V_V Blagh Update

I'm tired exhausted, stressed, and low on the esteem front, I'm also so behind on posting things to etsy and my blog. I've been busting my ass on trying to keep this place clean and care for a little one who is teething and making me feel her pain. It's tough it sucks, and I'm exhausted as The husband was practically gone for 2 and a half weeks one a business trip, then being completely busy that he might as well have been gone when he came back and then another trip for half of this week. Being a mommy is more demanding and more stressful then a full time job because it's basically working 16 hours a day. Anyways not all is bad I've been making sales which is good but hardly enough to leverage me giving myself a pat on the back. Also Jason and I had a weekend escapade in the mountains for our 5th anniversary but the busy-ness is not done yet as the whole apartment needs to be rearranged and I still have to get my work area, that has gone beyond my usual organized chaos to utter chaos, organized. I also have no idea as to what to do about Christmas gifts this year as time and funds do not exist.

I need a full day to just shutdown crash out without disturbance, but instead I'm shutting off my brain and playing Dragon Age as a way to escape reality for a bit.

New Supply Items!

Brass Mollusk Sea Shell



Raw Brass Steampunk Gear Circle

These are the first of many supplies that I have made using the lost wax technique I'm now finally getting these made and in my shop over a year after taking the class. Both can bee seen at SacredSupplies.etsy.com

Delays galore

I look forward to updating some things this week with what I've been busy with and a new item or two. I still have a bunch of things to do as well, such as keeping the now mobile Solace out of trouble(she's an army crawling pro now) as baby proofing on a budget is slowly progressing, attempts to get things in order (my craft area has gone beyond the usual organized chaos to all out disaster), and just keeping things clean and put away in general.
So I will do my best or fail entirely so I just posting to post something

My Latest Addiction

Perhaps I take the screen name way too seriously because I keep running into and loving stuff like this. I wanted to share this delightfully delicious fledgeling product called Pirates Chai first off it is perhaps the only powdered chai that does not have milk powder in it so for that fact I was partly sold. Then on top of that it's a green tea chai but not just any green tea it's matcha! If that doesn't get you then let me tell you it's spicy but not masala spicy it's actually just right to balence with the potency of the matcha. They also keep the sugar low in this so if you need more you add it making this a perfect drink for those who like all the above.

Add roughly 1 Tbsp of the chai to 1 cup or more of milk and you are set! I mix it with my homemade almond milk and use an Aerolatte to make sure it's entirely mixed.
I get Pirates Chai at my local CoOp but for those out side of Santa Monica can order it online at www.pirateschai.com and follow the paypal instructions at the bottom of the screen.

Halloween Festivities Part 2

Solace looking adorable in her Halloween Trick or Treat outfit which was a gift from grandma!

Over the weekend Jason's mom was in town and Solace was very happy to see her grandma and has proceeded to be super fussy after she left, it could be teething but I really think she misses her grandma ;)

So back on the Halloween stuffs, after the pumpkin carving we went to the Fall Fest put on by Mosaic. Unfortunately there was nothing there for Solace so I said hi to some friends, and we left to have dinner. After that we went to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval . I decided to go steam and wear my Damsel in This Dress Blue and Gold Peacock Tailed Vixen Corset.



Solace is wearing her evening costume to keep warm.
We didn't end up catching much of the shows because they were too loud for Solace but we did see some stunning costumes!


Masquerade Couple



The Torch and Pitch fork welding villagers ready to fight back against the monsters who have descended upon their lands. I didn't get a chance to get a good enough pic of the signs they had but the group was very clever.


This was a very creative and detailed costume I don't know if it's a porcupine or hedgehog but the spikes were individually made and went all the way down the back of this costume


Another very creative costume which reminds me of the Cephalopod Tea Party Blog that is currently having a giveaway which ends on Monday so swim over there and follow the blog!

Now time for some gratuitous robot shots:




After getting home from WEHO I had a craving for a Vincent Price movie so we watched the Pit and the Pendulum and then we called it a night, and a very god one indeed.

Halloween Festivities part 1

To start the Festivities on Solaces first Halloween we did some pumpkin carving and I let Solace play with the pumpkin guts which were some new and apparently unsettling textures for her.



Pics of the finished pumpkin

I decided to do this pumpkin on the fly, freehand style, it's a dragon eye. I used to draw some really fierce looking dragons back in the day, perhaps I should pull those out and show them sometime.

WINNER of the Crazy About the Kidlet Giveaway!

The winner is:
Hyla from MyFairyBabies.etsy.com
and Green Earth Journey!


Solace is at 74 Votes so the prize is $10 To Wenchie’s Sacred Relics or Sacred Supplies!
Thanks for participating!

Close Encounters of the Kitty Kind

The Approach

The Intrigue
The Pet
The Cuddle!

Max was such a ragdoll (thats the breed of cat he is) for putting up with her grabbing and crying of protest from Solace when I removed her death grip from Max's fur. The encounter went really well Ru on the other hand may like her when she's a little older.

I was

I was going to write an angry post about the blog spam I received this morning but I thought again and figured it would be in ill taste to tear apart and berate a company because they are ignorant to the ways of respectful interactions and advertising. Rather then actually giving them the free negative publicity and wasting my precious time, I will instead send them a message with the correct ways of interactive or grass-roots advertising and see if they give a s*it.
Anyways I'm feeling less then [Me < Everything else] right now as I = epic fail in life, my offerings, and holding any sort of giveaway. I admit perhaps I'm just going about it all wrong with the first not being well foreshadowed and the second with it's ulterior motives(which one can enter by not succumbing to them but I assume people no longer take the time to read.) I measure myself by a lot of things and not just my shop but I just feel constantly beat down because I have no freedom without compromising the little one I so adore in my life. Another reason to these nagging feelings is that I wanted to take a trip to Europe and off of this progressively God forsaken continent, well more like landmass as South America would not be far enough to satiate this need for an international escapade, which I wanted to do this year as the kidlet is still young enough to travel easily with and the event of that happening is steadily slipping away.
Anyways my nap-time break is over so I must get back to tending the miniature dictator, however no matter how bleak things look now I refuse to give up on or lose sight of my true ambitions, and I must add that jewelry design is not the end of my means by any way shape or form this is not my goal in life, although it is something I enjoy enough to do on a daily basis, that is what perhaps limits my success.
Anyways candid moment accomplished, cute pics of Solace shall commence within a day.

Rubies and Watch Parts - When a Ruby is not a Ruby

Sometimes my self enlightening musings need to be posted here to dispel the unintentional deceit we have been privy to. This one in particular was due to lack of the technology back in the day when rubies were discovered. Rubies are nothing more then sapphires as they are both are corundum which is basically aluminum ions and oxygen, impurities there of create color. For example, what makes the ruby different has to do with minuscule amounts of chromium, in fact, only 1% of the aluminum is replaced with chromium making that highly sought after red color.

So what does this have to do with watch parts?
In 1704 the first union of watch movements and rubies came into conception with the advancements wrought by Peter Debaufre, Jacob Debaufre, and Nicolas Facio. The rubies (sapphires) are essentially the watch movement's bearings, and are present on the pallet, the piece which creates that time honored clicking noise against the escape wheel, these are referred to as jewels. When you see a watch that states "17 jewels" it essentially means the "bearings" are usually rubies (sapphires), but can also be garnets or in rare cases diamonds. These however are industrial grade and have very little value. Also around 1900 manufactured or synthetic rubies became the staple "jewel" present in watches. This was due to the efficiency of the process created by Auguste Victor Louis Verneuil, which affectionately called the Verneuil process and also referred to as flame fusion. Actually synthetic rubies (sapphires) were made even before Verneuil rained on the someone's scientific advancement parade, as they were the first on the market in the mid 1800's. Rubies (sapphires) are historically significant as they are actually the first gem stone to be synthetic or man made.
Who knew that rubies (sapphires) were so special!

Crazy About the Kidlet Giveaway - Up to $100 Shopping Spree

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED THE CONTEST IS OVER

Welcome to my first giveaway inspired by how crazy I am about my little kidlet!
As you may or may not know I have entered Solace in the “Gap Casting Call contest” and she has a lot of catching up to do. So the amount of the shopping spree and how many chances you can enter to win it are dictated by voting on Solace.

Here’s the Prize Break Down:
0 – 100 Votes = $10 Prize
101 – 200 Votes = $20 Prize
201 – 300 Votes = $30 Prize
301 – 400 Votes = $40 Prize
401 – 500 Votes = $50 Prize
501 – 600 Votes = $60 Prize
601 – 700 Votes = $70 Prize
701 – 800 Votes = $80 Prize
801 – 900 Votes = $90 Prize
901 – 1000+ Votes = $100 Prize

How to Enter:
* 1 Entry Per Day For Voting on Solace Each Day
Post a comment with your email address letting me know each time you vote
(Voting is limited to once a day, you must create an account to vote)

* 1 Entry for posting the “Vote for Me” ad on your website or blog
Copy the code below the ad to the left and add it to your website or blog
Post a comment with your email address and a link to the page

* 1 Entry For blogging about this giveaway
Post a comment with your email address and a link to the blog

* 1 Entry For Posting a link to this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter
Post a comment with your email address and a link to your page

Which Equals a Chance for a Total of 20 Entries!

The giveaway starts 10-09-09 and ends on 10-25-09, I am not responsible for problems on the voting site, problems do exist on the site, if you are unable to vote try a different computer or enter with the three other options given. The winner will be randomly selected by the Random.org random number generator on Monday 10-26-09. The winner will be announced via a blog post on 10-26-09 and notified via email. The winner has one week (until 11-02-09) to respond or a runner up will be selected and notified on 11-03-09. Shopping Spree Prize can be used at Wenchie’s Sacred Relics and Sacred Supplies. Good Luck!

Fun Stuff Friday!

Three fun things!

First direct your attention to the right of the screen you may have recgonized the avatar image from this blog post Fun Stuff By ArtSnark.

To reiterate, that awesome portrait was created by the most talented Stacey Merrill of Art Snark on Etsy Check out more of her impressive work at ArtSnark.etsy.com

Second order of funness!
Direct your eyes to the left of the screen,that Vote For Me ad is about a casting call competition that I've entered Solace in please take a moment to vote for her please vote daily and on all of her pics!

The third thing is a brand spanken new item which is a fall back entry for the current Etsy Steam Team contest which is "Seam and Steam: A Challenge of Metal and Cloth!"
This is the Sweetheart Cuff which was brought into reality by the teaching of Corrie Sullivan aka Corrie Hill Designs on Etsy


This cuff was hand sewn by your truly, there's a second one in the works and my master entry for the Steam Team challenge. I'm a sewing friend thanks to Corrie's class!

Happy Birthday to HiTree

Solace Sleeping in her crib lovingly surrounded by a HiTree crib bumper.

If you know me then you know I love the items made by Tina with HiTree.etsy.com. Tina is an amazing crafter and I got these crib bumpers made for Solace before she was born and I've flaked on posting pics of these. Her Birthday is today and this weekend she's giving 15% off deal in her shop and hosting a giveaway on her blog hitree.blogspot.com! So be sure to check out her shop HiTree.etsy.com wish Tina a very Happy Birthday!

Buy an Item Get a Free Gift = FAIL

That promotion was my first and it failed I assume largely in part due to the lack of forewarning =( anyways lets get beyond the "would of, could of, should of, to the fact that this ring is now listed in the shop for sale. It's a really nice ring that takes a bit of manual labor to make and I must say I am very pleased with the quality and look of it, as I'm keeping one for myself Yar! ;)
The Ye Ol' Pirate Ring can be seen in the shop by clicking here

Buy an Item Get a Free Gift This Weekend Only!

Do you know what today is?
The day that happens once a year where you are free to release your inner pirate! That's right, It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day! See what it's all about on Talk Like a Pirate.com


In honor of this highly anticipated event I'm offering a free pirate ring with each order from my Sacred Relics Shop! Use the code "weekend deals" in the message to seller. This offer is valid from 9/18/09 to 9/20/09 Limit 1 per person.
Click har t' get some booty with yer loot! Yar!

Solace Paints!

This is Solace's First Attempt at painting, I have to be mindful of where the brush goes because she will put it on her face or drop it on to my lap.

Greek Nouveau Chandelier Earrings

New to the Shop Greek Nouveau Chandelier Earrings

Elegant and ornately detailed these earrings remind me of something the ancient Greeks would fancy. The faceted bronze czech glass fire polished bead stands out delightfully as it is captured between two brass watch gears and then framed by a pair of simple white beads. These earrings with their steampunk flare really embrace a new take on an Ancient Greek look hence they are named Greek Nouveau. These earrings measure 1.25 inches (3.1cm) in length from the bottom of the brass ear wire and are .5 of an inch (1.2 cm) wide.

These took me a bit to piece together and I am loving how it turned out. This is the first time I've used gears as bead caps and the fine detailed look they give is amazing! Although I doubt I will be making another pair of these specific earrings, I do look forward to utilizing the gears like these as bead caps in more of my creations.

New to the Shop - Labradorescence

Labradorescence Tie Tack Lapel Pin

The labradorite gemstone upon this tie tack is a sight to behold as it dances with a brilliant blue fire dances across its surface and has some nice clarity. The gemstone is set in a barrel drum which sits upon a balance wheel and a graciously sized pocket watch gear giving it an exquisite edgy look.
To make it quite simple, this tie tack is simply stunning.
The tie tack measures .7 of and inch (1.7cm) in diameter.

I really love the labradorite cabochon which was chosen to be the focal of this piece because of it's clarity and flashy brilliant blue display. I was fortunate to be able to hand pick this cabochon and other labradorite cabochons, which will be seen in following items, from a seller at one of the many gem shows that happen in Santa Monica.

Who loves MiniMonster? I do!

If you don't know this seller yet you should especially if you have little mini-monsters running about.
This post has taken me too long in the making so with out further ado here's some of the amazing things that Kieutiepie got for Solace with the generosity of Connie "the head Monster" of Mini Monster on Etsy.


This adorable design is the Baby Girl MiniMonster onsie.



This cute little number is the Green Baby Shoe onsie.




These last two were made by the combined awesomeness of Mini Monster and the art work Kieutiepie! The first three are the art works of Connie and there are several more items I need to show by this super talented Etsyian. So there will be another post so appear sometime in the not so distant future. In the meantime check out her other offerings at Mini Monster.etsy.com.

Silverode

Which also goes by:
Silverine
Oresilver
Iridimite
Silveroid
Silverode
Alaska Silver
Silverore
Oresilver
Albata Metal
Silvaloy

Have you seen any of these stamped inside those beautiful silver colored watch cases? Do you know exactly what it is you are getting with this case?

First let me clear up some confusion with the naming convention that are used with some of these cases, these are not comprised of silver and do not contain any silver what so ever the were intended to be a bit misleading but overall describe the color of the case which is silver colored.
The cases are a mixed metal which is commonly know as Nickel silver or German silver and are actually a mix of nickel, copper, manganese alloy, and sometimes zinc. Each case manufacture varied the amounts of these chemical elements slightly and then obtained a patent for their slight variations, thus having different names due to the patent.

Also don't misjudge one of these cases on being compromised by mixed elements as these cases are highly sought after because they are tough to tarnish and scratch, click here for an example of one that was recently sold from my supply shop.

For more information on the history of Nickle Silver see this page on Wikipedia.

Revenants

Two new items in the shop today! Actually they are slight variations of each other but I'm very pleased to be upping my game as it were with higher quality items. Both of these earrings feature gemstones of the feldspar group of minerals sunstone and moonstone.



Stunning and elegant these earrings have their own story to tell, as they honor the cross culture mythology of butterflies, which are believed to be the souls of the deceased, by having a haunting air of ethereal art nouveau, combined with antique mechanical elements. On top of that these are graced with genuine sunstone gemstones which glitter in celestial brilliance.

The name of these earrings was choosen based on mythology dealing with butterflies click here for a link to a page about it.

Here's what Merriam Webster has to say about the word Revenant:
" * Main Entry: rev·e·nant
* Pronunciation: \ˈre-və-ˌnäⁿ, -nənt\
* Function: noun
* Etymology: French, from present participle of revenir to return
* Date: 1818
: one that returns after death or a long absence"

As you can see this word is from the 1800s to give the earrings that much deserved steampunk flare.

Seafarer's Tie Tack Lapel Pin

Seafarer's Tie Tack Lapel Pin side view
Originally uploaded by ye wenchie

The latest greatest thing to my shop!
This tie tack is fit for any seafarer where as it has a striking nautical appeal of a compass with the way the gears are strategically positioned and then paired with the deep sea green of a real jade cabochon. This tie tack measures .7 of an inch (1.7 cm) in diameter the jade is 6mm in diameter.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28629040

All about the baby Video Blog style

Solace Reads a book



Solace performs Shakespeare

Solace the Punk Privateer

Solace the Punk Privateer
Originally uploaded by ye wenchie

solace in her pirate getup this is the hot weather version so the hat doesn't really match ^_^

I must admit something, I forgot my mother's birthday. Which was a month ago but for the past few weeks I've been planning a day trip to make up for it and finally today we have our excersion to Catalina island.
One side of the island Twin Harbors is all recreational ie. Camping snorkeling and the like, and the other side Avalon is leisurly activities such as shopping ect. We are going to the latter side as my mom did a race today and Jason and I walked around 3 miles in our neighborhood yestrday.
I'm writting this on my Iphone as were heading over and I must say I nearly forgot how much I love being on a boat. I've never gotten sea sick and I love the movement in genral. Which leads me to believe if there's such a thing as a past life I was a sea farer. Which I shall elaborate on, in addition to not getting sea sick, I love fish especially raw fish, I can also live quite happily on very little water and food, I deal well with humidity and wind, and I don't mind doing hard work. ;)

Today is also Solace's first day on a boat and she is dressed accordingly as my little punk privateer, as I'm typing this she's passed-out in Jason's arms, and I can't post pics from the Iphone so they will be posted later

Bringing in the new!

Fleur De Pearl - Mother of Pearl Earrings

These earrings shimmer with the simple elegance of mother of pearl that has been paired with the regal symbol of fleur de lis making this pair a fitting adornment for any occasion.

It feels good to finally have something new in the shop!
Now just 20-30 more items to go =P

Fun stuff by ArtSnark

Etsy Steam Team member and talented artist ArtSnark is doing a few portraits of Steam Team members. She took this pic


ran it through the inspirational gears of her artistic aesthetic to create this!



To say that this portrait titled "Trust Me" is pretty friggin cool is an understatement! I can't wait to see what else she creates from the other Steam Team members so keep tabs on her blog ArtSnark's Artifacts: Art & musings for the eclectic soul,
and now that you've had a taste of her work check out some more in her shop! ArtSnark.etsy.com

I think I have

Listing Block! Its like writers block except with listing new items to my shop.



That is the pile of items that have not yet made it to the shop