False Friends, True Friends

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

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

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

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

Warning: Crystal Bracelet Invasion!

 I think a while back I mentioned on this blog how I had found a stash of crystal bracelets that I had never listed on Etsy. Well, I got distracted by a few things, like needing to make a new costume bra for a troupe performance and then going on vacation, but today I finally tackled those bracelets! They're all in the image above, as well as a few that were already listed. I wanted to show a wide variety in the updated listing for a Custom Crystal Bracelet.

Taking the photos was so time-consuming that I was only able to list Picnics and Sunshine Crystal Bracelet today. Consider it the harbinger of the incoming crystal bracelet invasion!

Spirals Every Day!

Just yesterday I finished this custom ankle bracelet called Spirals Every Day! The buyer loved my Spiral Journey Anklet but wanted something in black, silver and earthy colors for every day wear. Lucky for both of us that I happened to already have black and silver spiral beads!

I love this combination of black, silver, and antiqued bronze so much that I might use it for other projects, too. It's really elegant and versatile, you could wear it with pretty much everything. I think it would be lovely for a steampunk brooch. I should see what cabochons I have that would work for that, after I work my way through my long to-do list.

Changeling Baby

Please forgive the horrible photo, I cheated and didn't use my light tent and that was a horrible mistake!

This is the custom necklace that I recently made for one of my dance classmates. She asked me when I was going to make a purple and silver faerie necklace, which lead to us working together to come up with the right necklace for her... She picked this baby faerie on a leaf from my huge selection of Green Girl pewter faeries. She also wanted moonstone, which I didn't have on hand, so she provided some stone chips from a broken necklace that belonged to her mother. Czech glass and Swarovski crystals provide two tones of purple, and the repeating motif makes it simple but beautiful. We're both happy with the results!

If you'd like a faerie necklace of your own, check out my selection of Faerie Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs, or contact me for a custom order.

MZ Beetle Pendant!

 You may remember that in February, MZ gave me one of her new beetle cabochons to work into a bead-embroidered pendant, so she could inspire prospective customers. Here's what I came up with, using Delicas, Japanese seed beads and some Czech three-cut seed beads. I really enjoyed working with the bright color palette in this cab, it's pretty far out of my usual muted olive and bronze palette :) For more beautiful lampwork, please visit MZ Glass. For more bead embroidery, visit my shop, Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs.

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!

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!

So very sparkly!

I've just added a listing to my Etsy shop for a custom crystal bracelet. You choose the colors, the length, and what sort of clasp you like, and I make it happen. I love these bracelets! I have several in my own collection, and I've made them frequently as gifts. I've also sold dozens, and I never get tired of making them. Who could get tired of sparkly crystals?

And speaking of bracelets, today's Daily Special is Within the Waves. A great deal on a cute bracelet that would be perfect for a day at the beach.

With just a few weeks left until the deadline, I'm finally moving along on my Layne's Legacy -- Beading For A Cure project. I got a lot done on it yesterday, in between dealing with various house emergencies that kept popping up. I'm hoping to finish it in a week or so, so that I can mail it with time to spare.