Jade Cicadas!

I can't believe that I forgot to blog about these awesome carved jade* cicadas that I purchased at the Rings & Things show in Scottsdale last month. They are pretty much the coolest thing ever. I had to buy them even though they were really expensive and I really only wanted one for me. Then after I paid I plopped them right down on a table and took a photo to post on Facebook.

I'm going to make some pretty epic necklaces with these. The first one will be for me, of course!

*I don't know if they're actually jade. There are so many stones that get called jade but actually aren't. These are an antiqued/aged (I forget what word the tag says) "jade" that has a cool mottled brown, makes them look like some sort of old Chinese artifact that I stole from a museum or something.

It's a moth!

 Well, my jewelry photos haven't been great lately, but I did get a couple of good pictures of this dead moth that my friend Amanda brought to me! Yes, that's the sort of friendship we have -- she brings me dead moths and I photograph them and we both geek out because we both love insects.

Look at his face! How cool is it? He is, or was, some sort of Sphinx moth... very large and beautiful. I love moths and have actually considered a Sphinx moth tattoo, but I have a feeling that all of my tattoos will be beetles because I love them even more.

Butterfly!

Another picture from Aruba. My favorite part about the trip was going to The Butterfly Farm. I'm such a girly-girl about some things and butterflies are definitely one of them. They're simply so beautiful, delicate and ephemeral. To view them in a habitat full of their natural food, and have them flying right around me was just perfect. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so we have to rely on pictures from Chris's iPhone.

This was of course my favorite butterfly, because black and green is my favorite color combination. And oh, the green! The photo doesn't do it just -- the vibrancy, the iridescence... *sigh*

Cicada Interlude

Ok, I know you're expecting vacation pictures, but check out this totally wild cicada that was on my screen door the other day! I like cicadas because they are so quintessentially insectoid -- the giant eyes, the shimmery wings. During monsoon season, they fill up out trees with their constant buzzing (which sounds absolutely nothing like the constant buzzing of Japanese cicadas in anime, in case you were wondering), but you almost never actually see them. In fact, I've lived here for over 16 years now and I think the first time I saw one of our cicadas was last year!

Sadly, this one died shortly after I photographed it. I almost wanted to pick up its little bug carcass and use it for some sort of jewelry project, but I know nothing about proper insect preservation techniques and I figure that MZ would not appreciate me showing up at her door step and saying "Teach me your bug taxidermy ways!" (for reasons including the fact that I'm pretty sure it's not called "bug taxidermy.")

So instead I'll settle for having photographs of its vibrant black and yellow body and beautiful cicada wings.

A little something for me

I was feeling a little annoyed yesterday, so I made this necklace for myself. It features the carved green stone insect pendant that I bought at gem show, some gorgeous kambaba jasper coins, and green turmaline Swarovski crystals. That's all. Nice and simple. I'm very pleased with it, though, because it looks neat and I did a great job wire-wrapping the bail to hang the bug from the strand. Wire-wrapping is not my strong suit, you know!

The background in this image is scrapbook paper! Last night we went to JoAnn's and I bought a whole bunch of decorative papers to use in my photography. The scattersheet that I picked up for the BFAC photos is nice, but it starts to get drab after a while. I wanted some color and texture to punch up my Etsy images.

I took a bunch more photos tonight before my tripod broke, and it looks like a decent amount of them actually turned out, so look forward to lots of eye candy over the next few days.

Just flitting in.

I snapped a few shots of this really cool moth on the screen in my beadroom today. I owe thanks to Topher for these pictures, as I found it by following his gaze to see what he was staring at. The neat thing, which is more visible when its wings are spread out (unfortunately, those pictures were fuzzy) is that the lighter parts are translucent.

Anyway, I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get to bead today, and I won't be writing either. I did take a bunch of LL-BFAC photos, and go to Target and buy another vest, and get some housework done, but I didn't get to any of the fun stuff I had planned. Bummer.

Tomorrow will be another busy day! I've got housework galore, possibly a visit from a friend, then grocery shopping and gaming. I'll try to at least get some beads together to work on something during the game.

A (crane)fly on the wall.

If you'd like to see a bigger, better image of my friend the cranefly, you should pop on over to InsectPOD! Although David seems to think that the good shot of the halteres is the best part of the image, I personally love the wings. They look like evil faerie wings, don't you think?

Anyway, David over at InsectPOD is a great guy, he gave me a lot of advice on how to use the macro mode on my camera. Getting a good shot of the cranefly wasn't hard, because it's huge (body alone is 1" long!), but the tiny beetles and spiders that I find turn into blurs. Hopefully by using his handy tips, I'll be able to take clear images of bugs that are smaller than 4mm Swarovski crystals.

I'm really enjoying my camera. I want to pick up a camera case and start taking it with me everywhere, for when I find cool or ironic things to photograph. For instance, the other day when we were out to lunch, we saw a guy who looked very much like a professor crossing the street to the college. The thing is, he was walking straight towards a no crossing sign. Oh, how I wished I'd had a camera with me!

As you can probably tell from the tone of my post, I'm feeling much better. I'm still sick, but at least I'm functioning.

I like insects!

It's true. I like insects. I think it all started when I read a National Geographic article about beetles, and found out how diverse and nifty they really are. That's the big reason why I have a bunch of scarab beads, pendants, and cabochons in my collection -- sure, I like Egypt, too, but mostly it's because they're beetles. But even aside from beetles, most insects are just awesome when you look closely at them. And that's why Insect Picture of the Day is in my blog roll over there on the side.

Now, normally I don't consider myself a very good photographer of anything but jewelry, and I have a hard time taking pictures of the tiny jumping spiders and little brown beetles that are in my apartment. But one day I went outside, and this huge green larva was outside, so I ran back in, grabbed my camera, attracting the attention of my husband Chris and our friend Rene. All three of us went outside and pestered the bug, taking pictures of it. Some of them actually turned out well, so I sent them to David Brady.

And today my picture is on InsectPOD! Yay! David picked the best of the three photos for his blog. The above image on my blog also isn't too bad, which is why I posted it. There have been too few photos here recently!

If you check out the previous three entries, too, you'll see some really beautiful butterfly pictures. Even if you don't share my love for beetles, spiders, and other creepy-crawlies, I think everyone loves butterflies.

Today I'm going to finish up my custom order (I was supposed to finish it last night, but some of the beads didn't work out) and pack up some BFAC items to mail out, and hopefully also start on my gem show necklace. I'll post some in-progress pictures, because I want to write a tutorial to possibly submit to a magazine while I'm making this necklace.