Jewelry design: wood
I would like to be able to carve wood. And make more soap. And dye, spin and weave. But at the moment, none of those are particularly reasonable things to wish for, given the current number of projects I’m already neck deep in. But at least it shows I’m not so tired of crafting anymore.
I’m pretty sure I still need a long vacation from work, but I do seem to be drawing myself slowly out of my recent funk. Maybe it was the Omega-3’s I’ve been taking. Maybe it’s that our high was only in the nineties today. Maybe it was the Halloween swap I joined. Oh, yes, I’m past ready for August to be gone.
Luckily, there’s such a thing as Etsy, where I can go find all of the things I only wish I could make, all conveniently available for purchase. I have no idea what my life was like before Etsy. Did I seriously buy jewelry elsewhere? Carved wooden earrings with wooden posts are so much more interesting. I didn’t even know you could buy wooden post earrings. I’d like to borrow the woman who makes the earrings on the top right and have her show me how she does that.
Left to Right, Top to Bottom …
Roots Mahogany earrings. By Orno. Orno’s web shop is full of things I want to own with lovely photos.
Treasure Bird Cameo Wooden earrings by Genevieve Gail. Much pretty whimsical-ness here.
Chocolate Brown Wooden Filigree earrings by Designed by RJ. I love her colored wooden filigree.
Empress Wooden Hoops by Organic Love. Check out the posts on her earrings.
Ebony Wood Square earrings by Apartment 49. Lovely clean modern designs.
Daisy in the Woods carved wooden earrings by Lori Jaclyn’s Jewels.
Crossword earrings by Segmental (Russell Brown). A woodworker specializing in segmented wooden turnings gets inspired by a love of crosswords!
Wooden beads on large hoops by Mosaicroro. Many different beads, including yarn covered, available.
Tri Wood earrings by Uzumaki. She makes earrings for those with metal allergies/sensitivities.
Feeling like some jewelry
Shopping again! Like always. I spend too much time on Etsy. This time I’m shopping for metal. I got a pair of bronze shoes, and now I seem to think I must have things that go with them. One wonders – should I maybe have considered buying shoes that go with the things I have? No, of course not. That only limits the shopping options, you see.
People making things in bronze and brass seem to go for the filigreed and antiqued looks. This probably explains my attraction to those metals. I do love filigree. I wish I could make jewelry. Fussing with tiny little fastenings and wire wrapping would make me beyond crazy, though. I’ll leave that to talented folks like these.
From left to right, top to bottom:
1. Foliage Bracelet by Twist This Handcrafted Jewelry
2. Symphonic – filigree earrings with brown beads by Kristin Friesen
3. Lotus Hoop bronzed necklace by Lillyella
4. Fauno earrings inspired by Pan’s Labyrinth by Correlate
5. Antique roses necklace with bronze beads by Vineyard Creek
6. Secret Garden brass filigree bracelet by Heatherly Designs
7. Simara brass earrings by Luxe Deluxe
8. Spirals and Swirls bracelet in antiqued copper by Contrariwise
9. Tiny flower bronze earrings by Excess
Oh yeah, I’m livin’ the life …
So I had three things to tell you all today, and when I stopped and thought about them I was very amused. My three things are (1) organic vegetables, (2) a print from an independent artist and (3) something I just made. You can’t say I don’t do what I preach, er, ramble on about on here.
Organic Veggies: At the moment I’m super crazy excited waiting for my first home delivery of organic vegetables. A friend who already has been doing this for some time swears by Greenling for their produce. They are supposed to be awesome for veggie quality. I got two of their “surprise” baskets. The local basket has an unknown variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables from farms in the area. The other one is the “artisanal basket” with a surprise variety of breads, meats, cheeses etc. from local shops. I don’t know what I’m getting, and I just love that! I have to admit that although I like the organic part, I’m actually more excited about the surprise element, and the fact that I don’t have to go to the grocery store. I used to love getting home delivery of groceries in Manhattan.
Art Print: The art print is one called Bear Snug (#214 from March 1 ,2008) from Nut and Bee. What, you’ve never stopped by Annette’s stationery shop? You really should. Her illustrations are some of the cutest I’ve ever seen, and I love checking out her 3x weekly postings of new Sketchbook Sweeties (her name for her drawings). Check out the Whirlipig and the Drama Llama. You’ll succumb to the spell too.
Kitchen Curtain: In addition to all those WIPs from yesterday, I did actually finish one thing, if only because it was the easiest thing. I have this wierd spot in my kitchen where the 1970s builders decided to put a countertop for some sort of breakfast nook, I assume. It would have made about 1000x more sense to put cabinets there, but apparently builders and architects can’t be bothered to be, you know, practical.
So I’ve put up 2 shelves (well, my dad did) and made a curtain to hide the area below. Now it can serve as additional storage without just looking messy. Plus, I love the stripe.
My mom had a GREAT idea for making this. I got a pair of shorter pre-made curtain from Target to do this, and she suggested that instead of cutting off the extra at the bottom I should just fold it over so it’s the right length, and just sew in the rod pocket in the middle somewhere. Then you just sew down the sides. If you use a loose enough stitch, you can pull out the stitches later and reuse the curtains! FAB.
