Radical Move!

Greetings to anyone who still stops by this blog!
Obviously it's been a light-year since I last posted here. I simply got tired. Tired. Of. Life. In. General. But there's a funny thing about "ennui": after awhile you can't stand it anymore and crazy things start happening.

For starters, I quit smoking. Yep, after 25 years of puffing my life away I got some sense and dragged my stinky nicotine smelling self off to a hypnotist and took care of the problem once and for all. It's been 6 months since I quit and I haven't had any urge at all to smoke. Yippeeeeee!!!!
And good riddance to it!!!!!

Then, as my GI cousin so adeptly put it, I gave my job at the bank the "one-fingered salute." Yes indeed, I quit. After 15 years I left a good paying job with great benefits to open my own retail shop!!!!! Wow. Am I nuts? Probably. In this economy? Yep. Go figure! Anyway, I've been wanting to do just that for ages and I finally followed my dream and opened my shop on Nov 22nd. It is called 'Twas Brillig. I make customized floral designs, handcrafted jewelry and many other nifty things. I know I'm biased but my shop is really stinkin' cute!!!!

In the meantime, I am going to deep six "Imaginary Fronds." Look for a new blog very soon showcasing my adventures in small business ownership and all matters handcrafted!

Until then.....beware the Jub-jub bird and the frumious bandersnatch!!!!

Serpentine & Silver

Yep, I'm still in bead heaven...neglecting my floral endeavors completely which is not a good thing when you have floral work to do! But...it's a faster process to create jewelry than to create a floral arrangement. Or at least it is when you're a novice jewelry maker. I'm sure it will become more time consuming as I attempt more "inventive" designs. I've been assembling these last few items simply to learn the basic skills. All in all, it's a relaxing hobby!

I really do favor sterling silver and Swarovski crystals which work together very well. This set is made with corrugated round sterling silver beads, sterling squash beads, pale green Swarovski crystals, African bloodstone and "new jade" serpentine. All the findings are sterling silver as well with the exception of the crimp tubes which are silver plate.

Bead Mania

Beads, beads and more beads! That's what I've been up to lately. Just wanted to share the bracelet and earring sets I made today...

I'm enamored of copper beads and findings at the moment. For this set I used Light Colorado Topaz Swarovski crystals, Celtic design copper beads, brecciated jasper, river stone and African bloodstone.

This second set also contains brecciated jasper, African bloodstone and river stone. I then added coiled copper beads and copper acorn and oak leaf charms.

I also finished the turquoise necklace from a few posts back so I can cross that off my WIPs :)

Lucy-thanks for the tip about using my scanner instead of a camera to get great images of my jewelry. It worked really well, as you can see!

Perhaps some of these jewelry creations will find their way onto Etsy???? Hmmmm.......perhaps! Guess I need to get busy making more!

Summertime...and a New Creative Obsession!

Hmmmm....orange & yellow. Now where might I have found the inspiration for this color scheme in a floral arrangement? The wise swap mavens over at Sweet Goodness Swaps had the right idea...seems that orange & yellow ARE the hot colors for this summer. Although I'm sitting out this time during their Summer swap, I'll be eagerly watching from the sidelines to see all the lovely creations and goodies!



And...I had another sale!!! Yippee!!!! You might remember the Morning Glory Madness arrangement that I made during my floral classes in February. All these sales...well, all 3 of them anyway... are encouraging. I'm thrilled that people like my arrangements enough to buy them. At the very least, it helps motivate me to create and keeps the dream of my own little shop, "Imaginary Fronds", alive and well. I've been looking around for other things to create, other than florals, to add to the appeal and allure of that future shop. Which brings me to my next creative obsession..............


Jewelry making! My Mom pointed out a beading magazine in the store a few weeks back and the next thing you know, I am HOOKED. Lucy even caught me red-handed at Michael's stuffing my shopping basket with beads and all kinds of supplies to start myself down the path of jewelry making. Here's a picture of my first creation which is not entirely finished. I wasn't smart enough to buy 2 of the same toggle (and it was sold out when I went back) so the necklace remains unfinished until the store restocks the toggle.


So far, I have learned 4 things about making jewelry. First off, don't string your beads too tight. I wound up having to re-string the bracelet.

Secondly, Michael's charges way too much for their beading supplies (duh!) and I now have several catalogs with far more economical prices on their way to me.

Third...as I mentioned earlier....make sure you buy enough stuff to finish a project unless you want to be disappointed.

And last, but not least, be sure to lay out your jewelry perfectly before photographing it! You can't see all the danglies in this picture but you get the idea :)

It is my own design, crafted from turquoise beads, 2 different colors of Swarovski bicone crystals and sterling silver beads and findings. Please, please, please give me feedback on this set!