Custom Easter Order

Last week I was asked by Melanie to make three Bible verse bookmarks for her teenage daughers for Easter. I am pleased with the way turned out and even better, Melanie was thrilled.

Rustic Earrings

I love how these earrings turned out. I made simple hoops out of copper wire and then hammered it to give them some texture. I decided to oxidize them instead of leaving the copper shiny. I gave them a quick dunk in liver of sulphur and this is how they came out. They remind me of something rustic that you might find in an old barn. I'm going to make myself a pair and I am hoping to duplicate the patina exactly.

These are available in my Etsy store

My Helper

This is Stormy. She loves to help me when I use the printer. By help I mean that she likes to pounce on the paper as it gets fed into the printer. She also likes to grab the paper and help it out of the printer. Stormy also can flip open the printer cover where the ink goes.

I try to print when she is sleeping, but as you may know, cats have very good hearing and I have a very loud printer. When the printer starts Stormy comes flying from wherever she is in the house, slides across the desk, sending papers scattering and parks herself right in front of the printer. Gone are the days of hitting the print button and going off to do something else while the printer does its magic. Now the printer needs to be babysat unless you don’t mind coming back to a shredded document.

Good thing she is a lovable, funny and dopey pile of mush or she would have been hung up by her ears long ago.

Great Information For Etsians

If you want a wealth of information about any question you ever had about using Etsy, you must check out this blog from Loose Wire Studio. And while you're at it, why don't you check out her shop too!

I Love Etsy

I listed this new bookmark on my Morning Sky Creations Etsy shop yesterday. It's made from decoupaging onto a painted 1 inch square wooden tile and then adding a cotton cord and glass beads. Both sides of the tile are the same.

I thought of using patterned papers like I use for my Bible verse bookmarks, but I was afraid that the heart would get lost in a pattern.

I have it priced at $7.50 since the decoupaging takes time. I wait 2 hours between each coat and I do both sides, so even though it's only a few minutes of work, it actually takes all day.

I would love to hear any opinions about paper choice and my price. Thanks for any input.

Plugboard

I have added a Plugboard to my blog. Do you plug? A plugboard is a place where other websites can add a plug. A plug is a small banner (in my case 88x31 pixels) advertising your blog, website, Etsy shop, etc. When all the spaces are filled up and a new plug is added, one of the older plugs drops off. You can then come back and add your plug back in.

You can find plugboards to add your plug to by doing a Google search. I only add mine to ones that are family friendly and don't require a link on my website back to their site. Since my plug is for my Etsy shop that would be impossible for me to do.

You can make your own plug using a photo editing program or you can search Etsy for sellers that will make a plug for you.

If you would like to add a plugboard to your blog or website you can create one at http://www.plugme.net .

Have fun!

Lunar Eclipse - Northern NJ 9:45 PM

Last night, at about 9:45, my phone rang. This is very unusual for my house. It was my neighbor that saw our lights on and gave us a call to tell us to go outside and check out the lunar eclipse. I'm glad she did - it was awesome to see. Sorry that the photos aren't great, but it's the best I could do with my little digital camera.

A Byzantine Variation

Byzantine is one of the most well known chainmaille weaves. It is the first one that a lot of people learn when they decide to give chainmaille a try. Byzantine is used for necklaces, bracelets, earrings and even key fobs. It is also easy to make variations of byzantine. You can do as I have done and add small byzantine sections to the main weave. You can also weave 2 seperate lengths and then join them together with smaller sections. Byzantine is one of those weaves that you can take wherever your imagination leads you.

Ice Day

No school for my kids today. What started as snow yesterday turned to freezing rain overnight. This is how it looks out my window at 1:00 in the afternoon.

The teenager slept until 11:30 AM and the 12 year old has been watching TV and playing video games. I’ve been on the computer adding a Plugboard to my blog. Feel free to add a plug.

It’s getting warmer so once it gets slushy enough I’ll have to get everyone out in the rain shoveling and see if I can free my car.

I HATE WINTER!

My Drilling Jig

When I started making my Bible Verse Bookmarks I drilled a hole through the top of the wood tile to have a place to attach the cord. It looked nice, but I thought that it would look even nicer if I could drill through the length of the tile. This would allow me to add beads to the ends as well as not having to worry about the type placement.
So, I put my tile in a vice and got out my Dremel. I tried to drill straight through, but being as the tiles are only ¼ inch thick I didn’t have much success.





This is what my husband came up with for me. It allows me to hold the tile flat and position the Dremel in just the right place. Now I am able to get a nice hole through the length and be more creative with my bookmarks!