Product Playtime: Hope Bird

I crafted this quick necklace using some of the new Dark Indigo Swarovski crystals from Rings and Things and one of my Message Sticks and a Sea Bird link. The Dark Indigo crystals are indeed very dark, almost black really, but just enough blue to let the light through for a very subtle effect. I don't work with blues very frequently, so I was a bit puzzled with how to use these. But this brings up a technique that I often use when thinking about color... I think that you can make any color go with any other color, if you do it right. For me, it has to do with repetition. So I chose the peacock and seafoam colors, which are much lighter than the Dark Indigo, and by repeating the darker color inside patterns of the lighter colors, evenly throughout the focus points of the necklace, the color blends through and doesn't seem like an unlikely choice to use. By repeating the darker color in the center, and moving out to the sides, the eye moves along naturally, taking the whole piece in without stopping at a jarring or out of place color. I only had 5 crystals to work with, so this is the technique I used to solve this design problem, and I feel like it was successful. At least I *hope* it was... giggle.

Product Playtime: Pretty in Punk

I made this quick and simple necklace using some of the new Indian Pink Swarovski crystals from Rings and Things. I was a little stumped at first at what to do with them, they are so very bright pink! But figured they could be a little edgy if paired with black and maybe some purple, and I wanted to go for a bit of a playful and punky feeling. I used one of my little anime fairy beads and some gunmetal filigree parts and chain. Instead of stringing the crystals on string or wires, I opted to use black safety pins. hehe... that brings me back to my youth, when we would make friendship pins for our shoes with beads on safety pins. Also later in early high school, when I thought safety pins randomly pinned through clothing was so very *new wave*. This is a slightly grown up reminder of those memories.

Product Playtime: Open Inspiration

I wanted to write some more about finding inspiration in the works of other artists, and how to use that inspiration ethically without copying. I once wrote a post about simultaneous inspiration, and how it often happens with my friends and fellow beadmakers Gaea, Diane, and I with our beadmaking. So I felt like I was repeating myself about how artists work with trends and sometimes come up with similar ideas, and how the exciting and challenging part of art is how to take these trends and ideas and things that inspire you, and use your own voice to express them. I still hope to write a bit about *how* do do that, but it is hard for me to put into words. It's a rather intuitive process for me; one that I have engaged in for years, so it is a challenge to actually describe it. I shall continue to try.

Anyway, while I was pondering this subject, I found myself inspired by another jewelry designer who was working on the same blogger outreach program with me, using the new Brown Lava beads from Rings and Things. While I was working with my own Puffed Square Lava beads, I recalled a pair of earrings I saw on Margot Potter's blog, using the same beads. I loved the way she wrapped the contrasting silver wire around the beads. As I was trying to figure out a way to attach my beads to the faux suede cords on my necklace shown above, I remembered the wrapping and decided it might be a good solution for me too! While the technique is similar, and the inspiration was certainly from what I saw Margot do, I think that my application of it turned it into something entirely different. Margot wrote about a creative process that she compares to musicians "riffing" off of each other in the great post she wrote about copyrights and copycats. While I cannot speak for her, obviously, to me this is an example of what she was describing. I saw something, took note of it, was inspired by it, and figured out how to use it in my own way, creating something both new and inspired by someone else. I try to acknowledge these bits and pieces that inspire me, and the sources, whenever I can. And I think that constantly adding new inspirations and mixing them up in my own way is what has helped me create and evolve my style over the years.

By the way, I fired some more of the keyhole pendants shown in the necklace above, in some new colors, and listed them in the Etsy shop. Gave them a new name too, Openwork Escutcheons, just to be fancy. Please visit the Earthenwood Etsy shop to see them.

Extra Extra

I had a fun day yesterday. First I took the dog out for a long walk in the beautiful sunshine. Then I got my haircut, which felt great! Then off to a party where we worked to get some things done for Penguicon (next weekend!) and then had fun. It was a great day off! Today, hanging out with family and doing some work. Today, I have the Extra Extra links for you, and I also wanted to tell you that I listed a few of the new Keyhole Cutout pendants in the Etsy shop! Click the picture above to go see!
About.com Jewelry Making
Be chic and make jewelry with some help from a new book: Chic Metal: Modern Metal Jewelry to Make at Home by Victoria Tillotson.

Art Bead Scene
Is time for your 15 minutes of fame? There's still time to be the next Bead Star and 'bead famous!"

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Barbe makes a necklace with supplies from Alpha Stamps

Bead&Button magazine
Leslie's keeping up the creativity--see what she's up to

Jennifer Jangles Blog
Jennifer gives a great source for getting your designs made into rubber stamps.

Jewelry & Beading
Cyndi's written a tutorial on making a necklace with one of the new Swarovski discs from Artbeads!

Katie's Beading Blog
Get ready for wedding season with Katie's beaded bridal necklace pattern. This necklace is the perfect accessory for brides, attendants, and guests alike!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
There's a great giveaway prize to be had if you check out Soft Flex Company's Big Prize Giveaway! Jean has the low down on how to get in on it!

Strands of Beads
Melissa reviews Margot Potter's new book, Beyond the Bead

Saturday Spotlight: Lorelei Eurto does Steampunk

ooh! Look at the cool steamy necklace that designer Lorelei Eurto posted today using one of my triple gear discs! I love the way she used the central hole of this donut style disc to make it into a pendant. Very inventive! And her choice of hematite discs with the tiny green seed bead details is really cool. The wire spiral cages surrounding the clear beads are a great touch. They remind me of some fantastical Tesla like energy source that appears to be powering the necklace...it makes it look alive! ALIVE! Nicely done, Lorelei! Check out her blog post about this bead for more pictures and details.

Keyhole Cutouts

A very quick post tonight, because it is bothering me that I didn't blog today. Yes, I know I am ridiculous. But I need to discipline myself to be in the practice of blogging every day that I can, or else I just lose momentum. So here is a picture of some new shinies. Heh, except they are not really all that shiny. They are pretty dark and grungy, in fact, but thats how I like things sometimes. These are the new cutout keyhole pendants, and I love them! I already made a necklace with one and wore it today! I will show you soon, and will list some on etsy soon too. But for now, it is time to sleep. A hard day of work in the beautiful outdoors, and then fun with friends...I am a sleepy girl now.

Thoughts on Creativity and Copyrights

I want to write a little bit today about originality, creativity, and copyrights. Recently, I have have been hearing about artists having problems with their works being copied. Actually, I have had similar problems, myself. I have had this problem with artists who look like they are just getting started selling, and I have also had it happen on a larger level. In the latter case, I am learning a whole new aspect to the art business, all about copyright registration, lawyers, intellectual property... stuff I really didn't want to add to my collection of skills, but am being forced to fight for my rights. Fortunately, I have a wonderful team of people surrounding me, encouraging me, and supporting me, and I thank you all.

Copying at the corporate level is one thing, a very bad thing, and people seem to agree about that. When the little artist gets ripped off by the huge company... we get outraged. But it is the same thing when an individual copies another for profit. Having been on the receiving end, it can be just as painful... maybe even more so, when it is at the hand of another artist. I tend to be a bit suspicious and cynical about big companies, so I am not surprised at infringement as part of business. But when it is another artist, it seems more personal.

Now, I know that nobody wants to hear an artist whine and cry about how they got copied by another artist, and the enraged internet witch hunts that often follows. I have seen it happen so many times in the forums and blogosphere, and I despise getting sucked into that crap too. But it happens, and it happens more often than you would think. The flood of imagery and cool stuff on the internet (and at art fairs, and in artsy magazines) is awe inspiring, and I think it becomes an easy source for people to see something and want to make it. And I am very much in the business of encouraging creativity and inspiring others to be crafty, but there are some situations that are not right.

When you make something new, the finished item has a copyright attached to it, inherently. It is your property, it belongs to you. When someone sees it, and makes something exactly like it and sells it, teaches it to others, or otherwise distributes it for commercial gain, that violates your copyright. This is theft, it is copyright infringement. To prove this, you may have to legally register your copyright, in order for a court to recognize it, but you do not need to have that legal document for a creation or design to be yours.

I think that people do not realize these things about copyrights for the most part. I think people often buy craft magazines, or see neat crafty stuff on the internet, and think it is free for them to take as they please. It is not. Even when there are tutorials and classes to teach how to make something, the original creator holds the rights to the copyrights on those items, unless otherwise noted. What that means is that you can make the items you learned for yourself, and for gifts, and for fun, but once you start to make them for profit, you are infringing on the copyright. You are essentially making money on someone else's hard work, research, and creativity, and that is just not right. Even if its just part time or once and a while. It is incredibly difficult to make a living as an artist, and when I see my full time artist friends (and myself) struggle because another artist or company is producing or teaching their hard earned work for profit, it is very discouraging.

This has been really hard to write, its a big subject for me to get my head around. The thing I love most about what I do is inspiring and encouraging others to be creative. So this feels like I am scolding and discouraging craftiness. I know that's not true though... what I really desire is to encourage people to be creative in ethical and personal ways. Be responsible in your art, explore your own vision through your craft! In the next few blog posts, I hope to write about some things that happen in the creative process that seem like copying and how to avoid or work with them, and also some tips on finding your own artistic voice.

Distraction

So my plan was to write this very involved post today, and I have been working on it all day long, between time doing other difficult tasks that are vexing me. I am struggling with the post. Quite a bit. I think I have too many ideas to express and I am too emotionally invested in it. I shall continue, but my brain is fried from thinking about the subject, which has to do with creativity and copyrights. So right now I shall post a pretty heart I made recently, for my dear friend Sheryl, for her Secretary of Violence costume for Penguicon. She is going to look great! I am spending a couple of hours tonight playing in the beading/sewing studio, trying to clear my head. But alas, I am blogging, so that plan isn't really working either. hehe. I need a better distraction than work to clear my head from work. Ok, that's all.

Dewdrop Flight

Quick post today! I have some new press to report! This necklace, called Dewdrop Flight, is featured as a project in the latest issue of Step By Step Beads magazine! It shows my new Terra Trinket seabird links, paired with pretty crystals in aqua tones, and lots of delightful fine pewter made by Tierracast! This is something a little different for me, with the sparkly crystals and the pastel colors. Hey, sometimes I need a break from earthy browns (not often, but sometimes, hehe) This feels like a really rainy, April showers sort of necklace to me... nice for springtime. I plan on making some simple pendants based on this design, like the one shown below, very soon! I planned to do it tonight, but learned that the fabulous Jean Cambell is having a lecture at my local bead guild, the GLBG, so I am off to meet her tonight. Will have to save my beading for another rainy day!

Product Playtime: Lava Stone from Rings & Things

Today I have a new necklace to show, one that I made this morning. I used the deliciously earthy rotund saucer shaped Brown Lava Beads that came from Rings and Things. I love this round saucer shape, especially when used with the lentil shaped Clockwork Scarab bead, which is sort of the same shape, just positioned on its side. I think the mud like look of the lava beads is a great match conceptually with the Scarab design, since the Scarab is so associated with the earth and mud. I also like the way the dark and aged looking brass works with the Lava beads and the metallic of the gear links and the Scarab. I think that the white of the porcelain really stands out in this piece, showing off the designs in a really complimentary way. Overall, I am very pleased with this piece. It's maybe a bit too symmetrical, though, so I think that the next piece I want to do something more unusual. We shall see tomorrow!

By the way, the round Steam Stone gears and the Allegory Orbs have made it up to the Earthenwood website, on a brand new page! They are all available in three color choices. I had to say goodbye to one of my lines of beads (the Snack Charms) for a little while to make room for these, but it was time to move on for a while, to work on something new. I am also looking forward to adding to this line, and just bought a book today about symbolism and magical and alchemical symbols in art history, which I am hoping will inspire me when I start this new research.

Extra Extra

Three prize medallions for Penguicon's Masquerade. I am quite pleased with how these are turning out! And it will be great to award the best costumes with these prizes in less than two weeks! so excited! Here are your extra links for the week:

About.com Jewelry Making Puzzle piece jewelry is perfect to make during the month of April since it happens to be autism awareness month. Here are a few projects to help you make your own puzzle piece jewelry.

Art Bead Scene Worried about the economy? Take care of your bead business with these tips.

Art Jewelry magazine Demos and more planned for the Bead&Button Show 2009

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts Marketing Monday: Its all about word of mouth

Candie Cooper Mother's Day is coming fast! Do you need a project idea? Candie and Katie have just the thing!

Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi creates a punched fiber collage necklace.

Jewelry & Beading Make a fiber and wire necklace that will slide right on with no clasp!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean reviews an excellent wire wrapping book, Beautiful Wire Jewelry for Beaders, by Irina Miech

Strands of Beads Melissa shows off a new necklace design inspired by Sir Thomas Wyatt's poem "Whoso List to Hunt"

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Taking advantage of Artbeads.com's free shipping and fast, friendly service, Andrew attempts to capture the beauty of a Lord Byron poem with the new Crystallized - Swarovski Element Disk Pendants in his new necklace design, "Cloudless Climes".

Saturday Spotlight: Printing!

I have a couple of things to talk about today. The first is the picture above, which is a little pile of fliers I made for a new convention project I am working on, ConStruct. I went to a popular self serve print store and as usual, it was a comedy of errors to try to get the most simple printing job accomplished. Computer melt downs, technical issues, miscommunication. Its funny that I entered the store expecting all of that. hehe. I guess I set my expectations so I was not disappointed! Anyway, got my handful of fliers made in bright construction orange, and I am rather pleased with them.

Speaking of printing, I found this video this week showing how to use a new screenprinting machine called YuDu that is popping up at the craft stores. It looks promising, for an individual who might want to print some tshirts or fabric in small runs as a hobby or for their small business. The fabulous Margot Potter takes us through the process, step by step, and entertains us along the way! She is a superstar, don't you think she needs her own crafty show on TV? I would certainly watch it:

Twiddling my Thumbs

I am impatiently waiting an order from one of my favorite suppliers, Rings & Things. It's full of fun new stuff for me to play with! Squee! But alas, they are practically on the other side of the country, and in my stalking to track the package, it looks like it hit some bad weather so I might not get it until next week. Its beady torture! I kind of planned to spend the latter part of the day beading. *pout* I suppose I can still do that, but I won't have new shinies to play with. I could clean up my space, in anticipating of a feverish work session next week, but meh. We will see...

I got the first batch of medallions for the Penguicon Masquerade fired. One is shown above. This time with my hand in the picture, to show you the scale. Kinda too big for jewelry, but I am working on shrinking it down a few sizes for a pendant. That takes a long time and many firings, so stay tuned! Anyway, I am really pleased with the glaze, which is a dull metallic pewter, and I love how it works with the iron tan of the stoneware. I couldn't be more happy with these!

Sick Day /Play Day

I took a little blog break yesterday, as I was feeling pretty crummy. I spent the day sleeping in and then lounging the couch watching tv and squishing clay around for the rest of the day and evening, with my big snuggly blanket and heating pad. I am feeling much better today! One of the things I did yesterday was make some brand new pendants. I have been mulling these around for a while, after seeing the antique porcelain keyhole plates in a shop in Kalamazoo when I visited. I loved that they were made of clay, and they were bead sized. I was tempted to buy them and make jewelry from them, but I thought it would be even better to be inspired by them somehow, so I filed the idea away for a rainy day.

Below, are the pendants I made. They are unfired and unglazed. I made the keyhole cut out with a tiny cookie cutter that I bent from thin sheet metal, and the outside shape is from a square cookie cutter that I altered. They are a little fragile to work with in the raw and dry clay, with all the holes, but I only broke two while sanding. These will definitely be a small run of pendants, as they are too finicky for a regular production item, but they sure are fun! I think they will be glazed mostly in dark metallic glazes. I am looking forward to getting some fired and finished.

oh, and the picture above was taken in my new photo area, in the upstairs studio. I am still working on adjusting the lighting and space, but it looks promising so far.

Springtime Sale

I woke up to a rainy cold day, and decided that today needed to be the first day of my big Earthenwood Studio Website Springtime Sale that I have been thinking about for a few weeks. So I finished up my Newsletter this morning and sent it out! If you are not on the newsletter mailing list, you can view it online to take advantage of the sale (its a biggie!), and you can sign up here so you don't miss out on my further newsletters. I send out about two a month, with specials, and news and links.

Loose Ends, Loose Keys

I made all the Key Medallions that I needed yesterday for the Masquerade prizes, plus a few extras. I am not exactly sure how I will glaze them, so the extras will come in handy for testing. I should be able to fire a few tomorrow. On top of making those, I have been getting a bunch of other things done. Making beads for stock, making new molds, answering emails, listing stuff in the Etsy shop (LOTS of new stuff in the Etsy shop, I did it on Easter!) I am also getting some personal stuff done that is really tedious, for example, changing my name back to my birth name at the Secretary of State (DMV), on my voter registration, and at Social Security. Long lines and waiting with masses of people with piles of paper...not my favorite activities... but I am slowly getting it done, and I am pleased about that. I have a very long list of loose ends like that, and I actually wrote it down, instead of relying on the list in my brain, so it feels like a real accomplishment when I cross things off of it. So anyway, this is a bunch of random babble today, I guess. *shrug* some days are just like that. whee!

Easter Chicks and Extra Links

I am spending a quiet day with family, watching an 80's one hit wonders video marathon and making birdie beads! Its a beautifully sunshiny day, even though it is a bit cold outside, and I am getting a bit of fresh air about every hour as I press another medallion outside. Work and play! A perfect way to spend my Easter Sunday! Here are some Extra Extra links for you this week!

About.com Jewelry Making
Oy, may aching back! Tammy is de-stashing her jewelry and other craft supplies while on spring break. Here are de-stashing tips and places that need your jewelry supply orphans.

Art Bead Scene
This month's challenge is Botticelli's Birth of Venus.

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Barbe talks about riveting & finding the right size drill bits

Bead&Button magazine
Julia Gerlach talks about bead patterns and gifts

Jacket Corsage
Carmi sews a few hooked flowers and beads to create a jacket corsage.

Jewelry & Beading
Think that shell jewelry is just for kids? Take a look at Karen Sugarman's designs, and I guarantee you'll change your mind!

Katie's Beading Blog
Check Out Katie's Fun and Flowery Spring Inspiration!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
April is Austism Awareness Month. Express yourself creatively!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
A new double-sided sugar skull pendant from Anne Choi, inspires Andrew to create this new bracelet.

The First of the Key Medallions

The plaster mold for the key medallion was dry enough this morning, so I gave it a first pressing. Sometimes the first few don't turn out very well, but this one was quite nice. I used a red stoneware, the same one I use for my stoneware tiles. I will probably use a shiny pewter glaze with it to give it a metallic look. I think I will probably test out a few variations when I get them made. I took the picture above with two of my gear charms (3/4" round), to give a sense of scale. I know sometimes it gets confusing when I suddenly show a larger object with no sense of scale, so maybe this helps. I am really pleased with this piece and will likely want to make a bunch tomorrow. Might have to lug some clay to the family gathering for Easter. hehe. That would be completely unsurprising to them, honestly. It's what I do...

Favorite Things

I am posting earlier than I often do today. Hmm, I used to post in the mornings and afternoons but now I do it in the evenings, sometimes late at night. I guess the days get away from me. Anyway, tonight I am possibly going to one of my favorite places with one of my favorite persons! So a quick blog post, and I am off to walk the dog and do some errands before I leave. Above, a pic of the mold I poured for the key ornament. Wow, taking pictures of all white objects like dry porcelain and plaster is really difficult. Especially molds, where the image is in negative space and inverted. So the colors are a bit out of it there... I think you can see the image though. I am rather proud of the mold, its very clean and nicely done, so I thought I would share it. Its smaller than my usual molds too, so after last night in front of the heater, it should be ready to go tomorrow or the next day. Which is a good thing because I have to get moving on making these medallions before Penguicon. Not much time left, my friends!

Lava, Mud, and Bugs

Some people get involved with jewelry making to work with beautiful shiny materials like gold, and sparkly gemstones, and rich pearls. Sure, I like all of those things too, but I have always been more drawn to earth tones and raw materials instead of highly polished things. I use a little bit of everything, I have sort of trained myself to work with almost any bead I can get my hands on. Part of this came from working in bead and jewelry stores for so many years, making things that the customers requested and desired. This included many bridal pieces, filled with so many crystals that it made my eyes hurt from the sparkle. But I learned to be well versed in what people wanted, and knew how to make those things to suit their needs.

Now that I work for myself, I am a bit more likely to embrace the things that I like best, and seek to find customers who also like these things. Actually that is one of my business philosophies, I guess. I try to explore my own creativity and engross myself in the things that I love, without worrying too much about how they will be received. I have had enough experience in my career to know that I will find an audience, somewhere and somehow, if I follow my own creative voice and keep making new and original things to the best of my ability.

I am reflecting on these thoughts after opening my surprise package from Rings and Things, which had some lovely and colorful new very pretty Swarovski crystal colors. But what I really got excited about was the pile of chunky, earthy brown lava beads shown above. MMM beads that look like lava and mud! What more can a potter ask for? I can't wait to work with them... I am seriously delighted! I think they will work well with one of my dark earthy scarabs, like the one above. But I have other ideas too, and I am eagerly awaiting the time when I can spend an afternoon playing with them. Hopefully soon!

Creating new from old

Today I worked on a sort of new carving. Not really new entirely, but a new version of it. You may remember the Fortress Key tile that I made last year, shown below. Sometime last year, I was pressing a tile and was a little overzealous in hitting it against the table to get the tile out of the mold, and I broke the mold in half. I was really disappointed, and knew I would need to make another one. The weather got cold and I don't usually press tile in winter, because I do it in the basement. So I left it and moved onto other things.
I recently rediscovered it and had the brainstorm to make the new mold, and while I was at it, make a new piece out of it. We had a need for a large medallion, to give away as the Penguicon Masquerade prizes. I thought the key would make a nice looking prize, sort of like a key to the city sort of thing. Or the key to the Con! hehe! Anyway, today I pressed the piece above from the remnants of the old mold, and cleaned it up and redesigned it a little bit. I love this version, which is about 3" round right now (but it will shrink up some in the process). It will make a nice medallion, as well as a nice ornament. I may even be able to shrink it down so it is pendant sized. Tomorrow i plan to finish cleaning up the new version of the tile, and pour plaster molds for both of them. There are not that many days left before Penguicon, so I better get moving pretty fast on these awards!

Centering

I don't have too much to say today. I have returned home from my blissful few days away and am working diligently to get centered and back into the swing of things here at home. I am doing a lot of cleaning up, errands, and working on orders. I am trying to do at least one thing a day that I have been dreading. I seem to have piles of paperwork and unpleasant tasks that threaten to overwhelm me, but I am trying to accomplish one a day, and feel happy with that. In fact, I feel so good, that I usually end up doing another of the tasks! Yesterday was my annual doctors appointment, and mailing off all my tax checks. Today was groceries and phone calls, and starting to file some of this quarter's paperwork that has piled up. whee!

In the meantime, in the background, my wheels are spinning and my mind is churning. I have some seed ideas for new carvings sprouting up and starting to bloom! I don't want to talk about it too much, but these thoughts are starting to get stronger and stronger. What usually happens, is that after being in this hyper inspired state for a while, I just drop everything else and *need* to work on it. That's probably how I get so backlogged with the boring stuff all the time, huh? hehe. Ah, the creative life...

Art Hop at the Smart Shop

Friday evening, while in Kalamazoo, I had the good fortune of attending the Art Hop at the Smart Shop metalsmithing studio. It was a very exciting event, filled with art, metal, music, snacks and beer, and lots of people who seemed to love metal art. I went with my very awesome friend Alex, who did a chainmaille demo throughout the night. I got to watch him make the beginnings of a coif over the course of the evening, like the one shown below which he also made. A chainmaille coif is a type of armor, protection for the head, made of hundreds of metal jump rings, all linked together. He had several other very impressive chainmaille items on display as well like a shirt and a vest, and everyone was in awe of all the work he had put into them. I had a great time listening to him talk about various facts about Medieval armor, costuming, metalsmithing, and other random bits of trivia. I also enjoyed wandering around, talking to the other Smart Shop interns and the owner, and all the art lovers that came through the shop and gallery. The live band was excellent, and the night had great atmosphere! This was just at one stop on the Art Hop! Kalamazoo really seems to have a great art scene... I am impressed.

By the way, Alex dressed in costume to do his demo. Medieval garb with the kilt, laced up boots, tabard, puffy shirt, and bracers! Plus he had a big metal sword he wore for a while, attached to his belt! It made the chainmaille demo very authentic and fun. He is quite a showman and very adorable, I must say...

Extra Extra, plus more Product Playtime

Happy Sunday, All! I have some Extra
Links for you today plus an extra two pendants I made from the

Square Frame Charm and Rectangular Charm that I received from Rings and Things. I can see many possibilities with these!

About.com Jewelry Making
Tammy has some tips for branding yourself and your jewelry product while also putting together some awesome packaging.

Art Bead Scene
Feeling out of step with the trends? Here's some inspiration for the fall 2009 season!

Barbe Saint John - New Jewelry from Forgotten Artifacts
Barbe reviews Dr. Weiman's 101 More Jewelry Selling Techniques Ebook

BeadStyle magazine
Linda's jewelry does the Lindy Hop far better than she does...check out her inspiration!

Collage Brooches
Carmi features a mini canvas pendant on a felted background.

Jewelry & Beading
The question of the month on Jewelry & Beading is about your hardest business decisions. Let your voice be heard!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
If it has Margot Potter's name on the cover, you know it will be a superfun and interesting book! Beyond the Bead, Margot's latest, is just that!

Strands of Beads
Melissa shows off a celadon-themed necklace she made for Ornament Thursday

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
A sleepless night for Andrew produced seven new necklace designs.

Unlocked

After visiting the antique shop the other day, we ventured next door to another antique shop, but one of a different variety. This one had all sorts of architectural details. There were piles of old windows, floor vents, doors, tin ceiling pieces, and other large pieces. That was neat to look through, but of course what caught my eye was the small details. In particular, the collection of beautiful old brass door hardware, door knobs, hinges, and handles. This interests me particularly now because my latest carvings are inspired by them. Now I am further inspired to think about making more.

I really need a better camera if I am going to be blogging from things I see on my adventures. The cell phone just doesn't do a great job getting the quality that I need. This is something I think I need to invest in, once I get all my tax checks and real life payments written and sent off.

I am writing this on Friday to publish tomorrow. I have a fun evening ahead that I am sure I will want to talk about in my next entry! So I wanted to write this one and save it while the memory is fresh. Tonight, it is off to the Smart Shop, where the Art Hop is taking place. Squee! Fun!

The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it...

Yesterday I spent some time wandering around an Antique shop in Kalamazoo. There were many sources of temptation in the store! I chuckled at the little strip of paper with the Oscar Wilde quote that makes up today's post title, because it was very true for me in that moment!

There were many items that inspired me for my steampunk costume. Since my steam persona, Alycia Von Kylnfyre, works with fire, I am always looking for fire related items, particularly interesting antique ones. The carved wooden bellows above really tugged at my tempted heart strings. Hmm, maybe I should have picked it up. Its a ver unusual item and I think I might need to start a small collection of them for my dad.

ooh, i really wanted this item! It is an old brass fire extinguisher! It was very heavy and wonderfully aged. I really wanted it, but couldn't justify spending over $50 for it, sadly. There were all sorts of other things that I would have liked, in particular the old keys and rusty metal things. I also liked the typewriter below, but I know I will find one someday with glass keys that will really call out to me.

As I type this, from the comfort of a homey, leather couch, I am feeling very relaxed and happy, and newly inspired. Much more fun and inspiring stuff planned for tonight and tomorrow, so I will update you again soon!

A change of scenery

Well, I have completed my taxes and paperwork that has been looming over me for weeks, and have wandered off on a little vacation. I am in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a couple of hours away from home, and am spending some time exploring some fun places in town, and recharging my batteries. One of the fun stops today was a small costume shop, with aisles and shelves filled with costumes, masks, wigs, and props.

The owner of the Timid Rabbit seemed like a fascinating guy, and he chatted with us about the latex masks that he makes and about random bits of costuming history. I really enjoyed poking around, looking at all the old military uniforms and costumes available for rental. I think I liked seeing all the hats best of all.

Although all the furry critter masks were pretty awesome too! It was a fascinating place, and I really enjoyed it. The next stop was a neat antique shop, but I will have to tell you about that tomorrow! Time to make some dinner...