Speaking of Etsy

I just can't contain myself. I made the most adorable little snail shell earrings the other day!

And they are now for sale at Fine Specimen! Along with two other, and soon to be more, pairs of earrings.

And this pendant is also new. I really liked how the color combination turned out!

Zipper Pouch Season

As mentioned in the previous post, I have been on something of a zipper-pouch making rampage. I blame it on the awesome purse-sewing abilities of my friend, who was telling me about this wonderful fabric store she found in Colorado, from which she produced a killer eggplant print bag. As it turns out, I found a similarly awesome fabric store in Portland called Cool Cottons, which just so happened to carry the same line of vegetable-themed fabric:

The other veggies I could find included peppers and tomatoes, but I liked the onion one the best. I went a little crazy buying fat quarters and fat eighths of fabric, many of which I have since transformed into these hella cool padded zipper pouches with bright and contrast-y linings! Because I can't seem to ever get enough zipper pouches. I'm not sure why I have such a problem, but for some reason they just make me happy.

I have been unable to make a decision as to whether or not to list these items in my Etsy store. Would it be strange to have a shop that sells mostly glass pendants and earrings, but then also a large part zipper pouches? I could possibly make other sewn items, but it isn't a combination one typically sees in the same place. Would it be too weird?

Snips & Snails

With a windfall of inspiration from my recent trip to Portland, Oregon (which was awesome for a number of reasons, including climbing a mountain, exploring tidepools, and a visit to a very cool fabric store, which I will probably expound upon in a future post), I've been whipping up a number of snail-themed objects.

As pictured in my last brief update, it began with three-inch long clear-bodied snails that sit upright, which were cute, but I was ultimately unhappy with the quality of the bodies. The shells all turned out to be very visually engaging and striking, only they were perched on bodies that disappeared into whatever surface they were sitting on. I find that it is easy for clear glass to sort of melt visually into indistinct forms if I'm not 100% careful and deliberate.

So I did away with the little snaily bodies, and pared my designs down to the shell. I made them a bit smaller and attached a clear loop on top, et voila - it's a pendant! (Is it just me, or am I sensing a trend here?)

Now these guys I'm pretty happy with. Right now these are made with a color stripe pattern overlaid on a rod of clear glass, which has had the result of the color thinning out during the twisting process (which makes the stripes go all twirly around the shell) and being somewhat translucent by the time the piece is finished. I'll be working this week on making them as opaque as possible, because that's when the colors are really going to pop against each other.

Also: Chess Set Progress Update #2 - I now have three whole pieces done: a bishop and two knights. I know I know, I'm going pretttty fast here on this project... Realistically, it is probably going to continue to be a very slow process, but I think that's okay if I want to end up with a finished product I'm pleased with.

I'm pretty happy with my black bishop. He turned out nice and evenly-shaped. The knights are probably the hardest to make balanced and symmetrical, so I'm hoping for smoother sailing once I get to the less organically-shaped pieces.

Next On The Docket...

Snails!