My Turtle Talisman necklace was featured by fellow Tucsonan and FAE Team member 88Links in her Tucson Thursday blog post! Make sure you check out her shop; her maille and wirework are beautiful!While we're on the subject of Etsy, I'd like to direct you towards my latest Treasury, A Murder of Crows.
Today's Daily Special is Turtle Talisman! I've marked it down by $50, because well, the original price was really high, and I thought maybe someone out there might be looking for a deal. In fact, with the $50 you'd save, you could buy the matching bracelet and earrings and have the entire set for the original price of the necklace!I'm just a few minutes off from needing to get dressed and get ready for my weekly trek up to Tempe. Since Chris is out of town, a friend of ours agreed to drive me, and in return I'm buying him dinner. I've found a Hawaiian BBQ place not too awful far from class that looks pretty delicious, so I'm looking forward to it. I know I'll have danced up an appetite!
Yesterday I decided that since I enjoyed the colors in Turtle Talisman so much, I ought to make a bracelet and earrings to go with it. So here they are: Marsh and Trundling Turtles. Singly or as a set, they're deliciously green.I've had a busy day today. I voted, did housework, made earrings, took pictures, listed things on Etsy, and played with my hyper dogs. All in all, a good Tuesday.
Voting for the Etsy BeadWeavers' November Challenge ends at midnight! I'm not sure if that's midnight PST, EST, or some ST in between, but there you haven't. If you haven't voted already, click here and choose your favorite! The poll is conveniently located on the right side of the blog.
I'm pleasantly surprised to see that I'm in 4th place, which isn't bad at all, since I think there are more than three items which are much better than my necklace ;) And there's a very good chance that the item I voted for will win, which is great. Everyone loves to pick a winner!
I plan to work on my beaded book at the game tonight. It's actually the perfect sort of project to work on during a game; small, easily portable, and at this stage, very repetitive. Tomorrow I'll probably take a break from it and finish the dragon brooch, as a friend of mine sent me plenty of pinbacks. So many pinbacks, in fact, that I may have to make more brooches!
No, I'm not talking about the US Presidential Election. No politics here, only beautiful beaded jewelry! The turtle compels you to vote for your favorite entry in the Etsy BeadWeavers' challenge! Go forth, view all of the lovely pieces submitted for the Animal Instincts theme, and cast your vote. Tell all of your jewelry-loving friends, too!
Please note, I am not one of those people who tells all of her friends to vote for her, and to tell their friends to do so. I created Turtle Talisman to challenge myself to make something I wouldn't normally (a piece of jewelry with a non-fantasy, non-insect animal), and while I think it's very nice, I do not think that it is the best item in the poll. I want people to vote for the item that they like best. That's what I did. There are some really great items, made by people who were clearly more inspired by the theme than I was.
Now, if you want to tell your friends to buy my Turtle Talisman, I will not stop you ;) That would buy me a lot of cabochons! (ok, maybe not a lot, I have expensive tastes)
On a barely related tangential note, today was an awesome mail day. I received my two most recent Etsy purchases -- a pair of hairpins with clock face cabs, and a gorgeous steampunk bottle -- and a package from my friend and frequent blog commentor Marilee, who sent me some awesome sewing and beading supplies. Hooray for packages! (and for my nice mail lady, who brings them to the door, and who doesn't mind having two corgis charge at her every time)
Here's a close-up of my turtle pendant. I'm really happy with the positive response so far. I didn't think he was that awesome, but sometimes we're our own worse critics.
I really want to do more embroidery pieces. I ordered some ultra suede earlier this week so I can back them. I have a few cabs to work with, too. I just want to buy a whole bunch more! I've got a few sellers favorited on Etsy, and I can't wait to go on a little shopping spree someday.
For tonight, I have a weird steampunk necklace idea to work on. It's been floating around in my head for a while, and I decided it was finally time to use it. I even have the perfect name for it... It's called "Safety Gear" and when you see it, you'll know why!
I finished the Turtle Talisman and he is on Etsy! Just click on the link to see more pictures. I'm pretty happy with how he turned out, especially since I almost never do animal-themed jewelry. The greens are all very nice, the bead soup was fun to work with, and it's good to do fringe that isn't branchy every now and then.
Now, of course, I just have to figure out what to make next! I'm thinking of maybe bezeling around another rivoli, or possibly just doing some stringing for the next couple of days. I don't want to start a major project until I find out what the next Etsy BeadWeavers and Art Bead Scene challenges are. Besides, I have a lot of non-beady stuff that I'm supposed to be doing right now, too!
I thought I'd post a little in-progress picture of my turtle project. As you can see, I liked those green satin beads from Mr. Skully-Man so much that I used them here, too. I thought it was a nice break from the size 15s I was using, adds a little more visual interest. Then I spent a while doing a brick stitch edge to hold the base and backing together, which gave me a headache and sore fingers. Next, I shall experiment with fringe! I'm still trying to decide exactly what to do for the actual necklace, too.
Last night's gaming went fairly well. Everyone seemed to enjoy playing at our place, and the dogs definitely liked having us home all night, along with extra people to shower them with affection. We did have a small problem as people were arriving. Maggie had managed to step on a nasty goat-head thorn, and didn't want to hold still to let me get it out -- she was more interested in limping around the yard to greet all of our guests. Our friend Casey was quick to help me hold her down while Chris searched for good thorn-removing tools, and as soon as I pulled it out, she was back to her usual happy self. I just need to figure out what plant is throwing those thorns and get it out of my yard! I hate those things.
By the way, I am part of this fun "Buy and Replace" Treasury on Etsy. I bought a pretty Japanese paper and glass pendant, and in return, got my earrings featured to replace it. Check out the items on display! The ring at the bottom is made by one of my Facebook pals, and she's the one who told me about the treasury.
My Turtle Talisman necklace was featured by fellow Tucsonan and FAE Team member 88Links in her Tucson Thursday blog post! Make sure you check out her shop; her maille and wirework are beautiful!
Today's Daily Special is Turtle Talisman! I've marked it down by $50, because well, the original price was really high, and I thought maybe someone out there might be looking for a deal. In fact, with the $50 you'd save, you could buy the matching bracelet and earrings and have the entire set for the original price of the necklace!
Yesterday I decided that since I enjoyed the colors in Turtle Talisman so much, I ought to make a bracelet and earrings to go with it. So here they are: Marsh and Trundling Turtles. Singly or as a set, they're deliciously green.
Voting for the Etsy BeadWeavers' November Challenge ends at midnight! I'm not sure if that's midnight PST, EST, or some ST in between, but there you haven't. If you haven't voted already, click here and choose your favorite! The poll is conveniently located on the right side of the blog.
No, I'm not talking about the US Presidential Election. No politics here, only beautiful beaded jewelry! The turtle compels you to vote for your favorite entry in the Etsy BeadWeavers' challenge! Go forth, view all of the lovely pieces submitted for the Animal Instincts theme, and cast your vote. Tell all of your jewelry-loving friends, too!
Here's a close-up of my turtle pendant. I'm really happy with the positive response so far. I didn't think he was that awesome, but sometimes we're our own worse critics.
I finished the Turtle Talisman and he is on Etsy! Just click on the link to see more pictures. I'm pretty happy with how he turned out, especially since I almost never do animal-themed jewelry. The greens are all very nice, the bead soup was fun to work with, and it's good to do fringe that isn't branchy every now and then.
I thought I'd post a little in-progress picture of my turtle project. As you can see, I liked those green satin beads from Mr. Skully-Man so much that I used them here, too. I thought it was a nice break from the size 15s I was using, adds a little more visual interest. Then I spent a while doing a brick stitch edge to hold the base and backing together, which gave me a headache and sore fingers. Next, I shall experiment with fringe! I'm still trying to decide exactly what to do for the actual necklace, too.