Holiday Sale

The Earthpath Artisans Street Team (EAST) on etsy is holding their 2nd Annual Winter Wonderland Event now! Running from Nov.28 thru Dec.15, EAST member shops are celebrating the season with special sales promotions, and crafting unique new items! Search Etsy using the WWEE tag to find participating items. My WWEE items are marked down up to 33% and have free shipping! So stop on in for some great buys and shipping!

I will also offer free shipping and a 10% discount on any item in my shop to the first person to make a purchase and mention "blogspot" in the notes to seller.

Goodbye to an amazing lady

My mother suffered a massive stroke nearly 13 years ago and has been living a half life since then. The woman who was so full of life and creativity, independence and adventure became almost totally dependent on others. Early on the morning of November 25 she was finally released from the shell of what she had become. I grieve for the loss of my mother, but have really been doing that for over a decade now. I also rejoice for her release and know that she has passed from the pain and unhappiness. A toast to my mother whose creativity and love of art helped to shape me!

The holidays are approaching!

The holidays are coming and I have been listing new pieces, including some holiday themed jewelry. I am having carpal tunnel surgery next week and I am not sure how soon I will be able to get back to creating so I wanted to get a start on new items. Check out these new pieces!

Wand of a Steampunk Magus is a fun piece that actually lights up! I wanted to create a wand that might have been used by a steam-era mage. The light inside makes the quartz crystal on the end glow with either flashing or steady reddish light when it is turned on.

Deck the Halls is my entry in the etsy SteamTeam's current contest. It would look great on any Christmas tree!

For holiday themed jewelry I have these fun pieces using lampwork and semi-precious gemstone beads:

But Once a Year Made with lampwork beads by a local lampwork artist (Chic Velazco of Chic Beads), green aventurine, white onyx, glass, red coral, malachite and tierra cast lead-free pewter, this piece is sure to draw comments this holiday season!

Happy Holidaze This fun bracelet is made with some of Chic's

lampwork beads, along with golden metallic beads for a cheerful holiday look.

Red and White Bracelet Red and white lampwork beads by Chic and white howlite beads have been combined to create this luscious peppermint creation.

Back from SteamPowered!!

Wow, what a weekend!! I had a blast at SteamPowered! I got to meet some of the other etsy SteamTeam members, exceeded my sales goal, got to see Abney Park in concert and generally had a really good time.

I also got to meet Nathaniel of Abney Park on one of his wanderings around the vendor area and he graciously agreed to pose for a picture with me. He did, however, insist we pose as if it were a prom picture.

I was able to sell a fair amount of my steampunk style items and was very pleased about that. What didn't sell will get put back into my etsy shop as soon as it has been shipped back to me.

Industrial Fairytale did an amazing job of organizing our little group. Big kudos to our own Indy!!!

Orpheus Alchemy of the SteamTeam won first place in the inividual costume portion of the costume contest on Friday night. She looked amazing and definitely deserved the accolades. Any time she was at our tables she drew people who wanted to see her costume up close and find out how her wings worked. She is an amazingly talented costumer!












Despite the rain most of the weekend we all had a great time. The rain certainly didn't dampen anyone's spirits and a wonderful time was had by all!!!

SteamPowered is almost upon us! The etsy steamteam will be having a group table as well as a number of individual members in the vendor area and we are going to have a great time! If you are going to be in or near San Jose any time between October 31 and November 2 come and check us out!

I have already packed up most of my steampunk items and sent them out to Industrial Fairytale who has spearheaded the group effort. We have a beautiful banner that Crescent Wench got printed for us so we will be easy to find and we will have quite a variety of goods.

Hope to see you there!!!

Upcoming Shows, etc

The next few weeks will see me out and about. This weekend I will be merchanting at an SCA event, A Day at the Mill near Kokomo, Indiana. I will be selling jewelry that is appropriate for the Society for Creative Anachronism.

In three weeks I will be attending Steam Powered, the first Steampunk convention! San Jose, here we come. The etsy Steam Team has joined together and will be selling as a group in the vendor area. Several members will have their own tables (19Moons, Atelier Choklit, Chaoticaly Creative, Cracked Looking Glass, Faraday Bags, and Theriaca Fina). Others of us will be sharing several tables (Industrial Fairytale, Cognitive Creations, Crescent Wench, Clockwork Crow, Sojourn Curiosities, Gabrielle Lucretia, CJ Grand, WinonaCookie, Lilibat, TotusMel, Bell76, MadArtJewelry, CalloohCallay, as well as myself!) It is going to be great fun to meet the folks that will be there (not everyone will, many in the second group are sending items out as they will not be able to make it) and to see all the wonderful steamy creations!

The Spirited Autumn Event

From September 23 (the Autumn Equinox) through October 6 the etsy Earthpath Artisans Street Team (EAST) is having a special sale! Items included are fall or Halloween oriented or metaphysical/spiritual/magical in nature. On etsy search TSAE to find items in this sale from my shop and from other members of the EAST team. I am offering free shipping and a 10% discount in price for my items that are included in this sale.

Busy busy busy

After a 12 or 13 year hiatus my husband and I have gotten involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) again. I jumped right in with both feet and volunteered to fill the open office of Minister of Arts and Sciences for our local group. I figured with my crafting it was a logical thing to do. So now I am working on getting classes setup and scheduled. What fun!

I am also busy sewing! Costumes for SteamPowered which we are attending and selling at over Halloween weekend and lots of SCA garb since we basically have to start fresh. Too much to do and not enough time right now, I think.

My husband has gotten back into making barrel helms and basket hilts too so we are going to be merchanting at events here and there. The first will be A Day at the Mill in Kokomo, Indiana the 2nd Saturday in October.

Steam Team Contest Part II

I would like to thank everyone that voted for my entry in the SteamTeam contest for the month of August. My piece received the most votes!!! If you haven't see it, this is my entry:

The twins, DeLila and DeLoris Kilebrew-LaFontaine, were married on the same day to twin brothers, Edmund and Eduardo Smythe-Jones. For their honeymoon they were to travel by private zeppelin from London to Vienna where they would board the Orient Express to take them to Budapest.

Sadly, the newlyweds never made it to Vienna. Their zeppelin was boarded by Tsarist rebels over Prague. The rebels took all the valuables they could find on board, tied the crew and passengers up and blew the hapless craft up as they sailed off. Little was salvaged from the wreckage besides a watch face that had belonged to Miss DeLoris and a piece of Miss DeLila’s locket, along with a charred cork from a wine bottle. Their father was inconsolable and in his grief he took the pitiful remnants of his beloved daughters, along with a rose petal from the wedding flowers, a tatter of lace from a Christening gown and locks of their hair cut when they were babies and placed them in a bottle as a memento of his lost progeny. He attached a picture of the twins to the outside of the bottle to complete his memento mori and always kept it nearby.

The winner of the contest gets to choose the theme and make the prize for the next contest. I have chosen the theme already, but have yet to make the prize piece. Following the story accompanying my entry in the August contest, the theme for the next contest will be airships. This could encompass the ships themselves, the men and women who fly them, tools of the trade, airship pirates and/or their accoutrements. Anything that has to do with airships is fair game so put on your thinking caps and see what you can come up with while I try to come up with a suitable prize.Following the story accompanying my entry in the August contest, the theme for the next contest will be airships. This could encompass the ships themselves, the men and women who fly them, tools of the trade, airship pirates and/or their accoutrements. Anything that has to do with airships is fair game. I am really looking forward to seeing what my teammates come up with for this one!!!!

Frozen in Time

This month's Etsy SteamTeam contest is "Frozen in Time; a piece of the past preserved forever". Mementos: a lady's favour, a broken promise, a lazy summer afternoon, spring flowers. Each piece is a created memento with a piece of a story (fictional or not). Voting is open to everyone, you do not have to be a member of the SteamTeam to vote so please go take a look and vote.

You can see the entries and vote here http://etsysteamteam.com/polls/index.php?sid=54753

Voting for this contest ends on August 31 so go check it out and vote for your favorite piece!

Steampunk

If you haven't noticed, I have gotten more and more into the steampunk style with my pieces and my etsy/blog banner. My banner was done by TheOrangeNinja of etsy and I love it!!!

What is steampunk, you ask. Well, it is many things to many people. I have pulled this quote about what steampunk is from one of the great steampunk sites out on the internet, Aether Emporium:

Steampunk is an eclectic world of cogs and rivets. It is airships, goggles and steam. It is romance. It is traveling on clouds and diving beneath rugged waves. It is adventure
:- Aether Emporium

For more on what steampunk is from some of the great names in the genre, check out Aether Emporium's What is Steampunk page.


Some great sites to check out for a peek into the fun and fascinating world of steampunk are:
Datamancer
The Steampunk Workshop
Vernian Process
Neverwas Haul
Abney Park

and a host of others that can be linked to from some of those sites.

And also check out the SteamTeam at etsy to find all kinds of wonderful handmade steampunk items made by myself and other members of the Etsy Steam Team.

I've Been Blogged!!!

I am featured on the etsy Steam Team blog this week

http://etsysteamteam1.blogspot.com/

Check it out, and check out the other wonderful members of the team that have been blogged while you are there. This team has some great artists and I highly recommend checking out all the shops!

Blinded Me with Science Winners Announced

The etsy SteamTeam's Blinded Me With Science challenge winners have been announced!

1st Place with 40% of the votesand winner of "Leather Victorian Style Jewelry Box" Heterodyne with Kaleidoscope of Science

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12899970

Second Place with 28.24% of the votes and winner of "Gear Up For Coffee - Steamy Cup Sleeve" WinonaCookie with The Time Machine

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=9393611

Congratulations to the winners!!! I can't wait for the next challenge!!

Gypsy Challenge Winners

The votes have been tallied in the EAST Gypsy Challenge. Check here for full details on the winners: http://earthpathartisans.blogspot.com/

Yours truly came in 4th with 13 votes!!!!!

More Challenges

I just completed another challenge piece, this one for the Etsy Steam Team. The challenge is Blinded me with Science.



Voting for the challenge is now open. Go here http://etsysteamteam.com/polls/index.php?sid=58414 to vote.

This piece can be found in my etsy shop (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13276276) and is for sale.

Challenge Entry

I belong to etsy's Earthpath Artisans Street Team (EAST). We are having a Gypsy Design Challenge. Team members have taken their interpretation of what the word "Gypsy" conjures up for them, and created new pieces in a variety of media. All the entires are now in and voting is open. Please take a minute and view the entries here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/earthpathchallenge/pool/

And then go to the EAST blog page at http://earthpathartisans.blogspot.com/ to vote for your favorite piece.

Here are some pictures of my entry:

You don't HAVE to vote for me but I'd sure appreciate it if you did!

Thanks for looking!!!

Big 4th of July Sale

In honor of the 4th of July I am having a special sale in my etsy store. It runs from July 1-6. Buy any item priced at or above $30 and choose any item priced at or below $15 for free!! Please indicate your second item in Notes to Seller and wait for a revised invoice. What a great way to celebrate the birth of the USA and to get some great pieces of my work at great prices!

http://figments.etsy.com

More Destash and a New Piece

I am continuing my mad destash and have listed more beads and a bunch of other crafty items in my etsy supply shop, http://eclecticmiscellany.etsy.com/.

On another note, I have been working away like a mad thing on some new pieces. I have been doing more and more of the Steampunk style pieces and am having so much fun doing them. Here is my newest piece, Come Fly With Me

I am so tempted to keep this one but I won't. Instead, I am making one just for me. It looks great on the doll though so I KNOW it will look great being worn.

I am also working on this month's challenge project for the etsy Steam Team. The theme this month is Blinded Me With Science. I am waiting for a couple of pieces I have ordered so that I can finish my entry. It will be a lot of fun when it is finished!

Cleaning Out

I have been cleaning out my work space and am destashing a LOT of beads, charms and other miscellaneous craft items to make room to actually work. Check out my supply shop on etsy at http://eclecticmiscellany.etsy.com and see if there is anything you just can't live without! Lampwork, seed beads, semi-precious gemstone beads, sterling charms, pewter charms, stone charms, miscellaneous craft supplies, findings.....And more to come!!!

A Quiet Summer So Far

So far it has been an uneventful summer, she said, knowing that in saying that things were likely to change.

But it really has been quiet. I've been making new things and doing some really fun trading. We went and saw the balloons launch at the Summer Heat Air Festival this weekend. That was a lot of fun.

We have been lucky and haven't had the terrible weather that a lot of the midwest has been subjected to. We have had more rain than usual and some strong storms, but no flooding or tornadoes, no power outages and no damage. A storm came up Sunday evening out of nowhere. We had some heavy rain and some apparent straight line winds, but again, nothing worrisome. Immediately after the storm the sun was still setting in the west and when I walked outside I saw this beautiful sight

What a Great Weekend!!!

Last weekend was sooooo much fun! Got to spend two days in Boston with some of the Boomers street team members. Here are Liv (thefiligreegarden), Katzie (katzscreations), Joon (Joonbeam), myself (figments), Chauncey (chauncey) and Beth (BethPeardonProds) on top of the tower at the Mt Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. Not present in this picture are Nonnie(Nonnie60) and Kim (thewildhare).














We had a great time on the duck tour, walked all over town, saw the Boston Common and the Public Gardens, went to three cemeteries (including two very old ones), had a wonderful dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, saw gorgeous flowers made of glass that you would think were the real thing, and generally just had a really good time.

On Monday I went to Salem and got to meet Tracy (Summersea), Vickie (CreationsbyVickie) and Heather (HeatherFineArt), all of the Earthpath Artisans Street Team on etsy. We gathered at the Witch's Brew Cafe for lunch and then wandered and shopped the stores on Pickering Wharf and other places along the way. I visited the Burying Point and the Witch Trials Memorial as well.

















Pictured here are myself (figments), Tracy (Summersea), Vickie (CreationsbyVickie) and Heather (HeatherFineArt), in front of a ship in Salem.


I had such a great time on this trip and hope to be able to do more trips like this soon!

Slacking

The best intentions of mice and men and all that rot.... I have been working on several commission pieces, relisting items in my shop, working, spending time with my family, etc and have been ignoring my poor blog.

The days until I head for Boston and Salem are getting fewer. Two more, in fact! I am getting so excited about this trip. I get to meet all kinds of people that I have been speaking to on-line on etsy, some for close to a year now! So I am figuring out what to bring with me, getting things together to pack and digging out the suitcase. Three days from now I will be in Boston!!!

Counting Down the Days

You may have noticed my count down ticker over to the right and wondered what that is all about. I belong to BBEST, Boomers and Beyond Etsy Street Team and a group of us are getting together in Boston very soon for a weekend of fun, shopping, art and silliness. Beth of BethPeardonProds and Katzie of Katz's Kreations have worked hard to put this weekend together and I am really excited about getting to go and meet some of my Boomer teammates. I know we will be taking lots of pictures so there will be stories and pictures posted after we get back.

After the Boomer gathering I will be staying an extra day and meeting with some of my friends from another etsy team, EAST (Earthpath Artisans Street Team). We will be spending the day playing tourist in Salem.

It will be so much fun to meet all these wonderful artists and I am really looking forward to the chance to get away for a few days, meet new people and visit Boston again!

Creative Glass Guild of Etsy (CGGE) and the etsyBEAD Street Team Creative Collaboration Challenge

I belong to the etsyBead street team and we recently joined forces with the Creative Glass Guild of Etsy (CGGE) in a collaborative challenge. According to the information from the listing the Helping Others Street Team (HOST) created using the piece I worked on:

"The Creative Glass Guild of Etsy (CGGE) and the etsyBEAD Street Team have joined forces for a creative collaboration challenge. CGGE members have created gorgeous glass cabs, beads, and pendants for etsyBEAD members to turn into beautiful pieces of finished jewelry. These pieces are being donated to the Helping Others Street Team (HOST) in order to raise money for those fellow Etsyians in need."

I created the piece called Pink Catkins seen to the right. It can also be viewed and/or purchased here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11193022 .

I had such fun creating this piece using a stunning glass focal by lawatha (www.lawatha.etsy.com). She handpainted this piece with fusible enamels and permanently fused them onto a base of lime green glass. The design will NOT wash or rub off. A silver plated bail is attached. I combined the beautiful focal with beads of new jade and rhodonite on 20” of tiger tail bead cord and added a silver plated tierra cast lead-free pewter leaf and vine clasp.

For more information on HOST please check them out at http://helpingothersstreetteam.blogspot.com/

ACEO Bounty Challenge on etsy

Now this is just plain cool. A group of ACEO* artists on etsy have started a challenge they are calling a bounty challenge. According to the rules of the challenge:

"The resulting ACEO artwork created will be listed with the key words of “ACEO Bounty” in the title (when searching please use quotation marks [“] to ensure the most accurate list of the “ACEO Bounty” items).

The Ultimate “ACEO Bounty” Prize consists of all “ACEO Bounty” listings on Etsy at the closure of the competition.

The Ultimate “ACEO Bounty” Prize will be awarded to the last person to post to the “ACEO Bounty” thread when all other post activity ceases for a period of 24 hours …or such time as the Participating Artists choose to end the competition by way of a “Count Down” (see Final Release Clauses)."

You can find more information on this challenge here:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5566696&page=1

This sounds like a lot of fun. I have issued a challenge to create a depiction of Light vs Dark. It can be in any medium and any context so I am looking forward to seeing what people come up with. I think I am also going to try my hand at making some ACEOs for this challenge.




*ACEO stands for "Art Cards, Editions & Originals". They are miniature works of art with one main rule, they always measure 2.5" x 3.5". They are an inexpensive way to buy original or limited edition art.

Another day, more stuff...

I have been adding to my blog. I added links to some other interesting blogs, including the four etsy street teams I belong to and those of some of my etsy friends and teammates. I will be continuing to add to this list over time so be sure to check it out.

Some of my pieces will be for sale in Indianapolis on April 26 at the Bead Bonanza at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis. Chic Velazco (creator of Chic Beads, many of which I have used in my pieces) will be there selling her work and has graciously offered to include some of my pieces which use her beads. I am very excited about this opportunity to get my work seen!

Pondering....

Ok, so have this blog. Now I need to actually do something with it.

I have been trying to decide whether or not to narrow my jewelry style down. I love doing the beads but just haven't come up with any ideas I like of late. I have so much more fun with the steampunk, vintage and filigree pieces so I am thinking about focusing on those, as well as the 3d artwork (shadowboxes, nichos, assemblages and ACEOs). I still haven't quite decided but it is definitely something I will be pondering in the coming days, perhaps even weeks.

I have posted pics of several of my pieces just below the About Me section.

If anyone has any thoughts on this topic, please feel free to leave a comment.

Kat

An Introduction

Ok, so I am going to try this blogging thing. Not sure if I will be able to manage to keep up or not, or if I will even be able to find much to write about, but we will see.



So.....