WWWCII Preview!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stripey Beads!

Yesterday I mentioned that I had used the last of those striped beads to make a pair of earrings. Here they are! Stripey ovals, Swarovski crystals, and brass keys come together to create The Key to My Armoire Full of Striped Bloomers. Steampunk jewelry just lends itself well to ridiculous names, don't you think?

I really do have way too many different key charms and pendants right now. Pretty much any time I find a new one that I don't already have, I have to buy it. And I'll usually buy it in silver, gold, and maybe even copper if available. These particular keys came from Ace Handicrafts, the one bead shop that I always visit every time I go to NY. I like how ornate they are, and that unlike some brass stampings, they have a design on the back as well.

Time for a new pic

Take one last look at these earrings -- they've found a new home!

Tomorrow I'll have to pick a new photo for the right-hand sidebar :)

I hate the economy!

Before I start ranting, today's Daily Special is Unlock My Secrets, a beautiful key necklace in earthy orange.

Now, on with the rant. While I was dancing yesterday, I got a phone call from my Mom. She was at Chivalry Sports (aka the Renaissance Store), our local Ren Faire garb shop. They were in the process of going out of business and Mom wanted to know if I wanted any of the belly dance patterns that they had left.

Now, I can handle the fact that my own business is molasses-slow because of the economy. I'm fortunate to be in a position where I don't need to sell my jewelry. What makes me mad is when awesome niche businesses have to close down because no one has any money left to spend on their hobbies.

Chivalry Sports was an awesome store. You could go in there and walk out with breeches, a tabbard, a chemise, an overdress, whatever you needed, and it would be sturdy, well-made, and in most cases, you could throw it in the washing machine and dryer. Because my tastes run towards belly dance clothes, I didn't have much of their stuff, but it was our go-to place for my husband's garb, and I also got my mirrored black skirt there.

By the time Chris and I got there yesterday, the store was pretty picked over. I picked up a few belly dance patterns and one of the basic cholis that I'd been wanting (they were out of black, so I bought white and I'll probably tea-dye it). The mirrored skirts were long gone, as were the various belly dance scarves and veils. It was depressing, as I'd been wanting to go in and shop for months, but their limited hours meant they were always closed when I was in their neighborhood.

And of course, this phenomenon is not limited to Chivalry Sports. Everywhere I go in Tucson, I see empty spaces where small shops and restaurants used to be. Some neighborhoods look like ghost towns, the strip malls empty and in disrepair. I have to wonder how many more neat little stores will fall prey to increased costs and decreased spending.

I'm sorry to be such a downer today, but I think it needed to be said.

Cute keyrings

I call these earrings The Keys to Any of a Number of Things and they feature the little keyring charms that sparked my key-buying frenzy on Etsy. Aren't they just the neatest little dangles? The Czech glass window beads are also pretty. I plan to use more of them in a mermaid necklace, eventually.

My necklace for the December EBW challenge is off to a good start. I'm thinking its name will involve the word Snowdrop but I'm not entirely certain yet.

Chris's job is putting us both under a lot of stress right now, so I'm not feeling very talkative right now. I'm going to go work with my beads some more and see if it makes me feel any better.

Hello and good-bye!

These Hidden Secrets earrings sold within 24 hours of being listed on Etsy. The funny thing is, I told myself that if they didn't sell, I could replace the brass hooks with some bronze titanium and keep them. I really, really like them! But I'm very happy that they sold, it's a rewarding feeling to know that my favorite is someone else's favorite, too.

I have one more of those medallions left, and 2 more of the keys, so I'm thinking of doing a matching necklace with the brass chain I bought the other week. Although, since the earrings are already gone, I may do different bead accents, just to mix it up. Hard to say. Those matte, swirly Czech ovals are rather pretty.

In other news, I'm working on my piece for the Etsy Beadweavers' Snow Queen challenge. I'm not sure what it will be called yet, so the working title is Snow Queen. It's weird to work with these crisp white beads, after a week of the russet, earthy tones of Wastelands Tribe and all the green and brass for the earrings. It's good to mix things up! Not sure what I'll do next after this, though. Maybe more wintry colors, since it is that time of year. Oh, or the magenta/purple/celadon bead embroidered pendant. I guess those are more Spring-y colors, but I don't adhere to seasonal themes as much as I probably should.

A Key Necklace!

Key to the Autumn Door is the first piece in my new series of inexpensive steampunk jewelry. With the economy being what it is, I'm sure many people will be looking for affordable presents for the holidays, so I'm trying to add more modest pieces to my collection, to balance out the wanton extravagance of beadweaving and art beads. This new line of jewelry may also include other themes, but I just purchased a lot of keys and brass elements to use, so that will be the main focus to start with.

In other Etsy-related news, today I was accepted in the Fantasy Artists Etsy Team. I'm really thrilled and honored, as many of my favorite Etsy sellers are part of that team. If you'd like to get a taste for the excellent work done by the members of FAE, just go to Etsy and do a search for "faeteam."

In annoying news, my domain name was finally released, only to be snatched up by one of those annoying companies that purchases expired domains to use for advertising. So next week, I have to try to get it back from them. This is about where I start to bang my head against the wall...

Found Objects

I don't normally do found object jewelry, but I really liked these little keys that my friends were tossing around at the game store, so I laid claim to them. I paired them with some of the lampwork that I bought from Margaret over the weekend, and created today's Daily Design Challenge piece. I call them Keys to Faerie.

As I was writing their description, I was struck with inspiration for a steampunk persona -- a faerie hunter. Along the lines of Lady Cottington from Brian Froud's books, I could be a slightly unhinged lady in search of faerie folk. Or plagued by them. It would be FUN! I really do need to learn how to sew.

It's almost done! -- Locked Away, Part 8

I've been one busy beader. Here it is, Locked Away, almost finished! Actually, it would have been done a lot sooner, but I kept having to readjust the fringe to make it work. I had planned to make a lot more fringes, but the crystals were so large that they kept crowding into each other and banging into the key. I think that the sparser fringe works much better here, as it allows each bead to have its own personal space, and it doesn't overwhelm the pendant.

After finishing the fringe, I also decided to make a pair of cute earrings to match it.

You know what, though? I'm pretty sure this key was a lot more copper-colored when I started. It must be oxidizing or losing its plating or doing something else that metal likes to do. What I do like is that the key is just the right size that it looks like it could actually fit into the keyhole on the cab.

Over all, I am thrilled with how this is turning out, and I'm excited to start on the neck strap, either tonight or tomorrow!

It's my birthday, you're invited to my party down the hall.

I'm really growing to love photography! How do you like this little glamor shot? It's a teaser for my newest necklace, Guildmistress. Click the link to see two full images. This is the choker I've been talking about all week, and I am so happy to be able to share her with you. It's all I can do not to wear her to dinner tonight!

By the way, I've had those pretty blue teardrops for years. I'm glad to have finally found the perfect necklace for them.

As the topic says, today is my birthday! I'm now 26, which feels about the same as 25 so far. I had originally planned to have a birthday sale, but I'm already having a moving sale (remember! use code "moving" for 20% off!). So instead, I'm having a birthday contest! Isn't that more fun? The first person to post a comment with the name of the song referenced in the title, and the artist who performed it, will win a crystal bracelet! You can either pick one from my site, or get a custom one in any colors you want (as long as beads come in those colors. No Colour Out of Space bracelet, sorry).

I haven't forgotten that I promised a link to my review of Forbidden Kingdom.

There are more things I want to talk about, but I'll save them for tomorrow. I'm on my way out for a nice birthday dinner with my dearest.

Look at these KEYS! aka Gem Show, Day 1

We just got back from Gem Mall a little bit ago. Man oh man did I blow my budget. As usual, my first stop was Lanshang for crystals. The only problem was, I forgot to bring the list of what colors I needed to buy! At first, I just picked out some colors that I knew I needed... but then, I decided to just stock up on everything. Due to the international market and the dollar being weak versus the euro, the price of Swarovski crystals is supposed to go up significantly this year. So in the long run, it just made more sense to buy loads of crystals, and then I won't need as many when the September shows roll around.

After that, I was making my usual circuit, heading over to see Raven's Journey and East of Oz, when I passed by this place that sells a lot of vintage, and they had tons of brass stampings. Well, I started looking at stampings, and was debating whether I wanted any, when I saw a tray with a single vintage key in it. And so I said to Chris, "we should see if they have any more!" That's when we saw it: a plastic shoebox 3/4 full of old keys! Well, we both descended on it with great glee. There was a mix of your standard modern-style keys and the older, more elegant style. Of course, there were no prices, so we had to ask, and discovered that we had $50 worth of keys, so I winnowed them down a little bit to what you see above. Aren't they beautiful?

The funniest part was at lunch, when I called my friend Lois to let her know that I'd only been able to get half the crystals she wanted. She asked how the show was, and I gleefully told her about my shopping, and how we scored a bunch of vintage keys. The conversation went like this...

Lois: "Keys? Like the kind you open things with?"
Me: "Yeah! But vintage skeleton key style ones!"
Lois: (in a not very convinced voice) "Oh-kay."
Me: "It's a Goth thing!"
Lois: "Oh, okay, I see."

I love Lois like another mother, but she and I have completely different tastes. Unfortunately, she's not at Gem Show this year, but in previous years, we'd hit Gem Mall together, and show each other things. There were a few things we'd agree on, but mostly she'd respond to my enthusiasm with "Sorry, it leaves me cold" and I'd respond to hers with "Eh, it's OK, I guess." Of course, the nice thing about that is that when there's a limited amount of something, we don't have to fight over it.

Anyway, keys in hand, we continued on. At Raven's Journey, I said "Hi" to Jamey and Lenka and picked up some gorgeous Czech beads. I actually only picked up one type of leaf this year, but I also nabbed some beautiful lentils and windows. Then I went over to East of Oz, and I chatted with Marie, and I got some great vintage beads. Black glass Japanese spiderweb-y rounds, and huge green droppy things, and some opaque flat drops with a Deco look to them, and some foil-backed flowers... All very nice stuff. Plus I found a vendor with some cool bells, and brass and copper clasps that practically glow.

By the time I bought all that, my bag was heavy (actually, the strap came unstitched!), I was starving, and I'd spent more than twice what I intended to. We didn't even go to the other tents -- I had all that I'd come looking for, and then some, I didn't need any impulse buys!

Now I have to figure out where to put all these beads! Yikes!