I love vintage beads

 One of my great joys as a jewelry designer is finding and using unusual vintage beads and components! I just listed these Absinthe Crystal Chandelier Earrings in my Gothic Jewelry section. They feature some of my favorite vintage beads -- those teardrops are hollow blown glass! How cool is that? I can't even remember where and when I got them, because I buy vintage beads from so many places.

However, I do remember where I got the vintage cabochon, teardrops, and bicones in Ghost Portal. They all came from this weird shop in NY that was tucked away in a warehouse-y/industrial-y district on Long Island. It was one of the must-stop-shops whenever my mother-in-law and I would go bead shopping. Sadly, the store has since been closed down and torn down, so there are no more fun afternoons of wandering around picking out weird vintage beads, but I do still have a pretty impressive stash from the few years that I did shop there.

New Jewelry!!!

It has been way too long since I added new jewelry to my Etsy shop! To make up for lost time, I have multiple items that will be going up over the next week. I started yesterday with Ganesh Enshrined. I don't normally do religious-themed jewelry, but Ganesh is so popular with belly dancers and I thought this pendant was really awesome, so I decided to make an exception.

What else do I have coming down the pipeline? A beautiful beadwoven Gothic necklace, chandelier earrings, hamsa earrings, key earrings... And that's not even counting the in-progress items that I need to finish up and list!

It's all me this week

Well, no treasury features for me so far this week, so this post will just be about treasuries I made! Luckily I made two because I felt like it. The above is a non-FAETeam collection for once. There are a few FAE items in there but mostly it's stuff culled from my Etsy favorites. I really do love fancy hair accessories!

I did of course make a FAETeam Treasury too! It's called Squeee! and it features a bunch of cute items because I felt like I needed a break from Halloween and Fall-related themes. Besides, who could resist that little otter's face?

More Autumn Treasuries

Seems like treasuries are all about Autumn and Halloween right now! Can't really blame people, it's been a pretty harsh Summer all across the country and I think we're all ready for Fall. Of course, it's still in the 90s and even up to 100 some days here in Tucson, and when we do get Autumn weather, all the leaves on the few non-evergreen trees just turn brown and fall right off. So my treasury is inspired by the sort of Fall that I never really experience.

Crunching through the Fall Leaves was curated by one of my Phoenix dance friends and shows that same longing for some real Autumn weather and sights.

As What Caught My Eye isn't specifically Fall-themed, but you can tell that Mermie has Autumn and Halloween on the brain based on what did catch her eye.

Belly Dance Picture!

I'm busy cleaning my bead room/putting together a package of beads for a swap, so instead of something business-related, here's a picture of me dancing! I honestly have no idea what I was doing when this was snapped, but whatever. I still feel pretty ;) This weekend's performance was at Studio 455, where they currently have a display of photos from and related to the All Souls Procession, which was really cool! Behind me there's a picture of a dead, mostly-skeletal animal AND a dead bug being eaten by ants. I really should have taken the opportunity to get super Gothed-up and danced to something really dark and heavy to go with the dead things!

New lower prices on Chandelier Earrings

I decided recently that some of my chandelier earrings were overpriced, so I've been working on repricing them. Today I lowered the prices on two pairs by $10, which means that you can now get Sunset Shimmer or Enchantment for $40.

I have the findings to make some more awesome crystal chandelier earrings, but right now I'm kind of focused on taming the mess that is my guest room, since there's talk of in-laws coming to visit next month and the bed is buried under beads and jewelry!

My booth

Here's a shot of my booth from the Desert Shakedown this past weekend! I packed my canopy, but when I got there I found that my spot was under a roof. It was so nice to not have to worry about anchoring my canopy, or tearing it down at the end of the night. Decor is provided by my collection of sarongs and thrift-store saris.

I definitely want to continue replacing my black "velvet" displays with teak wood. The wooden ones may be heavier, but they're also more durable and don't attract cat hair. I had to throw away several of my velvet displays due to flocking loss or breakage.

Treasuries on Thursday!

Yesterday my husband took the day off and we enjoyed the rare chance to be completely lazy, which meant I didn't update my blog and as a consequence, you get this week's treasury round-up on Thursday instead of Wednesday. Above, you can see my latest Halloween-themed FAETeam collection, this time focused on spooky critters.

Three features for me this week. Of course Phoenix Feathers found its way into yet another treasury: gold colors. It was also wildly popular at the Desert Shakedown, so I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before someone makes this beautiful necklace their own. Admire it while you still can ;)

A pair of purple earrings found themselves in The Color of Royalty, which is a delightfully luxurious collection.

 Into the Pumpkin Patch we go... is a great Autumn/Harvest/Halloween-themed treasury with my "Hungriest Pixie Ever" pomegranate faerie necklace included.

Thank you to all of the artists who included me in their Treasuries this week!

Happy new homes

 Although Saturday's show wasn't the rousing success I had hoped it would be, I did actually make more money selling jewelry than I spent on new belly dance costuming goodies, so it was still good! And I'm very happy that several pieces went to new homes where they will be worn by dancers that I admire.

This necklace event went home with one of my troupemates, which means that I will get to see it often! She wore it for our photo shoot, which meant there were three of us wearing my jewelry in our professional photos. I'm so happy and excited!

I did create some new items that didn't sell, so I will soon be adding them to my shop Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs. I also plan to get some more destash lots listed soon, too, so if you're looking for more beads (especially leaf beads) keep an eye on the shop or this blog to find out when I have them up.

One lovely treasury

It was a quiet week for treasuries, so this one that I'm included in is all I have to share. I'm really busy getting ready for the Desert Shakedown this weekend and that was my main focus yesterday. I'll be back to making treasuries next week!

New Bracelet Display

I bought this beautiful teak wood bracelet display back in February, but I haven't used it until now! I decided to save myself some set-up time and put my bracelets on it now instead of Saturday morning. This also allows me to see what colors I could use to have more of -- like red and orange, for example. And I really should have more than four spiral rope bracelets!

I'm getting really excited for the Desert Shakedown! It's going to be an exhausting day, what with a workshop and a performance and vending all day, but I think I'm going to have a lot of fun... and hopefully sell a lot of jewelry! My Square card reader just arrived today so I should be able to accept credit cards at the show, too. It's so awesome living in the 21st century.

And now, Treasuries!

It's time for another Wednesday Treasury round-up! Above is my FAETeam Treasury Tuesday collection, featuring an assortment of green items perfect for Halloween costumes. The funny thing is that I keep making all of these Halloween treasuries, but I haven't planned what I'm going to BE for Halloween. I'll probably just cobble something together from my closet as usual!

My fantasy jewelry was included in two FAETeam treasuries yesterday. First, you can find my tribal skull necklace in Creepy and Kooky, and you can find a filigree steampunk necklace in Victorian Fae. Two themes I love!

It's a moth!

 Well, my jewelry photos haven't been great lately, but I did get a couple of good pictures of this dead moth that my friend Amanda brought to me! Yes, that's the sort of friendship we have -- she brings me dead moths and I photograph them and we both geek out because we both love insects.

Look at his face! How cool is it? He is, or was, some sort of Sphinx moth... very large and beautiful. I love moths and have actually considered a Sphinx moth tattoo, but I have a feeling that all of my tattoos will be beetles because I love them even more.

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.

My Dance Life

Since I know that not all of you read my other blog, Confessions of a Dance Pants Addict, I thought I would take a few minutes and update you on my belly dance life -- after all, things get kind of boring around here when I post nothing but Treasuries!

The above photo is from the Healing Through Dance benefit this past weekend. I'm pleased to say that we raised over $600 for the Sessoms family, and Plaza de Anaya allowed us to leave the rack of donated costumes in the store, so that number will probably go up!

Things are going very well in my dance life. I was recently invited to join The Anaya Tribe, Anaya Tribal's new student troupe. It means lots of extra drives up to Tempe and very little free weekend time (because Autumn is the busy season for dancers here, due to the lovely weather), but it also means lots of fun, lots of time with my dance friends, and lots of performance experience! We're performing at a charity thing this Sunday, but our first open-to-the-public performance will be at the Desert Shakedown on October 8th.

And don't forget that I will also be vending my jewelry at the Shakedown! I will have everything that is in my Etsy shop, plus things that I haven't listed yet. I am hoping to have Square set up on my phone so that I can finally accept credit cards, too! But if you can't wait that long for a jewelry fix, please visit Handmade Jewelry by Erthe Fae Designs and do a little shopping. You'll be supporting my costume and workshop addictions!

Oh, and lest you think that Phoenix gets all the belly dance love, I also have a student performance coming up here in Tucson next month! For most of my classmates it will be their first time performing. I'm so excited for them! I wonder if they'll get hooked like I did?

Bring on the Treasuries!

A little moody black and red as I look forward to Halloween! I was inspired by The Scarlet Dancer, a treasury I was included in earlier in the week.

I was also included in Oh Glorious Darkness and FAEntastic Treasures. It's so nice to see more FAETeam members get into the Treasury Tuesday spirit!

As requested...

So apparently when you show the internet a photo of several bags full of vintage costume jewelry, people want to know what's inside! Here's the first of what will probably be many photos.

There's a large abalone shell set into a custom-made silver ring. I suspect I will wear this one for a lot of dance gigs! Tribal girls love big rings and this one fits me and doesn't have any protrusions to snag my costumes!

There's a cameo set. The setting and the flip down pendant bail are very similar to the unusual cameo that my mother-in-law gave me, so I suspect they have similar origins as well! I love that I'll be able to wear the earrings with either pendant/brooch.

And there's also a pair of dolphin and flower earrings! These look like vermeil set with onyx. I'm offering them to my Mom because she and my Dad are SCUBA divers and they love dolphins. I suspect she'd wear these beautiful earrings more often than I will.

Wowza!

I was wondering what to blog about today, and it's a good thing I waited instead of posting something boring, because look what the nice UPS man just brought for me! My husband's godmother cleaned out her jewelry box and sent everything she didn't want anymore to me! There's glass, crystals, metal, plastic, and even a set of cameos! And that's just what I noticed from digging around a little bit. Sorting through these treasures is going to take a while, and it's going to be fun :)

This is one of the awesome things about being a jewelry designer... My house is where old jewelry goes to be reborn! Will I leave the pieces as-is? Dismantle them and make them into new jewelry? Use them to decorate tribal bras, belts, and headgear? Only time will tell.

Please come to this event!

If you'll be in the Phoenix area this Saturday, come to the Healing Through Dance Benefit Show and Sale! I will be among the numerous dancers performing, and I'm also donating a pair of chandelier earrings and a goddess necklace to the raffle. Other prizes include private belly dance lessons, gift certificates for brow waxing, and more! There will also be a rummage sale for gently used belly dance costume items. Lastly, after all of the performers have danced, we'll put on some music for open dancing.

All proceeds go to help the Sessoms family pay for PJ's cancer treatment. PJ is the mother of my very awesome classmate Jacque, who will also be performing a solo! It's going to be an awesome night for a good cause, so please attend and donate if you can!

So pretty!

My theme for this week's FAETeam treasury is "Stuff I think is pretty." Sometimes it's nice to keep it simple and not have to worry whether something really fits the theme and goes nicely with everything else I've already included. And yesterday was a good day to take the easy route, since I was gone all afternoon!

Now for the Treasuries I was featured in! Phoenix Feathers continues its reign of popularity, having been included in Fire and Water and Autumn Sunrise. My handmade necklaces also made it into Falling Leaves and Stark Fantasy. Every one of these collections is beautiful! Thank you to the artists who included me.