A Frenzy of Creativity

I have set a goal to exercise my creative muscles more often this year. Therefore, I’ve been spending more time with my bead boxes and pliers lately.

These are the results just from yesterday!! I got into a serious groove for a couple hours.

I took brand new photos of most of my Etsy items, which you can view here at my shop. There’s chainmaille, there’s wire-wrapping, there’s even regular beaded stuff. Check it out! And rest assured that supporting my shop doesn’t just support me: every dime I take in gets spent at other Etsy shops!

A few baubles

Just dropping in to share some photos from my Faire costuming. I found these as I was sorting through a big pile of jewelry.

Please forgive the poor lighting. Here you see a “rosary” which I am very unhappy with. The cross is broken and poorly fixed, from an old necklace.
The key is pretty simple, wrapped with a bit of wire and attached to a purchased chain. I actually wear this from time to time.
Likewise with this giant red pendant. I like the heavy chain it’s on as well.

This was fun. I was going for a pirate look, as if I had gathered a dozen souvenirs from my adventures and strung them idly on some wire. The necklace itself is actually made with fishing tackle. The bits hanging around are a handful of random things like a pair of pretty wooden buttons, a dragonfly that broke off a hairpin, and other jewelry box detritus.
The tackle is a little uncomfortable, but I’m happy with the overall effect.

I’ve been making lots more stuff for my shop, and I’m excited to share them with you! If you’re looking for Valentines, look for a special themed shop section soon!!

Last Chance! With Special Bonus Discount!

Remember back in May when I had my big Grand Re-opening? Well, there’s a few items from that listing day that haven’t sold yet, and will be expiring soon if nobody buys them. I already have *PLANS* for some of them if they aren’t snapped up, so if you want ‘em, you better grab ‘em. I’m going to list and link them all here, for convenience.

These black matte birds will not be re-listed if they don’t go, mainly because they’re one of the ones I have plans for. They’re currently up for only 6 dollars.

These little babies probably will make a re-appearance if they expire. I love this particular shade of copper wire, especially with these large cream pearls. They are listed at 15$ right now. No promises about the future price, though.

I suspect that part of the reason this bracelet hasn’t gone yet is because it’s on the small side at just under 7 inches. If you or someone you love has small wrists, pop over and get this for only 15$. If it expires, I’ll be sizing it up and re-listing.

These Secret Cameo earrings have gotten quite a few looks and even a few favorites, but surprisingly are still living in my shop. There is a delicate cameo hidden under the black gem. I will most likely not be re-listing these (I want to keep them!). They’re a cheap gift for yourself or a friend at only 8$.

I have a pair of these for myself and they always get compliments. Snag this pair for only 7$ now, because I will not be re-listing this one!

These little babies are simple and delicate, and (I think) the cheapest thing in my shop at only 5$. These will not be re-listed as-is – I have an idea to improve them! So if you like this simplicity, grab it now before it’s gone!

There are two different colors available for these vampy chainmaille drop earrings. Grab them now and avoid the Halloween rush! These are listed for only 15$!

These chainmaille flowers are one of my favorite things to make. This listing is for made-to-order pairs, though. I think I’ll replace it with simple individual listings for the pairs I have on hand. I charge 15$ a pair for these.

I actually have two chainmaille watches available at the moment – this copper one as well as a dark silver one, found here. They are both approximately the same size and can be adjusted within some limitations if necessary. They are each listed for 45$, which is a bargain, I assure you. These will be back at some point, although not right away. Christmas is coming, people.

Another simple pair of earrings that gets little attention. Woodsy and delicate, these are another good gift idea, and they’re only 6 bucks! They will probably not be back.

Oh look, I accidentally uploaded a giganto picture of these. Lol. Anyway, these unique copper spiral earrings never fail to draw tons of attention and admiration. I have lots of plans for pairs of these in other colors, but these are the originals! Snag them for only 12 buckaroos (or commission a pair in your own preferred colors for approximately the same price)!

This may well be the only chance you have to own any Helm’s Weave from me. This weave looks amazing, but it gives me more trouble than my time is worth. I love this necklace though, and if someone doesn’t buy it, I’m keeping it!

Whew, there were actually more of those than I thought. Now I’m sad.
Did you see something you liked? I have good news for you! To help move these sad orphaned items out, I am offering a special discount code just for you!
From now until September first (actually midnight on August 31), use the code QUITE to get THIRTY PERCENT (that’s 30%) off your entire order in my shop! Now GO GO GO!

A little bit late – New Etsy Items for August

Having skipped July, there was no way I was going to skip listing new items this month. SIX new items went live on August 2, and now you’re going to get a peek at several of them at one time!
These are not all that I’ve got in my shop, so I encourage you to check it out and have a look at everything. If you see something you like, here’s a coupon code for you: SHELLS — this code will save you 15% off any purchase!
After you’ve shopped to your heart’s content at my shop, pay a visit to my good friend Kako! She and I partner up on our artistic ventures. Here’s her own post about this month’s listings, and this is her shop. I’ve got my eye on her Pretty in Pink earrings, so you gotta beat me to them!

This is one of two pair of lovely ombre earrings. This pair is white, pale pink, and raspberry, and the other is white, smoky grey, and charcoal. Each of the smooth glass pearls is hand-wrapped with silvery wire.
I was inspired to make these while I was prepping the materials for the tutorial event a few weeks ago. All of those lovely pearls together, I just couldn’t resist mixing up the colors.

Here’s another inspiration from the tutorial event. One of the other women chose this color combination and I fell directly in love with it. I came right home that night and made these. These are just one pearl on each ear, but if you prefer the look of the double pearl earrings (like these new Plum ones, or these Charcoal ones), I am of course happy to create a custom item for you.

If your neck is feeling bare and lonely, here’s a lovely bird family to keep it company. I fell in love with this little metal pendant a few months ago, but I felt sad for them that their nest was empty. I fixed that with a small egg-shaped iridescent bead and some glue. The cord is doubled over and fastens on the righthand side of the pendant, which makes it great for people who have dexterity problems – no blind fastening, and no need to get help!

Here’s my last new item for the month: my beloved flower maille, in a bracelet! This bracelet is made entirely of copper rings, woven together by hand. This particular one is made of 8 individual flowers, which may be a bit big. Check the item details on Etsy to learn more.
If you like my flower maille, you may be interested to know that I’m planning to stock a few different variations of it! Keep an eye out for them. I also currently have several other items made this way: a watch in dark silver as well as one in copper, earrings in many colors, and a fantastic triangular necklace!

That’s all I have for this month. But I’ve already completed some new items for September, and I have plans for many many new items as well.
Would you like a hint about what’s to come? Why not!
1 – the completed items are strongly tied to one of the most popular book series ever written.
2 – the planned items are all inspired by my recent costuming project.

Leave your guesses in the comments! Maybe I’ll have something special for you if you guess correctly.

The Eye of the Storm: A Short Update

Hello, all! Just popping in real quick.
I had a TON of fun at the Pinterest party / Craft Social this weekend. Made some new friends, ate some good food, learned a new craft, and taught my first group tutorial! It took WAY longer than I expected it to, though, omg. I learned a lot about that as well. I really enjoyed doing it though! I was happy to find that I had virtually no nerves about it so it was just totally enjoyable.

Now that the craziness of the party is over, I’m free to look at the looming deadline.
But wait, you ask, I thought you were going to the Faire yesterday. Well, we WERE. And then we changed our minds. We decided to go full-on vacation. We bought a tent and we’re going to camp out Friday and Saturday nights near the Faire, and attend both days! Which of course means two costumes! I only needed to add a few pieces to the queue. I’m definitely going to make it, no problems. I’ll have an update about the costumes soon.

Hey, it’s almost August! And that means a LISTING DAY! I’ve been sooo incredibly busy that I haven’t been able to make a *whole* lot of new items, but I do have a chainmaille bracelet ready to go, and I’ve got a gorgeous pair of wire-wrapped ombre earrings on the way as well. I still need to take photos, so I’m not entirely sure that I’ll have the new listings up on the first, but my goal is to have them up by Friday.
Speaking of Listing Days, I’d like to let you know in advance that September’s listings are going to be super fun – HALLOWEEN! I’ve got an ambitious list of things to make for it and I hope you like them all. If you’ve got a request or suggestion – I’d love to hear them!

Another little tidbit of Etsy news: amid all this costuming frenzy, I’ve learned a few new techniques and I’m hoping to bring those new things to the shop. So keep your eyes peeled!

Okay, I’m out of here. I’ve gotta start cutting and basting a double-layered skirt!

Listing Day – June!

My bestie Kako and I love to craft “together” (chatting online since we live thousands of miles apart). One day, I’d love to live near her again, and maybe even open a cute little craft shop together. But before we get to that point, we’re just running our own little Etsy shops. We both sat empty for a while recently, and last month made a pact to get back in the saddle. We had a joint “Grand Re-0pening” and it was a smashing success (when compared to utter obscurity, haha).

The other part of our pact was to regularly post new items. We decided to post on the first of each month, for the sake of convenience. So that means it’s Listing Day! Would you like a preview?

This is the star of the show this month – a gorgeous chainmaille necklace. It’s awesome to wear, and the length is completely adjustable. I can (and probably will) make more of these, in other colors.

This is actually a Made to Order listing for custom bunting-style banners. I’ve got a couple samples of previous work, but, since they’re MTO, you can choose the colors, materials, shapes, everything. These are fun to make, too. I made a felt one for my daughter, and an awesome burlap one for my Halloween decor (it’s black and red, with birds, and reads “Nevermore”).

Are you tired of buying zip-top bags, only to throw them away? Break the cycle! I’ve currently got two three-bag sets of reusable bags available, with more on the way. These are easy to wash and can be reused endlessly. They’re great for brownbag lunches or your kids’ lunchbox, as well as for corralling small things in your purse or suitcase. This is another thing that I’ve made several for me because I love them so much.

This isn’t all – I also have two custom orders, a new set of wire-wrapped pearls, and several sets of “scrap magnets” ready to post.

I’m planning to publish these listings on my shop around midmorning on June first, so make sure you check it out! (PS, kako already listed her new things!)

Let’s have an Etsy roundup

As you know, yesterday was my Grand Re-opening at Etsy. What you may not know is that I was teamed up with one of my besties for it! We both re-opened yesterday, and I think it was a pretty good success for two relatively unknown sellers! Today, I’d like to share with you some of her items, so you can snap them up before someone else does!

These are her Mauve Baby Cluster earrings. She actually has a whole series of similar pairs, in many colors and combinations of colors (she has one in particular called Stormy Night that she absolutely MUST post because they are gorgeoussss).

Here’s another variation of the pearl clusters: these are the Champagne Dangle Clusters. As you can see, they’re a bit longer than the baby clusters. I have a pair similar to these, in a pearly lavender, and they are just perfect. Very elegant and feminine.

This is the Tea Time box weave chainmaille bracelet. Box weave is an open square-shaped weave, and it has a really nice movement to it – perfect for a bracelet, in fact. Here it’s finished off with an adorable teapot-and-spoon toggle closure. There’s a matching set of earrings as well!

Kako (studiokako) has a lot of other items available as well. You should go check them out!

Kako and I have another friend – Marian. She works at an accountant’s office, so she wasn’t able to link up with us for Grand Opening festivities (lotsssss of extra hours at work), but she does plan to join in with us soon! She has one shop, currently open, featuring doll clothing and accessories. And she’s opening another one soon with other types of goodies! Here’s a sample of her handiwork:

This is her Hand Knit Pink Pixie Hat, and it’s designed to fit 18 inch dolls, such as American Girl dolls. These can be made in any color , and I think she said the other day that she can scale the pattern to fit other sizes – such as actual babies or even adults!

Kako and Marian and I are planning to keep our shops linked up like this – we’ve got plans to release new products on a schedule, encouraging each other and helping out where we can. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m excited for the future! Now, GO SHOP!

Grand Opening!

Oops, sorry for the sudden radio silence there! We were busy all weekend (like always), and I’ve been busy like crazy because today is GRAND OPENING DAY!
Or re-opening, I guess, but you get the picture. My Etsy shop‘s been on vacation for a while, but I am NOW OPEN again!

I’ve got lots of new items, and I hope you like them. I only had the energy to list 13 of them last night/this morning, and I’ve got 10 more in the hopper, which should make their way to the listings this afternoon/evening (after I do the grocery shopping, ugh).

Here’s a preview of what you’ll find at my shop!

I suppose you could call wire-wrapped pearls my specialty? This is the only pair I have available right now, but oh, what a gorgeous pair. I can (and will) make wrapped pearls in any color combinations that I can find supplies for, so if you’ve got a design in mind, just ask!

I particularly love this unique necklace. Red beads trapped in copper spirals – it’s really fun to wear, by the way.

These “Corkscrew” earrings always gather lots of compliments. I designed them originally for myself, and they’re so popular that I had to make some for the shop.

I am particularly fond of this Kraken. If you’re a fan of Lovecraft, Martin, or Andromeda, you’ll probably love him, too. (I had a lot of stupid fun making bad puns in the listing, by the way.)

The last item I’d like to share with you here is this chainmaille watch. It’s all copper, with a nice shiny face and a beautiful flower patterned weave for the band. I also have a similar one available in dark silver, and can make you a watch in other weaves, if you’d like!

I really love to do custom orders, so … you know where I am. Just think how cool it’ll be to tell your friends that you “commissioned” that lovely piece of jewelry they all admire.

In related news: I really need a camera with a macro setting. Haha.

Oh! Did I mention that I have a whole section of “5$ and Under“? You should check it out. That’s even cheaper than going to the mall to get cheap mass-produced crap.

One last thing: use coupon code SILVERBELLS at checkout, and you’ll magically receive 10% off your entire purchase!

What I’ve been up to

Good grief I’ve been so busy lately. Let’s have a look at some of the things I’ve been making and doing in my spare moments!

Let’s start with the least impressive thing. This lovely little bag. It’s 7 by 7 inches, I think. Lined with extremely thin vinyl and sealed with a narrow strip of velcro across the top. If you’ve been around a while, you may remember I actually have a whole set of these in varying sizes. Some of them, including this one, were never finished. I finished it! I’m going to finish the rest of them and list them on Etsy.

SPEAKING OF ETSY, I’m going to reopen my shop! Kako and Marian and I have made a pact to all open/re-open our shops on May first. I’ve been planning to reopen around that time frame and working on new items, so I am every happy to finally have a date set.
Would you like a preview?

The lovely wooden bowl and sushi plate are also new – I got them (and many other similar things) at our local thrift shop. The bowl contains bracelets and necklaces, including two glorious chainmaille watches. The plate is displaying the earrings – and many of which will be in my “5$ or less” category!

Remember a few weeks ago, I announced that I’d won a giveaway at Too Crewel, for an Epic Alphabet embroidery pattern kit by Sublime Stitching? This is it! The kit came with this hoop, a gorgeous pair of embroidery scissors with a leather sleeve, a few skeins of floss, an embroidery needle, and of course, the pattern. I LOVE IT. I decided to do it in stark black floss on this delicately-patterned fabric, and I really like it so far.

Here’s another, more recent, shot of the Epic Alphabet. I am incredibly proud of these two letters. This isn’t the first embroidery I’ve ever done, but I’d still call myself a novice, and I can literally see myself improving with every letter. Embroidery is so rewarding – very “instant gratification.” It’s also excellent for those with very little free time – you can pick it up and do a stitch and then go do something else. It takes hardly any time to do one of these letters.

And now for the last photo I’m sharing today – my craft nook. This room used to be our dining room. But the table was always covered with things, and we never manage to eat in there. So we decided to convert it into a craft/hobby room. The table is now devoted to my crafting things. My storage closet is just a few feet away, and it’s super nice to have a dedicated space for my projects.

My last bit of news: although I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, I haven’t stopped cooking! I’ve been taking photos while making fabulous foods. I’ve even cropped/edited some of them! Here’s a short list of what you should expect to find cooking around here in the next few weeks:
- Chicken Marsala
- Dornish Peppers (part of my Game of Thrones menu)
- Honeyed Chicken (more GoT food)
- Lasagna
- Wheat bread
There are many more in the hopper, but these are the ones I’m most excited about!

What have you been making lately?