Monday Muses: Bento Bento Bento

... I have a new obsession...

 Felt Food Play- Bento Box by kenshop

Green Bento- Original Watercolor Painting by lucileskitchen

Kawaii Bento Box Bookmark by bookmarksnrings

Oh bento boxes... they're just so... pretty. Blame Mêh Blog. I saw a link to her site on one of my favorite webcomics and sat up til 1am reading her comics... and then... well. She mentioned JustBento.com and well... 1am became 2am. Lol.

Still no real word on the job front. My third interview is supposed to take place tomorrow. But I do know that I'm going to try and pack a bento box for lunch if I get hired. Lol.

Hope you all survived this Monday! <3

Odd Hours

Sometimes, I get a little crazy and get a creative jolt in the middle of the night. Last night, this is what my bead table looked like at 3:17AM.

My mind wandered while I was taking pictures with my phone and ended up playing with the camera...

Here is the final necklace. I love that pendant. I bought that shell pendant a loooong time ago. When I first started this beady adventure. I stumbled upon it while going through my stash and am so happy I've finally worked it into a project. ^_^

Just a Touch of Red

I make a lot of bracelets. And thought I would make the heart clasp (from this post) into a necklace... but... well... I just couldn't help myself. Lol.

Doesn't it make a lovely bracelet?

And I especially love the red flower. I love how it just pops out against the blue-green.

Listed here! And don't forget. Use coupon code "LOVE2012" for 20% off. :)

Happy Saturday!

20% Off!

Valentine's Day is coming up! Take 20% off my shop with coupon code "LOVE2012"

Good until Feb. 3rd!

<3

Two New Treasuries

I had my second interview today at Aaron Brothers. This was for an assistant manager position. Originally, I interviewed for a lead sales associate position. My boyfriend says that if I get hired, then I was promoted even before I was hired... silly man. I can't help but feel hopeful. I so want to work there. I miss working... even though I'm loving creating pretty things every day, I really do miss... having a paycheck :P

ALSO, they have ART SUPPLIES at Aaron Brothers. I LOVE art supplies. Did you know that? I love the smell of pencils... weird, huh?

I'll have a third interview next week. So, please, keep your fingers crossed for me. <3

I was nervous last night so after making my hooks, I created a treasury... and I felt antsy after the interview today... so I made another one. Lol.

Because spring is coming...

Because I love red...

BTW: 1/25 Heart Clasp

[I'm really sorry about the crappy pictures. It's just that taking pictures with my phone is so much easier when I'm working. I just grab and click. Next time, I'll try and take better pictures :-/]

A few days ago, I made this bangle. You see, it's hard for me to shop for bangles as I have pudgy hands. I rather like my hands... but not when I want to buy bangles so I got it in my head to make my own. 

After making this bangle, I thought that the heart I made would make a lovely clasp! It's only a few bends away from a hook clasp, after all.

Today, I sketched out some ideas.

Sometimes, the pen gets away from me. That's what happened with the top sketch. Looks like a guitar pick, huh? But I liked the other ones.

After some wire bending and happy hammering, this is what I came up with.

I sooo wish I could have made more but I'm out of heavy gauge copper wire and don't have it in my budget to buy more until next week. Oh the joys of unemployment. Lol.

After making these, I wanted to alter the clasp somehow. I remember reading an article from Handcrafted Jewelry, 2010 about different ways to alter metal... but I couldn't find the blasted magazine so I had to go off of what I remembered.

White acrylic paint and alcohol inks. That's really all I could remember. Sooo...

I painted the heart with some white acrylic. Rather rough...

And then rubbed some alcohol ink onto it. The effect is rather nice, I think. I sealed it with some Krylon sealer... because that's all I have. Lol. I'm interested to see if it holds up. Anyone have any other suggestions on how to seal the ink??? It seems to be ok. I rubbed it and threw it around a bit and it seems to be holding up ok but... eh... I just don't know.

And of course, I wire wrapped the other hook. Because I went outside my comfort zone enough today, thank you very much :P

I'm glad I decided to make these hooks today. The hammering was really therapeutic. I have an interview tomorrow for an assistant manager position at Aaron Brothers. I'm so nervous. I need this job badly... it's the second interview but you never know. *fingers crossed*

Anyhoo, the hammering really helped to calm me down a lot.

What's on YOUR bead table today?

Check out the BTW Flickr group!

Color Driven Designs

Remember this post?
Which had the Pantone Spring 2012 color report? 

Well, that inspired this:

Which kinda looks like a guitar, to tell you the truth. The boyfriend pointed it out to me.. but it's supposed to be a heart key...

Then, THAT led to this:

Cabaret pink, margarita green, and gray... LOVE that color combo.

THAT led to this:

More wire wrapping and combining THREE colors- solar yellow, tangerine tango, and sodalite blue. I strung some seed beads to finish the bracelet. Using the colored waxed Irish linen cord led to THIS:

Yeah. I'm not too thrilled with this design. Blue. Bellflower. Yellow. And cabaret.

But hey, you can't win 'em all.

SIDENOTE: Listed 2 magazines into the destash section. 2 issues of Step by Step Wire Jewelry. Want? Check it out :)