TabMaille

Sarah has created a great look with these recycled beverage tabs.

The 'scales' for these purses came from the quasi evil yet environmentally conscientious Soda Dragon. In a daring venture Sarah has struck a bargain with this horrid inflictor of calories and sugar. Risking life and limb she entered its cooler offering a way for it to recycle its ever mounting sheded scales. In gratitude the Soda Dragon has agreed to lessen its infliction of calories and sugars upon the fine people of the land.

Well that is my take on it anyway ;)




Here is the "real" story from Sara's Shop...

"My pop tab purses and accessories are made from 100% post-consumer aluminum beverage can tabs that have been thoroughly washed prior to assembly. I use other recycled materials when possible but new materials when necessary to ensure quality and durability."


"My smallest size purse (excluding the coin purse) is composed of over 400 post-consumer recycled aluminum beverage can pull tabs, which are purchased from a local recycling facility. Various charities, such as the Ronald McDonald house, collect the tabs and sell them to the facility as a fundraiser."






"After being double-washed in antibacterial soap and sorted for uniformity, the tabs are bound together to form a chainmail-type mesh, and a purse is born. I have five standard styles, but often make one-of-a-kind purses that are designed as I go along."

Not much to say today so here are some pictures of pretty things :)
The 'stone' in this ring is Blue Paua Shell. The ring is sterling silver with a half round band for comfort.

Anam Ogham Necklace
Anam is Irish Gaelic for Soul. This one was hand cut in copper. That is one of my gargoyle friends peeking out in the background.

Encircled Moon Phase Necklace.
So often in moon phase jewelry the new moon is left out. I feel the new moon is an important phase as well so made sure to include it when working up this design. It is also hand cut in copper. This is also the first of the smaller size for this design at 1" rather than 2".

Hammered Ring with a Twist
This design was actually one of my happy accidents. I was making sterling braided rings out of 16 gauge wire and mis-measured when cutting the stock wire into 3 equal parts for braiding. I ended up with one piece that was much shorter than the other two. So having 2 pieces of 4 inch wire I thought what would happen if I twisted them together, made a ring, and hammered it out. Well this was the result. I am very pleased with it and have continued making them on purpose.

Well I guess I had more to say than I thought!

Newest additions to the growing list...

Yesterday was a very productive day. I finished off and sent out 3 Ogham pendants, 2 which are entirely new for my line, and the chain mail necktie I mentioned earlier.

Gaol Buan (Unfailing Love)
This started as a custom piece. She liked both the "permanent" and "love" pendant but were looking for something to mean unconditional love. Since the word for unconditional in Gaelic is too long for a pendant she stayed with permanent (Buan) for its many meanings.
This one gave me a bit of a headache in the translating and figuring out which word should be written first. Though Gaelic is used in both Ireland and Scotland there are differences in the meanings of words. For example Goal in Scottish Gaelic translates as love, fondness, a beloved object; in Irish Gaelic Goal translates as relation, relative. In Scottish Gaelic Buan means lasting, durable, long and in Irish Gaelic Buan means lasting, permanent, (effort) sustained, unfailing. With all of those meanings I was able to create a pendant that was perfect for what she wanted and a great new design for my line! This one was cut in Sterling Silver

Coisricthe (Holy)
Also a custom piece this one has a much shorter story but is beautiful none the less. It is Irish Gaelic and simply means Holy. It was cut in copper.

Firinn (Truth)
This was already in my stock of words but is one of my favorites because of a little philosophical quirk. In the original Ogham alphabet there is no letter F so the F had to be phonetically approximated with the letter V. It is a pendant, that to me, demonstrates the slippery nature of truth when filtered through our perseption.

I do not have the Ogham necklaces on my website yet but as I finish pieces I have been listing them for sale at http://www.unicornsgarden.etsy.com

Gold Chain Mail Necktie
This is the aforementioned gold necktie I was working on. The picture is a bit washed out on my screen as true colors are so hard to capture and adjust but it gives a good idea of the gorgeous color. The rings are actually a bit darker and although they are anodized gold there is a silver sheen to them in certain light from the aluminum shining through the anodizing. I will definitely be ordering more links in this color!

Haven't disappeared, just been working

Its been a busy odd week so far. I spent the weekend working on orders and stock while taking breaks playing Tomb Raider Underworld. I have actually managed to not get completely sucked into the game! Beside the work I had 2 old friends from high school contact me. It is really cool to catch up with people I haven't talked to since about 1996!

Most of what I have been working on has not been finished but I do have a few finished photos to share today...
I had a custom order for 5 Ogham pendants.
Left to right they are: Siachari , Dreoilin, Sionnach, Deglan, and Ruadh.

Other than those I have been cutting some of the Ogham pieces I prepared for stock along with some orders and a chain mail necktie. The necktie is a beautiful gold, I will have to post pictures of it when it is finished.




I also managed to slip in 2 bear totem pieces.

I feel like sharing...

...the beautiful work of an Etsy West Michigan team member.
Her shop is julie and co. japanese temari.

Temari is the ancient Japanese folk art of silk embroidered thread balls, originally made by noble women with silken threads pulled from old kimonos. Used originally for child's play, today the art of temari is becoming more regarded around the world.





These are only a few of the amazing temari Julie makes. Her shop has a wide variety of colors and designs, all of which are beautiful!

Motivated

This past weekend was one of organization and planning. Every year for the past 5 years I have resolved to start working on stock for the Renaissance Fair season before April. This year I have finally succeeded!

The first fair we will be at is Mayfaire Renaissance Festival in Marshall MI. It is a two weekend fair; May 23, 24, 25 & 30, 31 2009. In one light it looks far off but when thinking about all that needs to be done it is just around the corner.

In January I began work on my stock of Dragon Tear Necklaces. They have yet to be epoxied and ribbons put on them but that part doesn't take too long.

Yesterday I started on creating two full sets of Ogham Pendants, that is 32 words per set, along with the 5 custom pieces I am working on. One set will be put aside for faire and the other listed in my Etsy shop as they are completed. Looking at the photo I have a lot of work ahead of me! Thankfully I enjoy the work :)


I even managed to slip in two listings today:

Simply Garnet and Sterling Silver Ring
This ring features an oval Almandine Pyropie Garnet set in sterling silver. Simple yet beautiful.

Braided Fairy Vine Necklace 2

Hand braided sterling silver on a black leather necklace cord. The cord closes with a sterling spring clasp.