Etsy and BUST!

Ad

Originally uploaded by Outlined.

Voila! The ad!

Be sure to visit KnottyByNature -lots of cool paper goods and other treats! Knottybynature, aka Outlined. (on flickr) is totally awesome and scanned this baby in…

Can you spot my piece? Hint: It’s red and cordiform (word o’the day)

Congrats to everyone who got a space and fingers and everything else crossed that even with this economy this ad gives all of the fine Etsy folks a little nudge in the sales department!

And for the time being…Tell me how you found my Etsy shop in the “notes to seller” area during checkout and I’ll refund your shipping via Paypal. (Even if you have shopped with me before…Just tell me how you originally found me.)…

Hugs all around!
B

Scottie…

Scottie…

Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek

Finally finished this piece….

This spirited little guy took awhile- I made the setting (which was a bit more challenging than simple round settings, I admit) and then let him run about my computer for a bit (he has been resting against the screen)… Finally, eureka!

Vintage bakelite/catalin in a sterling silver setting (bezel and solid backing)….

Two types of chain (one for the collar, one for the leash/chain for your neck)….

Every few pieces I wind up with one that I don’t finish and share right away…. Usually, to someone else’s eye, the piece appears done and usually just needs some sort of length of chain to finish it….But not for me. When pieces are truly complete I get this amazing feeling inside- this sparkle… I feel like I’m sitting on one of those carnival attractions- where the person (or teacher-sometimes they are rented to schools) is sitting above a vat of water and the participants throw baseballs at a target-when they hit it just right the person plunges into the water….But in my version the water is a slightly cool temperature, and it’s seltzer water.

That’s how I feel when I piece is reaching completion and then ready to really share with the world.

There’s a little nervous anticipation, a little bit of a panic, and I feel so joyful- like I’m surrounded by millions of tiny little bubbles and laughter.

Ok. Now I sound a little more nuts than usual.

But that really is the only way I can describe it….

Hugs all around,

B

SALE into Spring….

I’m having a little sale…

I usually don’t discount except for very large orders, so this is a rarity… All of the pieces are wonderful and fabulous, I’m just trying to make some room to help me focus… I need a nice fresh canvas!

(Sale pieces do not ship giftwrapped- that is the only difference… They are also not weird seasonal pieces, they are year round lovely pieces… Take a peek!)

Trying to make some room for some new pieces….

You can find the goodies here:

SALE into SPRING

Happy Friday!

B

Gnomes!

Yay! My gnome costume is in a gnome treasury!

 Gnome goodness!

(thanks monkeygrassstains.etsy.com!)

Mama’s Brand New Drawers!

*swoon*

Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek

Ok. I finally did it. I finally had enough of my little small parts boxes stacked high in their bright orange Black & Decker caddies…
So I took some measurements and did some research…

It’s a pretty obvious solution to my small-parts storage needs (in this case my bead collection) but it took awhile to get here….

My wants (wishes) were:
-able to keep dust out
-mobile within our home (casters, or overall portability)
-easily transportable outside the home (in case of emergency, but not a “you have 5 minutes to get out of the house and have to spend a week in a shelter” sort of emergency…. I do have my priorities straight.)

I researched a few options, and eventually decided to invest in a steel literature sorter- like the ones used in schools as mailboxes for the teachers… Sheesh, again with the old office stuff floating my boat…..

I already had all of these (ok. 30 of them, 24 are being used, 6 are just waiting for occupants) small parts boxes with lids… I figured I could put them in my (rather large considering I’m not a clothes junkie) closet and give each box a bin….Nicer and easier and less noisy (and frankly, hard on my old bones and muscles these days which really don’t take kindly to much lately) than pulling them in and out of the plastic caddies they came with.

Well, earlier this week I took another look at topdeq.com’s offerings (I have been getting their catalog since way back when) and my brain just decided to do the math…. I realized I could fit 2 tackle container things in each drawer- totally releasing the concept of buying the Bisley brand drawer dividers (at $10-$18 a pop and still not enough spaces per drawer for my liking)….

So I ordered…

I wound up with this beauty…. This is a Bisley unit, purchased from Topdeq.com, and delivered yesterday by freight. It has 15 drawers…Each drawer measures 2″ x 12″ x 16″…. Each drawer fits two of my little small part tackle boxes with a little wiggle room- just enough to put that hank or two, or bag of beads, where I can have a visual reminder of it (hugely important with my ADD and creating- I tend to have stuff everywhere because with me out of sight out of mind holds so true) when I open up the drawer of similar beads….

Anyway, this came with a plinth (steel riser) and I bought the caster attachment to go with the unit… So off came the plinth and on went the casters….

I busted the hinged lids off the little divided containers -with some success…. On some I had to cut a hinge, but the lids still fit on top, and if and when we do move and I need to transport everything I can just use some of those fabulous “h” rubber bands to hold everything secure….

So now I have a unit that holds all of my beads (I don’t like to buy more than a strand or two at a time as I get bored easily, so most beads fit in here)… And is organized…

And mobile….
And easily stashable (fits in the hall closet/linen closet…. Also tucks under my elevated kitchen bar area (43″ tall….Bisley unit is around 36″ I believe)….
Dust free…
Quiet….
and of course easy enough to use for a quick bead sort that I won’t put it off until I have a gallon bucket of loose beads (like now. *gulp*)….

It was delivered super fast- I ordered Monday night and got the call about delivery on Wednesday… Pretty awesome. And for the amount of space and comfort and peace of mind this creates, it was totally worth it, and no more expensive than the various other solutions I was looking at. Actually, as the drawers are such a great size, and not too deep, I wound up saving money and space…Yay!

I just need to pen some pretty labels for the drawers….

Oh and here is a picture of one of the drawers (with a freshly started small parts, tackle bin/thing, hence it has space to add more yippee!)….

My only cons about this purchase:  I was instantly aware upon unpacking that I have many more spaces in my studio and home for rolling steel units and I have a pretty clear idea of what drawer sizes I need and hey, add a sturdy top to these badboys and I have a nice packing table…. Woohoo!

Also- the drawers don’t have stops. *gasp* So I will have to rig some up… Boyo has been warned that the drawers are not to play with, and I told him a dramatic bedtime story about what would happen if a drawer was pulled too far…. It involved beads, the shortcomings of our vacuum, and the dynamics of hard round things on tile flooring and tender little foot-soles….

I’ll list some of the other options I looked at shortly…. Some cool things for storing for folks like me that are combining family and work and art and then taming them into a happy and less frustrated ball of goodness.

Spring box….

Spring box….

Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek

A lovely CleverGirl parcel for a dear friend and customer….

I always wrap the treasures I send out in this style… Typically, I do ship using padded envelopes… This box arrive the morning that I was wrapping these treats up, and I have quite the volume of easter basket grass that I am trying to use up…. So voila….

I make the sushi grass stickers myself (occasionally they are made by one of the boys…VERY occasionally)

The lovely paperclip flowers come from the brilliant Naomi at Art by Naomi . I have been buying these posie clips for awhile now, and I love working with Naomi. She has lots of cheerful treats in her shop, please be sure to check them out! (lots of good stuff for giftwrapping, scrapbooking, etc…)

Magic Hour.

Sunset

Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek

In another lifetime I worked with film and I am still obsessive about the glow of magic hour…

I try to bring that sort of light to my metalwork, at every opportunity. I love contrast. I love making, by hand and with only a couple of tools, thrones for vintage plastic bits… Glass is lovely as well, and occasionally I do work with glass, but I’m forever in love with the jewels of our grandmothers and bringing them back into the light…

I love dark metal and vintage Lucite in various degrees of translucence… This piece is a matte finish deep tangerine. In this setting, with this contrast, it actually reflects light and appears to be lit, just a bit, from behind…

It glows.

Just like the earth during the warm flirtation of the sun’s angle at magic hour….

Magic Hour will arrive shortly, in my shop.…

Spring has sprung…

Tree by TimothyAdam

Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek

Or at least it looks that way since I put a bunch of my earrings on the tree I ordered from TimothyAdamDesigns… Really cool steel piece, beautifully made… I put a bunch of earrings from my etsy shop on it and am more in love with it. Now go visit TimothyAdamDesigns…

Mixed Plate!

Yay!  My work was featured on Mixed Plate today!   Mixed Plate is a really wonderful resource… Lots of cool indie treats chosen by Miss Liana… Truly an honor…. Now what are you still doing here?!?!? Go visit! (p.s. I think a bot posted this post on Mixed Plate as a comment on the bit about my pieces…Anyone know anything about how this stuff works?)

The Cocktail and The Art.

Cocktail and Art.

Originally uploaded by CleverGirlBek

Ok…Not really a cocktail, and not the best way to start (or end) your day…. Or to be stuck in traffic. Which I wasn’t, but a couple of hours later and I was struck by the fear of traffic and red lights and my key jamming in the lock again…

But I was totally rockin’ the barium smoothie on the way to radiology this morning (chest, abdomen, pelvis CT)… I felt like such the commuter joining the rest of the world at outside of the house work…

But the novelty ended there as I was whooshed in and out of the CT machine and started to remember how *yawn* sleepy the contrast makes me (these days they inject it through an IV and a machine that totally looks like the lethal injection thing in the movies)….

So I’m trying to flush my system with lots of fluids and get some sleep… But lots of fluids also means lots of trips out of bed….

Hugs all around….

(ps the awesome orange tray is from bluebellbazaar on Etsy.com… it’s from a hardware store and the label says “stud nuts” I thought it both practical and funny….. These are all pieces in varying stages of completion… Typically I store my works in progress in their own little cubbies of unromantic plastic ice cube trays- as they are easily stackable and washable. and I can fit more pieces in the same area as this rather heavy and cool tray takes up…. Tray will be used for something else…Have not decided yet….Stud nuts perhaps….)