Printer Tray Tuesday: Red Dragonflies

I have a printer's tray at home full of beads from my stash waiting to be turned into wonderful pieces. And thus, I have dubbed Tuesday to be "Printer Tray Tuesday."

Here is the first compartment:
-lucite flowers
-wooden dragonfly beads
-green crystals
-amber crystals

I knew I wanted to make a tassel-like piece. So I pulled out some waxed linen cord. Add in some lucite flowers and a touch of green on top aaaand...

Happy Tuesday, all!

Getting Back Into It

Slowly but surely, I'm developing a routine.

Well... not today. I forgot to set my alarm and slept far too long to be appropriate to mention on my blog :P

I'm a bit depressed. The boyfriend says I am grieving the loss of my Borders. He's probably right. He usually is. Yesterday, we spent the morning at Starbucks, drinking yummy coffee and making things.

To be honest I only made one pair of earrings. I spent most of the morning browsing the interwebs for some inspiration.

I'm not sure what made me pair those green crystals with the yummy orange lucite flowers. It seems my muse isvloving summery colors. Someone needs to tell her it's almost fall.

Distracted by "The King and I." I love musicals like this. Lol. Happy, Wednesday!

Hathi Necklace

Remember the pendant from this post? I added some brass chain and two pink glass beads and VOILA! A necklace. A LONG, clasp-less necklace. YAY! "Hathi" means "elephant" in Hindi.

I've still got the sneezels. No meds yesterday because I'm stubborn... just took a Benedryl and am hoping it will fix me up in time for work.

Hope you have a FABULOUS Wednesday!

PS. Left over Chinese food for breakfast = YUM!

7AM Blogging

I have a cold. I'm desperately trying to deny that this is true but at the moment, I am going to accept that the sniffly sniffles, sneezels, ouchy throat, runny-downness, and the fact that I just cant seem to get warm means that I am sick. ALSO, my forehead itches something fierce, but I think that's because wisps of hair are tickling my dome *scratchScratchSCRATCH*

I made earrings! Haven't named them. I have my trusty Hindi dictionary so I can name them later for who/where they're going to. Almost all handmade. I'm rather proud. The ear wires and jump rings were not made by me. Had a deadline for myself so I went with ready-made ear wires. The connector, though, is mine. I have such a great love for my wig-jig.

My brain is fuzzy. I'm so glad I got up to do this post. I don't think I'd be able to do it later. Rest, yummy warm food (maybe soup?), and a trip to the post office are at the top of my list of things to do today. Its also date night... rest is very important so I can actually have a fun date night :P

PS. I'm not sick. It's just allergies... right?

Didi Pendant

I was at a loss for words when I opened this window to write. Then "Are You That Somebody" by Aaliyah (which was one of my favorite songs in high school) came on Pandora... got me dancin' in Corner Bakery and ready to write!

You may recognize the above pendant from this post. However, it is not that pendant. The pendant from that post currently hangs from a simple black leather cord around my neck. The one above is an almost identical pendant. It's slightly bigger and has a better wrap job... it is, after all, the second pendant I finished (started and abandoned probably three other ones). This one is going somewhere special and I don't want to jinx anything by mentioning where it's going. Sorry, folks. I'll let you know when I can :D

I didn't want to just string it on a piece of cord so I linked some minty green glass bead with copper and added some dark purple crystals. I hammered a hook clasp special for this necklace and finished it off with some brown leather. The finished necklace is a bit asymetrical because of the clasp, but I like it. I'm hoping who I send it to likes it too.

BTW: "Didi" is sister in Hindi :)

Hey, do you guys have any special tips for photographing necklaces? I was having a bear of a time trying to get the whole thing into the picture so I ended up just photographing the main part of the necklace. Do you hang them off a wall and photograph them like that? I should have done that I think...

I never knew...

... buttons could be so much fun!!!

I started this bracelet on a gloomy day and it made me smile. Along with the purple and yellow flower buttons are green Chinese crystals and pink glass beads. The cotton clasp and links are made with brass wire. The dark brass chain gives it a little... umph, i think. :D

Classy earrings, no? Two simple black buttons and clear Chinese crystal for sparkle.

I feel so productive :P

Steampunk Princess: Mechanical Butterfly

I finished it! *dances* Last night, with 10 minutes to go before I was supposed to be getting ready for date night, I finished the necklace I started next week (and even made some earrings... because that's only the right thing to do :P ).

Like I said in one of my previous posts, this necklace was inspired by a bracelet design featured in a book called "Steampunk-Style Jewelry". Mostly, I used the idea of coiled wire helping filigree pieces look like cogs or mechanical parts, which you can see in the focal of my necklace. The book had the coiled wire a bit tighter but I couldn't get the wire to stay tight. I'll admit, I didn't read the directions... I was on lunch and just flipped through the book. But I think I like the way the coils look like springs. It works for me.

The focal is pretty much the only part I kept the same from the original design of the necklace. I originally was going to have the pretty green Magatama drop beads strung on hemp, but it proved too much of a pain to find six beads that would fit over the cord. I decided to just do four whole strands of the pretty bead and I rather like it. It think it works out better and looks prettier. Kind of liquidy with their shininess.

Another part that changed was the chain. I originally had the chains be equal length. But that looked a bit boring and unbalanced with the boldness of the green Magatama beads. Also, the necklace was a bit long... so I shortened a piece of chain on each side and then hung the other two off the shortened pieces so the chain scalloped. It gives it a sort of elegance that I think it was missing. To the chain, I also added a few of the Chinese glass beads I have on the focal. I thought it brought a bit more green to the piece.

The earrings I made from two more copper connectors and the bit of scrap chain I snipped off the necklace. Added some of the green beads (both the Chinese glass and Magatama beads) and I think it matches the necklace nicely.

I wore the necklace and earrings on date night. And they made me feel so pretty... which I think is important to a piece of jewelry. I originally thought I would sell these pieces, but I just can't bring myself to part with them. I will just have to make a sister necklace.

My boyfriend thinks I should add some of the Magatama beads to the chain or maybe the focal. I might try that. They're such pretty beads. I'd also like to try making a matching bracelet. Hmm... maybe that's how I'll spend my day off today...

Happy Friday, everyone!