Spring Cleaning!

I spent an evening a few weeks ago going through all of my stock after a major gem purchase and weeded out two large bins full of beads, findings and buttons. I started listing them today after photographing and photo-editing the pictures. It's a lot of work listing things, something that I used to enjoy very much. As I was doing this I remembered how I came to own these beads and where I bought them, and what I was thinking of doing with them at the time. Some have been with me for a generation, but most are much more recent. Much of my "newer" stock when I first started on Etsy came from York Beads on West 38th Street, happily still there. Many of our sources in the Garment District for fabrics, notions and embellishments have vanished due to high rents. When the New York Times decided to expand to West 40th Street, many shops closed due to extreme rent hikes. One used to literally be able to shop at every store on both sides of the street, which saved a lot of time, even if the quality of the goods was inconsistent.

Here's a small sample of what is available starting today, and I will be a busy bee in he next few weeks listing more and more items. Happy looking and hopefully, shopping!

More Red Love

I have plenty of red left over from Valentine's Day in the shop, but when I saw these vintage filigree lucite pendants from The Original Bead, I had to buy some and make something. I just love the ornate, vaguely Spanish-feeling scroll design and its rich cherry-cranberry color, plus the fact that it's lightweight and doesn't make you crazy from the heaviness while wearing it. (I will also list one in olive soon) I had to use the nailhead beads from Mary Tafoya's shop that I blogged about a few weeks ago, that look like candy, or specifically, the Luden's cough drops that I practically lived on as a kid when I seemed to have bronchitis every few months. The wire-wrapping of the chain is what the cost of this piece is all about; a number of artists on Etsy have purchased these lovely pendants to make creations with, so if someone is interested in a really simple version, they're out there for the searching. I haven't seen any like mine; and it's fun to look around and see how people are using the same component differently. My friend Bek of Clevergirl makes hers with sterling silver. It's incredible how many components Bek and I have in common, considering that she's in Florida and I'm in NYC. We do totally different things with them, mainly because she's a metalsmith and I'm not.

Anyhow, I'm a fan of Gothic and these fill that slot nicely without being too scary.

Feels Like Fall

It's been September weather for virtually all of August - mild, in the 70s and low 80s F, and in the 60s at night. Anyone who knows me knows that I do not tolerate heat well, so summer is often a miserable time. I live on the top floor of my smallish apartment building, so on those dog days of summer, it can be unbearable. Anyway, enough about that, the weather this August has been glorious and I have been motivated to bring out the unsold autumn merch from last year as well as make some new pieces, which I did last night while watching Night 3 of the DNC.

The newest item is a bracelet chock full of all of my autumn-themed charms and some truly mouth-watering glass leaf beads. It's my favorite season and if I really let myself do it, I would decorate for Halloween all year long. Remember when orange wasn't a fashion color? Hell, it wasn't a color you saw anywhere except possibly children's clothing. Hard to believe now, when it's everywhere, but there was once a time when orange and bright green could not be found in the stores. Whenever I did a show that required a spectrum rainbow, it was tough, as orange and green clothing was never in the stores and had to be made.

I remember when Banana Republic first featured orange clothes, and rushed in to buy a boiled wool sweater and soft silk & wool scarf in that delicious color. Even though I grew up with an orange 70's kitchen, with severely orange formica counters, which you'd think would have put me off the color forever, with dark brown wood cabinets with textured orange glass windows, I have always loved the color and have to stop myself from buying orange and more orange come fall.