Blogs, blogging and other people's blogs

I don't usually get tired of talking about myself all that easily, but tonight I'm having trouble thinking of something to say about myself and my jewelry. So I went looking through other people's blogs for inspiration.

Aside: here's a question: how do you define the word "blog"? My friend Col, who I play WoW with, hates the word and won't touch it with a barge-pole. I sort of agree with him in the sense that it's really sort of an ugly, ungainly word, but I use it anyway because it's become part of the language and well, what else am I going to call this thing that I write all the time. But anyway, that's not exactly what I meant, even. Here's the real question - is a "blog" the site as a whole or a single entry, to you? Because there seems to be some disagreement on that point. My opinion is that the blog is the whole "site" - or subsite, in this case, i.e., deliciousbeads.blogspot.com. It's all of my entries considered as a whole. But increasingly you see people using it to mean what I would call a "blog post" - one single piece of writing within that site. People say "my blog that I wrote tonight" or "so-and-so wrote a blog about this subject" and it sounds odd and wrong to me. Is that just me?

Anyway, getting back to the subject of other people's entries, one thing that I noticed in jewelry-blog-land in the last week or so is several reviews (including this one) of this book:


As a matter of fact the book is in my little Amazon store also: Enchanted Adornments. I haven't actually seen it for myself yet, though, so I'm not actually telling you to go buy it! I'm just noting that I have seen several extremely positive reviews and so clearly it's worth checking out. (I might try to get in a side-trip to B&N or somewhere tomorrow, to see if they have it so I can check it out in person.)

Shifting to another kind of jewelry: I have very geeky friends and I know some of them would love to have this pendant of Melissa's with 8 digits of pi. One of these days I may have to have a go at perfecting my metal-stamping, just so I can stamp geeky things like that on metal. I suspect they'd sell extremely well among what my mother used to call "those internet people of yours" (she never did know what to make of my online friends).

Etsy goodness:

• I really like this sterling scrabble tile pendant. And of course there's the ones made from actual Scrabble tiles, too! (I have one of the latter - not that design, though. Mine's a little owl.)
• In a autumnal color scheme, here's some great copper and jasper hoops. Ooh, I like these crystal and copper ones, too.

(This is making me want to go make jewelry, which is a good thing. Yay!)

Can't. Stop. With the Halloween/DdlM Links!

Even though it's really too late to make much more stuff for this year, my excuse this time is that I want to remember this one for future reference:
HUGE round up of H'ween and Dia de los Muertos links!

Also, I love Cathie Filian's bat necklace
Cool DdlM dolls!
knitted pumpkins!!

Man, I realllly want to get in on this order of Alexander Henry Loteria fabric. Have I even mentioned here that I used to be a quilter?* I have not even been tempted by quilting fabric lately - except for this one. (I have a fair little collection of those AH DdlM-related fabrics. I was intending to make a quilt out of them someday, although the quilting has been on indefinite hiatus lately.)


*I ended up talking about that in the entry below this one, so look there if you're interested in hearing more about that!

Crafty Halloween linkage

Now that Halloween's getting close, I keep nosing around and finding adorable craft things I hadn't noticed before (or had noticed ages ago and forgotten about):
Panoplie's tiny little pumpkin earrings (So cute - makes me want to run out and buy orange druk beads!)*
Smilin' Jack cuff (found on Bead Art Originals)
Alexa's painted mini-pumpkins
ilovetocreate's necklaces made entirely of paint!

Kathy Cano-Murillo is the goddess (or something) of Day of the Dead. Her Crafty Chica blog is awash with it - go check it out!

I could keep going all day, but I will stop or Halloween will be over by the time I post this!


Oops, one more: notmartha's meatloaf hand. (My husband wants me to make him one of these!)

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*No, no, no. No shopping allowed for me right now!

Terrorific Tuesday the Last (aw)

Terrorific Tuesday was so much fun, I wish I'd gotten in on it from the beginning! Maybe next year...



Trick or Treat!
Frame and post it note holder dressed for Halloween

Costumed Kokeshi Dolls
Try out a Halloween idea for a traditional Japanese doll with Crafterella

Halloween Mask
Phyllis Dobbs created a fun and easy Halloween mask - great for adults and kids!

Fun Halloween Lanterns
Stephenie Hamen accessorizes plain paper lanterns with her paper punches.

Black Widow & Bloody Necklaces
Pattie Wack uses 3-D paint to create chokers that will creep out your party guests!

Tutu Cute Halloween Wreath
Vanessa creates an inspired wreath made of tulle!

Mad Scientist Party
Amy of Living Locurto shares a slew of fun ideas to host your own Mad Scientist Party.

Halloween Zombie Dolls
Crafty Chica shows how to add some zombie love to your decor!

Halloweenies!
Boopsie Daisy shares some of the wonderful Halloween dollies that she dreams up!

Crafty Chica's Ghost Story!
Kathy Cano-Murillo shares a haunted crafty tale!

Halloween Cone Witches
Make these cute little paper cone witches for Halloween!

Halloween Leftovers
Mel takes the leftovers from last week's project and makes a cool Goth choker!

Brenda Pinnick Halloween Owls
Seasonal Owls for Scaring or Delighting Trick or Treaters

The Impatient Crafter
Margot creates another spooktacular mixed media necklace with a bite.

Halloween Batty Windchime
Heidi Borchers creates a super cute windchime with personality!

Kitschy Kitschy BOO
Add some Halloween flair to your day with this cute kitschy bracelet and earring combo!

Simple Halloween Gift Tags
Studio Mama makes a strong impact with these quick and easy tags!

Strands of Beads
Melissa once again gives some pretty flower beads a Gothic makeover with this simple earring design

Costume Fun
Sharron Westerfield shares her passion for costume-making and the joy it brings her grandchildren.

Return of the Birthday Zombie
Candace is cracking herself up with this ghoulish gift box idea

Doodle Pumpkin
Swelldesigner a.k.a. Alexa Westerfield shows you how to make a fun pumpkin on the fly!

Terrorific Tuesday

My skull necklace is part of Terrorific Tuesday this week! I'm so excited!

Spooky Spider House
Silvia creates a miniature haunted house that is spooky and oh-so fun!

Witchy Embroidered Postcard
Sharron Westerfield brews up a whimsical witch postcard

The Impatient Crafter
Vintage plastic owls become the focal point of a charming necklace you can wear for Halloween and all year round!

Pumpkin and cat felt treat bag
Felt bag that can also be made as a wall hanging or door hanger

Cheryl Ball's Halloween Door Hangers
Create these door hangers from inexpensive gloves for Trick of Treaters

My Big Mouth
Make a creepy wire tree just in time for Halloween!

Mel's Day of the Dead Necklace
Linked chain, skulls and spiderwebs for Dia de los Muertos.

Crafty Chica's Matchbook Shrines
Adorable little folding shrines that fit in your pocket!

Paper Pumpkin
Make a plump paper pumpkin from some strips of paper plus a little Halloween craftiness!

Polymer Clay Zombie
Candace's diabolical plan to populate the world with zombies continues!

The Impatient Crafter for iLoveToCreate
Make a retro style styrofoam ornament into a fab Halloween Party centerpiece! Madge shows you how using iLoveToCreate products!

How to Make a Spooky Spice Rack
Come make a spooky spice rack with Crafterella, she's sharing her unique labels with everyone!

Halloween Treat Tote
Conjure up a quick Halloween cupcake basket using new ScoreBoard dies!

Brenda Pinnick's Halloween Banner
A little scary, a little fun, this delightful banner celebrates all things Halloween. Made using Brenda Pinnick Sizzix dies, glitter and ribbon.

Creepy Candlesticks
Pattie Wack turns mini pumpkins into a boo-tiful Halloween lighting idea!

Strands of Beads
Melissa explores the holiday possibilities in a black and white checkered bead

Glow in the Dork Wall Hanging
Turn off the lights and have a laugh with this goofy wall hanging from Alexa Westerfield!

Picture Perfect Pumpkin
Vanessa Coppola turns a traditional pumpkin into a decopauged masterpiece!

If you would like to join in the fun next week, e-mail Alexa at swelldesigner@yahoo.com and put in your subject line "Terrorific Tuesday". She'll get you added to the group!

Halloween crafts, and a shoparrific day

Ooh, remember me saying (in that looong post about Hobby Lobby last week) that I really wished I could think of a use for a boa? Well, Alexa at The Swell Life came up with an adorable Halloween wreath made from a boa, as part of her 24 Halloween Crafts in 24 Hours marathon. (The logo is currently on my sidebar, but of course it won't be there forever, so I'll put it below, too, for future reference.) That wreath idea could easily be converted to use for other holidays, too, as somebody pointed out in the comments. She's really got some cool ideas, there - she's also had, so far, a really elegant vase and some cute button earrings and several things to do with pumpkins, and more! And I don't think she's even done yet!

OK, enough gushing. (I just like her taste, I guess.) I don't really have anything beady to report today. I went to Ikea and they don't have beads, unfortunately - although I still managed to spend plenty of money. I did buy some garland for my - still imaginary - Christmas tree. I keep eyeing trees in offbeat colors so there's no telling what I'm going to end up with. I bought a few useful things, like a dustpan and brush set, and then I bought a bunch of candles, because I really love candles this time of year, and a few children's Christmas presents, and some other odds & ends. The candles were what I really went for, because I have some candleholders in that jumbo-tealight size that nobody but Ikea sells the refills for, that I know of. And then I got an Ikea flyer in the mail that said they were having a sale starting today, and hey, I had an excuse and everything, so off I went.

Oh, gosh, I almost forgot, I did buy some beads today - I ordered from Lima Beads. I have been admiring their website without buying anything for some time now and I finally succumbed and ordered some stuff. Quite a bit of stuff, actually. So I'll report back on that when my order arrives!

To sell or not to sell

More of my first flurry of jewelry-making, from back in the dawn of 2008:

I made some more jewelry, but you may be happy to hear that I haven't taken any pictures yet! The latest is a silver(-colored) bracelet made out of these beads. (That site calls those beads spacers, but I made a whole bracelet out of them anyway - I did stick little teeny saucer spacers in between them, but that's it.) It came out really cute - I'm wearing it at this very moment. Actually I was rather pleased with myself because I didn't have a toggle closure that matched the beads at all, and then I had a silver lobster claw that would do, but nothing to fasten it to, and I made my own little split-ring connector to fasten the lobster claw to. It's the first time I've tried that, but it came out okay. It works, anyway, and it doesn't look bad at all.

Then the next day, this:

As I have said, I started making jewelry mostly so I could make it for myself, but I took this to a new height this morning - I actually made a pair of earrings to match my outfit. I put on a turquoise-colored shirt, and then I put on the bracelet that Rob gave me for Valentine's, which is turquoise enamel and silver, and then I thought, "I don't have any earrings that match!" I had already made one pair of turquoise-colored earrings, but they had antique-gold findings so they wouldn't do. But I had a couple more of the Czech glass beads that were the right color and in less than 10 minutes I had a silver pair, too. Luckily I was running early, for once.

I did find that bracelet that Rob gave me - I had a whole little bowl full of stretchy bracelets, and it was in there. It's cute - it's alternating squares of silver and turquoise enamel. Rob always picks out pretty cute jewelry, left to himself. (Usually when he picks out a gift for me, it's either jewelry or a DVD of some movie he knows I liked a lot. And sometimes flowers. I have a nice husband!)

Then a couple of weeks later, this longish bit - which is all jewelry-related so I'm going to give you the whole thing.

Wanna know why I am getting so much into jewelry? It's all Elise's fault. God, I love that necklace. I want to be able to make something like that someday. (And I also would like to be able to sell things that cost $700 and change, incidentally!)

I had a watchface I hadn't made up my mind what to do with, so I made a watchband out of jet beads for that, finally - which I keep forgetting to take pictures of - and last night I made two more bracelets and some earrings. My sister thinks that we should try to get accepted to sell at the Nutcracker Market this fall (big, big gift show held in Houston every November) so obviously I need to get to work. I'm watching very closely about what items I wear that people admire, and so forth. Doing something big like Nutcracker Market is going to be scary when I'm not entirely sure what's going to sell. I really think the little short dangly earrings that I've been making out of Czech beads will sell well to that sort of crowd, though. I guess I just need to make a lot of those in wintry colors and cross my fingers. (Which is not to say that that's all I will make, anyway. I will try out a number of things.)

Incidentally, I was telling my friend Col about my watch with the jet beads and we ended up discussing the Wikipedia entry on jet. (Jet is actually a petrified wood - sort of similar in composition to high-grade coal, oddly.) We is geeks.

Speaking of geeky, I am fascinated by stuff like this: Dino-Era Feathers Found Encased in Amber

Here's the watch, although I noted later that these beads were not actually jet:

I still really like it, jet or not - I had it on today, as a matter of fact.

My sister never did sign us up for the Nutcracker Market, for which I am profoundly thankful. I think it would have been far more stress than I could bear. I had just started making jewelry, for goodness sake - I think it would have been premature to try to sell to an market like that one.