Creative Use For Little Scraps of Yarn

Whenever I finish a project, I always have little short lengths of yarn left over that are too small to make anything with, but that I just hate to throw away. This year, I saved all my little bits and pieces in a bag. Today the kids and I cut them up into 4-8" lengths. Then ..... we did this:

We hung up all the bits of yarn in our backyard trees as nesting materials for birds to "find" and take home with them to build their nests. My hope is that as we go about our neighborhood walks this year that we will be able to spot some of the more brightly colored yarn in local nests.

So far, the yarn seems to be a big hit with the birds! Within 10 minutes of festooning our trees and hiding back in the house by the window, there were several flocks of little birds checking it out.

Spring Cleaning

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day! We gorged on sugary baked goodies on the couch and watched the romantic fairy-tale movie "Ever After". Just love the winged, beaded crystal dress Drew Barrymore wears to the ball. Ethereal wings, beaded crystal shoes ... what's not to love?

"Ever After" ballroom dress
Image from Pretty Geeky from the "Fashion in Film: Period Costumes for the Screen" exhibit

I want to gush a bit about an exhibit I learned about while looking for this dress picture. "Fashion in Film: Period Costumes for the Screen" is a traveling exhibit features thirty-six exquisite period costumes worn by movie stars in major motion pictures, from critically acclaimed films Dangerous Liaisons and Sense and Sensibility to blockbusters Indiana Jones and Titanic. It looks like an absolutely dreamy exhibit! You can learn more about it here and here and here. Regretfully, it's not traveling anywhere near me. If anyone knows where I can get a hold of a beautifully illustrated exhibit guide with killer photos, I would be most grateful!

In other news ... this week the weather has finally warmed up and Spring is on the way! How do I know? Well, there are the tulips coming up .....But I've also been seized with the sudden urge to begin Spring cleaning. The great thing about doing a thorough deep cleaning is that you find all sorts of forgotten treasures deep in back closets. Look at this cute Japanese brush box I rediscovered! I think it makes a very nice tool caddy.And what's in that cute little drawer at the bottom?? Antique chandelier crystals!I think this repurposed box makes a gorgeous and utilitarian addition to my jewelry desk.

What treasures do you have around the house that can be repurposed and given a second life?

Free Etsy Banners

Well the holiday season is in full swing around here! I have been just slammed with orders from my Jeweled Elegace boutique (thank you everyone!!). I've been to the post office every day for weeks now. Every. Single. Day. Which normally is a quick stop, but my post office is now "watching the bottom line" and they have only ONE clerk on duty for the holiday season. Let's go over that equation ... ONE clerk + multiple hundreds of people with multiple packages = Disneyland length lines which queue up an hour before the post office even opens. Yikes!!

My son has also been ill and between the two things, I am ready for a Starbucks Latte and some of their yummy seasonal Gingerbread loaf! Maybe on my way to the post office tomorrow? hee..hee!

In the holiday spirit, I want to share with you something very nice. This: The Free Etsy Something Daily Blog. This site is courtesy of the talented MissesBird on Etsy and I when I first heard about it, I was instantly in love! Free incredibly beautiful graphics for your Etsy shop, your blog, whatever you'd like. I liked them so much that I redesigned my Etsy banner using some of her lovely graphics. Take a look!:


I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!!

Longest Catch Up Blog Post Ever

Hello everyone! Finally, that storm system moved on at the end of last week and the migraine is gone and my vision restored. Thank goodness! Thank you so much everyone for your kind words of care and support and encouragement. I cannot tell you how much your sweet comments and emails meant to me! This is such a wonderful community and I am grateful for my bloggy friends each and every day!

Now, it's time to get cracking and get caught up! I have over a hundred blogs to visit and way more email to take care of. Oh, and let's not forget Saturday Market that opens in two weeks. Currently I will be standing there in front of an empty table, so it's time for this artist to get to work! Every power workshop session starts with this:There was an almond twist pastry too, but that didn't last long enough to photograph, but I assure you, it was delicious and a necessary part of kick-starting the day :) And you fellow Starbucks addicts might note the new color/labeling. Memo to Starbucks: if your sales figures are falling during these tight economic times, investing money on new retro labeling will not inspire me to buy more coffee - try new lower prices - *that* will get my attention.

Now suitable fueled, the workshop is churning with flower pin production:

Bird tile production: (Note: I just finished these at dawn, but the glaze on them needs about 1-2 weeks to cure after drying to get that old-fashioned vintage look.)

All this jewelry and pretty accessories, but I need some catchy display ideas too. How about vintage labels???? Perfect!! This is what you can do with 10 minutes at a high-quality color xerox machine and an hour of brain surgeon level hand-eye coordination cutting. They are looking good!!

Let's celebrate that I can work again! These are my new bird nest hair pins. How fine they look on those vintage labels! I will add one of these to any order placed starting now until they are gone. I have eight two zero left -- all the nest hair pins are gone now -- thank you for your orders!!!

Look what was incoming at the Jeweled Elegance workshop - this cool ACEO made entirely of polymer clay from DivaDea! She hosts these really interesting and creative Etsy song contests. I wasn't sure I had the concept down, but gave a guess and I won! Take a look at her site if you want a unique creative challenge.

Now, back to the grindstone! :)

Getting Ready for a Holiday Show

I'm off to the Deepwood Holiday Show in Salem this weekend and my studio has been a flurry of activity - beads, wire, glitter and vintage papers flying everywhere. Everything needs to be packed up by tomorrow night. Better get these necklaces finished in a hurry!I call these the Maid Marian girls. Wait, that last one's not a girl, it's an egg! It's an Inspiration Egg!
More Inspiration Eggs!One of four lovely Tropical Butterfly earrings. I love how the image is bisected, one half on each earring.

Wish me luck! This show is 45 miles away from my home and I need to drive there and back again each day in rainy, stormy weather, so I'm a bit concerned about the commute but I think it will be a lot of fun!

While shopping this week for bits and bobs (and buttons!) to create holiday goodies, DH and I discovered the most marvelous Italian restaurant.Shopping is hard work, so we stopped to replenish our energy. I had a refreshing ice tea and this hearty Winter Squash and Wild Mushroom Pasta. YUM!! I couldn't remember the name of the restaurant when we got home, so thank goodness it's painted on their plates :)We also discussed the possibility of opening an etsy store for the holidays. What do you think about a potential banner: plain and classic or fancy and more baroque? (ignore that thin green border - blogger puts that around every photo)

Coming next week .. loads of fun and pretty at Natasha's Virtual Vintage Prom Party! Come put on a sparkly dress on Tuesday the 20th and join in the fun!
I just realized I am almost at my 100th post! only 5 more posts to go! .... ooooh, I need to start thinking of something really special!

The Countdown: 19 Days to Market ........

There are only 19 more days to the start of market! I have literally been locked in my studio the past week creating product and dreaming up new packaging for the 2007 market season. No internet, no mopping the floor, nada ... nothing except beads :) My booth is 10ft square and given that jewelry is very, very small ... I have a lot of creating to do! For the next 19 days I will live in my studio, but will be giving periodic updates of what I'm working on. The Jeweled Elegance web boutique will not be updated with any of the new product until after the start of market, but everthing will be available for purchase. Right now I have barely anything finished ... but lots of things in the works :)

Above is my only completed piece so far. A gold/white lampwork glass and wedding cake bead Y necklace all done in handwrapped copper and handmade chain. It would be a great bridal piece, but I can see it glowing softly against tanned skin and think it would be a lovely summer necklace. You can also see my new necklace/bracelet tags in the photo. I developed and started using them about a month ago and they are WAY better than the old ones - trust me on that!

And bird fever has struck! I have been weaving nests with little pearl eggs in them and will make them into necklaces. On the right are lots of little handmade polymer clay eggs ready to be added to some of the nest charm necklaces to make Y necklaces. I have baby blue, soft green and Tahitian black pearls, so have a lot of nests to weave! I even made myself a huge nest egg ring .... which was promptly claimed by my munchkins as pirate treasure. I'm sure it will surface again in time :)

This is an example of technique for some of the new market pieces. The top chain link is bright, shiny copper. The bottom link has been hammered and then flameworked. Yes, put in a hot burner flame and then doused in cold water ... and it produces this really attractive finish! The one on the bottom looks like an antique find from a long forgotten copper mine. I find flameworking copper to produce patinas fun and addictive. I have produced red, gold, brown, black and even a silvery-grey patina, but it's a little like raku .. a mystery until you clean off the carbon film. (And I always stay safe with eye protection, fireproof surfaces, etc. Hot metal can burn and hot beads can shatter.)


Turquoise is a natural with copper and I've been making lots of different shapes of hand hammered and flameworked turquoise and copper earrings. I'm hoping to get some niobium in copper for the earwires, but they'll be sterling if I can't get the niobium in stock soon enough. In this picture, I'm trying to show the rich flameworked patina of the earrings contrasting with the bright, shiny finish of the necklace chain at the top. It is storming today and the light is very grey and dim, but hopefully you can see it :)

Now ...... it's back to the studio!