Belated Happy Holidays!

[misora]

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and a Happy New Year's Eve last night. J and I celebrated with champagne, friends and lots and lots of kids - which sparked several late-night discussions of "are we ready for it?" and "such a big commitment" but ultimately ended in "okay, let's do this." haha. Onward!!

Our Christmas haul was a little lighter this year, but we both still got things we wanted, and everyone was happy. Lots of good meals were made, including cakes and cookies of the seasonal variety (I'll have to post my oatmeal-cranberry recipe at some point), and a gym membership was fully utilized to the utmost extent.

Lastly, something I've been busy with while avoiding writing - not sure why, kinda blocked in that area - I've gone crazy with artisan jewelry lately, and these are a couple of my results.



I made these two pairs (plus two additional ones that I forgot to take pictures of) for J's sisters as Christmas presents.





It's so much fun, and so therapeutic/relaxing to do wire work, that I'm actually considering opening up an Etsy store to sell some of the pieces that I don't want to keep.

Now, off to make some chandelier earrings and a freshwater pearl necklace. ^^

Comments

[alexb49.livejournal.com]

Very pretty! I've thought about bead work before but I run out of times to do things.

[misora.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's a very very time-consuming hobby, so I can see why you would. I find it very relaxing to work with my hands, though, and once I start on one piece I get on a roll and always want to do a few more, so I can't stop. Plus there's a beading store near me that offers wire-wrapping and design classes, and I think I'm going to go have to sate my curiosity with those.

But you've been more than prolific lately with writing, so I don't think you should take it up, just yet. :) Ha!

[alexb49.livejournal.com]

bah, I can write stuff while traveling. This kind of stuff however...

People get a little punchy if you whip out small tools on airplanes these days.

[misora.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't suggest doing it on an airplane. I doubt you'd be able to bring wire cutters with you these days. :/

Jewelry-making demands at least a few hours a day of sitting down with sharp pliers and having all of your wares spread out before you like a buffet. Definitely not something that's easy to do on the go. ^^

[alexb49.livejournal.com]

even at home I would probably need to work on that in a vacuum sealed room. I imagine most people don't like jewelry with dog hair wedged in it.

[dddkiddd.livejournal.com]

wrap crystals with wires :)

[misora.livejournal.com]

Yep! ^^ I plan to do more wire-wrapping, and possibly look into getting a little hammer so I can do some sterling silver/copper wire hammering and flatten it into shapes and stuff to connect with jewels and beads. I'll have to post my results when I get around to it.

Everyone needs their creative outlets, eh? ^.~

[miss-sassy.livejournal.com]

I love making jewelry. I haven't really delved into wire-working, but I'd like to give it a try sometime. I have lots of pretty beads and charms and elastic cord for simple bracelets. It's a fun, relatively inexpensive hobby. I wish I could do it more often.

[misora.livejournal.com]

I could never really get into bead stringing by and of itself, but I'd love to learn sometime in the context of wire jewelry-making. I see a lot of beading on wire jewelry pieces that just floors me with how pretty it looks.

I fell in love with wire wrapping mostly because I love metals. ^^ There's just something so shiny about sterling silver and copper. Gold-filled wire is more expensive but it's worth it compared to gold-plated. I want to delve into hammering and possibly soldering metal, too - there just seems to be so many things you could do with those tools, and I'd love to make metallic-ish/steampunk/cyberpunk-style jewelry. ^^

[miss-sassy.livejournal.com]

Metal-working seems incredibly interesting. It's regretful that with the track I'm on now in college, I won't have time to just take a jewelry class for the hell of it. Maybe I'll get lucky and find myself a couple of credits short somewhere and have time, but if my schedule progresses as I think it will, I'm outta luck >_<

The earrings you made are beautiful! I especially like the silver/black pair. I'd buy stuff of your Etsy if you had one!

[misora.livejournal.com]

Thank you!! :) I'll have to remake those, they were really pretty. I use nothing but Swarovski when it comes to crystals, and the store I get them from has some really beautiful colors. I'll let you know when I have an Etsy store...heck I might just give you a huge discount. ^.~

It's hard to find the time for it when you're in school. Maybe during the summer or on a break would be better?

[(Anonymous)]

Goodness, you're a tough one for using only Swarovski! I always want to use them, but unless I find them on sale, there's no way I can justify picking them up. I've found a couple little packages of clear ones, which I've used very sparingly as I have so few, but they're beautiful.

lol I am so down with discounts :p

I would take a class outside of school, but I can't see taking a class that I wouldn't get credit for, you know? In any case, I don't think financial aid would cover it because it wouldn't count towards my degree (I don't think so, anyways). If financial aid won't cover it, I can't afford it :( I could take one during the summer at a place where the prices are lower, but I don't know where I'd start looking for a place and money would still be an issue, as I am not working. I should keep my eyes peeled, though.

[miss-sassy.livejournal.com]

Darn! Why am I anonymous?

That was me, heh.

[misora.livejournal.com]

Pssst, I'll tell you a secret - you can get great deals on Swarovski crystals on ebay. Normally they're quite expensive...$0.20/per 4mm bicone at my local beading store, I believe. But on ebay you can get HUGE lots of them - 100pc and 200pc - for a fraction of the total cost. :D

[miss-sassy.livejournal.com]

I just saw this today because the original comment was anon, but I'll have to keep ebay in mind! Thanks for the tip :D You're the greatest ^_^

[darkelf19.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous!

[misora.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

[singingaway.livejournal.com]

Those earrings are very pretty <3

[misora.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you like them!

If I do end up starting an Etsy shop, I will give all of my LJ friends HUGE discounts. Like, 90% off. XD

[singingaway.livejournal.com]

That would be awesome!

[(Anonymous)]

How do you make a pearl necklace? XD

[misora.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I don't need one from you - I can make my own, now. ;)