WOOHOO! 100 posts!

Normally I might do something special for my 100th post, but I didn't realize it until I went to post, and it's a little late to come up with anything nifty. I guess I'll wait for a bigger milestone, like 500.

Today I did a bit of beading, but it was a gift, not website stock. Still, it was good to get something done. I hope to get even more done tomorrow.

I did start the new collaboration book with my husband last night. We only got 1 1/2 pages into it, but it's a start. We'd hoped to do more tonight, but things kept coming up. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. And hopefully I'll also find time to work on the second draft of my first novel. I really hate doing second drafts. The story's already told and I want to move on to another story, not refine this one.

The other thing that I started last night was that I began to read a Laurell K. Hamilton books. I'd always seen them, because they're shelved next to one of my favorites (Barbara Hambly), but never read one. Well, my friend and fellow Dread Genre Writer Helen had picked one up as "market research" and so I borrowed it from her to do some research of my own. You see, I mostly read High Fantasy, but my book is Modern Dark Fantasy, so I need to see what's being done in the field. There are some definite parallels between my work and Hamilton's. The difference is that ohmigosh is there a lot of sex in her books. I mean, I'd heard that they were steamy, but there's more steam than story here! I'm not a prude, so it doesn't offend me. Instead, it sort of amuses me. But the writing's enjoyable at least.

Today's Cool Thing is Button Arcade, because I love buttons! I haven't ordered from them yet, partially because my "button bag" (a cheap department store messenger bag) is running out of room for buttons. I need to find new things to put buttons on. My husband's laptop case/messenger bag is looking mighty tempting... hmmm. Yes, anyway, Button Arcade has an awesome selection of "I Heart ..." buttons which I need to buy. Oh yes.

Aaaaaand let me remind you once more to vote for ME and any other cool Indie business sites in the Rare Robin Awards!

Awwww, isn't it cute?

I got my very first blog spam post today. The person who posted it managed to post it about 8-10 times through 3 or 4 different posts. Honestly, why put the same message, from the same person, five different times on the same post? I had a good laugh while I was deleting them.

Today was a very lazy day. I slept for about 12 hours, and it felt so good. I was going to work on some prototype earrings, but I'll admit it, I played video games instead. But I also spent some time with my husband, discussing our shared writing project, and as soon as I finish this tasty mug of hot cider (I'm pretending that it's actually a chill Autumn evening), we'll get to work on actually writing.

I'm determined to bead a lot this coming week. I need to get presents made, repairs done, and web site stock created, and as far as I know, I've got nothing going on this week other than the usual games.

Today's Cool Thing is Stuff On My Cat, because it makes me laugh so hard. If you love cats, and enjoy silly websites, you'll like this one.

Trying new things.

Today my husband and I, along with our friend and neighbor Alex, went out to an SCA battle. None of us had ever been to one before, and some friends kept suggesting that we check it out, so we did. It was held out in a little town called Winkelman, AZ. Winkelman is at a higher elevation than Tucson, so it was nice and green, and the drive was really awesome.

We had fun seeing friends and watching jousting, but due to being generally exhausted, we headed home after only a few hours. I'd hoped to stick around for the dancing at night, but I probably wouldn't have been alert enough to appreciate it. I've spent all night feeling almost dazed.

Part of this I can blame on the sun. I spend almost all of my time indoors, and so when I go outside for more than a few minutes, my body gets unhappy. I managed to avoid sunburn, but I've still got a headache. Bah.

Surprisingly, there was not a lot of jewelry on display at the "merchant's row" but there was a lady who had some wonderful chainmail that she and her husband had made. Very professional work, nice jewelry designs and they'd tumbled the maille so it wasn't all nasty and scratchy like the first bit of maille I bought. I would have liked to have brought some home, but it was a bit out of my limited budget for the weekend.

In keeping with the day's events, today's Cool Link is to Chivalry Sports, a local store that also does mail order, specializing in Renaissance garb and related items. Cool stuff, awesome people, and some informative articles. Enjoy!

Fashionable Friday -- Falling Leaves

Living as I do in the desert, I don't really experience Autumn much. We had a high of 89 degrees here on Wednesday. 89! And while -- contrary to popular belief -- we do have leaves out here, they're all rather small and they stay the same sagey greens year 'round. This is probably because our Winters are as warm as some peoples' Summers. What do the trees have to worry about? Ok, ok, our nights do drop to freezing during the Winter. Sometimes. But the biggest deal about Autumn here is that it's Not Summer.

This does not stop me from loving Autumn leaves. Sometimes I visit my in-laws in NY and NJ during October. In between complaining bitterly about the weather (honestly, it's not in the 80s in October? What is up with that?), I enjoy the changing leaves. Since I'm only visiting, I never have to deal with the hassles associated with said leaves, such as raking and blowing and disposing. I just admire the pretty colors. Of course, I like leaves of any sort, even our tiny little desert leaves, and I look for excuses to buy leaf beads and use leaf motifs in my jewelry.

Autumnal leaves are easy to find on my site. There's the necklace above, Autumn Dryad. And there's still Dame Autumn, whom I love to link to at the drop of a hat. Leaf Fall is more simple, but still visually stunning. I have many other leaf necklaces, and more yet planned, but these are the most Fall-friendly of the bunch.

Many other jewelry artists find inspiration in the changing colors and falling leaves. Blend Creations has this beautiful washi pendant, made with maple leaf paper. Enchanted Leaves has an entire selection of Autumn Leaf jewelry. Dreams and Jewelry has a Leaf of Fall necklace which makes a lovely understated accent. And if you want to really be blown a way, check out Christi Friesen's Amazonia Unfurled. Wow.

Of course, if you live someplace other than the desert, you might actually be feeling a chill in the air. You could keep warm with this gorgeous hand-knit sweater from JewelLace. Or maybe you just want to keep your neck cozy. Well, instead of a more traditional knit scarf, how about a stunning red leaf scarf, made from kimono silk?

Next to the Amazonia necklace, my favorite leafy item for today's blog is Andrea Adams' leaf mask. I really love her leather work, and I think this particular mask is just a knock-out.

Finally, for my fellow artisans, I offer up this great link to C.A. Therien's eBay store. I've conveniently sent you right to the "leaf cane" section, where you'll find a great variety of polymer leaf canes, just waiting for you to try them out.

Looking for awesome leaf products on-line is certainly a lot easier than taking a sight-seeing trip to see the changing colors, and more fun than raking your lawn. I'm sure that with a little browsing, you'll find things even cooler than what I've shared today. Have fun!

Good shopping trip!

Today was lunch and shopping with my Mom. As I mentioned before, we hit the big JoAnn's sale. I didn't even bother looking at beads, but I did get some other cool stuff. A few bricks of clay, some ribbons for kumihimo, and fabric for a bead quilt. Plus a couple of magazines. The latest issue of Bead Unique has a tutorial on doing glass slide pendants, something that I've been wanting to try.

I realize that the blog has been a bit, well, boring lately, so I'm going to try to spruce things up by sharing a cool link every day, in addition to the explosion of cool stuff on Friday. Whereas Friday is all things to buy, the rest of the week will be whatever is cool... a funny time-killing site, a happy news story, a gallery of eye candy. And sometimes, things to buy. Today's cool thing is Tea Perfume by SBS Teas. I love this idea SO much! Normal perfume doesn't do much for me, but smelling like a cup of chai? I like that idea, and I'm sure my husband would like it, too. SBS has a bunch of really awesome sound teas, chais and cocoas, too. I'm planning on buying some for the holidays (I know an insane amount of tea drinkers) and I'll just have to get some for myself, too. Just to, y'know, make sure that it's good enough for my friends. Not like I'm a tea addict or anything...

And of course, the other Cool Thing is the Rare Robin Awards! Remember to vote for me, and if you vote for at least two other sites, you can win some awesome prizes!

Repricing and Things.

I spent this afternoon repricing my entire earring selection. I intended to get to a couple of other categories, too, but something came up. Hopefully I'll be able to do more tomorrow and Friday, then finish it all up at the start of next week.

Today's mail brought some vintage nailhead beads which I'd purchased from eBay. Nailheads are really cool flat-backed beads which were traditionally used to embellish garments. They're usually faceted or otherwise patterned on the top. This time around, I bought some lovely transparent red faceted ones, and some that are a light tan with two holes and a nice floral pattern on top. I haven't treated myself to any nailheads in a long time, so I was way overdue on these. Whether or not I'll actually use them to make anything remains to be seen.

I don't know if I'll have any new jewelry in Friday's update, or if I'll just focus on pricing. I haven't beaded anything yet this week, and tomorrow I'm going to be out with my Mom. JoAnn's is having a big Veteran's Day sale, with polymer for cheap, so we're hoping to get there before the good colors all sell out.

In a funk.

I haven't been feeling very creative lately. I've been spending way too much time playing video games and browsing the web and not nearly enough time beading and writing. This happens every now and then, and seems to be a normal part of life for many creative people. I need to get myself motivated again, especially since the dreaded holiday shopping season is upon us all!

Just a bit ago I went out and voted like a good girl. I'd been hearing that the polls were really crowded, but we didn't have to wait in line or anything. I guess most people prefer to vote early in the day. There were almost 20 propositions on the ballot, so I had a lot of reading to do before I voted. I'm glad that it's all done now. I feel that voting is important, but all of that dry reading... ugh.

I have a bunch of novels to read, which should help me recover from the political overload and maybe get me feeling creative again. Plus I have a fun weekend coming up, so at the very least that should kick me back into gear!

Interesting Weekend

Yesterday was one of those obnoxious days where I was in a bad mood and couldn't think of anything positive to say here. Basically, someone said and did some unkind things and tried to ruin the day for the rest of us, and while I think that most of my friends managed to salvage the day (my husband, our carpool pal, and myself went out for Japanese, for instance), it still got under my skin.

Today, however, was a wonderful day. Chris and I went out to visit my friend who lives in the desert. It was a beautiful day, everything is surprisingly green from all the rain we had this Summer, and my friend is such a warm person. So we sat in her Arizona room, enjoyed the view, played with the dogs (she has two Border Collies and a Border Collie/Queensland Heeler mix, all very sweet), and talked for several hours. It really lifted my spirits and has left me feeling refreshed for next week.

I'm hoping to get some more beading done in the next week. I intended to work on the black-and-orange lariat yesterday, but I don't bead well when I'm in a bad mood, so I'll work on it a bit tonight instead. Also on the agenda for this week is looking into a different shopping cart for the site. PayPal's cart is very easy to use, but it's also very limiting. I'd like to be able to offer discounts and such, and I just can't do that right now.

That's all for now. More tomorrow.

Fashionable Friday -- Ensembles

Many jewelry designers sell coordinated sets. A necklace, earrings, maybe a bracelet, too. I usually don't, for the simple reasons that I recognize that sometimes you want just the necklace, earrings, or bracelet on its own, or that you can't wear earrings, or that the necklace is the right size, but the bracelet is too small. I want my customers to buy just what they want. However, I do still make a lot of coordinating jewelry, so that if you want a set, you can assemble it.

For instance, take the Carribean Spirit necklace above. It's lovely on its own, but my Oceanic Earrings would make the perfect accent for it.

Lady Ghost, which was featured in my Fashionable Friday column a few weeks ago, also has a pair of earrings made with her in mind, appropriately named Ghostly.

Some items have multiple accenting options. The Tranquil Butterfly necklace would look equally perfect with Ornate Butterflies or Teal Trio. The choice is yours!

Death's Garden would look just right with my Gothic Garden earrings, and the Scarlet Shadows bracelet makes it a complete set.

If you prefer a necklace and bracelet combination, might I suggest the Purple Dawn necklace with the Purple Illusions bracelet?

I do have a few pre-made sets on my site, if you prefer things that way. I'm partial to Dancing Butterflies and Turquoise Starshine.

Remember, color coordination really is everything, whether it's in clothing, jewelry, web design or interior decoration. A well-matched set of jewelry gives you a polished, finished look that will impress those around you!

This is Thursday's post.

Well, let's see... what is going on today?

-Last night I started a lariat in black and orange, with those awesome dichroic seed beads.

-I've received a request for black and white earrings, so I'll be including a few pairs in tomorrow's update.

-This morning I dreamed that I was finally working on the second draft of my book. Maybe it's a sign that I should stop slacking off.

-The Rare Robin Awards are still going on, you can vote for me and make me happy! Remember, vote for 3 or more awesome websites and get entered into a drawing for phenomenal prizes!

Welcome to November!

Hard to believe that it's November already. This month has really flown by.

Yesterday was fun, although the problem with living in the desert is that it's still warm on Halloween. I couldn't wear my cloak, instead I wore belly dance clothes, including a backless shirt. And I wasn't cold. That's Tucson for you. Anyway, the cookies turned out OK, though I won't be using that recipe again, and everyone had a great time at the Call of Cthulhu game that my husband ran. Now life goes back to normal until Thanksgiving...

In actual jewelry-related news, this week will be a bit of a sparse update. I have some things that I really need to do, including repairs, a present, and reading all of this election literature. On top of that, after the mad amount of beading and writing that I did last month, I'm now in a bit of a creative low. I think I need to spend a bit of time exploring my bead collection and maybe looking for more new techniques to try.

There will be at least one new item this week, maybe more, and a small Fashionable Friday column. Plus, of course, I'll be starting my repricing. But don't expect a 10-item update full of spectacular woven necklaces, and a column bursting at the seams with awesome links. I'm saving all of that for next week ;)

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday. Growing up, we didn't do Halloween very often at my house. Now that I'm an adult, I've decided that I really don't care if the holiday's roots come from a religion other than my own; most of our modern holidays have been so commercialized and removed from their origins that it doesn't matter anymore. So I'm just going to enjoy wearing a costume and eating more sugary snacks than I should. And if being an adult was going to stop me from dressing up and having fun, then I wouldn't go to the Renaissance Faire. So today I'm baking chocolate cookies for my friends, and tonight I'm putting on some nice black clothes and my hand-painted dragon cloak and my $1 Goth boots, and I am going to enjoy every moment of it.

Oh, and I am going to wear more black, silver, and malachite jewelry than you would think that one woman would own, because it all looks so awesome with my cloak.

If you didn't get enough macabre skull action with last week's Fashionable Friday column, Rotem Gear has an awesome Dia De Los Muertos blog post that you should read. Look at all those cool sugar skulls and nifty t-shirts. I love this sort of thing.

I'd better go hit the kitchen and work on those cookies, it's going to be a big gathering tonight so I'm going to bake a couple dozen.

Of fish and fringe.

The above necklace is one of my projects from this past week: the first in my series of tribal necklaces. For now, these will all be made for myself, to be worn when I dance, but when the gem shows come back to town, I will be looking for supplies to make them for sale, too. The jade fish in this one came from a necklace that I bought at gem show a few years ago; they were strung with cheap silver plastic spacers, and looked cool even like that. Here I've added some Afghani jade tubes, faceted jade rounds, sterling silver fish from Bali, and a lampworked fish by an Australian artist. It's just about choker length and sits pretty comfortably.

In other news, I've just now finished the base row of my belt! It's plenty long enough and rests just right on my hips, staying in place even over the slippery skirt I'm wearing today. Now, of course, it's time for fringe. I just need to decide what sort of dangles I want to put at the ends of the fringe... hmmmm.

I haven't quite decided what I want to make for the website this week, so I need to start thinking about that, too.

Fashionable Friday -- An Influx of Skulls

It's a little strange, walking into a department store and finding skulls on clothing not marketed specifically for Halloween. Strange, yes, but also good. If you have any sort of Goth or pirate tendancies, then you're probably taking advantage of this trend while it lasts. I sure am. Skull-bedecked yoga pants make me a happy girl.

Truth be told, I only have two skull items on my website. One is the above necklace, Death's Garden. The other is my awesome Grunge Skulls bracelet. The problem is that my husband and I like to hog all of the cool skull beads to ourselves. It was hard parting even with these! I guess I will just have to take a trip to the bead store and buy more skulls for busines purposes, and maybe one or two for myself.

But don't despair! If you need more skulls and skeletons than my little site can provide, there's plenty more to be found out there! This skull-patterned halter dress, for instance, is about 7 shades of awesome. If you need a more casual way to show your affection for skulls, how about these Skull Heart and Flower shirts? I love that pattern, and really need to get one for myself! If you're feeling really daring, though, you could let the whole world know that you are a Love Pirate!

Jewelry is a great way to add some skulls to your wardrobe, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a jewelry designer. Bijouboutique's earrings have skulls, style, and plenty of movement. I love them! Keen Designs has a couple of awesome skull necklaces; I like the one at the bottom the best. And for a fun touch, I like this skull bracelet! If that's not enough, ratkiss! has a nice selection of skull jewelry, right on the front page no less.

Once you've got yourself all decked out in these skull items, you might want to check yourself out in the mirror. Well, hey, why not have a pocket mirror with a festive skeleton? And if you want your favorite pampered pooch to rock the skull style, too, Lindsay Designs has you covered with some kewl collars. Lastly, now that you've got all this great skull swag, you'll need something to carry it all in. You know what I like to carry things in? Messenger bags! It's a good thing that this one comes in a Los Muertos print.

Yes, if there's one trend I'm really enjoying this season, it's definitely skulls. I hope you enjoy them, too!

Mmmmmuffins!

I missed posting yesterday because I had to bake muffins. Tasty, tasty muffins. I'm finding that I rather enjoy baking, and since many of my friends are young guys, I don't have to worry about baked goods sitting around, tempting me to eat them. There are no leftovers when I bring muffins to group events!

When I wasn't muffining it up, I made a bracelet for tomorrow's update, and worked on my ongoing belt project. The belt is rapidly nearing completion! Hurray!

It looks like I'll just have the 5 items for tomorrow's update. My evening tonight is pretty busy -- I'm getting together with my neighbors for pizza and a bad Lovecraft film. Even if I'm not there all night, my mind will probably be too damaged by the movie to create anything of beauty. At least the pizza will be tasty!

Tune in tomorrow for Fashionable Friday and a website update! See you then.

On to the next one...

Alright! I finally finished the necklace last night, and it looks great. I also worked up two pairs of earrings, which will be included in this week's update. I have a couple more ideas bouncing around in my head, so it should be an easy matter to have a full and interesting update on Friday. I might even make some stuff for myself.

As a reminder, it's going to be about another week before I start raising prices on my jewelry. Because my website design requires that I change each price individually, not everything will go up at once, but almost every price will be raised within the first half of November. If you've been eyeing something, buy it now while prices are still low!

And another reminder is: vote for me in the Rare Robin Awards! Don't forget that if you vote for at least 3 sites, you are entered into a drawing for some truly awesome prizes. How can you resist that?!?

Still working on it...

Yep, I'm still in the midst of working on the aqua strand collage. I'm having trouble getting the ratios right, so that all of the strands will hang just right, in relation to each other and to your neck. I'm just about to sit down and attempt to finish it tonight, so I can start tomorrow with a fresh project.

In case you're wondering why I've been wanting to use up all these stray beads (hence all the collages), the simple fact is that they were taking up space. Space that could have been occupied by new beads. And so the new beads languish in bags and hidden places, and then I never find them when I'm looking for project-fodder. I'm greatly streamlining things by using up all these beads that I bought years ago, used half of, and then forgot all about.

Now I can replace them with new beads that I will use half of and then forget all about.

Isn't it beautiful?

I've never claimed to be a very organized or efficient person. Quite the opposite. I live and work in a state of barely contained chaos, too much stuff and too little space. I love beads, so whenever I see something awesome that I can afford, I snatch it up. And within the past year I've added kumihimo and polymer clay to my repetoire, so now I have supplies for that, too. And books. Do I ever have books! Books for beading, books for writing, books for gaming, and plenty of books for books' sake. This leaves me very little room to actually work, so periodically I have to go through a stage of cleaning, organizing, and purging. That's where I'm at now.

Probably more than you want to know about my workspace, I'm sure. On that note, it's time to tackle the necklace.

Beautiful Sunday.

The pleasant Autumn weather is still holding out here in Tucson; as I look out my window, I'm treated to a beautiful blue sky. It's very calm, quiet, and just the right temperature. I think this weather is helping to foster my creative spirit. Without the heat to drag me down, I'm free to think and search for supplies and spend hours just beading or writing away.

Ah yes, beading and writing. I was only able to post the one necklace in this week's update, as I ended up being too busy to complete the strand collage. I've got to organize my time a little better, and stop using chill mornings as an excuse to sleep in. On the bright side, I did finish the first draft of my second book, and the wheels are turning for the second draft of the first book, and the plot of the third.

In the midst of all of this, I'm still finding the time and energy to dance. My stamina is back, and so now I've been focusing on trying some new arm accents, and also some stomach-isolating moves. I feel great when I'm dancing and I sync right up with the music.

I haven't quite figured out what I'll be making this week, other than finishing the strand collage. I think I'll spend some time in the bead room tomorrow, looking for materials that will inspire me.

Fashionable Friday -- Greyscale

It's a bit surprising to me that grey is so in this season. But there's no denying it, it's on all the shelves and in all of the windows. And for the most part, it's not even paired with other, friendlier colors. No, monochromatic greyscale ensembles are the look for Fall and Winter. Some are drawing straight from businesswear, with their pinstripes and smart lines, whereas others have a more ethereal look, the shimmer of silver satin.

As an artist, I feel drawn to find beauty, so this week I set out to make something that was at once grey and beautiful. Lady Ghost (seen above) was born of that quest. I purchased the cabachon and vintage beads in New York with the intention of pairing them with black for a more traditionally Gothic look, but I love the otherworldly blending of silver and grey that I've achieved here. Perfect for any formal Winter event, be it the office Christmas party or a night on the town with that special someone.

A subtler grey statement can be achieved with a sparkling bracelet, maybe accenting your business suit. If crystals are your style, try Silver Mist on for size. Or you can adorn yourself with that universal symbol, the spiral, by wearing Cloud Burst.

It's really not hard to find grey jewelry, of course. Silver, after all, is just a metallic grey, as is pewter. Dreams and Jewelry's Aged necklace combines silver with labradorite, a beautiful blue-grey stone, perfect for winter. Weekend Jewelry, in the meantime, adds lustrous coin pearls to sterling chain for a very feminine look. Of course, you need earrings to round out the outfit, so try First Frost from BeadGal Desigs, or for a more Goth-Punk look (something I always like), try Jewellace's Heart Earrings, an awesome twist on crochet jewelry.

I know that I usually leave the men out in my column, so this week I'm happy to say that Weekend Jewelry also has some subdued grey jewelry fit for the guys. I love this leather and moonstone necklace. Actually, I'd wear that myself, but I have been known to be a tomboy!

With the chill in the air, you may find yourself wanting to make some cozy scarves and hats, so why not use grey yarn? This eco silk is beautiful, and it works into last week's theme, too, by being made from recycled soda bottles! How awesome and clever!

If all this grey has you feeling like a corporate drone, you can always express your feelings with Camp Apparel's barcode bag. Quite possibly the most awesome purse I have EVER seen online, and I have seen some pretty awesome purses.

And now, having exhausted yourself with a grey shopping spree, perhaps it's time for a nap, on grey silk pillow cases. Not the sort of thing I would normally list, but Elliebelly is donating 10% of the price to the Komen Foundation, so they definitely deserve a shout-out! Besides, that really is a lovely color!

So remember, even grey can be beautiful!

Slacking off...

Ok, I admit it. Other than making a quick bail for a pendant I wanted to wear, I didn't bead yesterday. Instead I wrote 16 pages on my book, bringing it to just right before the end. I've just got to wrap up the loose ends and set the stage for book 3 and then I'm done. I'm pretty happy and excited.

I was going to take beads to the game, but we got such a late start that I figured I'd spend more time unpacking and packing the beads back up than I would actually working on the necklace. But I did pick out the focal and all the accents for the necklace, so when I finally sit down to bead today, I can jump right into it.

This does mean that tomorrow's update will be pretty small, probably just the two necklaces. But since I've had 19 items between my last two updates, I think that's OK. Next week should be back to my usual standards of at least 4 new items.

Eye Candy

Alright, I have an aquatic-hued strand collage in the works, but I probably won't do much on it until the game tonight. Last night I decided to stop wussing around about my book and start finishing it, and only wrote 10 pages because I knew I needed to sleep. I'm hoping to ride that momentum today.

Lately I've been drooling over the knotted wire jewelry of Loren Damewood. It's understandably out of my budget, but very nice to look at and admire. You especially have to see his Knotted Mail, which is just plain awesome.

Enjoy the eye candy, and I'll be back tomorrow.

Little bits of news.

First and most important, I finished my special necklace last night. YOW does it look great! I am simply in love. You know, I have got to stop making all of this jewelry that I want to keep. Or maybe I should make a couple of things for myself, so I won't feel so neglected.

You may remember Dame Autumn from my Fashionable Friday column two weeks ago. Well, I've been talking her up on my forums, and Dreams and Jewelry just featured her today! I feel like my necklace is in great company, as there are lots of cool items on there that I would love to have. Once you're done at the blog, be sure to visit her site, too. There is some beautiful jewelry there!

Tonight I'll be starting another project, got to keep myself busy. After all, I only have one thing for this week's update and it's already Tuesday. It's probably time for another strand collage, and then maybe a bracelet or two and some earrings to round it out -- I've really been working on stocking up on the earrings.

There are still a couple more days to vote for Erthe Fae Designs (and your other favorite Indie sites) in the Rare Robin Awards! Share the love!

Almost done!

I am very close to finished with my grey necklace. Hurray! It's shaping up quite nicely, I think.

I have a bit of repair work to do this week, but I still think I will be able to have a decent selection of new items for Friday's update. And the Fashionable Friday column is already shaping up to be pretty good!

With the weather growing pleasantly cool as Tucson finally acknowledges that it is indeed Autumn, I'm going to be able to start doing polyclay work again, too. I'm not sure that I'll be selling any of it, but I'll definitely share on the blog. I have a couple of cool ideas, though I'll need to get more tools and supplies to do them properly.

More tomorrow!

Insert Meaningful Title Here

I think I spent about 4 hours last night, off and on, working on the pendant for the necklace I've been planning. It didn't turn out quite how I expected, but it still is awesome. And very sparkly. Today, I get to figure out how to work it into a necklace. Woohoo!

Also, last night I finally started working on my novel again, which is a good feeling. I'm approaching the end, and I might be able to finish the first draft before the end of this month.

Lots to do, but not a lot to say. I'll probably be more chatty during the week.

As promised...

Ta da! There it is, the pendant I made this week. I've only dabbled in bead embroidery before, but recent talk and show-n-tell on my favorite beading forum made me decide that it was time to really get into it. I used Laura McCabe's article in the most recent Bead and Button as a jumping-off point, making some changes along the way to accommodate my bead selection and sense of style. This pendant really reminds me of Amy Brown's faerie paintings, as the fae in them are always wearing stripes and checks. The pendant is hanging from a black herringbone rope that I made especially for hanging assorted things from.

I have a necklace planned for this next week that will use that same technique. Actually, I'm going to start it today. If it turns out, it will be featured on Friday :)

Don't forget to show me some love by voting for Erthe Fae Designs in the Rare Robin Awards!

Fashionable Friday -- Waste Not, Want Not

My plan for this week was to go through my bead collection and use up a lot of those beads that I had just a few of, you know, 10 of this, 6 of that, things that I bought on a whim and never intended to make part of my regular stock. Of course, I was out all day Saturday and then all night Tues, Wednesday, and Thursday, so I didn't bead very much. Nonethless, I was partially successful in my efforts.

The Moss Spirit -- seen above -- not only used a green garnet that I bought "just because," but it allowed me to use up the last of some Czech glass cubes that I used in another necklace, some freshwater pearls that I bought years ago, the olivine crystals from this year's BFAC project, and a number of Czech glass beads.

There were a few bead types that I couldn't quite use all of, so I had leftovers to make earrings! Mulch?!? used the last of the copper-lined firepolish, as well as some paired beads I'd forgotten about, and Presto, Pesto! used the dark olivine firepolished and some random beads from a swap some months back. And while looking for beads to make more earrings, I found some lonely crystals from BFAC 2004, which made their way into Dawn Flowers and On An Angle. Really, earrings are one of my best ways to use "leftovers."

I fully intend to work towards my goal throughout the next few weeks. I have a whole bunch of aqua-capri blue beads which might make a nice strand collage, and there are always pairs and foursomes of beads waiting to become earrings. But in the meantime, I asked around and found how some other artists use their scraps, leftovers, and recycled materials!

Starchild Crafts uses scraps of fabric to make kickin' keyfobs. Meanwhile, Textile Fetish has these awesome patchwork aprons and bags made from scraps. If you enjoy bags made from scrap fabric (and really, who doesn't? They're unique and environmentally conscious!), you should also check out My Diva Shop's recycled jeans purse with its country charm. A more unexpected use of scrap fabic is decorating stationary, which is exactly what Teacups and Tadpoles does!

Dismantled Designs specializes in making clothing out of other clothing. I really recommend browsing through her site, as it's cool to see clothes remade :)

If you'd like to make your own items with scraps and recycled items, you certainly have a lot of options! SixOneSix makes it easy with this box of supplies! Or, you can look for that delicious recycled silk yarn, some chunky recycled glass beads, or the recycled plastic peace beads that I saw at gem show this year. A google search will surely turn up countless supplies. And don't forget that Found Object art is very popular and feasible as well.

With the internet, the world is practically at your fingertips. I hope that this column will inspire you to not only check out the artists and suppliers I've listed, but to search out other sources for recycled and salvaged goods, and ways to use them yourself. And how is this a Fashionable Friday, you might ask? Not only are many of the above items stylish, but in my mind it's always in to keep things out of our landfills!

Gearing up for the update

Whew! I have 10 items done already for tomorrow's update. That is going to be a whole lot of photography, let me tell you.

I spent pretty much all night last night working on the main necklace for the update, and it is just WOW. Maybe I'm a bit biased, since I created it and it's my favorite color, but this is one knockout of a necklace. I keep looking at it going "I wish I could keep this." Because, you know, I really need one more green necklace. What I need is an elegant, medium-length blue necklace. Will I ever make such a thing for myself? Of course not. I'll keep making things in green and black.

I have a big project planned for next week. It's big, because I don't know how I'll make it happen, I just have this vague idea of how I want to put all of these beads together. If it turns out, it will be spectacular. I'm talking about "Wear it to the company's formal Christmas party" spectacular. Of course, I wore a hand-painted panne velvet cloak to the last Christmas party, so my taste is a little skewed.

But for now, it is time to clean up and put away all of the beads and supplies from the last couple of days of creating. They've kind of taken over my couch...

Just beadin' away

Well, I didn't break the camera out today. I had to play a couple of games of Go instead. So hopefully I will be able to post my nifty new pendant tomorrow. If not, I'll photograph it with Friday's update jewelry and post it over the weekend.

Ah yes, Friday's update. I'm working on a very cool necklace for that. I didn't bead as much as I'd hoped to this week, so I'm taking the necklace with me to my Wednesday game instead of bringing the Belt of Doom. Also, while looking for beads for the necklace, I stumbled across another cache of paired beads, so expect lots more earrings this week. Woohoo! Several of these bead pairs are vintage, which makes them even more fun to work with.

I'm going to try to make more time for beading, as I had a few great ideas for necklaces for myself (yes, I'm greedy) and I don't want to cut too much into my production of website stock. After all, the holidays are coming and I want to have a great selection available for all of your gift-giving needs.

Don't forget to vote for me in the Rare Robin Awards! I'll make sad puppy dog eyes at you if you don't.

Change is coming!

They say that change is good. This change, however, is kind of a mixed blessing. Starting on November 1st, I will be raising all of my prices. I've resisted for a while, doing my best to keep prices low while still fairly compensating myself. Unfortunately, the cost of buying supplies and doing business keeps going up. At my current prices, I simply can't keep doing business; it's become impractical. On average, I'll be raising prices by about 20%. Shipping rates will stay the same, however.

I'm telling you this now, so that if you've had your eye on something, you can buy it now before prices go up. That's right, it's my "The price hasn't changed yet!" sale. Ok, so it's not much of a sale. But I felt that it was only fair to give you advanced warning. If only more businesses would do that, eh?

There are good changes coming, too. My beloved code monkey is hard at work on a new website for me. This will include implementing some awesome options, like a search and recommendations. I'm not sure when this will all happen, but I can tell you that when it does happen, it will rock!

Things are cruising right along, beadwise. I already have 2 items ready for this week's update, and I've been working on a personal project to learn a new technique. It has been just way too much fun, so even though it's a bit time-consuming, this technique will definitely show up in a few website items. I might post the finished item tomorrow, so you can get an idea of Things To Come... ooooh.

Back to the beads for me.

So glad it's the weekend!

Ahhh, it feels good to be enjoying the weekend! Today was a D&D day, and to keep my hands occupied between bouts of dice-rolling, I took my ongoing Belt O Doom project. This is a very long belt made with an African Helix in black and varying greens. It's almost long enough to go around my waist now, but I need to add a bunch of extra length for tying and dangling, and then throw some fringe on that baby. It makes a good gaming project, I took it to my Weds game this past week, and I'll take it this week, too. If I keep taking it to gaming, I might actually finish it someday.

Tomorrow, I think I'll work on a bracelet or two for Friday's update. This coming week is going to be pretty busy in the evenings, so I'll have to make up for it by being productive during the day.

The Rare Robin Awards are still going on, so if you haven't yet, you can vote for my website in the Funky Jewelry category!

Fashionable Fridays -- Everything Old is New Again

It seems to me that even going all the way back to the 90s, vintage and retro styles have been big. That trend continues even now, more than halfway through the "aughts." Different decades have held favor over the years, with the 60s and 70s being the big contenders, classy 40s-50s styles sneaking in every now and then, and now, the 80s are screaming "Hey, aren't we old enough to be retro yet?"

In the world of fashion, old styles show up in a number of ways. Designers might recreate vintage dresses, use retro prints, or even recycle old fabric, beads, and other materials for new designs. The consumer has many choices for expressing their own love of recycled fashion, too, either by purchasing these new items, or by seeking out genuine vintage items. Many thrift stores now have "retro" sections, rather than saving the bygone styles for Halloween. eBay is a source of great vintage finds, whereas a web search will turn up many sites that will either sell you vintage clothes, or educate you on the styles and how to tell the real deal from fakes.

As a jewelry designer, I love working with vintage beads. My Dark Murmurs bracelet (shown above) uses 2 different styles of vintage beads and a vintage button. Dame Autumn and Leaf Fall both feature vintage leaves, which are of course, just perfect for Autumn. Vintage beads abound in my earring section, just check out Midnight Stars, Gothic Garden, or Peachy Keen. This is just a sampling of the vintage selections on my site; I rarely turn down a chance to buy vintage beads!

Of course, I'm far from the only jewelry designer inspired by the styles and materials of yesteryear. Elle B uses vintage beads in all of her creations, and I especially love her earrings! Oasis and Canyon are very cool, and the latter features perfect Autumn colors! The Wing Thing works some awesome vintage buttons into her jewelry, check out this faerie bracelet! Vintage style and beads alike are found in Miss Evil Kitty's floral pins. Dejarnette's Minty Julep necklace also caught my eye. And while I don't normally "do" plastic, this 80s robot necklace from Zlanarama brought a huge smile to my face!

I also got a big, cheezy grin when I saw Rotem Gear's vintage-inspired Tofu T-Shirt. Usually I see this graphic used to say something raunchy, so this was a pleasant change! For other vintage-style clothes, why not check out the aprons from Sweet Pea Handcrafts or Modern June? They almost make me wish that I cooked enough to need an apron -- but that would cut into my bead time! ;)

There's no denying the absolute cuteness of vintage purses, but finding the real-deal in good shape and affordable can be difficult. Why not buy a modern day purse based on vintage designs instead? Goodmorning, Morning has some cute ones, especially the Scalloped Bag. 2 Fresh Petunias also offers several vintage-style bags, but I like the Sophisticate Handbag the best, especially the green bird one! Meanwhile, Teacups and Tadpoles has vintage-inspired lunch totes, perfect for kids or adults!

Those of you with kiddoes either of your own or on your gift-buying list might enjoy the Vintage Baby section over at Hip and Little, or One Little Monkey.

After all this shopping, you might feel the need to pamper yourself (I do after all this typing!). You might not think that spa supplies can be vintage-inspired, but Vintage Body Spa is out to prove you wrong with their retro labels and packaging!

This is just a small selection of the vintage and vintage-inspired items that you can find on the web... and just think of what you might be able to find locally, in boutiques, craft fairs and bead stores!

So much inspiration!

The above image is a custom necklace which I was recently commissioned to make. Having received a satisfied e-mail from a very happy customer, I feel like I can display it on the blog now. I LOVED making this necklace. Working with vintage jet is so much fun!

When I was getting the jet out, I was reminded of how much I love all of my vintage beads (for the most part, they're kept in the same place. I am somewhat organized). As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I decided to make some things with them this week. Well, here it is only Wednesday, I've already made 4 items, and 3 of them contain vintage beads. Yay! All 4 items will be in Friday's update, and I might even have a few more items by then.

I'm working on a super-secret collaboration with Deborah of Bead Indulgences, and I just got her contribution to that project today. Because she's such a sweetie, she also included some crystals that I wanted but was unable to get at the gem show. So tonight I'm taking just a little break from website stock and I'm going to make myself a crystal bracelet.

In closing, don't forget to vote for me in the Rare Robin Awards! :)

Artist Spotlight -- Bead Indulgences

I am pleased to be able to announce that my dear friend Deborah has just launched her site, Bead Indulgences. Deborah is a lovely and talented lady who creates some simply breathtaking jewelry. Where my "thing" is beadweaving, Deb has found her niche in wire and maille, and what a fine niche it is! I love how she incorporates a wide variety of beads, from common Czech glass to fantastic carved stones, into her pieces to give them a more unique feel.

I met Deborah on-line in the beading forum that we both frequent, and I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at the gem shows in February. Her husband also does jewelry work, and it was so nice to see the two of them shopping together and sharing ideas. I believe that couples who share interests truly have the richest relationships... although it is hard to share beads sometimes!

If you read Step by Step Wire Magazine, you may already be familiar with Deborah, as she had a tutorial in their Summer 2006 issue. She swore me to secrecy, but now that it's on her site, I can brag ;) Although I don't work well with wire and as such was not able to test it, the project looked very nice and the directions were concise. I hope that in the future she'll share more of her designs with the world.

Deborah does one-of-a-kind work, so I recommend that you check her site often to see what is new and exciting!

A jewelry-ful day!

Just as I'd hoped, today I was able to get some serious beading done! I strung a beautiful necklace which I'm very happy with, and I'm working on a nice woven piece, too. These items will of course be in Friday's weekly update.

Keep watching my link section for more great sites, I added another one today.

In the meantime, please vote for my website, www.erthefae.com in the First Annual Rare Robin Awards, hosting by Rare Bird Finds! If you vote for my site and at least two other great business websites, you'll be entered to win some fabulous prizes. Click on the banner below to get ready to cast your vote :)

Posting After Midnight

Darn my late-night posting habits, making it seem as if I am posting the next day!

Today was regrettably another jewelry-free day, although I did get some business-related things done. Actually, I got a lot done, but it's all boring technical stuff.

Speaking of boring, I'm getting bored with my current blog template and name and stuff, so I'll probably be tweaking it up over the next few days. I already added a new link, to Lois Oster's great lampwork, and I expect to add more links soon.

Tomorrow there shall be beading, oh yes, and new news for the blog, so it feels special. For now, it's back to the pretty faerie book. Mmm, weird Victorian artwork.

Of books and things...

Now that I finally finished the book series I was reading, maybe I can get back to being productive. A word of advice -- don't read Tad Williams' Otherland series. It's not worth the time. I remember enjoying his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series, but Otherland had me constantly complaining while I was reading, and now I don't want to read anything of his ever again.

Standing in the way of my productivity are two other books which I picked up recently, being "Children of Cthulhu" (a collection of short stories inspired by Lovecraft), and "Anansi Boys" by Neil Gaiman, sequel to "American Gods" which is one of my all-time favorite books. While at the bookstore, I saw that Gaiman has a new short story collection out, but it's in hardback, so I resisted. Instead I bought a book on faerie artists... ooooh.

None of these books, however, are 1000 pages of literary devices and false suspense, so I should be able to breeze through them and still bead. I'm hoping to make some jewelry tomorrow. I would have made something today, but it was not to be. Had to do some writing instead.

I'm working on things behind the scenes, business-related and otherwise. Might have news to talk about in the near future. For now, time to ready my faerie book and then catch some sleep.

Fashionable Friday -- Of Jewelry and Adornment

Just a brief column this week; I've had quite a long day getting everything just right for today's webpage update. The above photo is part of the fruit of my labor. I just love how the earrings look against that little dish! Such pretty colors...

Today, I feel like rambling on a bit about jewelry in general. You surely don't need me to tell you that jewelry is very popular right now. Many people have turned to beading and jewelry-making as their craft of choice. Magazines on the subject abound. Even JoAnn's has realized the popularity of beads, expanding their once-small selection (mainly consisting of those cheap bulk bags) to several aisles of interesting beads, including some very high-quality selections.

On the one hand, it's discouraging to face so much competition in the jewelry market, but on the other hand, it's very nice to see that so many people are learning what I've known since childhood -- beads and jewelry are cool!

Although wide-spread obsession with making jewelry may be a relatively recent thing, a love of jewelry dates way, way back. Archeologists have discovered prehistoric beads of stone and shell. The Bible tells us that the golden calf was made from the gold of melted earrings. The Norse goddess Freya lusted after a particularly beautiful necklace the dwarves had made. Tribal peoples the world around have ancient beading traditions.

Jewelry has a way of making you feel special. Most women, after all, are thrilled to receive a gift of jewelry from their beloved. Western culture uses rings to symbolize marriage. And at times, jewelry is used to commemorate other milestones in life: class rings, pearls for a girl's coming of age, and birthstone-bedecked rings, bracelets, and necklace for mothers.

But beyond that, the simple act of wearing a piece of jewelry merely for its beauty is a wonderful feeling, too. Jewelry, whether it be gold and diamonds or beadwork, adds that special touch to any outfit. Even jeans and a casual blouse can be dressed up with the right accessories. Jewelry draws the eye, adds that little bit of visual interest, that little extra punctuation. Of course, some of the more elaborate jewelry out there does more than that, taking over the entire outfit and shouting "Look at me, I'm HERE!"

We can already see the jewelry-making craze die down a bit, as some people filter off towards the new trends of knitting and quilting, but a love of jewelry will remain behind. Years from now, those who put down their beads to pick up some yarn will come across a beader and smile, thinking "I used to do that" and maybe they'll pick up the beads again.

I, of course, refuse to put them down in the first place!

Oh, happy day!

There's nothing quite like opening your mailbox and finding beads. I just got my order from Out on a Whim, a box chock-full of new seed beads. Oh, such colors! I decided to order a lot of neutrals, but also a few nice greens and purples and such. Lots of exciting new things to jazz up my Fall and Winter line. Even some of the neutrals are spiffy, with shimmery coatings and the like. I can't wait to play with these!

I haven't done as much beading as I expected to this week (I've been reading instead, shame shame), so tomorrow will be a jewelry-making frenzy, to ensure a plentiful update.

In the works!

I have a great bracelet in the works and several more items floating around in my head. It feels good to be back to my usual creative ways!

Not really a whole lot to blog about, everything is in a very quiet state right now, maybe the calm before the storm? New items will of course be posted on Friday, look for some rather different bracelets and maybe a necklace or two.

I had a custom order this week and it got me thinking about all of the beads that I don't use, but should. I think lately I've been limiting myself far too much, using mostly seed beads, Czech glass, and crystals. I have all these nice stones and vintage beads and shaped seed beads, I should be experimenting with them. Keep an eye out for the results of these experiments!

Monday is Fashionably Purple!

Purple is big right now. Maybe even huge. At the mall this weekend, I saw a dazzling array of purple clothes on display, even a few lilac-hued dress shirts for the men. Before I fell in love with green, purple was my favorite color, so I've been quite happy for the excuse to buy and work with purple beads.

Fall and Winter are a time for dark colors, so deep purples are a great choice. Purple Dream (pictured above) mixes dark with light for year-round wearability. Deepest Purple pairs Purple Velvet Swarovski crystals with icy silver for a wintry look. And Rumpled Velvet adds hematite for a dark and dramatic look. Purple is scattered throughout my site in other items, sometimes in shades of tanzanite, or amethyst or even perriwinkle.

I see purple as the perfect color for evening wear. This daring dress would look splended with a purple choker. Of course, for cooler weather you might want a shawl or jacket to warm up your otherwise bare arms. Why not knit or crochet your own with some beautiful purple yarn?

You can add a touch of purple to your current wardrobe with the perfect accessores. Earrings are a subtle touch, and I'm fond of these, with their stylish vintage beads. For a wilder statement, go with these vampire kanji earrings. How about a nice purple hat to keep your head cozy on a brisk Autumn day? Complete your outfit with an eco-friendly purse, and now you're fashionable and conscientious!*

In my hunt for purple, I came across a few non-clothing items which still look great. Apricot-Plum lip balm comes in purple heart tin and surely tastes quite purple, too. Meanwhile, the purples in this soap are so beautiful that I wish they were clothes or jewelry, so I could wear them!

I could go on and on and on, but really, I encourage you to get out there and search for your own fabulously purple treasures!

*The creator of these bags doesn't currently have her web store set up, but she assures me that she has some purple bags, and I like her idea so much that I had to share. Enjoy :)

Fashionable Friday -- Fashionably Late

I'm experiencing technical difficulties with the items for this week's Fashionably Friday column, so I won't be able to post it until sometime this weekend. Thank you for your patience!

The end of my pirate days

Alas, I didn't bead like a pirate after all. My best idea involved some beads that I've been saving for myself, and I really needed to be practical and make some more website stock. Of course, just because the holiday is past doesn't mean that you can't still enjoy pirates. Shala Kerrigan at Bella Online posted some great Jolly Roger bead patterns. I intend to modify them to make myself a bracelet, as I wear skulls year 'round.

In the meantime, I'm working on a lovely collar which will be featured in this week's Fashionable Friday column. I hope to have a couple more new pieces for Friday's update, too, whether or not they fit the column theme. With the holiday season approaching, I really want to increase my stock.

With that in mind, I think it's time to go do a little beading!

Bead Like A Pirate!

Arrr, ye probably already knew this, but today be Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Ok, ok, I'm not going to write my entire blog in bad pirate-speak. But I do enjoy this corny holiday. Who doesn't like to let out the occasional "arrr"? I even intended to dress like a pirate today, but since I'm not going anywhere, it would be a bit of a wasted effort. The cats don't care how I dress, after all. They'll shed on my clothes whether it's jeans or a pirate shirt. Instead, I'm thinking of beading like a pirate.

How does a pirate bead? Well, that depends on how much rum she's drank!

Having a hook might make beadweaving difficult, and that eye patch really messes up depth perception, so I'm guessing a pirate might stick to simple stringing. Stormy seas make for many bead spills, so the smart bead pirate would work on a towel or vellux pad to catch those stray beads.

And what kind of beads would a pirate use? Why, whatever she could plunder!

Trade beads immediately come to mind. After all, people traded with them, so they were probably occasionally found on ships that pirates raided. If you take a look at this pic of Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, you'll see that the beads in his hair have a definite trade-bead look.

Recycled glass beads from Africa have a nice, rough look that brings to mind antique beads without the price of trade beads.

Afghani jewelry has a mysterious, antique aura about it, and I think any pirate wench worth her salt would enjoy wearing it. Big pieces can be worn as-is, whereas pendants and the like could be worked into beaded creations.

Coins, naturally, are a great accessory for every pirate lass. If you can get real coins, that's even better, but the imitation coins will do in a pinch.

Of course, what pirates really love is GOLD! But for those of us who don't make a living out of plundering, real gold beads can be just too expensive. To get the gleam of gold without breaking the bank, might I recommend vermeil?

Don't limit your imagination to the materials I've listed, though. A pirate might just as easily wear some nice, chunky stone beads, or tarnished brass, maybe some precious Venetian blown glass beads. Because honestly, who's going to tell a pirate -- armed with cutlass and flintlock, naturally -- that she can't wear something?

Fashionable Friday -- The Old Black

I'm sure we've all heard it at some time or another, even those who don't follow fashion very closely at all: "X is the new black" where X = whatever color is hot this season. Honestly, who do they think they're kidding? Black is queen of the fashion world for good reason. There is no color which is more dramatic and versatile than pure black.

As such, whenever I hear about a "new black" I have to ask myself, "What was wrong with our old black?" After all, there are those who say that every woman should own that perfect little black dress, and that it's acceptable to wear just about anywhere. Black can be formal, casual, or artistic. Many colors have come along to challenge black, but it cannot be dethroned. Today, I am honoring black by making it the subject of my very first Fashionable Friday column.

One doesn't have to go far to find black on my website. After all, it is one of my favorite colors and I consider it the perfect neutral. Midnight Cascade (seen above) features a wide variety of black, silver, and hematite-colored beads. Remember, monochrome is in for Autumn and Winter! For a more subtle jewelry statement, might I recommend the Black on Black spiral rope bracelet?

Naturally, when I think of black, I start thinking of Goth clothes. This skirt is perfectly Gothic, but when paired with a white or colorful blouse, it could also make a wonderfully elegant statement. But what about accessories? Whether it's for a Halloween party, the Rennaissance Faire, or just because you love the attention, you can't go wrong with a handcrafted leather bat mask. If you're not feeling that daring, but you still want an unusual accessory, this monochrome ring might be just the thing for you.

Fashion writers will probably always tout the new black, but the old one is here to stay.

Things to come.

Tomorrow, in addition to emerging from my hiatus with new jewelry for the site, I'm hoping to start a new series on this blog: Fashionable Fridays. I am not by any means a slave to fashion. Instead I like bending current styles to my own whims, both in the creation of my jewelry and in how I dress. Fashionable Fridays will be all about looking at what's "in" right now, what I think of the trends, and things I've found on-line that hover on the edge of trends.

Sound fun? I think it will be!

I may only be adding a few things tomorrow, but there is a lot of new jewelry on the horizon. Not only will I be expanding my selection of old favorites, but I'll be adding news designs, some of which you've already seen previewed on this blog.

Autumn should prove to be an exciting season for Erthe Fae Designs!

I'm in love!

I fell in love with a beautiful boy today. I really don't think that the two cats who I already have would be very happy if I brought in a third, but if you'd seen this cat rubbing up against his cage and kneeding his claws because he was just so happy to be coo'd over.

I'm really hoping that someone else adopts him, because if not, I'll have to find a way to work a cat into my life. I've always loved silver kitties, and this one was so friendly that he just sunk his claws right into my heart at first sight. Curse you, PetSmart, and your on-site adoption!

Getting pets through rescue or adoption is a pretty big thing to me. Yes, I did get my Topher-kitty from a friend whose cat had a litter, but I wasn't planning on getting a new cat, it just happened. When I go out in search of a pet, I hit the shelter. There are so many homeless pets out there that it just makes me cry. Lira is a former shelter cat, as is my brother's striking and lovable Manx, Bubba. Both cats have proven to be great, hearty pets. I don't think Bubs has ever had a health problem, and Lira's only emergency vet trip was when she had broken claws from her great escape.

What does any of this have to do with my business? Well, I'll definitely need to sell some jewelry if I want to adopt a cat ;) Oh, and Iggy's coloring is very fashionable. Monochrome greys and blacks are in this season, you know.

Remember, new jewelry will be on my site on Friday, September 15th! I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you are, too.

What passes for normal...

Well, with both my vacation and the gem shows behind me, and jet lag finally purged from my system, life should be back towards normal. Of course, normal for me is a little strange, but that's how I like it!

I'm hoping for a week or two of peace and calm to get things done before life goes all topsy-turvy again!

I have a few plans for the next couple of weeks, related to Erthe Fae Designs. Obviously, my main priority is coming back from my hiatus on the 15th with new jewelry. I didn't get nearly as much done as I planned to, due partially to the ongoing stress about my husband's job and the temporary stress when my website disappeared. I do have a few nice things ready though, and lots of wonderful supplies to create new pieces throughout Fall and Winter.

I'm also working on getting my supplies more organized, for ease of creation, pricing, and restocking. While I'm organizing and cataloging, I'll be weeding out the beads that really don't fit with my designs, which I will then sell off at bargain prices. If you're a fellow beader, you may want to keep your eyes peeled for an announcement of when and how I'll be selling them.

Other things are still in the planning stage. Over all, I'm excited to get back into the swing of things and take my business to new and exciting places. I hope you'll come along for the ride!

September Gem Shows

On Friday, I went to a couple of the gem shows here in Tucson. I set out with my friend Helen, who I've been teaching how to bead. In the process, I've gotten her quite addicted to beads themselves, so we were both eager to get out and get some new supplies.

To my knowledge, there were 4 shows here this September. G&LW had the Holidome and the Rodeway, ABC Direct had a show by the Holidome, and The Best Bead Show was at the Tucson Community Center. Having limited time, money, and energy, we decided to stick with just the Holidome and the Best Bead.

We started out at the Holidome, a show which I avoid like the plague during February. It's basically considered THE wholesale show, and as such, it gets packed full of shoppers, some of whom can be quite rude. My only time there, I found the prices to not be worth the hassle.

The September version of the show was smaller and more managable, although it was still crowded. There was one booth which was so popular that I couldn't even see their wares past the wall of shoppers! I had to squeeze my way through several aisles, and at one booth I was shoulder-rammed by a woman who wanted to see something that was in front of me. Here's a little hint for gem show shoppers: The words "excuse me" will serve you well.

Although I found most of what I needed -- More Swarovski 4mm bicones for my popular bracelets, and tons of findings that I was running low on -- I found the show to be pretty disappointing overall. I expected to see a lot of the exotic stone beads that I saw in NY. Instead I saw the same stone beads that have been available for as long as I've been beading, plus the ever-popular but way too expensive briolettes, and one or two new-ish stones. I did score a strand of green goldstone chips for only $1 from a very nice vendor who treated Helen and I like valued customers despite our small purchases.

After fortifying ourselves with some tasty lunch, it was on to the Best Bead Show! This is the first year for their September show, and I was interested to see how good it would be, since I didn't recognize most of the vendor names.

The TCC is a lot roomier than the usual Best Bead location, which made for nice, wide aisles and comfortable shopping. The show wasn't too crowded -- I hope that for the vendors' sakes, things really picked up on the weekend. It was nice to be able to get a good look at the booths of Green Girl and Leah Fairbanks, which are usually pretty crowded in February. I was going to take advantage of this lull to get a few Green Girl pendants, but after getting ignored, I decided I'd come back later, and then I forgot to. I guess I'll fight the crowds in February.

I saw a lot of great beads, but because of how much I had to spend to stock back up on crystals and findings, I kept myself on a tight rein. Overpriced leaf beads and whimsical lampworked fish alike were resisted in a surprising show of willpower. My one concession was to buy a lampwork bead from fellow Tucsonan Margaret Zinser. I just love Margaret's beads, and the fact that she's so friendly is icing on the proverbial cake.

A huge disappointment was the almost complete lack of seed beads at this show! A few vendors had a smattering of seeds, but no one had a booth dedicated to them. As Helen and I both primarily weave, it was a big disappointment to only be able to get findings and accents, instead of the backbone of our work. Seed bead vendors, if you're reading this, Tucson needs you -- especially in September!

It is my hope that this September show was successful enough that Best Bead will be back in following years, but not so successful that everyone else will come, too. February is already an overgrown monstrosity, with too many shows crowding into one city and stretching a jeweler's dollar until it breaks. These September shows had a much more leisurely feel to them which made for a pleasant shopping experience.

The Big NY Bead Odyssey Post!

That's right, at last a post to show some of the awesome beads that I got in NY, and more details about the stores that I bought them at.


It only makes sense to start at the beginning, so first, some of my finds from a place called The Bead Market (if I'm remembering correctly. I forgot to grab their business card!). This store advertised itself as something like "Long Island's Biggest Selection" and then the sign at their actual store made a claim along the line of "The most exciting bead store in the world!" Well, they were probably slightly off base on the second claim, but arguably right on the first claim.

What was exciting about this store was their large selection of interesting vintage beads for decent prices. I also liked the fact that they had the vintage plastic seperated from the vintage glass. Without even trying too hard, I managed to get a couple coordinating sets of beads going on, which will make planning projects out really easy. Plus I managed to feed my hunger for unusual green vintage beads.

What I did not like about the store was that after making me sort all the individual beads out by price, they dumped them all together in one bag. Of course I don't remember how much each bead cost! Also, while my mother-in-law and I were able to find our way there easily with directions, the store is hidden in a industrial office type area, well off the beaten path, which has to make it hard for them to get random business.

Our next stop was Park Avenue Beads in Wantagh. I don't have any pics of the things I found there, because most of them are presents and I don't want to ruin any surprises! The owner was there, a very nice friendly lady. She impressed me even more when I saw her at the gem show that weekend and she remembered us. She carries some very nice stone beads, as well as some Czech glass, Japanese seed beads, and findings.


After that it was on to my traditional NY bead stop, Ace Handicrafts. Now, some bead stores have a bad habit of being stagnant. You go there and it's the same stuff every time. Not Ace! Every year they've made even more room for beads and have more kewl stuff that I never find anywhere else. As you can see, I had fun arranging the beads that I bought there :) Greys are supposed to be in for fall and winter this year, so I really think the rough silver abalone drops were a great buy. Also, the lovely glass faerie at the top of this post was purchased at Ace, and I found some wonderful silver toggles, which I desperately needed.

Ace also has a fun selection of various other craft items, and display and storage for jewelry and beads. The ladies who work there are unfailingly friendly and helpful, and usually bead-knowledgable, too. As an added benefit, they are across the street from the Witch's Brew cafe, which I really need to go into someday.

The other store we wanted to go to was closed that day, and we never got around to going back.

The gem show was only mildly successful. Although I did meet a friendly fellow beader there, the only decent bead selection to be had was from the aforementioned Park Ave Beads. There were other beads, but nothing that grabbed me enough to be worth the price. There were some very nice minerals to ooh and aah over, and a lot of pre-made jewelry. Lots of very neglectful booth-tenders, too. I decided not to buy from a couple of vendors after spending a long time at their booth, sometimes with items in hand, and not getting a single peep of acknowledgement. I did get some sterling charms (I don't know why, I rarely use them!).

The real find at the gem show, however, was the booth of a nice gentleman from NJ with an awesome Russian accent and equally awesome Russian stones. I purchased a beautiful seraphinite cab from him, a meteorite chunk for Chris, and a leather-wrapped pendant of a nice green mica stone that I swore I would remember the name of and have of course since forgotten.

When the weather was finally managable, we made our way into NYC in search of the bead district. Many helpful friends and net folks had pointed us in the right direction, and so we hit Sixth avenue with empty totebags and full wallets, a position which was quickly reversed.

The bead district is not strictly beads; my quarry was mixed in with trimmings and a few fabric stores. For the most part, the bead-specific stores proved to be my best bet. I wandered into one trimming store that advertised a sale on vintage beads, but I got so many creepy glares from the employees that I practically dragged my shopping companions (my husband and his mother, cheerful partners in my bead search) right back out again.

We were walking down the street, looking for beads, when I saw a fateful awning... "Toho Shoji." I just about did a swoon right there. In we went, to a store full of beaders and designers of assorted ethnicities, and beads of assorted origins. One of the first things I found was a bin of half-price Delicas. Sweet! There were a lot of other seed beads to be had, but mostly either in very small quantities or very large. Since I can get seed beads on-line any old day, I instead focused on getting some interesting pendants and findings, and getting a wholesale buyer card to use on future trips.

While there, my clever mother-in-law scouted out other bead locations for us, finding some in some sort of magazine, and even taking one address off of someone's shopping bag! Also while there, we saw a couple who ended up being in almost every other bead store we hit. Hey, it's nice to know that we weren't the only ones going from shop to shop in search of awesomeness.

Our next major stop was a heavenly place called M&J Trimming. This store has a simply overwhelming selection of buttons, ribbons, trims and accents. Nearly anything you can imagine using to embellish a garment could be purchased in great variety there. This was where I found the basket of $.98 Czech glass. Heavenly indeed! Then when I was ready to check out, Chris announced that he'd found coins for me. Hurray! Along with the coins was an awesome selection of metal sequins, but I exercised self-control and just bought a couple bags of coins.

I heartily recommend M&J not just for beaders, but for seamstresses as well! I can't wait to go back there after I learn how to sew, and pick out lots of beautiful accents for my belly dance clothes!


Our other great find in The City was New York Beads. They had a lot of very cool items there, a small selection of which is in the above picture. There would be more cool items, but somehow a couple of the nifty pendants that I'd picked out never got rung up. Well, at least both Chris and I still got our beetles set in acrylic. I'm not sure what those purple heart beads are, either milk glass or some sort of color-treated quartz I'm guessing. They were only $5 a strand, though, and with how big purple is, I'm sure I'll find a great use for them.

I also got a wholesale buyer card for New York Beads, and I think that in the future I will probably shop there more than at Toho. I found their selection to be more interesting and their prices better. Toho, however, had more unusual findings and would definitely be the place to go if you're looking for supplies for projects from Japanese beading books.

There were many other stores along the way that we went into, but none where I made any big purchases. Most of the stores had phenomenal carved stone beads with prices well beyond the means of this humble jewelry designer. In fact, my one disappointment with bead shopping in NYC was that so many of the stores had basically the same things. I went in hoping to find a trove of cool vintage beads, but instead I found store after store of the same things that I see on table after table at the gem shows. Perhaps I wandered into the wrong stores, but I really felt like Long Island was a better place for unusual beads than NYC was!

I hope you've enjoyed my incredibly long-winded report of bead shopping in NY, and that maybe I've inspired you to have a bead adventure of your own. Where possible, I've supplied the URLs of these great stores. But I also have e-mail addresses, locations, and phone #s, so if you need any more information, feel free to ask!

Back home

I got home on Sunday afternoon. I've been absolutely exhausted ever since returning. I'm feeling better today, so I should be able to get the neccessary work done. You know, finishing unpacking, cleaning up the apartment, that sort of thing.

Today I discovered that my website is back up. No idea when, how, or why it happened, but it's there and I can log in to my control panel. Yay! That's so much less work for me to do. This means that I am sticking with my original plan of re-opening on September 15th.

Within the next day or two, I'll finally be posting pics of my NY Bead Shopping Odyssey finds.