Seven Items and More Interesting things

Today was utilized in the completion of seven items six of which are the long awaited steampunk style ones (which were sitting around waiting for supplies to arrive) and one is sorta neo-victorian. I will be getting all of these up tomorrow and perhaps even finish the next chastity in chains necklace and get that up as well in addition to that I just remembered that I have another version of spiked earrings to put up too. Geeze I've been busy in the past few days.
Also the steampunk petite locket is a hit and I plan on making more of those little guys and perhaps one for me too ^_^ but I dunno.
Going on with the conscious stream of thought writing....I had to remove the Pulchritudinous Gear Pendant because I can't find it at the moment =(

Now on the other interesting things...
I was farting around with the Geolocator thinggy on etsy and the only other person listed in my area is a person who lives in my apartment complex and has taken pics showing an outside wall of my apt (how scandalous =P). She also has three kitties and I sent her a convo on the site. It's pretty amusing how things are funny like that.
This is all for now oh and I shall leave you with a sneak peek at one piece:

Other News

Today I received shocking news actually it's not shocking but someone in my family supposedly found someone else selling my items (or something like them) at a very high price. However I am awaiting to see any proof and on top of that the fam is telling me my items are priced too low. Why must pricing be such a challenge V_V I don't want to screw people and I don't want to be pricing my work too low either I do put a lot of effort into what I create so I dunno it seems to be a never ending battle.
Anyways I have much to do tomorrow in making my mad creations, and then there's this short film I'm trying to write so much to do so little time.

I've fallen

For steampunk..... so this is the thing that I am currently obsessed with now, however it may be more then just a fad. I am really enjoying playing with the broken clock/watch machinery bits and pairing them with lovely vintage or vintage looking pieces of filigree and other embellishments. I love to make one of a kind pieces and this is the greatest outlet for that whim. It's almost like painting a picture or, for a better analogy, putting together a wearable collage. When creating these pieces it's almost like they create themselves where as pieces fit perfectly only with very specific pieces. For example I've had a brooch waiting for the perfect piece to finish as the focal and today I got in my supplies from Epoch Beads with some amazing consolation pieces (OMG I love her!!!) anyways one of the extras was a unique vintage plastic heart that just so happened to fit perfectly as the focal so now that item can be completed. I have been racking my brain for weeks trying to place something as the focal and the focal comes by pure chance (it really seems more than just by chance).
Along with my supplies from Epoch Beads (I would so give her a hug if I could) I received my supplies from Just Peachy Designs another really nice seller that I adore and got a really cute hand made box from her as a thank you gift (which I shall order more and perhaps use for packaging as promo for her shop). Back on to the topic at hand I got gears little and large a purely wonderful mix and several of them have already been used to finally finish some pieces a key pendant which will be set on rolo chain and a clover pendant.
I finally finished another steampunk necklace which was awaiting my trip to the Bead Source for some rolo chain and a clasp (Gasp it's amazing I love it but it must be sold)and tomorrow I shall finally finish the brooch. For tomorrow I also need to make another Chastity in chains necklace I've been flaking on the wire-wrapping.

Etsy Highlight: My Favorite Supply Seller

I love to experiment with jewelry, which is often creating something completely new or outright unique. Recently I have been sucked into the buyer mode addiction on Etsy which has further pushed me to experimenting with some very unique and usually vintage supplies. These are items that I've only found through the supply sellers on Etsy.
I look for supply sellers that sell vintage items because of my love for the unique and hard to find parts. I love vintage items because there seems to be more integrity with the quality of the work put into the piece, it has a nice rustic look or a lovely natural patina sheen.
The first thing I look for in supply sellers are the images. If it is one thing I value the most with being Etsy Tutored by Kieutiepie is that you need to take pics that view every angle of a piece. With supplies this is crucial because I need to know what it is that I'm getting since I can't see it first hand. Supply sellers who consistently do this are on the top of my list.
The second thing I look for is what the camera can't capture, a good description of the part. This is when a seller becomes a true sales person. What is the object made out of? What are the measurements? What style is the piece? Why should I buy this item? Also some sellers like to include what the item can be used for which is something that should be included in the descriptions as a selling point.
The first supply store I've purchased from which fits the bill precisely is Epoch Beads with great photos,fantastic descriptions, well priced items and shipping, super friendly, and most of all a sleuth at finding unique vintage items. Also with all of that that Epoch Beads hard work with images and descriptions has really paid off and shows with a whopping total of nearly 14,000 sales in only one year.
Below are picks of my favorite items from Epoch Beads.

Flying Cars and Almond Butter Together At Last...

http://www.quailoaksranch.com/faq.htm#Who_is_Moller_International
Yes the people from Moller International are leading the charge for an environmentally friendly flying car http://www.moller.com/ but something more accessible than that at the moment is their amazing heirloom certified-organic almond butter.


As the story goes (which they used to have up on the moller website) Paul Moller knew that creating the flying car was going to take a life time of work so be began to do longevity studies and ended up at almonds. However for the almonds to be effective you have to eat a large amount or have it crushed into almond butter were as you are eating "22 whole kernels in one oz." So the Mollers researched almond butters "We have also found after studying the process of making almond butter that organic or otherwise, it is generally made from almond remnants and bulk producing varieties. This sounded to us like a poor recipe for what could be a premium product." And thus Quail Oaks Ranch began mainly for them but as with any good product they could not keep it to themselves so they began selling it. Quail Oaks Ranch is still a small operation with Jennifer Moller taking care of most of it as well as doing other things for Moller International.

Upon trying their almond butter compared to other leading organic-certified brands it is really better in balance of flavor to the light addition of sea salt and the almond chunks in their chunky style almond butter. The flavor is robust not dry, as the Whole Foods fresh crushed almond butter tends to be, and the sea salt adds a prefect amount of salt to the natural sweetness of the almonds. I highly recommend the chunky version as the creamy tends to be a little thin, which is my only dislike with this product but it could have been batch specific. My other dislike is that they went from glass containers to plastic but this is my personal preference of glass over plastic.
At the moment they have the creamy and chunky styles and are planning to have a raw variety, but they could use some feedback so they know there is an interest for it. So this review has made me remember to order more as my almond butter supply has run out, for more info on this product check out http://www.quailoaksranch.com/.

The Good and the Bad

I'm stuck in Orange making pendants, sales and getting my car worked on. The bad thing is that my car has been way over due for a tune up and I had fuel leaks 2 fuel leaks and a ball bearing that was about to release my front left tire in a crash of highly dangerous glory combine wheel falling off with fuel leak and I most likely would have had a car explosion (SCARY.) Needless to say I'm getting everything taken care of since I'm only in orange a few times a year and the only car mechanics I trust (Titan Automotive) are out here. So the price for the repairs is $850 (YIKES) but compared to the places out in LA it is a great deal. Also I had no idea as to how I was going to pay for the repairs until I got some checks in the mail yesterday (Kieu Family and I went to Lancaster to see the poppy flowers and stopped off at my place to feed the cats and get the mail on the way back.)
So everything has worked out in an unplanned but more than a coincidently manner funny how these things happen.

Now on to the marvelous inspirations and creations!
So my latest fancies have been wings then for a brief time rings and now I give you ringed wings!

I am a mad crafter and proud about it!

So the latest creations are angels in rings as earrings and pendants, these stunning ringed dragonfly earrings. Then I had extra rings and some recycled jewelry crosses and I made ringed crosses =D

I'm also working on my pearl necklace with the crimps but I will most likely change the clasp =( and shorten it to make it more of a choker length.

Today is Today

Let me start with saying I love the Dattebayo trolls the HDTV Bleach is awesome.

Now on the real stuff, today I cleaned up a bit and swept under the couch but because I dropped a whole strand of pearls mixed with sterling silver spacers which made me cry and then clean. Fortunately I found all of the sterling silver spacers and missed a few pearls somewhere =( but the floor is nicely swept.
The bat topped hair sticks can now be seen on etsy and getting the ring up is a pain because for some reason purples do not come out well with the camera and correcting the color is a nightmare because I have terrible color perception, (which makes me wonder how I manage to paint with colors, then again I do stick with vibrant colors) but it will be up once I can figure that out.
The things I'm working on today are a different color of vintage lucie flower hair sticks. I bought some more dye and they have been dyed a bright blue. Also right when I was running out of my supply of these guys (I only have one more pair of flowers after these blue ones) I happened across some more yesterday. The other item I'm working on deals with the strand that was dropped and it is a lovely necklace with my second attempt at using crimps; the first attempt was 10+ years ago. SO as I'm making this necklace I'm being super careful and over cautious with the crimps and crimp covers with which I'm using dainty amounts of glue to make sure they are totally secure because I really don't like things breaking or sitting wrong ect. Being a perfectionist is quite a burden V_V. Also with in the typing of this I came up with a bracelet to match the necklace so sometime in the near future I must visit beads beads.

I hope that my babbleings did not hurt someone's brain today as it seems to be all over the place.

Concept in progress

Lately I've been on a wing kick, which promptly followed the chain tassel fad, and I had a winged hair stick concept floating around in the synapses of the right side of my brain. Then today in my wanderings of Santa Monica (did you know there's a farmers market there today...I didn't) I did happen upon 2 top drilled metal bats waiting for me to snatch them up calling and beaconing me to complete my winged hair stick concept and that with their help I have.
They should be on etsy by tomorrow I so excited I want a pair for myself but there were literally only 2 bats there and on top of that I have cleaned out the places that sell my hair stick base =( I may have to lacquer some of the plain ones myself but that makes the price go up =(

A Sneak Peek at the Bats




^^v^^ <--- It's a bat

Hello?

I've been away for a bit playing behind the "Orange Curtain." The ring I created is now a full fledged prototype sterling silver and round vibrant purple freshwater pearls and I plan on making more. I've also decided to make a few angel earrings some other metal beaded earrings and I'm working on getting more hair sticks up.
That is all.