I really need to post more, yeah?

Hello! Sorry it's been so long; I've been very busy with writing. From October to about this time every year, that's my main priority. This is not to say I haven't been making stuff; I've just been swapping between computers too much to be able to post anything exciting.

So, news! I've put all my stuff up over at Photobucket (which then promptly tried to get me to swap formats, sigh). It has prices on it now, and sub-albums, so you can look at whatever kind of jewelry you want to.

This is just an experiment; I was playing with some wire-wrapping over leather and some shell sticks I have. The annoying thing about them is that they were drilled so that the pearlescent side is on the same side as the drill holes, so you don't really get to see it in a normal bracelet. I decided to try something to fix that. It's not on the Photobucket, because it's not the best quality, but once I get the technique down a bit more, I'll fix that. :)

Photobucket is: Sparkle Tindi's Photobucket

I also made the toggle clasp, which was fun. And yes, that's my desk chair; it's the most easily-lit black surface I have.

I will try to post more often, but I'm in editing phase now, which means that I hate all words all the time. >.>

Because it's been so long, my e-mail again is dragonlover121@gmail.com. Please e-mail me if you have any questions whatsoever. I like talking about my stuff, and I LOVE talking about rocks. :P

I'm back!

Hi there! Sorry about the long delay between posts; I've been trying to work out the picture hosting, and life in general has been rather hectic.

Also, my camera briefly died horribly (again), so I haven't been able to take any new pictures. Now that it's all better, I just need to figure out what I've done since... wow, February... and get it all put up. Plus, I've gotten my spreadsheet sorted, so I'm finally going to be able to add a price to everything! After I get the picture hosting fixed, of course.

I am going to move everything off of Flickr; the add-on hasn't been working very well, and I don't think I like the layout very much. I'm looking at Photobucket right now, since it allows you to sign in with your Facebook  or Twitter account as well as an existing account from them, which will make commenting easier.

Also, an answer for a question I get fairly often: "Why don't you start up an Etsy store?" The main reason is that every complete piece I have, with very few exceptions, either goes into my personal collection, where I wear it on a regular basis, or it is a gift or commission for someone else, and it belongs to that person. For the bits I have that do not fall into either of these categories, I may put them up on a third-party seller at some point. That comes back to the camera being out of commission for a few months, and me getting my pricing fixed. Of course, I'll post here once I get that set up!

I'm going to leave everything as it is until I get the new hosting sorted out, and of course, this blog is always here. If you see something that you absolutely adore, send me an e-mail (dragonlover121@gmail.com), and I'll give you the price, any additional pictures I might have, and we can work something out! Even if I can't find the exact materials that I used on my existing piece, we can work together to make something that is unique to you. That sounds like a marketing line, but seriously, not only do I like doing something fun and interesting each time, there is also the fact that each stone is different. Also, I've been known to part with things of mine if someone really loves that exact thing and wants that, rather than a replacement.

Please comment if you have any questions or ideas on how I can improve this blog and everything else (apart from posting more often, which I do need to do).

Technique fun

Awhile back, I got a nifty little bone pendant of a dragon and a phoenix. I'd read that you could "antique" bone beads by soaking them in tea, so I thought I'd try it. It worked out quite well, but then I couldn't think of what to make with it, so I set the pendant aside.

Last night, I put it with some gold beads and red tigereye, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. You can go to the Flickr page to see the completed necklace, but I thought I'd share the closeups of the pendant here.

Before:

go to http://www.shipwreckbeads.com/catalog/Pendants-and-Charms/Bone-and-Horn/ if you want to buy this

After:

Front

Back

As you can see, one side ended up a bit more tea-y than the other; I turned the pendant over a couple of times, but I think it's just how the bone absorbed it. I'll definitely do this again; there are times when the stark white of bleached bone works, but I like the way the tea highlights the carvings.

Another note: I generally have more pictures of my pieces than what I put on the Flickr page; if you're interested in one of my necklaces, for example, but you want to see the whole thing, or the clasp, or just how it looks on a different background, e-mail me and ask about it!

Flickr difficulties

Edit: Apparently the gadget is borked, so I went to Flickr and made a new one. New stuff, too!

Okay, then. My Flickr gadget seems to have spontaneously died, so I'm going to see what else I can do to make pictures visible again. Until then, you can still go directly to SparkleTindi's Flickr to see all the new stuff I've put up.


I may have mentioned this before, but the primary reason I don't have an Etsy store right now is because I make stuff to order. Everything on my Flickr page is either something I wear or use on a regular basis or have given to someone else. Any piece you get from me is 100% unique, not only because stones are, but because I rarely, if ever, repeat myself unless directly requested to.


Anyway, once I get around to pricing out all of the stuff I did over the holidays, that will show up, even if the blog doesn't want to show it right now. *pokes blog irritably* I'm still working on a long-term solution; never fear!

Updates! Shiny shiny updates!

So, I've been working on my writing, but it's kind of nice to work on little jewelry bits between writing bursts. I was going to enter a necklace in the Stringing Magazine "Fairy Tales" contest, but apparently FedEx had a hiccup with my last shipment from Fire Mountain, so I spent roughly three weeks poking them until it got solved. To be fair, once it got back to Fire Mountain, they solved it right off, and they overnighted the stuff to me without complaints or extra charges. Not that that isn't the way it should be, but it's always nice when it is. So yay, Fire Mountain!

I'm looking into maybe changing my photo hosting, or starting up an Etsy store or something, since the current system is cumbersome and kind of annoying. For right now, if anyone wants to reach me, my primary e-mail for jewelry is dragonlover121@gmail.com. Try and put "jewelry" in the subject line, so I know what's up. I'll post here if I figure out how to make this whole thing easier without having to go find a webmaster. I can't program to save my life. >.>

Well, I'm going on vacation again, starting the week of Thanksgiving and, while I'll be able to check my e-mail regularly, I probably won't be able to post a lot of new pictures, just because I won't have the time. If you're reading this from Wyoming, I'll be there with as much of my stuff as I can conveniently travel with, so get ahold of me there.

Long time no post!

Whew! Getting ready for Halloween has been fun, but I went all-out on my costume this year, so that's been my main creative motivation lately. Now that it's done, maybe some of the jewelry juices will come back. Hopefully the writing ones will as well, since I'm doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) again next month. My plan right now is to make jewelry when I'm all out of writing steam, and vice versa. Well, insofar as I actually have a plan.

Anyway, there is some new stuff today. I made some earrings for the Storm Goddess necklace, and a "Leaf Mail" bracelet, which was a lot of fun. I got in a couple of scale mail kits from The Ring Lord (http://theringlord.com/), so I'm going to play around with those a bit. I love scale mail, but I have next to no patience for all the tedious ring joining involved. My leaf mail was done with wire and leather rather than rings, and I like the suppleness it imparts, plus it's a slightly faster process.

My goal right now is to post at least one new thing a week, so we'll see how that goes. November is going to be nuts, but it's my own fault. :P

Vacation

Hello!

Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I've been feeling very unmotivated since Scott was deployed. Not surprising, really, since my sleeping habits go all whackadoodle when I'm by myself, and it's hard to be motivated when you're either not sleeping enough or sleeping too much.

But you're not here to listen to me whine. You're here for the shiny. More shiny is here, I promise. I'm headed out west for a couple of weeks, to spend some time with family and friends, and I'm not going to bring the entire bucket of jewelry supplies with me. However, I have a few things that can be posted at a later time, and I will bring my travel kit, so who knows what you might see? Keep an eye out.