Mama DOES have eyes in the back of her head!

Marion Crane Earrings from Clevergirl.Etsy.com

Boo! Eye see you!

I love Halloween. But I love Halloween from behind the scenes.  I like the planning and creating and the troubleshooting.  For me, it is like a treasure hunt to warm me up for the upcoming holidays. I have to find just the right thing, I can plan all year for it, and I have to have a backup plan.

Eye Wide Open

Les Yeux

I do not like getting dressed up and people in masks and people who are barely recognizable freak me out. Seriously. I have trouble understanding spoken language unless I can see the person’s mouth and I have made an ass out of myself (there would be a costume!) more than once by enthusiastically approaching folks I think I know and then I realize oops- not them.  It is my hope, that these oopses become clear to me before I hug the person, kiss them on the cheek, or sassily pinch their behind (happened to me, ClubMed age 10. I thought the skinny blond was my mom. It wasn’t. It was a shocked dude. My mother thought it was hilarious. I didn’t tell her about the part where the person was a Mick Jagger-ly skinny dude.).

But I do enjoy indulging in some of the lower key camp of the holiday.

I have a pair of the eyeball hairpins for my own use (the ones offered are unworn) and it really reitterates the eyes in the back of my head thing with the kiddo (and appeals, I think, to his very visual learning style.

The earrings were inspired by the shower scene in Psycho, and the necklace is just a gorgeous, matte eye.

All of them are set in handmade, from scratch, sterling silver settings and are heirloom quality.

Which, of course, is as important as design and style when eyeing a signature piece.

If you order before 10/28 6am EST I’ll send orders that include treasures from my “Great Pumpkin” category in my Etsy shop via USPS Priority Mail (within the US) and I’ll refund your shipping charges once they ship. I am offering a $4.00 credit for international friends, though international orders will not arrive in time for the Great Pumpkin)…. Just mention “blog” in the notes to seller area and I’ll take care of the rest.  If you are in the US and need one of these shipped overnight via FedEx or UPS give me a holler and I’ll send you a quote.

Anyway, Happy Trick or Treating!  Now go shopping!

xo

Bek

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Ticket to the Great Pumpkin Festival

Pumpkin Festival

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

We use rolls of carnival tickets as a visual, tangible “token” instead of monetary allowance. This helps him stay on track, helps reduce stress for our whole family, and teaches him the concept of money and hard work.

The tickets accumulating in his bear shaped plastic jar “ticket bank” are another visual and we also track his daily and weekly ticket progress on a task sheet. He earns tickets for everyday chores but we also give him tickets for choosing to play with a toy from his “sensory bucket” (more on that soon, I promise!) and I give him an extra ticket here and there for doing little projects or favors for me. For the special project tickets, I usually write the date and task on the back, so we can reinforce with praise when reviewing the day or week.

Anyway, I was looking at the big bag of tickets he earned over the summer and didn’t want to put them in curbside recycling and I couldn’t reuse them with Alex (he’s very rigid in his thinking- we are working on it but at this time “re-earning” the tickets would totally throw off his game)… So I asked Alex if he could think of a project to do with them.

These necklaces are what we came up with and we make them together(he’s the very enthusiastic glitter department).

$5 of each necklace purchased goes towards Alex’s virtual school fund (he gets tickets/points toward his goal). He is saving up to take language lessons online, through K12.com.

To learn more about Asperger’s please visit NIH’s info sheet

To buy a necklace please visit my Etsy shop.

xo
Bek

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I Like The Lite Brite Baby…

I Like The Light….

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

A sneak peek….
One of my favorite game pieces, all grownup….

These will be coming to my Etsy & Smashing Darling shops as soon as I am back on my feet (I have a fever, I’m in bed, hence the larger than usual gaps in communication via my blog)….

(there are a few more colors- you’ll see!)

See you soon!
XO,
Bek

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Milestones & Celebrations!

Etsy Buy Handmade clevergirl

My heart is bursting with glee!

I am about to reach a gigantic milestone in my Etsy shop! 1000 items sold.   Yup. Gulp.

I’m stunned speechless.  I know! That’s a miracle in and of itself!

It seems so surreal on this side of the keyboard!

Thanks for all of your support! I could not do it without all of you!

Hugs and high fives all around!

XO

Bek

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Hair Jewels!

Hair Jewels

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

A variety of stones set in reflective bezels for my signature glow, but this time it’s for your hair! Mix and match…These will be sold individually so you can choose your favorites!

Sterling silver bobby pins/hair pins are oxidized to give the gems even more of a whimsical, magical glow.

(all of my work is shipped completely unworn- that goes for hair accessories too! these were photographed on wool/mohair roving used for needle felting and spinning)

These will be available in my Etsy shop shortly….

xo
Bek

Goody! A grab bag special!

UPDATE:  The grab bags were a success! Thank you to those that participated in any way, shape or form!

Giant hugs all around! Next time I spy an overstock I’ll post here as well- possibly supplies or papergoods next go-around…

xo

Bek

Spring Cleaning + COBRA payments = Grab Bag Fun!

I put this on the new blog at typepad.com as I put the ease of paypal right in the post! Woohoo!

Click to jump over to Clever.Typepad.com!

See you there!

xo

B

ps. Am I on Twitter? Yes I am! Come Play!

Oh carp!

Oh carp!

Originally uploaded by CleverIndie

At Dragon Gate…
I believe this is koi #4, but I have to check on that… Each one is a little different and I only make around two of these a year. This is the first one that is not lariat style, due to a rather fortuitous oops on my part…

Koi represent perseverance through struggle and triumph/success.

You can find this one in my Etsy shop.
Once someone hooks him, he’ll be gone…

xo
Bek

Illuminate

Illuminate

Like softly glowing lanterns, on a summer night… Illuminate

Autumn….

Yay!

On Monday my Autumn earrings were featured in the warm hued, acorn themed edition of Etsy Finds!

I sold a few pairs (yay again!) and had this nagging feeling that I had more components somewhere…

Well, I found them! Enough to make 3 more pairs!  I had stashed them in my hurricane kit (yes, I have a special hurricane kit that has various jewelry making supplies in it)!

So they are back….

Here they are:

Vintage glass and brass and sterling…

Now I really miss the warm hues of autumn…Time to get back up north…The palm fronds are just not cutting it for me these days…

Steampunk…

Mosaic

Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek

I received a message over the weekend inquiring if I was spamming keytags by referring to one of my pieces as “Steampunk”… Here is my take on why steampunk is an appropriate description of some (but most definitely not all) of my work….

…My work, the piece you linked (my harvest pendant) and many others follow the concept of steampunk as a blend of old and new-both of materials and design concept, and above all, the aesthetic of the completed. total piece… In my case it is metalwork that is inspired by the Victorian era, but not constrained by it, and I combine this with more modern components (some vintage, 30+ years old, but still modern to the Victorian era) for a look that I believe, has a little magic to it and as a whole is something a citizen of the steampunk world would hold dear…

Here are some descriptions and explanations I have found helpful…Perhaps you have a couple to share as well…
http://etheremporium.pbwiki.com/What%20is%20Steampunk%20Fashion

Wikipedia offers a fabulous description of steampunk, steampunk subculture (including fashion), and art and design:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

Coincidentally, MTV also offered this bit on Steampunk, today…
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1595812/20080926/abney_park.jhtml

I am curious though as to what definition of steampunk is resulting in any curiosity over possible spamming of keytags in regards to some of my pieces…

I think on Etsy steampunk, according to the search returns, has long since crossed over from the very (broad) essence of steampunk (according to the descriptions/definitions I have mentioned) to being very specifically, for the most part, creations of watch and clock and other assorted mechanical parts combined with brass stampings. While these are most certainly accepted details by many who appreciate steampunk, and there are some fabulous creations (I have always been a fan of clockworks and cogs and such), I do not subscribe to the idea that they are the one and only aesthetic option…

The definition of steampunk style or fashion, is one that is open to interpretation. I am fascinated and drawn to the steampunk aesthetic as it is based on reinvention and the array of unique creations in the steampunk world is startling, to say the least.

It is up to us, as artists, to create our own art based on our understanding and translation of the aesthetic.

I hope this clarifies this for anyone who has questions…Of course, please comment if you have additional questions or concerns… I’m always happy to discuss these things…