happy halloween !

Happy Halloween everyone!

I made a couple pairs of earrings this weekend. I think I'm slowly entering the denial stage stage where I refuse to acknowledge that my quarter is ending and that I have a million and three things to do. You know when you can see doom coming and you just want to stick your head in the sand and ignore it?

I think that is what I'm doing.

 Also, I'm going through a creative slump! It takes me forever to make a pair... and it's not the physical creation, it's the design that takes half an hour :( So the first earring will take an hour, the subsequent twin will take 2 minutes.

packages and new earrings!

I got a new package of mother of pearl beads come in today~ I'm (not so) patiently waiting for all my beads to come in. Is it just me who gets excited for mail?

more birds, I can't get enough of them:

Some small roses:

large leaves, these are actually a lot bigger than I thought they were going to be:

earring tutorial in 10 easy steps

Hello everyone!

It's been awhile since I've made a tutorial so I decided to make one today. I'm going to teach you how to make this pretty pair:

some friday night creations

one

just some beads

I love these rectangle/square beads.

i'm addicted

to pretty cups and dishes!

Every time I see a dainty piece of china I don't think, wow, that would look great in my kitchen, I think, wow, my earrings would look SO good in that. Have you ever walked into Anthropologie and kind of felt like stabbing yourself in the eyes because while everything is sosososo cute they are sosososo overpriced? Well that was me yesterday at the mall. Pretty overload. 

Honestly my style is really different than the earrings I make. I can't even wear half of them because they're too ... pastel for me. I love the colors and the combinations but I live in neutral clothing. I'm the walking poster child for the Gap--lots of basics, layering and black. Anthropologie is not really my scene, but man the wares are great!

My roommates and I ended up going to TJ Maxx and I found myself scouring the housewares section. I love TJ Maxx, haha as long as I take my time I usually find something I love. 

(By the way, they have tons of great earring racks, I was really surprised. Good selection.)

I found this great tiered.... thing.

It's huge.

finally, earrings ...

I finally decided to just suck it up and photograph some earrings. I don't know how far to go back in time though, so I ended up just photographing my most recent ones.

My bed is pressed up against my window, so I just pulled up the blinds and photographed on top of my black jersey sheets. I tore a sheet of stationary from a set I picked up in Korea and poked two holes in them with a stud. Fancy, I know (:

I didn't have a macro lens: the photographs with the black showing are the 'original' photos, the ones without are cropped. These aren't color corrected, just resized.

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Without further ado...

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I did a bead trade with HQCD's Lisa and she sent me these lovely brown faceted beads from Swarovski:

I don't wear a lot of brown, but these are just too pretty.

brown swarovski beads, bronze bow connectors, MOP hearts

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This is a strange pair and adventurous pair. They move well.

coral roses, bronze elements, MOP hearts, swarovski 4mm bicone

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These are my favorite. They're very simple, and remind me of spring.

MOP birds, pink coral roses, glass beads.

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These are cute and simple.

MOP leaves, coral roses, swarovski 4mm bicones, brass elements.

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I bought these awesome cubic zirconia gems. They're cone shaped, and amazingly shiny. They're hard to pair things with because they are just too... bling-bling? LOL.

Pink faceted squares, silver textured bows, 4mm bicones, cubic zirconia crystals

Pictures don't do them justice : (

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They're on this pair too:

gold leaves, pink coral beads, cubic zirconia crystals

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These look more... vintage? to me. I love the color combination.

brass elements, pink coral roses, teal leaves

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These are actually reconstructed. Once in awhile I go through my collection and take apart earrings I don't really wear/like. These had green rondelles on them. I switched them out for pink ones and added silver chains and petite hooks, plus the crystal hanging off the bottom.

Always be open to change!

- A

the first batch of studs...

My first batch of cabochons came in Saturday~

I was so excited! They're gorgeous. I have a few repeats of colors that I plan on gifting or giving away as freebies in (future) orders. Aren't they precious?

I glued them on silver backs with super strong E6000. The smell started giving me a headache. I definitely need to be in a well ventilated room while crafting these.

how do you organize your jewelry?

I love looking at pictures of different earring racks/how people organize their jewelry.

For my birthday, one of my roommates bought me this cool plate from a thrift store and I decided to use it as a stud holder. Before I just had all of my studs thrown into this small yellow compartment. It took me forever to fish out a pair. It was such a multicolored mess. Not pretty to look at.

So I poured everything out and decided it was time to get organized!

I cut up postcards into small rectangles and pierced holes into them with a tack on top of a corkboard. It's easy--just lay the pieces on top of something porous (for me it was a board I usually tack important notes on) and use the thumbnail to punch two holes.

well, hello there...

It's been a while.

I'm back at university now! It's been ages since I've posted. My summer was amazing, great experiences, and I met so many interesting people. I totally recommend interning as soon as possible. At my school they tell  us to start junior/senior year, but I started ASAP and found internships for my first and second year summers. You won't regret it. If anyone has questions about internships or NASA, I'll be happy to answer them (:

Anyway, lately I've been thrifting a lot. There is no shame in vintage, especially for so cheap! I went to a   garage sale and found these lovelies for a dollar a piece: