Winter Blues

It's been a while since I posted here. Two days after my last post I was let go from my job of almost 10 years and spent the next few weeks dealing with my mother's estate as well as the loss of my job. Then the holidays were upon us! We drove to Georgia and got to spend Christmas with my father, as well as my brother and his wife. Now I am back and busily trying to get myself employed again. I haven't been creating anything new, sadly, but I am hoping that I can get back into the swing of things soon.

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!