And now for something completely different...

... a product review. I consider myself to be a "general" crafter, meaning that I like to dabble in many things other than just making jewelry. I also enjoy a bit of scrap booking on occasion as well. After using these templates a bit and looking for a good review on them and not finding any, I thought I might ought to do a bit of a review myself.

Just a few days ago I purchased the X-Acto Basic Shape Templates in order to help me with crafting some holiday items. I got them for just under $8 at Walmart in their ever-dwindling craft department's scrap book section. As I already have the Designer Series Swivel Blade I thought these would come in handy to easily cut out nice, neat and precise shapes using the templates. Sad to say this is not so.

I have been playing around with them for the last hour or so and I'm just not impressed with them. The gap in which you place the blade to do the cutting is just a tad too wide and allows the blade to swagger side to side and thus giving a much less than smooth cut. The walls of the "blade channel" (for lack of a better term) are also a bit flexible which also gives a less than stable cut. Also note that the thickness is just thick enough that the blade just barely touches the paper.

All in all I give them a thumbs down. I do plan to experiment with them a bit more later so if my opinion of them changes or I get the hang of them better I'll update, but I don't expect that to happen. I think I'd rather just have my $8 back.

Ohhhh, what I wouldn't give to have even just a small corner to dedicate to my hobbies. It gets kinda (okay, VERY) frustrating to try to work at the kitchen table, only to have to clear it off so we can eat a meal, especially if I'm in the middle of something. Jewelry making supplies are especially a pain in the backside to have to gather up multiple times before I finish something. I do have a mechanic's tool box that I've dedicated to my jewelry stuffs and it does roll around, but I need a dedicated work surface on which I can leave a project for a few hours and come back to it and my work be undisturbed. For this issue alone I've greatly slacked off on making much in the last several months. I live in a very small home, with 3 kids no less, and just can't figure out how to spare a corner for my needs.

With even a small dedicated work area, I could branch out into a few more methods to make jewelry and not stick to just stringing and wire wrapping. I'd love to get into polymer clay, maybe a bit of torch work, etc. I just don't have the space for it at the moment. Argh! I just KNOW there's a way to make a bit of room for what I need, I just need to come up with a better solution than kicking one of the kids out... :D Building on to my home is out of the question financially, and every single corner of my home is being used... I've just got to come up with something, there's GOT to be a way!

If anyone has any viable ideas please let me know. I feel like the answer should be obvious, I'm just not "seeing" it... yet. :) It seems I've seen other artisans post pics of their work areas, maybe I need to re-peruse those and see if I can adapt some of their ideas for my own use.

(Image borrowed from The BlueCircleGuys... hope they don't mind, but I felt it fit my situation. LOL)

Back to playin' with beads!

Yep, I finally found the time, motivation, and most importantly the inspiration to haul out my jewelry making supplies again!

I'd also like to express my thanks to a most wonderfully generous friend on Facebook (Tammy) for sending me a gorgeous mix of beads! You rawk Tammy! :D The following pieces are a mix of Tammy's beads and my own. We must have similar tastes because I had several beads that coordinated well with what she sent. :)

Made two of these, one for my mom's birthday. Glass, crystal, and silver plated toggle and spacers:


Made two of these as well. I love the matte finish of the mauve beads and the frosted focal glass bead. Antique silver finish bead caps and gunmetal finish lobster claw clasp and crimp covers... and a few Czech fire polished beads, too:


And a couple o' these. Crackle glass cubes in pink and green with rose quartz chips, silver plated spacers and toggle clasp:



Just one of this, those are glass pearls, Swarovski crystals in a pretty champaign color called "silk" and an antique silver finish toggle (IIRC it's pewter):


Although I got on a bit of a bracelet kick, I managed to make a pair of earrings. Crystal rondelles, matte finish mauve beads, round Czech fire polished beads on gunmetal finish head pins and fish hooks:


Yep, felt good to "play" with my bead stash again, it's been too long. Look out, Tammy... you'll be receiving something special in the mail realllll soon. :D

Back in the saddle on Etsy!

Okay, so I've still not gotten graphics or any jewelry listed on there yet, however I have been doing some spring cleaning and plan to post some excess crafting supplies in the destash section of my Etsy store. so far I have a few retired design/rare rubber stamp sets up for grabs at phenomenal (IMO) prices. I've done my homework and researched the sets I have and saw that they were going for ridiculous prices, especially on eBay, so I've listed what I have at a fraction of the eBay prices... better grab them if you want them! I shall be listing more in the next few days as I have time to take pics and such (there's a big box of them!) so stay tuned!!

Yeah, I've been MIA for a while

Okay, so I've been MIA for quite a while, both here and at my Etsy store. However, school for my kids is drawing to a close very soon and I'm planning a major overhaul on both sites, so if this blog appears a bit wonky from time to time it's because I'm doing some tweaking.

Throughout the course of my hiatus, I have acquired a new version of Photoshop for my graphics and I've been brushing up little by little on that, and I've also gotten my hands on some new jewelry making materials that I'm just dying to get creative with a.s.a.p.! New PS, beads, bead caps, wire, etc.... oh boy! See? I've not abandoned anything, just been working in the background a bit. :D

I've also been getting into makeup a little bit. Gosh only knows why as I seldom wear it on a day to day basis, but for some reason I've been enjoying watching tutorials on Youtube on how to apply it. My makeup skills are sadly lacking since I haven't been a regular makeup wearer since the mid 90s or so (yikes!) so I've been trying to bring myself to the present times on that. Most of the "gurus" I've seen are in their late teens to mid 20s, there seems to be very few that are my age and/or do looks that I feel would be age appropriate for me. I certainly can't afford high end products such as Mac, so I stick to common drug store brands. Ya know, I don't even know if I'd buy the high end brands even if I COULD afford them, I've found some bargains just with locally available common brands that IMO are pretty good quality.

The kids and I are currently building a fire pit in our front yard. It's been kind of fun, not to mention the kiddos have actually been (semi)cooperating during the process. We're still not done with it but when we are, look out marshmallows, we shall be impaling you with long sticks and toasting you to sticky gooey goodness when we get it done. Mmmmm....

Anywho, that's all I'm going to post for now, have a great day! Be good, and be good to each other. <3

Plus size and unisex bracelets... and earrings, too!

I've added 2 new bracelets as well as a pair of earrings to my Etsy shop today.

The earrings above are of all gold filled metal and super clear 10mm glass rondelles. They are both classic and versatile, suitable for everyday wear and dressing up.

The bracelet above is substantial enough for a man but would look just as great for a woman. It's approx. 8" long making it appropriate for someone with a larger wrist or for someone who just like their bracelets a bit "roomy". Made in the classic Byzantine chain mail weave of 18g bare copper wire that has been lightly oxidized then tumbled.

This last bracelet is a knock out with the large hand wire wrapped clasp that also serves as a focal point... clever, eh? LOL It also is 8" long, great for larger wrists or for someone who just likes their bracelets a bit larger. Made in a variation of the classic Byzantine chain mail weave of 18, 20, and 24g copper wire, the 20g being coated. I think when this bracelet oxidizes (as all copper does eventually) it will make an interesting combination of dark and shiny, or of course ALL the shiny can be kept with just an occasional quick dip in warm lemon juice!

I have an "average" sized wrist but I love how both of these bracelets drape onto the top of my hand. Both are also quite substantial pieces, not "dainty" at all.

All 3 of these listings have been tumbled for hours for super shine and durability and are available for purchase at my Etsy shop.

Ahhhh, quiet. :)

Isn't it astonishing that just a few moments of silence can uplift a mood so dramatically? Had to make an unexpected trip to town, had things that needed to be done when I got home, got the kids from school (noise noise noise LOL) and worked on younger son's homework with him for 3 1/2 freakin' hours, have done laundry, worked on a custom graphics package, and kiddos are finally asleep... on the couches of course but at least they're being quiet! Gotta love that "winding down" time. :D It's not been altogether hectic today but a steady pace of "busy", just enough to be frustrating, but ahhhhhh that quiet time-- gotta love it.

I've been trading as part of the Trade A Holics team on Etsy and have made some FABULOUS trades! I've received in trade for my graphics services some great beads, earrings, some awesome little fabric bags that I'll use for shipping jewelry items and gift giving for the holidays, a couple stocking stuffers, and a few of my trading partners have even been so generous to include a few little extra goodies in my packages too! I've received some awesomely encouraging and uplifting feedback to my shop for the graphics I did for my trade partners, and even had a small sale over the weekend. Life is good at Etsy these days. BTW, my shop is HERE in case you'd like to take a peek. :)

AGAIN this year, I'm stumped as to what to do about family gifts for the upcoming holidays. The kids are usually "no brainers" as they never cease to tell me all through the year what they would like for Christmas, it's the grown ups and nieces and nephews I'm stumped over. Due to the continuing financial crunch, It'll have to be another handmade holiday this year and I'd like to get started on things asap, I just have to figure out what direction I'd like to take this year. I did jewelry last year and probably will do a few small items again, but also I'm considering doing handmade soaps... hey, everyone uses soap, right? LOL Maybe a small gift basket with a wash cloth, hand towel, appropriate soap dish, and a few handmade soaps to round it all out. Inexpensive, yet useful. Maybe some "floatie" soaps for the younger ones, and elegantly scented soaps for the adults... yeah, that's what I think I'll do.

Enough rambling and thinking out loud for now... the dryer just stopped. Argh. LOL