no longer homeless and unemployed!

as the title says hehe! have moved into the new apartment, and now just finishing up getting furniture and arranging the rooms and whatnot :) also been working that hostess job at the sushi restaurant, but starting this week i'll be working tuesdays, thursdays and fridays instead of mon-fri, so that i'll have more time to possibly work production gigs. next week i'll be starting a job at starbucks working those mornings, hooray for health insurance! but the pay is very low, and i found out that unlike missouri, where i worked as a waitress for $2/hr + tips, restaurants here pay minimum wage ($8) + tips, so i'm probably going to need to look at getting a waitressing job in a couple/few months because that's much more than i had thought, hence the hostessing job! for now though, i'm doing well and will at least be making rent + utilities, huzzah!

i will probably look at getting into working on my etsy shop some time this week or next week! i need to run out to the paper source store in pasadena to pick up some pva to make books (although i do still have leather to make non-glue books!), but i've already made some jewelry since i got here. a friend of mine is a photographer, and was going to be taking headshots for my roomie and her bf, so he offered to take pics of me wearing my jewelry to use in my listings! here's a preview :D

temporary

been a while, been a while.. my life seems to be all sorts of "temporary" right now, and i'm not sure if it's going to ever really become "permanent"... so! charging forward, and on to a summary!

haven't worked on too many new things in hawaii, but did come up with things like these silly bumblebee earrings:

i'll be hoping to make more earrings soon, especially with the new little charms i bought in japan, they're adorable and whimsical, in my opinion :D hmm.. maybe i'll just keep them for myself, muahaha!

and finally made a "real" leather book, using a longstitch binding tutorial online, for my dad's friend:


used the suede side up, because the familia liked it better, although i thought the other side looked neat, all spotted and stuff, so much character! but they decided it wasn't "girly" enough for my dad's friend :P at least i got to test out my stamp, as you can see! :D

got a hair cut yesterday, i think i'm gonna need to actually learn how to use a curling iron so that i might make myself a little more presentable for interviews and the like in l.a.! ...what a terrifying notion.

i'm considering mailing all of my stuff from hawaii to l.a. via parcel post, since i won't be needing anything for the one day that i'm in missouri and i'm fairly sure the extra space in my car would be fantastic, but that would probably cost a fortune... plus, i'll just be worried about my pretty supplies sinking into the ocean or something! like my new paper and fabric that i bought in japan!



well, i'll be flying out tuesday, and driving to l.a. over the course of a few days. and then i'll be absolutely engrossed in "breaking dawn" when i snag it at midnight on friday-saturday... although only for about 6 hours probably, that's how long it took for each of the other books. too short! i blame my sister for my will crumbling and new twilight addiction, i refused for so long, boo... haha. ahh well, no more harry potter right? ;)

obsessed with clothing, oh noes

so a couple weeks ago, i may have purchased a funky little hood from pixiebell and awesome fingerless gloves from kitmit on etsy, as shown here:



oh yes. so much fun, and toasty warm ♥ love em!

i also decided to make some earrings for myself since i haven't actually made any to keep, and a sister pair to sell in my shop.



i like em! they tinkle when i move XD and i've been in a green kick, so hurray!

i'm also waiting for a pretty black and white circle skirt from tallgiraffe. i don't really wear skirts (i prefer dresses -- i is lazy) so this'll be fun!

AND! through alchemy (which i think i am going to abandon for the time being, due to the disorganization and craziness ensuing there at the moment) i have enlisted the aid of two fantastical seamstresses to make me a winter dress (by neurasthenia) and a rockabilly dress (by cherrypievintage). EXCITED.

naturally, i am now considering buying myself a sewing machine and experimenting at home! i've been dabbling and done a bit of work in school, so i'm kind of excited at the prospect :D i may also get a serger, because i'm not really sure how to finish edges without one! darn costume class, spoiling me rotten.

but never fear, i have not abandoned bookbinding! i have one book (black pages, whee!) in the works, and i plan on picking up supplies next week in st. louis and kansas city and teach myself how to do exposed bindings and such! hurray!

yes, my bank account hates me. damn you, crafting addiction!

new new year year

finally got around to playing with my hammer and baby anvil! made some new earrings, which i rather like :)

what did you all get for christmas from etsy? i got (myself) a pretty leather journal (that i actually plan on using!) from my handbound books, a super-cute clay book from lady artisan for best's first book swap, and my sister got me some mango lotion from spa therapy! ...actually, i also got some awesome dead sea mud soap too, but i used it already ;)


i finally sold my puffin book! it was possibly my favorite book.. i've made others that are better quality and probably cuter, but i've had a special attachment to my puffin book. i'm a little sad (as you can see in my goofy picture below), but for some reason it makes me feel like i'm moving forward. huzzah!


on a completely random not-craftsy note, it appears that we have a wild pua'a living nearby that likes to eat our front yard.


if you see one you're supposed to report it and the peoples will come out and kill it for you. i wonder if we can convince em to build a pit and make kalua pig if that happens.... heeeeere piggy piggy piggy...

post-christmas update

so what's new? well, let's see...

1. i had a day after christmas sale where everything was 15% off, but never fear! i am holding a general end of the year sale now, with 10% off everything in my shop!

2. i bought jmacc's falling leaf hobo bag. it's mine. you can't have it. i ♥ it fohevah!!!1!11one!1!

3. made a couple of earrings, want to make more! i've got some ideas for my silver wire :) i brought my hammer and baby anvil all the way to hawaii, gotta put em to good use eh?
my forest angel earrings
my epimeliad earrings

4. made a mushroom book! hee hee. badger badger badger badger...


i have four more book blocks that i've put together, so i just need to get my lazy bum up and make the covers for them!

5. i bought 4 yards of gray felt, and i am going to be making a cloak! ordered this cute cloak clasp because i am a hugenerdomg. i'm a little skeptical about the felt (no wool fabric at the FABRIC store --sure, i'm in hawaii, but really? no wool? really?-- and no gray fleece, which i think would've hung better) but that's okay, it's all for fun! maybe it'll turn out fantabulous and i'll sell some online! ...hyeah, right. maybe if someone buys me a sewing machine first. ;)


s'all for now! i'm going to curl up on the couch with some tea and read me a book!

experimenting with necklaces

so i decided to try my hand at beading necklaces :) i honestly think i have much more fun with earrings (twirling wire, yay!) but it was still fun doing this! alas, i cannot get my pictures to show the true colors of the blue beads for the life of me ;_; i tried taking pictures outside, inside, in sunlight, blue light, yellow light, shade, during daytime, nighttime... argh! :( i am doomed. i have no idea why it shows up so light! ahh well... i included a link in the description that i found on google of a more accurately colored bead, which someone in the forums said would hurt me more than help but i think that i would rather let the customer see what it would really look like than get the necklace and be like "schwaaaa~t??" :P





i also decided to try making necklaces with the whole burning leather thing! custom initial leather necklaces, with practically all aspects made to your specifics! we'll see if anyone will want one of these :)

couple o' fun projects

i decided to try to play with leather last night, and here is the result of testing out all of the different points on my toy~
haha i know, it's just a mishmash of blah, but i had fun and that's all that matters XD

and today was my roomie alex and her twin sister's birthday, so i made them some earrings! the ear threader one is for alex because she thought the leaf earrings i just (half) made were cute and that they were cool because she had never seen ear threaders before :)

crystal of the night necklace

okay, so i am attempting to start naming my items, because listing this as "antique skeleton key and vintage crystal necklace" was going to be ridiculous XD we'll see how this goes!

vintage gold skeleton leaf earrings

i put up a new jewelry listing today! found some wonderful things at the antique shop yesterday, so now i have more pretties to play with! this is the first:

bought more fabric and the like today for new books, but i'm a little tuckered out so i think i shall experiment with the scrap leather i bought! :D if i do well with burning designs into them, hopefully i can make some neat leather jewelry!