A couple more clearance items

I'm still marking things down! You can get The Hungriest Pixie Ever for only $60 (previously $75), and Moonlit Seductress has been marked down to $100 (regularly $125). Two beautiful, one of a kind fantasy necklaces that are really overdue to go live in a new home.

Expect more destash beads coming soon, too. I'm busy cleaning the bead room (aka the guest room) in anticipation of my mother-in-law visiting next month, and I'm finding lots of things that need to go on Etsy!

More Clearance!

I am running rampant through my Etsy shop, slashing prices left and right. Unfortunately I can't afford to offer huge discounts -- I use high-quality beads in my work and I need to get a little something for my time, too. I've always priced my jewelry about as low as I comfortably could to start with, because I want people to be able to afford what they love. I mean, if I could never buy my own jewelry, how could I expect anyone else to budget for it?

But I have been making discounts of $5 to $25 on the following items:

Snow Angel Lariat Necklace
Luck in the Wind Hamsa Feather Earrings
Fractured Tribe Statement Necklace
Malachitesque Spiral Necklace

There's a lot more that I want to discount before the week is done, so if you've had your eye on something and I haven't marked it down yet, don't hesitate to drop me a line asking about it.

Spring Clearance Sale Going On Now!

 Yes, much like all the big retailers that have been inundating our in-boxes these past two months, I too am having a Spring Clearance Sale! You see, I recently came to a conclusion: I have too much jewelry! I know, I know, it seems like that shouldn't be possible, but when you start to run out of nice safe places to put your jewelry stock, and there's no room for more storage, you come to realize that you need to either have a clearance sale or build an addition to the house. And since I'd really hate to be in the middle of construction when my mother-in-law comes to visit next month, it looks like clearance sale it is.

So let's have a quick look at how you'll be helping me by taking part in my Spring Clearance Sale:
1. Help me clear out some older jewelry.
2. Make room for exciting new jewelry.
3. Save me from needing to build an addition.
4. Help fund my trip to Tribal Fest next month, which means in addition to supporting me you'll be supporting the vendors at TF and the local small businesses in Sebastopol CA where I will be shopping and dining.

How can you resist?

I've kicked it off today with three freshly marked down items. Above, my Autumn Flier Butterfly Necklace with retro color scheme and enameled pendant is marked down to $30 from $35.

Keeper of Mementos Faerie Locket Necklace is now only $40, down from $50 and still includes matching earrings.

And the Ice Crystals Spiral Necklace (which would be perfect for your wedding day) has been marked down from $70 to only $60, a great deal for a beadwoven necklace with vintage crystal accents.

Stay tuned for more markdowns!

WWWCII Preview!

It is hard to believe that the day after tomorrow, my brother and I will be setting up our booth for Wild Wild West Con II, Tucson's premiere steampunk convention. I do not feel nearly ready. I need more jewelry! But here's a preview of what I've been working on, from left to right:

Larvikite cabochon embellished with Swarovski crystal sequins and Japanese seed beads, accented by a tiny black enameled key, hanging from a strand of more larvikite.

Vintage key suspended from a strand of roughly faceted chunks of labradorite, tiny freshwater pearl disks, and smoky quartz.

Pewter winged skull (inspired by vintage gravestone imagery) at the center of a strand of Czech glass and Swarovski crystals.

Black stone cabochon embroidered with Japanese seed beads, accented by a key pendant, strung on a black and gold ribbon.

And wow, is that background way too busy! I remember now why I don't use it for product shots.

False Friends, True Friends

There's a story behind the lapis beads in this necklace. Many years ago, I had two different friends who I met through a video game. Each decided at around the same time that they wanted custom necklaces from me. One wanted to pay for part of it and do the rest in trade, the other wanted to pay the full price. Each gave me a budget and I stayed well within that budget... But because I was young and naive in the ways of business, I didn't charge either of them a deposit... They were my friends, right? I could trust them, right? Well, the first friend paid the money part of hers and I sent her necklace... and never received my half of the trade. The other friend just never paid me the money, so I never sent him the necklace. Both friendships faded not long after that.

To me, the most frustrating part was not that they didn't uphold their end of the bargain, but that they just left it hanging there. No, "Oh, my hours got cut at work, I can't afford it now" or "My idea didn't work out, can I pay you the rest or make something else?" I felt like true friends would have been honest about their inability to pay/trade, instead of letting our friendship die over a small business matter.

Anyway, I've had that lapis necklace ever since. I took it to a couple shows, but not to my most recent ones and it wasn't listed on Etsy. I kept meaning to cut it apart and make something else but never felt inspired... Until my friend Inara asked me to find her some tribal jewelry at the gem shows. I failed to find any kuchi jewelry at the show I went to, but there was this beautiful Tibetan pendant set with lapis and turquoise for a great price. And finally I knew what to do with the lapis... Use it to make something beautiful for a friend!

These beads have gone to waste for years, long enough that I can't remember the names of those two friends, or even their on-line handles. Those facts have been pushed out of my brain to make room for more important people. And now that the necklace has been repurposed into something better and isn't sitting on my desk anymore, I think that incident will fade to a distant memory, too. I hope Inara loves her necklace -- she might even have it in hand now. I know it's going to look great on her!

Rarh, Bird Tribe!

 Bird Tribe is one of the new tribal necklaces that I made for the Shakedown! It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. I love those rough-hewn matte tiger's eye tabs. They were a little pricey but I just had to have them! I think they combine really well with the lava and coral. Lava is quickly becoming one of my favorite materials for tribal jewelry because I can go BIG without it being too heavy, although these particular lava beads are only about 6-7mm.

As for the focal, I bought it at the same time that I bought the wicked skull in Souleater. I would like to work more with this sort of pendant, but I probably can't justify buying more until one of these necklaces sell (so hopefully one will before the next gem show). I can't help it, I have expensive taste!

Where did you get that one?

 At the Desert Shakedown, there was a kindergarten-age girl in our booth for a few minutes, and she decided to entertain herself by asking "Where did you get this one?" about the focal pieces of every necklace within reach, which lead to the realization that I get beads from a lot of different places. Between that, and a conversation yesterday about whether stories help sell products, I was in the mood to talk about where my beads come from. Married to the Dance (above) is a new necklace, and I included its provenance in the description. But it left me thinking about the varied beads I use in each project, and where I get them, and how I get the idea to bring them together.

Take The Hungriest Pixie Ever as an example. I of course got the focal bead from Green Girl Studios at a Tucson bead show. I ordered the ceramic pomegranates from Earthenwood Studio specifically to go with it, and then the colors of those charms set the palette for the necklace. The freshwater pearls were purchased in bulk at a gem show years ago. The green crystals came from the same gem show, but more recently. I think the moss agate is from a Rings & Things trunk show in Phoenix. The padparadscha crystals are leftover from a Beading For A Cure kit. They all came together beautifully, as if I bought them all to be together, but in truth I just have an extensive bead collection to pull from.

Are you curious about the origins of the beads in any of my other work? Just ask and I'll do my best to answer -- though sometimes I may have to say that I honestly don't remember! As of last month I've been doing this for 14 years now. Whew!

Strange Souvenir

This necklace is made with some souvenirs from my trip to Seattle. The focal was purchased from fellow bellydancer Tempest at a dance festival in Bothell (which I have decided, against all logic and evidence to the contrary, should be pronounced Bot-Hell), and the awesome drop beads are from a bead store in Bellevue, where we were staying.

I didn't intend to buy any beads while in Seattle. I made no plans to visit bead stores. After all, I have plenty of beads and didn't really need any more. But I ended up buying beads anyway! The Bellevue store was within walking distance of our hotel, so we went on a whim. I also randomly stumbled across a bead store in Bothell while looking for an ATM, so I bought some things there. You'll see some of those next week, if the items I'm making with them don't sell at the Desert Shakedown.

By the way, I'm of course not selling this necklace, as it is way too ME and serves as a happy reminder of my Summer vacation. But I will see Tempest again when I go to TRIBAL FEST (!!!!!!) in May, so I might bring back some more bird skulls to share.

More new pics!

 I took a little break from making new stock to update the pictures on two more listings today! Check out the nice new pictures for Autumn Flier (above) and Mother Moon at Dawn (below).

I am really excited about the new inventory. There's some bracelets, necklaces, hair sticks and earrings. I hope to have time to make even more tonight and tomorrow, before I start tagging and packing everything for the trip up to Phoenix.

Sprucing Things Up

In addition to adding new listings, I've also been working on new photographs for some of my existing items. Elvensoul is one of the first necklaces to receive some nice new images! This lovely elf necklace is of course one of my favorite pieces of jewelry in my shop. It has everything I love: an olivine and bronze color palette, leaf beads, vintage crystals, and an art bead (in this case, an elf by Melanie from Earthenwood Studio).

I'd like to be doing even more with my shop, but right now I am busy getting ready for the Desert Shakedown and for Thanksgiving, so I'm limiting myself to one or two Etsy-related tasks a day.

I hit 100

Hooray! I listed two items today and that finally brought me up to a nice round 100 items in my Etsy shop! Of course, I am not going to stop there. As much as I love seeing that "100", I photographed a lot more than two items today so I will be listing them throughout the week. My goal is to keep my shop stocked with at least 100 items for the rest of the year, so I need to build up a bit of a buffer in anticipation of holiday sales!

The two new necklaces are Baby Bat Necklace (above) and Queen of Love and Beauty (below).

I love this necklace!

The Moss Spirit is one of my favorite necklaces. Definitely one of those pieces that is really hard to offer for sale instead of keeping. But if you could see how much jewelry I have (which would require me to be able to fit it all into one image), you would tell me that I really don't need to keep anything, or make anything for myself. That would not stop me, of course, but you could try.

Olivine greens are my favorite, and I love layered jewelry, and the green garnet focal is just so beautiful. It looks great with the elegant simplicity of Rachel's black velvet choli. I didn't make it with tribal costuming in mind, but it works well, especially for fusion. Tribal jewelry doesn't have to be all kuchi and stones!

I'm definitely glad that I decided to include this necklace in the photo shoot. I have several pieces in this style and NONE of them are in my shop because they are so hard to photograph! They look so great on a person but just do not lay right on a neck board or flat background. They need to hug the real contours of a real body.

Dragon Dreams of Allegory Gallery

 My most recent package from Allegory Gallery contained some great beads! I was immediately drawn to pair the Green Girl dragon focal with the magnesite beads, due to their similar shapes. I added some Swarovski crystals in Sunflower because I am all over that turquoise and yellow combination!

The magnesite beads are really interesting. Before I read the label I thought they were Czech glass with a Picasso coating, but no, they're stones! They have a very smooth, even shape and a bit of a seem on the sides, so I think they are a reconstituted and pressed stone. Just one of the many unusual materials on the market today! I think their mottled appearance is the perfect companion to the handmade dragon.

Dreaming Dragon Necklace is available in my Etsy shop, if you love this combination as much as I do and have to make it your own!

To see what my fellow Design Team artists have been up to, check out the side bar with all of their blogs!

FTC disclosure notice thingie: Some of the items in this post were provided for promotional consideration as part of the Allegory Gallery Design Team.

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.

I love bats

I don't understand how anyone can not like bats. Bats eat mosquitoes. Mosquitoes eat me. Every mosquito that gets eaten by a bat is one less mosquito that might nibble on my toe, right where my sandals will rub against it. If I could have a domesticated bat in my house, I would -- although I have a feeling that the chaos from two cats and two corgis chasing a bat would be a bit overwhelming.

The other night we went out to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, because during the summer they have special Saturday evening programs. That particular Saturday was all about insects, which was super exciting. But we also got to have a very long conversation with one of the docents about BATS! She told us what species we have most commonly in Tucson, how many mosquitoes they can eat in an hour, and where and when to go if we want to see huge flocks of bats come swarming out from under a bridge. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any living bats, but there was a very cool bat skeleton. Their bones are so amazingly tiny and fine!

The bat bead in my Hanging Around Bat Necklace is so cute and detailed. It shows the friendlier side of bats, not the creepy black "turning into Dracula" stereotype. If you met this bat, you'd want to cuddle her! Maybe give her a high-five to thank her for eating so many insects.

Fun with Photography!

 I'm currently working on photographing some of my past work that has not made it onto Etsy yet. For instance, this Fire Dancer beaded lariat. My last attempt to get a decent set of photographs resulted in exactly 1 useful image. But yesterday I sat down to take some photos and I am really happy with them! In fact, the above picture is one of my favorites. Ever. It's just so nice! I am surprised that I took it.

Just for fun, here's a less-useful image. This is what happens when someone with zero formal photography training plays with the macro function on her digital camera.

More Red and Black

 I just listed The Hidden Heart on Etsy today. This necklace takes the popular red and black color combination and adds a bit of white for extra contrast. It's a gorgeous Gothic necklace that is ready to accompany you on a night at the club.

 If the focal pieces look familiar it's because I posted about them a while back as they were part of the package I received to use in the Earthenwood Studios Design Team. I knew that I wanted to use them for this necklace, it just took me a ridiculous amount of time to sit down and actually make it. I'm so happy with how it turned out, so I really wish I had made it sooner.

Speaking of things that are ridiculous, I am really surprised that Spiral Journey is still in my Etsy shop! Last week I made another anklet similar to it, but in black and blue instead, as a custom order. It's up to 34 admirers, so I know it's only a matter of time until someone makes it their own -- or asks me to make another custom version in different colors :)

Allegory Gallery -- Waiting for the Key to Immortality

 It's Allegory Gallery Design Team time again! I created this beautiful necklace in my signature combination of olivine and bronze, using a mix of beads from the Gallery and things from my stash. The focal is a gorgeous escutcheon pendant by Melanie of Earthenwood Studio. I love the woodlands color scheme and stamped pattern. The swirled rice-shaped Czech glass beads from Allegory Gallery matched it perfectly.

 Allegory Gallery also provided the olivine square tab Czech glass beads, which nicely pull out the greens of the focal.

There are a lot of textures going on in this piece. I added some luscious golden baroque freshwater pearls from my most recent trip to New York (Ace Handicraft, I love you!), and some tiny Bronze Shade Swarovski crystals. I haven't decided yet how I feel about that color, it's kind of weird. But it's just the right shade to go with the focal.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the Design Team has been up to this month!

Peggy Li

Sally Russick

Penny Neville

Cindy Cima Edwards

Amy Cousin

Genea Crivello-Knable

Brenda Salzano

Shannon Chomanczuk

Charlene Sevier

Jessica Prill

Rebecca Anderson

Penny Young-Neville

Get your bids in!

My 2012 Layne's Legacy -- Beading For A Cure necklace "Orientale" is finally up for bids! Click here to visit the listing and possibly place a bid. As of the time that I'm writing the post, the current bid doesn't even really cover the cost of the LL-BFAC kit, Sandy Spivey cab, extra crystals and Green Girl shibiuchi clasp, not to mention the hours of time I spent embroidering and weaving beads. I'd really love for this necklace to raise a substantial donation for LL-BFAC. Remember, all of our proceeds go to the National Colorectal Cancer Research Association, in memory of my late friend Layne Shilling.

If Orientale isn't your thing, or it's out of your budget by the time you click the link, or even better, you'd like to buy multiple items, make sure to check out the rest of this week's auctions!

FAETeam Holiday Swap

 It's about time that I posted about the FAETeam secret holiday swap! I was assigned Aquariann as my secret fae, and since she likes pearls and Atlantean myths, I made her this necklace. The focal is a lampworked bead with a Green Girl mermaid bead hanging below it. Freshwater pearls, Czech glass and Swarovski crystals make up the main necklace.

And MY gift comes courtesy of Shannon from Gypsy Moon Art Studio! I love Shannon's wirework, so I'm really happy to own a custom-created necklace by her! She perfectly encapsulated my sense of style -- steampunk, tribal, and a little creepy, in copper and olivine green. It goes perfectly with a lot of my dance costumes, and as an added bonus, I already had crystal and eye earrings from Mermaiden that match it.