New Things

 I've had so many fun and exciting things going on lately that I haven't quite kept up with blogging about new jewelry! I listed the Smug Hipster Owl necklace and earrings set on Etsy last week. Between the set and a pair of not-yet-listed earrings, I managed to use the entire strand of brown and grey oval beads, which I just bought at the Rings & Things show last week.

These hamsa earrings, called Thrice because they have three different elements believed to ward off the evil eye, are brand new today, although I made them at the same time as the owl set. Since the first set of hamsa earrings sold before I could list them, I figured I needed to make another pair.

By the way, I'm not ready to make any announcements yet, but I'm working on various business opportunities. Although Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs will remain the primary source for my one-of-a-kind jewelry, I'm looking into some vending and some consignment, to get my work out there and connect with new customers.

The day I found out that owls got a bad rap

You may remember this necklace from a while back. Well, Athena's Familiar is finally on Etsy, thanks to the fact that I took this nice picture of it back on Monday. Natural sunlight is so good for getting true-color images of jewelry. You can really see the beautiful grey and black mottling of the black labradorite/larvikite (which I finally identified thanks to the Rings & Things gem stone index and confirmed by seeing more of it at their show last month).

Anyway, about owls and how they don't get any respect. As I've probably mentioned before, I like to do little bits of research on things. For instance, even though I don't necessarily believe in such things, I like to find the mystical associations of different stones, animals and symbols that I use in my jewelry. I'm fascinated by belief, and about the stories that surround the beliefs.

So today, I wanted to find some nice beliefs about owls to work into the description of Athena's Familiar. Obviously I already knew about the association with Athena, and through that, the association with wisdom. But surely, I thought, someone other than the Greeks must have felt some owl love.

How wrong I was. Everything else in my Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures was about doom and gloom. In China, Japan, Africa, and America, owls were seen as bad omens, harbingers of death and illness, and more. In Australia, they knew the proper dirge to sing at funerals, which while nice, is a further association with death.

Nocturnal creatures in general were traditionally feared or reviled. I guess early man was so afraid of the darkness and the nighttime that anything that was active during that time had to be an extension of evil.

Nowadays, the owl gets a little more love. Cute idie girls wear t-shirts and jewelry adorned with various owl motifs. Etsy is replete with owl merchandise. In fact, owls are so trendy that I actually questioned making this necklace, but the owl seemed like the perfect way to complete the dark palette of beads I'd chosen (inspired by the tiny dark blue metallic Swarovski crystals. I asked myself "what will go with these?" and ended up with Athena's Familiar). I like to think that my necklace acknowledges and even embraces the owl's unfortunately dark path, and gives those of us with a darker aesthetic the chance to say "I liked owls before they were cool."

In other Etsy-related news, I also listed Subtle Charm, and today's Daily Special is Verdant Pageantry.

It's an owl!

A little sneak preview of another necklace that's awaiting more photographs. I call this one "Athena's Familiar." It features a two-sided owl pendant by Green Girl, some awesome star-shaped cubic zirconium drops, metallic blue Swarovski crystals, and some unidentified nifty stone beads. Plus clear faceted Czech glass beads with Bali-style bead caps. I have a feeling it will be quick to find a new home, what with the fact that owls are pretty trendy right now and this is a unique, and if I do say so myself, pretty wicked kewl necklace.

I took some great pictures of this one on some black pin-striped paper, but that was after the tripod broke and they were all fuzzy. But I do like this reddish-brownish faux-painted paper. I think it makes for a good dark and dramatic background. I'll probably use it for a lot of Goth and Steampunk stuff.

Anyone want to take a stab at identifying the stones, by the way? They're light to dark grey/black, with moonstone-like chatoyancy and slight translucence. I really like them and think I should have bought more. Why do I always do that? I guess it's because I stopped using stone beads for a while, so I didn't want to buy too many, but I just used them in three projects this week, so I guess my muse likes them again.