I am still making seashell necklaces. I have not sold any yet. I refuse to believe that I am the only one who sees the beauty and grace in the colors and shapes produced by the ocean. However, that resolve is beginning to weaken.

I would say that I have them posted for far too much money. But, for over a year I had them posted for hardly anything. Finally I let several people convince me that shoppers/buyers do not want to pay for the materials plus a tiny bit more. They shop to spend $20 on a birthday gift and therefore want to spend $20 on something, not $8. So for the past 6ish months, I've had them priced at more. At about three months--I'm pretty bad at the having patience thing--I lowered the prices of some to be somewhere in the middle. Still nothing.

Oh, well. Perhaps it is just me. If that is the case, then I totally have lots of new necklaces to start wearing.

This is somewhat my last attempt. I've made another batch of necklaces/pendants. Some are, again, just on ribbon. A few I've put on chain. Many I've mounted on bails in new and hopefully interesting ways. Such as this one. I have dubbed this style the invisible bail, as you cannot see it. The seashell appears to just hover effortlessly on the wire necklace. I think this is the most interesting yet. Let's hope others agree!

Two pairs of wooden earrings

More to come. For sure. I really like the way wood looks and feels. Even balsa wood. Yes, these earrings are balsa, which makes them incredibly lightweight and comfortable.

A new pair of earrings.

I have made several, actually. But this if the first I've posted to Etsy. I rather like them. If I wore anything other than simple studs/posts--when I wear earrings at all--I would want to keep them for myself.

They were wood burnt by hand before being stained and varnished and hung from earwires. They are about an inch and a quarter in total length, but the wood part itself is only about an inch by half an inch. Made from balsa, they are incredibly lightweight and comfortable.

Someone has too many things for the "show-things" game.

Still at nearly a year and a half before the wedding! TADA! I made this hair comb. For my hair. I think it will match my dress which isn't really white and not really ivory but sort of a darker hard to describe color. It is still in the ordering and shipping stage otherwise I would know if it matches for sure. Yes. I do have my dress already--well technically. The style is being retired, and it was now or never. I chose now.

Also, if you want to see how abnormal we can be, I spent the first half of my day, the half before the commission order, being unproductive and doing this: http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/TrishCzech&VytasVaznelis

Not yet done

But it is getting there I'm debating getting some of those multi-layer spacer things so as to make each layer/strand stay put and not misbehave. I am wondering if it is worth a trip to Michael's or if they won't have them anyway and I should epic it into NYC.

These aren't the best pictures, and I had to use a fair number of pins to hold the unfinished necklace up. When it is finished, it will have a matching teal/blue ribbon as the fastener. Not only will this match my bridesmaids, but it also will be my something blue!

I decided to make this myself for two reasons. 1) I knew this style OUGHT to exist but was having extreme difficulty finding any, let alone any that I liked. 2) When I finally did find a few that were sort of like this, they were all over $200. I'm not sure how much this will cost me yet, but so far my total investment for supplies for both my bridal jewelry and my bridesmaid jewelry is less than $40. Technically even less than that because a lot of the basic hardware type supplies I already had.

My mother may be right when she tells me I'm being nuts doing/finishing things a year and a half before the wedding, but I feel that when you are a do-it-yourself bride, it would be foolish to wait when you could do it now. My sister wasn't a diy bride and the week of her wedding she and I averaged like 4.5 hours of sleep finishing things up for the wedding. Plus this way, I can wait certain things out till they go on sale or until I can get the best deal or until I have a coupon.

Bridesmaids' Necklaces

Well, seeing as how I think only one of my five bridesmaids follow my blog, and I already had texted her a picture within minutes of finishing the first one anyhow, here are some photos of the necklaces I made for my bridesmaids.

I realized upon uploading these, that I never photograph the sides/back of my necklace display thingy and clearly do not spend as much time lint rolling them as I do the front. And there are a few black-headed pins sticking out the side/back.
I am still torn between doing simple pearl studs or doing something with pearls that dangles. My personal jewelry aesthetic is to wear either a necklace OR earrings. And if by some odd chance I wear both, I only wear small studs of some sort. So I think I might impose this preference upon my bridesmaids.

Where have I been?

I've been around, just not posting. About 3-4 weeks ago I did this in an old journal I've decided to use for art for myself.

Mostly, I've been working on getting photos taken to apply to art/craft shows for the upcoming spring/summer.

Hopefully you will be able to see me around New Jersey, toting my wares.

Also, I have been working on a website! With any amount of luck, I will have it launched by the 10th of March, which is this Wednesday. So everyone, cross your fingers.

Freshwater Pearl Headband

I had been talking about making this for myself for month. I had the headband. I definitely had the ribbon. And I had the metal headband. Finally about three days before we headed to Illinois I sat and handsewed what felt like a ba-jillion TEENY freshwater pearls to 1/8" inch thick ribbon. When I finished, for want of a better idea, I superglued the ribbon to the headband.

I was quite delighted with the outcome, and I gave it to a friend for Christmas. I have plans to make one for myself (ha!) and to make more to keep in stock on my Etsy. But first I need to get to the store with the itsy bitsy pearls.

And some recent Scrabble tile necklaces

All Scrabble designs are available in my Handmade Jewelry section of my Etsy shop. Except for O is for Owl. That one sold. I have more made; they just aren't posted yet. I should have another/more up in a few days.

Some recently posted earrings.

I really like the way all three came out, particularly the wooden ones. I hope to have time to do more wooden/wood burnt earrings in the somewhat near future. All three pairs are still available in the Handmade Jewelry section of my Etsy shop.

New listings!

"Stand Tall" A close up of a tigerlily in the backyard. I thought the three stamens

were interesting enough without the actual flower being a large presence."Alabaster Dune" features a focal shell pendant that measures 3inces by 1.5inches. It has been securely fastened to a sterling silver plated bail and hangs from a length of ribbon measuring approximately 25 inches.

Herman the Timid Monster likes to spread asphalt on corrugated steel. It is his belief that these two seeming common items will one day save the coati from extinction. Herman is afraid of deforestation, melting ice caps, and lingenberries.

Today's listings.

"Nautical" Haven't seen a seashell necklace in a while, have you? Thought I was done with these? Nope, just got behind in processing the photos. I finally decided that it has been long enough since the last time I posted any jewelry.

Ginger does not believe paintbrushes are as innocent as they let on. The other night she swears she saw one stealing a pickle out of the jar in the fridge. And last week, she caught one mixing cottage cheese with barbecue sauce. Ginger only uses spray paints.

"Zinnia" Creative, I know. I grew this little bit of pretty from a seed. It is one of two plants that sprouted from a rather old packet of seeds. I am hoping to be able to harvest some seeds for next year so that I can have more than two zinnia plants.

Apparently when you have sleeping problems, they occur at one of the night or the other. Falling asleep relatively quickly last night, I woke up at 5am and laid in bed until 6:20am, unable to fall back asleep. So I got up--before my dad even--and posted things! Here they are.
Pierre does not like spelling words in foreign languages. His favorite food is lemon meringue on top of a thick sirloin. Pierre is frightened by noses, circular saws, and puzzles.

Mallory likes to go to the zoo when it is raining and and hand out umbrellas to all the animals. She doesn't think it is very fair that they should have to get wet while all the visitors stay dry--well relatively. Mallory is afraid that umbrellas pose as a choking hazard for some animals like the shovel-nosed mole and wishes she had ponchos to hand out as well.

Tidepool features a stunning grey and bronze shell attached to a sterling silver plated bail. The shell, which measures 1.5 inches tall and 1 inch wide, hangs from a piece of ribbon that is roughly 27 inches long.

Today's Etsy Listings

"Turbulence" features a unique piece of shell as its pendant. It measures 4 inches by .75 inches and hangs from a light blue satin ribbon. The ribbons is approximately 34 inches long.

Euclid love geometry. Numbers absolutely thrill him. When he is not playing with numbers, he is carving spheres and cones out of bars of soap. His favorite meal is seared lamb ketchup and rice. Euclid is afraid of irrational numbers and taffy.

Oh my gosh! I said I would post a new "My Heart for You," and I actually did it. GASP! However, there are no elephants today. Sorry.

I posted two new Timid Monsters today: Tony and Jason. Both are cute and monster-y with funny stories, but still rather regular. By that I mean that they are mostly on the lower end of the price spectrum and there is nothing terribly interesting/spectacular going on with them. I've been thinking about mostly posting photos of my favorites from now on. I'm not sure. We'll see how it goes I suppose.

I do want to post pictures of another seashell necklace, however.

I named this one "Lost in the Pacific." Have you been enjoying the names I'm coming up with for this line? Anyway, I have never really seen the Pacific, but I hear it is quite a spectacular blue. While this blue is not very bright, there is something quite remarkable about it. I cannot help but stare at this shell, and I often feel as though I'm getting lost in its coloration. That is where I got the name. Really though, this shell, like all the rest, was found on the New Jersey shore.

Easily one of my favorites, though I would be thrilled to sell it, I would be sad to finally send it off--much like the other I named "Ebb Tide."

I did a bit o'remodelling on the blog today. Nothing so drastic as I wanted, but I will need to wait for Vytas to help me make more sense of the html script. Seeing as how it was his birthday, I decided to let him nap for three hours rather than bother him to help me code things.

Anway, here are some new items. I may or may not make "Stay out of the long grass" a regular item; I'm sort of waiting to see how well it will be received. Also, Jolene is the first of hopefully many constellation Monsters!

Stay out of the long grass! (Totally inspired by one of my favorite movies.) My lawn appears to be infested with tiny Monsters. This is the first I was able to catch. He appears to be quite tame and afraid of lawnmowers, scythes, and pruning shears.
Jolene is much revered by the other Timid Monsters. They believe she fell from the sky, but really she was hatched just like everyone else. Jolene is afraid of heights, escarole, and limp tuna.

Bermuda features a pale orange and creme colored piece of shell that has been formed into a smooth triangle by sand and water. The shell has been securely attached to a sterling silver plated bail. It hangs from a length of sheer, white organza ribbon. It has an adjustable length clasp and measures 17.5 to 19 inches. The pendant is roughly 1.5 inches tall by 1.25 inches wide.

Cynthia likes to ostracize ostriches. She also enjoys making other Monsters sad that they cannot make as pretty of noises as she can. Cynthia is afraid of nothing; or so she boasts.

Here is another one that, so far anyway, is still available. I love this idea and these habitats so much. Loves me, loves me not...

Ebb Tide features a magnificent pale orange and black shell that measures roughly 2.5 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide. The bail is sterling silver plated, and it hangs from a black, satin ribbon that is approximately 25 inches long. This is easily my favorite in this whole line.

First, some stuff from yesterday

Alright, so much for shamelss self promotion here. These first two are--remarkably--sold already. I just REALLY liked them so wanted to share them here. Marisol I llike for her story. It is so sweet/sad at the end. I hope the buyer appreciates her!
Marisol loves to dance. She can't help it. Whenever she hears music, the beat just takes control and the next thing she knows, she's getting jiggy with it. Marisol is afraid the party will end and one day there will be no more music in her life.

I originally made two of these habitats--one with red flowers, the other with orange. It is a sad (or happy, I suppose) little Monster playing the "loves me--loves me not" game while plucking the petals off a flower. I made two because I had plans for making this a regular item. An open addition, if you will. This one sold within 13 minutes of being posted, leaving me more than flabbergasted.

This! finally of all things I'm posting, is still available at my Etsy shop. I love this necklace. I nearly decided to keep it. But, alas... I have tons of jewelry, and I never wear any of it. Better to sell it off to someone who loves jewelry and actually wears it. I think the colors and the holes/caverns/caves that have been carved into it by sand and water are stunning. I hope someone else sees it as so.

A few things from the past few days.

I have not been doing nothing as far as posting goes, which is normally what happens when I'm not putting new listings on up here. Rather I've just been too lazy to put them up here at as well. But here are a few. For more see my Trupinys shop.
Eleanor the Timid Monster likes to eat boiled sardine and mayonnaise sandwiches. Her favorite pastimes include rubbing IcyHot on flagpoles to help loosen them up, taping ribbons to frogs, and delousing sponges. Eleanor is terrified of brunch, atomic clocks, and mist.

Jeremy is allergic to ceiling fans and fake plants. His dream is to one day take a bubble bath in a fountain. He enjoys licking the glue off of stamps, braiding shoelaces, and mixing soup with lemon juice. Jeremy is afraid of thumbnails.Harold the Timid Monster enjoys taking long lunches and asking the sparrows for stock tips. His favorite pastime if fishing for corduroys. Harold is afraid of mallets, most insects, and petunias.

The bail is sterling silver plated and securely fastened to the shell. The pendant measures approximately 1.5 inches long and just under 1 inch wide, while the lenght of purple ribbon measures roughly 25 inches.

The bail is sterling silver plated and sits on two ribbons--one a crocheted sparkle cord, the other a cremey chenille. It has an adjustable length clasp in the back. The total necklace length is approximately 16.5 to 18.5 inches. The sea shell pendant is just under 2.5 inches long and about 1.5 inches wide.