Queen Elizabeth inspired...

I had an idea yesterday that I am so excited about. Of course, I'd be even more excited if my camera could capture it properly. But anyway.

I find Queen Elizabeth's locket ring very interesting. It's a lovely piece, with a mother of pearl hoops, table cut rubies and diamonds and a pearl. Gold, with an E, for Elizabeth. Even better, it opens to reveal miniatures of Elizabeth and her mother, Anne Boleyn. It is said that Elizabeth always wore it, and it was only taken off her finger upon her death, and taken to her successor, James VI of Scotland as proof of her death. I believe the ring is now housed in the National Maritime Museum in London.

I've never read this anywhere, and unfortunately, can't find very many pictures of the ring to study it from different angles, but I'm pretty confident that the blue enamel we see peeking out from under the gold and diamond E is an enameled letter R. Again, I've not found this in any research, and none of the replicas I've seen have it, this is just my own observation. And why not? So there's an ER on her ring, for Elizabeth Regina. I included the R in my piece- a clay pendant with garnet and pearl, a slightly shimmery blue R (shimmer courtesy of my Orglamix quartz eyeshadow) peeking out from under a three dimensional gold E set with swarovski crystals. It's not a replica, but it was done in the spirit of the ring. My initials are IR, so I'm considering making myself a custom one.

And just as an aside, we got a bit of snow here yesterday and I walked into the park and down to the water. I thought it was very pretty.

Love is in the air...

I've found myself with a whole lot of heart components. So, just in time for Valentine's Day...

"Burning Love," listed a while back. An awesome glass pendant on three strands of fiery seed beads.

"Funky Punky Hearts and Pearls," just listed. The photo doesn't do justice to the awesome pendant. The red and black swirls make a plaid design which I just love. Dark red pearls and onyx beads, all hand knotted.

"Hammered Spiral Heart Earrings," just listed. They may be upside down, but they still look like hearts to me. Very low price on these, because they were an experiment and I'm not going to sell something full price that I'm not 100% confident in.

"Sweet Ivory," just listed. I just love it. So pretty and feminine. The pendant is gorgeous, and the lampwork beads with the tiny roses matched perfectly.

All these (and much more of course) can be found in my shop.

Not so bad news

So it looks as though I just did quite a number straining my quad...none of the more serious things I feared. Still hurts like hell and is restraining my mobility a lot, but its still good news.

I was rather productive tonight, though my back suffered for it (its been killing me for weeks because I'm all out of place, this isn't fair!) I have some pretty new pearl necklaces up in my shop- a lovely burnt gold, purpley/grey irregular, and the lovely aqua ones I posted a few days ago. I love blue, but WOW on those aqua ones.

In other news, I ordered myself some "cheer up" gifts and the first arrived today. Three little stacking rings, garnet, moonstone, and amethyst from Birka Scandinavia. The stones are gorgeous, the craftsmanship is perfect, she ships quickly and is easy to work with. SO happy I finally ordered them. I'm waiting for some crazy color eyeshadows from Orglamix as well. I have a few of her other colors, and they're so vivid, I love them. I'd highly recommend both of these sellers.

Updates, check. Shout outs, check. Sleep? We'll see...

Lets leave it at ow.

I've been trying to deny it, but there's no use. I've busted my knee pretty badly (no answer yet on what exactly I did), and its slowing me down very much. I'm still getting orders done, just a little slower than usual.

Aside from that, the Boleyn style pearl enhancers I debuted a few weeks ago seem to have taken off. I thought it was such a genius idea, I don't know why I didn't think to start offering them sooner.

I've also got some incredible pearls to string up, as soon as I can find the time to attend to them.

Etsy Treasury

Etsy Treasuries are short lived enough that I'm not going to post the link, but my double strand Boleyn necklace was featured in a lovely Treasury done by member Masquefaire. A lot of my favorite Anne related items are on here, and I was thrilled to be a part of it!

Snow = crafting time!

14 inches of snow. Yes its pretty, but also massively annoying. Since I'm sick/damaged and can't even go out to help shovel, this means I've got plenty of crafting time. And who could complain about that, right?

I just posted a few new pretties in my shop, including this wonderful woven necklace. I'm really loving this design, and the colors here are just so rich.

I've also had time to sit down and sew this weekend, which hasn't happened in a while. I made myself a little tea wallet, so I can carry 6 teabags all nice and protected in my bag. I also finished the norman overtunic for a friend for an upcoming medieval event. I'm pretty happy with it.

Snow, you're gorgeous. Now go away before you get all dirty and gross...

I am boycotting winter.

Yes, that's right. I am boycotting winter. Sure we've not gotten any snow yet and temperatures have not yet dropped below freezing, but I'm anticipating it. So I'm boycotting, with butterflies. I came across them in the craft store and they're just so cheerful.

First was cute hair combs with flowers and butterflies which I made for myself and Avealina, along with sweet holiday themed ones.

Next, I discovered these hollow ornaments in the craft store. Some I painted and did up like fairy globes/witch balls, but this one I decided to fill with autumn leaves (after I realized flowers would not fit through the hole in one piece), topped off with some more leaves, pretty cord, and a cheery butterfly. This is a gift for a co-worker.

Take that, winter.