New tattoo!

Buttons for Helen

Sorry it's blurry. I guess the Flip doesn't like to be so close. Ooops!

Extra preview & weekend recap

It's a rainy, cold, dark Monday. My kind of day. I'm not sure why these kind of melancholic drippy days make me happy, but they do. The show this past weekend made me happy as well. The weather was perfect (to those who are into that kind of perfect weather) and the crowd was awesome. I made some Flip videos of the set-up but now that I am playing them back I think they might be a real snooze fest. I also can't get them all into one movie (my poor old Mac can't take much more...) so I have a bunch of short clips that are kind of choppy and not very thrilling. It's one thing to bore you with one dull video but to make you sit through four or five is just inhumane. So I shall spare you and try again at my next show in two weeks.

In other news, I have a new batch of pieces to put into the Extra shop. They consist mostly of shards. I am a bit obsessed with making shards. They seem to satisfy my short attention span and need to make one-of-a-kind pieces. Each one is unique and never to be replicated which means that when you use one in your own creations you can sleep soundly in the knowledge that no one else will be able to make the same exact thing. And that's what I'm all about, helping you get a good night's sleep. :)

Bats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I think I will be putting all of these pieces (including the stars and rings up top) into the shop on Wednesday. That also means that the pieces that are in there right now will be disappearing for good, so grab them if you want them. :)

The Lorelei-Nancy necklace challenge

Last Sunday I played a little hooky and drove up to Lorelei's house to have a play day. We ended up shopping for beads and came up with the idea to have a challenge. We purchased the same six strands of beads and we made a few rules; we had to each make our own clasp, we could use any focal bead we wanted and we could bring in several other elements such as chain, other colors and wire...

I started by stealing my own porcelain flower piece from my Extra shop. I was thrilled to see that I had a brown one still in stock (who would have thought I would be happy something didn't sell?). I made this half flower piece with a lot of holes - at the time I was thinking "more holes means more options!" I started by going crazy with chain and draping and dripping it all over the place. That just wasn't doing it for me so I took it all apart and ended up creating this mega long fringe.

How dreamy is this cascade of smoky teal mother-of-pearl beads, I ask you? (Answer: extra dreamy!)

I love the way the carved floral bone beads mimic the flower in my pendant! Love it when that happens!
The deep teal crystal beads were the one bead I added to the mix. That color is just too perfect, there was no way I could not use them. And I am quite taken with the juxtaposition of the classy, fancy crystal to the rough brown lava and then the carved bone. That kind of thing makes me stupid with joy. :)

The rest of the necklace is a mishmash of the remaining beads that we had to use. I simply linked them with wire.

I made these copper teardrop pieces to house the other carved bone beads we bought. I really love the bone beads - the texture, the weight... yep, they are bone (as Lorelei said "They are someone's bone, I can't think about it!), but I am smitten with it.

My clasp is nothing spectacular, just simple. I always think that I will make some extraordinary closure and then when the time comes I just want to finish the piece and get it over with. Perhaps next time I should start with the clasp.

So there you have it! The first Lorelei-Nancy necklace challenge comes to an end! I can't wait to see what Lori has come up with. The suspense is killing me!!!!

Hope everyone enjoyed this! We will be doing it again, hopefully soon, so keep your eyes peeled. :)

A little long, but important (to me)

Playing Hooky with Lorelei - Part Two

Playing hooky with Lorelei - Part One

My first vlog!

Colorscape

I'm in the midst of packing up for a show this weekend in Norwich, NY. It's called the Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival and runs from 10-6 on Saturday and 11-5 on Sunday. There is great music all day long, both days, and lots of fun activities, not to mention all the wonderful, high quality handcrafts. Come and say hi if you have the chance!

In the meantime I will point you in the direction of my friend Lorelei's blog to see what kinds of incredible things she created with some of my new components. We met yesterday for lunch (and to pick up my new SUV which I bought from her - yay! I finally have a reliable car that won't leave me stranded!!) and I brought her a selection of my new pieces. I love what she did with them! Remember, I will be listing all of my new pieces in my new shop on Monday! These are all limited edition pieces, never to be repeated (unless I really feel like it) so be sure to tune in. (cause I won't remake any of these pieces no matter how nicely you ask me, bwahhahaha! ;)

Sneak preview

This pile of yum will be going in THE NEW and IMPROVED Round Rabbit Extra shop on Monday (September 13th). It's going to be an all day affair between the photos, the editing and actual listing. I will be drinking coffee and eating hamburgers to keep my strength up. :)

Doing pretty

I'm busy working on some of my "staple" pieces for my upcoming shows. As some of you may know I have a pretty steady stream of shows from April through December. I rarely blog about them anymore. There is often very little to tell. Either a show was great, good, eh, or it sucked completely. This year has been a real blend of those things with highs (winning first place in the jewelry category in a juried show) and lows (having my car break down for good in a small town over two hours from my house). I'm finally at the point where I really don't stress myself out over preparing for shows. And for that, I am thankful.
September always feels like the beginning of the end; the last stretch of shows before the Winter break. I look forward to it in many ways and fear it in others. Those who make their entire living in the same way that I do will surely understand that.

As I make new pieces I find myself doing the opposite of what is expected in Autumn. I love the warm colors associated with this time of year but I'm not really one to feel the need to pander to them. I much prefer to be inspired by my glazes or the gorgeous color of these lemon yellow stones (can't remember what they are, anyone?). This necklace also has pale blue lace agate and tiny faceted rutilated quartz. I'm very happy with it and on this perfect, cool and sunny September day it seems to be quite at home despite it's light and airy colors.

I just found a small stash of these peacock beads, after I thought I had cleared them all out of my Extra shop. So I am trying to use them up to make way for new things. They are pretty, I will admit, and they always make lovely bracelets. Maybe I will miss them when they are gone....

Whatever. I can always make myself more. :)

Remember! Free shipping is still going on in my shop until Wednesday!

Free Shipping!

Free shipping for one and all!!

In my jewelry shop!!


Starting now!!


Until I get around to changing it all back!!


Which takes me a while!!


So it could be a few days!!


So you have a little time!!


But not too much so don't dawdle!!


SHOP HERE!!

Autumn Belle Armoire Jewelry

The new issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry is out today and it's another gorgeous issue! I've got an article on this set of mourning jewelry and there are many other wonderful articles from the likes of Mary Jane Dodd and Gaea Cannaday, among many others. There are also a few articles on etching metal, for those who haven't given that a try, so this is a really an issue not to be missed. :)