Something different for me....

I'm one of those rare people who doesn't really care for purple of any shade, or roses for that matter! But as soon as I saw these pearls, I new that they had to be together. The Brair Rose necklace was listed for a total of 10 minutes before someone had reserved it! To say I was surprised would be a gross understatment! So it got me thinking about purple, as long as it's not over the top, I think I can handle it! I'm off to find some more pearls...

Briar Rose - Triple strand pearl necklace

something else new to me....

I've been hesitant to buy Sterling silver chain as it's so darn expensive, but I found some at a what looked liked reasonable price and took the plunge. I've had it sitting in my chain draw for a few weeks, too scared to touch it, not wanting to wreck it! I finally plucked up the courage and took the cutters to it....only a little bit, but it's a start! I'm pretty happy with the result, it looks really cute on and has a nice weight and movement to it.

Summer Rain
Mixed stone and Hill Tribe silver beads with Sterling silver 3mm flat oval link chain.

Rainy Day
The matching earrings.

my new favourite thing....

For the past couple of days, I've been trying to figure out how to knot 1mm waxed cotton with beads that have a 1mm hole, which in theory sounds simple enough. But, after several trails resulting only with my frustration, I gave up using the waxed cotton and brought out the Silkon .5mm nylon thread. Success! I'm pretty pleased with the results, (and I think I've found a new obsession). I'm really loving the fluidity of movement using thread brings to the piece. It moulds to your shape beautifully, very comfy.

Natural 12mm Fossil beads were used with chocolate brown thread, one carved wooden feature bead set asymmetrically, and an interesting vintage olive green button I found in my local op shop.

I'm not sure weather or not to list this in my Etsy store...I think i'll do a couple of bracelets and list those...I'm a bit partial to this one so it might have to stay here with me :)

what a way to start the day....

After an awful night of trying to keep cool, failing, and getting about 2 minutes sleep, husband gets me up at 5:30am to take him to the train station. I grumble incoherent ramblings the whole 10 minutes it takes to get there and back (....how could he not have made me a coffee? Not even a lukewarm sip from his black tea...I can't believe it's already 25 degrees outside....BLAH!). What a way to start the day!
So I'm trudging to the kitchen, passing the study...then I get this odd feeling...could it be? I find myself getting a little giddy while checking on my emails....Ah-Hah! I'd made my first sale! No longer needing my caffeine hit to keep me going, I've been convoing, twittering, plurking and texting my excitement for about 2 hours now. Yes, I'm a dork, you were bound to find that out sooner or later.

These are the earrings that a lovely lady in the U.S bought today. They're part of my "simple" series of earrings that I listed only the day before.

my preciousss...

"At Night" Larvikite Ring in Argentium Silver by MsRose

I've had this gorgeous thing in my favourites for a little while now, every time I see it, it just draws me in with it's flashy grey goodness. Finally I could resist no longer, it's on it's way to my right hand ring finger and should arrive in a torturous 10 business days. Until then, I will gaze longingly at this one.........what's that? Husband needs to be fed? Just a few minutes more.........

Next on my want list, this stunning Kyanite one.
For more beautiful things from MsRose check out her Etsy shop here.

I am NOT a crazy cat lady....

I never considered myself a "cat person" because of the serverly adverse reaction my body has whenever I'm near one, I'm horribly allergic. That was until several years ago, when my mum introduced me to her new Ragdooll rescue, Pepper. Ragdolls are known to be somewhat hypoallergenic, so after a few hours of total comfort with this big fluffball cat hanging around, I decided to do some research and look into which other cats might be suitable for the newly discovered cat lover in me. After a couple of months of gental persuation, I'd convinced husband how great it would be to finally be able to have a feline friend, but he's even more allergic than I am, so we needed to test this out. After a few visits to our selected breeder, who had seven Ragdolls in the house, both husband and I had fallen for these big, fluffy, floppy cats...and not a weeze or sneeze out of either of us! This was the result:Before Mr Binx was even old enough to come home with us, we decided that it would be nice for him to have a friend, as we weren't home as often as we would have liked, and we didn't want a bored and destructive kitten destroying our brand new home. So along came Indie. Two kittens kept us on our toes, but they were great fun and they both grew to love each others company, which gave us some time off from the kitten claws.
Six months later....
We both had had enough of the el cheapo cat scratchers that our growing boys were destroying way too quickly, (3 in 6 months!), and had seen the Funky Cat Feline Furniture online and decided to spoil them, and us, with this rather extravigant purchace. We decided to go and veiw them in person, and tentativly walked into the scariest place someone with cat allergies could go...a National cat show. Zyrtec was well into our system, so we were doing pretty good. Just go in, buy the cat tree, and leave.....ha! Even husband couldn't resit looking at all of the pretty, weird and just plain scary looking felines, it was like a day at the zoo!
And then we saw them. 7 tiny black gremlins, staring at us with big round eyes set in strange elfin faces, twitching their massive ears, almost hairless apart from some fluff on their tails and faces...Devon rex kittens...quite possibly the ugliest, and the cutest things we'd ever seen.
To cut a long post short, we now have 4 cats, two Ragdolls and two Devon Rexes. Our 3 boys Binx, Indie and Marley, all live harmoniously, though our queen bee, Luna, can be quite a handfull, (she's a very complex individual). I'll be "cat posting" every now and then, but not the "look what my fluffie winkles did today! aww!" kind of post, yuck.

One of my favourite photos, this is currently residing on our fridge.

Binx - 4 months - Polerized Macro

my first time playing with hemp....

In my interest to learn how to knot beads, I found a really good deal on hemp cord that I just couldn't resist. Yesterday I was having a tough time with "beaders block", (it always seems to happen whenever I have washing to do, bad feng shui perhaps?), so I decided to try something different and got out the hemp. I looked up the basic knotting instructions - simple enough. I loved the thought of adding beads, something earthy...it had to be those Australian recycled wooden beads I've been hoarding. 25 minutes later, my bracelet had to be rethought out into what turned into a pretty funky necklace.
I'm a total hippy at heart, I'm really only a few steps away from dreading my hair and moving to Kuranda, so hemp knotting seems like a logical creative outlet for me. I think I might do a few more and take them up to St Andrews market next Saturday. They're so much fun to make, I can't believe I never got to do this as a kid! Next stop - knotting gemstones onto waxed cotton cord.

sharing the things that make me smile....

"Mocha Kenya" Original Gocco Print by artist Jan Allsopp

I could stare at this for hours. I love how it takes me back to all the little coffee shop adventures I've had with my closest people. Be it a shack in the Cook Islands, a cosy cabin in the snow fields of New Zealand, or a chic coffee house in Melbourne's CBD, coffee is central to so many of my fondest memories. This print is definatly pro caffine, decaf is a chemical mess!
Jan's unique art can be found here on Etsy.

So I'm venturing into unknown territory...

Blogging. For so long now, I've never given a seconds thought to the word. It's strange and unattractive sounding, and has no meaning in the "outside world". I'm the girl who never turns on her mobile phone, so why would I bother looking into social networking on the internet?
Etsy, that's why. That magical online place filled with extraordinary people, who I've found to be a very real source of inspiration, so much so that it's made me think twice about this "Blogging" thing.
Etsy has opened up a whole new way for me to create something for myself. It began with beads, and where this will lead me...well I can't wait to find out.
So here I am, blogging, who'd have thought?
Stay tuned - Tiff