Shimmy-shimmy y'all

New piece.Can't figure out which of the 2 close-ups should be my "eye-grabber," my first picture.  I have the one up top 1st for now.  I always have issues with which image to put first. I always demand that Sparrow tell me, and she always says "Oh, that one," w/o a second's hesitation. Sometimes, she tells me to switch them w/o my having asked, and I always do so immediately, w/o even thinking, though in all other aspects of life I'm a total contrarian.

Here's a WIP:

It looked so boring 'til I started putting the sorta "euro-centric" antique items up against it.  It's interesting that my focals are always the Victorian part of my Victorian Tribal thang, and that the beads are the 'tribal'.  I guess I don't have any tribal focals.  And since they don't tend to appear in flea-markets, I'd have to get them online. There, they'd hurt me in by cheap-bone.



I done been featured in Bead Trends.  A pair of earrings w/no beads in 'em.

Sepia

These finds were in TotusMel's Wunderkammer.

So, would this be considered a treasury? Ish? I mean for my post labels.  I need another label, clearly.

I was interviewed

... by NKP Designs over here.  She made me sound real smart and cogent. Check it out!

Mega Supply

I have a dirty secret.  My latest obsession is with those mega supply stores on etsy, where it seems the factory sells straight to you, thus lowering the price, and the English on the site leaves you wondering if human translators are super expensive in Korea or what.  The new, cute suppliers all seem to be from Korea.  I'm fascinated by the idea of just buying a charm, hanging it off an ear wire, maybe adding a dangle bead and voila!  Not for my shop, though there are tons on etsy that do just this and often charge more than I would dare, and have huge numbers of items, smartly replicating designs, simple, popular designs, and re-listing upon sales.  Economically, I can't compete.....  No, however, the temptation still exists to make these simple, sweet adornments at least for me and mine.

For fun, lets compare and contrast 2 shops.  First is DangsSupply.

Here we are offered 2 pieces of a gold plated bird swing charm, 26 x 32 mm in size, for $4.25.

Then we have Lovely DIY, which offers 5 pieces of a suspiciously similar design in an antiqued bronze  finish, 23 by 12mm in size, for $1.90.

 

This same shop offers these cute birds, 5 for $1.70

Whereas the former offers 4 of these for $4.75.

Obviously the one is much more high-end, and the price reflects that.

Here are some more side-to-sides:

(2 pc for $4.25)

(5pcs $1.60)

And one more:

(5 for $1.30)

(4 for $4.95)

Whatever.  I just find it interesting.  I have no point, really.

Except that they're really hard to resist.  I mean, the really cheap ones.  Though the high-end ones would be much better received as gifts by the "mine" section of the aforementioned "me and mine."

But how to resist this cuteness? 5 for a buck thirty?

or this:

or even:

  

or the back of this as a base for a whole mini assemblage bezel shadowbox thing:

(Why do they put bits of woven straw in every picture?)  

Oh, Sparrow, save me from myself!

....

But wait-

Is there something about mega supply that I need saving from?  Are my pieces meant to be something authentic, therefore not mass-produced?

But how so, when I use all kinds of tricks to make things look old which aren't old at all?

And I do use mass produced items: cord, ear wires, jump rings... oh, beads... yarn and fabric... wire!  lots of wire...

I guess I don't want to be generic, though I shouldn't shun factory-made as a matter of course, either.  It's like us "alternative" types, being just as defined by our instant, mindless rejection of mainstream culture as others are by their automatic acceptance of it.

Thing is, there is something about pieces that look like they were cobbled together by bits of things found in different places and times.  And all these charms are not that.  A few wouldn't kill my shtick, but too many might.  Oh, yeah, and I already have a gagillion other projects lined up as always.

My spellcheck is red-underlining gagillion.

I'm having a conversation w/myself, here, on this post.  Seems like I do that when I'm posting at 2:30 in the morn'.  

Another lovely blog feature

The exquisite Cafe Carolina has a short piece about me and I think it's swelling up my head...  Not really- I'm mostly stunned and amazed.

Lovely blog post

Yay, I'm featured in another blog, here.  The blog is super nice, it's called happiknits.  This time, lets see if I can make a screen shot.

Hmm.  the blog is a lot prettier than this, with flowers and scrolls in green and pink on all the areas that show here as white.  Oh, the mysteries of computer mysteriousness...   Anywhoo, a special thing about this post is that she asked me a lot of questions as to why/what/wherefore and all, so it gave me a chance for introspection.  (She made me sound a tad more cogent somehow.)  Also, I'm often surprised as to the images folks pick....

My very first tutorial

I have a tutorial up here.  It's for making these:

I'm on Sparrow Salvage.

This amazing story humbled and elated me.  To think someone you see as something of a mentor think of you a certain way....  And the idea that I don't Facebook or Twitter because I'm some kind of a rule-breaker, instead of lazy and tech-illiterate made my jaw physically drop.  I'm going to go email it to my parents now...