A year in the making, day 364

The munchkin got a lesson today in Caveat emptor today. We went to the thrift store this morning to get her a couple of new pairs of pants as most of her current pairs are halfway up her shins, the little beanpole. We were in the checkout line and she found a treasure she HAD to have - a Barbie digital watch. She begged and pleaded, and agreed to repay me out of her bank when we got home, so I let her buy it. We got it home, opened it up, and were trying to figure out how to turn the watch on. Turns out that they were donated because the battery had died before whatever store that was carrying these had sold them. Doh!

This afternoon I started re-tagging a lot of my older stock in preparation for this weekend's event, as the original tags were looking a little the worse for wear, and of course, I'm also double checking to make sure all my newer pieces were tagged as well and guess what? I found two necklaces that weren't tagged because I'd not only never listed them, but apparently never photographed them either! Who knows where these fit in now, as I made them some months ago. But here they are now, just under the wire:

Butterfly Necklace with Caramel Swarovski Crystals



Turquoise and Rice Pearls Necklace



And one more pair of earrings, to replace a pair I sold last week:

Green Garnet Dangle Earrings

A Year in the Making, day 199

Some of you may remember I'd posted about a set I made where I accidentally "stole" a bead from my daughter. Well, I finally returned her bead to her, as I found a replacement pendant for the set this week!

Clear Faceted Glass Necklace and Earrings



I'm also playing around with some different backgrounds, a few different sheets of scrapbook paper I picked up today while we were stocking the munchkin up on craft supplies.

And a new set for the day, more Swarovski crystals. Have I mentioned before how much I love them? No? Well, really yes, I know. But I have to keep saying it. I am a magpie girl.

Sweetheart Romantic Fuchsia Swarovski Heart Earrings



I also began, and the husband finished (which is how a lot of these projects go) repainting a stand a friend found for me. I've been needing something on which to display my pouches at shows.



Here's how it looked originally, covered in glitter:



You know the saying about glitter, right?



Just in the 10 minute drive home after picking it up, it completely infected the back of my van. Poor van! It's had two turns with the shop vac and there's still some sparkle left. I sanded as much of the glitter off as I could, and then the husband primed it:



And then he painted it nice and black for me:



The stand will have its premiere with me next weekend at Portland's Vampire Ball:



That's six days from now! Eep!

A Year in the Making, day 165

These earrings are jinxed, I tell you! I retook the pictures yesterday afternoon, and went to go edit them this morning, and of the four pairs, there were only pictures of two of them on the camera! There is an earring picture gremlin in the house.

So here's two of the four, finally listed, and hopefully I'll get the others tomorrow.

Faux Pearl Triple Dangle Earrings on Sterling Earwires



Purple and Lavender Swarovski Crystal Earrings



And two new pieces for the day. I sold a pair of cinnabar heart and pearl earrings from my Etsy shop earlier this week, and was going to remake them to relist, and then I discovered I only had one of the hearts left. So instead of a pair of earrings, I now have a necklace:

Red Cinnabar Heart Necklace and Freshwater Pearls



This last piece is way outside the box for me, as I hardly ever use plastic beads, but I found these large chunky clear lucite pieces that begged me to play with them. I paired them with some black faceted glass for a 3-strand strung piece:

Clear Lucite and Black Faceted Glass Multi Strand Strung Necklace

A Year in the Making, day 160

Today, I sorted through and found some components I'd salvaged from a broken bracelet that I acquired in a mixed lot of jewelry some time back. There were four pink Swarovski bicones, and four matching rhinestones in settings, plus half of a toggle clasp set with smaller rhinestones. I paired them with some contrasting pearls, and used the clasp half as the pendant:

Pink pearl and Swarovski Y Necklace



Tonight, I make roasted garlic puree for a potluck tomorrow night. Easy peasey and so tasty.

Take about 8-10 garlic bulbs, chop off the tops, put them in a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle liberally with olive oil, and bake at 400F for ~1 hour. Peel and puree with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with slices of artisan bread. Be prepared for people to give you lots of room in the elevator at work the next day. Make sure your spouse eats some too.

A year in the making, day 149

Off shortly to enjoy high tea with a birthday girl, so I wanted to make sure I got this done before I lapsed into a finger sandwich coma. I'm pretty sure she's going to squeal when she sees what I found for her on Etsy - I'll post a picture later.

Two new necklaces already today, because I woke up at "Oh my goodness it's what time?!?" today. It's truly frightening, all the little odd bits I've got stashed away in my bead kit that I've completely forgotten about and been discovering in the course of this project.

First is this carved agate pendant that I finally strung:

Carved Red Agate and Matte Black Onyx Necklace



And here's one made with another of those metal loops I re-discovered when I made the stitch markers I mentioned a few posts back:





And I've listed the black and pink set today too:

Black Glass and Pink Crystal in Sterling Necklace Bracelet Earring Set

A Year in the Making, Day 63

Quick post today, as I'm falling asleep typing this. Good day, with lots of useful information imparted in a most humorous fashion. One of the best parts of the day was when one of the academic types, a PhD, said the following in an aside:

"What's the difference between bitching and complaining? ... Bitching is fun!"

Two pairs of earrings this evening, made with Swarovski crystal cubes.



Home tomorrow hopefully in time to read the munchkin a bedtime story and tuck her into bed, and also hopefully the end of the on the road posts for awhile.