I have to say that I'm happy with everything that I've made so far for my Fall Line, but this one, Faerie Gold, is really a favorite. The addition of a few dangling leaves takes this already beautiful spiral bracelet to the next level. And the colors are, of course, pure Autumn. I'm looking forward to doing more bracelets in this style... though they may not be in Fall colors. Though I have various orange, yellow, brown, and red leaves, they're all side-drilled and wouldn't look good dangling like this.
I also added a crystal bracelet to the site today, Sophistication. I wish that the picture showed the detail of the button, it really is beautiful. I have a weakness for black glass buttons, I buy them whenever I see them, and then I use them almost as fast as I buy them. Also, I'm enjoying black and brown as a combination for Autumn. You've already seen it in the Pan's Grove earrings, and the Ancient Treasure bracelet. I'm planning to have at least one necklace in the same colors, I just haven't quite settled on a style for it.
Today's Cool Thing is Mary Tafoya's Moth Girl Spirit Pin. She's so cool, with her vintage leaf wings!
Today I discovered the joy of Polyvore, where I created the awesome collage you see above. Polyvore lets you browse through a seemingly endless selection of clothing and accessories, to create fashionable collections along any theme you can imagine. If you decide that you want to buy the outfit, you just click on the image and it gives you a link to visit the shop that sells it. Best of all, you can grab images from all over the web, so if your favorite dress isn't already there, you can add it! This means that you could select almost any item from Erthe Fae Designs and pick out the perfect outfit for it, just like I did for this image.
And what is the gorgeous necklace that inspired this fashion frenzy? A little piece I like to call Medeine. Spring colors were supposed to be big for Autumn this year -- I haven't noticed that actually being the case, but it didn't stop me from creating Medeine, a serene blending of ivory and soft greens. Even if you can't find any Autumn fashions to pair the necklace with, neutrals like ivory are looking good for Winter. Plan ahead!
Medeine is today's new item, of course. I also did some general website maintenance today. Tomorrow should see one or two more items added, depending on how long my homework takes and how much time I spend Polyvore-ing it up.
Oh yeah! Now we're talking... There's new jewelry up at Erthe Fae Designs! Are you excited? I sure am!
First, the earrings that I posted last week, Pan's Grove.
Next, the adorable necklace that you saw on Saturday, Pixie At Rest.
Finally, one of the many luscious bracelets in my Fall Line, Ancient Treasure.
And there's more where that came from! In fact, every day this week, I'll post at least one new item from my Fall Line. That means there will be updates tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. Then I'll take the weekend off, and return to my regular weekly schedule, with more new jewelry on Monday!
While I am enjoying the professional feeling that having an official "Fall Line" gives me, I am by no means going to go to a strictly seasonal-line-based business model. It's certainly nice to have a wonderful selection of jewelry that coordinates with the styles that are "in" at the moment, but as an artist I also have to follow my muse. That means that there will still be some pieces that are in whatever colors and styles tickle my fancy. This is one of them.
A tiny Sterling Silver pixie rests beneath a lampworked flower bead by Jennifer Kelting, surrounded by a garden of vintage and modern flowers, Swarovski crystals, and Sterling beads. It's all strung on super-fine Sterling chain, upon which the beads can slide freely. Bright blues and greens blended with the clean neutrality of white hearken more to the crisp colors of Summer than the subdued elegance of Autumn. Pixies are contrary creatures, and wear whatever color they like, no matter the season.
I entered this necklace in the August Art Bead Scene contest, which had a Midsummer Night's Dream theme. I didn't win, which is a shame because I really wanted those Green Girl beads! Nonetheless, it's always fun to participate in ABS's challenge and see how other artists interpret the theme. If you want some eye candy, check out the flickr album!
Just a little hint of what's to come next week. These earrings are made with some of the cool beads that I picked up in NY... At first I thought that they were wood, or petrified wood, but closer inspection suggests that they're jasper, maybe from the Picture Jasper family, according to a friend who is more knowledgeable in stones than I am. I picked the two most attractive, close-to-matching beads from the strand, and accented them with Czech glass and Swarovski crystals for a classic black-and-brown combo. Black and brown and black and bronze are two big combinations for my Fall line. It just looks so rich and elegant.
Back in July, when we planned our NY trip, it seemed perfectly reasonable to me that 4 days after returning from NY, I could start college, and that two days later I could update my website with my new Fall line. That was plenty of time to unpack, do laundry, take photographs, and catch up on things, right?
What I didn't count on was being sick! I still have the remnants of whatever hit me while I was on the plane. My throat isn't back to normal and even the minor spiciness in pizza sauce makes me cough... pizza sauce! The problem is that I really haven't been able to take it easy. I even had jury duty on Monday, though luckily my group was dismissed at 9:30am.
The good news is that I've been well enough to go to Chinese class and stay focused, and to keep my apartment from falling into shambles. The bad news is that obviously, my blog and website have fallen by the wayside. I have a whole bunch of things to photograph, and no energy to do so. I'm going to try to tackle that today, in addition to doing my homework.
The debut of my Fall line has obviously been pushed back... Tuesday, September 4th looks pretty good. I'm really excited about the new designs and color combinations and materials that are incorporated into this line. I hope to post some preview photos this weekend, just to whet your appetite.
Well, I'm feeling almost all better today, which is great! Yesterday I managed to get a lot of work done, so today I had the freedom to enjoy feeling more like myself. Mostly I spent it catching up on e-mail, forums, and blogs, but I've also been thinking about writing. I hope to spend some time working on Book 4 today. By the way, the working title is "The one that I wrote in WordPerfect, because Word sucks." It's something of a misnomer: every book I've written has been written in some version of WordPerfect. I just titled it that to tease Chris, who was in turn teasing me about using WordPerfect. He has this silly idea that I should stop using a program I've enjoyed for 10 years, just because, in his opinion, Word is better. Men!
All word processor snobbery aside, I also intend to bead today, in fact, I want to start as soon as I finish this post! I was working on a really cute spiral rope necklace before I left NY, and it's almost done. I need to finish it, so I can make some bracelets and earrings and maybe more necklace, all for the debut of my Fall line. I sure wish I'd done some more beading while I was in NY, especially while I was watching TV. I did manage to get a bit done, though, and of course, I bought great supplies for future projects!
Once I'm more settled into my routines, we'll see a return to Today's Cool Thing, Friday columns, and photos. The blog has seemed quite drab lately! In fact, Today's Cool Thing shall be... MapEasy! When my husband had to do a "team building exercise" (ie, play spy games) in Washington DC last month, he was provided a really cool MapEasy map of DC. I love this thing! It's cutely illustrated, looks easy to read, and has all sorts of points of interest, restaurants, and stores on it... including bead stores! Oh, and it's made out of tear-resistant, waterproof paper, so it can take all sorts of abuse. I fully intend to buy one for Providence, and for any place else that I set my books in, as a handy reference and source of entertainment.
I'm back in Arizona! My last few days in NY were far too busy for me to find any time to blog, and my first two days home were far too sick for me to find energy for anything other than sleep and Dr. Who. I'd felt this sickness coming for days, and although it's annoying to be under the weather when I should be unpacking and getting back into the daily grind, I'm glad that I managed to stave it off until I left NY. I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on all the fun, and the time with my in-laws. Oh, and the delicious food. Mmmm, Exotic Mango Chicken.
On Thursday, we went into New York City. I simply love NYC. Yeah, it's crowded, and dirty, and some parts of it smell funny, but it's still an awesome city. I love window shopping. I love people watching. I love looking at all the cool old buildings, with their frescos and other architectural niftiness. I love glancing at the menus of the restaurants I pass by, knowing that I'll never, ever eat there. Oh, and I love Chinatown, which was our main destination for the day.
In all fairness, I most disclose a certain amount of hypocrisy. Chris's stepfather didn't want to go spend all day shopping with us in NYC, but he did have breakfast with us before we left. There was a TV in the diner playing news about the toy recall, so naturally our conversation turned towards China and its business practices. We complained about poor quality control, bad employee treatment, how they're driving other countries' industries under, and how our country blithely goes along with it... and then we took off to Chinatown, where we purchased cheap goods from China... *sigh* Well, ok, a lot of what I bought actually came from Japan, but I am still a freakin' hypocrite.
My problem, of course, is that I want to like China. I enjoy learning Mandarin. I love Chinese food (and while I realize it's highly Americanized, the inspiration had to come from somewhere, right?). I'm a martial arts movie junkie. Etc etc. It's hard to accept that all of these things that I enjoy come from a country whose policies and actions I can't really support.
Moral quandaries aside, I really did have a good time in the city. It was a pretty nice day, with just a little rain, so we walked the entire way from Penn Station to the store we love, Pearl River. I'm not sure exactly how far we walked, but I believe it was something like a zillion blocks. In fact, the only way I can justify all the food that I eat while I'm in NY is by pointing out how much I walk while I'm in NY! Anyway, Pearl River is the only place we shop in Chinatown, because it's the only place we need to shop. They seriously have everything there. Clothes, food, dishes, knick-knacks, musical instruments, furnishings, housewares, everything. And not just imports from China, but also a lot of stuff from Japan, and maybe a couple of other Asian countries. All of this is held in a clean, bright, well-organized store. We must have spent a couple of hours there, getting things for ourselves and presents for our friends.
All that walking and shopping built up some hearty appetites, so we made our way over to Singapore Cafe. If you read last year's NY trip report, you'll remember that we absolutely loved that place. It was just as good this year. Delicious food, food service, and incredibly fast for a sit-down dinner. If you go there, definitely get the lemonade iced tea to drink! It is delicious and refreshing.
After dinner, it was time to make our way towards the theater for the Blue Man Group show. We arrived there with over an hour to spare, so we went around the block to Barnes and Noble, where Chris and I picked up some reading material for the flight home, and I also got a cute plush dragon, made out of that soft chenille fur. We got done right in time for the show. I really enjoy Blue Man Group's music, so I kind of wish that the show had been more music and less... stuff, but it was still a lot of fun. By the time the show was done, we were all tired enough to take the subway back to Penn Station, then we took the train back to Long Island and were home somewhere close to midnight.
Well, this post is getting way too long, so let's do a quick rundown of other things I did while in NY: We saw my sister-in-law's band, The Good Luck Affair, play at a local club. I don't have the exact URL, but you can find them on Myspace. They're a rock kind of band, but Grace plays violin, cello, and sax on some songs, which changes things up a bit. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge, which was kind of cool, except I was exhausted so I kept wondering if I could close my eyes and walk on auto-pilot. We went into Little Italy and ate delicious dessert. Coincidentally, we were in Brooklyn right when the fire at the Deutsche Bank fire started, so we saw a lot of fire trucks going by. Luckily we were not anywhere near the fire itself.
In a way, I'm glad to be back home, with my kitties, and my beads at hand, and my friends nearby, and the ability to just laze around in quiet... But I also can't help but miss NY, with all of the fun things to do, the great people to do them with, and the delicious food to eat when we're done.
I am so tired tonight! Today we went to The Planting Fields, which is an old estate from the early 20th century. The grounds are full of lawns, trees, and gardens of all sorts, not to mention greenhouses. All the buildings were closed while we were there, but that's ok -- as much as I wanted to see the inside of the Tudor-style mansion, the outdoors were amazing. I love to walk beneath the shade of the trees, admire all sorts of plants that we never see in the desert, and watch huge butterflies flit from flower to flower.
There were many cool moments which I'm simply too sleepy to describe right now. Suffice it to say that I found myself feeling very inspired (it's a shame that my book doesn't really take place in a natural setting, but at least I can use the inspiration for leafy jewelry!), and we've vowed to dedicate an entire day to the place next visit.
That said, I'm going to sleep now. We're going into NYC tomorrow and I need my energy for that!
It's funny, but I seem to blog more when I'm on vacation than when I'm home. I guess it's because there's less to distract me. I'm not on AIM (though I could be), I don't have most of my bookmarks, I hate playing video games on the laptop, and I only have a limited selection of beads and books to distract me. When people are home, I tend to be off the computer socializing, but when I'm alone, it's easy to grab a few minutes and post.
Of course, it also helps that I'm doing more of interest than I do at home...
Yesterday and today have been pretty peaceful. Yesterday we went to the store that my brother-in-law works at and ate some pizza from the great place two doors down. The funny thing is that they're in two different towns. I guess that at some point on that walk, I was standing in two different towns. Maybe the little street between them is the border? Anyway, although I'm generally not a fan of NY pizza (having lived out West my entire life), this place makes a delicious Sicilian, and their garlic knots are to die for. After dinner, we went to The Simpsons Movie, which was just as silly and pointless as we expected it to be. The theatre we saw it at was disgusting, though, and I doubt any of us will ever go back there. They hadn't even cleaned it before our showing -- there were still cups in the holders at a couple of seats!
Today we haven't done anything yet. Chris is out doing errands with his mother, whereas I decided to stay home and get a little beading done. I've made two of the crystal bracelets that I packed beads for, and I think I'll start the spiral necklace. We're going out for dinner tonight, though -- kebabs, I think. Mmmm. I love Middle Eastern food, and it's not too common in Tucson.
Back to the beads I go!
As of this morning, erthefae.com is back up and running. Yay!
Last night we went to see Stardust. As you may already know, I am a huge fan of Neil Gaiman. I've been looking forward to this movie ever since I heard about it, as have Chris and his mother. The three of us went together for a late-night showing, and we were all positively thrilled by the film.
First, I must say that the movie takes a few liberties with the original story, but most of the changes were fitting for a movie. Some things were omitted or streamlined to save time, and they added some action to make the film more exciting. Certain characters and events are all together missing, and the ending is completely different than in the book, I think partially to make it more climactic (the addition of an action sequence), and partially to appeal more to Hollywood (changing the very end, making it less bittersweet than the book). However, all of the important elements are still there, and the film stays true to the tone and message of the original graphic novel and novella. The look of the movie, too, is very much like Charles Vess's artwork from the graphic novel, and my mental images from reading the book (which I read first).
The scenery was beautiful, as were the costumes. The special effects for magic, and the makeup on the witches was all pretty convincing. The swordfights were not that impressive, but they were at least believable. And the performances were mostly great, though the witches sometimes seemed to be overdoing it a bit. Robert De Niro comes close to stealing the show with his great portrayal of the airship captain; you really have to see it to believe it.
Over all, if you are a fantasy fan, you owe it to yourself to go see this wonderful treatment of one of the best modern adult fairytales.
First things first: my web host package is still active, it was just my domain name that was down. I've just paid to renew it, but since they're not open on the weekend, it probably won't be processed until tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be quick about it, I always hate having my site down!
In more pleasant news, I'm still having a great time in NY. On Friday we went to Ace Handicraft, where I got some more great beads. They always have the coolest glass! In addition to glass beads, I picked up some carved horn, an almost dzi-style pendant, and a carved stone knotwork pendant. Chris also got a few clasps for his maille bracelets. The people working there were as nice and friendly as ever, and really admired Chris's work (the conundrum weave bracelet that he always wears has garnered a lot of attention so far this trip).
Yesterday we went to a Renaissance Faire in upstate NY. We didn't know about it until we got out here, but luckily I had packed some dance clothes, so between that and what I bought at the Indian import store, I was able to cobble together a decent costume which was appropriate for the 80 degree weather. Chris had no such luck, but he's not as obsessed with such things as I am anyway.
We had a really fun day... Little traffic on the drive, and there was a lot of beautiful scenery along the way. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny with a little breeze to keep it pleasant. The Faire itself wasn't quite as large as the one in Arizona, but it was still big enough to keep us entertained until almost closing time! Several of the vendors and at least one performer also do the AZ faire, but mostly it was different shows and shops. It was held in a forested area, which was so wonderful, a lot more appropriate than our desert setting, and also less dusty! Our faire is always either dusty or muddy.
One of the performances we saw was Dextre Tripp, who also performs at the AZ Faire. We love his show and had to share it with my mother-and-law, who really enjoyed it. We also saw some belly dancers (not as good as Syrene from AZ), a band called Karpathios, a pretty cheezy illusion show (the tricks were nice, but the spiel was lame), and a kind of cool knife throwing and whip trick show.
Shopping was great. I love shopping at these events, but after 9 years at the AZ faire with some of the vendors never changing their wares, it's not as exciting as it used to be. Seeing all these new-to-me vendors was a ton of fun. There were different weapons, different musical instruments for Chris to admire, and lots of different clothes for me to drool over. Plus various artwork and jewelry. The artwork was great, the jewelry not so much. I ended up with an amazing two-layer handkerchief hem skirt of hand-dyed silk, and a matching top of hand-dyed silk and hand-dyed handmade felt. It's simply gorgeous, with a flowing, faerie-like look and feel to it. I can't wait to dance in it. Chris got a blue-glazed porcelain ocarina and a cool woven African hat with an Asian look. He wanted to get one at our faire, but they were all sold out, so he was really happy to find one out here.
There were a lot of people out in costume yesterday, even several wearing full armor. It was also nice to see entire families dressed up. Oh, and there was one cool guy in a 17th century courtier outfit, very nicely put together. He was at the hand-dyed silk booth at the same time as me, so I overheard part of his conversation with the gals there about his costuming. I didn't catch any details, but his enthusiasm was apparent. It was cool to see something a little different from the usual medieval-style and fantasy/gothic costumes that are so prevalent at faires -- not that I mind those at all, it's what I usually wear!
I'm hoping to maybe even be able to swing a visit to that faire every year that we're out here, since it spans the time that we tend to visit. Only going to ours once a year is just not enough!
Well, I've babbled on enough. After I clean out my purse and find all the business cards, I'll share links to some of the vendors we bought from or admired.
I was certain that my webhost package didn't expire until after I got back from NY, but I can't get into my erthefae.com e-mail tonight, and my domain is showing as parked. Great. I don't know if I'll have time to deal with it tomorrow, so I'll have to hope that they do business on Sundays.
Other than that, it's been a great day.
Watch this blog for updates as to the site's status.
We hit Long Island yesterday, and almost immediately set out for some bead shopping. I revisited Bead Market in Farmingdale, where I once again went wild on vintage. They had so many cool things that I just couldn't resist. I can't wait to get home and design with them!
Next we hit Beads and Stitches, which my mother-in-law thought was new, but I know that I have some beads at home with their label on it, so I think they'd just moved to a new spot. It was a pretty nice spot, in an older house. Very spacious, well-lit, and what looked like a pretty nice class room area. I was initially excited to see that they still had a good assortment of seed beads, but I ended up being enticed by their stone beads! I got some sardonyx, some wood or maybe petrified wood, some sort of purple stone, and also some glass briolettes. You may have noticed that I don't normally use stone beads, but these really spoke to me for my Fall line. It should be fun to see what I can create with them.
After that we took a quick trip to a nearby mall which had an Indian import store, which means lots of belly dance clothes! I got all kinds of cute skirts and tops that can be worn for dancing, Ren Faires, or just looking great. I was all excited to be able to wear some today, because yesterday was beautiful so naturally I imagined that today would be, too! Oh, how disappointed I was to wake up to cold, rainy skies! I'm going to have to wear pants, or at least a heavy skirt.
Today we're planning to hit Ace Handicraft, my favorite Long Island bead stop. I'll post about that trip this weekend.
Well, let's see... I've barely seen the sun all week. Apparently it's been pretty hot and humid out, but I've been inside until evening every day. The evenings themselves have been very pleasant, and last night there was a huge storm while I was sleeping (I'm a light sleeper, so I woke up a couple of times to the sound of rain against the window, highlighted by the rumble of thunder and the flash of lightning). The haze in the sky is a uniform grey, like a fuzzy blanket stretching from horizon to horizon. There's none of the depth and darkness of the monsoon clouds that are probably even now gathering over the mountains in my home city of Tucson.
All waxing poetic about the weather aside, last night I tried yoga for the first time. It was a pretty interesting experience and left me feeling loosened up and even a little tingly. This afternoon I have just a little ache in my abs and back, not too different from what I have the day after a good session of dancing. I don't know if yoga is something that I'll take up, but it's always nice to try something new.
My beads remain packed up, I'll probably break them out tomorrow when I return to my MIL's place. I think we'll have a little time until she gets home, and her kitchen table is always a good work spot for me, thanks to a nice overhead light. I think next time JoAnn's has a 50% off coupon, I'll go buy myself one of those super-compact Ott travel lights for occasions like this. At this rate I doubt I'll get to all half-dozen projects that I packed, but I never really expected to anyway.
My next post will be from the exciting land of Long Island.
I know I haven't shared any Cool Things lately, so here's an awesome one that Chris and I found this week. Check out the Elder Gods necklace by somk, and then be sure to browse the rest of her gallery. She has the most awesome Lovecraftian jewelry ever, as well as some equally awesome Celtic, Norse, and fantasy jewelry. We're hoping to save up and get ourselves Cthulhu wedding rings, maybe as a 10th anniversary present. Ia Fhtagn!
I'm blogging from the exciting land of New Jersey. How did I ever live without my laptop? It's so nice to just sit down, connect to a wireless network, and still be able to conduct business and stay in touch with friends and family no matter where I am.
I had a great time at my step-sister-in-law's wedding, and I got a lot of compliments on the necklace that I made specifically for the event. I don't have my digital camera with me, so I'm afraid I won't be able to show that off until I get home in two weeks. We do have some pictures from the wedding, though, so I might share those at some point.
The lighting's not great here for beading. I should have packed my Ott-Lite, but I was really running out of room in my luggage (hence not having the camera). Packing used to be a lot easier when I dressed more casually. So much of what I like to wear now is handwash, or at least line-dry, so I can't do a lot of laundry while I'm gone. This is the price of my vanity!
I think next week is when I'll go bead shopping. If you remember my posts from last year, I found some really great beads on Long Island and in New York City. I'm hoping for some great finds this year, too. I'd like to get back out to the one shop that had table after table of vintage. I've already used up some of the best things I got there.
That's all for now. I started my next novel while I was in the Chicago airport (I'd already finished my reading material), and I'm trying to get some work in on that today.
Goodness, have things been busy for me. I'm leaving for NY within the half-hour, so I figured I'd better make at least some sort of post before I go. I probably won't have a good chance to blog again until the middle of next week, as I'm spending the weekend at a wedding and the first part of the week at a house I've never been to before.
I'm taking a ton of beads with me so I can make some beautiful new things while I'm gone!
Today I started my big sale. It's not actually a moving sale -- got at least a few more months of saving up to do, as it turns out. It's more like a "Making room for my awesome Autumn collection" sale, because the website was getting a little, well, over-stocked.
Things are very busy for me right now. In a little over 2 weeks, I'm leaving for my annual visit to NY to see the in-laws. My first two days there will be spent at a wedding. I still need to buy a dress for said wedding, and then make gorgeous jewelry to go with it. And before I leave, I need to photograph all of the 2008 LL-BFAC projects I've received and mail them back out. I don't feel comfortable with leaving other peoples' artwork in my home while I'm gone for a couple of weeks. And of course, I have lots of other little things to take care of, including jury duty on the 30th. Never a dull moment...
Because of this, I'm taking a small hiatus from weekly updates. During this time I will be putting more of the current stock on sale, doing general maintenance, and probably adding some items to the Gallery. I will also be beading new jewelry. On August 25th, once I've had a little time to recover from my trip, I will unveil the start of my Autumn collection. Expect to see soft neutrals and rich earth tones.
Coincidentally, my big sale will also run until the 25th! I kicked it off today by marking down all of my Crystal Bracelets to $45 from $60, and discounting some assorted necklaces. I intend to put a few more things on special, but there was a thunderstorm overhead so I had to shut down ;) I'll certainly post sale updates here.
Today's Cool Thing is the Vintage Indie blog. If you love the vintage aesthetic, and you love supporting Indie businesses, then this is the blog for you!
No, I'm not talking about fashion trends or foxy celebrities. I'm unfortunately talking about the temperature in my apartment. Apparently the motor in my evaporative cooler overheated and shut itself down. Thankfully the maintenance guy here is pretty fast on the response, but while he was up there he discovered that the cooler needed new bearings, too, so he had to take off for the hardware store. It should be fixed within the hour, but I've already been sitting in the heat for two hours, and the oscillating fan can only do so much!
It's too hot to sit under my Ott-Lite, so I'm going to have to wait until later to finish my current bracelet. I've already completed the Autumn-hued one from earlier this week, and am now working on something in black, lime, and aqua, a combination I always enjoy. Not sure what I'll start after that.
On Tuesday, we learned that we were approved for the home loan we were trying for... Hooray! This means that I'm going to have a HUGE sale to try to clear out some of this jewelry. I'd rather package it up and mail it off than pack it up and then unpack it! I'll also be trying to weed out my bead collection a bit, which means I may be selling off some supplies.
Today's Cool Thing is a Bloody Brain Bowl! Although it appeals to my love of the macabre, I'm not quite sure that I could eat cereal out of it. I'm pretty easily squicked-out in the morning!
There's something magical about the first nice day after a stretch of bad weather. Over the holiday weekend, our monsoons blew in, and it was unbearably hot and humid. I didn't do anything last week because of it. Every time I would try to get motivated to do anything that took more energy than watching DVDs, the heat would just sap the energy right out of me.
The storms were rather fierce for this part of the country. On Thursday, we had very strong winds, which picked up the dry dirt of the shared front yard of the apartment complex and sent it everywhere. The swimming pool was full of dirt, which didn't get cleaned up until yesterday. All the doors and cards had layers of dirt on them, and it had also blown into the laundry room, making quite a mess. Debris was strewn about. And the half-dead tree which stood next to the mailbox, which had once been beautiful, with delicate branches reaching down towards the earth, blew over. We had little rain, and the thunderstorm didn't even linger for long, but the wind made itself known.
But then yesterday came, and suddenly things were better. Oh, it was still hot and overcast, but not to unbearable levels. It was like a weight was finally lifted from my shoulders, and I felt like myself again. I was able to do a lot of the housework that had built up over the weekend, and start a bracelet (which I almost finished by the time the night was over), dance, and even start to think about working on a book again.
It's good to be back.
I know I promised a Independence Weekend sale, and I totally flubbed that. This weekend I'll have a big sale to make up for it. I'm about ready to start clearing things out to make way for new designs for Autumn. The bracelet I'm working on definitely has a Fall feel to it, and will go well with several of my existing necklaces and earrings.
Today's Cool Thing is Insect Lab. My husband's been on a bit of a steam punk kick lately (not that I can blame him, I enjoy a little steam punk myself), and this link is what he sent me this afternoon. The artist beautiful juxtaposes clockwork gears against insect specimens... My personal favorites are the beetles because not only do I love beetles, but their wider bodies allow for more added gears.
Ugh. The same thing happened to me last year. The heat hits and I just turn into a zombie. I'm sorry to have acted like I fell off the face of the universe. The truth is that I haven't beaded in a week and I was ashamed to come here and admit that I haven't been updating the website, or making jewelry to sell, or really doing anything other than impersonating a rock.
I'm slowly adjusting, and I'm determined not to let myself laze around and let the site suffer because of it. Thanks for your patience with me.
There will not be a website update this weekend. A very good friend of ours is coming to visit, we only get to see him for a few days a year, so Chris and I will definitely be chilling out with him and our mutual friends. On Sunday our plan is to get a TON of us together and go out for teppenyaki at our favorite Japanese restaurant. Some of the people invited have never even been there before, so it's going to be quite the treat for them.
I'll try to update during the week, but Chris is going to be home most of the time and we have a lot of plans, including a 4th of July potluck and lots of gaming on Friday. There WILL be a big holiday sale, though, even if there isn't new jewelry, and I am going to settle down and make stuff so that when I do finally update, it will rock.
Today's Cool Thing is the chainmaille tutorials at CGMaille.com. If you're interested in making your own maille, you want to check out this site! The illustrations are very clear, and there's a lot of very cool weaves. I need to get Chris to make me a whole bunch of bracelets now!
I've put this post off for a while, because I didn't want to sound snarky or curmudgeonly... But I just don't "get" a lot of current accessory trends. Maybe it's a symptom of my Goth-Hippie-Geek-Faerie ways. Perhaps if I were more mainstream, I would be in love with the same things everyone else was. For instance, when I was about 14, I went through a brief stage where I wanted to be like the other teenagers, so I convinced myself that I loved ringer tees with smiley face daisies on them. Now, of course, I don't own a single smiley. I don't even have a smiley button on my messenger bag (Heavens know I have every other sort of button!).
The big trend that I don't understand is flip-flops. Not the shoes themselves, I wore my fair share as a kid and a teen and the only reason I don't wear them anymore is that they don't last long when gravel is involved, so I prefer sturdy leather sandals these days. What boggles my mind is how they've gone from being a cheap Summer shoe to some sort of bizarre cultural icon. I've seen flip-flop jewelry, beads, cell phone dangles, cell phone cozies, party invitations (made on actual flip-flops for some unfathomable reason. Who uses a shoe as a part invite?), and heaven only knows what else. What is it about those simple little shoes that makes people say "Not only do I want to wear that on my feet, I want to surround myself with it!"?
I mean no offense to those of you who are currently enamored of flip-flops, but I'm pretty sure that within a few years, the culture as a whole will ask "Why were we so into that?" Kind of like how I look back at the 90s and wonder why I thought that suede lace and pony bead necklaces were so cool.
Another thing that I don't understand is cupcakes. I've seen a lot of cupcake stuff lately. Don't get me wrong, I love cupcakes. As a food. They're delicious, just the right size, and yes, they're even cute. But cute enough that I would want to wear them? Not really. Food is for my belly, not the outside of my body. Maybe I'd be more into it if I was part of the culture of cute, but I tend more towards the Gothy "These skull beads are the coolest thing ever" mold of fashion. The Lady of the Manners may have adopted the term Cupcake Goth, but I'm afraid it really doesn't apply to me.
And the last thing that I don't quite get is the connection between indie designers and cute forest animals. I mean, I like it. A lot of the jewelry and other things I see with sparrows, owls, deer and such really appeals to the nature-lover in me. I just don't understand why it's so prevalent. Sometimes I feel out of place when I look at other peoples' sites and they've got trees with birds, and little loopy vines, and I have... a really Gothed-out faerie. I guess that's the same part of me that felt like I had to buy ringer-tees as a 14 year old to fit in (for the record, it didn't help). My main thing is that I'm curious as to how it started. Did one or two people make products with cute woodlands creatures, and then a bunch of others decided to follow suit? Or was it one of those spontaneous inspiration things? Or are the sort of people who like to run indie businesses also the sort of people who love the adorable wild animals?
I guess that's enough about me feeling out of touch. Now allow me to make up for it with some Cool Things! The first is this awesome Raven pendant. Ravens are something that I "get!" The second is Tea Forte. I'd love to try their teas, just to see those cool bags in action! And the third is this really wicked Skeleton Angel t-shirt. Wings and skeletons! Two of my favorite things together in one awesome shirt!
Not much to report today. I'm working on a decorative strip to attach to a choli top. It uses some antiqued copper chain tassels that I've had for something close to forever, and some antiqued copper chain that my secret birthday buddy sent to me. It will also involve some polymer cabochons that I will make, and some fibre tassels that I will make. Unfortunately, I don't think I have anything here that will make appropriate tassels, so I'll have to go out and buy something.
In the meantime, I'll make the cabochons... And also work on other projects, of course. But this will be very cool. I love the look of tassels or fringe hanging down an otherwise bare stomach, it really accents a lot of belly dance movements.
No Cool Thing today, I'll try to make tomorrow a two-fer :)
This weekend I acquired two polymer clay books. There's nothing quite like the joy of having new books, especially how-tos for arts and crafts. I had the time to flip through both books, although I haven't had the chance to test out the quality of the instructions yet. Nonetheless, both books look pretty good.
My first new polymer book is Cats: Big & Small by Christi Friesen. This is the fourth installment in Christi's "Beyond Projects" series of books, and it continues the trend of being entertaining, informative, and enticing. I never intended to make polymer clay beads, but these books tempted me into it! I bought the Dragon one just because I wanted to look at all the pretty pictures and support a great artist, but then I looked at it and said "Hey, I CAN do this."
As the title suggests, this new book teaches you how to make wild cats and house cats. The projects include beads, sculptures, wall-hangings, and pins. There are even instructions on how to make yarn balls and mice, the perfect accessories for crafts. One thing that I really enjoy about Christi's books is that even if you don't want to make the particular subject of the book, there are lots of little tips that can be integrated into other clay work. In the case of Cats, there's information on how to make an eye cane and how to add artistic fibers to clay pieces.
The second book that I picked up is The Polymer Clay Techniques Book by Sue Heaser. The name says it all! This is not so much a project book as a how-to on various ways to work with and modify clay. I bought it because I jumped right into making sculptured dragon beads without ever learning the basics of polymer clay. Of the small collection of polymer-related books at my local B&N, this looked like the best for my needs. After reading through it at home, I'm pretty impressed. It covers making molds, adding various inclusions, how to mimic stones and other natural materials, how to use embossing powders, mica powders, enamels and more with polymer clay! In addition to showing the bead techniques that I'm most interested in, it also discusses how to use polymer to make sculptures, mosaics, boxes, miniatures and more. It's given me a lot to think about, and I am looking forward to trying some of these techniques out!
Both books are clearly written with lots of photographs of various steps to help you out. If you're looking to try polymer clay, or expand your existing knowledge of it, you can't go wrong with either of these books!
Today's Cool Thing is this beautiful Nymph corset top. I'd love to see it paired with a handkerchief-hem skirt and a pair of delicate faerie wings!
Ok, I have a shameful confession to make... Instead of doing today's website update, I spent the afternoon and evening playing video games with my husband. Pretty immature of me, I know, but after both of us worked hard all week and then spent the first half of the day doing errands out in the heat, I couldn't bring myself to get enthusiastic about more work.
Go ahead and shake your finger at me if you have to... I earned it. But I promise lots of lovely jewelry for next week's update, and maybe some other bonuses!
Not even a Cool Thing today, that's how lazy I am!
My free shipping sale is now officially over! I may have to tweak shipping rates over the next month or two to fit in with the new costs, if so I'll be sure to make clear what the changes are.
I will be having another sale at the start of next month. I just love coming up with ideas for sales!
Not much else to say today, I didn't get enough sleep so I'm tired and cranky. I won't subject you to THAT!
Today's Cool Thing is a raku-fired Dragonfly! I love raku, and the beautiful iridescent blue shade of this particular glaze is just perfect for a dragonfly. This would make the perfect gift for several people that I know, and I'm willing to bet that you know at least one person who would love it, too. Be sure to check out the seller's other items. I'd like to buy some of her pendants to use in my jewelry!
...also known as cleaning my beadroom. Once again I've managed to get fed up with the clutter in my beadroom, and I've spent the past two days trying to do something about it. I say "trying" because really, it's like that traffic jam game. I can move the pieces around all I want, there's still only going to be one empty space! At the very least, my clutter is more organized now. I managed to put a bunch of books away on my super-cute book case, and put away some beads that have been homeless since gem show, and re-organize some findings. One reason why I've been doing this is because the beadroom is currently too messy to work in, which means I have to work at the kitchen table. That means that this happens:
Yes, that is my cat Topher sitting smack-dab in the middle of my beadwork. He has this really fine hair, and it gets all over the beading pad and caught up in the beads when I weave them together. Also, it's hard to make jewelry when he is on not just my beads, but often my needle as well.
It's a constant battle between Topher and I. I want to make jewelry, he wants me to pay attention to him. Sometimes we come to a compromise and he lies down next to my Vellux work pad. In fact, I was just beading a few minutes ago, and he's still waiting there for me, dozing off with the expectation that I will come back and shower him with affection. He's insanely cute when he's asleep, so even though I'm done with beads for the night, there will probably be some petting in his future anyway.
Because I've been focused on beadroom cleaning, I don't have anything made for this week's update. I was just struck by an idea for a really cute bracelet, so I'll probably make that tomorrow. I also have a few ideas for nice woven necklaces and lariats, but I don't think I'll have any done in time for Sunday's update.
Today's Cool Thing is this Triple Fuse Necklace. It reminds me of something that some awesome raver chick would wear in a cyber-punk movie! Yeah!
Slowly but surely, I've been replacing all of my "blah" old photos with nicer, newer ones. Jewelry-buying is a highly visual experience, so it's very important to me that I have the clearest, most accurate pictures that I can. This week I've updated the pictures for the Dragonscale Bracelet section. I really love these bracelets! They're comfortable, easy to wear, and texturally pleasing.
Next I'll be replacing the old Collar pictures. New ones have been taken, but I haven't retouched them yet. I tend to take a few dozen pictures in a sitting, but then it may be a few weeks until they're all prettied up and ready for the web!
You may recall that yesterday I mentioned the indie*galore blog. Well, after I posted, Jenn did an excellent write up on Erthe Fae Designs! You should all go over, read her kind words, then explore her blog, visit her sponsors, and check out her shop, too!
Today's Cool Thing is Handbound, a blog/shop for handmade books. I love books, I think you all know that by now, and I have a soft spot for handbound books. They're simply beautiful. This artist uses some gorgeous papers in rich colors to make particularly elegant tomes. I mean, just look at the jewel-like teal and gold of this one! Yum.
Ok, I know, bizarre header, but hopefully it will get your attention!
Elijah Wyman is a musician and indie shop owner who is trying to raise money to cover the medical expenses to get a new kidney. Many other indie shop owners are trying to help him in his goal, because they're awesome like that. One such good-hearted person is Jen of Tilting Swiftly/Indie Fixx. You can see her necklace auction here! I love the beautiful combination of wood, peridot, and silver, so I have the current high bid. As much as I love to have gorgeous jewelry, I love it when charities make lots of money even more... So please feel free to attempt to out-bid me! And spread the word!
Today's Cool Thing is jrosebud's Indie*Galore Blog. Of course, I'm a little biased as to the coolness due to being an advertiser there... But I'm allowed to be biased! Indie*Galore is a great source for nifty items. I like how she posts a lot of adorable nature-themed goodies.
This week there are two new pairs of earrings up on my site, including these beauties, which I've dubbed "Sunset Shimmer." I'm now a little bored of making earrings, so I think I'll do something else this next week. Maybe a Lariat, my selection of those is pretty sparse.
I've not done much this weekend. Yesterday we had a character creation/learning the rules day for EarthDawn. Unfortunately, I already know the rules and had made my character, so I didn't have much to do. I packed up a bead project, only to leave it on my desk. Bah! There were a few people who needed my help in making their characters, but there was only so much I could do. I'm really excited about the game, however, and looking forward to playing it for real.
Today we were going to get together with my parents, but they rescued a new dog this weekend and thus things were a little crazy. Sadly, this 6 month old dog has NO name! I ask you, how can anyone own a dog for 6 months and not name it? It's beyond sad. Mom is calling him "Moosie Dog" until she figures out his real name, but I have decided that Moosie should be his name, and thus it shall be. My family names their pets with the best intentions, but they always end up with silly nicknames that they get called instead. Thus "Bubsy" became "Bubba" and "Caleb" became "Poofy" and so on. Moosie should probably get several names to make up for not having one for so long anyway.
Today's Cool Thing is Cartwright's, an awesome site for sequins, but also with some cool vintage buttons, beads, glitter, and more. Lots of sparklies!
Ahhh, Summer. Kids are out of school, the weather is warming up, and many peoples' thoughts turn towards the beach. Now, personally I avoid the beach, due to the fact that I burn if I even look at the sun, and I'm pretty sure that the ocean's denizens are going to rise up and wipe out mankind any moment now -- no need to let them start with me. But I still love tranquil, aquatic hues and depictions of fish. I'm a very conflicted person.
If I was going to go to the beach, or the swimming pool, I'd be very tempted to wear this little number. The newsprint fabric really appeals to me, and of course, I always like black. I'd probably also want something to cover up with. A lot of people like sarongs, but I can never get them to stay up. I think that these Thai fisherman pants would be great to wear over a swimsuit! To carry all my beach gear, I'd like a bag like this, cute, colorful, but also practical.
But if you're like me and you won't be going to the beach this Summer, you might just want to settle for things that will remind you of it (but without the annoyance of hot sand in your sandals). You could hang this Ponies on the Beach print on your wall. They're just so cute! Or you could knit and felt some adorable sea critters.
Alternately, you can adorn yourself with beach-y jewelry. I like this Seaglass Charm Bracelet, which is extra cool because the artist used found objects from the beach. These Sea Glass Barrettes are really cute, too. I'd wear them in a heartbeat. I'd also wear an Ocean Rider Fairy pendant, but you probably already knew that. For an elegant touch, I like Where the Ocean meets the Beach.
Of course I have numerous oceanic pieces on my site; I can't seem to stop working in aqua lately. One of my favorites is the piece pictured above, The Ocean's Treasures. I love how the seashell pendant frames the dangling beads. I'm also fond of Ocean Jewels, which features lampworked beads by Joan Eckard. Carribean Spirit boasts a beautiful lampwork focal by Elaine Green, in lovely beach glass hues. And Undine has soft water shades, for a subtler statement. You can find many other perfect beach jewels linked off of these items.
This week has not gotten any better, let me tell you! I've only been able to get a little bit of beading done, although hopefully I'll do some more tomorrow. At the very least there will be one new pair of earrings for Sunday's update, and a lot of nice new pictures. And tomorrow, I will post a Fashionable Friday column.
There have been a couple of good things this week. I get to play EarthDawn, my favorite roleplaying game ever. I'm going to play a belly dancing Troubadour, a character which I've wanted to play since before I even started dancing. Also, my friend who I housesit for said that her neighbor who trains Paso Finos said that I could come over and watch them train sometime. The thought of beautiful horses makes almost anything better!
I'm just hoping that next week is an improvement over this one. It's not as if anything awful or Earth-shaking had happened, it's just been little lousy things here and there, and a general lack of awesomeness.
No Cool Thing today, my random browsing hasn't turned up anything of great note lately.
This week hasn't quite gone as it should so far, and it's only Tuesday. Things have been a little off-kilter. As such, I haven't even done any real beading yet. I tried to put together some earrings yesterday, but they didn't quite cooperate. I'll definitely try again tomorrow, if I don't decide that I feel like making something else.
Dragonfly Pond is up on my website now. That's the pretty green-and-brown necklace. You can see the full image there, which also includes a different view of the carved dragonfly bead. Also, I'm happy to say that Princess of Atlantis (the aqua lentil necklace) has already sold, coincidentally, it went to the lady I bought the Bali fish from. It's funny when beads go full-circle like that.
Today I picked up the latest issues of Beadwork and Bead and Button, and I've been browsing through them. There are a lot of things I'd like to try in both magazines, but it may be a while until I get to any of them. There are also some very cool articles on various artists to be read this month. I was happy to see Jeremy Sinkus -- my gem show booth neighbor for the past two years -- featured in Beadwork.
And while I'm talking about guys who make awesome pendants, I'd like to share today's Cool Thing: Electronic Ouroborus! These alchemical designs made from recycled electronic parts really appeal to me. I'd love to incorporate one into a beaded necklace. I'm especially fond of "the dis-armature patterns" which has a very eldritch look to it.
Here's the other new necklace I was talking about on Friday! Her name is Princess of Atlantis, and you can read all about her by clicking on the link. I'm simply thrilled by how she turned out, to the point where I just want to leave her on the neck board and place it someplace within eyesight.
There's a little story behind her creation. I bought the lentils and spacers from Lois when I worked for her at Gem Show 2006. I thought that they'd make a nice bracelet. Well, I lost one of the spacers and had to get another one at Gem Show this past year, and I finally got the beads out to make the bracelet last week. I was well over-due for another Strung Bracelet, after all. The problem was, when I finished it, it just looked kind of "blah." Then I saw my bead-stringing chain sitting there, and my headpins, and an idea formed in my head. You're looking at the end results of that idea now. Far better than a bracelet, I think.
I got home later than I expected from house-sitting (spent a few hours chatting with my friend before I left), so I did not get a chance to rephotograph the other necklace. That will be tomorrow's top priority, so it will be listed on the site tomorrow afternoon. I might also make some earrings while I'm at it, we'll see what my muse feels like.
Today's Cool Thing is Wilde Jewels. I actually saw the necklace in the bottom righthand corner in person at gem show this year. The artist was very nice and even let Lois take a picture with her cell phone camera, but of course, the pictures on her site are so much nicer! Enjoy the beautiful and unusual beadwork.
Well, the main image I took of this necklace came out a little fuzzy, so I'm going to leave you with this teaser image to tide you over until Sunday. Here is my as-of-yet unnamed green and brown necklace. I am extremely happy with how it turned out, especially the pendant. It has a lot of texture and movement.
For a while there I was not very inspired by all of the lampwork I had at hand. I mean, I still loved it all, but I didn't feel like making anything with it. But in the last two weeks I've made three items using them, plus I finished Flaming Teeth. Interestingly enough, all four of these projects involved lampwork by my great friend Lois. Just goes to show how awesome her beads are! I hope to use some more artist beads in whatever I create next week.
In the meantime, I'm off for a couple of pleasant days of house-sitting. I'll be back on Sunday with new jewelry for the site. Just wait until you see this necklace in its entirety, and the piece I made today!
I just made my first animated banner ad today, and if I'd known it was so easy, I would have done it a lot sooner! In fact, it was kind of fun and I'm sitting here trying to resist the urge to make more. I need to make another in a different size, so I'll probably play with that tonight or tomorrow. Really, it's fun going through my product images and deciding which ones I think would be most likely to catch the eye of a potential customer. Of course, I'm biased. I usually pick all the green ones...
By the way, I am extending my free shipping sale until June 15th. Go forth and order! After the sale ends, I will have to raise shipping rates, thanks to the fine folks at USPS who have once again raised their rates. Costs will start at $3.50, up from $2.85.
Yesterday I finished the brown and green necklace, and man oh man does it look cool. This is definite future banner ad material! It's one of those pieces that I'm really tempted to keep for myself. Because I don't already own enough green jewelry! Since I'm not taking off for house-sitting until late in the afternoon, I should be able to take and maybe post a picture before I go quiet for the weekend.
On a completely not related to anything else note, I went and saw Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End today. It needed more sword fights (of course, I think everything needs more sword fights, but especially when there are Chinese pirates involved), but it was still pretty awesome. Definitely some good Summer entertainment. Check your rational thought process at the door and enjoy the fun. Also, enjoy the Chinese costumes, and Chow Yun-Fat rocking some awesome facial hair and a wicked over-the-ear tattoo. In fact, the movie was such fun that I'm going to cheat and call it today's Cool Thing!
On Sunday I photographed a lot of my older pieces that currently have really bad pictures up on my site. For the past couple of days I've been in the process of cleaning up those new photos. Here's one of a necklace I've always really loved. The hollow borosilicate bead has such beautiful wavy lines of color, with just a touch of sparkle in the green. The colors themselves are also pretty unusual, almost like camo with some blue thrown in.
All of these new photos will go up on Friday or Sunday, dependent upon my schedule. I'll be house-sitting again this weekend, and I'm not sure yet when I'll take off for that on Friday. Either way, there will be an update on Sunday, but it may just be one item -- the brown and green necklace I'm working on, which I plan to finish tonight. It's pretty awesome.
In the meantime, it's back to photo-edits for me.
Today's Cool Thing is the 2007 Bead Journal Project Blog. A lot of my beading friends are participating in this year-long bead embroidery project. I considered signing up as well, but with all the things I have coming up (including a possible move!) I didn't feel that I could commit to it. I'm already regretting letting this chance pass me by, though. Looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. If you love beadwork, you should definitely keep your eye on this project. There will be some beautiful things made, I can promise you that.
Here it is, in all its completed glory: Flaming Teeth!
As you can see, I've added a picot embellishment along the top, to give added visual and textural interest to the otherwise plain base strip. Then I attached the teeth, using crystals as a bridge between them and the base. This allows them to flare out nicely along the neck and shoulders. For added toothiness, I placed the pearl white niblet beads between every tooth. It has a very talismanic look, just like I'd hoped.
And then there's the clasp. Check out the perfect button I found at the bead shop:
Not only are the colors just right, but I feel that the slightly wavy lines really echo the theme of the piece. The clasp has four loops to make the size adjustable. With a choker like this, fit is always very important.
I hope you've enjoyed following the progress of my 2008 Layne's Legacy: Beading For A Cure project. I've certainly enjoyed sharing it with you!
I have to admit it... I am a button addict! I went to the bead store today with one goal in mind: I was going to buy a button to use as a clasp for Flaming Teeth. Yet somehow I ended up with two little zipper bags full of cool vintage glass buttons. Chris started it, though. I was looking for something specific and he showed me the white and orange button in the center. Well, I had to get it. And then I decided, well, maybe it's OK to pick out one or two more cool buttons. But we kept finding more and more, all kind of styles that they'd never had in the button bin before. Plus there was a little dish of pretty moonglow buttons for only 20 cents each, so I had to buy ten of those.
What's that? Oh yes, I did in fact find what I went in for. Check back here tomorrow for the final installment of The Birth of Flaming Teeth. WOOHOO!
My love of buttons stems from the fact that they just make the cutest clasps. Whenever I show people my jewelry, they always hone in on the button closures. Even the coolest Sterling toggle can't compare to the appeal that a simple button holds. And there's the fun of matching it to the beads of the project. I do so love color coordination.
When I wasn't picking out buttons today, I was working on my website. I listed half a dozen beautiful new items:
Unseelie Bouquet The black and purple necklace I've been mentioning for the past two weeks.
Ice Maiden The blue crystals in this one are some of my favorite vintage beads!
Lagoon Dancer A woven anklet in my beloved combination of Pacific Opal and Indicolite!
Absinthe Chandelier earrings so beautiful that I wish I could keep them.
Torch Singer Also made with my favorite blue vintage crystals.
Web Mistress Possibly the coolest earrings I've ever made. That's right, cooler than Devil Duckies!
Other than Unseelie Bouquet, all of this week's new items involve vintage beads. I've been being better about not jealously hording my vintage collection. I just love the extra beauty that they lend to anything that they're worked into.
In keeping with my confession, Today's Cool Thing is Button Shoppe, where you can feed your own button addiction! Join me...
I'm not sure if I'll have it done in time for tomorrow's update, but I just wanted to talk briefly about my current project. I'd even provide an in-progress photo, but Chris was doing chainmaille in my photography spot (apartments suck).
Yesterday a friend of mine suggested that I do a project in bright green and brown, and since those are colors I like and colors that are great for Summer, I had to agree. My original idea was to maybe do some sort of woven bracelet, but then I started looking through my artist beads and found a very nice set of beads by Lois of Wolf Song Designs which are ivory, bright green, and brown. Clearly, it was fate.
The necklace is going to be a combination of weaving and stringing, and I'm already about 1/3 of the way done with the weaving. I'm going to try to work on it at today's Rifts game, and if I complete the woven part, it will be very easy to include it in the update. If not, it just means I have a head-start for next week.
Today's Cool Thing is WordScram. It's a fun little word game that's kind of like a cross between Boggle and anagrams. You have several options for length of round and how many rounds to play. I'm completely addicted to it! Have fun!
The Summer fashion forecast calls for Do-It-Yourself to be hot, and the Summer meteorological forecast calls for the weather to be hot. You know what this means, don't you? DIY t-shirts!
Well, actually, it means DIY whatever you have the awesome skills to make. After all, if you can sew yourself up some cute cotton sundresses, all the more power to ya. But sewing is an expensive addiction. DIY t-shirts are a little easier to attain, since most of them can be done without a sewing machine, or with those tissue paper patterns that your cats might like to shred (my cat Topher thinks that tissue paper is its own food group).
You might be tempted to buy t-shirts that someone else has already Done It Themselves to, but honestly, modifying your own t-shirts is not that hard. Your local craft store is full of dyes, paints, markers and other items that you can use to add pizazz without altering the original shape of the t-shirt. Or you can get wild and crazy and start cutting up your shirts to make them into something different.
If that's the route you want to take, I recommend the book Generation T by Megan Nicolay. I purchased it after a friend showed me the super-cute top that she'd made, and even though I can't cut a straight line to save my life, I was able to make two shirts in one evening. The nice thing is that a lot of the projects only require a t-shirt, a pair of scissors, and maybe a ruler. Even many of the more complicated ones can be done without any sewing.
If you don't have any previous sewing or DIY experience, I recommend practicing first on shirts you don't care about, so that if you have to keep cutting a little off to get the bottom even and soon you're all the way up to the collar, you haven't ruined an awesome shirt. If you don't have any cruddy shirts lying around to butcher, you can either hit the thrift store and get some for as cheap as .50, or you can wait for the craft store to put shirts on sale for 2/$5. If you're slightly evil like me, you can raid your husband's clothing, pick out all the shirts that he hasn't worn in a year, flutter your eyelashes, and say "Love, can I cut these up?"
Once you feel confident enough to take your scissors to perfectly good and lovable shirts, you may find that your desire to DIY-up some tees may outstrip your collection. Then there's only one thing to do (other than raid your husband's shirts again...)... SHOP!
Needless to say, there are tons of places you can go to buy t-shirts, from department stores to gift shops, swap meets, craft fairs, thrift stores, yard sales, conventions, in fact, it is probably harder to find someplace that doesn't sell t-shirts. But this column would be boring without links to a few places on-line to buy t-shirts, so let's get to it.
I love to browse Etsy and I'm always finding cool t-shirts on there. Many of them are screen-printed or otherwise decorated with the works of other artistic people, which makes for some extra-awesome DIY styles.
Squidfire has all kinds of cool t-shirts, and they're supposed to have new designs coming soon. Hurrah!
I like Off World Designs for geeky, gothy, and fantasy t-shirts. As an added bonus, they have a pretty big "clearance" section!
On the other hand, if you're looking for Lovecraftian tees, you absolutely cannot go wrong with the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. Their shirts rock and they are cool people to shop with.
Rotem Gear has some pretty cool shirts, and some pretty funny ones, and some just plain pretty ones. I'd like to get their dragonfly haiku shirt to wear to my L5R game. Yes, I AM so geeky that I occasionally pick my clothes based on the character I play. Moving on...
We've only scratched the surface of the t-shirts available on-line, of course. With services like CafePress around, it's very easy for artists and clever people to put their work on shirts and make them available to the world, and I think that's pretty awesome. Anything that helps me diversify my wardrobe makes me a happy girl. Do you have a favorite t-shirt source that you'd like to share?
Although I enjoy doing DIY tees, my main thing is, obviously, DIY jewelry. You might want some nice designs to go with your rockin' new Summer look. Earrings are always a good way to accessorize a more casual outfit. Spiral Bracelets and Dragonscale Bracelets add some spark. And of course, nothing is better for warm weather than a flirty Anklet.
Now I might just go break out my scissors and make a shirt to wear this weekend!
Or, "All the big kids are doing it, why can't I?"
That's right! Big retail stores do not have the market cornered on holiday weekend sales! From now until 1am PST Tuesday, all Erthe Fae Designs orders will receive free shipping! Now is a great time to treat yourself to some awesome, unique jewelry to go with your Summer wardrobe. Shorts and tan tops leave your legs and arms bare, so why not adorn them with anklets and bracelets?
I am really excited about Sunday's update. You know how I said I felt like making chandeliers yesterday? Not only did I make a beautiful pair, but I made two other pairs of earrings that are just plain cool.
And, as it turns out, I do not have a good clasp for Flaming Teeth. I'll have to hit the bead store this weekend and try to find an appropriate button. Oh, woe is me, I must go bead shopping!
Today's Cool Thing is The Phobia List! If you've ever wondered what the name was for some obscure fear, this is your place. I like the fact that it has two lists, one of phobia names and what they mean, and one of things to be afraid of and what that phobia is called. Too cool!
I figured I was overdue for an update here.
First and foremost, Flaming Teeth is 99% done. All that remains is to add a clasp, and if I can find a suitable button in my collection, I'll do that today. And if I do that, then tomorrow I can post a picture of the completed item. Hooray!
Second, we've been looking into buying a house. It may be a bit until we can actually do so, but when we can, I will be having a huge moving sale. Not that jewelry is difficult to pack, but hey, it's always good to have an excuse to have a sale, right?
Third, I have not finished the purple and black necklace I was working on, but I hope to have it ready for Sunday's update. I also feel like making some chandelier earrings, so I think I'll do that today. I bought all these cute findings at gem show and so far I've only used one pair!
Fourth, this week there will be a Fashionable Friday column. The last couple of Fridays have been a bit crazy for me... This past one I was out house shopping, and the one before that I was house sitting. But this Friday I have no plans, so it will be a very good day to get back into the swing.
Last, Today's Cool Thing: A Pirate Tote Bag! A lot of places are considering a ban on plastic grocery bags, and even if they're not, it's really nice to have a canvas tote for your food or other purchases. Especially if you're walking to and from the store (hey, I do that sometimes, I do have hippie tendencies!). Canvas bags are stronger than plastic, and they have those nice wide, sturdy straps that you can even put over a shoulder for easier carrying. But best of all, it's got skulls and crossbones on it. How can you not feel awesome carrying that?
Today I'd like to tell you all about a very cool blog that I read every day: Art Bead Scene. ABS is a blog for bead makers and jewelry artists who enjoy using artisan beads in their work. It is also a great place to go to see beautiful work, new products, and interviews with people in the bead world. It's informative, entertaining, and inspiring.
They also host a monthly, themed contest on their Flickr account. This month's theme is "Ophelia's Garden" and I've entered the Beautiful Brown Birthday Bauble. If you're a jewelry artist, you should consider entering, too! And don't sit there saying "Oh, my work isn't good enough." The winner is chosen by a random drawing, so everyone has an equal chance to win. And from what I've seen, everyone is very friendly and encouraging in their comments on each other's work. So don't be shy! You can meet some new friends and have a chance to win some beautiful artist beads.
Anyway, I'm hoping to finish Flaming Teeth today. I have some great ideas for other pieces floating in my head (including the purple floral from this weekend), and I feel like I need to finish Teeth first. Plus I'd like to do some clay work this week and all those BFAC beads are in the middle of my work space! I probably only have about an hour of work left on it, as long as everything comes out right the first time.
Before I leave you to go bead, I'd like to present today's Cool Thing: Mary Tafoya's Seriousbeadin' Etsy Shop! Her shop just opened, and it has some truly awesome stuff in it. I've purchased from Mary on eBay, she is always quick to ship and friendly to deal with. Check out her cool vintage cabs and sequins!
Tonight I'm feeling at once exhausted and refreshed. Exhausted because I am a night owl by nature and yet I've been awake since 7:15am. Refreshed, because I spent a very pleasant weekend at a friend's house watching her three dogs. It was nice to have a change of scenery and take care of dogs -- When I was growing up we always had several dogs at a time, but for my entire adult life I've only had cats.
Because my friend only has dialed up and I'm spoiled by cable, I decided to spend the weekend without the internet. No e-mail, no web browsing. I did have my laptop with me, which I used to write the first ten pages of my next book. But mostly I read. About a month ago I finally picked up a copy of Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I'd had my eye on the book since it first came out, due to the fact that at the time, I was also working on a story about magic in England in the early 1800s (but it was just a roleplaying character background story and of no consequence), and I just procrastinated on buying it. It's a pretty thick book, so when I did buy it I decided to save it for house-sitting. After all, when I read a book I tend to get hooked, and I didn't want to ignore Chris for three days straight while I read.
It did take me essentially three straight days of reading (with breaks for dancing, writing, beading, and of course, caring for the dogs and sleeping) to get through the book, and what a wonderful three days it was! now, i will fully admit that I am quiet biased towards the book for one very specific reason: while it in fact is very little like the story I was working on when it was published, it is very much in the same mindset as one of the main characters in the series I've been working on for the past year and a half. He is a magician, and while he is neither English nor living in the 19th century, he very much wishes that he was. The rampant bibliomania that runs throughout the story is very much in key with my character as well.
The story itself is a bit slow to build up. Those who are used to the usual epic fantasy may find themselves a bit bored -- it's more in the line of literary fiction than adventurous genre fiction. However, it is not the boring, depressing literary fiction that I was made to read in writing class. Oh no. There's magic throughout the story, there is a plot that goes somewhere, and while large chunks of the story are character-driven, they're quite interesting characters. Best of all, it achieved that perfect balance that I always strive for in my writing, of being a serious story but having moments of whimsy and lines of dialog that bring a smile or even a laugh.
Reading a great book always leaves me with this special feeling that goes somewhat beyond having been entertained. It doesn't change my life, so to speak, but it certainly brightens my day. It puts me in the mood to tell everyone I know just how good the book was (hence the blog post), and either recommend it to them or even loan it to them if I'm so inclined. That's why my copy of The Prestige is currently making the rounds of my friends, and why I tell everyone that they should read American Gods. Some books are so good that they just need to be shared.
As I briefly mentioned above, I also did some beadwork this weekend. I am working on a really scrumptious necklace in black and quite a few shades of purple. There should finally be an update with new jewelry this coming weekend, and I hope to have it in there. I haven't quite figured out yet how I'll put it together, but I have a few ideas floating around in my head. I'm also still working on Flaming Teeth, but I'm kind of stalled on it. Hopefully more progress this week.
Today's Cool Thing is a Dragon Hatchling sculpture by Adam Homan. He had another awesome sculpture when I looked a few days ago, but it's so great that it already sold. Nonetheless, I really like this dragon. It's the sort of thing I would display in my house, if I were wealthy and had a house.
Hey look! A faerie!
Ok, I suppose that's not a good enough distraction to keep anyone from noticing that I am one lax blogger. But she is a cute faerie, isn't she? I started her at the Las Vegas Bead Retreat hosted by Whimbeads in February 2006. Beki Haley designed and taught the faerie class, and all of us had a lot of fun creating our wings and beading our faeries. I'm sad to say that my wings were probably the lousiest looking ones there... As it turns out, I'm not very good at drawing free-hand with a bottle of Liquid Sculpey. Who knew?
The original project was designed for a kit in muted olivines, and while I am a fan of those, I decided to save some money buy not buying a kit, and chose to go for some brighter, more tropical colors. She's my rainforest pixie! C'mon, everyone knows there are faeries in the rainforest. Didn't you guys watch Fern Gully?
Her wings are created with Liquid Sculpey, as I mentioned before, and decorated with various mica powders and glitter, for super-sparkle. My classmate and friend Betcey even shared her vintage Swarovskis with me, so I placed a few of those in the wings, as they matched the green seeds of her body so nicely. The body itself is woven from Japanese seed beads in a few sizes and colors, using Peyote stitch and some fringing techniques. Her head is a big, beautiful Swarovski crystal.
In addition to choosing different colors, I made a couple of other changes to the faerie. She didn't originally have arms, but a few of us in class felt that she ought to. I can't remember how the others made their arms, but I did a really simple Ndebele stitch with picots at the end, then gave her a bright, tropical blossom to hold. I also decided that instead of using a flower bead as a cap, I'd bead her a little flower hat, inspired by Victorian flower faeries. It didn't turn out quite how I planned it, but it's still pretty cute.
This project was a lot of fun, although truth be told, it spent a year unfinished in a drawer. I'm so glad that I finally finished her. She now hangs proudly on my desk (originally she was going to be part of a necklace, but I went overboard on the wing size!). I wouldn't mind making another one in the future. You can never have too many faeries!
And because I love faeries so much, today's Cool Thing is a delightful Earth Faerie Bookmark. I love this artist's papercutting and will likely be purchasing beautiful bookmarks for myself and for gifts. Bookmarks are another thing you can't have too many of!
