First Auction... I Hope!

I just submitted an entry for Handemadeology to choose me for an upcoming Mother's Day Auction.  We'll see... we'll see.  Pray for me to get chosen!

Go here to see what it's all about and (perhaps) sign up yourself.

A New Product Line ~ Maybe ~ Let's See....

After my little creative foray into making my own Hand of Fatima for my Ren-Faire "alter-ego" last week, I've decided I'm going to make several styles of these (albeit on a somewhat smaller scale) to offer for sale. 

poly-clay Christian edition
1st attempt at making one

I don't know how well they'll do, so I'll be starting off with only a few (don't want to overstock on something that may or may not take off, eh?) but I know a few people in the Oriental and/or Tribal Dance communities and maybe it'll work.  Maybe.  We'll see.

Anyway, they'll likely carry the more traditional symbols altho' I'm not averse to including any symbol(s) that have meaning to a particular person should you/they ask.

Thoughts on this?
Suggestions?
Input/Output?
Gimme your creative critiques.
G'wan, I can take it!

Rockin' The Casbah

Yes, I have to admit, I have a love for quite a number of things from the Middle East. The jewelry and clothing can be sumptious, the music can get your groove on. The allure of the mysterious and femininity go hand in hand with custom and graciousness (at least, as we read about how it was and should be... yes?)  Anyway, I've created a treasury on Etsy with a Middle East theme... enjoy:

Rockin' The Casbah


Okay, okay, SOME of it's for fun! (heee)



A Real Pleasure

The So-Cal Pleasure Faire, that is.

My friends and I went to the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire this Saturday and it was a blast!  I think I spent too much. In fact I'm sure I did.  Still, it was a lot of fun.  We have a tendency to turn into over-sized kids because we get to play dress up and drag out our "alter egos" for the day. 

Mine is Zarqa Habibe (Persian for Blue Eyed Friend). Here's a glimpse :D

We got to watch artisans at work: here's one of an amazing glass maker (see the smoke?)

adding the final "hot connection" to give it a base to stand on

Ta da!

woodland fairy

Make your own costumes (even if they aren't exactly Renaissance)

Another Glass Maker - Stuart Abelman
Makes AMAZING glass beads (and rings)
his necklace is a glass "dragon's tooth" COOL!

One of Stuart's glass focal beads

And one of his Glass Rings

Now, my own work ~ created my
version of "the Hand of Fatima"
from polymer clay for  part of my costume

Close up - added the Christian fish symbol
and a cross... not my greatest work, but it
was my first real big piece using polymer so,
not so bad :)

THIS. IS. SPRINGTIME!!!

Well, Spring has sprung around the ol' Kern County and it sprung a leak! (hehehee)  Actually, it doesn't rain here all that often (used to be desert, y'know!)  Someone once asked "How many inches of rain per year DO you get?" and was told "About 6-8 a year."  They exclaimed "That's not very much!" and the reply was, "Whal, you should be here the day it happens!"

Wednesday was that day.  With a bit of it leaking out today.  But, since this IS (mostly) a farming community (with some dairy and oil to round it out) we need it.  Besides, I just LOVE rain (cue Eddie Rabbit!)

Anyway, I "met" (via the 'net) an artist a number of years ago who goes by the name AmonOmega and he's not bad. Even had him draw a character for me. I 'found' him on a now defunct site called Art Spots but you can see his work over at deviantART. He's good.  And, he did this which just cracked me up.

Have a great weekend, y'all!



Yes. Madness. The madness of Springtime!



You Could Win...

Lori, over at Pretty Things, is having a give away, but you have to hurry because the deadline for entering is tomorrow!  It's a set of Impress Art Letter Stamps and the perfect hammer to go with them:

I mean, really, who WOULDN'T want a chance to beat on something with a hammer like that! Woo!

Go! Enter! Hurry!
....oh, wait, *I* want to win.  Never mind. Stay here. Browse my blog. There is no give away. Ignore that (wo)man behind the curtain.

Pirate Swag!

My bestest bud took a trip with her niece and family to Sea World not too long ago and got one of those smashed penny prizes.  She showed it to me and I told her I could make a necklace for her if she wanted.  Strangely enough, she let me have the penny (eeeeeevil grin!)

So, here it is, from design concept to finish.

design idea to begin
(why keeping sketch book in purse is good!)

checking the size of the smooshed penny to the drawn frame

1st measurements

revised measurements

Final incarnation
(I won't freak you out with the 1st incarnation ~shudder~)

Close up of penny in it's frame with the adjustment
of it's own little black "pearl" instead of the crystal dangle

playing around, a metal frame from the measurements

side view

finished frame ~ wrapped in wire with
aqua crystals (trust me, they're aqua!)
the wire wrap thru the two loops on the
bottom keeps the frame together. The
crystal on the bottom is also a dangle
instead of being wired to it.

PICMONKEY.COM ~ It's A Love/Hate Relationship

Yes, it really is.  The "love" part of the relationship is because it's so FUN to play with all the effects they have available to take your photos to another dimension entirely.

The "hate" part of the relationship is because, like with any new "toy," I lose myself in playing and comPLETEly forget the time.  I can get caught up after midnight playing around!

Anyway, I have a few pics I've played with over the last few days so you can see a little bit of what you can do at PicMonkey with yours.



Soft white effect around edges
Also added a little color saturation
to bring out the yellows without
going crazy




The Cinerama effect (doll, isn't she?)




This one I slightly over-saturated the color then used
the Lomo effect




This one I used the pixel (reverse) focus to do a little
editing, 1st, then went to the newest effects and added
the Paint/Red effect and used the "Add" under the
Blend Mode. The pic was already black & white so
this kept it from getting too "heavy" and dark. I, personally,
think the "blood runs" look cool with this "dangerous" (HA!) group.




Old Time Circuit Riding Preacher
or
Someone's very handsome father?
Used the Daguerrotype under the framing
section. You can change the the film effect
to "recolor" it, too.



The 3 Amigas!  Are they beauties from the past? Only the
photographer knows for sure! (love that daguerrotype!)

Well, sorry no jewelry-related eye-candy, but it's fun seeing what PicMonkey will let you do. Have a go!

WE HAVE A WINNAH!

Well, okay, we have three winners.  Since I only had three lovely ladies interested in my March Madness Contest, ALL THREE will receive some lovely wine tabs to play with and attempt to mix into jewelry in some creative way:
Therese of Therese's Treasures
Pine Ridge Treasures
Sarah from String A Song of Sixpence (LOVE that name! of course, now I'm thinking of the nursery rhyme!)

Ladies, if you'll contact me with your mailing addresses, I'll get the prizes out to you in the next day or two, here (depending on how fast you reply! ~hee~)

Enjoy!

This Weekends' Business

It was pretty busy this weekend. I went to Lowe's and bought these terrific drawers.  I got the idea from my Dad's work bench (you know, those little drawers that hold all the screws, washers, nails, etc.?) and decided they would make great bead & findings holders.  I much prefer the kind my dad has, but his are OLD (from the '70's or '80's, not sure how old) and they don't make them exactly like that anymore. (his are a much sturdier, firmer plastic)  However, these work perfectly fine once the weight of the beads are in them. Loving them!



Full table view (ignore the remaining mess)

  I spent hours Saturday afternoon moving all my beads from their previous cases to these storage drawers. Really liking them, so far. But, things evolve as our beading needs evolve. We'll see.



I like being able to see into the drawers

You can get the multi-size drawer type or the large drawer type. I got both. May get another later, too.


larger drawers good for "special" beads or wire

Not all the drawers are filled yet, but I don't really expect that situation to last! (haahahaha!)


My stone and gem beads I restrung on wire
to make tracking easier

I've finally learned that SOME beads are better off if you put them on wire. Then you can snip loose just what you need and not worry about them spilling all over.


What the beads were in before

I won't be getting rid of all of these, but does anyone need a few of this type of bead holder box? They have divided compartments inside. Just email me if you'd like a box or two or three.

p.s., I'll be naming the winners from my March contest tomorrow. Check back!