.

I totally blew the deadline on Grass Moon/Egg Moon, but other teammates did not! Visit the FAE Team Blog to see the wonderful Spring creations of my imaginative friends.

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?).

The Hungriest Pixie Ever -- Hunger Moon Art Dare

The Hungriest Pixie Ever is my entry for FAE Team's February Art Dare. Our theme choices were Snow Moon and Hunger Moon. If I'd had more time, I would have made entries for both themes, but the month flew by, so I only had a chance to make a Hunger Moon necklace. As soon as I saw that theme, I knew I had to use the pomegranate faerie that I'd been hoarding for years, and the little pomegranate charms that I'd purchased to match her.

The pomegranate faerie focal is of course from Green Girl Studios. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you already know that I love designing with their work, because it perfectly fits my sense of style and they're such a nice family. As such, I was pretty peeved when I heard that someone had ripped off many of their designs! For details on this nasty incident, visit Cynthia Thornton's blog. Thankfully it looks like they are making progress on stopping the offender, which is especially important since this person was copying the work of many artists. That's just not cool!

The little poms are also by a favorite artist of mine, Melanie from Earthenwood Studios. Because they work in similar themes (faeries and steampunk and nature), Green Girl and Earthenwood components go great together, and I'm always happy when I can design a piece that combines them (for another example, see Her Airship Sailed Through Time).

It's important to me to continue supporting the bead/component designers I love, especially when they're facing the double whammy of a poor economy and increased design-piracy. I haven't been buying as much as I used to, since I haven't been selling much, but recent events have served as a good reminder that I should be spending a bit more, and giving them a bit more love in my blog!

Closing on a lighter note, the inspiration for the name of this necklace came from my dog Daisy. During the first few months that we had our corgis, I noticed Daisy sitting on the couch, head down, ears back, giving me the big eyes because I was doing something other than petting or feeding her. I declared her "the saddest puppy ever." But because she does everything to the full extent she can, she has numerous "-est puppy ever" moments, whether it's hungry, barky, happy, or something even more ridiculous. I couldn't help but use the same naming convention for the subject of this necklace!

Henna!

Check out my henna faerie! Chris snapped this shot right after she was done, because of course I was silly and got my first henna tattoo in a spot where I couldn't see it. I'm really happy with the design and the placement, so I hope it lasts for a few weeks. It's not as dark as it could be, because I got cold and put a hoodie on over my halter top, and it started pulling the dried paste off. But since I'm so pale, it still shows really well... it's a nice mellow brown-orange.

Chris's Mom is now back in New York, which means life will return to normal until his brother visits next month... and normal life means BEAD TIME! What should I make first?

A Picture of a Pretty Pixie

Sorry this post is so late, I spent the day running errands and getting the house ready for my Mother-in-Law to spend a week with us... and now I'm on my way out the door to pick her up at the airport! So you'll have to wait for me to gush about this necklace ;)

A Peck of Pewter Pendants

(and buttons)

Here are my goodies from the Green Girl booth! I already have a pretty impressive stash of Green Girl Goodies, so I focused on new designs. I finally got my hands on the Yeats quote faerie that was sold out in September. In fact, I bought two. One for me and one for business. I think mine might end up in a little charm bracelet.

I like the golden mermaid in the seashell, she reminds me of the focal in my Napping Treasure Hunter necklace, but smaller and shinier. The other two mermaids are both buttons, so they'll probably end up adorning some elaborate bracelets.

It was nice to see both Greg and Andrew from Green Girl. The Green Girl herself, Cynthia, was at home with her new-ish baby!

Tomorrow I'll finally unveil the completed necklace with the shibiuchi faerie.

Stuck with it!

This is my current project. I abandoned the failed beaded motifs, and decided to go with my current beading love, embroidery! The problem with my inspiration is that I had to glue the precious faerie pendant down to the felt to embroider around her. There's no going back now! If this idea doesn't work on, she'll be all besmirched with glue and felt, and I may not be able to salvage her -- short of cutting away most of the felt and never letting anyone see her back!

The cabochon was sent to me by my secret birthday buddy last year. I'm pretty sure that it's petrified wood. The warm honey color with traces of rust nicely fits with the color scheme I had picked. It's a very thick cab, so I need to bead fast to get it properly bezeled into place before I can move on to the rest of the embroidery.

I left the faerie's wing-tip-loop below the felt, because a bezeled rivoli will be hanging from the bottom.

Did I mention that I have a week to finish this before gem show starts?

Mushroom Pixie

I completed this necklace some time ago, but it's taken me this long to get some decent pictures. Even this batch isn't perfect, the red looks a little washed out. Guess the sun was too bright. Anyway, I've dubbed her Miss August and she's the first of a proposed series of similar necklaces using the rest of my vintage faerie buttons.

Yesterday I made the jewelry for the FAE Team holiday gift swap. I'm really pleased with it, and I took some good pictures, but I can't share them here until after the 21st, as most of the participants read my blog! Today my plan is to make a necklace with some goodies from Artbeads.com, with the intention of wearing it to class tonight... Tune in tomorrow to see if I was successful.

Art Bead Scene Challenge

For 2009, Art Bead Scene decided that all of their challenges would be inspired by classic or iconic paintings. A great idea, but unfortunately most of the paintings have been very uninspiring to me. Until this month! Finally, a faerie painting has been chosen. The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke by Richard Dadd. It's not my favorite faerie painting, because the colors are so muted and bizarre, but the level of detail is amazing and Dadd's story is quite sad.

I've already submitted Elvensoul to the challenge, as the colors and design are relatively evocative of the painting. I'll likely submit the Mushroom Pixie as well when I finish her. But I'd really like to make a necklace specifically inspired by the painting, probably using a Green Girl faerie pendant to go with those muted colors. It might be a good time to use the new Greige Swarovski crystals, too, although I had planned to use them with a Lillypilly shell pendant. Maybe I have enough for both.

By the way, yesterday's drive to Tempe went very well. Next week I hope to manage the round-trip.