KSK Designs

Mandible Fired, EFA Treasury, Showing Some Love

2011-03-07T06:17:00.000-05:00

I've had a low couple of days, but I did manage to fire the galago mandible, as well as a medallion I made using an antique vulture button. I'm really happy with how they came out, and just need to make some final touches. These will be put on sterling chain like my other bones and medallion, but for a lot of my silver pendants I also have plans for more elaborate designs using beads and natural bones. A little something for everyone maybe, and I really enjoy putting together pieces that have a theme or are just a little more complicated to make. The mandible pic is not great, so I'll put that at the bottom after I share a couple of treasuries.

This first is an Etsy for Animals Team collection of bees including my silver and gold bumble bee:

This is a collection I made including some of my favorite people on Etsy.

And the galago mandible:

Thanks for reading, and I'll try to be cheerier next time!

Today's Project

2011-03-04T09:02:00.000-05:00

It's all about phalanges today. I'm going to use my Christmas/Birthday present, a new Dremel, to drill holes in the toe bones from my second found fox so I can make more Dancing Phalanges earrings. At four pairs sold, they're officially my best seller, so gotta keep those stocked! This is my most recent pair, and if you click the pic you'll find a link in my listing for a cute video snippet on YouTube.

Dancing Phalanges

I also currently have more pieces molding for some kind of silver toe bones and claws creation, maybe a necklace and earrings set. These are from a king penguin, and the biggest claw is over an inch long! I made the mistake of not using enough molding compound in an effort to conserve, so I actually had to roll some extra onto the bottom of four of the molds to thicken them. A phalanx had gone through one, but it seems to have made a nice seamless patch and hopefully won't affect the surface of the silver. Anyway, here's the set in the lovely blue silicone compound. You can see how good I am at keeping my nails from digging into it.

I woke up this morning to a nice surprise, and I hope you'll take a few moments to check it out in support of the curator and all the wonderful Etsy shops. Thank you for reading, and have a great day!

Newest Mandible

2011-03-03T08:48:00.001-05:00

The last few weeks have been an exciting time for me thanks to a very kind person who offered to share some of their teaching collection of natural bones and Bone Clones®. Bone Clones® are resin replicas cast from real bone, and the brand has become highly respected by educators for their exacting standards and detailed reproductions. The natural bones, many exotic, were obtained legally and humanely. This is important to me, and I trust my source, who has good reason to have the bones in the first place.

I've been doing a lot of molding, but I'm anxious to have a finished piece, a gift of thanks for the opportunity. My first project is a galago, or bushbaby, mandible. I had to go with this one first, because it's so interesting compared with other mammal jaw bones. Galagos, along with lemurs and lorises, are in a special group of primates which have a toothcomb. The structure is in the front of the mandible, and in the galago consists of four lower incisors and two canines [three on each side]. These teeth aid in grooming by removing dirt and matted hair. In the topmost picture below, you can see the incisors peeking out from behind the largest forward pointing tooth, which is the canine.

It would be nice to have a casting machine so I could make true 3D reproductions, but I really enjoy the process of molding by hand. Even though it's more work to pick up the details of the bone, trim the excess clay, and angle and smooth the edges, there's a connection to the bone that I think I'd miss using a machine. I can only hope there are people out there who appreciate that aspect of my pieces enough to maybe buy someday! In the meantime, I'm having a lot of fun, and am so grateful for the inner motivation and external opportunities which allow me to do it.

My dad has dubbed my mandibles the 'Jaws Line', imagine that! I know there are more popular items out there, but I just love that I have enough jaws to continue to develop a little line. If you're interested, you can see my finished ones by clicking the pics below.

Fine Silver Hedgehog Mandible

Fine Silver Squirrel Mandible

Thank you for reading, and have a great day!

Until Tomorrow

2011-03-02T19:17:00.000-05:00

I've been swimming in molding compound and a borrowed collection of very unique bones lately, which isn't such a bad place for me, and is definitely keeping me very busy! Tomorrow I plan to take a little break and share my current project in process, but for now I want to post the most recent treasuries in which I've been included. Aside from posting links in my listings, this is the best way I have to share the wonderful work of the other featured sellers and the curators who were kind enough to include me. I've made just a handful of treasuries myself, and it's not an easy task. There are so many cool things on Etsy that it takes a lot of time and patience to put a collection together, as well as a special talent to display your picks beautifully. Thanks much, guys!

I hope everyone has a great night!

International Polar Bear Day

2011-02-27T07:33:00.000-05:00

Double Feature: The Oscars & International Polar Bear Day - Polar Bears International

[Testing the share on Blogger thingy]

Polar bears are classified as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act, but experts in polar bear science consider them endangered, and predict that two-thirds of the world's population could disappear by mid-century as the Arctic continues to warm due to climate change. The major threat is rapid loss of sea ice, but pollution, poaching and industrial impact are also considered dangers. Today is about raising awareness of the threats polar bears face, but also about what we can do to help. If I've done this correctly, you can visit the link at the beginning of this post for tips. If not, I'll fix. :)

Happy International Polar Bear Day!

Quieter Snacks & An Awesome Gift!

2011-02-25T06:43:00.001-05:00

I swear they aren't paying me, but SunChips may have just made my life a little bit happier. Chris and I used to eat them all the time in CA, excepting our vegan years. It actually took us a little while to find them around here after we moved back to small town upstate NY. Since then, they've been a luxury treat, or we might eat them all the time. However, last year they assaulted my [and apparently a lot of other people's] ears with a new 100% compostable bag registering at about 80-85 decibels, and I just couldn't have them any more. I've always had very sensitive ears, notice sounds a lot of people don't, and am easily driven to distraction by what I call 'undernoises' - quiet background sounds which to me never seem exactly quiet. Strangely, loud noises were never a problem, but they became so when my mega depression set in. It always struck me as kind of the near-sighted vs. far-sighted of hearing, and now I have both. So thank you, SunChips, for redesigning your bag to now register at only around 70 decibels! Okay, still seems quite loud to me, but it's more in line with the original packaging as well as most chip bags. Just so you know, the info was gleaned from Care2 and you can even listen to the difference at the chip people's site. The ad lady seems very excited, but as this is certainly important news, I will report my own findings after our next shopping trip.

I really want to take a moment to thank my wonderful friend, Ronnie of WolfBANGbullets, who just sent me such a thoughtful birthday present! Among other beautiful things, she sent all the fixings for a little shipping station, which is going to make my life easier and has already seriously reduced the clutter in my workroom. There are containers and labels, notebooks and lavender sachets, and a huge hefty bag with pockets to hold everything. I had a workable system before, but things were everywhere. If there's anyone out there as disorganized as me, this kind of centralized system is a great idea. And it only took over a year of selling and someone else doing it for me to realize!

I mentioned the bats yesterday, and I thought I'd share some of my bat earrings today. While everything that isn't bone related in my shop generates at least a 10% donation to BCI, my bats specifically generate 20% for the organization. I'm working on some with Swarovski stars, but here's a little sample of my current designs.

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone has a great day!

New Treasuries

2011-02-24T10:35:00.000-05:00

Good morning, everyone! Just a quick test of Craft Cult's treasury widget, with many thanks to the curators, my dear friend Vee of Very Vee, and Susan of Jewel Re Motion. So many beautiful items, and I'm grateful to have something of mine amongst them! I'll get the hang of this, but for now I'm excited to see it work.

I received a very kind note from Bat Conservation International this morning, in regards to the donations from my shop. If you love bats, you may want to check them out and read up on their progress fighting White-nose Syndrome [WNS]. With last week's discovery of the fungus in Indiana and North Carolina, WNS is now confirmed to have spread to a total of sixteen U.S. states. There's a little section on how you can help, even if you don't have money to give.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy browsing the treasuries!

Another Go?

2011-02-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

Eight months since my last post, and I'm just making some revisions with hopes of returning on a more regular basis. I have pictures to take, 34 projects to be finished or remade, a workspace amounting to two inches of usable area, piles everywhere, and absolutely no idea where to begin! It's a far cry from where I was just one year ago; struggling to focus, short on ideas, and barely able to complete one project a week. Still, I'm not much more productive now because I feel a bit overwhelmed, so maybe I need another outlet. I had thoughts of making this into more of a business blog, but that just isn't me, so if I return it will be much the same. Maybe some day I'll change the top image. For now though, a few updates: a little rearranging, a new page for my babies, no more Facebook link because I just can't maintain it, and a little post to potentially inspire myself to come back.

In other news, it's 46 degrees, the snow is melting, I have newly planted seeds on the windowsill just starting to peek out of the dirt, a new albino rat, guppies being born as I write, and part of a teaching collection of bones on the way to mold. I'm listening to Puscifer's Momma Sed because I think it's pretty and, well, it's Maynard. And I'm now 41. Good times! :)

Easing Back In...

2010-06-26T19:56:00.000-04:00

Trying to anyway. These occasional disappearances must be hard to understand for anyone who isn't familiar with depression, but they're something with which many people who have depression struggle. I haven't felt awful these last few weeks, but I often find it difficult to maintain a level of social interaction that might seem normal and comfortable for most people. At these times I tend to withdraw, and I'm working on learning to recognize when it's about to happen so I can at least let people know I may be needing a break. One of the hard things is not knowing how long that break may be, and when I feel this way it seems like it will be forever.

Luckily, I haven't been in a full-blown depression, so I've been able to get some work done and haven't isolated from my family. That contact can be so important, especially when I'm already feeling less than proud of myself for not keeping up elsewhere. It doesn't hurt having a supportive family that makes me laugh. If you like to read my blog or check out my Facebook page, I apologize for the long absence, and I so appreciate everyone who has stuck with me. Hopefully I can get myself back into a healthier pattern because there are some people I really miss hearing from and talking to!

A bit of shop news - after seeing the Thank You cards my mom and I designed to go out with my orders, my friend Vee requested some customized with her shop info to send to her customers. They were so much fun to do that I've added a little section to my shop where I'll offer a handful of basic designs for other sellers. The cards make a really nice addition to the packages I send out, and they're perfect for holding my mini Moo cards. Offering them in my shop will give me a chance to do something else I enjoy besides making jewelry and hopefully help out other sellers as well. My plan is to start with simple text on the front and the seller's Etsy address on the back, but if people seem interested I can include their shop logo or avatar on the front.

I'm getting ready to fire my newest design using PMC, keeping my fingers crossed that it will work. It's a classic design, but I did do some research using pics from an old British funeral home. It's very basic, but is the first piece I've done that isn't either completely coated organic matter or made using a mold I've bought or cast myself, so I'm pretty excited about it. The cross on top is made of PMC-coated rodent bones. After the first firing, I plan to add a 'molding' between the two levels, also of coated rodent bones. I'm doing it in two steps to allow for the initial shrinkage of the clay during firing. My concern is that the bones bordering the top level will end up in the wrong place, and this stuff is too expensive for me to want to test that theory! I'm now a bit worried about what the top bones will do, so I'll be keeping a close eye on the process. Anyway, sneak peak:

Classic Toe Pincher

Chris and I went to the local college last night hoping to catch sight of a fox family that he spotted from the car the other evening. Amazingly, we did see the parents very briefly before they took off into their little woodsy area, though we weren't quick enough to get pics of them. We did hear the pups yipping and tackling each other behind the treeline, which was pretty cute.

Fox nappy area

Suspicious fur / murder evidence

Ending this one with some beautiful bug photos Chris took outside our house the other night. He submitted one to What's That Bug for their archives and some identification help, so hopefully we'll hear from them soon.

Time to feed the zoo. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Kreative Blogger, Recollections of a Riot

2010-06-02T06:36:00.002-04:00

Almost a month ago, two of my favorite blogs passed along the Kreative Blogger to me. I know they're usually called awards, but I feel kind of weird calling them that when I'm the recipient, so I think of them more as opportunities. Thank you so much, Natalie and Deb, for thinking of me! I posted about Natalie of Scrivener's Retreat after I received an adorable stuffed rat she made for my rats, Helen and Magda. I've also received an order from jewelry artist Deb of Deb's Designs, beautiful vintage turquoise glass beads which I paired with black onyx in this gunmetal chain necklace. I hope you'll take a look at both of these blogs, as well as the beautiful shops run by their authors. As a satisfied customer of both, I can honestly say they're well worth your business if you're in the position to do some shopping.

On to the conditions! I'm to post seven interesting things about myself, then pass the opportunity along to seven bloggers I admire who are in creative fields. Starting with the most exciting [?!], my seven things are:

1. I was living in Hollywood, CA during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. It was my last year of college, right around finals time. I remember I couldn't get to campus because the bus routes were shut down. The first day of rioting was mainly concentrated in areas other than mine, but by the next day it moved into Hollywood. I lived one street away from Hollywood Boulevard, and it was very loud but strangely devoid of sirens. I took an early morning walk around the block to have a quick look [shhh, don't tell my mom], and it was pretty chaotic. Cars were stopped in the middle of the street while people ran into stores and carried mounds of stuff back to them. I remember seeing armloads of cigarettes, beer, clothes, and electronics - looters' gold. The mood was jovial, though a bit greedy. There wasn't a cop to be seen, and in their absence everyone was 'getting along' just fine. Unfortunately they were getting along with stolen property! Of course, this was Hollywood, not South Central or some of the more violently hit areas. By afternoon of that second day, Hollywood was burning and the National Guard was moving in. Two buildings near me were on fire, including the one across the tiny street I lived on, and I finalized plans I was making to leave with my friend and our animals. My roommate and ex refused to go, thinking he was making some kind of final stand. My friend showed up about 1/2 hour before they planned to close all access to and from Hollywood, and we got the car loaded with my dog and 4 cats just in time to drive past several rifle-toting Guards on the way to the Freeway. We spent a much quieter weekend in a hotel somewhere in the San Fernando Valley, and apparently in all the stress and excitement I neglected to let my parents know I had gotten there and was okay, go me!

2. Despite the riots, I managed to graduate from USC. I started in Anthropology/Linguistics, but graduated with a BA in their newly-started SWMS [Study of Women and Men in Society] program. I had some wonderful professors throughout, as well as an interesting mix of good friends, but I have to admit that I had a hard time identifying with a lot of the people who went there. A good portion of the student body was from a very financially privileged background, and I got lots of assistance. That difference mattered to a lot of people, though not to me. It was an interesting school to go to, the so-called University for Spoiled Children [or University of Second Choice for those like myself who also applied to Stanford University], set in the middle of South Central. South Central has gotten so much bad press that Los Angeles officially changed the name to South Los Angeles in 2003. I prefer South Central, and even though I had some horrible things happen there, there was a lot to love about it. Admittedly not enough to outweigh someone getting shot on my lawn, having my house broken into, and having the house next door firebombed.

3. Because of the going to school on the other side of the country thing, I've driven between New York and California several times alone. Well, almost alone - each time was with all of my animals, including my German Shepherd/Husky and 3 cats. Two drives were with my husband, once with our iguana as well as the dog and cats when we moved from California to New York. One of the cats was being moved so she could be re-buried here. Maybe too much information. Anyway, the hardest things about the drive were being cramped for so many hours, and finding halfway decent places to stay that would accept animals. Also, the weather could get tricky. I had to drive over the Rockies during a nasty snowstorm once, and over the Mississippi River on the I-80 from Iowa into Illinois during the Flood of 1993. Despite the hassle, I really miss the drives.

4. I've lived in twelve places I can think of: two in Upstate New York, and the rest in California. In California, I lived in both on and off campus housing, plus non-university housing, all in South Central. I lived for a few months in a little artists community in Mount Washington. For a couple of months, I lived in West Hollywood. I'm not a fan type, but this is kind of cool for me - Quentin Tarantino lived in the apartment across from me and my roommate. He had just finished Resevoir Dogs and was asking around for people's opinions, so we got to watch it. :) I lived in two places in Hollywood, a half block away from each other. Chris and I first lived together in Tujunga, which was an all-around bizarre experience with crazy neighbors being watched by the FBI. We escaped to the beautiful town of Montrose, where we had a yard with loquat trees which I miss so much and can't find here. After that, we went to Granada Hills. Enough said there, other than it was good to come back to New York!

5. I love swimming. My mom got me into the water when I was tiny, and I went through the whole swimming program at our YMCA. In high school, I became a lifeguard there and taught swimming to all ages and levels, from newborns to senior citizens. I used to spend as long as I could underwater, doing laps along the bottom of the pool until I was recycling the air in my lungs just so I wouldn't have to go up. I need to find a place that I can afford to swim at again, because it's been years.

6. I love words, word games, and puzzles. When I'm stressed or grumpy, I play Word Pop on iWon. You click letter tiles that fall until you make a word, then double-click the last to enter it, while more letter tiles fall progressively faster. My highest score is over 4,000,000 points, which puts me at 7th Place, somehow with only 2 people with scores above me. I don't understand that, but it doesn't matter, I just love to play. It's something that challenges me without entirely frustrating me because I'm actually pretty good at it.

7. I love horror movies, and I don't care if they're any good by anyone's standards including my own. The only horror I actively avoid is that by Ulli Lommel. Those films are a whole different kind of horror. True, I've only started to watch a handful of the 17 serial killer movies he directed in 4 years, but a few minutes of those was plenty. Other than that, if our TV isn't on CNN [Chris' fault] or some animal/nature/science thing minus any doomed animals, it's on Chiller or SyFy. I even watch the SyFy originals because how can you beat giant mutated sea creatures leaping into the air after helicopters?

If you're still here, I know my next step is to pass the opportunity on to seven other bloggers I admire. There is no shortage of them, but I know of at least a couple who wouldn't choose to participate. I also know that quite a few people have recently received the Kreative Blogger, so instead of giving a duplicate award, I'd like to offer the challenge openly. If any of my readers would like to tell us seven things about themselves, please let me know so I can read them. It's a fun challenge, so I really do hope some people will decide to participate.

This one has tired me out, so after I quickly share my newest necklace, I'm off for napping! Click the pic if you want to see the listing.

Floating Fox Bone

I hope everyone enjoys their day!

Featured on a Favorite!

2010-05-29T07:10:00.001-04:00

I haven't been feeling very inspired to write lately; in fact this is the first time I've even visited my blog since I last posted almost two weeks ago. I'm so glad I made it over today, because I had such a nice surprise waiting for me! One of my favorite bloggers and the wonderfully talented artist behind The Sage's Cupboard on Etsy, Mortira, has just featured my blog on her aptly-named Inspirational Beading blog! I have to admit to feeling flattered since I admire her beadwork as well as her writing, and I can tell from reading regularly that we have many interests in common. Mostly, though, I'm truly touched by her kind words. I hope you'll take the time to have a good look around Mortira's blog and her shop - there's much beauty to be found at both.

Another surprise that greeted me here this morning was finding that I've posted only six times this month. I was a little disappointed with myself until I realized that this has also been one of my most productive months creatively. I've made and listed several new items, am currently working on four projects, and have initiated a couple of changes in my shop. Since I started this blog to help me focus on becoming productive again, I've decided not to be too hard on myself about the lack of posting! Also, my mom brought up the point that a lot of my new items feature components that I've made myself, and I'm taking that as a good sign. Below are some of my new listings, just click the pics if you'd like a closer look!

Darker, My Love

Lily

Transformation

As far as shop changes, I've expanded my Curiosities/OsteoWear section, and now have Finger and Wrist sections. My necklaces are now listed by color in ROY G [red, orange, yellow, green], BIV [blue, indigo, violet], and Neutrals. I also wanted to mention that I've closed my Zibbet shop because I decided it's best for me to focus on only one shop. And to end the jewelry talk is a big project I'm working on - the creation of quality tags for each of my necklaces and bracelets! I ordered letter and quality stamps, and have made two tags using fine silver bezel strip. I definitely need practice, but I have attached one already, which you can see on the necklace in my shop if you click this closeup:

I do have some things lined up here to try to help me remain inspired to post again. There's another project I want to mention, a wonderful nature photographer I had hoped to feature last week, and a blog award I'm looking forward to finally posting about. It almost sounds like I have a plan! Susan and Alex, if you see this, I haven't forgotten you and I will write soon. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend! :)

New Items, Bat Conservation Groups

2010-05-16T20:19:00.000-04:00

Well, the connection seems fine now and I'm hoping to get over to Facebook tomorrow. Hi whoever may happen to see this - I hope everyone's doing well! I've been pretty lax on the online stuff these last few days, but I'm trying to remedy that. I got sick of being constantly frustrated with the connection, then I got myself into a bit of a creating frenzy [as far as that goes with me].

I was going to put this last, but it's way too cute to wait - this is one of Tolga Bat Hospital's resident Spectacled Flying Foxes, Sushi, with her pup. I write more about Tolga below. :)

I've finally finished up the PMC snakeskin pendants I started making almost a month ago, and Lewis the Megachiroptera is almost complete. I'm considering using him for a finished piece, but also listing him as a custom order pendant. I may do the same with Chauncey and Woodrow. The snakeskin pics will take you to my listings if you're interested, and the other is just to show what the flying fox looks like now that it's been oxidized. I burnished all the raised areas, so it's actually shinier than it looks in this picture.

Eris Pendant

Eris 2 Pendant

Lewis

I thought this would be a perfect time to point out some of the great organizations working for the protection and conservation of bats. I've written a little summary for each, but if you love bats like I do, I highly recommend visiting the sites so you can learn more about their work.

Bat Conservation International is working to understand and eliminate White-nose Syndrome, as well as restore bat populations which have been decimated by it. They also work directly with governmental, industrial and private agencies to help ensure safe management and protection of common bat roosting sites such as bridges, mines and caves. They offer education and volunteer opportunities to the general public, as well as scholarships and grants to students, scientists and various grassroots conservation efforts. My Nana's second husband was a BCI member and made me aware of the organization, and because of him and their widespread involvement in bat conservation, this is where 10% of the earnings from my shop goes.

Bat World Sanctuary rescues and gives lifetime sanctuary to non-releasable bats that have been orphaned, injured, confiscated from the illegal pet trade, and retired from zoos and research facilities. They have 20 rescue centers nationwide and provide information on how to provide temporary care until you can locate a local rescue center. They also offer education and rehabilitation training programs to the general public.

Lubee Bat Conservancy is an international organization dedicated to protecting fruit bats and their habitats through research, conservation and education. They offer educational and volunteer opportunities to the public, and run a research and conservation breeding center in Florida which provides training to scientists and students.

Tolga Bat Hospital in Australia rescues, rehabilitates and releases bats, and provides lifetime sanctuary to those that are non-releasable or have been retired from zoos. They work to educate the public and provide information about the risks and problems specific to bats in Australia, including all four species of Australian flying foxes. The hospital also provides volunteer opportunities, works to restore local bat habitats and facilitates research into flying foxes.

Not sure if this is also Sushi, but it's another pic from Tolga.

I hope everyone has a great night!

Friday Morning Randomness

2010-05-14T09:11:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting here expecting to have no internet access soon until who knows when, so I thought I'd do some writing to ease my anxiety. I'm probably getting all stressed for nothing, but the cable company is coming to check on our service today and they may be adding a new line to try to strengthen our signal. I'm doubtful that it will help, since these problems worsened after they updated their system. Probably need some work on my positive thinking today! I've already made coffee, checked my email, read some blogs, played a word game, did some photo work, renewed items on Etsy, re-fired and filed my new flying fox pendant, picked out a bead to start my planned new line of wire wrapped rings [yah!], completed my third Pay It Forward item, brought out the rats for visiting, and fed and treated my guppies [three have ick :( ]. I wake up too early!

Chris took his math final yesterday while I waited for him. We brought Eris, and I thought I'd avoid the usual understandable curiosity by taking a hike on some ungroomed trails through the woods behind our local YMCA. After conversations with both of the people that passed, I went back to the college to sit under a tree away from everyone. Twenty minutes later, after a conversation with a student that lasted almost as long, I moved into the car with her and waited for over an hour. I'm not complaining, except I got very cramped! I actually think it's pretty cool that so many people are interested in snakes and are willing to approach despite her size. Two of the three wanted to pet her, and she tried to climb up one poor guy's pant leg!

Eris inspecting a fallen tree on our walk

Same tree from a distance - I just thought it looked neat having fallen on the power line

I did try making a mold of a polymer clay maker's mark/quality tag, but that was a big bust! Even after I finally managed to not bubble the Sculpey during firing, the molding compound got stuck in the tiny etchings I made. Maybe I'll make a little custom-shaped mold so I can create PMC tags to etch directly onto until I can get metal stamps. I'd love a little dragonfly to go with my shop theme, but I should probably stop making things difficult on myself. Okay, off for now - hope everyone has a great day!

Jewelry by Kajulee

2010-05-13T10:33:00.001-04:00

Today I'd like to share a favorite of mine, the very talented Naomi of Kajulee! This UK-based artist creates unique and exquisite pieces of jewelry using handmade artisan lampwork beads, semi-precious gemstones, Swarovski crystal, Bali sterling silver, and fine Thai Hill Tribe silver. She also employs the centuries-old techniques of chainmaille, which is something I would love to learn myself, but for which I fear I just don't have the patience! I had a hard time picking which items to share, but here are three of my favorites, with images that link to their listing at Naomi's Etsy shop.

Samara Necklace

Lausanne Bracelet

Miram Bracelet

I'm sure it's easy to see why I love her work. Naomi's not just an incredible jewelry artist, she's also a very kind person. I consider myself lucky to have spoken with her on several occasions - online of course, I only wish I could say I'd been where she lives! I honestly look forward to the day I can buy one of her pieces for myself, and I do hope you'll take a few minutes to peruse all of her sites below, generally spread the love her way and of course buy if you can! :D

* Website

* Etsy

* Facebook

* Twitter

* Flickr

* Blog

Chris has his final math exam today, so one more drive to the college until next class, or until he gets his license [fingers crossed] - good thing he's cute! Hope everyone has a great day!

Chauncey Blog Feature!

2010-05-11T06:20:00.001-04:00

Happy news for me today - my Chauncey the Jellyfish necklace was featured on the Etsy for Animals monthly challenge blog! Entering Chauncey was about challenging myself more than anything else. It's just not the kind of thing I normally do, so I thought it would be good for me. The last time something I did was entered anywhere was about 18 years ago when a favorite professor took it upon herself to submit one of my papers for a writing award. I'd love it if you could take a minute to check out the post and maybe leave a comment if you're so inclined. :) The Etsy for Animals team members all do so much for animals in need, from raising money in their shops for the monthly charity and/or their own favorite organizations, to direct care as workers, volunteers and individuals. If you love animals and happen to be looking for a team to join, it might be a good fit for you.

I think it was four days ago that I said 'tomorrow' I'd be sharing a screen capture of my most recent treasury inclusion, go me! Thank you so much again, Life Covers, for giving me a spot in your beautiful collection! Image links to the treasury.

I was able to fire my flying fox focal and complete [for real this time!] two of the Pay It Forward pieces yesterday. I'm really happy with how the bat turned out, and as soon as I started filing him, he told me his name is Lewis. :D I've been a bit grumpy about the backs of my PMC pieces. They're smooth and flat, but not entirely even or perfectly finished. I'm trying not to obsess about it because I know that's not absolutely necessary, but I have decided it's something to work on in the future. As in, when I can afford to get more clay! I'm also thinking of a way to designate the pieces as fine silver and include a maker's mark. I may get a fine silver quality stamp and a custom KSK stamp for marking either the backs or pre-made blank tags for hanging near the clasp. My plan right now is to etch .999 and my initials into a sculpy piece, bake it, and create a mold I can use to make my own tags out of PMC. I may have enough slip to at least make tags for the pieces I have listed.

Too much jewelry talk! I know this is yet another long one, but I'd love to share some pics I took on my Friday walk at The Betar Byway with my mom. I finally released two of the baby mice that wintered with me and Chris after we caught their pregnant mom in our kitty food cupboard. The first photo is of the path I took to release them. I meant to get pics of their first steps out of the sugar canister I brought them in, but it slipped my mind at the time - probably too nervous! These should all be bigger if you click.

Mouse Haven

My first ever Eastern Bluebird sighting - he's in there, really!

Bluebird butt - hey, I was excited just to see him!

This Sharp-shinned Hawk [I believe] is why I was nervous about the mice

I released them far away from him, but he looks like he just knows!

I was up far too early, so it's nap time for me - I hope everyone enjoys their day!

Wild Goose Chase

2010-05-07T08:59:00.002-04:00

Pun partially intended. First, a quick sneak peak at my new PMC heart necklace, which I really hope to get listed today. It's heavily oxidized, with lots of blue undertones, so I've decided to call it Steel Heart or something to that effect. That could completely change by this afternoon though.

Chris had his last official math class for the semester at the local college yesterday! He'll have some review Tuesday, then his final on Thursday. He's been doing great despite the fact that he's 'missed' some classes... ahem! Have to tease him, but really I'm proud of him. He's worked very hard, and it's difficult getting to and then sitting through class with the full-torso metal contraption he has to wear when he's up and about for too long. It supports his back so as not to put too much pressure on his crushed vertebra - his T4 if I'm remembering properly.

Anyway, after I picked up my husband the robot from class, we went in search of baby geese! We've been keeping our eyes on what we thought was one goose at one of our local ponds for a few weeks. Every time we pass, I pout and feel bad for it, but my mom has been saying that maybe there was a hiding nesting goose with it. At the beginning of this week, we finally discovered she was right when we saw two geese and babies! The pond is actually on the property of a business and is right next to a very busy road between my house and the college, but it's a favorite hang out for Great Blue Herons, ducks, deer and Canada Geese. We couldn't get too close, as you can see the parents started getting nervous, but here are the pics I got.

Main road in the background, amazingly without cars. And there are five babies!

Mom and dad get nervous, and start to look for a missing baby...

Baby located! It's that blurry yellow thing near the right edge of the pic, to the right of mom's foot
and in front of the reeds & tiny patch of water. Mom heads over to round it up, dad ever-vigilant.

The pun comes up in the second part of our hunt, when we went to the Betar Byway to get the supposedly guaranteed close-up photos of the babies. Almost a half hour drive each way, and no geese! They nest and visit there so regularly that the people who maintain the walkway and grounds put up signs every year telling us not the feed the geese. There was certainly a little nesting family when my mom and I went Monday. We scoured the area, but it was very windy, so they must have taken shelter somewhere else along the river. Hopefully next time! Silly geese. :D

A little bit of an update on my PMC projects. I've managed to join the sterling wire with the PMC pieces using the slip I made, so I can try fusing them together later in the kiln. The bat has been touched up and also should be dry enough to fire today. I've change my mind again about my Pay It Forward items, so more work is required. I don't want to divulge much, but they were going to be 'components' and now they're going to be 'functional/rip 'em apart and use them as components if you'd prefer' pieces.

Random movie recommendation: Pandorum. I usually ignore reviews because there are always people who will hate or love something, but there are plenty for this movie at the IMDB link above if you're interested, plus of course a summary and trailers, etc. Not really a spoiler here because they're mainly just keywords - if you feel like watching a psychological thriller with dystopian vision in a creepy post-apocalyptic sci-fi setting full of crazy mutated creatures sporting metal bits faintly reminiscent of the wonderfully weird Tetsuo, definitely check it out! We found it free on-demand on the Starz channel here, which means it should be rentable.

Time to get ready for my Friday walk, so I'll post the screen capture and details tomorrow, but I was kindly featured in another treasury Wednesday! So much for posting more regularly somehow affecting the length of my rambles. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Treasuries Galore & Some Updates!

2010-05-05T08:34:00.000-04:00

I think this is the longest I've stayed away from my blog, but it mostly has to do with the fact that my internet connection has been just awful!! I never would have expected such problems with wireless, but our cable company is our provider, and I can't say I've been pleased with them lately. Our box shuts off on its own almost every day. We thought we just needed a new box, but with all the internet problems, we're starting to wonder if it's an issue with their servers. Anyway, we're looking into it and hopefully things will be better soon! I was able to reorganize my shop a bit, by creating an Animal Jewelry section, and breaking the rest of my jewelry up by color rather than by type. I wanted sections that are smaller and hopefully easier to navigate, and people often search for jewelry to go with certain outfits or based on favorite colors.

Aside from that, all the offline time I've had has at least allowed me to work on some projects! My five Pay It Forward pieces for Facebook are just awaiting a couple of finishing touches before I can send them. I've also completed my four PMC hearts, though I'm not exactly sure how I'll be offering all of them. I am oxidizing a chain and findings for one right now, so if all goes according to plan [ha!], I can list that today. I've made some headway with a personal PMC project I've been working on, but ran into issues when trying to include fine silver wire. I fired the wire in with the piece, and although they fused together perfectly, the wire weakened and broke. I only have sterling wire left, and all the information I can find does say that sterling will fuse properly with low-firing-temperature silver clays. I use PMC3, which I believe qualifies, so I'll be trying again! Lastly, I used up the rest of my clay making a flying fox focal, which I'm very excited about! I have just enough paste to fill in some cracks and even out some areas, then I can fire it. He looks pretty funny right now, but here's a little sneak peak. :)

I'd love to make him a multi-chain piece, since he's pretty big and that will hopefully bring balance. The measurements are about 1.5" at the widest, and 1.25" from top to bottom. Chris keeps telling me he's huge, but he claims to like him. I know flying foxes aren't black, but I'd really like to oxidize him and use garnet along one or more of the chains. I sometimes wonder if I overuse that stone, but then I wonder if that's even possible. :D

I have four treasuries to share today, three by friends and one of my own, all from Etsy's new Treasury East! Two are from a couple of weeks ago which I posted on my Facebook page, but for some no-good reason neglected to put here. The other two have gone up since I last posted. Thank you so much again Kris, Susan & Emma for including me in your beautiful collections! I have my own treasury of favorites in the works, but my first was a collection of vultures, which I've been planning for a while. I'm glad to have created it as a treasury that won't expire, and I really hope that Etsy is able to provide us with a T-East search tool soon so other vulture lovers can find it. Doing the treasury at least let me know I'm not the only one! If you find you have some time for browsing, the curators and their included shops would all be great places to visit! Photos link to the treasuries.

Mythos, Magic and More by Kris of Dream Bubbles

Precious Pink by Susan of Dream Belle Designs

Sweets To Dream Of by Emma of Little Cherry Hill

Vulture Saves the World by me

I hope to take a walk with Chris today to the Betar Byway, which is a favorite birdwatching spot for our local National Audubon Society chapter. My mom and I discovered two newborn geese there on Monday, so we're hoping to get a couple of pics while they're still yellow. The father was wonderfully protective and wagged his tail at me when he decided I had gotten too close, so I hope I can get my zoom to behave! I was going to include a pic of Ed acting funny today, but I'll spare everyone the extra length and my mom the added spider photo - the two in my sidebar are already more than she appreciates! And since this kind of crazy long post is apparently what happens when I stay away for too long, I promise to try my best not to do that again. Hope everyone has a great day & Happy Cinco de Mayo!

'A' for Effort?

2010-04-27T09:53:00.002-04:00

Sometimes with depression, no matter what you do, your mood is off. Today I'm feeling very low and unmotivated, so I thought I'd just do what I can and share some photos from my walk yesterday. My mom and I went to Hovey Pond rather than the river because we wanted to see how their gardens are starting to develop. This beautiful guy posed for us on our way in. Could be a better pic, but it's probably the best I've ever gotten of a bird!

I couldn't believe how huge the Bleeding Hearts are already

I can't remember ever seeing Narcissus in this particular creamy color, but I love it!

There were at least five varieties of Viola, including these tricolors, or Johnny Jump Ups

And two unknowns to me - typically I'd hunt for what they are, but I'm just not up to it today

Before I run away, I really want to thank Susan of Trouble Ink/Crafty Crafts and Arien of Victorian Scarlett Designs for being kind enough to include me in their beautiful new treasuries! I hope you're able to take a couple of minutes to browse through all the shops, including those of the thoughtful and very talented curators. Below are the screen captures, which link directly to the treasuries.

If my mood improves, I hope to do some blog reading today and hop onto Facebook so I can say hello to everyone, but if that doesn't happen I'll try again tomorrow! I hope everyone enjoys their Tuesday. :)

Embeddables!

2010-04-24T08:47:00.000-04:00

Hoping this one gets up today, as I've been yet again fighting with my internet connection since yesterday afternoon. It must be something in these 125+ years old walls - it doesn't matter to whose wireless I connect or on what side of the house they are in relation to my computer. The problems used to restrict themselves to wet or humid days, but not so much anymore.

At least the offline time ensured that I put myself to work learning how to use the new fine silver embeddable eyelets I received from Cool Tools yesterday! I've had my eye on these neat little things for a while, but now that I've started actually using the PMC I've had sitting around for so long, it was time to try them out. They were so simple to use, and I like that they don't interfere with certain designs the way a hole drilled for a jump ring can. An example is this little PMC heart charm I made, into which I pushed an embeddable before the clay was dry:

Next step will be to fire the piece in the kiln as usual, which will fuse the eyelet into place. This was my first time ordering from Cool Tools, and at $6 for USPS First Class, the shipping could have been cheaper! However, I thought the price for the eyelets themselves was fair, and they shipped the same day and arrived on the third. It may just be more economical to wait until I have a few things to order next time. Metal Clay Supply does carry these as well, but only in one size for the silver. I did go through their shipping calculator to find that it's 75 cents cheaper. :)

I was also featured in a treasury yesterday! It's another one of Vee's Beautiful BNRs - she's so good to me! Of course I can't get the page to load right now so I can tell you how many sales she's had from it so far, but my screen capture from yesterday is below. Just click the photo to visit and show some love before it expires tonight.

Crossing my fingers that this will publish... it's actually taken close to 1-1/2 hours to complete because of waiting for pages to load for obtaining links. Argh! Just for fun, I cut out a section of that old map I included in last month's post about my village, and marked my house as it looked in 1884 with a red arrow pointing toward it. If you click the image, it'll show larger.

Hope everyone enjoys their Saturday and has a great weekend! :)

Black Calla Update, Molds & PMC Paste

2010-04-21T08:40:00.000-04:00

Nine days ago [yes, I've been counting], my crazy bat-eared, six-toed cat Kali chewed up my Edge of Night Calla and sent it crashing upside down to the floor. Oh, the trauma! Apparently it didn't think so, because it's been doing great! It has sprouted an entirely new leaf, and I'm pretty sure I see a touch of black inside way down at the base, so it's looking like it will bloom this year! Here's a little comparison shot between how it looked exactly two weeks ago and how it looks today:

Nature is amazing. That was my brilliant understatement of the day. The little sprouts don't seem to have done much, but I'd say that's because most of the plant's energy is being diverted to the main growth. It even appears that the Blue Butterfly Delphinium may be trying to grow a new shoot. That one lost all of its leaves in the cat attack, and it's been such a tough one for me to get started from seed that I'd be very surprised if it picks up. Although not one of the plants assaulted, for those who may be interested, here's a pic of how the Purple Oxalis has developed over the last 6 weeks:

In jewelry news, I was able to get some molds made yesterday using the Mold-n-Pour compound I ordered! It's pretty cool stuff and very easy to use. You just grab an equalish pinch from each of the two containers of compound, quickly knead and roll them together until the color is even, then press your item into the resulting mixture. It's a self-healing material, so you can't use it for making a negative/positive mold, but I'm really happy with the results so far for one-part molds!

Along the top of the photo, you can see the beginnings of my experiments with painting a homemade PMC paste onto a couple of things. I made the paste by mixing my scrapped Chauncey earrings with water, but you can also purchase it at Precious Metal Clay suppliers such as Cool Tools. Buying a premade paste will initially give you a bit more control over your results because the mixture is standard and shrinkage percentage is already calculated, but I really love experimenting! Also, that's a lot of money for me to spend right now on something I have no idea I'll even be successful at. Better and more fun to see if I can work out the kinks with what I already have. The items I used are two pieces of Eris' most recently shed skin [from the night before last!] and one side of what I think is a locust tree seed pod, which Chris and I collected on our walk yesterday. I painted the shed on each of the sides to see what looks better. All of them are about halfway done, which means they require three or four more layers of the paste before I can fire. I may end of with a melted pile of fine silver, but maybe in that case I can hammer it out, shape it and use it to begin my next experiment - riveting!

Lots of Etsy convos to reply to today after more than a day almost completely away from the computer. In addition to that, I have a very long [for me] list of projects, including setting up my profile at the Handmade Artists' Forum. It's all still quite overwhelming to me, and I need to take many breaks throughout the day, so I'm not as productive as I'd like to be. A break usually means sitting down with Chris and/or the rats [Helen and Magda], cats [Kali and Subra] or Eris. Sometimes it means doing some plant work or just laying down for a nap or to stare blankly at the TV [not a preference]. Still, in comparison to all those years of depression and physical and mental inactivity, I really am getting so much accomplished! Hope everyone has a great day!

Buttonalia on Etsy

2010-04-18T16:47:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago I received such a cool package in the mail from England - a sample order from Sharry of buttonalia on Etsy! I've been planning a custom purchase of a set of buttons for my husband's dressy winter coat, and Sharry has been so patient with my neurotic concerns about durability and my husband's need for a very particular grey to match. One of her specialties is glazes and she really welcomed the chance to blend a special color for us, as well as create a larger-sized button. You can tell she loves what she does, and so do I!

The colors are richer than I was able to capture in my photo, the textures are beautiful, and they feel so smooth! As for my concerns, buttonalia's profile explains that all of her buttons are fired twice for durability, and are even machine washable and dryable [with a common-sense recommendation to turn them inside out]. What really impressed me was how gracious Sharry was in her personal response to me, expressing her understanding for my worries and how they might affect my decision about purchasing. Luckily, with summer coming I have some time to decide about the buttons! In the meantime, I'm definitely planning to grab one of her pendants and some of the beads now available - click the pics to go right to the listings:

Purple Ceramic Pendant

3 Crunchy Beads

People like Sharry are a huge part of why I love Etsy so much! If you have some time, please browse her shop, spread some love, and definitely consider a purchase. :D

I've been so behind on my blog reading, but I do hope to catch up after I list my newest necklace. It's a beaded strand of garnet and oxidized fine Thai Karen Hill Tribe silver, with a stamped fine silver vulture pendant I made with PMC and an antique printer's block my Nana's second husband gave me. I always thought I could do something fun with it, and I just know he would love that I've used it to make a piece of jewelry. Here's a little peak before I put it in my shop:

I realize there aren't many fellow vulture lovers out there, but I think this is a piece that could easily be worn by a man or a woman, and maybe someone will see it and fall in love. If not, I won't complain about having to wear it myself! I hope everyone's had a wonderful weekend and has a nice week ahead!

Beads & Bones Find New Homes!

2010-04-16T10:17:00.001-04:00

I've been so neglectful of the bloggy realm lately, but only because I've had some things going on. I sold two sets of beads from my new Destash section on Etsy, as well as two bony items from my Curiosities/OsteoWear section! The beads were some cute old brown and red wooden ones, which came from a couple of my Nana's broken necklaces and went to a very kind fellow Etsy seller. Nana used to give me her broken pieces because she knew I liked to make jewelry, and I think she'd be happy to know that I have plans for a lot of the bits myself and am making a few others available for anyone who can put them to good use.

The bones were my first International Shipment, to an amazing jewelry artist also on Etsy. I don't like to name buyers in this setting, so if either of these very kind and talented women happen to see this, I hope they'll accept my sincere thanks for giving my items new homes! I'm not posting pics of the beads since there are no more available. However, I can make a few more similar pairs of earrings and will be making more bone vials, so here are photos of them which link to the sold listings. That way you can read more if you're interested, and of course feel free to contact me should you want some of your very own! :D

Vertebral Triad Earrings

Vial of Rodent Bones

I have a lot to learn about shipping Internationally, especially in regards to the Customs forms! At the beginning of this month, The Handmade Spark posted an informative article about International Shipping. In it, they provided some links which I'll be looking over myself, and I'd like to share a couple here:

* USPS Index of Countries and Localities - provides a detailed list of mailing prices and regulations

* Go To Great Panes blog has a Shipping page with links to info on Basics, Labels and International Shipping

I've only skimmed these pages so far, but it looks like they have some very useful information. One online tool that I was already using is the USPS International Price Calculator. The page has been so helpful in preparing me for what I can expect to pay for shipping when I get to my post office. I use the gram scale that I purchased for weighing beads and silver pieces, but instead weigh what I'm sending in its packaging and then convert the weight to ounces. Most office supply stores offer postal scales which weigh in ounces or pounds, and you can usually find them in a range of prices. The author of The Handmade Spark article mentions her $15 postal scale as having been accurate every time - not bad!

Before I take off, I want to also thank my good friend Vee for including a pair of my earrings in her newest Buy & Replace [BNR] Treasury! Vee is one of the sweetest people I've ever known, and she really does so much to help out other Etsy sellers by making these BNRs. Anyone who purchases from one of the included sellers replaces that seller in the treasury, and is carried over into her next. Please click my screen capture of the treasury below to check out all the shops while it's still up, and don't forget to spread some love their way!

I received a shipment in the mail yesterday from another awesome Etsy seller, and tomorrow I'll be sharing that, so I hope you'll check in! Have a great day everyone, and a big appreciative welcome to my new readers!

My Cats AKA Spawns of Satan

2010-04-12T09:09:00.000-04:00

After presenting our demonic cats with the wonderful gift of his much-labored over handmade, 3-story, fully carpeted, shelved kitty condo/hiding nook/sleepy area/hunting blind/scratching post, my husband inadvertently shut one of them in the plant room last night. I was awoken at 1:30am by the sound of my beloved black calla lily crashing to the floor above me. Pot upside down, dirt everywhere, roots broken, bulb hanging out, top chewed off. It was not pretty. Nor was my mood. Kali was appropriately ashamed of herself and hid in said new gift, now apparently also her self-appointed 'get in there and think about what you've done' tube. Hopefully she did some additional thinking about the iris tips she chewed off and the blue butterfly delphinium she ripped out of its pot after I actually managed to keep it alive inside throughout the winter. If it hasn't been destroyed, it may someday look like this:

Delphinium Grandiflorum - Blue Butterfly

The kitty condo was Chris' first attempt at anything like it and I'm personally quite impressed! I didn't get a shot of the holes in the bottom section, but they allow the cats to climb up into the top section from the inside. Or just sit in hiding to attack our ankles. It's positioned in front of Eris' tank for the picture. Please excuse the disarray back there, not sure where my sense of symmetry was when I pinned up the curtain under her tank. Not to mention any sense of style. Don't blame me for the rug, it was there when we moved in. That was for my mom, she likes to pick on the rugs over here, and since it's their house she's allowed. I might be in trouble now though.

Once Kali was cute

Alright, she still is.

She also has pretty good taste in TV - that's Animal Planet. I say only pretty good because I'm still very miffed about their parent company, Discovery Communications', plan to air "Sarah Palin's Alaska". If the idea of that show happens to also strike you as bizarre and frustrating, please visit Care2 to sign their petition against it! Hope everyone has a great day!

Now Zibbeting

2010-04-11T08:54:00.000-04:00

Last night I added the first 4 items to my new Zibbet shop and changed the colors a bit. Still working on that part, but at least I have some items listed! If you're thinking about joining Zibbet yourself, now would be a great time to do it - there are currently only 123 Premium Accounts available at the discounted rate of $8/month for life. According to the Zibbet blog, over 500 accounts have sold in the last couple of weeks, and from keeping an eye on the site myself, I have no doubts that's true. A Premium Account gets you advanced shop customization options, unlimited free listings, no sales or final value fees, the ability to list multiple quantity items for sale, and a good deal more. If you decide to sign up, please use the links above or the Zibbet image link in my sidebar so I'll be considered your referral to the site. I could use the $1/month discount they're offering for each new member referral! :)

If you'd like to check out my shop as it now stands, I'm using KSK Jewelry Designs there as well. I actually preferred the way I had the colors before, with a black background and blue and purple text, but the individual listings turned out to have a white background and the text wasn't showing up very well. I'd like to have the option of choosing listing background and text colors - maybe I'll make a suggestion! Here are a couple of the items I've listed so far at Zibbet [images link to listings]:

Sterling & Fine Silver Garnet & Onyx Necklace - $62

Sterling Silver Dragonfly Necklace - $29

If you decide to sign up and use me as a referral, thank you so much in advance! Hope everyone has a great day!

New Stuff & Some Thoughts on Pricing

2010-04-10T08:27:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally got around to listing the new earrings I made about a week ago. I'm happy with how both pairs came out, but I really love the amethyst color ones - lots of Bali silver! Just click the pics to view the listings. :)

Teal & Blue Zircon Swarovski Teardrops

Amethyst Czech Glass & Swarovski Crystal

I have to admit I down-priced the amethyst color ones just a little bit because, well, I'd like to actually make some sales! They still may seem high to some people, including other sellers, but I really have put a lot of work into my pricing formula and I'm trying to cover all of my expenses as well as hopefully make some kind of living.

I also believe that undervaluing your handmade items has the potential to negatively affect everyone in the long run. I'm not talking about knocking prices down a little sometimes or pricing fairly for your market [I'd hope we're all trying to do that!]. I mean things like only looking to recoup materials costs, or underpricing only because you want to outsell other shops. In those cases you certainly sell yourself short, you potentially establish yourself as unfair competition to artists and sellers who are trying to make a living, and I think it sends a negative message to buyers as well. They come to expect very low prices, and although I'm definitely no fan of exorbitant prices, I really feel that cheap isn't what handmade is all about. I'd personally like to see cheap reserved for the mass marketed items sold by large commercial enterprises. Artisan crafted items and supplies sold by independent shops should carry with them a more personal aspect, with value placed on and given to artistry, creativity, effort, time, and customer care.

Just some things to think about maybe. I found a very helpful site some time ago, which you may be interested in. It's geared particularly toward jewelry-makers who sell independently, and the site has a whole page of links to articles related to Pricing Your Jewelry. There are helpful suggestions for creating your own pricing formula and how to charge for your creating time, and there are some thoughts about pricing handmade jewelry too low. Please feel free to leave comments with your own feelings, it's always best when we can learn from each other. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

A Little Appreciation

2010-04-08T09:51:00.000-04:00

This one could get pretty long if I tried to get into specifics, so I just want to take a moment to express my gratitude for all the support I've been given over the last few months. I'm overwhelmed by how kind and generous everyone has been. Every bit of it is appreciated - the hearts left at my Etsy, the fanning on Facebook, the followers here on my blog, all the supportive comments & advice, the help promoting my items & shop, the purchases & trades, and the wonderful conversations we've had. I'm trying to think of the best way I can show my appreciation to everyone, but for now I hope a simple 'thank you' will suffice. Is there anything in particular you would like to see offered as a more tangible thanks? I'm still not sure how to handle this, but right now I'm open to suggestions, so please leave them!

I'm still in the process of removing items from eBay, and now I'm taking things down that are being watched as well. I have a lot of work to do on my Zibbet shop, such as adding items! Zibbet is still offering Premium Accounts at a discounted rate of $8/month for life and there are currently 151 spots available, so you might want to take a look! If you decide you'd like to give them a try and use me as a referral, they'll give me $1/month off my own membership fees. All you have to do is use the image link in my sidebar when you go to sign up. :)

I've also finally added a scrolling Etsy shop widget to my sidebar, thanks to my mom's prompting. I decided to leave my Etsy mini page in case anyone wants to take a quick look at a bunch of listings. I'm getting grumpy about my crowded sidebar again, but I'm not sure what to do about it. I tried taking Eris' second birthday picture down, but I wasn't happy with that change!

I have to tell a quick Eris story which I did put on my Facebook page yesterday, but you may not have seen it and it was just so cool! She went with me to the store yesterday, and when I came out to the car there was an elderly woman waiting for me. She immediately started exclaiming about how beautiful Eris is and asking questions about what kind of snake she is, how long she is, how long we've had her, what her natural environment is, etc. In the course of our conversation I found out this woman is 93 years-old! I thought it was pretty amazing that she wasn't afraid and was so interested in learning, and I only hope I still feel that way when I'm her age! Hope everyone has a great day!

Life Renewed

2010-04-07T07:39:00.002-04:00

It's a beautiful, grey, foggy day here so far. I have less complaints about the sun these days [still hate the hot!], but I do love fog. This morning I took a peak at my beloved black calla plant and was thrilled to find it growing like mad! So cool to see it pop up out of this funny dried out, dead-looking bulb. We've certainly had enough sun lately and it's doing so well despite still just sitting in front of the window in my kitty-safe plant/rodent/jewelry-making room. The other day Chris and I purchased a pretty little blue-flowered plant at Lowe's, which I hope to put into one of the cobalt blue handmade pottery planters I was lucky enough to get from my Nana. I have a couple, and I usually plant little blue flowers in them and put them on the table on our front porch. Here are a couple of pics I took this morning:

Zantedeschia "Edge of Night"

Lithodora Diffusa - "Heavenly Blue"

Hard to tell from my blurry photo, but the lithodora is so pretty! I love that the blue flowers start out as pink buds. That characteristic reminds me of another one of my favorite plants, the Echium Vulgare [Viper's Bugloss] we have growing wild around here.

Found this photo on Flickr:

It's been another couple of low days for me, but I've been surprisingly productive considering. I've revised all of my Etsy listings to reflect my new worldwide shipping option [not so difficult with Etsy's batch shipping editing tool], officially opened my little destash section, and finally listed my PMC jellyfish. I also have an idea for matching jellyfish earrings, and hope to order some cold molding compound today so I can get to work on making molds of some of my bone collection and other neat things for jewelry.

Magda checking out the next batch of beads I'm listing

[please excuse my chubby leg - hate shorts!]

Chauncey again - because I'm convinced there's someone out there

who just loves jellyfish & will be happy to see him. :)

I'm still having some trouble managing my time between the shop, Facebook and my blog, but I'm working on it. It would be much easier if what I can accomplish and when wasn't so dictated by my moods, but after many years of trying, I really have found that there's only so much I can do about that. My best answer now is to just try to get to everything as often as I can and in the order that my moods will allow. I don't completely rule out a more rigid schedule, but they haven't worked so far!

Before I go, I need to point out this very important information for anyone else who is owned by cats. Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

Shop Update & A Treasury!

2010-04-04T13:44:00.000-04:00

First, I'd like to wish everyone who celebrates Easter a very happy one! We have a beautiful day here, and it seems a bit cooler than it has been for the last couple of days, which better suits me. I'm hoping to help my parents put up the wooden fence around their back yard shortly. It needs to be taken down before winter every year so the plow guy can do his snow-moving magic. It's a bit of a process, but turns the back yard into a nice little sanctuary:

That's just part of it, but it's one of the most beautiful parts! I can't wait for everything to grow back this year so it starts looking this way again. I'm sure the fish will be happy to get out of their winter tank and into a more natural environment too!

My dear friend Vee snagged another treasury and very kindly included one of my necklaces! It's one of her beautiful BNRs [Buy and Replace], so if you have a shop and buy something from one of the shops in the treasury, she'll replace that one with yours and include yours in the next as well. From what I can tell, there have now been six sales already from this one! Please take a moment to check it out and browse all of the included shops and Vee's. Just click the screen capture below to be taken to the treasury while it's still up. :)

I also have another shop update to announce. In addition to adding a destash section, I'm now offering free worldwide shipping! I'm pretty excited about this, because I've been considering it for a while, but haven't been quite sure how to go about it. Thanks to some of the wonderful people I've met through my Facebook page, I feel like I got the information I needed to get on top of it. My new policy will be to ship USPS First Class Domestic and International at no extra charge. Domestic shipping will include a confirmation number. International shipping will be basic, but with an option to pay for a tracking number or insurance if the buyer wishes. Any customs fees will need to be paid for by the customer. I hope to get some customs forms to keep with my shipping supplies so I can fill them out before going to the post office, and International packages will most likely be sent off in a padded envelope instead of my usual box to keep costs down - still have to do the figuring on that one!

I want to thank all of the sellers who took the time to respond to my call-out for help on this:

Esmeralda Designs

Faerie Moon Creations

M-ixes Jewelry

Deb's Designs

They are all very talented artists and such kind people, and I've really enjoyed getting to know every one of them. I hope you'll take a few minutes to pay each of their shops a visit, follow their links around, and spread some love! Have a great day! :)

I Won Something!

2010-04-03T05:45:00.000-04:00

A little while back, Susan of Trouble Ink/Crafty Crafts on Etsy had her first blog giveaway for one of her beautiful dream catchers and a lucky shamrock amulet from her brother James' shop, Whispering Woods. I've always wanted a dream catcher, and it was a bonus to have the chance to win some of her brother's lovely woodwork, so I kind of flooded her comments with entries. It worked and my package arrived yesterday! It wasn't the best day for me, so I've been neglectful and haven't even let her know yet personally. Susan, if you see this before I write, thank you so much for my package! I can't believe it came so quickly, and the timing was perfect because it really cheered me up on a day I needed it. :)

As for my goodies, I'm so pleased! The dream catcher is even prettier in person, and Susan does beautiful work. I remember trying to make one myself a long time ago, and the results were less than appealing! I know that technically it should hang over me while I sleep, but I'll be proudly displaying it in my upstairs window because I want people to see it. A really nice touch was the included Legend of the Dream Catcher info card, which told me more about how the catcher is supposed to direct the dreams while a person is sleeping. This is obviously a very talented family, because James also does impressive work. I have no idea how he does it, but the shamrock is perfect and the wood is so smooth! I love that the wood he uses was made available by Hurricane Ike. He has taken the product of such destruction and turned it into truly beautiful handcrafted items. I still have to find a better way to photograph longer items, but here's what I received:

You can see that Susan kindly included a little extra for me, an angel in a heart! This whole package was already a freebie for me, so that just tells you what a sweetie she is. There are so many lovely items in both her and her brother's shops, so I hope you'll visit them at their various locations online, show your support and definitely consider a purchase or two!

Trouble Ink/Crafty Crafts - Website, Etsy and Blog
Whispering Woods - Etsy, ArtFire and Blog

I've been kind of tired and low lately, and I think part of it may have to do with the weather. I do love Spring because it means Chris and I can take Eris out and about again, start up our garden, and do some more walking. Plus this year I'm looking forward to letting go 3 or 4 baby mice that were born over the winter to a mouse we caught in our Havahart. However, it's already been a bit too hot for me - in the 70s I think for the last couple of days. It doesn't bode well and I'm already making plans to bring up our air conditioner from the cellar!

Today I have lots of catching up on writing to try to do, and some new listings to tackle. I've pretty much decided that I'll be adding a destash section to my Etsy shop. I have so many beads, and some of them I may never use. I'm hoping a new section will help inspire me to actually start going through things more closely so I can get more organized! Also, I think it will make a nice addition to my shop and maybe give other jewelry makers some materials at a decent price. As with anything, this may take me a while to get going, but it's a plan! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and a very Happy Easter to those who celebrate it!

Little Cherry Hill on Etsy

2010-03-31T16:00:00.001-04:00

One of the people I feel very fortunate to have met since I've started blogging is Emma of Little Cherry Hill. The first time I saw Emma's work on her blog, I was so impressed with her ability to turn bits of silver and stone into truly beautiful pieces of jewelry.

Green Grass Turquoise and Yellow Jade Pendant

Labradorite Lariat

Green Jasper Ring

I was surprised to find out that she was still fairly new to metalwork and hadn't yet opened shop. I quickly discovered that we had more in common than just an interest in working with metal for jewelry - we both hate hot weather! Reading this made me feel an instant connection to her, and though it seems like a strange thing, it was that little personal touch that prompted me to feel comfortable leaving a comment despite being socially very anxious. That personal touch has been a constant throughout Emma's posts, and her openness about her work and her experiences has been one of the things that makes reading her blog so enjoyable and interesting for me. I also know from reading that she is someone who drives herself to do the best she can and prefers to take the time to get things right before she does them. I have no doubt that all of these things be an asset to her and something that her customers will benefit from and appreciate once she gets her shop stocked and ready for sales.

Which brings me to her shop! I'm so excited for her that she will soon be adding items at Little Cherry Hill on Etsy! I don't know exactly what or when, but I really hope you'll keep her in mind and add her shop to your favorites. In the meantime, you can keep updated by becoming a fan of her Facebook page.

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

A Favorite Place

2010-03-28T08:47:00.002-04:00

This last week I was able to finally get back to Hovey Pond with my mom after a winter of a walkway too icy to enjoy. This place is amazing, and I was so glad to see it again! We came across a male Mallard swimming in the water right near the edge. He whipped his head around at us uncharacteristically when I started talking to him, which led me to scan around for a possible mate. Sure enough, she was only a few feet away from him in the grasses, completely still and obviously nesting. Can't wait to see the babies when they arrive!

I could go on about all the wonderful wildlife to be found there, such as the three Pileated Woodpeckers we watched hopping from tree to tree about 15 feet in front of us one day, but I'll let my not-so-wonderful photos speak instead. I didn't have my camera on the day of the woodpeckers, and I can't seem to find my pictures of the Great Blue Heron or various butterflies I've taken on other days, but here are a few acceptable shots from last year.

Love the curly tails on Mallards!

Just one area of this beautiful place - the stream leading from the back marshes

Gorgeous Canada Geese in the back marshes

Red-winged Blackbird in the reeds leading from the marshes to the main pond

Mommy Mallard with seven babies, oh my!

Getting some much-needed rest, I'm sure

Northern Green Frog - way too cute!

American Bull Frog posing

This may be the baby Painted Turtle we named William -

he couldn't have been bigger around than a silver dollar

Yes, this Snapping Turtle is as huge as he looks!

Common Whitetail Dragonfly, one of my favorites!

Can't even begin to identify this guy, but I love how he's looking at the camera!

If you're interested in seeing some pictures of the gardens at Hovey Pond, check out this local site I just found. Also, there are some really beautiful pictures at Flickr from visitors to the pond who know how to take a good photo. Hope you enjoyed my little tribute to the return of Spring in our area, and that you all have a great day!

Very Vee* on Etsy

2010-03-26T08:08:00.000-04:00

This post is special to me, because today I'm finally featuring the work of my very good friend, the multi-talented Vee of Very Vee* on Etsy. I've mentioned her enough in my posts that anyone who has been reading for a little while knows what a source of support and inspiration Vee has been for me. We met very soon after I opened my shop on Etsy, and I saw immediately that she was someone I'd enjoy getting to know. This was a big deal for me because after years of depression and self-imposed isolation, the mere thought of social interaction of any kind was awkward and anxiety-ridden at best; terrifying and debilitating at worst. Somehow Vee understood and always made me feel comfortable, never judging, but always supporting. She challenges me, but doesn't push, and most importantly she makes me smile. She encouraged me to start blogging again and to start my Facebook account, both of which scared me and have been so helpful for me to do.

I quickly discovered this is a woman who can do anything she puts her mind to, creatively and otherwise. She is self-taught, and just in the time I've known her she has learned how to do beautiful amigurumi and has expanded her shop to include those items and a selection of bookmarks she is now making as well. Here are just some examples of Vee's work, with photos that link to her listings:

On a Dark Night

Winter Wonderland Charm Bracelet

Beatrice Bunny & Calvin the Cuddly Koala

I've ordered from Vee as well, and she's very focused on making her customers happy. She ships right away, packages beautifully, and doesn't neglect the personal touches that always make receiving an order special. I hope you'll take the time to check out her Etsy shop, as well as her Facebook fan page & her blog. Spread some love while you're there, she will return it!

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone has a great day!

Circle of Friends

2010-03-23T07:41:00.001-04:00

After an incredible first week on Facebook, I was pleasantly surprised [read, shocked!] when the lovely and talented Jules of Black Heart Jewellery passed along the Circle of Friends Blog Award to me. I first found Jules while I was on a hunt for jewelry with a gothic flair. I just can't remember exactly where, because I promptly visited all of her sites and bookmarked, hearted, fanned & favorited. If you know me, you know this is not typical behavior, but here are a couple of examples why [click pic to visit listing]:

Turquoise and Black Double Stranded Bracelet

Amethyst and Black Triple Stranded Necklace

Everyone on Facebook has been so kind to and supportive of me in my first few days there, and Jules is a perfect example. Not to mention she has awesome taste in music!

Now to the award - there are rules:

1. Create the circle by sharing 5 things I love to do
2. Pass along the award to 5 bloggers from whom I would love to learn the same

I've chosen to leave making jewelry and spending time with my family off the list as givens, so here are my 5 things:

1. Feel - This is both basic and huge, because without it I would have none of the rest. I know because I've been there! Being alive is about feeling: emotionally, physically, and intuitively. When I feel I know I'm alive, and I'm very lucky that I can now say again that I'd rather feel even miserable than not at all. I'm even luckier that I can say I feel good more often than not.

2. Laugh - Related to 1, but definitely deserving of its own place in the list! I love to laugh, everything from a snort to a giggle to a full-on, gasping, tummy-straining fit. Yep, I snort. There's no doubt laughter is therapeutic, and I wouldn't necessarily argue against it being curative in some cases. Luckily I have a family that both loves to laugh and knows how to make me laugh. Every one of them has a great sense of humor, and when we're all together, we're that annoying group at the big table that probably makes you want to leave the restaurant.

3. Explore - I love to investigate places and ideas. Some of my favorite activities are hiking in the woods, walking along the train tracks or the river, exploring abandoned buildings, wandering through cemeteries, and driving down roads I don't know. I love to stop and observe, then move on to the next thing. If I'm stuck at home or hiding from the world [which I do often], I'm reading online or in a book, trying to learn about plants and animals, digging through forgotten beads, or going through bones from my collection and trying to figure out to what kind of animal they belonged and from which part of its body.

4. Spend quality time with my animals - Quality time means holding, petting, talking to or just sitting with them every day, and it's very important to me. It calms me, cheers me, energizes me, helps to stave off my depression and just generally makes me feel like I'm being a good "mother". Everyone gets attention every single day, including the fish.

5.Listen to music - I couldn't live without it! I'm almost always playing something when I make my jewelry, and I absolutely have to have music playing when I'm driving. Unless I'm having a hard time processing information on a particular day, I like to listen to something while I'm writing. Without music, the world would be a much duller, uglier place. I also love to sing, and my husband and I make up songs for each other and the animals all the time.

That's it! Thank you, Jules, for asking. :) The 5 people from whom I would love to hear the same are:

1. Vee of Very Vee*
2. Susan of Trouble Ink/Crafty Crafts
3. Emma of Little Cherry Hill
4. Kristin of Dream Bubbles Reverie
5. Emme of Gothic Soul Retreat

Off to let everyone know. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day!

Thoughts on Tags, Part 2

2010-03-21T10:14:00.002-04:00

First, a photo of a plant I would actually spend the money on for a mature plant if I could find one. I tried seeds, but that didn't work out for me at all.

Tacca Chantrieri [Black Bat Flower]

Continuing from yesterday, the following suggestions are just my personal thoughts on what to avoid in your tagging. I could be completely off base, but they make sense to me and I think it's worth trying something different just to see if it works. I thought I had three, but I've decided to stick to two. I'm not as big on "don'ts" in general anyway. :)

Don't:

1. Use the same word in multiple tags
If you're doing this you could probably use the repeated word as a separate tag, which will also help if you're having a problem coming up with enough tags. An example would be "glass beads", "stone beads","crystal beads". Using Etsy's main category choices of "glass", "stone" and "beaded" instead will place you in the results for people who are browsing by category, which will open you up to more potential views. People will most likely narrow their search from there, which is where your own "crystal" tag would be applicable.

A note about this particular example is that someone searching for "glass beads" is most likely not looking for jewelry, but is looking for beads. This would mean that your presence in the results is irrelevent to them, which doesn't help at all with a sale.

2. Use subjective terms
Even the notion of what is and what isn't subjective can be subjective itself, so this can be tricky, but an example would be using words such as "pretty" or "classy". People have very different ideas of these things, so you may want to try using words that are more indicative of a style instead, such as "delicate" or "classic".

Some links that could be helpful if you don't use them already:

Lists
Etsy Storque's Seller How-To: Tag-o-rama with Descriptive Keywords
Wiki's List of Colors suggested by Etsy's Guidelines for Tagging

Tools
Thesaurus.com - I'm a word nerd, so that's is an all-around favorite
Also suggested by Etsy, Craftweasel's Tag Tool - I've only played with it a little, but it looks pretty cool!

Scrapping my materials musings for now because it was more of a question anyway, and the thinking is a bit slow today, so I can't quite figure out how to ask. I can't actually even remember why it seemed important to begin with! Ah well, such is life for the moody. I hope everyone has a great day!

Thoughts on Tags

2010-03-20T10:05:00.002-04:00

After a few days of browsing through some really beautiful Etsy shops, I've just had an interesting conversation with another seller about shop visibility as it relates to tagging items. I'm usually either comfortably oblivious to or completely out-of-sync with trends, but I have noticed that tagging has recently been a topic in the Etsy emails and on a couple of the blogs I follow. I'm not prone to writing about what everyone else is, but my window-shopping and convo have prompted me to share a little "Dos & Don'ts" list of suggestions I've found helpful as well as some of my own thoughts. These aren't revelations & I'm certainly no expert, but they may prove useful.

Do:

1. Use all of your tags
It seems obvious, but just this morning I've seen three shops that don't even come close. One had simply chosen four of Etsy's main categories. Tags are one of the things Etsy uses for calculating search results, so it's very important. First use any applicable main categories provided by Etsy, then get creative! * For ideas on the kind of things to include in your tags, check out Guidelines & Tips: Tagging on Etsy.

2. Use root words
A common example of this for jewelry would be variations of the word "bead". Unless it's already an Etsy category like "beaded" and "beadwork", or very particular to your listing like a book titled "Barnyard Beading", you're better off using the base word. Etsy's search results will include any variations and your listing will be relevant to more searches. Bead may not be the best example since you could also get lost in the number of results, but I'm sure you get the idea. And don't ask me where the barnyard thing came from, I don't even have a barn. * More info on increasing your visibility can be found at this Seller Workshop Recap & this Etsy Success Tips article.

3. Include specific terms where applicable
In most cases it's best not to get too technical with your tags. However, if you make unique or unusual items, or use specific techniques or materials, it's a good idea to include a related tag. This can open your items to views by the focused shopper as well as the casual browser. An example from my own shop is a pair of deer toe bone earrings I'm about to re-list [hey, I like them!]. In addition to "bone", I included the term "phalanges" as a tag because there just might be someone interested in science or anatomy who could stumble upon them while searching for medical drawings of a hand & decide there's nothing they'd love more in the world than a pair of earrings with toe bones on them. Or maybe they just watched that awesome episode of "Bones" in which Bones flails her fingers around in front of the baby, saying "dancing phalanges, dancing phalanges!" and now they want some of their own. These things could happen.

I also have three "Don'ts" and a couple of thoughts on materials lists, but I'm actually tired after this one, so I'll do that next post. I hope this was helpful to someone, and that everyone has a great day!

My Little Village

2010-03-18T07:43:00.002-04:00

After my post mentioning the Five Combines yesterday, and hearing from my parents that our village is two centuries old this year, I decided to do a little research into Hudson Falls, NY. This may only be interesting if you're local or like history, but I'm posting it because you never know! The area began with the building of a sawmill in 1764, and as early as 1792 it was being called Sandy Hill. 1810 saw the incorporation of the hamlet into a village, and in 1910 the village became Hudson Falls. This settled some confusion for me, because I was certain our area just turned 100 years old, not 200. Kind of neat that we get to celebrate two centennials in one!

Celebrations here are in the form of Sandy Hill Days, during which local bands play, rides and games are available in my old elementary school field, and an arts and crafts fair is held in the town center at Juckett Park. I just found a beautiful photo of the park from a local photographer on deviantART, and I'm hoping she'll be okay with me posting it here. There was a link for downloading, so I decided to post first and then contact her so she can take a look at how it's being used before she makes her decision. Hope you don't mind fg38, but please let me know it you do! :)

Juckett Park in Winter

by funygirl38

And because I love old maps, here's one from Old Maps.

Sandy Hill c.1884

I think I've mentioned before that this is a small area, and I've discovered the population to have been recorded at 6,927 as of the 2000 census. It will be interesting to see where we're at once the numbers are calculated for this year's census - filling out my own form today!

We have a neat little area historically, so if you're interested in that kind of thing, you might want to read more about the history of Upstate NY or check out some notable residents of Washington County. We also have a lot of people involved in the various arts here, including famous poet William Bronk and writer Michael Kaye [that would be my dad!]. And that ends this one - I hope I didn't bore you too much, and that you have a great day! :)

Just Keeping Up

2010-03-17T07:26:00.004-04:00

Not brimming with excitement about posting today, but I promised myself I would write a little something at least every couple of days regardless of how I feel. It helps to keep me focused, and I usually feel better afterward.

My first few days with a Facebook fan page have been much better than I dared to hope. I actually have fans! People have been just wonderful with the Link Love, visiting my shop and fanning it or fanning me back. It's a great way to spread the word about your shop, and the people who participate are so sweet! I'm overwhelmed by the number of views and hearts my newest listings have gotten, and I'm grateful for all of them, as well as my new fans. Truthfully, I was pretty much convinced I'd meet with less than enthusiasm for my page and my shop. I really had to talk myself into starting the page, then again into actually publishing it, and part of that was trying to convince myself it was okay if I didn't get more than just one fan in my friend, Vee. It's all been a very pleasant surprise! I've also been very kindly featured in Vee's newest treasury! I hope you have a minute to check it out - it's one of her always popular BNRs, so if you sell on Etsy, you can buy into her next one.

Yesterday was really nice, because it was the first day here warm enough to take Eris outside. After most of the Fall and the whole Winter having to content herself with just me, Chris and the cats to keep her interested, she was obviously excited to get on some grass again & watch the traffic go by. I'm not sure I've ever seen her tongue come out as far as it did when Chris first walked outside with her, and then she flopped around my neck and arms like a fool, squeezing and contorting! She had visitors from the neighborhood, including a very excitable pitbull throwing himself against me while I was holding her. She was her typical sweet, wonderful self and simply sniffed at him with her tongue. We wanted to bring her to her favorite tree at a local spot called the Five Combines, but there were too many people there enjoying the afternoon and we didn't want to scare them. While she was out, we measured her at about 62" long, and she's bigger around than my not-so-small upper arm!

The Five Combines

[borrowed & edited from the above site]

I'm about to place an order for a sterling silver bear charm, and maybe a moon, for my next commissioned bookmark. It's going to be just like this one, but with one of the charms added to each end. Ordering supplies is always fun, but a challenge since I always want to order more than I need or can afford! So off I go - hope everyone has a great day, and yes I do feel better! :)

Something I Didn't Kill

2010-03-15T07:18:00.000-04:00

My Purple Oxalis

And a closeup under my daylight bulbs

I love this plant! After all the leaves died last year, I just clipped off the remains down to the tubers. Then I pulled them out of the dirt & put them on paper to dry for about 24 hours. After they were completely dry, I popped them right back into the same dirt in the pot, gave them water until it started running out the bottom, and tucked the pot away in my upstairs hall closet. It stays pretty cool and very dark in there, so they were able to go into hibernation. I watered them about once a month until I pulled the pot back out about a week and a half ago. I stuck it in front of the window, watered, and now the largest leaves are about 6" tall! It was my first experience with overwintering the plant, so I'm very pleased.

A neat thing about this one is that you can eat the leaves, flowers and roots. The leaves should be eaten in moderation, as they contain oxalic acid, which can have a minimal effect on a healthy body's absorption of calcium. I've read several places in addition to the links above that cooking will reduce the concentration of oxalic acid, which is typical with cooking [as long as you don't drink the resulting broth!]. I have chomped on some of the leaves, and they have a pleasant tartness that reminded me of the wood sorrel leaves I used to eat all the time as a kid, and sometimes do now as a natural treatment for an upset stomach. I probably don't need to add that you shouldn't just go around eating things unless you know what they are, but for some reason I feel compelled to. :)

On the jewelry end of life, I made & listed another bookmark yesterday, which you can check out by clicking the pic.

Black & Grey Bookmark with Swarovski Crystal & Hematite

I also got a treasury yesterday, which I called Making Friends with My Girly Side. Please check it out, and all the beautiful shops, if you have a minute - there are pinks! Hope everyone has a great day!

New Item & I Get Political

2010-03-14T07:25:00.000-04:00

I couldn't stand looking at my empty bookmark section much longer, so even though I still have other new items to list, I made another bookmark first! Click the pic if you'd like to see the listing:

Bookmark in Blues w/ Swarovski Crystals & Cloisonné

I also published my Facebook Fan Page, which you can see in my new welcome at the top right of the page. Thanks to the link love discussion on Vee's fan page, Very Vee, I already have two fans in addition to her! Link love is a way for people to get out the word about the various places they can be found online. I'm planning to add the topic to my own fan page discussion section so people can drop by and post their links. :)

Yesterday I warned you that I'd be getting a bit political about the health care bill being debated here in the U.S., so here goes! Frankly, I've been quite overloaded with the whole thing for a long time now and have tuned a lot out until very recently. I have little tolerance for the news to begin with, I think because it's one of those things that can trigger at least a mild depression for me, but this issue has been particularly drawn out and reported ad nauseum. However, my mom wrote an excellent letter to our district's Congressman, Scott Murphy, and I wanted to pass on an edited version here so you can customize and send it along to your local Representative if you want:

"[I am/We are] writing today to respectfully but strongly encourage you to vote YES for passage of the health care bill.

Please [reconsider/maintain] your stance on this critical economic and social issue, and help to pass this important legislation. Help those who desperately need it, and then continue to work to promote wellness, cut costs, and hold insurance companies accountable. Profit-making is good for businesses, but these obscene insurance company record profits & bonuses do not reflect a "need" to increase rates. They instead reflect greed at the expense of all of us: those who are cut off, denied, or cannot afford insurance and are forced to use emergency rooms or delay treatment until their illnesses are so severe that the costs are much higher; and those of us who have insurance and are both appalled at the choices these people are forced to make, and tired of paying the high costs as a consequence.

We worry and scream about a few avoidable car company related injuries and deaths, yet do nothing about the thousands of avoidable health care crises and deaths propagated by health insurance companies making health care decisions and denying coverage year after year.

[I/We] hope you will step up, be brave, and do the right thing - vote to approve health care reform NOW!"

Republicans are all expected to vote 'no' on the health care bill, but for a regularly updated count of expected votes by House Democrats, you can take a look at The Hill's Whip Count. To contact your local Representative, you may want to visit the House's Write Your Representative page, which has a nifty little tool for locating who your Rep. is and how to contact them. I hope that helps if you're interested in getting involved - supporters of the bill, or even just the passage of something at this point, are up against a very vocal group of those who are against it. If you happen to be one of the non-supporters, I can certainly 'forgive' you for your position, and maybe you can forgive me for mine? ;)

Phew! Resuming normal broadcasting... I need coffee. Hope everyone has a great day!

1 Day Sale & Help Me Find Chain!

2010-03-13T06:12:00.002-05:00

First, the sale:
March 11th was Eris' 2nd Birthday, and today marks 2 years that she's been with us. In honor of her special day & ours, I'm offering 10% off anything in my Curiosities/OsteoWear section up until 11:59 tonight! The discount will be in the form of a Paypal refund applied as close to immediately after payment as possible. A shot of our beautiful girl last night:

And a little sneak preview of my next vial:

I haven't decided if I'll leave it as is, or add ribbon for hanging it on Halloween/Christmas Trees, rearview mirrors, windows, etc.

Now my call for help:
The other day, I ran across some gunmetal chain I bought a long time ago, and I'm getting ready to start making some necklaces with it. Somehow I had forgotten how much I love gunmetal! Thanks to my recent sale, I've just ordered some matching findings from Artbeads. I've really found their prices, service and quality to be great so far. I also love that you can order from them by the piece, and because of it I'm even left with some money after my order!

Anyway, the problem I'm having now is that I just can't find this beautiful chain anywhere for reordering when I run out. It's somewhere around 1.8-2mm wide and is a 5 to 1 figaro style. I can't find any evidence that it's plated, but most of them seem to be, so it's possible. It has a nice heavy feel to it, but I have no clue what the material is. I bought it at a bead shop in California, which I know closed down, so it's not like I can go back and grab some or even find them online. In short [ha!], Help!

I love everything about it & especially would like to find the style in a chain that isn't obviously plated or coated. A free pair of sterling and glass earrings made for you in your choice of color [provided I have it] to anyone who can point me to a place that results in a successful order of the chain I want. I do plan an actual giveaway when it seems there are enough interested parties, so this is more like an appreciation gift.

Next time I get kind of political about this whole health care mess, not something I'll do very often, but things are moving far too slow and my mom wrote an awesome letter [which I proceeded to hack to bits in an effort to make it more customizable, sorry maman!]. Whatever your views, I hope you'll give it a look-over and some consideration. If you agree you can send it along to your representative, and if not we can agree to disagree. Hope everyone has a great day! :)

Treasury & Giveaway by TICC

2010-03-12T06:39:00.004-05:00

Susan of Trouble Ink/Crafty Crafts on Etsy has kindly included one of my necklaces in her newest treasury, Shiny N Bright. My capture below links to the treasury while it's still up, so I hope you'll go have a look and check out all the great shops:

It's a pretty one, and the necklace of mine that she included is one of my favorites. As you can see from her other choices, I'm in wonderful company!

Susan is also holding a giveaway on her blog right now, and the winner will receive one of her beautiful dream catchers, as well as one of her brother's lucky shamrock amulets. She's offering a ton of chances to win, and I have yet to finish putting in all my entries. If you decide to enter, good luck!

I sent Vee the new bookmark for her mom yesterday, and I had the best time packaging it up! Can't divulge any specifics of course, but I really hope she enjoys getting it. Thanks to my mom's work as the official KSK Designs' Shipping Department, and my dad as my new Photo Advisor, all is beginning to run smoothly. ;)

Next post I ask for help locating some chain, and a successful buy gets you a free pair of sterling and glass earrings made for you in your choice of colors. Provided it's a color I have, of course, so pink is pretty much out unless you'd be happy with the sometimes pinkish-looking alexandrite. So brush up on your Googling skills, have your list of suppliers handy, get ready to beg, borrow or steal for the info, because I want my chain!

New Product Line

2010-03-11T08:08:00.001-05:00

I've completed, posted and listed my first bookmark! It's a reserve listing, because my good friend and awesome fellow Etsy seller, Vee, is planning to buy it. The bookmark will be a gift for her mother's birthday, so it's special and I really hope she's happy with it. Thank you in advance, Vee, and remember you're still loved if you change your mind! Either way, I really enjoyed making it and am thrilled to have begun my newest group of projects. I'll be listing my bookmarks in my new Book Jewelry section. This one is garden-themed, with a sterling ladybug and flower link, and Swarovski crystals. For now, you can check it out by clicking the photo:

Garden Bookmark

I did start to watch the Ghost Hunters episode last night, but managed to pass out about halfway through. Not because I was bored, I just got very tired, which is to be expected I guess when you wake up at something like 3am. I'll have to look for it online. One of the cutest things in the world is that Eris watches the show with us every week. She's either draped around my neck or at the bottom of the bed with her head on the wooden end frame, but always facing the TV!

I should probably mention that I've made some changes to the blog over the last few days. I now have a My Etsy Favorites page, which you can get to via the navigation links along the top. It's a huge Etsy mini with my recently hearted items. Also on that page, I'll be adding image links to Etsy sellers I love who have them, similar to the one there now for Scrivener's Retreat under the mini. If you'd like to be included there, make up a little logo and I'll add it. I'm thinking 125x125 pixels to keep it consistent, but whatever you have should work. I'm planning to make my own too, so link exchanges are always welcome!

I also moved my SRAJD and Etsy for Animals badges to my About Me page, and changed my labels to a cute little cloud instead of a list in the interest of keeping my side column a little shorter. Lastly, I added a little RSS feed link button thingy in my side column under the pic of me and Ed. Very exciting, if you have an RSS feed reader of some sort, that should keep you updated on my new shop listings. Ok, enough of that, I have some packaging supplies to gather. Hope everyone has a great day!

My Area on Ghost Hunters Tonight!

2010-03-10T17:03:00.000-05:00

Keep forgetting to post this, but yes, it's of great importance! The TAPS team recently visited my area to do an investigation of Fort Ticonderoga, and the episode airs at 9pm tonight on the SyFy Channel. That's 416 on my TV - hopefully you're well aware of what it is on yours! :D

Fort Ticonderoga has been doing ghost-hunting tours for a while, but it seems they've now revamped them to include information about the findings of TAPS. Unfortunately I never took the tour before, but I do hope to go still. The fort is about 40 miles from me, located right by Lake George, which is a hugely popular tourist destination and is where I used to work in the summers during high school.

My humble opinion is that you should just be watching Ghost Hunters anyway [still can't believe they came up with a show to drag me into reality TV!]. However, if it isn't your typical Wednesday night viewing fare, you should check it out. Fort Ti is a neat place with an interesting history, which I'm sure they'll touch on in the show.

Looking Back

2010-03-10T08:08:00.002-05:00

Over the last few days, my family has been trying to convince me that my slump in sales is not indicative of how things will always be or some overall statement on the hideousness of my jewelry. Yeah, I can be pretty harsh on myself, but the fact is I do actually like the things I make and would wear most of them myself. A nice bonus is that if things don't sell, I can! Keeping in mind that sometimes to move forward it helps to take a little look back, today I'm reminding myself that there are other people who have liked what I make enough to buy. Images link to current similar listings on Etsy, sold listings on Etsy, or just bigger images of items sold elsewhere. :)

Jet Swarovski Crystal Collar & Earrings

[both sold, earrings only sold on Etsy - similar collar available]

Amethyst Czech & Vintage Glass Necklace

[similar available]

Predator and Prey Vial

Oxidized Hill Tribe Silver & Swarovski Crystal Necklace

Mary Necklace

Oxidized Hill Tribe Silver & Swarovski Chain Necklace

Sterling Silver Garnet Station Necklace

And one more which I've had to take down from Etsy because it's now on reserve for one of my husband's friends:

Organica Earrings: Deer Phalanges, Wood & Fossil Beads on Sterling

What amazes me is that most of the pictures actually are hideous! With all the talk on Etsy of how important photos are [and I agree], it's nice to know that even when they aren't very good, items can and do sell. Also amazing is that only two of these sales were to my parents. :D

Tomorrow I plan to post a new poster sketch, or treasury if I can get a spot. It's pretty and girly, so be on the lookout, because that's not likely to happen often! Hope everyone has a great day!

A New Day

2010-03-08T07:16:00.000-05:00

The last couple of days haven't been the best for me. Nothing particular, just a touch of the blues maybe. My motivation has been down and I've felt very unsure about my jewelry, my shop, myself. It happens sometimes to everyone, but for me it carries an extra implication, which is that it could be a sign of an upcoming depression. I'm trying to stay focused on maintaining the little routine Ive set for myself: taking the head meds, making sure to eat, getting a little exercise, spending quality time with all my babies, and staying creative.

For the most part I've been successful - even finally got to work on my first bookmark yesterday. I also had a really nice chat with my friend Vee last night. It was the first time I've chatted in over a year, and it cheered me up to talk with her. I tend to be more comfortable when I have time to think about my responses, so phone conversations, chats and face-to-face talking can be stressful. It wasn't always that way for me, but I think once the bipolar depression really settled itself in, my thinking became just a little bit slower. I still feel a bit off this morning, but like every day, I'm working on it. The scene in the photo below is what greeted me upon my first look out the window this morning, so it's not all bad!

I have a walk by the river with my mom to look forward to a little later this morning, and a fresh pot of coffee brewing. Eris shed last night, so I'll be collecting that from her tank shortly for use in some of my vials. It was the cutest thing - as soon as she was done eating last night, on my way to putting her back into her tank, she started to push her nose into my arm. Chris and I couldn't figure out what she was up to, but it turned out she was trying to use me as a shedding aid! She had gotten the skin off her jaw by the time we got her back in to use her log. Wish I had gotten a pic, she looked so funny! It was also kind of nice to know she feels so comfortable with us that she would do something like that. Most snakes tend to get very grumpy and touchy during shedding time, but Eris is just a big sweet baby. A very big sweet baby... she's now about as long as I am tall, which is a not-so-imposing 5'2". I may be exaggerating on my height by about 1/4 of an inch. :D

Hope everyone has a great day!

Beautiful Jewelry by Shadowolfsilver on Etsy

2010-03-07T08:58:00.001-05:00

One of my new Etsy favorites is Shadowolfsilver, whose Art Nouveau Inspired Red Ruby Pendant was included in my most recent treasury. The shop was started just a few weeks before mine, in November of last year, but it's obvious that owner and silversmith Shadowolf is far from new to his craft. The pieces are unique and complex, reflecting creativity, talent and a skill carefully honed since his introduction to silversmithing in 1976. His attention to detail in relation to both design and construction are indicative of an artist who truly loves what he does, and after a short conversation with Shadowolf, it's clear this is his passion. I had a hard time picking favorites from the shop, but here's a little sampling [photos link to listings]:

Sterling Silver Nouveau Earrings

Adobe Linked Sterling Silver Bracelet

Victorian Inspired Pendant

So many beautiful items, definitely worth a look around. Be sure to check out his Wolf Paw Print pieces and the Itsy Bitsy Spider Bracelet if you go - I love them! :)

Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Picnik

2010-03-06T11:38:00.002-05:00

My time without my beloved Paint Shop has prompted me to look around for other photo editing options, and today I'd like to share something I found. I know I went on for a while about photo stuff in my last long post, so I promise to keep this one relatively short.

Via Etsy's somewhat intimidating Seller Handbook, I came across the how-to, Brighten Your Photos with Paperama. It's a brief tutorial by seller Paperama for using the web-based photo editing program Picnik. I just gave it a try using the first image I chose for my most recent choker, and here's what I came up with:

Choker Before

Choker After

It's only a first try, and looks over-processed to me in ways I have yet to figure out. The background also looks yellower than in the photo I have on my listing, which was edited with the program that came with my computer. However, this does give you an idea of what can be done with the nifty little program without even having to register. For the sake of playing around I cropped, brightened, upped the contrast & exposure, and sharpened. There are several other tools on the site as well - if you decide to give them a try, have fun!

I'm also happy to mention that I'm currently featured in my friend Vee's newest treasury. It ends tomorrow around noon, so I hope you'll check it out while it's still up! :)

Treasury Up [A Blurb]

2010-03-05T18:23:00.000-05:00

For anyone who's interested, I finally managed to not sleep through getting a treasury! The Lab is now up at Treasury West, so be sure to check out all the great shops & show some love. :)

New Choker, A Bit About Photos & Crystals

2010-03-05T08:25:00.006-05:00

I've updated my Sales page with details about my March sale, and I've finally listed one of my new necklaces! You can check it out by clicking the photo - it's one of the items on sale this month. :)

Forest Green Seed Bead Choker w/ Swarovski Crystal & Vintage Glass

I got impatient waiting for my new Paint Shop to come, and managed to figure out how to get a somewhat decent picture using the image program I found on my computer. It has a crop function and an enhance button, which just sharpens the image a bit. The only missing aspect that I ever use for the image area is background lightening, which just helps the jewelry stand out more for the purposes of a photo. I also like to add borders in complementary colors around the image because I think it's a nice finishing touch and sets the image apart, hopefully in a subtle way, in search results.

My personal and admittedly very amateur take on image editing is that you should never use color enhancement, and certainly shouldn't add effects! There are times when the picture on your screen just doesn't look like it does in real life, but that can be corrected to a great extent with proper lighting [sunlight or full spectrum bulbs seem to work best] or even some experimenting with your backgrounds. Once you get into color editing, it's easy to start playing around too much with your image, resulting in one that's less true-to-life and potentially misleading. If you're really having problems with a particular photo, I think the best way to go is to just honestly state so in your item description, along with the best description you can come up with for what the piece looks like in real life. Refer to the images you've included in your listing for comparison to help give people a better idea of what to expect.

I also mentioned effects, and this is a particularly annoying thing I've actually seen some people do, mostly on eBay. I haven't seen any obvious example of it on Etsy; just another reason I love that community! Granted, all image editing is an "effect" to some extent, in the sense that it manipulates the original pixels via mathematical logarithms, but I'm referring to things like adding fake sparkles to crystals or fake light reflections. Admittedly, I'm particularly interested in image editing, but I'm far from an expert and even I can spot the glaring deception. No biggie for me, I cluck disapprovingly to myself, make a mental note to never shop there, and move on. What concerns me is that there are so many people who have no reason to know or care about this stuff, just see the pretty sparkles, and buy. I guess that would be fine if they were actually going to get what they were expecting from the photos, but I've particularly seen this technique used by sellers who are offering so-called Swarovski crystals at obvious non-Swarovski prices.

My suspicion is that these are actually glass products being called crystals to increase sales. I know from experience that this happens, because I bought one time from a seller I didn't know, thinking I was getting a great price on crystals. It took me a little while to figure out exactly what, but I realized there was something off about them pretty quickly. The color wasn't even, the facets didn't meet exactly, and the shape and size of the bicones differed from each other. After some research, I concluded they were most likely Czech glass or maybe a Celestial Crystal product. Both beautiful alternatives, just not the Swarovski crystals I had ordered, was expecting, and would've sold to customers as such if I hadn't made sure to investigate. If you buy or use Swarovski products, there's a great little guide at Fire Mountain Gems to help you ensure you're getting the real thing.

The best way is to find a reputable seller you like and just stick with them no matter what wonderful deal you may think you'd be getting elsewhere. It doesn't have to be a big seller - I've bought from some great shops on Etsy that are trusted resources. I just think that too much shopping around in pursuit of cheaper prices can open you up to more deceptive sellers and end up costing more in the long run. Well, this was much longer than planned! Thanks for reading if you got this far. Hope this was helpful to someone, and I hope you have a great day!

New Product Plans

2010-03-04T09:27:00.000-05:00

I've finally decided to get to work on something I've wanted to make for a while - beaded bookmarks! Not an entirely unique idea, I know, but I'm excited about it. It will be a nice way to combine my love for making jewelry with one of my first loves, reading. I also really like the idea of in some way contributing to other people's enjoyment of books.

My plan is to start with a basic design of seed beads with accent ends, but I may eventually add some silver hooks with beaded dangles, or maybe even hand-hammered and formed silver designs. I'd like to offer a range of designs and price options, but first I'll have to see how I do with it and if there's any interest. One of my biggest problems is that I want to add lots of sterling and fine silver to everything! Maybe it's not so much a problem as it is a limiting of my potential market for sales. I'm hoping I can keep in mind while making the bookmarks that they will be taking a certain amount of abuse so pricey components won't always be the best idea. Of course, I'm already eying sterling silver bookmark hooks, so we'll see how that works out! At least those won't have beads that may get crushed inside a book, although I don't see that happening in most cases anyway.

Along the lines of the bookmark idea, I had a thought about my Moo cards [I feel like I'm getting paid to link to them I've done it so much by now, but nope, just offering it for anyone who hasn't seen them yet!]. I plan to include two cards with every order, one of which I'll leave as is. I'm thinking I'll punch a hole at the top of the other card, through which I'll loop a removable ribbon and a separate beaded dangle which matches the beads in the customer's order. They could then hang it by its ribbon off their bulletin board, or they can take the ribbon off [or leave it] and perhaps use the card as a mini bookmark. This way they're also getting a little free gift with their purchase, which is a hard thing to come up with when you sell jewelry. I'd love to offer a free polishing cloth or anti-tarnish strip with each order, and probably will eventually, but for now this is an affordable and hopefully useful option.

As always, I'd love to hear any input or suggestions. I've really been enjoying hearing from everyone - you guys are great, and I hope you have a great day! :)

Final Moo

2010-03-03T09:17:00.001-05:00

As promised, I have a couple pictures of my Moo MiniCards this morning. They're the cutest little things, at only 2.76" x 1.1"! Rather than a straight transfer of the images from my Etsy listings into Moo's editor, I chose to use the template they provide on their site to create my own images. This definitely worked out better for the photos on the front of the cards, as they're sharper than my sample cards were. However, the text image I created for the back of the cards was too big, which meant I had to reduce it in Moo's editor. This resulted in more blur than I'd like. I'd still go with my own image next time because I like to be able to use a font Moo doesn't offer, but I'll make sure to edit it to the proper size before I add it to their site editor. Pics are still pretty awful coming straight from my camera, but here are the best ones I came up with:

The terrible blur is from me, so don't blame Moo, because they actually look pretty nice in person. I didn't expect them to come in a box, and with my tendency to lose things and/or spill coffee on them, it was a pleasant surprise! A handful of cards went out with us on our errands Monday, and my husband got right to work distributing them to the women behind the counter at the blood lab and the pharmacy. He's much better at that stuff than me and I was having blood drawn anyway, so I figure I had an excuse. Working on the next one... :D

Yesterday he made me a little balsa wood holder for some of the cards so I can try to convince a local coffee shop to let me put it on their counter. I'm also thinking I may punch a hole in the corner of some so I can hang them from a ribbon and put them on a couple of boards in the area. That way a few would be available at once without taking up much room, and they would stand out from everything else. The rest will be distributed by hand at any opportunity I can find, and of course go out in orders. If anyone has any other suggestions or advice, I'd love to hear from you! I've been doing my jewelry for a long time, but I've really never marketed myself actively, so a lot of this is new and experimental.

Hope everyone has a great day!

New Scrivener Rat!

2010-03-02T13:26:00.009-05:00

A few days ago I received a custom order in the mail from Scrivener's Retreat, and I just had to share it here. Shop owner Natalie specializes in making stuffed toys for pets and people, as well as bedding and tunnels for ferrets, cats, rats and probably any other playful burrowing critter you can think of. Particularly impressive is that she somehow manages to make dead animals and pieces of meat look so cute! Photos link to listings...

Colorful Dead Birds Toys

Stuffed Steak Meat Toy

Aside from her obvious talent and creativity, one of the things that's great about Natalie's shop is that it was all inspired by her love for her first ferret, Bartleby. Can't beat that for motivation!

My order from Scrivener's Retreat was a stuffed rat for my girls, Magda and Helen. Thanks to Natalie for providing it complete with alive-looking eyes. Here are a couple of pics of them inspecting their new friend, before promptly chewing off half of one of those all-important eyes. I do so love them!

Helen peeking out from their porta-bed

Helen in front, Magda burrowing under their new friend

Again, excuse the horrid pics until I get my editing software. Hope you'll check out Scrivener's Retreat and show some love to a great shop and fellow Etsian!

The Lab

2010-03-01T16:10:00.001-05:00

Really getting to know my new computer, and have managed to locate a snipping tool that lets me do screen captures, so here's a poster sketch I just completed. Part medical, part fantasy, all inspired by my trip to get some blood drawn today. :D

The Lab

Please excuse the fuzziness since I have no photo editing software yet and had to blow this up in the posting editor. My hope is to catch a treasury spot next time, then it will look much better! In the meantime, I hope you'll take a look at all these great shops. From left to right:

Line 1

Fairy Tale Pendant Bottle with Rose Thorn by wychbury

Circe and Her Vial of Dragon's Blood by EmilyBalivet

Art Nouveau Inspired Red Ruby Pendant by shadowolfsilver

Line 2

Vampire's Bride - Love Message in a Bottle by flipchick1369

Sanguis Perfume Oil by amandalouise

Color Atlas of Hematology 1947 at Petuniapie

Line 3

Immortality by EmotionalOasis

DIY Butchery Blood Top by YouBadGirl

Antique Chemist Bottle and Roses Necklace by fancifuldevices

Line 4

Vintage American Red Cross Memorabilia at TheHilltopShop

Ruby Cabochon Oxidized Dots Pendant by jorgensenstudio

Medical Professional Bat Cup Sleeve by batgirl93

I also got my Moo Mini Cards today! They'll make cute little hang-tags, and/or will fit nicely inside the organza bags I send my jewelry out in. If I can figure out how to use my camera with this computer before Paint Shop comes, I'll be posting pics of them tomorrow for anyone who's considering an order. Have a great evening!

Oh Yeah! [A Blurb]

2010-02-28T18:09:00.001-05:00

New computer up and running, IDE card has shipped so I can listen to my music again [of great importance!], and Windows 7 doesn't even make me want to tear my hair out like Vista did!

Calling my short entries blurbs in the title, so you can avoid them if you prefer.
Or look for them if that's all you want to hear out of me. :)

Computer Limbo

2010-02-28T06:38:00.000-05:00

Really sucks. And is hopefully almost over. I'm sick of the relatively foul mood it has put me in to not be able to list new items at my shop, work on pics, comment on blogs, and whatever else I've complained about 6 times already in the last few days. Maybe it's only been a couple of days. It feels like a week.

So, today I'm heading to Staples to try to get myself an HP Pavilion P6310! Supposedly they'll have it in stock at a special price bundled with a flat-screen monitor. The one I have now is ancient, so it'll be a nice change to have a flat-screen. I've also ordered some kind of card thingy, which my husband says will allow him to add both of my old hard drives to the new computer so I don't lose anything or have to transfer a million files, yeah! The card thingy is coming with a newer version of Paint Shop, and after I get those I should be all set!

My mom is envisioning a Filene's bridal-gown type of rush at Staples, so we'll be going as soon as they open. :) I'm not sure what rock I've been under that I've never heard of the Running of the Brides, but it was news to me last night when she mentioned it! I hunted for a video of that particular awesome display to link to, but honestly I had trouble finding one that wasn't immediately followed by some very colorful language referring to the brides-to-be. In keeping with the family-friendly nature of this blog, I've refrained from the linkage.

I will pass along a link from Etsy's newest email to a forum post entitled "How the Four P's Helped Me Hit 100 Sales". It's a quick read, the "P's" are helpful suggestions which don't even include the very useful and necessary but standard 'photography' or 'promotion', and it's even obscenity-free. Hope everyone has a great day!

Spreading A Little Sunshine

2010-02-27T15:28:00.002-05:00

A couple of days ago, I was nominated for the Sunshine Blog Award by Mortira of the Inspirational Beading blog. It came at a perfect time, the same day my computer died and I was feeling a bit dazed about what to do and very stressed about all listing activities at my Etsy shop being forced to a halt. Mortira's work is beautiful, as is her blog, so I hope you'll check it out if you aren't already a follower.

The Sunshine Award is given to bloggers whose positivity and creativity are an inspiration to others in the blog world. You are of course not obligated to accept, but if you do, these rules provide a nice way to say 'thank you' to and hopefully brighten the day of some people who you feel are an inspiration:

1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
2. Pass the award on to 12 bloggers.
3. Link to the nominees within your post.
4. Let each one know they received the award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

Since I've started blogging, I've come across so many great blogs, and they've all been an inspiration to me as I've figured out how to post, what to post, how to organize my blog, etc. I'm passing the award on to just some of the creative people who have taught me things and made my mornings more interesting. A lot of these blogs are newer like my own, some have been around for longer, but I've been enjoying reading them all. In alphabetical order, my picks are:

Amy Nicole Artisan Jewelry and Ruby Mountain Beads
CarolynArtist
The Frog Bag
The Knife Wife
Little Cherry Hill
Naughtee Bits
Phantasteria's Creative Outbursts
Precious Supplies
Scrivener's Retreat
This Is It! Creations
Trouble Ink/Crafty Crafts
VeryVee

I hope you'll take a moment to have a look at each of them!
My commenting seems to have gone funny here again, but I'm trying to let everyone know.

The Earthquake in Chile

2010-02-27T04:48:00.002-05:00

Just woke up to the news on CNN of a huge earthquake that struck near Concepción, Chile earlier this morning. According to the USGS, the earthquake was recorded at a magnitude of 8.8 at 3:34 local time, which is 1:34 EST. Concepción is Chile's second-largest city, and is located a little over 200 miles from the capitol of Santiago. The news is of course in the process of being updated by the moment, but so far there have been 6 fatalities reported and a 9-foot tsunami wave has been recorded by The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

According to the USGS, the same area experienced a 9.5 magnitude earthquake in 1960, the largest earthquake ever recorded. I think the largest one I ever experienced was a little above a 6, and my husband went through the 6.7 magnitude 1994 Northridge, California earthquake on his birthday. I can't even begin to imagine an 8.8. I know Chile does have earthquake safe buildings, but not all of them would be, and I believe an earthquake of that magnitude is larger than most buildings are meant to withstand.

My thoughts are with the people of Chile.

Down, But Not Completely Out...

2010-02-26T11:41:00.002-05:00

* Edit 2-27: Looks like commenting is actually working after all, hooray! Now if I can just figure out how to do image stuff on this computer, I can do some proper posting...

First, I want to thank Mortira of the definitely inspiring Inspirational Beading blog and the beautiful Etsy shop The Sage's Cupboard for kindly nominating me for the Sunshine Blog Award! What a wonderful surprise, and timely as well, since my computer died yesterday and I was in desperate need of some cheering up! I hope you catch this post, Mortira, as I tried to leave you a comment, but I seem to have limited capabilities in Blogger on this computer and couldn't even successfully comment on my own blog. Keeping my fingers crossed that this entry actually posts! I'm looking forward to having access to a computer of my own again very soon so I can add the award here and spread some sunshine as well. :)

So, yep, I'm pretty much without a computer right now. It's been dead since late yesterday morning, but it kind of feels like forever, which shows how dependent on it I've become! I can use my husband's laptop for some things, but I can't access my images, create new ones from photos or list items. Or comment on blogs apparently. After a brief meltdown and a nap, I promptly went to work trying to cure my boredom and stave off frustration by making things! I've completed two new necklaces, a pair and a half of earrings, and a little found-bone vial for Halloween Trees, Christmas Trees or general spooky/gothic/science geek (or is it nerd?!) household decorations. Keeping myself busy helped a great deal with a situation that only months ago would have put me out of commission for days. I've come a long way!

I'm looking for a new computer now, with the help of my mom and my lovable resident computer nerd and all-around hero (my husband, Chris). Hopefully I'll have one within the next couple of days. In the meantime I plan to keep creating, reading the great blogs I've found, and checking in at my shop for those always-possible sales! With maybe a few coping naps thrown in. :D

My 100th Item!

2010-02-25T09:15:00.000-05:00

I try to offer a little more here than just what's going on at my shop, but I reached a couple of milestones yesterday that I'm pretty excited about. Also, I have time to just sit while my hair dyes, so I might as well be productive!

First, yesterday marked the end of my third month on Etsy! So far, I'm absolutely loving it there. It's not just less expensive to maintain than eBay, it's also much more personal, which better suits me. For less money than it costs to just list items for sale on eBay, I'm able to actually maintain my own little shop on Etsy, complete with categories of my choosing. I've also had the opportunity to meet some very nice and talented people, which never happened on eBay beyond the specifics of a transaction. Although I haven't had as many sales on Etsy as I did in my first three months of selling on eBay, I've gotten far more views on almost all of the same items up for twice as long on eBay. Also, most of my sales on eBay were for supplies and when I compare only my jewelry sales between the two, it's almost exactly the same in half as long. If I could afford it, I would list both places, but for now I'm continuing to remove my items from eBay as their listing times expire, leaving up only the ones people are "watching" - just in case.

Second milestone: yesterday I listed my 100th item! Technically I had already done that the day before, but I recently took one of my necklaces down to make some adjustments, so I'm not counting it. These are earrings to match my most recent necklace:

Emerald Isle Earrings

Off to rinse the hair - hope everyone has a great day!

Greens!

2010-02-24T07:14:00.000-05:00

Not the veggies, although those are awesome too & I should probably eat more than I have been lately. I've been adding & updating the greens in my shop in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Apologies to my Englishman dad! Before my pics, I want to suggest you go take a look at my treasury, Amber Rain. I managed to secure a spot this morning, and I'm sure the included shops would love a visit, maybe even a purchase!

I redid photos of two pairs of earrings yesterday, and made a necklace! I really think my pictures are finally getting better. The earrings definitely look more true-to-life in the new photos. As always, each one below links to the listing, and I'd love the views. Of course hearts and purchases are always welcome too! :)

Emerald Isle Necklace

Little Mint Green UFO Earrings

Off Kilter Earrings

Not much else this morning, just watching the snow fall... and fall. The trees are beautiful covered in white, but I think it's safe to say my walk for the day will not be happening. Hair's needed dyeing for weeks, so maybe this will inspire me to actually do it. My rat, Magda, is doing wonderfully - back to her old self! For some reason her sister, Helen, has been on the cranky side. I ordered them a rat stuffy from Scrivener's Retreat, so maybe that'll cheer her up when it arrives. The shop owner, Natalie, was terrific and will be making me one with alive eyes so I'm not emotionally abusing them with a dead stuffed playfriend. She was very sweet about it and I was glad to hear that I'm not the only one who has such concerns.

Hope you have a great day!

Moving Along!

2010-02-23T07:20:00.000-05:00

Working my way right through that list from a couple of days ago and adding things along the way, go me! I've now added an exhaustive [exhausting] "About Me" page here, link above. It's basically my Etsy profile rearranged a bit. Nothing exciting and certainly best for those who are desperately looking for something, anything, to read! Or maybe for those who really like to know who's behind the handmade items they're buying - I'm kind of like that myself.

I've also ordered my Moo cards! I went with 100 of the MiniCards and chose 8 different designs for the front. You can choose up to 100, but since I was utilizing their template to custom-fit each image, there was no way I was working on that many images. For the back, instead of using their templates, I created and uploaded my own image so I could use the font I like for all the text. My main worry about that is the text being large enough on those little cards, which are only 2.76" x 1.1". Guess we'll see! And yep, I entered my Etsy shop address correctly this time. :D

Lastly, I remade a pair of earrings I wasn't the most thrilled with the first time through. May have had something to do with the fact that I broke the bottom crystals during wire-wrapping... now I wish I'd saved the old images so I could fully show off my mistake. Since the beads are held on by wire that's hand hammered on the bottom, the sharp edges cut into the crystals. Now they sound dangerous, but I assure you they really aren't. Or maybe they are, but only because you'll look so awesome in them. Ha! I'm a nerd. Maybe I should start getting all sales-person-like in my listings, too bad it's just not me. Anyway, this time I used a simple loop to connect the beads to the link so I didn't put any pressure on the crystals. The wire is heavy gauge, so the loop will certainly suffice and despite having no comparison picture for you, I'm sure you can imagine they look better without the ground up crystals. I seem to be in some kind of a mood today. :D Here they are, photo links to listing:

Swarovski Fleur de Lis Earrings

Hope everyone has a great day!

Blog Updates & A Poster Sketch

2010-02-22T03:59:00.005-05:00

So I managed to cross a couple things off my list of plans from yesterday, one of which was to add two new pages here. Right across the top under my title image, you can now see links to "Home", "My Etsy Mini" and "Sales/Promotions". I was hoping to de-clutter my sidebar, so I moved the mini, which is not so mini anymore. I also wanted to get rid of my sales/promotions label since for the most part it would just bring up old deals. Now I can just post what's current on that page, much better! Next step will probably be more sidebar de-cluttering by adding some kind of "About Me" page to include my blog introduction, profile info and maybe some things from my Etsy profile. I know I get sick of seeing my little profile up there at the right every single day!

Another accomplishment from yesterday - I made a treasury! I then proceeded to sleep through the time slot during which I could add it to Etsy's Treasury list. :D Looks like it was a particularly competitive one anyway, with 750 treasuries up when I first visited. I may still try to get this one in next time, but for now:

Amber Rain [title inspired by the Coil song]

From left to right:

Pearly Gates Bracelet by vee41dmb

Blue Stripe Yunomi with Amber by CampanaCeramics

Earthly Beauty by JavaBead

Honey and Turquoise Glass Beads by BeadSoupBeads

Otherness by kellya

Vegan Handmade Daydream Soap by layla

Labradorite, Aquamarine, Tourmaline by JenniferEells

60s Sensual Sandalwood and Amber Generation Bar by luxuryfalls

Amber Glow Earrings by MossyTwigJewelry

Second Print by oladesign

Sunny Sky Earrings by amaniworks

Hand-Made Hand-Poured Soy Wax Candle by hafelepottery

All lovely shops, so spread the love!

While trying to find a link to "Amber Rain" by Coil, I just learned that one of the founders of Wax Trax! Records, Dannie Flesher, died last month. Sad news for me. Wax Trax! was and remains a favorite label of mine, with releases from such bands as Front 242, KMFDM, Ministry and My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. I should be keeping up with my music more. RIP, Dannie.

More Moo

2010-02-21T07:04:00.006-05:00

I got an email from Moo a couple of days ago, and it occurred to me that I never posted images of the sample cards I received from them, so here we are:

They definitely look better in person, but this gives you a good idea of what you can expect if you want to try them out. My cookies are enabled, so when I visit their site I don't see the free sample offer anymore, but it may still be available to anyone who hasn't taken advantage yet. If it is, I highly recommend grabbing the opportunity - it costs nothing!

When you make an actual order, the "Business Cards by Moo" bar across the front won't be there. And don't be a dolt like me and screw up your Etsy shop address! Hey, I was brand new... yeah I know, no excuse. At least I was brilliant enough to not send a promo sample to the two customers I had before I realized my mistake. :D

The most recent Moo mail contained links to some of the great packaging ideas used by their customers. The first is to a post on their blog, Packaging Tips for Crafters, Makers and Sellers. The other is to their Flickr gallery, Packaging Ideas for Sellers. Only 18 pics there so far, but at first glance it looked like there were some nifty ideas.

Plans for my Sunday:
- Browse through those photos for ideas
- Try to use one of Moo's templates so I can get better images when I order my cards
- Maybe add a couple of new pages here on my blog
- Even maybe-er embark on The Great Sulphur Experiment
- Take a walk with Chris - my husband, for those who don't know yet. :)
- Last, and maybe best of all for me, hopefully chase the crows when they fly this evening. We have hundreds, and they make a beautiful spectacle. They've recently been chased away from their nightly roost on our Civic Center with some kind of sonic device. They now seem to be crossing to the other side of the Hudson River, and I'd love to find their new spot.

That's an awful lot for me for one day still, so I'll be proud if I accomplish half. Hope everyone has a great day!

Learning New Techniques

2010-02-20T06:13:00.000-05:00

I've discovered I require about a week's time between when I decide to start learning a new technique and when I'm actually ready to embark upon the process. Or more accurately, between when I have all my materials and when I'm actually ready to use them. It's not unlike a lot of other things for me in that I need preparation time - time to get used to the idea, to kind of steel myself for the possibility of things becoming a complete unmanagable or in some way confidence-lessening mess. It means things can go a bit more slowly for me than a lot of people, but that's perfectly fine with me because it helps me avoid some potential issues with my depression.

It can also be pretty amusing because after preparation, excitement and much impatient, complaint-filled waiting for materials to arrive, everything will suddenly come to a stop. And that's where I'm at now with my Liver of Sulphur experiments for Chauncey the Jellyfish. After 8 days or so, it finally arrived just in time to stop me from posting a big whiny "I Want My LOS" rant, lucky you! I think it's been sitting here in the package for 2 or 3 days now [in my defense, I did at least peek into it]. So, in an effort to get myself moving on this thing, I have removed it and taken a photo for anyone who has never seen the stuff.

Pretty, isn't it? The color reminds me of the algae tablets my parents and I give to the cute little otocinclus in our fish tanks, which means I probably better jar it all up ASAP so no confusion occurs! I've read it should be stored in the dark to keep it effective for as long as possible. Luckily I've built up quite a collection of bottles, jars and boxes I find pretty, so I should have no problem finding a place for it!

Possibly helpful tip of the day:

The sulphur is photographed in a small coffee canister lid. These things are awesome if you have a really limited work area for beading like I do. They're a good deal smaller than a beadboard, so I find using two or three less awkward because you can place them wherever you want. And since they're larger than the beadboard compartments, they give your hand some more room to work. Just make sure they sit far enough back on your work area that you don't tip them off it, and never rest your wrist on the raised edges too heavily! :)

New Additions!

2010-02-19T06:21:00.000-05:00

I haven't felt much like writing for the last 3 days, but I have been a bit productive and made a new necklace & a pair of earrings. I was going to make a matching set, but I tend to get sick of the same beads by the time I'm done with a necklace. I still have necklaces from months ago without matching earrings. Should probably get on that! Anyway, here are the new ones - just click the photo to visit the listing:

Li'l Pumpkins Earrings

Rose Red Vintage Givre Necklace

I really like the earrings, but I'm iffy about the necklace. The givre beads are beautiful, much more so in person, but I'm not sure about the seed beads. I like them and they really work with the givre beads, again something you can see much better in person. My hesitation is over the size difference between the two. I still may decide to redo it as a double strand, maybe similar to this one:

Sterling Silver and Vintage Givre Choker

My main reason for making the red one a single strand was to keep the final price down a bit, as these are special beads and are on the expensive side. I'm also almost out of them and a double strand probably means no matching earrings. My final reason is a bizarre hoarde-y thing I have where I hate to get rid of every last one of my very special beads. I tell myself it's practicality so I can have a couple for reference in my hopeful hunts for more, but I have pics for that, so really it's just that they're pretty and I want to keep a couple for myself. Opinions are always welcome and appreciated! About the jewelry, not my strange thoughts - best leave those to the medications. :D

A quick request to the animal lovers who may be reading - I could use some positive thinking for my rat, Magda. She had salivated quite a bit overnight the day before yesterday, causing her chin and neck to be wet when I checked on her in the morning. She was also having some apparent breathing problems. After some time on my lap with lots of petting and talking, she seemed to have completely recovered and has been great ever since. I'm watching her closely, though, and have a vet nearby who can see her should any more problems arise. I was concerned she may be displaying symptoms of one of the viruses common to rats, but I've begun to wonder if she may have actually just mistakenly sucked some water up into her nose from their bowl. They do have a hanging dispenser, but my other rat, Helen, prefers the bowl so I've left that in until now. As soon as the thought occured to me I removed it, sorry Helen!

If you got this far, thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!

Gorgeous Cast Jewelry by Maljewelry

2010-02-16T06:51:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, I posted my first treasury of works by some of my favorite Etsy artists. One of the shops I included was Maljewelry, run by Marisa A. Lomonaco. The piece I included in my treasury was probably my favorite, her vertebrae necklace, but they really are all beautiful. Marisa creates her jewelry in sterling silver, or bronze upon request, using the ancient method of lost-wax casting. It's a fascinating, work-intensive process, and one which I hope to someday learn. I have used the technique, but that was many years ago, in an eight grade jewelry-making class. If my memory is correct that far back, I made a braided ring - bronze or copper maybe. Some gold-ish colored metal anyway. I still remember braiding the wax and putting it in the casting machine, but the rest of the process is lost on me [my dad would make a groan-worthy lost-wax pun at that one!]. I was so proud of it, still have it in fact. But back to Maljewelry - I've taken the liberty of cropping Marisa's photos a little bit from two of her listings for sizing purposes:

Fish Tail Pendant Deer Bone Pendant

Everything in the shop is unique - there's jewelry cast from coral, and even a cute little pair of lego arm earrings. Plus, the shop is run by a very nice person. Well worth a visit!

Plans for my day:

- I need to try to get pictures of my newest necklace for listing. I know it's a common complaint of mine, but I do dislike my photos!

- This afternoon I bring my husband to his math class. The rats always accompany us in their little bag, which is actually one of my Nana's many old purses. Really must get them their own travel bag some day...

- Most importantly, I need sugar for my coffee! :D

Have a great day!

New Moon, New Beginnings

2010-02-14T05:51:00.003-05:00

Aside from being Valentine's Day, we've just had a New Moon, which means now is a good time to start new projects. My thoughts are on our little porch container garden. We've just pruned our berry bushes hoping to stimulate new growth in Spring, and I'm trying to make my poor jasmine plants happy again despite the weak winter sun. I'm also getting ready to attempt to revive my sea holly, purple oxalis, and black calla lily. I've never stored bulbs for the winter, so I'm really hoping I didn't kill them, especially the black calla because that was a hard one to find! It's an Edge of Night, and like most "black" flowers it's not really black. This one is pretty close, being a very deep purple with a purple stem and purple lining the leaves. Pictures below are from Lakeside Callas and The Black Plant Society, respectively.

Also, I've finally gotten back to some jewelry making! I must say I've been feeling less than inspired this past week, but "New Moon, New Beginnings", as we say in my family. Yesterday I decided to make use of some of the gorgeous garnet beads I ordered a couple of months ago. Why I've let them sit this long I can't say, since garnet is a favorite of mine. Still trying to get better pictures, but it seems I'm a slow learner! At least I finally set up my tripod for most of these, and I think you can tell from a couple of them. I like this one the best - it's a touch dark, but I like the detail [links to listing]:

Garnet & Onyx Necklace w/ Fine & Sterling Silver

And, there's wonderful news from This Is It! Creations - they were able to save the 3 bulls from their trip to the slaughterhouse! I know Jodi and Dan are thrilled, and they even got the bulls to eat from their hands. Not bad for animals who have only been fed as a means of fattening them up. Now come shots and all the daily work of caring for their huge new babies, but you can tell they're very committed. A very nice Valentine's Day story for the animal-lovers amongst us, perhaps even for some of the carnivores... ahem! :)

Bizarre Chocolate Combination of the Day: Lindt's Excellence Chili Bar

According to Lindt's website, the Mayans and Aztecs flavored their chocolate drinks with chili, so maybe it's not so bizarre after all. I got a bar for my husband as part of his Valentine's Day/Marriage Proposal Anniversary present, and we tasted it before he went to sleep. At first I was disappointed because for some reason I thought it was going to have a liquid or at least a creamy center, but nope. Then I was disappointed because it just tasted like plain chocolate. Then my mouth, throat & stomach started to feel warm. I wouldn't say it's particularly hot, but there was a slight kick - no rushing for the water, but I was happy to have some. Chris loves spicy things [Southern California boy], and he really liked it. I think he's just happy to find a chocolate I won't end up stealing from him.

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy New Moon!

Saturday Morning Randomness

2010-02-13T03:22:00.000-05:00

If my cats are going to continue to insist on waking me up at all hours with their incessant acrobatics, I may need to start a "randomness" series. It would include random complaints about things like the evils of cats, metal bits stuck in my finger and day-old coffee. There would be random observations about my animals, like how cute the mouse babies are all running in their wheel at once and tumbling over each other, especially the one I call Frankenmouse due to her funny crooked head, tiny back legs and general patched-together appearance. I would lament the fact that I'm just too tired to be productive and make jewelry, but can't sleep due to my house being torn apart by demons and myself getting repeatedly walked on by a rapid succession of eight randomly-placed kitty paws. Of course I would also offer interesting information in the form of random stuff found online during cat-induced web browsing sessions. I would file each entry under "meaningless babble". I might tack a "random" to the beginning. Stay tuned.

Cool random link: Atlas Obscura - perfect if you like traveling to or just reading about odd destinations boasting such wonders as collapsing castles, ghost towns, and 13 1/2 foot garden gnomes. My links are all to locations in New York, but the site covers pretty much anywhere you can imagine.

My First Etsy Treasury!

2010-02-12T06:41:00.001-05:00

I expected this to be a Poster Sketch entry - thank you to the Inspirational Beading blog for giving me that idea, because I hadn't even thought of it. However, somehow I managed to catch a treasury slot last night despite my computer being repeatedly disconnected for no good reason. For anyone who doesn't spend too much of their time on Etsy like I probably do, the Treasury is a rotating collection of 12-item galleries created by members for the purpose of showcasing some of the wonderful items that can be found there. Any Etsy member can create a treasury, but slots are limited to 333, so it can be tricky catching one when it opens. The Poster Sketch is just a handy little tool you can use when creating your treasury so you can gather and organize your picks ahead of time.

I really think the Treasury is one of Etsy's best ideas. Shoppers can browse treasuries, which are often created based on themes such as colors, styles, or item types. Curators [the name given to members who create a treasury] get an opportunity to show their appreciation for shops they love by including them. And of course shops get the all-important exposure. Etsy administration regularly picks treasuries to feature on the front page, which can be quite a boost for sales. Anyway, here's my first treasury, which links directly while it's still up on the site:

All of these shops are worth a visit, so do check them out if you have time, and spread some love. :)

Plans for my day:

A walk near the Hudson River with my mom, hopefully complete with some wildlife sightings. We walk at a place called the Betar Byway - here it is with no snow & a link to the info page:

There's a huge family of squirrels we watch playing in the trees every time we go. Although I have yet to see him, my parents and quite a few other people have seen an albino squirrel there as well. It's also quite a haven for birds, among them some very noisy and beautiful Pileated Woodpeckers. Still on the lookout for a Bald Eagle, which can apparently be seen there as well. It's wonderful to have some back in the area after a long absence due to chemical contamination. Yep, I live in PCB land. Awesome.

R.I.P. Lee Alexander McQueen

2010-02-11T16:48:00.002-05:00

Just sad. Haute Macabre has a beautiful photographic tribute, including this piece of gorgeous:

Amazing Australian Animal Jewelry

2010-02-11T06:14:00.004-05:00

I got the most beautiful flying fox pendant from my parents for my 40th birthday on Saturday! Of course I've just gone to take a picture of it and my batteries died. If I had more coffee in me I'd run downstairs for more, but instead I will refer you to the website of Tasmanian jewelry artist Ruth Waterhouse. It's well worth a visit, especially if you love gorgeous handcrafted jewelry. Even better if you have a fondness for Australian wildlife or some of the lesser-known animals.
To Corinna: I know they aren't from Australia, but I just had to look for a tapir for you! No such luck, but perhaps Ruth would be open to a suggestion... :)

According to her website, Ruth spends some of her free time caring for orphaned and injured animals, and donates regularly to wildlife causes. Some of the animal designs she has tackled so far include the bandicoot, echidna, platypus, possum, the tasmanian devil and another of my favorites - the tasmanian tiger. Yes, I like to believe the Thylacine is still out there somewhere, challenging our beliefs in its extinction as well as our ability to stomp out entire populations of animals. I hope Ruth wouldn't mind my borrowing a photo from her site [do check out the flying fox while you're there!]:

Thylacine Pendant

Feeling a bit down about about my own little shop these last couple of days - I've especially been agonizing over my photos and pricing. I know these are two particular concerns many artisans and craftspeople hold, and I expect they will be constant sources of stress and confusion for me for a while. Meanwhile, I'm reading all I can and experimenting like crazy [at least with the photos, although not as much these last few days]. In addition to perusing the Etsy Seller Handbook, I've just found a list of posts tagged Your Shop 101 from the Storque. Selling online is so much different than in person, and these resources seem to have a lot of useful information.

"Animatus" - Cartoon Skeletons

2010-02-09T05:31:00.004-05:00

A dedicated reader [okay, my husband] tipped me off to a project entitled Animatus by Korean artist Hyungkoo Lee. The work is a detailed presentation of Lee's imagined version of the skeletal structure of various popular cartoon characters. His references included real animal bones, anatomical drawings, and of course animated favorites such as Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner. The result is, to me, a brilliant extension of the anthropomorphization both innate to the characters and further interpreted from them by society. Plus they're just really, really cute. Animatus was exhibited in 2005-2006 at the Arario Gallery in Cheonan, Korea. Here are a couple of pictures from Hyungkoo Lee's website:

Canis Latrans Animatus

[Wile E. Coyote]

Anas Animatus

[Front: Dewey, Back: Huey and Louie]

Chauncey the Jellyfish [in PMC]

2010-02-07T22:39:00.001-05:00

I'm in love. Meet Chauncey, in all his imperfect, unfinished glory:

Precious Metal Clay is my current favorite thing ever with which to work! This is my first foray into the world of PMC, and I still can't believe I got this pretty substantial hunk of pure silver from a lump of clay. I'd weigh it, but somehow I've managed to misplace my scale. I need to stop putting things in "safe" places. To give you an idea of size for now, Chauncey is 1 1/4" long, almost 3/4" wide, and approaching 1/4" thick in a couple of spots. Here he is before firing, along with the tools I used to make him:

My little second-hand, tabletop Paragon Quickfire kiln works beautifully, and short of a full casting system [one has to dream], I think I'm set for tools. The version of the Quickfire I have is so old and basic that there's no control switch, so I have to actually stand at it, plugging and unplugging to regulate the temperature. You'd think a new one might be in order, but I'm a hoverer anyway, so at least the manual regulation gives me something to do!

Obviously Chauncey requires much more work at this point. I have lots of burnishing, filing, sanding and polishing ahead of me, but I love that kind of thing. I haven't decided yet if I'll leave him shiny or invest in some liver of sulphur to oxidize him so his details stand out better. Then there's the whole method of attachment thing. I could take the easy way out and turn him into a pin since I didn't fashion a bail, but I'd kind of like him to be the focal for a necklace. I did make little holes as a guide for drilling, so I'll try to rig up something to hang him on a chain or string him between beads. Much to consider still, but I'm thrilled so far and will probably be a little sad when it's time to list him.

On a completely different note, there's an update about the three bulls I mentioned a couple of days ago. The couple at This Is It! Creations have now raised about half of the money they need to purchase the bulls. If you love animals or just like to see people taking action on a personal scale to try to positively affect the world around them, please drop by their blog and send them a little message of support. Or donate if you can. The couple has been selling on Etsy for close to 2 1/2 years, and have plans to create a line of products from which the proceeds of sales will go to help care for the bulls.

* Edit: Found the scale! Chauncey is 8.8grams of metal jelly.

Blog Update - Now Listening!

2010-02-05T06:00:00.008-05:00

I've just added a neat little gadget from SIGamp, which shows in real time what I'm listening to in iTunes [at right, below the "Me and Ed" images]. Hey, this is music - it's important stuff! If you want one, all you have to do is sign up at SIGamp, then download and install their iTunes plug-in. Once you've configured that and played a song, you just go back to their site, grab the html code for your image and add it to your blog. Then you too can display your wonderful taste for the world to see!

I also found a site called SonicSwap, where you can add your iTunes library .xml file so you can share your music collection, including your playlists. No actual tracks are uploaded to the site, and since music is shared via videos grabbed from YouTube, they claim it's legal. I wouldn't know. However, if that kind of thing doesn't make you nervous, SonicSwap also offers an iTunes plug-in which grabs your recently played list and reports it to the site. Once you've installed the plug-in, you can get the html code for their player and add it so visitors can watch the YouTube videos of your recently played tracks right from your page. I was actually very excited about this, but once I got it all set up, I discovered the track name and artist fields were switched. Being seriously retentive about my music, I gave up on that for the time being. I did notice it was reporting properly for other people on the site, so I'm looking into it.

Project for the day:
Learn how to properly push PMC into a flexible mold so things don't get mushed. I'm trying out my new jellyfish mold, and I'd really like the tentacles to come out right. Are they called tentacles on jellyfish? Okay, according to Animal Diversity Web, they are.

Perhaps one day I will organize this little blog of mine. For the time being, I hope my meandering mind isn't too annoying, and I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

"The Lion and the Three Bulls" - A Fundraiser

2010-02-03T19:18:00.006-05:00

And a fable by Aesop, as found on Litscape:

Three bulls for a long time pastured together. A Lion lay in ambush in the hope of making them his prey, but was afraid to attack them whilst they kept together. Having at last by guileful speeches succeeded in separating them, he attacked them without fear, as they fed alone, and feasted on them one by one at his own leisure.

Moral: In union is strength.

How appropriate for an opportunity I've just come across. It's no secret I have a big, mushy spot for all animals. I'm also a big fan of taking action when you see a situation in which you can lend a hand. This is just what Jodi and her husband of This Is It! Creations on Etsy are doing. They've had three bulls grazing on their 11-acre farm, and have just found out they will soon be sold to slaughter. When they discovered this about the beautiful 2-year olds, which they have obviously and understandably grown quite fond of, they talked to the "owner" about the possibility of buying them. If they can raise $3600 by February 13th, the bulls will be theirs. Sounds like a beautiful place for the bulls to live out their lives, with a barn for shelter, a stream and a huge parcel of land to graze!

If this isn't your kind of thing, feel free to find amusement at my wacky save-the-world notions. However, if you're like me and have found yourself making mad, spur-of-the-moment plans to rescue veal calves or have wished you could start your own animal shelter if you only had the resources, you will certainly be interested in having a look at the This Is It! Creations blog to see what this is all about. There's a nifty little ChipIn! widget so you can make a donation for whatever little bit you can afford, and a list of shops on Etsy that are donating if you feel like going shopping. Big thanks to the Etsy For Animals blog for bringing this to my attention. I really wish Jodi and her husband, and especially the bulls, the best in this endeavor. Now I'm going to use that little ChipIn! thingy...

Big Scary FB

2010-02-03T10:32:00.001-05:00

I realized this morning that I'm afraid of Facebook. It confuses me. Something online has frustrated me and muddled my head, and therefore I'm officially old. Based on criteria I just made up. This wasn't supposed to happen until Saturday at the earliest. On the plus side, I can dedicate more time to my awesome blog.

Well, at least it's payday.
And I just got the jellyfish mold I ordered!
I kind of wish there was an invoice or a thank you.
Or a smiley face.
Hmph.

Storewide Birthday Sale - 15% Off!

2010-02-02T09:06:00.003-05:00

As a special offer to my blog readers to celebrate my upcoming birthday, I've decided to offer a storewide discount of 15% at KSK Designs from now until 11:59pm on February 6th. Since there's no other way to do this on Etsy yet, discount will be in the form of a Paypal refund as close to immediately after your payment as possible. Just mention the reason for the sale so I know you're a reader. Really, it's not just a ploy to get birthday wishes! :) This year is a biggie - 40 years! I still can't quite believe it...

I've been working a bit on my pictures for the last few days, so I've renewed some things. They aren't wonderful, but they're better than they were! Just click an image if you'd like to see the listing:

Black Onyx and Vintage Glass Necklace

Garnet Iris Earrings

Tanzanite Swarovski Crystal and Alexandrite Glass Choker

Sapphire Shades Swarovski Crystal and Czech Glass Choker

Okay, I've a need for some coffee and snakey quality time with Eris. She was only out for a few minutes yesterday, and she's been raising her head expectantly every time I've walked by her tank this morning. I don't mind saying yet again that she's the cutest, sweetest snake ever. Hope everyone has a great day!

Donation Day!

2010-02-01T09:04:00.005-05:00

Once I've posted this, I'll be heading over to the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF] site to make my donation from the last two weeks of sales at KSK Designs. It has seemed like a very long couple of weeks waiting for today! It feels a bit better knowing that my husband and I already made our own donation right after the earthquake hit Haiti, but the need there is so great that it was easy to become impatient. This time we'll be giving $20, and I'm so grateful to be able to include $17.80 from sales I made in my shop. We'd love to give more, but the fact is we truly can't, and I know that every little bit really does add up to an amount that can make a difference.

I've decided to put off my regular 10% of sales donations to Bat Conservation International for the month of February so that I can instead donate that amount to the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti. ARCH, which is led jointly by the World Society for the Protection of Animals [WSPA] and the International Fund for Animal Welfare [IFAW], has already been instrumental in initiating a committment by Haitian governmental officials to assist in providing immediate care to Haiti's affected animals as well as developing long-term plans to improve the conditions under which they live.

If you're interested in helping the humanitarian and/or animal relief efforts in Haiti, please consider giving to one of the above organizations by visiting their sites directly or through your purchases at some of the many currently donating shops. One such shop, Hearts for Haiti on Etsy is still going strong, having recently made another donation to Doctors Without Borders from the over $25,000 they have now raised.

I know there are others out there and I should probably put together a list. However, right now I'm going to make my donation, then take advantage of the fact that my water heater just got fixed after 2 days and take a nice warm shower!

Lace Love

2010-01-31T06:11:00.004-05:00

A shop I've recently discovered on Etsy is the Medieval to Modern Boutique. The shop is run by Chris, who has created a gorgeous collection of custom design lace chokers, unique clothing, bracelets & cuffs, and earrings. She also has a quite a large selection of vintage clothing such as prom and other formal occasion dresses. Many of her items have a wonderful gothic/Victorian feel, but you'll find other luxurious styles as well. It's a beautiful shop, and it was difficult for me to pick favorites, but here are two items that grabbed me right away [click images to view listings]:

A New Supplies Favorite

2010-01-30T06:14:00.002-05:00

I don't have a lot of trusted online supply sources, but I'd like to start sharing some of the few that I have found. Buying supplies online, like many other things, can be difficult because often you can't truly tell the quality of the product until you're able to hold it and give it close inspection. Last Saturday, I posted a new necklace I made using a beautiful vintage focal bead I purchased from mksupplies [MK Beads] on Etsy. I was very impressed with both the bead and the service I received from this husband and wife team, so I did a bit of research after posting and discovered they recently opened their own webstore.

MK Beads offers a wide range of vintage and contemporary jewelry supplies. They have one of the most extensive vintage collections I've seen, with dozens of shapes, sizes, styles and colors. My favorite sections include their plastic and lucite beads, plastic cabochons, glass cabochons, and cameos. Their contemporary collection includes etched plastic beads, Czech glass beads in many shapes and colors, and a large selection of lovely plastic floral cabochons. You'll also find chain, charms, settings and other findings in both collections. The site itself is beautiful and very easy to navigate, and although I haven't ordered directly from it yet, I feel very comfortable doing so after my experience with MK Beads on Etsy. Bonus - right now they're offering 10% of your order!

If you use ArtFire, you can also find MK Beads there under mksupplies.

Beautiful New Treasury & New Additions

2010-01-29T06:34:00.003-05:00

My friend Vee has kindly included one of my necklaces in her newest treasury. Aside from her excellent eye for making beautiful treasuries, one of the thing that really impresses me is her dedication to helping out other sellers on Etsy. She makes what are called BNR, or Buy and Replace treasuries, which allow sellers the chance to get their items into a treasury by purchasing from an included seller. Once you buy, you replace the shop you bought from, and Vee includes you in her next treasury as well. She's gotten many sales for many shops this way, and I'm certain it's much appreciated! As always, all treasury and item photos link right to them:

I've also listed a couple of new items in my shop. The first is a necklace I made a while ago and have had mixed feelings about. The beads are beautiful - nice deep amethyst heishis, Bali daisies and clear Czech firepolish beads. I just haven't been sure if I like them all together, but now that the necklace has sat next to me for some time, it has actually grown on me. Also, it's doing no good to anyone just sitting there looking forlorn! The other item is a pair of earrings I made yesterday using the rest of the vintage rose Swarovski crystals I ordered a couple of weeks ago. I really like them, though I can't say the same for my photos of them.

Amethyst Heishi & Clear Glass Color Block Necklace

Vintage Rose Swarovski Crystal Earrings

And in Craftgawker news... got my third rejection yesterday! Thought I'd go for a bit of a different kind of picture this time [thanks to my mom for the suggestion], so I dispensed with the white marble background and went with this one instead:

This time it was "Craft/Composition - Dull/Unsharp", or some such thing. They do, however, encourage me to keep submitting. At least this one wasn't a photo I was certain they'd take, and my attitude may have become a bit flippant, but at least I'm taking the rejection[S] well!

And because this is already long, and I love them so much:

L to R: Magda and Helen

[featuring their seriously ratty rat bed & my awesome maroon-ish shorts]

Doctors Without Borders Donations

2010-01-27T13:07:00.002-05:00

Big sales day at my little Etsy shop! I'm thrilled to have sold a necklace yesterday and one of my curio bottles this morning, while I'm still donating to Doctors Without Borders for their efforts in Haiti. 20% of all sales made from KSK Designs by the end of the day January 31st will be donated on February 1st, and this brings my total so far to almost $18.00!

The necklace which sold is actually one of my favorites, and I've been meaning to make one for myself, but I'll need to reorder the materials. It sold before I was able to get a better picture of it, so here's what I have, linking to my sold listing:

Fine Oxidized Hill Tribe Silver & Swarovski Crystal Necklace

The other piece that sold has been by far one of my most viewed items and is another of which I'm quite fond. I can't help it, I just think it's a nifty little collection!

Predator and Prey

It's going to be very hard to find another little skull portion that will fit through the hole in those bottles, but I'm definitely making another, probably without the silver wire wrapping this time. Maybe a satin ribbon for hanging - they'd probably make awesome Halloween tree decorations. Perhaps I should have kept that idea to myself... :)

More Hearts for Haiti Goodness

2010-01-25T06:48:00.006-05:00

Hearts for Haiti has now raised $16491.12 [as of 6:15 pm EST, January 24, 2010]!

I wanted to make something that was somehow more specific to Haiti for the shop, which is a bit difficult when you're dealing with beads. One of my favorite items in the shop has been a bracelet by MintyFreshFusions. Photo links to listing:

Heart For Haiti Hammered Copper Bangle

I tried wading through all the sales in the shop [1359 and probably more by now!] to find out how many have sold, but that was impossible! However, MintyFreshFusions tells me it's around 11 at this point. It's easy to see why - the bracelet is beautiful and it's a wonderful way to show your support for the people of Haiti, as well as to commemorate something positive which occured in response to the tragedy. And I have to say it gives me a strange sense of pride to know this was created by a fellow New Yorker! :)

When you're working with beads, there's not a whole lot you can do unless you're talented enough to do some of the amazing intricate seed beadwork I've seen. That, I am not! So I decided on a pair of earrings using little hearts in the colors of Haiti's flag and sterling infinity links as a symbol of endurance, which is certainly something the people of Haiti have had throughout history and are again showing in abundance now.

Little Hearts, Big Love Earrings

While browsing the shop to find the links for this post, I came across another gorgeous item I just had to include. It's a very unique sculpted polymer clay heart by Wickedgems and I absolutely love it!

Dusty Rose Hand Sculpted Corset Heart

I immediately added it and Wickedgems to my favorites, and I'm really looking forward to giving her shop a closer look. So far I've found an awesome sculpted polymer clay anatomical heart pendant with an antiqued silver look:

Mi Corazon in Silver

Can't beat that in my book!

One Day Sale - 15% Off!

2010-01-24T03:43:00.003-05:00

To celebrate my first 2 months on Etsy, I've decided to offer a discount on any item purchased from KSK Designs. I'm offering 10% off in my shop announcement, but just mention my blog in a message to me at the time of purchase and it's 15% off. Discount will be in the form of a Paypal refund, which will be applied within 24 hours of payment [most likely much sooner than that]. Savings will be in conjunction with any other offer I currently have, e.g. if you buy from my Valentine's Day Sale section, you'll also get that 10% discount! And of course, I will still be sending 20% to either Doctors Without Borders or the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti, as specified by the buyer.

I've also added a pair of earrings to my Valentine's section. These are pricey due to the materials, but they are half price with any necklace purchase or 10% off until February 4th.

Garnet Berries Earrings

My friend Vee has also very kindly included me in another one of her treasuries!

She was able to get two treasuries yesterday, but rather than make this post even longer, I'll just give you the link to the other. Vee has very thoughtfully included at least a couple of Hearts for Haiti items in each of her treasuries since the shop opened. She's gotten several sales for the cause this way, which is such a huge help, and I know it makes her very happy to do it.

Color of the Day - Amethyst

2010-01-23T09:28:00.004-05:00

I've just added a new item to my shop, a necklace which I made last night using a beautiful [and large!] vintage plastic focal bead. I bought the bead from mksupplies on Etsy, and not only did it arrive quickly, but it's also in gorgeous condition. If you also make jewelry or buy beads for any other reason, I highly recommend them. It's easy to see why the shop has over 50,000 sales and a 100% positive rating. My photos don't do justice to this unique bead, but here's a photo link to my listing.

Double Strand Choker with Vintage Clear Focal

I'd also like to add one of my sold necklaces here, in keeping with the amethyst seed bead design of my most recent addition. This is one that sold from my eBay account, from which I'm in the process of making an inventory reduction or possibly phasing out completely. I made one of the same design for my Etsy shop because I had one more of the vintage focal beads left. Again, the photo links to my listing which as you can see, like many of them right now, is in dire need of better pictures!

Amethyst Czech and Vintage Glass Necklace

Hearts for Haiti Blog

2010-01-23T03:52:00.001-05:00

The dedicated Etsy Hearts for Haiti team have now started the Hearts for Haiti blog, where you can find information and updates about the shop, its volunteers and its donors. The greatest news is that the first donation of $5,000 has been made! You can view the receipt from the certified check on the blog now, and acknowledgement letters from Doctors Without Borders will be posted as they arrive. Not only does this give donors and buyers confirmation of the legitimacy of the shop, it provides a concrete representation of the fruits of so many people's labor. The money raised so far at the shop approaches $12,500 [I'm sure more as I write], so there are more donations to be made, and the establishment of the blog indicates the shop will be going for a while. Great news!

I'm also very excited that I reached my own little milestone two days ago when my shop hit 100 hearts just as I was nearing my two month anniversary at the site! I've no idea what that means in the overall scheme of things at Etsy, if anything, but it doesn't matter because it just makes me feel good! It's a bit of very helpful and much-needed encouragement to continue what I'm doing. A big thank you to everyone who has spread the Etsy love my way!

The only sad news in my personal life is that my hamster died today, but even that had its positive side. It's obvious that she went in her sleep, so she didn't suffer, which was the best I could have hoped for her at this point. RIP, Gusta. ♥

Moo Card Arrival & New Shop Listings

2010-01-22T05:51:00.002-05:00

My Moo cards came yesterday, and I'm so impressed! They look neat and very professional - nice, thick card stock and the text is sharp and clean. Most of the pictures out of the ten I chose look great, although there is more bluriness than I'd like on a couple. I'll have to do some comparing between the cards and the listing images I used, but I'm sure the problem is in my images, not their reproduction of them. I may be able to completely remedy the problem by just uploading my own resized images for them to use rather than having to worry about creating images that will look good both on Etsy's site and the printed cards. Time for more experimentation - I love it! Anyway, I highly recommend trying out the Moo sample pack - 10 free cards, they even pay shipping. It's absolutely worth the few minutes of designing time you'll spend using the wizard on their site.

Speaking of images, I submitted another photo to Craftgawker the day before yesterday. This time they got back to me the next day with my rejection. This may be a sign of progress! Or they're just not as busy right now. Either way, the response was the same - not sharp enough [they say dull/unsharp]. I purposefully sent in a super-sharpened image this time, and it was one I didn't expect them to accept. I know my pictures could be much better in general, but I'm kind of looking at this as maybe I just have to pay my dues and submit several before I can even be considered for acceptance. It's what I tell myself so I don't feel bad. :) I'm wondering now if this is their standard rejection response. Anyone else had experience with them?

I made a pair of earrings last night to go with one of my necklaces. My mood was a bit off yesterday, a little feeling of maybe a slight depression coming on. I couldn't figure it out, since I've been keeping up with my medication and the myriad of other lifestyle practices I've found to be helpful [walking, eating right, working out, vitamins, etc.]. Finally, I realized I hadn't created anything all day. So I chose some of my favorite materials - fine Thai Karen Hill Tribe silver from Shiana, iolite and dumortierite [I'm partial to blues and greys] and made earrings to go with my recently renewed iolite and dumortierite Hill Tribe silver necklace. I'm very happy with the way they came out, and it cheered me up to have just been productive. I think they'll make a nice set if someone decides to purchase them as such.

Dumortierite and Iolite Fine Hill Tribe Flower Set

A reminder that any set in my shop qualifies for my "Buy 1 Necklace, Get 1 Pair of Earrings at 1/2 Price" deal.

Last, but far from least, my hamster Gusta [short for Augusta] is not doing well at all. She's very old and sick, so I don't expect her to be around much longer. She's one of my rescues, from people who gave her no attention beyond throwing some food and water her way. She bites, which I hear isn't uncommon for hamsters, and for whatever reason they didn't bother to dedicate any time toward trying to socialize her, so she just sat alone in her cage. With a lot of attention, I was able to get her to the point where she only nips a little and only when she's ready to go back into her cage. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of another rodent to care for, especially not a bitey one, but I've grown quite fond of her and her grumpy ways. Any animal lovers who may read this, I'd be grateful for some positive thoughts for Gusta that she'll remain comfortable while she's still with me.

New Additions and a Beautiful New Treasury

2010-01-21T06:44:00.010-05:00

Within the last couple of days, I've recieved my latest Swarovski crystal orders. Here are a couple of necklaces I've been able to make so far, with links to my Etsy listings. It feels great to be productive!

Vintage Rose Swarovski Crystal Necklace

Jet Swarovski Polygon Necklace

Also, I was very pleasantly surprised to have two of my necklaces featured in my friend Vee's newest Etsy treasury! I can't say enough nice things about Vee. She makes beautiful and unique jewelry, and I'm lucky to own one of her necklaces myself. More importantly, she's a kind and good person with a generous soul. She has been working like mad helping out at the Hearts for Haiti shop, listing items for them and promoting the shop wherever she can. She also donated one of her gorgeous necklaces to the shop, a favorite of mine, Remembrance. Not surprisingly, it sold within 24 hours. Here's a capture of her newest treasury, which links directly to the treasury while it's still active. Thank you, Vee!

New Earrings for Hearts for Haiti and a Lovely Treasury

2010-01-20T08:19:00.007-05:00

It's been amazing watching the Hearts for Haiti shop develop. They now have 565 sales and have raised over $6,000. I got my new order of sterling earwires in the mail yesterday, so I was able to make another pair this morning to submit to the shop. They have sooo much work with all the submissions they're getting - over 1,000 items donated since they opened shop on January 14th! Despite being swamped, they already have my earrings listed- just click on the photo to see.

"I'd Give You The Moon and The Stars"

Also, I'm featured in a beautiful new treasury, "You're the Cream in My Coffee" by MichelesArtJewelry. I just re-learned how to make a screen capture, so here it is, linking directly to the treasury while it's still active:

There are some really talented artists in this one, including the curator. Michele is a member of the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy, which I've only just discovered thanks to her treasury. There's a lot of talent in the Guild, and so many really gorgeous items displayed on the site. Thanks, Michele, for including me in your treasury!

Animal Planet Investigates...

2010-01-19T18:07:00.007-05:00

Monday, January 25th at 10:00pm, Animal Planet will be airing a special program exposing dogfighting. My email from the Humane Society states, in part,

" "Animal Planet Investigates: Dogfighting Exposed" features never-seen footage from our high-profile dogfighting raids, as well as interviews with The HSUS' animal fighting experts. It also showcases our End Dogfighting program, which diverts inner-city youths from dogfighting and casts pit bulls in the image of friends, not fighters. While revealing the ugliness of dogfighting, the program shows the immense progress we've made against it and offers hope for saving dogs from this cruel fate."

I expect at times it will be a difficult program to watch, but one with a positive message as well. The HSUS has done so much work in this area, especially in the last year, and I've seen some very complimentary interviews with people who have been through their End Dogfighting program. It definitely sounds like this upcoming show is worth checking out if you can stand the difficult parts.

In jewelry-related news, my necklace was listed in the Etsy Hearts for Haiti shop yesterday. The shop has now made 474 sales and almost $5,000 for Doctors Without Borders!

Lastly, I recieved my response from Craftgawker yesterday in regards to my Swarovski Crystal Earrings in Sapphire Shades:

The verdict - not sharp enough. I know I said I'll keep trying, but I'm not even sure how I accomplished the sharpness of this picture, let alone how I could repeat or improve upon it! Ah well, maybe with more experimentation...

Hearts for Haiti

2010-01-18T04:33:00.003-05:00

On January 14th, an Etsy collective shop called Hearts for Haiti opened. The shop features items donated by Etsy sellers, and 100% of proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders to help their relief efforts in Haiti. In just three days, there have been over 200 sales and the shop has raised over $2,500.

I'm thrilled to have been able to donate a pair of earrings last night, and hope to make a necklace to donate today. They have lots of donations pouring in from the very generous Etsy community, and I hope you'll take a moment to look at what all these wonderful Etsy sellers have to offer! Photo links to my listing on Hearts for Haiti:

Celebrate Odd Etsy Love!

2010-01-17T15:59:00.002-05:00

I just got a present for my husband's birthday - seems somehow unfair, but I'll take it! The wonderful, odd-loving people over at Celebrate Odd Etsy have featured me in their blog. They very kindly linked to three of the listings from my Curiosities/OsteoWear section:

If you do some browsing at Celebrate Odd Etsy, you'll see I'm in excellent strange company. I particularly enjoy their science section. An extra bonus for me is that I was featured the same day as Poison Apple Potions, one of my Etsy favorites. I plan to make a purchase there when my own birthday comes around in February.