Decoden: Part two

My dear friend Mia needed a phone case.  She's one of the most coordinated athletes in my social circle, but oddly...also the most clumsy.  Her phone was at risk... so I made her this..

I tried to keep her case relatively 2D because she likes to stuff her phone in her pocket.  It came out pretty good.  Pink, bright, and sparkly, just like her personality. 

Experimental Wire-Wrapping

I didn't do a lot of wire wrapping before it became hard to hang on to my tools, but I've been trying it a little bit recently because of my aunt's fabulous work.  I really wish I had photos to show you, but her pieces are intricate and inspiring.  My wire-wrapping isn't nearly so well put together, but I did try.  Here you are.

 

I did two projects.  One with a marble- very VERY simple...and something a bit more adventurous. 

I wish I was better at terminating the wires there...

How do you guys think I did?  Leave a comment!

Destashing Supplies

I was going through my stash, looking for bits and baubles to finish some of my current projects a few days ago (I'm writing this in March for anyone who's curious).  Going through your stash is like going through geological strata.  On the top layer, everything's new, fresh and shiny.  A leaf still looks like a leaf.  An animal is still an animal.  Near the bottom, though, those leaves and animals and dirt have been compressed over the years and become rock or in some cases fossils and gemstones.

That's what the bottom strata of my stash looks like.  Tons of semiprecious gemstones, wood, bone and shell beads.  There's nothing wrong with them and, to be honest, if you tried to buy beads of the same quality today at the prices I paid for them, you'd end up with a handful of scratched up acrylic.

But, I don't even like working with this kind of stuff.  I'm more of a Victorian/Edwardian, Flapper Era, punk, gothy, kitschy kind of girl.  I don't deal with tribal things very much.  I'm not especially fond of carved bone and shell pendants unless they go with a Victorian inspired piece I'm working on.  There's literally no reason for these things to be in my stash.

SO....I'm getting rid of them.  At the very least I can reorganize my other supplies instead of housing them in decorated cardboard boxes (Seriously, have you tried that?  It's a great way to get rid of boxes and use them in a functional way besides shipping.).  I've listed some lots on my Etsy page as Destash items and they're priced to move- less than a 3rd of the original price.

You should check it out.  I'll only post more as the items in my shop are sold.  I'm still not wholly sure how interested people are in this sort of thing.   At any rate, here are my current offerings.

Lot 1: Amethyst Donut and rhondelles, Tibetan silver Roses, Pewter star, and metal coated acrylic pendants: SOLD

Lot 2: Asian Inspired Beads, 1 brass coin bead, several small glass coin beads, 1 carved bone bead with a dragon: SOLD

Lot 3: Periwinkle Faux pearls, Crackle glass beads, Blue goldstone beads (I'm told this is kind of hard to find nowadays.)

LOT 4: Red Wooden Beads, Seeds, Handmade Copper Links, and Shells

LOT 5: Red Shell beads, Premium Czech glass beads, Vintage Pendant

There ya go!  If you want to pick up any of these lots for your collection, Click here for my Etsy page.  Thanks for the looks and the reads.