I'm Having a Wrist Party

Have you heard of wrist parties? I just found out about them from a fashion blog; they are what you call a wrist full of tons and tons of bracelets.

I decided to have a wrist party, too, and put on all some of the new bracelets I've made-- and they are all made with used guitar strings. :)

Have you done a wrist party recently? I think it's a really cute idea and would love to hear about your favorite "wrist party."

I try not to post about my Shoppe stuff all the time because I, at least, personally find it annoying when bloggers talk about nothing but the stuff you can buy from them.

But since this is the only way I'm currently making money, and since I've recently made a ton of jewelry and listed it on my online store... I have an announcement: You can buy these!

Go check out my Shoppe! Over the past two weeks I've slaved away and have listed 40 new items (WHEW. Listing the jewelry takes almost as much energy as making it!).

I won't post them all here right now, but in addition to guitar string necklaces, earrings, bracelets, bangles, and rings, there are some Elven jewels, a medieval circlet, custom rings, and more. The guitar string jewelry can be found under the "Novelty" tab, alongside steampunk and other geekery.

Oh, yeah, I'm also having a FINGER PARTY, baby! *cue the rock music, because wearing lots of bangles and rings makes me feel uncharacteristically like a rock star*

(No, I've no idea whether finger parties are a thing. If they aren't, I just invented them.)

Bookish Adventures {part two}

{part one here}

into the woods

She wore a skirt made of stories and I wore a camera strap. Together, we traveled to our favorite haunt: the magical forest on the borders of our neighborhood.

As usual, click each photo to see it larger and on a dark background.

(As I'm trying to improve my photography skills... which pose/editing do you like best?)

{part of my destroyable books blog series}



5 Pieces from Art Class

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I know I should probably have made some little Irish craft... or at least drawn some new celtic knotwork, considering that that is my latest obsession, but I didn't. So if you want something nice and St. Patrick's-y, go look at my big calligraphy project from awhile back.

I started my first ever true art lessons this past fall. Each week we work with specific mediums or styles, but other than that my teacher pretty much gives me free reign (although the moment I ask for help she always has some good critiques!). I finally have a dedicated hour each week for art-- a lifesaver for a busy teen!-- and have really been stretched with these new challenges.

 Here are some projects from the last several months: 

A scratchboard of Aslan. This was really fun, and I love the final effect. The particular scratchboards we used are metallic paper ones, and unless you find the "perfect" angle of light (like I did for these photos) you can only see part of the image at any time.

Scratchboard is basically a technique where you scrape off an ink or paint to reveal the paper underneath. I'm going to make some of my own using gesso and india ink this week. :)

Pointillism. Lots of dots. Way too many dots, and a pen that blotted all over the place. I wound up coloring it in with black watercolors. I wasn't too thrilled about the technique (I am not patient about this sort of thing), but once we put the picture in an old mat I thought it looked somewhat pretty.

Paint in general is still relatively new to me. This is a watercolor painting of two eyes, done in two hours. Once upon a time I was wonderful at realism... I need to get back to it. These eyes just wouldn't cooperate.

But when you aren't trying to be realistic, it doesn't matter if the eye is funky. This is something I would have never attempted on my own, and while I still think it's weird, I'm glad we did it in class. Because weird doesn't always have to be bad, and it's SO MUCH FUN to splash paint on paper and just watch it splatter. It's the same joy you get when knocking over a tower of blocks. 

Another watercolor, from my imagination and built out of memories of the climbing tree at our old house. This is Robin Hood and Maid Marian in what is supposed to be an Arthur-Rackham inspired style. 

Sneak peeks at two unfinished projects

An oil painting. I started it in class way back in November, making it my second oil painting. However, I was being too nitpicky and decided that I wanted to continue working on it. By the time it's done (hopefully this week), it will be my fourth finished oil painting. 

Linoleum block printing. Let's just say that this is the coolest technique EVER. Unfortunately I left my good prints at art class and won't get them back for two weeks, so you'll have to wait until then to see how it turned out. (It turned out awesome!).

(linking up at Sunday Sketches)

Bookish Adventures {part one}

Books come to life in your imagination. The stories become a part of you, shaping your view of the world and occasionally making you stand on your head in order to see that your life is not, in fact, mundance and prosaic.

One March dawn, my (very patient) little sister and I journeyed throughout our neighborhood and turned it into our own little Wonderland. Several days before, I had made a secret book box using an unloved Reader's Digest Condensed Book. We used the cut-up pages to create a paper skirt and ran outside before schooltime to do my first "artsy photoshoot."

My point-and-shoot isn't the most reliable when it comes to taking good photos, and I snapped away until my memory card held over three hundred pictures. As it turned out, most of the photos were good, and I loved so many that I'm going to have to split up the photos into several different posts. This is Part One of our Bookish Adventures photoshoot, all taken in a lovely little field. Over the next week or two, I'll post photos from the woods and the creek.

Click on each picture to see a slightly larger version against a black background (the pictures look so much nicer that way!).

{ part of my destroyable books blog series}

{part two here}

On the To-Do List

I found these pictures in a folder from last summer. Almost an entire year ago.

I was experimenting with making ear cuffs-- I probably made a good twenty different prototypes. That summer was pretty awkward for my friends, because immediately after saying "Hi!" I would stare intently at their ears. Anyone who visited me was forced to try an ear cuff on to see if such-and-such design would comfortably fit her ear.

The majority of my friends don't have peirced ears, and they went along with my eccentric idea patiently. Ear cuffs are a super-cute option for people who don't have piercings.

I actually discovered that I had posted about ear cuffs some three years ago, right at the beginning of this blog (ohmygoodness, I can't believe it's been three years... I was around 14 when I started this blog!!!). You can see it HERE.

I came up with four different ways of making ear adjustable ear cuffs. I even took photos for a tutorial. Most unfortunately, the majority of these pictures won't open; the files are corrupted.

BTW, I was first introduced to the idea of ear cuffs by Thyme2Dream, a lovely shop that sells all sorts of fairytale jewelry.

This is the most complicated ear cuff I made. I was so incredibly proud of this design. It was created to go with my Elven costume. Elf ears! With no weird latex or plastic or "ear sleeves!" Just wire and beads an TONS of patience and experimentation.

Imagine my dismay when I saw a similar design on Pinterest last week. Someone else had my lovely idea and actually did something with it, rather than letting the prototype gather dust and the pictures sit buried on a harddrive. Oh well, good for them.

Anyway, I obviously never went anywhere with the ear cuffs. But I plan to. Right now I'm insanely busy with tons of other projects, but as soon as I have time I plan on making bunches of these to put on my Shoppe... and I'll probaby make tutorials for y'all, too. :)

Paper Feather

A quick little feather made from book pages a few weekends ago. A pointless but pretty project (although I'm going to use it on a birthday card soon, so it's not completely pointless!)

{ explore }

My little sister and I went exploring in the park just a little ways beyond our neighborhood. The glorious thing about warm winters is that the temperature is too cold for plants like poison ivy to survive, while still being pleasant enough to go exploring in the lands usually walled off by fortresses of said poison ivy.

We found some beautiful, startling greens and blues in the middle of the brown forest.

My sister is a good photographer, isn't she? (Note that I'm not posting the blurry ones...)

We both agreed that the creek was like a dreamy fairy river.

I love fancy little girl shoes with lacy socks. (She was still in church clothes).



But most of all, I loved watching her little gymnast feet flouncing across vivid periodot moss.

She wants to make a fairy costume and go out for a proper photoshoot sometime. I full-heartedly agree.

And this is my latest photography adventure. :)