Halloween teaser with skull and spiders

This one's really just a teaser.
I've been collecting various spider charms & pendants & am almost ready to start posting them for Halloween.
Meanwhile, I was redoing some pics of this skull, and he not only got in with the spiders, but Greta, my monkey mascot (made by Laura Bartlett of ChatNoirStudios on etsy) decided she needed to play too.  So here are a couple of quick pics.

FWIW, there's also a new BIG bat & a really nice small owl (plus more owl assortments  coming, and I'm also collecting bees (honeybees, bumblebees) to list shortly.  Stay tuned!

Ammonite fossils again, this time with dragons

You may remember my fascination with ammonite fossils, those amazing Fibonacci spirals aged from roughly 66 to 300,000 years (I hope I remember that correctly!)

Well, I've been making pendants and earrings with them, most recently in bronze-toned owl frames, but I had sold all my owl earrings and had no more ammonites of the right size and thinness to make more!  What to do?

Well, I'd thought about ammonites with dragons, and had some slightly smaller ammonites and dragon charms I thought might work, so here's what happened:

First I had to set up a supply tray, in this case a shoebox lid, with all the tools, equipment, and pieces I'd need.

And in a spot next to the storage drawers, my coffee in its beautiful cup, made by Joelene, who lives not far from us and whose etsy shop is  PotterybyJoelene .

Then I looked at the available ammonites, which happened to be heat-sealed in clear plastic, picked a few that looked possible, and held my dragon charms up to check the fit. 

Ah, but those dragon charms have already been altered to accept the ammonites: here's what had to happen first.

bX-wnrswiFirst, the dragons in their original form.
Notice that I'm now using a smaller and less cluttered work tray, which I can even set on the supply tray to keep everything close at hand.

Next, cutting the interior portion of the tails.  I'm not sure whether you can see that this takes 4 cuts, and that they're not flimsy joins.  The one-winged dragon in the pic is what happens if I hold the piece the wrong way while snipping.

 Once I have 2 open pendants, I file the sharp edges of the metal with jewelry files and sometimes a diamond dust nail file or even an emery board, both so that they won't catch your hair and so that there's enough flat back to allow a solid join. 

Currently I'm using a superglue plus sometimes Aleene's Glass and Metal glue and/or Beacon's Quick Grip.

And here they are: front and back as they're lined up and glued,

 

 

and finally, the finished earrings.

I'm pleased with these, and considering more possibilities.  I think I have one pair of tiny ammonite slices that may fit in a mermaid's tail.  And maybe a vintage monkey or scarab with enough of the right kind of space. Stay tuned! 

As promised, some before & WIP (work in progress) photos

None of these are listed yet, though the triple (which you can see will be steampunk -- well, they probably all will be -- & another originally like it are I think finished, as is the "African" one.

This is the raw material for a Valentiney set -- displayed locally, but not yet sold.

 

 I've been working on this one for awhile, and it's almost done -- really just needs more chain & a clasp. But I can't get the pendant to hang the way I want it, so probably need to remove and try again.
Notice the clock parts incorporated in the chain -- plenty of steampunk elements, but subtle.

Shortly, 2 rather elegant non-steampunk pieces -- one a carved face strung with real emeralds & pearls, the other a gorgeous purple titanium druzy wire wrapped by Chase Arevalo & strung with some stunning purple beads.  Plus, if I can photograph them, 2 wild pieces incorporating sari silk, chain, souvenir spoons, gem donuts, and a number of other interesting items. Fun!

I'm Back! a little update, and an Asian New Year packet offer.

After a l-o-o-o-n-g hiatus, I am back to blogging here.
You can see some of what's been happening in the meantime on my other blog, CasadeChaos, mostly about some time we spent living in Panama City in 2012 and 2013 (it still needs additions, too).
Briefly, we came home, found Casa de Chaos in a little too much chaos & with too few utilities paid, so have changed housemates.  We now are living with a mom, Kate, a girl 6, Syrus, and a boy 2, Dominick.  Not what we expected, but entertaining when it's not terrifying.

I've done a few shows in 2013, but broke my wrist just before Thanksgiving & was in a cast until Dec. 31, which did cramp my style a bit. However, I have been making some jewelry and have some new things I want to use and make, and will be posting at least some of it here before it hits the shop listings.

Aside from a very special limited edition Jon Snow/Night Watch Game of Thrones assortment for which I'm almost done collecting pieces, my biggest new project for FindingsbyLeslietsy is a section especially for BJD supplies.  Not so much for the dolls themselves, though that may happen, but for clothing, costumes, jewelry, display spaces, etc.  I've been collecting tiny beads and findings, have some tiny buttons which should reappear as I reorganize my sewing space, and of course have all sorts of tiny findings which will show up there.  So if you're a BJD fan, keep your eyes open.
& just to whet your appetite, here's a pic of my largest male BJD, Victor--he's about 60cm & is wearing some pants I made out of a couple of ties  (& I will be selling similar ones when I make the waist a little smoother) and using our new WORKING telescope charm, not yet listed.

 

Pretty cute, both Victor & the telescope, I'm sure you'll agree.

But now to the real reason for this post: I've acquired 10 Asian New Year packets--they're described as "joss paper", some comes from China, some from Vietnam, and it includes quite a few interesting and unusual bits for journalers and scrapbookers.

 

Here are hhotos of what's included -- I will list at Findings by Leslietsy, but can't post all these photos there, so thought I'd do it here.  These photos do not include the extra packet of very thin paper with gold or silver squares (the gold on those has a reddish paint beneath instead of the yellow surround in the packet itself, and a couple of lucky red envelopes, very pretty and traditionally used to give money to family members for the New Year.  As they say on TV, these will be included free of charge if you act now!  Actually, I think it's a good deal--the whole packet plus "2 oz." of the special paper  and the envelopes for $10-, plus $5. S&H. 

 

Here's what's included:

 

This is the outer layer, folded to be used as an envelope if needed--well, actually envelopes: one each red, green, & purple, and 3 a natural off-white.

These next pieces, of which there are 2, have cool illustrations and slots which may be for coins.

Inside are a packet of these rice(?) papers with the gold & silver attached--they're around 5 1/2" x 4 3/4"

Then there's a packet of this funny money, which I think is to be burned at ancestor's gravesites --I've showed both sides.    

 This yellow sheet is some sort of fortune-telling device

 These are coins to cut out either for ancestor's graves, maybe the coin holder above, or possibly some traditional game, maybe even connected with the fortune-telling.


And speaking of that, here's a packet of another set of charms for divination/fortune telling/calling good luck.

 And last, but by no means least, there are these gold plaque things!
                               Again, I'm pretty sure they're for luck, but don't know their exact purpose.

I love the whole thing, especially the variety,  but couldn't resist adding some more of the silver and gold paper, which I've used in various ways over the years, and a few of the special red envelopes, just for the illustrations.

These will be up at www.etsy.com/shop/FindingbyLeslietsy as soon as I can write them up & post there.  Have fun! 

Dragon Glass!!!

In case anyone wonders why my recent obsession with obsidian aka dragonglass, and also why I think that tossing it into the mouth of one of the walking dead (as I suggest here
https://www.etsy.com/listing/103488257/pendant-necklace-caged-apache-tears )
may work, here's George R.R. Martin in A Storm of Swords (Vol. 3 of A song of Ice and Fire) on what happens when the "Others" (the walking dead) come in contact with it.
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He heard a crack, like the sound ice makes when it breaks beneath a man’s foot, and then a screech so shrill and sharp that he went staggering backward with his hands over his muffled ears, and fell hard on his arse.

When he opened his eyes the Other’s armor was running down its legs in rivulets as pale blue blood hissed and steamed around the black dragonglass dagger in its throat. It reached down with two bone‐white hands to pull out the knife, but where its fingers touched the obsidian they smoked.

Sam rolled onto his side, eyes wide as the Other shrank and puddled, dissolving away. In twenty heartbeats its flesh was gone, swirling away in a fine white mist. Beneath were bones like milkglass, pale and shiny, and they were melting too. Finally only the dragonglass dagger remained, wreathed in steam as if it were alive
and sweating. Grenn bent to scoop it up and flung it down again at once. “Mother, that’s cold.”

“Obsidian.” Sam struggled to his knees. “Dragonglass, they call it. Dragonglass. Dragon glass.”
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Need I say more?

WIP -- obsidian and ammonities

I've actually managed to acquire some obsidian needles -- these are longish, thinnish, more or less pointed naturally formed pieces of obsidian that apparently are found in only a few  places. I absolutely love them--they're obviously natural/raw/primitive, but lend themselves nicely to at least some of my ideas about use.

Here are some pics of the raw stuff along with a few becoming something else:the last one is some less pointy pieces I'm thinking of offering for sale -- among other things, they make lovely-sounding windchimes. Will the sound keep the walking dead away from your house?  I don't know, but it can't hurt.

In addition, I've been working on some of the arrowheads seen in the last post, plus some ammonites I've acquired recently--these pics (and some of the pieces) aren't ready to list yet, but I thought some of you might like to see what I'm up to.  The pics also include one pair of steampunk earrings with fairies--not quite so new, but I think not previously   photographed. So here goes:

As always, comments, questions, etc. are welcome, even encouraged--let me know someone's actually looking!