A suggestion

     I think it's about time I share with you one of my favorite websites. It has given me lots of inspiration for some of my pieces, and as the name implies, a lot of instruction. Instructables.com is a site with a wide range of categories: gardening, electronics, arts and crafts, cooking, baking, woodworking, you get the idea.
     Since I don't have my camera right now, later I will include a picture of a butterfly chain that I made from old paperclips. You can find this instructable on the site, of course. Also, there is a great recipe for homemade snickers bars. I made a batch last year and they were gone in just a few days. It was a much better recipe than I expected, and the HMSnickers are more delicious than store bought, in my opinion. You can also find lots of Starbucks knock-off recipes as well. I have tried a few and they were yummy as well. So search around! They have instructables for everyone's taste.

Layout and Design

I think at this point we can agree on two things. One, Blogspot doesn't have the best selection of templates to choose from, and two, although the first is true, if I were a little more programmer savvy my blog would look much nicer. However, I do like the new layout (even if it isn't exactly what I wanted). I downloaded code for my background and the header from Shabby Blogs. Such cute designs! If only I could put them to good use. Let me know what you think!

That time of Year.

Nope, not Christmas...it's my sister's birthday again! Woot!!! I thought about posting pictures before I gave her her presents...but I decided against it. I will be posting some really cool pictures (if I do say so myself) after next weekend....ooohhhh the suspense. In the meantime, I still have pictures from last year's birthday present. I made her a Harry Potter book pocket book. I retitled the book "Spellman's Syllabary" and made it all wizardly. You can look at it here on my old blog.

Pins and needles...needles and pins :)

Check out this new pin I made today! I've been reading a steampunk series (Leviathan) and thus was subsequently inspired to make this!

Click on the picture for a closer look. I used two washers (one painted) and the base of the pin is a flattened bottle cap (thanks to ArtWalk where my boyfriend works). The lace I bought several months back from a thrift store, and the 'gear' washer I bought from Lowe's. I made the chain out of jump links. :)

What ELSE have I been doing?

I have quite recently (in the past two days) picked up crochet...just add it to my list of millions upon millions of things that I'm doing. I also made a blog today for a short story that I started several months ago...and that was only begun because I began a story when I was 13 that I just recently acquired a plot for (and subsequently got writer's block...). You can check them out here and here. The last one I ran out of time to work on..so it's a little sketchy (in the first sense of the word). And I digress...oh yes, crochet. My supervisor came over and taught me how to make this cute little pouch! (shhh....it was supposed to be for my cell phone, but I made it too short)

 Seeee!? Very cute. I also painted the background in watercolors (uhm..yea, I also followed a lot of wc tutorials)









Alsoooo....what is this!? Ohhh well you'll just have to wait and find out. It's gonna be totally awesome!

MIA

Last post was almost two weeks ago...what in the world have I been doing? Well, not much to deal with jewelry, actually. I did go to Earth Fare's Founding Father's Bash. They gave away hot dogs and hamburgers to policemen, firemen, emergency men (and the womens), etc. For regulars they charged $1. Nice day! Cake walks, watermelon eating contests, local mountain music. What fun! I sold one pair of earrings, but I didn't stay for long because it was so hot.

What ELSE have I been doing? Working on two different stories, working a real job, playing with horses...but now it's business time! Check out what my mom collected for me from her work!

 These are the biggest pull tabs I've ever seen. I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet, but they look a little 'fringy' (<--hint) to me.

 Lots to choose from. I will finally be able to finish my pop tab purse! It's coming along nicely. It probably won't be the next item up, but it will be coming soon! My sister and her boyfriend also brought me the quartz stone to make pendants from. I think I'll ask my dad to tumble them for me....   :)


In other concerning news, I am in the process of using up my inventory of jewelry making bits with the hopes that I can move toward more sustainable, eco-friendly items later. Waste not! However, looking at all these pop tabs makes me think about all the pop tabs ever. These are just a handful from a few weeks coming out of a single work place. Not the ideal, but better beauty than trash!

Wire wrapped crystal necklace

As promised, here are some pictures of the necklace I made for Matt yesterday. He likes it! I particularly like the adjustable leather necklace myself. It's rather convenient.

Click on the pictures to see a larger image. :)

Hand-panned crystals are here!

A friend of mine, Matt, just took a little trip not too far from Boone and found these crystals in a creek. I can't wait to make something out of them!

 Nice! Some of these are really clear.

These are flat crystals. They grow like this I am told. Pretty neat huh?







This is the largest crystal. Matt asked me to make a necklace out of this one, so expect pictures in the next day or so!

PS. Look at all the pop tabs! My boyfriend Thomas and I raided his recycling at his work to collect these. I'm planning on making a tab purse. :)

Reponse for Mobile Phones

I am wondering what my website looks on cell phones right now to see if I need to change any settings or do something different with the design. I would greatly appreciate anyone telling me which type of phone they're using and which browser so I can make sure it looks good on everyone's. Or you could just use a 1-5 scale (5=looks the best) and post it in the comments box. Thanks!!!

Check out the new jewels!

I've added more new pieces to the Bracelets and Necklaces pages. Be sure to check them out; new additions are located near the bottom of the pages. These pieces are also featured in my photobucket slideshow here in the right! Enjoy, and remember, if you want to order one of my pieces, please just e-mail me here.