Fans Album!

If you've bought a piece from me and would like to be included in my 'fans' album on Facebook, please send me a photo of you wearing your lovelies! I will be giving out 20% off the next item to those who do! flylikehermes@yahoo.com is the email to send pictures to!

I'd prefer a picture where I can see your smiling face :)

New Items and a view into my work station!

I've been a busy busy girl, and luckily so has my boyfriend. He put together the bed above my desk, then put the lights on attached to the bottom of the bunk bed. Now my work station is bright no matter the time of day!

See all those wonderful little gray organizers? Those save me tons of time looking for things. I'm a maniac when it comes to organizing, and could spend hours upon hours reorganizing things just for the heck of it.You can't see it really, but on the right under neath the bed is a rack attached to the wall; that's where I hang my rolls of ribbon, chain, and wire! So handy. The chair is a reclaimed dining room chair from a set my Mother was going to throw out. I spray painted it purple (one of my favorite colors) and it's been mine ever since. On the left of the desk is a wooden organizer for all my pliers, snippers, mandrels, wire straighteners, bead reamers and other tools. Again, very handy for my organized self. I love my work station, even if it is PACKED!

Garnet Beauty

One of my newest pieces, incorporating an upcycled belt buckle for the center piece and gorgeous 4mm garnet beads for the necklace itself. I love how vintage it is and how intricate the belt buckle was!

Persephone's Pearls

The idea for these earrings came to while I was watching the movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightening Thief. This was actually the start of my Olympians series, and I have finally found the right component to make these earrings the way I wanted! They're made from green blue tiger's eye, delicate sterling silver chain, and a sterling silver fish hook. I love how the tiger's eye shimmers and changes in the light!

This is a HUGE opalite briolette that I bought specifically for a custom order. The buyer wanted a piece that reminded her of 'thorns and roses' and was made with an opalite piece. This piece ended up being my very first complicated wire wrapped piece, and I believe it came out pretty well. I'm going to be practicing more and learning new techniques and keep expanding my horizons on this though.

This is a little history: When I first started flylikehermes, this little guy was going to be my logo! I drew him and colored him and was going to use him foreverything. Then I realized that while the name is flylikehermes, the designs are much more adult than my drawing. My current logo was made by my best friend, Cassie Resendez. She makes logos, designs banners and avatars, and is brilliant with color, shape and design.

This is the design she made for me! :)

I love love LOVE the customized f she made, the little wing on the left was my idea, and Cassie made it perfect! If you're interested in getting a custom logo or design, go see her at her Etsy.

I love Spring, and the weather is getting better and better. I'm riding my bike to work all the time now. What are you doing now that it's spring?

More beautiful pieces for spring!

I've been a busy busy girl.
Jacob finished putting the bunk bed together over my work desk, and put the lights up over the desk so that I have fantastic lighting now. It's amazing, and I'm so happy.

Here are some of the pieces I've made this week!

Flower Fairy Necklace

Aphrodite Earrings

I am so glad spring is here! It's amazing because I can take photos at 7pm, and the light is still great!

Aphrodite- Goddes of love, beauty and sexuality

Another Olympian, this time in garnets and copper.

Aphrodite

More Olympians!

Meet Zeus in necklace form, and Hemera!

 

Zeus's Bolt

  

Hemera 

The Olympians

New Series of gorgeous jeweled neck, ear and wrist beauties coming up!
Here's the first one!

Galene- Goddess of the calm seas

It's my Birthday and I'll blog if I want to

So, I'm 25 as of 8:30 pm tonight...officially.
That is a quarter of a Century folks. If I live to be 100, my life is officially 1/4 over...

And I'm pretty excited about that. I'm past the awkward teenage years (even though the acne occasionally rears it's ugly head once again), and into the fun mid-20s where life is all bridal showers, careers and babies...

Wait what?

Most of my friends aren't even out of college, but friends online in other states are in the process of getting married in the next year and looking to have kids and buy houses, and and and...I'm feeling a bit left behind, but I think I've got it figured out.

When I was 16, I thought by the time I was 26 I'd have a house with the white picket fence and dogs playing in the yard, a great career in animation, be married to the love of my life and have my first kid on the way.

Yeahhhh that's not happening. But you know what? I'm not really dissapointed. I love my job, I love my house, I love my boyfriend, and I'm loving being free enough to go on the adventures I want to go on and see the sights I want to see before settling down and having kids.

I also love my crafting. I've been dedicating a ton of time recently to making jewelry, and haven't been posting anything (bad bad me). I'm getting ready for a show in April that a local coffee house is holding. They've invited me to have a showcase there filled with jewelry! How awesome is that huh? So the boyfriend and I are in the process of building the case that the jewelry will go in, and once it's done I'll post pictures!

For now, I leave you with some cake!

And the winner is...

Sandy!

Thank you to everyone who became part of my contest! It's been really amazing to talk to new people and be featured in your blogs. Thank you all so much! If you were part of my contest, even if you didn't win, you get a coupon for my store, 20% off any one item :) Just message me with 'contest' when you go to check out and I'll refund you through paypal!

As for the winner, Sandy, go ahead and leave me a comment on here, or send me a convo on Etsy about what you'd like for your prize! I'm excited to make something custom just for you!

And in other news, I sold two pairs of earrings like the ones above last week! People seem to love these, so expect to see more in the shop soon :)

One more Day to join the contest!

Jump in and join, only thing to gain is free jewelry!

Valentine's Jewelry up on Etsy!

Go see more!

I've made special items just for Valentine's Day, for you or a loved one! And remember, contest ends this Saturday at Midnight!

Less than a week until the contest is over!

Valentine's Day Contest!
Only one more week until the contest is closed!
To enter there are only three steps:

1. You can enter by either commenting on this blog, my Facebook page, or by convo-ing me on ETSY.
2. When you've contacted me, please let me know who your favorite Jewelry Company, Designer, etc,. is so that I can see what your favorite style is (and gain inspiration myself!).
3. Spread the word! Tell a friend, family member, co-worker about my Etsy page, or post about me in your blog, on your facebook, twitter about me, etc,. Just get the word out and let me know what you did!

The winner will be randomly choosen (from a hat!) in 2 weeks (February 14th, Valentine's Day!), and I will post the winner's name on here.

What will you win? Your choice of a necklace, bracelet or pair of earrings make especially for you by me! This will be a custom piece, made just for you! It can match a dress you own, emulate a piece you've loved forever by don't own, or simply be a surprise that I make for you!

So get the word out, and good luck!

100 Hearts!

This morning I woke up, and while it's my dear J's birthday, it felt like much any other day to me.
Then I looked at my Etsy and realized I have 100 shop hearts.

100!

I'm so amazed and happy with this revelation I've decided to share my joy. My shop is offering a special gift to anyone who makes a purchase over $15! A surprise gift made just for you!

Today is a great day, even if it is slightly dreary outside. Here's my favorite new piece of art I've made, which will be posted on Etsy soon enough :)

Contest!

I've decided to get the ball rolling in February with a V-day contest!

When you enter there are only three steps:

1. You can enter by either commenting on this blog, my Facebook page, or by convo-ing me on ETSY. 
2. When you've contacted me, please let me know who your favorite Jewelry Company, Designer, etc,. is so that I can see what your favorite style is (and gain inspiration myself!).
3. Spread the word! Tell a friend, family member, co-worker about my Etsy page, or post about me in your blog, on your facebook, twitter about me, etc,. Just get the word out and let me know what you did!

The winner will be randomly choosen (from a hat!) in 2 weeks (February 14th, Valentine's Day!), and I will post the winner's name on here.

What will you win? Your choice of a necklace, bracelet or pair of earrings make especially for you by me! This will be a custom piece, made just for you! It can match a dress you own, emulate a piece you've loved forever by don't own, or simply be a surprise that I make for you!

So get the word out, and good luck! (that beautiful boy to the below is my kitty Simon!)

Long Time No Post

I've been a bit busy...that's an understatement actually, I've been incredibly busy!
I finally moved into my new house, so I have a wonderful craft room that I've been filling to the brim with all my crafty things from my old house's tiny closet. Isn't it funny how no matter how much space you have, your crafts seem to expand to fill said space? Yeah, I'm having that problem...Though it's both a blessing and a curse :)

I am posting more and more items by the week, and starting to really get into making more intricate things. I'm especially excited to be starting metal and stamping work in the next month or so. Antiquing metals and working with solder is fascinating to me. I'm so inspired by work that is intricate and using things like that.
These wedding bands below are by Etsy artist fabuluster. The duo who create these rings are just amazing. Having an original idea like that just makes me so in awe. Anyway, enough geeking.

Here's a picture of one of my newest pieces, which I fondly like to call Parijat, the coral Princess.. I'm experimenting with new textures, colors and 'flavors' in jewelry, so everything in my Etsy is a bit...eclectic right now to say the least.
A lot of people I've noticed have a cohesive theme going on with their shops. I'm not sure if I'll ever have that, but I'm not sure I'd want to either. I really enjoy exploring new ideas and ways to make beautiful wearable art.

There's more new items at my Etsy, so feel free to browse and offer your opinions on them, I love feedback, and constructive criticism!

Hope you have a fabulous start to February coming up here soon!

Sundays are the best, until around 4pm

That's when you realize that it'll be Monday all too soon. Alas, Mondays are not as fun as Sundays....I have less time for Etsy!

Posted a few new items up on Etsy over the weekend, and am pretty happy with how they turned out. The earrings on the right are one of the items I posted ust recently. They're fun and gorgeous and really elegant.

On a more personal note, the second bank signed on the contract for my house, so if all goes according to plan, I should have a house by October 30th! I'm so excited. I'll have my very own craft room, complete with a work desk and closet to store everything. Much better than working on a table where I have to clean everything up whenever we have company.

The Northern California Renaissance Faire in 2009 has been fun so far. I went for the 2nd weekend, and will be going back for the 5th and 6th! I'm planning on finding a cloak and two new skirts before I go back.

From 2008's Ren Faire. Me at the garland booth with Ahnah, one of the garland employee's munchkins.

New Items Up

I went on a jewelry making FRENZY this weekend, and made something like 10 new items. Posted five of them online on Etsy, go see!

I really like how this one in particular came out.

The green glass glows very effectively in the sunlight. It was a rainy day unforunately, so the lighting for the photographs wasn't exactly what I wanted...but it still came out well if I do say so myself.

Sent off 3 items on Thursday, and 2 of the people have contacted me to say they not only got their items, but love them! I'm so excited that my skills are making people happy.

I would like to point the spotlight on another Etsian for a moment.

Neatothings has a really awesome shop, and I've gone there several times for supplies, and just to look around! My current favorite item from that shop is the Megadestash Kit, which is just FULL of goodies. Go have a look!

The above kit was used to make these earrings, which my entire family raved about. I'm going to have to make more, I think my sister's friend is going to snatch these up before anyone on Etsy has the chance!

It's fall, so I'm going to start making crocheted items soon. I'm thinking I'm going to focus on hats and scarves and little fingerless gloves, as I love them so much myself. I have over 30 scarves and 10+ hats at home, but no fingerless gloves! Going to have to make a bunch, and then save at least one pair for myself :)

I love this design on Etsy by Etsyian LoveFuzz! How cute is that beanie?

Trades Galore

I'm working on a trade with Idelissa (make up for me from her, and a bracelet like the one in my last post for her daughter!) this weekend, and tonight just made another trade!

This one is with themermaidsbraid on Etsy. She is a Mother who takes the time from her adorable kids to handspin wool, knit beautiful hats, and generally be crafty. Take the time to pop over to her shop and view the beautiful yarn that is there!

We traded yarn for some items that were on my shop, that are now gone (as technically, they were sold!). That makes 4 'sales' for me!
Here are the two skeins of yarn that I'll be getting, and hopefully be making some gorgeous items out of!

This wool is a gorgeous blueberry color, and I'm sure it'll make a beautiful scarf, or maybe even a pair of hand warmers!


The next wool is so pretty, and handspun with two different kinds of fiber; a vintage purple thread and a white satin viscose.

I'm sure both yarns are going to make lovely items, and I'll more than likely return to Etsy to sell them!

Alright off to bed with me, incredibly tired, even though it's only midnight....how strange!

Featured Etsyian!

I was the featured Etsyian on Elan Vital Anthology's blog this week!

So exciting to be working on my craft, and networking, and making friends all at the same time.

I received some sample makeup packets from Idelissa, another Etsyian. The makeup is super soft, light, and completely matte, which is perfect for me because of my oily skin! I am incredibly light skinned, so her 'fair' shade is perfect for me. She's going to mix up a custom batch of Fair makeup for oily skin, and I'm going to look awesome!

This weekend's plans:

Ship out Elaine's Bracelet, start working on more natural jewelry with seaglass and shells as the focal pieces, get the S key fixed on my keyboard (I have to pound on it to get it to function!), and invest in some clear resin to make pendants out of the fabric pieces I mentioned in my last entry.

I'm excited for this labor day weekend, what about you?

Creative Titles

During a critique of my shop today, someone suggested I use creative titles for my items....soooo I did. I'm not so sure about them, but I'll leave them up for now. Why not?
Added some new items over the weekend, and getting ready to start producing more unique items based in nature (shells, seaglass) as I have an abundance of beautiful materials that should be made into wearable art!

Also received the 3 printed fabric piece from PhoebeDea!
They're so lovely!

Isn't that gorgeous?

I'm going to go to TAP plastics and get some resin in the next week to turn these prints into beautiful pendants and earrings! So excited!

Sunny Thursdays

"Thank you so much! Love them and love the card. You are so talented! Glad to be the first of many sales!" ~cre8iveoutlet

My first etsy sale, and my first buyer feedback. Hurray for positive feedback :)

I am looking forward to this weekend, hopefully tomorrow the house I bought will be signed for and we can start the inspection process. It will be long, annoying, and expensive, but in the end, I'll have a wonderful house to call my own!
There's even a room that's going to be dedicated specifically to my wardrobe and my crafts! (plus a bunk bed for guests!)

Today's weather is sunny and warm, and I'm feeling it all over. I'm going to go home and make some cheerful bright jewelry to post, I think :)

The following piece is credited to ElanVitalAnthalogy, a fellow etsian, who introduced me to blogger in the first place. Isn't the work beautiful?! It's a print from her gallery, go look!