WWWC Costumes: Orientalism

This was my costume for Sunday. I knew I wanted something I could dance in, because I was taking a belly dance workshop, and I also wanted something without too many layers because it was hot and I had offered to help a friend tear down her booth (luckily she got someone bigger, stronger, and less costumed to do it instead). So I decided to emulate some of the Orientalist paintings of the Victorian era, and go as a Victorian perception of a belly dancer, but steampunked! My concept here was that my steampunk persona had recently returned from the Orient and decided that their clothing was much more comfortable and appropriate for the desert than bustle skirts and corsets :) Because my persona is a former saloon girl, she doesn't mind showing a little skin, and she's already been running around an airship in pants, so pantaloons are fine by her.

I put this together out of stuff that I already had on hand, but I like it enough that I'll start buying things specifically for it, to have for the next time I need to be a steampunk. I'd like to get some much poofier pantaloons, preferably made out of something shinier. And maybe replace my entari (the long jacket-y thing) with a more diaphanous one, to be closer to what the painters portrayed. Of course, brown and gold stripes are pretty steampunk and they kept the sun off of me, so who knows. But pantaloons are a must!

The components:

Entari, turkish vest, and pantaloons all purchased from Anaya Tribal, all part of my regular belly dance wardrobe.

Homemade steampunk tribal belt. I started with a woven belt that I bought at a thrift store and added a drape made of chain, chain tassels, and keys, with a huge kuchi pendant thingie front and center.

Unique tribal beetle necklace made by yours truly, AJ of Erthe Fae Designs, with an MZ Glass beetle focal. For some reason, I don't have a steampunk tribal necklace. This must be fixed.

I also made the yarn dreadfalls, which you can barely see in the picture. Some people are of the opinion that steampunks should not wear falls. I am of the opinion that those people should take their costume snobbery back to whatever reenactment group they originally belonged to. Ahem.

The scarf I'm wearing around my head was a few dollars at a cheapy mall store. It's held in place using a flower clip that I bought at the dance studio and a feather fascinator from Kyla's Keepsakes. You should see that thing -- it's got a locket, and leaves, and a vintage button, and a tiny shrew skull!

This was probably the most comfortable costume that I wore all weekend, if you ignore the fact that those dreads weigh a ton, and that I am in fact wearing the scarf to help distribute the weight a bit :)

WWWC Costumes: Formal Steampunk

I'll be doing a series of posts about my WWWC costumes, for several reasons: because I know some of you want to see them, because I want to give shout-outs to the vendors that I got some of my pieces from, and because I want to show that you do not have to be a master seamstress/tailor or have a ton of money to put together a fun costume that will garner you a lot of compliments.

This is what I wore for Friday night's Chrononaut Ball, with performances by The Mission Creeps, The Strand, and Voltaire! It isn't even what I was originally planning to wear, but then I saw the ivory lace skirt in my costume closet and remembered that I wanted to build a costume around it, so I did. That very night. The key to pulling a costume together at the last minute is having a well-stocked closet and a good imagination.

Costume components:

Ivory lace skirt and black strapless top from Buffalo Exchange. I totally recommend resale boutiques and thrift stores to find things that you can wear as-is or easily modify.

Bronze taffeta bustle skirt from Damsel in this Dress. I bought this from Michelle's Etsy store over two years ago and I love it! I met Michelle in person at WWWC and got more great costume pieces from her. I highly recommend this vendor -- she's sweet, talented, and her garments are well-made.

Tatted lace cuffs by TotusMel Tats. Honestly, why would you buy tatted lace from anyone else (unless you managed to score some sweet vintage/antique tatting). Pamela is the best!

Flower, lace, and butterfly hairstick by The Gypsy Kiss. You can't see much of it in this photo, but trust me, it's really pretty! Amy is my go-to girl for tribal and steampunk hair accessories, as well as my primary bindi dealer as well.

Steampunk cameo necklace by yours truly, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. Of course, you can't really see that either, since my arm is in the way.

Also not visible in the photo: cute lacy black and bronze socks by Sock Dreams and pseudo-Victorian boots from JCPenney. Yeah, that's right, my steampunk boots came from Penney's and I have danced for hours in them at numerous parties and they've still held up. They were $40.

See, with some smart shopping and good luck and an eye for interchangeable items (I've worn everything except for the ivory skirt with other costumes/party outfits), you too can look sharp at a steampunk convention!

My Muse, on Different Backgrounds

So. I think this was my second embroidered piece ever. It's so old that it's done on awful cheap fabric store suede cloth instead of real Ultrasuede. I embroidered it, but then never finished it, however I did decide that when it was finished, it would be called "A Portrait of My Muse." So during gem show, I stitched on a quick bail so that I would have something "new" and shiny to wear for the Swarovski party. I also wore it to Wild Wild West Con this weekend.

The vintage matte black glass cameo is surrounded by embroidery and peyote stitch done in Delicas, hex-cut Delicas, size 15 seed beads, and of course a border of lots and lots of jet Swarovski crystals. I wear it on my basic black herringbone cord.

I photographed it on all three of my wooden necklace displays (I bought two new ones during gem show!) to see how I liked them. Above is the basic natural color, a nice, clean neutral that seems to work well with all colors.
This is more of a dark ebony color. I bought it primarily to use with lighter-colored jewelry. I think this image is nicely dramatic, with the black backdrop and the ebony display and the black necklace, but it would make a pretty muddy thumbnail.
This cherry color is very rich and the black pops nicely against it! I think I like it better than the natural color for black jewelry.

The new necklace displays, as well as some teak earring displays, will start to make their way into the listing pictures over at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs soon. You know, once I actually make some new jewelry!

By the way, Wild Wild West Con was a lot of fun! At some point this week I'll post photos of my costumes, complete with links to some of the vendors who I buy costume components from!

Earthenwood Design Team -- Time's Dead Flowers

I'm honored to have been chosen to be a member of the Earthenwood Design Team for the month of February (yes, I know it's March now, I fell behind). Melanie sent me a great assortment of new components to design with. I used half of them to create this piece, which I call Time's Dead Flowers, inspired by a line in a Faith and the Muse song. Be sure to click on the link so you can see what the other Design Team members have done so far. It looks like everyone got the same elements but in different glaze combinations, which gives the designs great variety -- but of course, mine is the only one that is green ;)

This was very much a design-as-I-go sort of piece. I knew that I wanted to use the Clock Face Link and the pair of pewtery links to design a steampunk necklace to wear to Wild Wild West Con this weekend. I also knew that I wanted to use the bits of leftover chain that had been floating around on my desk for a couple of months. Other than that, I wasn't sure if I wanted to put in some bead weaving, or some strung elements, or what. I went into the beadroom to find what I could find.

One thing that I love about working with Melanie's components is that they're easy to work into any sort of beading. The wire loops are especially versatile; they can be linked onto a chain, hung from a strand, crimped through, or woven through. The punched holes in the pewtery links were a little more challenging -- My jump rings were a tight fit, which meant that I ended up substituting ribbon for chain.
The ribbon was wound around a card, so it looks funny in this picture, but the weight of the necklace pulls it straight when it's being worn. I originally had it hanging from a brown ribbon, and it looked nice, but then I said to myself "Wow, this necklace is really brown, and I'm a proponent of color in steampunk... I should add some green." So I grabbed the green ribbon, wove it through the chain and links, and added some green dangles, with vintage flower beads to echo the floral theme of the brass stamping.
Closeup! I decided that this was a perfect opportunity to use some of the new TierraCast brass oxide Metamorphosis components that I picked up during the gem show. The clock drop was a natural companion for the clock face link!
Another close-up! See what I mean about how easy these links are to work with? I simply used jumprings to attach the link to the brass flower. The entire necklace came together in minutes, if you don't count all the time I spent redesigning it and changing things and looking for things.

Melanie also sent these two red components with lovely heart themes. I have plans for them, plans involving beadweaving, red satin 3-cut seed beads, a black enameled key... It's going to be luscious! And another steampunk design with color!

If you'd like some Earthenwood components to use in your own designs, you should visit Melanie's website or Etsy shop. If you'd like to see more of my jewelry using Earthenwood components, you should visit my shop, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs.

Disclaimer: FTC regulations say that this post isn't long enough yet and I need to make it abundantly clear that I received some of these items for free in return for promotional consideration on my blog. Consider yourself disclaimed.

A garden full of treasuries!

Yesterday was Treasury Tuesday once again! This week, I was in two treasuries, both with the same name! Lithia's Creations included my Tribal Orchid necklace (shown above) in How does your garden grow? and Mermaiden Creations included my Trundling Beetle spiral bracelet in How Does Your Garden Grow?

Keeping with the garden theme that was chosen for this week, my treasury is called Faeries help my garden grow and it has a cheery palette of blue, green, and a touch of pink for contrast.

Want more treasuries? You can also visit the official FAETeam Blog, where FaerieKat posts all of the treasuries featuring FAETeam members, or you can visit Aquariann's Treasury Tuesday post, which has a cool Linky for treasuries.

And if that's not enough fantasy goodness for you, you can always take another browse through Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs!

Sales and To-Do List

So much to blog about! Let's start by getting the shameless self-promotion out of the way! I'm having a bit of a clearance sale over at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. There are ten pieces of unique jewelry currently marked down. I also discounted some of the destash lots in the Beads section. I plan to get more jewelry and beads listed throughout the coming week, some at discounted prices.

Speaking of beads at discounted prices, Artbeads.com has a coupon code out for their blog program partners to share with their readers! It's only good until the end of the month, so act fast if you want to use it! Code ZZ-DESIGNER-0211 will get you 15% off any order, no minimum or maximum. Enjoy!

I recently received my latest Design Partner package from Artbeads, so that adds another thing to my lengthy to-do list. I need to make a custom necklace for my dance friend Kelly (finally found the perfect beads on Thursday!), make the embroidered beetle pendant for MZ, make a couple of pieces using the awesome components I got as part of Earthenwood's Design Team program, and use my Artbeads goodies, too! And that's not even counting making stock for my shop or finishing Wings of the Morrigan. I'd better get busy!

Word of the Week: Passion

Andrew Thornton is posting a word a week for the next year, putting out the challenge that anyone who wants should blog and/or create around that word, and share the results. To kick it off, he chose the word "passion."

Now, I did just finish reading a cheesy fantasy romance novel this week, so it is tempting to go off on that sort of passion, but I try to keep my blog family-friendly, so instead I'll talk about my main passion in life: tribal belly dance! The picture above is from my first solo performance back in May 2010. Let's not get into how bad my arms/hands are in this photo, we're talking about passion, not criticism. So! Passion!

There are few things that move me as much as dance does. Sometimes it's a nearly transcendent experience for me, when I really connect with the music and my heart is thrown wide open and joy just flows out. And sometimes there's passionate frustration, when I just can't get a combo to click, or I keep stepping on my veil, or my finger cymbal gets caught in my hip scarf during recital. And sometimes, when watching one of my idols dance, it's all I can do not to weep from the sheer awe.

I wanted to create a new tribal necklace to celebrate my passion for dance, and to celebrate being more than 7 weeks into my 365 days of dance, but I didn't have much time to work on it, and what I attempted didn't work out right away. Instead, you can admire this picture of Innana at Dusk (which I made and wore for my solo performance), or go to Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs and check out some of my unique tribal necklaces.

Wings of the Morrigan, Progress Post 4

It's been a long time since I posted about Wings of the Morrigan, mostly because I've been too busy to really work on it. This is where I'm at currently. Unfortunately, I have to once again shelve it for a bit so I can work on custom orders and new stock for my shop.

So far this necklace includes:
-1 Black Kyanite specimen
-2 Swarovski Elements Pegasus Pendants
-1 Color of Czech size 11 seed beads
-Many Colors of Japanese size 11 seed beads, including permanent galvanized and hybrids.
-1 Color of Japanese size 15 seed beads
-1 Color of size 15 Charlottes
-8 Flat-backed freshwater pearls
-3mm Swarovski crystal bicones in Crystal Silver Night
-2mm Swarovski crystals rounds in Black Diamond.

Disclaimer: FTC regulations require me to mention that the Pegasus pendants in this necklace were provided for promotional consideration by Artbeads.com.

Shop news!

Today I listed Blue Heart, a spiral bracelet in my shop.

And today is the last full day to use coupon code loveandsparkles for 15% off anything at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. I'll shut it off when I get up tomorrow, so you can also use it tomorrow morning -- I'm a late sleeper!

A spiral, as promised!

I just listed this Trundling Beetle spiral rope bracelet in my Etsy shop, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. I photographed all the other spiral bracelets, too, but I only had time to list one, and I decided to do the best one! I love the bone bead focal, with its little beetle. I'm surprised I didn't make it into something for myself, honestly.

Most if not all of the other spiral ropes will be listed at a discounted price, I think. There's nothing wrong with them, they're just not as fancy as I tend to make them now, and a couple of them are really small.

No dance class tonight, which makes me sad! But this weekend we'll go to the Renaissance Faire and I'll get to see my favorite live music and dance group, Ghazaal Beledi! I'm so excited to see them dance, hear their music, and get their new CD! Oh yeah, and all the other stuff we'll do at Faire, too. But mostly Ghazaal Beledi! If you go to the Faire, make sure to see at least one of their shows and give them a big ol' cash tip, too!

More spirals coming soon!

So, today I was rearranging my Etsy shop, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs, because Valentine's Day is over and it was time to get the hearts off of center stage. I decided I wanted a row of various bracelets, and that's when I made a startling discovery: I only have two spiral rope bracelets in the entire shop! White Salamander, as discussed yesterday, and Pearl Branch, as shown above. This simply won't do! I found half a dozen more spiral ropes that are on my old website but not in Etsy, so I'll try to get them photographed and listed across tomorrow and Friday. I also plan to make new spirals, using some of the new, yummy colors of seed beads I picked up during the gem show, but those will have to wait until after I finish the two custom orders on my plate.

Treasury Superstar!

White Salamander is a superstar today! This gorgeous orange and white spiral bracelet is not only one of the items I chose to highlight in the new animated ad I made today, but it's also featured in THREE FAETeam treasuries! Our theme was the Pantone Spring/Summer 2011 color forecast, and White Salamander is a shoe-in for Coral Rose. You can see it alongside many other beautiful items in Color Me FAE, Dreaming of a FAE Spring and Spring's Fresh FAETeam, where two more of my items represent Regatta and Russet!

But that's not all! Yesterday I found Beneath an October Moon in The Color of the Wind's Song, a beautifully curated treasury.

And of course I took my turn at curating. My Pantone-themed offering focused on just one color. A Magical Lavender Daydream shows just how varied FAETeam is, with items ranging from stationary to costuming to jewelry.

Is your appetite for treasuries still not sated? You can view all FAETeam treasuries, or check out the linky on Aquariann's blog. You can even post a treasury of your own, but be sure to follow the rules by clicking and commenting on others as well.

By the way, I've decided to keep the loveandsparkles coupon code active until I get up on Saturday, so you still have a chance to save 15% at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. Please help feed my belly dance costume fund! ;)

Love and Sparkles!

Happy Valentine's Day! You know I am not the sort to usually celebrate this holiday -- not because I'm not in love, or not because I feel like it's overly commercialized, but mostly because it falls between the gem show and our anniversary, so I would feel silly expecting to get additional sparkly gifts. This year we are having a bit of a romantic day, with plans for him to get off of work early and make me a delicious dinner. No gifts needed, just a night to ourselves without work, house guests, or outside obligations of any sort.

But I do have a gift for you! Well, not really a gift so much as an offer. You can use the code loveandsparkles at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs to get 15% off anything and everything in the store! So buy yourself something beautiful, or get someone else a sparkly surprise. And have a lovely day, whether or not you're celebrating romance.

Unprofessional Vendors Irk Me

Due to a general sense of being tired, and having a bunch of stuff to catch up on here at home, I didn't make it out to the Gem Mall until today. This was the last day of the show, and it was set to close at 3pm instead of the usual 6pm. So I fully expected that when I got there between 12:30 and 1, some vendors would be in the process of packing things up. After all, it's a two week long show, and I remember from the couple of years that I worked it that we were all pretty eager to leave by the end!

What I did not expect was to find that many of the vendors were mostly, if not completely packed up! This included my usual Swarovski crystal supplier, and the vendor I get my carved bone pendants from. So I completely failed to stock up on those items, as if there was anyone else selling what I wanted, they had also already packed up!

The aisles were full of boxes and packaging materials, and the tents echoed with that irritating sound of tape being pulled from the roll. Many sellers seemed much more focused on packing up than on serving customers!

So my money went to the people who actually had the integrity to stay set-up until the end. I got a few strands of Czech glass and a handful of dyed ribbons from Da Beads, Inc and shared a gripe about people closing shop early. And I got three super gorgeous tribal pendants (one for me, two for business) from a vendor whose name I forgot to get. I wouldn't have splurged on tribal goodies at all, but I had extra money in my budget thanks to not being able to buy what I was there for in the first place!

I'll be looking for new sources for Swarovski crystals and carved pendants now. Anyone who can't stay open for the duration of the show they signed up for does not deserve my patronage in the future.

Speaking of patronage, here's my token mention of my shop! Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs! Your home for fantasy jewelry and blog-based griping!

Treasury Love

Fantasy Artists of Etsy Team has been participating in Treasury Tuesday! Last week I got featured in several but had no time to blog about them... This week, no one from the team featured me, but I have plenty of time to blog! Ah well. I curated the above collection, called In love with a fantasy. Please consider taking the time to view a few items, leave a comment, and maybe share it on your favorite social networking sites!

I was featured in one non-FAETeam treasury at least! My mermaid necklace, Queen of the Arctic Ocean, is in the nautical-themed Out at Sea.

My plan is to get some new fantasy necklaces made and listed at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs this week, so hopefully next week will be more treasuriffic!

Gem Show 2011 Recap!

Gem Show 2011 is more or less behind me! I still have two shows to go shop at, to get some supplies and more wooden necklace displays, but I've wrapped up most of my shopping and all of my working. Speaking of working, above is a picture of me at work! This is just a fraction of the Beyond Beadery booth. It really is bigger -- and has a better selection -- than a lot of bead stores I've been to.
But enough about work, and more about beads! I only took pictures of part of what I bought. Above, a cool heart bead (with an octopus!) by Christi Friesen, and some beautiful raku cabs by MAKUstudio. Mak is based in Phoenix, so it's pretty likely I'll be getting more of her yummy clay in the future!
And here, lampwork beads by two of my favorite artists! The tree and two sets are by JC Herrell, and the beetle, caterpillar, and other set are by Margaret Zinser. The cab is actually going to go back to MZ, in an embroidered pendant. I'm very excited about the project!
Of course, I had to get some steampunk goodies! The key with lampwork on it is by Kerri Fuhr. I've been admiring her work on Etsy for a long time, so I was really happy to meet her in person! The enameled pieces are from C-Koop, and I actually have a lot more than I put in the photo. I have more of the new TierraCast components on the other side of the photo, too! And I got the "Lolita" skeleton cab from work, and also have a smaller one to work with.

I've also got a big bag of seed beads, a bunch of chain, and some new crystals. I can't wait to get designing and bring some exciting new pieces to Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs!

Jen's Dragon

I could have sworn I had a better picture of this, but I can't find it, so I guess I don't! This is the necklace I made for my friend Jen as part of a Pay it Forward crafting thing on Facebook. Jen loves dragons, and I thought this one that I got from Artbeads.com a while back was perfect for her, because it's highly detailed, unusual, and a nice size. Plus the round shape looks great with the nephrite jade coins! I also used hematite, and Czech glass in Montana blue with a jade green Picasso effect on the ends. I was finally able to give it to her on Sunday and she loves it. Yay!

If you would like a dragon necklace of your own, I do have some available at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. Well actually, it looks like right now I only have one, In The Dragon's Nest. So I guess I know one thing I need to work on after gem show! I have a bad habit of hoarding all the dragon focals for myself instead of making them into jewelry for the shop! I need to either be less greedy, or buy more duplicates ;)

Green Girl Goodies!

Octopi! Owls! Hearts! Medusa! All this and more. I hit To Bead True Blue today so I could restock my Green Girl Studios focal stash. I focused mostly on what's sold well for me this year, plus a couple of new designs that I really liked. They make me want to sit down and make jewelry right now! You can bet that after the gem show is over, some of these lovelies will be made into new necklaces and listed in my shop, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. But not the octopus with garnet eyes... she's MINE :D

Unfortunately, the weather was pretty bad, so I didn't head down to the Gem Mall to stock up on crystals and carved bone pendants. I'll have to go next week, after I'm done working at Best Bead.

Frontage Road Shows

Why do I love the frontage road shows? Because that's where I score sweet tribal jewelry! Not only did I get two cute rings for $3 each today, but look at this amazing belt that was only $35! Yes, that back panel that spreads across my entire bum is in fact peyote-stitched seed beads (size 8ish) with a netted border. There are two smaller triangle panels at the front. And the bells make such a pretty chiming ring. And there are mirrors! Oh, I love it so much! In fact, I plan to wear it tomorrow when I perform in Tempe! My friend Jen and I will be doing a duet!

Anyway, we didn't have much time to spend at the shows today. We did check out a new show, on the east side of the I-10 and 22nd Street corner, which has free parking, clean restrooms, and some friendly vendors. I saw some cabs I wanted and OMG Liquid Fire Mantra was there and I saw the ear things in person and I WANT THEM SO BADLY! If only I hadn't just bought a new belly dance skirt on Thursday, those ear things would be MINE!

Remember, if you would like to support my debilitating tribal jewelry, 25 yard skirt and elf ear habit, you can go to Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs and give in to your addiction for unique beaded jewelry. Just saying... ;)

Earrings in a Treasury!

My Midnight Dancer tribal chandelier earrings (pictured above) are in Beadmask's beautiful Labyrinth-themed treasury Dance the Magic Dance. Labyrinth has been one of my favorite movies since I was old enough to form opinions. We must have watched it at least once a year when I was a kid, and it's largely responsible for my love of the fantasy genre and the art of Brian Froud. I somehow never became a Bowie fan, though.

So please visit the treasury, click a few items, make a comment if you feel moved to, and definitely visit Beadmask's shop! I've loved Andrea's work since way before Etsy! She's so talented.

And while you're at it, pop over to my shop, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. Any purchases made within the next week will go straight to purchasing supplies at the gem, mineral and bead shows. My first shopping trip is tomorrow! Woohoo!

Have I mentioned the gem show lately?

I know, I know, it's nothing but gem show around here from mid-January to mid-February! I just love it so much! The first long-running shows are opening up along the I-10 this week, so I'm very excited to take my brother-in-law to them on Saturday. He's never had the Tucson Gem Show Experience. I hope he's up for it!

Wings of the Morrigan is just not shaping up. I've ripped out about as many beads as I've stitched down! I probably won't finish it in time for gem show, but it's not as if I don't have plenty of old jewelry to wear... and while I may not have a new necklace for the Swarovski party, I will have new moves on the dance floor.

Win a trip to the gem show!

Not this year's gem show, because hey, you need time to schedule vacation days and save up for the shopping. But Artbeads.com is offering you the chance to win round-trip airfare for 2, 3 days accommodations, and classes at the 2012 gem show! Pretty sweet! And you won't even have to compete against me, because hey, I already live here. Click here to learn more and enter the sweepstakes. If you do win, you'd better let me know so we can meet up!

I am super excited for gem show 2011! This is when I buy almost all my supplies for the year, though I also stock up a bit when Rings & Things comes to Phoenix, and occasionally I make some good finds at bead stores or the tiny show in September. But the February shows are where it's at! I'll get my crystals, seed beads, and focals, which shape what sort of designs I'll be offering at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs through 2011 and beyond. Based on what has sold well this year, I'll be looking for supplies to make another Medusa necklace or two, some steampunk earrings, and definitely more skull jewelry. Maybe some more owl necklaces, too. As far as tribal jewelry, I'll mainly buy things for myself, since that collection doesn't seem to sell as well as I expected. But maybe 2011 will bring new surprises!

Need more time!

Wow, how time has been flying. January is already more than half gone, the gem shows start in less than two weeks, my brother-in-law will be here on Sunday... and Wings of the Morrigan isn't even half done! I need to get back to work, furiously embroidering this week and next, if I have any chance of wearing it to the Swarovski party. I have a feeling I'll need to come up with a back-up plan.

Because I've been so busy, and so stressed-out about house stuff, I've really been neglecting Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. I had all these cool ideas, for the FAETeam's Stag challenge, and for Valentine's Day, but I've barely touched my beads except to make a few custom pieces last week. I have to clean up and put away my beads to make the guest room inhabitable, so I'm hoping to sneak some beading time in as well, as seeing things while I put them away will no doubt inspire me!

Things that make me happy

Three things that make me happy!

First, I'm featured in the treasury A little bling by AnikasArt. Anika is a really talented fellow FAE, so please make sure to check out her shop after you're done admiring the treasury!

Second, I had a fun day exploring the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum with Andrew Thornton. I'd tell you all about it, but my guess is that Andrew will blog it more eloquently than I will, and with better pictures (I left my camera at home because I'm paranoid about it dying again). I will say that my inner Goth was very pleased that the first birds in the raptor free-flight were a pair of Chihuahuan ravens!

Third, by the time I got home I had a new water heater and a fully-operational shower (and a new bathroom faucet to boot)! Oh, happy day! I can finally take a hot shower in my own home again! And my water heater won't make weird sloshy noises any more.

At last, my style and versatility have been recognized!

As you surely already know, I am both stylish (in a Goth/steampunk/boho/jewelry addict sort of way)...
...and versatile. Why, I can't even begin to enumerate my various uses! Aquariann chose to recognize these two great assets of mine by sharing with me the blog awards that she was given for also being stylish and versatile. I'm suppose to choose 15 other blogs that I think are both Stylish and Versatile to pass the award on to, but I know most of the bloggers I follow are too busy for that sort of thing, so I'm just going to recommend that you visit them:
1: TotusMel's Wunderkammer
2: Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
3: Cephalopod Tea Party
4: The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
5: MadDesigns
6: Mermaiden Creations in the Underworld
(Around this time I realize that I might not even follow 15 active blogs right now)
7: Fantasy Artists of Etsy
8: SaraBeth's Belly Dancing Bead Blog
9: Multicultalism for Steampunk
10: Princess Farhana
(Fiiiiiiive moooooore)
11: SpeedieBeadie
12: Darkling Woods Studio
13: Bead Indulgences
14: Anne E. Mitchell
15: Art Bead Scene

But wait! I'm not done! Now I'm supposed to tell you 7 random things about myself. This is turning into a really weird acceptance speech.

1: I used to think blogs were dumb and I only started this one to promote Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. Then I got addicted.
2: I met my husband in a chat room for on-line roleplaying. We were in character at the time. Gaming turned to friendship turned to romance turned to almost 11 years of marriage so far.
3: My favorite color used to be purple.
4: As far as I know I am not allergic to anything... except maybe vodka.
5: I enjoy learning new belly dance combos, but I have a hard time remembering them. I do not enjoy learning choreography, but I am good at learning it.
6: I have recurring dreams about being forced to walk through rooms full of dark aquariums full of inky water and things I can't quite see.
7: Any time I see a greyhound rescue group I have an irresistible urge to run up and pet a greyhound. They're just so sweet and calm and they have the sleekest, skinniest little heads!

FAE Team Gift Swap!

Just like in 2009, in 2010 the participants of FAE Team's Etsy chat thread had a gift swap! This year I was fortunate enough to receive pretties from Lithia's Creations. Lith sent me three pieces of her great jewelry -- an adjustable black and purple ring with crystal accent, a cameo pin, and one of her brand new Gypsies Dragon Skin bottles! So cool! They all suit my Gothic steampunk sense of style and I am really happy that I will have them to accessorize with for Wild Wild West Con in March!

Plus she sent me the gorgeous absinthe mermaid by Jasmine Becket-Griffith, one of my favorite artists that I somehow never bought any prints from. This one is particularly cool because not only is it green, but I do enjoy the occasional glass of absinthe, and I love how delightfully creepy the mermaid is. She definitely looks like the sort to drown a few sailors, the little minx!

I bet you'd like a closer pic of the pretty jewelry...
Isn't it lovely?

The Buddha of Brass

Ok, I can't show the Nephrite Jade necklace because my friend Jen wasn't at dance class last night and I don't want to chance her seeing it on-line and ruining the surprise (it's not a total surprise, she knows she's getting something from me, she just doesn't know what!). However, I also made a necklace for my friend Meghan, and she was at class, so I can show and tell.

When I saw these brass Buddha pendants in Andrew Thornton's shop, I knew Meghan would love them. So when she signed up for the Pay it Forward "swap" on my Facebook page, I bought one and contemplated what to do with it. I eventually decided on an adjustable chain necklace, with a few added dangles. The beads actually came from a goodie bag from a different order I made from Andrew's shop! I thought they looked good with the brass. There's tiger's eye, carnelian (or possibly heated agate, or maybe one of each), a freshwater pearl, and some Czech glass. Plus little brass dangles that I got at Micheal's of all places.

My goal was to make something that would look good with either tribal belly dance costuming, or steampunk costuming, while still honoring the fact that Buddha is an important spiritual figure. I felt like dressing him up with gears and keys and such might be a little tacky. I'm pretty happy with the design and Meghan loves it, so I'd say it's a success!

Custom Jade Earrings

Right before Christmas, I sold a Medusa necklace made with Nephrite Jade, Lizardite (whatever that is!), and Swarovski pearls. A few days ago, I received a convo on Etsy from the customer wanting matching earrings, so I made these. Nice and simple. I love the Nephrite Jade, it has a beautiful translucent avocado sort of color. Actually, I like it so much that I used most of the rest of the strand in a cool necklace for a friend of mine, which I will probably post tomorrow :) I hope Rings & Things has more next time they're in Phoenix for a trunk show!

Fun fact: Even though I shamelessly plug Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs on a daily basis at this blog, and have a big Etsy widget, I have been getting more visits to my shop from my dance blog, where I don't mention my shop and just have one little link to it! But SEO demands that I keep mentioning it here to raise my Google rankings.

I'd blog more, but right now there are a couple of little corgis who would like my attention!

Good Bye, Sphinx!

My Sphinx bracelet was one of four items that sold from Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs today! I would not have expected so much business on a Wednesday in the middle of January, but I'm not complaining. I should get busy re-stocking, though.

Plumbing problems persist, but at least there was some progress today. My hope is that they'll at least get fixed this week. A week and a half is more than long enough!

Birds of Ereshkigal

The owl skull necklace is on Etsy now, under the hard to type but fun to say name Birds of Ereshkigal. If you would like to see more bird and skull themed necklaces at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs, now is the time to speak up! My supplier should be at the gem show.

I am cautiously optimistic that my plumbing problems will be fixed tomorrow, which would be nice. A friend has been allowing me to use her shower in the meantime, but it's really annoying to have to drive across town just to get clean! In truth, it will probably take a couple of days or more to get them actually fixed, unless our firs plumber was wrong and it's an easier fix than he diagnosed. I just want this hassle behind me so I can focus on more important things -- like the gem show!

Gothic Romance

I told you I wasn't going to make traditional Valentine's jewelry! Instead, I'm offering two darkly romantic offerings. First, Romance and Corsetry, which features a sexy little pewter heart by Green Girl Studios! This beauty was already featured in a treasury, I give you my HEART for Valentines Day.

Love Hurts is less elegant and more in-your-face. The awesome focal is by Earthenwood Studios, and is paired with black pyrite and red Swarovski crystals. Very dramatic and Goth.

I have to admit that Valentine's Day is not a big deal for my husband and I -- it's sandwiched neatly between gem show and our wedding anniversary, so I'd feel rather greedy asking for anything to mark the day. But I'm more than happy to facilitate a happy holiday by providing handmade, romantic jewelry from Erthe Fae Designs.

Sweetly Romantic

Finally! New Jewelry! I just listed these Demure Sweetness chandelier earrings. Perfect for a romantic date, and Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

I also finished out my listing of gray items with this crystal bracelet.

I still have to list the owl necklace and two rather Gothic heart necklaces, so keep your eye on Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs, or come back to this blog tomorrow for convenient links.

(I'm keeping this short and sweet because otherwise it will turn into a rant about plumbers)

False Alarm!

It turns out that even though my camera wasn't behaving like it normally does when the batteries are run down, all it needed was new batteries and it's working again. Thank goodness! I probably should replace it sometime this year, as it really is getting old for a small electronic device, and I don't want it dying on me at an inconvenient time. But right now, my money is better funneled into home repairs and getting ready for a very busy, very shoppy February and March: Gem show, house guests, Renaissance Faire and Wild West Con, all in a row!

So I was able to successfully take photos today, but there's no time to list anything before I head off to Tempe for dance class (yay, dance class!). Instead I'll leave you with this photo of the tribal necklace that I made for last month's recital. Other than the round black horn beads, everything in this necklace is from my birthday trip to Beads Galore!

Tomorrow, there really will be new jewelry at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs!

Disaster!

Remember how I promised new jewelry today? Well, I set up my photo stuff, took out my camera, turned it on... and nothing. It would appear that my beloved PowerShot is on its last legs. I can turn it on in playback mode, but when I switch to photo mode, it sticks out the lens and then shuts down without even retracting it! No error message, nothing.

Of course, the camera is at least 3 years old (because I already had it when I moved into this house in 2008) and has seen almost constant use in that time. It photographed two years worth of Beading For A Cure auction items, countless Erthe Fae Designs pieces, and accompanied me to New York, San Diego Comic Con, and Aruba. I'd kind of been expecting to replace it soon... but having it flake out in the same week that I already replaced the thermostat, and am about to replace my hot water pipes, is a bit of a blow.

So I don't know when I will have new jewelry, as it will all depend on when I get a new camera. Yay.

New jewelry tomorrow!

The customer who ordered this awesome owl necklace backed out of the deal, so tomorrow it will be up for grabs in my shop, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs! I expect it to sell pretty quickly -- don't disappoint me, internet!

But that's not all! I made two necklaces and a pair of earrings today, all designed to inspire feelings of romance and/or sexiness. They'll also be listed tomorrow. I may even make more jewelry and list that, but I probably won't as I have a very busy day planned -- grocery shopping, a dance class, and an evening of gaming, most likely.

Water sucks!

My hot water pipes need to be replaced entirely. BOO! I hate water. Go ahead, ask me about my torrid history with water.

However, the heat appears to be working again, which means I can get into the bead room again, which means I can make jewelry again. Yay!

Like the new look?

I decided the blog needed a makeover for the new year. The old format was a little dark, and more importantly, everything was cluttered over on one side of the page. Now things are a little more spread out. I'm still in the process of changing up my links to more accurately reflect what I read and where I can be found on the internet.

Picking up the thread of thought from my last post, I will not be embarking on a year of beading alongside my year of dance practice. I failed to find the time/inspiration to bead yesterday, and it will be hard enough to always carve out at least half an hour for dance every day, even during gem show and while sick and while on vacation, without also having to find half an hour for beads, too.

Of course, if you want to force me to need to bead more, you could go on a shopping spree at Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. I wouldn't complain!

365 Days of Beading, too?

As I've been getting ready to embark on my year of belly dance practice, I'm wondering if I should set the same goal for beadwork. I didn't get nearly as much jewelry made as I wanted to this year, so spending at least half an hour a day, every day, would allow me to put more stock in my store, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs, create a few more necklaces for myself, and participate in more beading challenges. I suppose I'll have to wait and see if I get any time to bead today, and it's not looking likely.

You see, while I was gone, our furnace started acting up again (we already had to fix it once over Thanksgiving weekend). This time it appears to be a problem with the thermostat. The furnace itself seems to be working fine. So I've purchased a new, better thermostat (programmable!) and I'm just waiting for my Dad the electronics technician to come over and make sure I don't zap myself in the process of installing it.

But as if that's not enough, this morning I got up and went to wash my hands, only to be greeted by opaque orange water in my bathroom faucet! The kitchen was fine, and the orange went away, but now we have low water pressure in the bathroom sink and tub, which means no showers and probably another plumbing bill in my future. Why did I ever want to be a homeowner?

So beads would be really good therapy right about now, but first I have to fix the furnace because the beadroom is the coldest place in the house. Brrr.

Hope your New Year is off to a better start than mine!

Wuv.... twue wuv... that dweam within a dweam...

Valentine's Day is just a month and a half away, which means that most people aren't even thinking about it yet -- we're all basking in the post-Christmas afterglow, enjoying our gifts, getting ready for New Year's revelries. But as a jewelry designer, I have to think ahead and decide what I'm going to create to capitalize on the holiday. To inspire myself, I created this Thoughts turn to romance... treasury. It features elegant designs that evoke a Valentine's Day feeling, while still holding a year-round appeal. I've never been one for making blatant holiday jewelry, maybe because I've never been one for wearing it. So I'll design with hearts and flowers, and in red or pink, but not all of those elements together. Starting next month, keep an eye on Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs for new one of a kind pieces evoking a sense of Victorian romance.

This was supposed to post while I was in Vegas, but it didn't. Apparently if you accidentally post something right away, and then try to change it to post later, it doesn't work. So I apologize for the long silence here. I had intended things to be slightly more entertaining while I was gone!

Vegas was fun, it was nice to spend a few days with one of my friends, just shopping, enjoying the sights, and hanging out.

Post Christmas Shopping and Shipping!

Please note that I am in Vegas with one of my dancing friends and have only brought my phone along. I haven't yet tested how well I can comment on my blog from the phone, so don't feel slighted if I don't respond to you. I'm pre-scheduling this week's posts because I don't want my blog to lie dormant for 5-6 days!

As I am in fact out of town, I will not be able to ship any jewelry that you might purchase at this time. But if you do want to buy yourself something -- if, for instance, no one was thoughtful enough to give you handmade jewelry and you feel like you need to buy some for yourself -- rest assured that it will go out on January 3rd and be on your doorstep by the end of the week! (Assuming your doorstep is in the continental US, otherwise it might take a little longer.

So just mosey on over to Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs and see what's waiting for you!

Christmas Eve, and a new blog!

I don't really have any Christmas-y pictures on my computer, so here's good ol' Snowdrop, my go-to winter necklace. I hope that those of you who celebrate Christmas have a wonderful one, that those of you who don't just enjoy a nice, relaxing Saturday, and that no one gets into too much trouble while I'm gone! I will be in Vegas from the 26th to the 30th, and I'm just taking my Droid with me instead of my laptop, so I won't really be in touch.

As for my Christmas, instead of dog sitting like I normally do, I'll be going to Christmas dinner at a friend's house. Actually, the same friend who I usually dogsit for! But instead of being there alone with 3-5 dogs, I'll be there with Chris, and my friend and her husband, and several of their friends, so it will be very festive and there will be tons of food. I honestly can't remember the last time I had any sort of large, traditional Christmas dinner, so I'm really looking forward to it.

On a completely unrelated note, last night I started my new blog, Confessions of a Dance Pants Addict to track my 365 days of practice and generally blather on about belly dance. If you are more interested in my dancing life than my beading life, you will want to follow that blog. If you are more interested in the beads and jewelry, you'll want to stay here. And if you're interested in both, then you'll just have to read both blogs!

Picture from recital

This picture was snapped by my friend Jen while we were in the dressing room before recital... I wanted to make sure I had at least one picture of me wearing the necklace that I designed to go with my costume. I still need to get some nice photos of said necklace, but my usual photography table is sort of buried under an explosion of holiday shopping, cookies, and wrapping paper.

My daily dance practice has fallen by the wayside due to extreme amounts of holiday stress. It looks like I will have to tackle it for earnest on the 1st. I've decided that I'm going to go ahead and make a separate blog for tracking it -- I'll still mention my major dance milestones, like performances, here on this blog, but I don't want the beads and business to get lost in the chatter about dance practice and inspiration.

Farewell Medusa!

Well, I *said* I wasn't going to do any more shipping this month, but when a gentleman contacted me on Etsy asking if I could mail this necklace because it was the perfect Christmas present for his girlfriend, I couldn't say no! So off I went to the post office.

Both of my Medusa necklaces sold this year, which tells me that I had better get some more Medusa pendants from Green Girl in February, and maybe shop around for some other Medusa focals to add to my line.

And now, back to the present I was working on when I had to drop everything and rush off to USPS!

Recital Video!

Ah ha! This time, the video of my recital is just short enough to actually upload on Blogger! So here it is. I actually messed up a lot this time around, but oh well. We learn from our mistakes, right?

I'm performing with my fellow Anaya Tribal classmates, from levels 2-4. We're dancing to Mausam and Escape by A.R. Rahman from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. And it was my first time performing ITS with zills, and my first time performing in a 25 yard skirt (well, unless you count the one song that Ghazaal Beledi pulled us on stage for at Ren Faire).

Anyway, in other news, I am more or less on vacation from my store, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs for the rest of the year. I had a customer (ok, my mom!) over to purchase a couple gifts for co-workers yesterday, and I may work on some jewelry to get ready for Valentine's Day, but for the most part my focus is going to be on creating last-minute gifts for friends, working on Wings of the Morrigan, getting some dance practice and tidying up the house. I'll try to keep updating the blog, but I will be in Vegas for most of next week, so I might just pre-schedule a few fluffy posts.

Custom Owl Necklace!

Last night I wore a necklace I made years ago, which features a bone carving of a raven sitting on a skull. It was a hit at dance class, and one of the dancers was especially keen on it. When I told her that I had a carving with owls sitting on a skull, she liked that even better because she's on an owl kick! So today I made this for her. The carving is joined by beads of bone, horn, and red tiger's eye for a very natural, very tribal look.

I also made myself a new necklace for the recital, which I will try to get photos of this weekend.

Aside from going to class last night, dance practice has been rather derailed by a sudden obsessive need to clean my bedroom. I am happy to say that the bedroom is now very clean and I can hopefully return to a normal state of mind now. Or maybe obsessively clean my desk. But there will be dancing, too!