Oh hi!

It's kind of depressing how far behind I fell on Grace in Small Things, because I still think about it every day. As I am not quite sure what to do with myself this evening, maybe I will just do a bunch right now?

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On a completely unrelated note, I made a bracelet today, and it was one of those pieces where it actually looks just how I thought it would in my head. That doesn't often happen to me (I think it's one of the reasons that I'm not so good at drawing). But this bracelet is definitely one of my favorites. It's got a turtle charm in the middle, and the chain is made up of tiny Swarovski crystals intertwined with larger silver chain. I really have to take pictures and get it listed!

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Now I must go sneeze. Please excuse me.

New stuffs!

You guys, I posted so much stuff on Etsy today. Much of it sparkles:


Abalone makes me drool.


I really like these because they are so much funkier than anything I could pull off. The main bead is amber in the middle, with green edges. I used a prepackaged combo of Swarovski crystals for the bottom half, and I really like those colors together. Plus! They are all wire-wrapped, which means they were a huge pain in the rump. But they look pretty!


I enjoy seeing things in pairs.

I don't want to set the world on fiiiiire...

So I've been working on this complicated (for me, anyway) three-strand necklace that uses turquoise beads and large white shell beads. I still can't get one of the strands to sit quite right, which is SUPER annoying, because I don't know how to fix it and I'm really proud of this necklace and I want to show it off! My perfectionist tendancies preclude me from photographing it just yet.

I do, however, plan on finally taking some pictures of the sparkly pink and black bracelet I made the other day so that I can post it on Etsy. I hope it sells quickly so I can justify making more, because I love it!

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The Fallout soundtrack is making my brain cells rot. That is all.

New Necklaces

I finally sat down to make some new things yesterday, and I got a lot of work done! I felt most inspired by the handmade African beads - I used them to make a purple and brown necklace, and I love how it turned out. (Clicking on the picture should take you to the Etsy listing.)


I absolutely LOVE those beads. I wish I had gotten more! (Or that the store had been in Pitman when I was!)

I'm hoping to visit a bead store in West Palm Beach soon; I checked out the website and it looks like it'll be the type of bead store that I am looking for. I definitely hope so, anyway!

I always forget to add a title.

Between the beads I purchased at various bead stores in Jersey and the stuff my mom gave me, I have enough new materials to make approximately 8 bajillion new pieces of jewelry. Unfortunately, my desire to Organize My Apartment is sort of beating out my desire to bead. I am super excited about these beads I got at the Pitman bead store. They were handmade in Africa, and they are pretty shades of purple and brown. (It doesn't help that I am in a purple phase lately!) I hope that they set up their e-commerce site soon, because it's by far my favorite of the (relatively few) bead stores I've been to. I have to grab 5 or 6 bags when I enter and tell myself that I will only fill that many, or I'd walk out with beads from every bin in the store!

Another thing I got (inherited, really) that I'm excited to mess around with is different colored wire. I don't know how difficult it is to twist it around and make it look like I actually did something on purpose, but I'm hoping it'll be easier than I'm imagining. There are so many fun things I could do if it's not too hard to use!

So, hopefully I will be adding some new things to the shop very soon. I'm trying to focus on getting rid of some stuff in the apartment (as always!), and then perhaps the creative juices will return.

Free Bird

I made these today:


I kind of love them. Unfortunately, I tend to make things that are way bigger than what I am used to/comfortable wearing. Which is sad. Because I love all of the stuff that I make.

Actually, it's probably good, because otherwise I wouldn't be willing to sell, whiiiich would sort of defeat the purpose.

Anyhoo, those are up at AtlanticCoastArt.etsy.com...Feel free to check them out for alternate pictures (or, you know, to buy them)! :)

Light Box

Ok so...I've been using a light box (and I use the term loosely) that I made out of a cardboard box and tissue paper, and I'm still not really sure what I'm doing with the lights. My method of figuring things such as that out is to screw around, get mad that I don't know what I'm doing, and accept what I've come up with as the best I can do. I know, super productive, right?

Well, I've come across some websites (and a book that Dan has about photography), and I'm still not entirely sure what I'm doing. I don't have bright lights to use on the sides, so I've been using two like, bedside, adjustable lamps. Perhaps that is my first problem? I move them around to experiment with the shadows and such, but I'm still not super happy with the results. I also have a dinky little Kodak, but I'm hoping that that is not the problem since I cannot afford a nicer camera (even though I drool a little when I see them).

Any thoughts/suggestions would be great...I promise to actually read them and not just throw a temper tantrum. :)

Am I Becoming A Morning Person?

You know those ideas that float into your head right before you fall asleep, the ones that seem like, so obviously awesome that it's hard to imagine that you've never thought of them in your fully conscious hours? Well, I totally had one of those as I was waking up this morning. I mean, how perfect is THAT?!

I've been trying to make dangle earrings for awhile, having both purchased materials and scoured the Internet for methods/inspiration. Finally, though, it all just sort of came to me, and I ended up making four pairs of earrings this morning. I really love how they turned out, too! It was one of those great, rare moments when the idea in your head actually translates to your intended creation.