Another fun day

Today I went back to To Bead True Blue, where I got a steampunk dragon (yay!), ran into my parents, met a Facebook friend, and picked up a few things that I decided that I needed after all.

Then I came home and proceeded to tackle some of the work that I need to get done before Best Bead starts. While I was doing that, the mail arrived, and all of my packages were here. Yay! Everything that I ordered is just as awesome as I expected it to be.

Later, while Chris and I were deciding what to do for the evening, my phone rang and it was my friend Lois, who wanted the gem show scoop. So I spent an hour catching up with her, which is always fun.

After dinner, we went to Target to get important stuff, like more dog toys and Gourmet M&Ms.

Now I am supremely tired again. Yaaaaawn. This is what I get for getting up at 9am!

Pretty Shiny Things!

A collection of pretty, shiny things! From left to right, a beautiful hair dangle by Elise Matthesen, my finally-completed faerie button pendant, and the two pairs of titanium/niobium earrings that I bought at the Street Fair.

So, this afternoon I put the bail on my faerie button necklace and slid her onto my standard black Ndebele cord. I'll eventually make a nice green necklace for her, but I do like how the black cord picks up the black accents on the button. I'll also eventually take a nicer picture of her, but it's cold tonight (by my standards), so I wasn't about to go out to the game room to take photos.

After Chris got off of a very frustrating day at work, we decided to go out for food instead of eating in, and while we were out, I had to stop in at the PO Box, because someone reminded me that I haven't been checking it ;) Inside, I found two surprise packages! One held the lovely hair dangle, similar to ones I've admired in the past, and the other held the silver ring from Creative Mode that I included in my T13 jewelry post (I was going to include it in the picture, but I don't have a ring display).

So, a big "thank you thank you thank you" to my anonymous reader(s) who sent me these wonderful gifts! The turquoise in the dangle is the perfect color to go with my faerie costume, not to mention a lot of my day-to-day clothing. And the ring is so wonderfully elegant, just right to go with my Goth and Steampunk clothes. You're too kind and really brightened my day! Also, I promise I'll check my PO Box more often.

I included the earrings because people asked for pictures back when I bought them. Aren't they cool? The blue ones remind me of lightning, and the purple ones are the same style as the aqua-green ones that I bought last year, and match the purple top I was wearing at the fair.

My Day of Getting Things Done

Since gaming was held elsewhere today and there were no random people going in and out of my house, I felt really free to get around to doing a lot of things that I had planned. Granted, I didn't get as much done as I had hoped, but I still accomplished a lot, while still having fun and not feeling like I spent half of my weekend working. Today I...

... went to the post office and ran some errands.
... finally received my package of components from Canada and ooohed and aaahed over them.
... began a new blog for my writing.
... gave in and signed up for a Twitter account.
... caught up on reading a couple of other blogs.
... continued to work on Safety Gear, though I had to change my idea and it will need a new name.
... started work on my chapter for the Collector Times Round Robin story, The League of Explorers.
... got a good bit of dancing in.

There's a few more things that I might get done before the night is over. But even if I don't, it feels good to get so much done in a single day.

Full Steam Ahead!

Full Steam Ahead is the theme for this month's Art Bead Scene challenge. You know I am excited about it! I've already entered a couple of pieces, and I have a few more to add, including Safety Gear when it's finished. And of course, I'll also be entering The Inventors' Gala Ball, which I just listed on Etsy. Brown and steampunk are both so hot right now that I'm confident this necklace will find a home quickly.

Back to Safety Gear for a moment, it's coming along very nicely. I had a lot of beading time at last night's game, and then a lot of beading time today. And in fact, I'll have more beading time after I post this, too. I actually had to force myself to stop and go do the Etsy listing and all of my other on-line stuff. I was in a nice grove, stitching along, and it seemed almost a shame to let that momentum go.

Meanwhile, today's mail had two packages for me! I ordered some shower gel, lip balm and perfume from Etsy seller Savvii which arrived today. I'm especially pleased with the Chai lipbalm and the Midnight Pomegranate perfume. Haven't tried the shower gel yet, but it smells pretty nice, so it's promising. And I also received the beads, rivolis, and chain that I ordered from Whimbeads. The rivoli is just what I needed for my Snow Queen necklace, so I get to start that as soon as I finish Safet Gear.

All in all, a pretty satisfying day!

Making stuff!

Well, I got an early start today, and my friend was too busy to come over, so I actually got to have a little creative time today. I just whipped up a quick, simple necklace which I'll try to get photographed and into the Etsy shop soon. Because it is quick and simple, it will also be affordable! I think I need to have more than just earrings in the $25 and under range.

I'm going to do a little beading tonight during the game, probably just bezel a rivoli that will eventually be part of a larger project. Or maybe bezel one of these slightly defective rivolis and make myself another cute pendant. I haven't made anything for myself for a while... and I have several green rivolis to choose from. Hmmm....

In my mail today, there was a package full of some goodies that I purchased from Etsy... two different styles of vintage glass cameo cabochons, and some cool Czech snake beads that I wish I'd had for the Animal Instincts challenge. I'm trying not to buy a lot of random supplies, but these were all too awesome to pass up. The cameos are especially beautiful, and I've been needing some of those for Neo Victorian/Steampunk jewelry.

The turtle compels you to vote!

No, I'm not talking about the US Presidential Election. No politics here, only beautiful beaded jewelry! The turtle compels you to vote for your favorite entry in the Etsy BeadWeavers' challenge! Go forth, view all of the lovely pieces submitted for the Animal Instincts theme, and cast your vote. Tell all of your jewelry-loving friends, too!

Please note, I am not one of those people who tells all of her friends to vote for her, and to tell their friends to do so. I created Turtle Talisman to challenge myself to make something I wouldn't normally (a piece of jewelry with a non-fantasy, non-insect animal), and while I think it's very nice, I do not think that it is the best item in the poll. I want people to vote for the item that they like best. That's what I did. There are some really great items, made by people who were clearly more inspired by the theme than I was.

Now, if you want to tell your friends to buy my Turtle Talisman, I will not stop you ;) That would buy me a lot of cabochons! (ok, maybe not a lot, I have expensive tastes)

On a barely related tangential note, today was an awesome mail day. I received my two most recent Etsy purchases -- a pair of hairpins with clock face cabs, and a gorgeous steampunk bottle -- and a package from my friend and frequent blog commentor Marilee, who sent me some awesome sewing and beading supplies. Hooray for packages! (and for my nice mail lady, who brings them to the door, and who doesn't mind having two corgis charge at her every time)