Etsy Post and Photography Rantage

Updated the shop tonight.

 Feels like it took forever!

 Wanted to give up and just go back to sleep...

 But what would that accomplish?

 I now have a shop with 19 items!

 Even added the sliding knots from the last post.

 Now there's the task of promoting myself...

 I'm not very good at that.

Though I really do enjoy blogging... :)

My day consisted of posting to Etsy. I'd made a resolution to do it once a week. I missed last week because we went to Encinitas. But I'm hoping to do two posts this week to make up for it... today's was the first.

I'm not sure how I feel about the photography of my new works. I used to use scrapbook paper and silk flowers as props but found that it was a bit busy so I went to just a plain white background. It certainly makes color (ha... almost added a "u" to color...) adjusting in Photoshop easier.

What kind of props do you use in your photography?

Happy Monday, all!

Sliding Knots

 I think...

 I am in love...

with sliding knots...

Took a little break from the wire wrapping to make these bracelets. They will be in the shop Monday afternoon, at the latest. I've been trying to make bracelets that could, in theory, be for a man OR a woman. What do you think?

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Happiness in My Mouth: Macarons

When someone says the word "macaron," images of super sweet coconutty cookies (sometimes, and usually so very preferably, dipped in chocolate), spelled with a double 'o,' come to mind. Yesterday, I got to try the single 'o' variety. HEAVEN. My sister-in-law raved about them when she and my brother went to Seattle so, naturally, when the BF and I saw them in a tiny French bakery, I HAD to try them.

Yummy. Not too sweet. Perfect with a cup of tea (though I ate mine plain). Pistachio is my favorite. Next time, I want to see if they have almond... that's my favorite kind of gelato so it stands to reason that I will LOVE almond macarons.

Side-note: I am absolutely head-over-heels for this ring on Lorena Angulo's blog. Want very badly to commission her to make one for me...

Mastering the Art of Beading

I picked up this book last month. It's called "Mastering the Art of Beading" by Genevieve A. Sterbenz. Before I go on, I just have to say I love the play on Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." LOVE IT. K? Alright. Moving on.

If I were to teach a beading class, this would be the text book I would assign. The subtitle reads "essential tools and techniques every jewelry maker must know." That is absolutely correct. It goes over the basics like making wrapped loops and opening and closing jump rings, but it also goes over the different kinds of beads out there. I never knew exactly what fire-polished beads were (other than BEAUTIFUL) until I picked up this book.

It's chock full of projects and (best of all) really awesome step-by-step photography.

If you're a beginner looking for a book to help you learn the basics or if you're an experienced beader looking for new projects and great reference material, this book is a must for your library.

PS. Updated my shop tonight! I know, I can't believe it either :P

Tatonka

I'm not very good at making jewelry for men. I admit, I've only tried once to make something for my boyfriend and it ended in frustration and tears. But a friend who is dear to me is moving away at the end of the week so I wanted to make something for him.

At work, a select few of us have given each other code names. His is Tatonka (which means "buffalo"). I think he chose wisely and I accepted it as soon as I heard it. It fits him rather well. The buffalo is a strong animal with a deep meaning. The buffalo has come to symbolize strength, gratitude, stability, and prosperity. I found a silver charm and strung it on a simple piece of black leather. I added two stones, black onyx and brecciated jasper.

His mother turned me on to a wonderful book describing the power of stones and those two are protection stones. More importantly, the jasper will help keep him grounded which is important because a lot of people become jaded or lose track of what is important when chasing the dream he is going after. I don't want that to happen to him.

I made this bracelet for him as well. More black onyx. I don't know if he will wear it or if it will even fit (man hands are so much bigger than women hands) but I thought I'd give it to him anyway and if he needs it to be bigger, I can change it.

I'm hoping to give him his present today. I'm hoping he will like it. I wish he wouldn't move away because he and I have such great conversations and he is such a supportive friend. He inspires me quite a bit when it comes to my art. I want him to succeed. I hope we stay friends in the future.

I'm a Wrapper...

I am having such a grand time with my seed beads and copper wire. Copper works so well with so many colors and there are soooo many beautiful seed beads out there!

I'm calling this one Rajkumari Necklace. "Rajkumari" means "princess" in Hindi. I'm really quite in love with that faceted quartz drop.

Semi-precious stones work well as well. Here, I have brecciated jasper, which is red jasper with veins of hematite running through it. Both are protective stones and more specifically, brecciated jasper also is said to help give you a positive outlook on live and ease stress. I thought it matched well with the "om" symbol. I finished the necklace with leather cording and it is claspless (sliding knots are happiness, in my opinion).

I promised in one of my previous posts that I would post a better picture of the earrings I made here. The previous picture was a bit green. Sunlight really is quite magical :) These are Phul Earrings. "Phul" means "flower."

Etsy update sometime today... I know. Shocking. Hahaha. Check the shop sometime tonight.

The Worst Day?

Yesterday was probably the worst day of this cold I can't seem to kick. On Sunday, I called out from work because I felt crappy and spent the whole day pretty much in bed except for a few journeys out into the wilderness to find food. Then yesterday, because no one can cover my shift, I went in. Let me tell you, it hurt to shower. It hurt to blink. Every part of my body ached. I suppose I could have called out and left the other manager hanging, but I couldn't do that to a friend. I suppose I could have called my boss and just told her she needed to cover my shift because there was no way I could make it in, but once again, I couldn't do that to a friend... and my boss had to deal with me calling out on Sunday.

It wasn't so bad. I'm very thankful for the team I had with me last night. I tried for a few hours to stay on task at work and got some office stuff done, but I had to sit down often and was near tears most of the day. Around 6pm, the boys made me sit in the back because apparently I looked like walking death. I gave one of the guys we're considering for a promotion a key and told him he could come get me if there was a problem. I fell into a light doze for about an hour. I felt guilty as hell at first but when I tried to leave the break-room to help out, they all just protested and said that they could handle things while I rested. Angels, I tell you.

They picked up the store on their own. The projects I gave them were worked on. No customer problems. At the end of my shift I felt like I could really trust these guys and that we made some really good choices hiring for the holiday season.

Today, I'm feeling much better. It doesn't hurt to blink anymore. I'm only mildly achy and I think my fever is gone. The boyfriend brought me benedryl and chocolate Sunday night because I felt crappy. Last night, he bought me a tub of chicken noodle soup from Boston Market because I needed to eat something and that's my favorite soup. I have it really good, I think.

Speaking of good, the Spring color report from Pantone is out (is that the worst segway or what?) and check out how beautiful the choices are! I'm in love with honeysuckle... which is apparently the color of the year. That's funny because I was in love with turquoise which was last year's color of the year.

I started a piece using a color similar to honeysuckle yesterday without thinking. Copper and honeysuckle seem to go really well together.

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Years! Let's get through this week in one piece, k?

Hello, 2011!

 

Hello, 2011! There's me! Hopeful and looking forward to see what 2011 brings!

Started a resolution blog over here... if you're interested in that kind of thing :)

First piece of 2011 and its a crappy photo! BLAH! Must retake it! Silly sun likes to go down at night. So inconvenient for people who like to use the sun as their light source in pictures! :P

Happy New Year, everyone! Let's make it a good one!