Collections: Tiny Treasures

First of all, I want to say thanks to Fee of Burntfeather for her fantastic collections posts which inspired me to make some of my own.

These are small mementos and special things, tiny treasures that I have collected throughout my life.  I keep them all in this pretty little trinket box.

a pretty bit of fabric trim from my sewing class in middle school, an old fortune from a fortune cookie, four four-leaf clovers, a rock that has been painted silver, a wishing star, 2 shells from a hometown beach, 6 found beads, and a found heart

Friday Fashion: Black and Gold

Galaxy Skirt by jaythejedi

I'm usually not a fan of gold tones; I definitely prefer silver tones, but in this outfit I love them to death.  I already have a peplum top sort of like this one but the exposed zipper on the one in the collage makes me really want it!  If I could have any item here I would pick the skirt...or the shoes.

What I've Been Up to Lately

I went to visit my parents and see my brother for three weeks while he was on leave.  It was pretty good.  I took a bajillion photos which I'll share later.  I went to a ton of thrift stores and yard sales and got some pretty cool unique jewelry-making stuff.  Then the day I got back I had my first jewelry show ever!  It went better than I expected, despite the fact that the lights were too dim, it was too hot, and there was pounding bass for four hours straight that gave me a headache.  The best part is that although there were over 400 people there over the course of the night, I didn't have any severe social anxiety problems, so now I know I should be able to do small-ish shows without a problem.  It was also really cool to see who my customers actually are.  I found out that they're mostly little old ladies, bohemian girls around my age, and sorority type girls around my age.  I brought a lot of cool stuff back from my childhood home, including this once-garish dreamcatcher which was bedecked with a rainbow of colorful feathers.  I redid it with some natural feathers, a shell, a piece of faceted carnelian, some fake amber, and copper wire, and now I love it.

Where to Shop in Seattle: Artist and Craftsman Supply

If you're an artist who lives in Seattle I highly recommend that you check out Artist and Craftsman Supply.  They have a huge store with pretty much every art supply you could want.  They even have jewelry making supplies!  And the store has some really cool art in it too, some of which is in these photos.  And if you aren't in Seattle you can still buy supplies from Artist and Craftsman online.

They also have different art classes you can sign up for including painting, book making, and cartooning.

I love their business hours sign!

This wall contains some of the creepier artwork.  There's probably some sort of Defense Against the Dark Arts joke in there somewhere, but I can't seem to figure it out.

This one is especially cool.

This bee was above a display of wax.

A rocket ship!  I was so excited when I saw this because I'm basically a 10 year old boy.

These are My Books

there's a second, third, and fourth row of books behind the books on the upper shelf

I love Dean Koontz books and most of my books are by him.  The old books are just there to look pretty and because I got them for a ridiculously low price at a yard sale.  I tend to read psychological thrillers, but lately I've been reading funny memoirs by bloggers.  Right now I'm nearly done reading Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson.  It makes me laugh out loud in public like a crazy person so people give me funny looks, which is one of my favorite things for books to do.

Friday Fashion: An Outfit for Adventuring

Adventure by jaythejedi

This outfit is so perfect that I wish I had every piece of it.  That floral print shirt is my favorite part!  I would wear it with some sturdy boots and go for an adventure in the woods.

Comic Books 2

My first expedition into comic books wasn't overly successful but I wasn't about to give up because of it.  I stopped by Arcane Comics a few weeks ago because I'd been meaning to check it out for awhile and I was also having a pretty bad day and thought it might cheer me up  (Spoiler alert: it did).

I only bought two comics but I loved them both!  They were each the first issue of a new series too.  The first is called Haunted and it's by Red 5 Comics.  I bought it because the storyline (post-apocalyptic setting, science craziness, and a strong female protagonist) sounded awesome and also because I loved the art style and colors.  It was every bit as good as I had hoped it would be.  It has a female protagonist, a priest, and a scientist all banded together fighting off these crazy enemies and trying to survive.  There's a very entertaining science vs. religion argument as well as an action-packed story.  I highly recommend it!  Red 5 Comics is an independent comic book publisher and I want to read some of their other series too, especially Bad Dreams.

The second is called The Dream Merchant and it's by Image Comics (They publish Saga and The Walking Dead).  I bought this one more for the story than the art (to be honest, it's not my favorite art).  In case you guys didn't know, I am fascinated by anything involving dreams.  So this purchase was a no-brainer.  I had no idea how much I would love it.  There's a part where the main guy is in a mental hospital!  (just a recap, things I'm fascinated by include dreams, insane asylums, and serial killers)  This comic had two out of three in the first issue and I'm holding out hope for a serial killer.  (That's a weird phrase.)

I'm glad I gave comic books a second chance and I think you guys should definitely check out both of these series and publishers.  I will definitely be continuing reading both of these series.

I Got a Smartphone!

I finally broke down and got a smartphone for a few reasons:

1. my old phone had started dropping calls, having poor call quality, and not sending texts

2. I couldn't get a card reader for my old phone but could for a smartphone, and that's a good idea to have for jewelry shows.  (I got the Square and let you guys know what I think about it later.)

3. I seriously need GPS any time I go downtown, or to Capitol Hill, or have a job interview, or many other situations.

4. I got a text from Tracfone saying they carry Android phones now.

So I decided to look and see just how unaffordable an Android phone would be and was surprised to find that not only was it affordable, but it would only cost as much as my old phone did when I bought it.  So I bought one, the Android ZTE Valet, and so far I love it.

And it came with a microSD card, so I was finally able to get all of the pictures off my old phone.  So here they are.

Street Art 1

I love the honeycomb texture on this piece.

I literally jumped up and down with joy when I saw this one.  And that is something I have never done before in my entire life, ever.  I really couldn't help it.  But can you blame me?!  This is so cool!

I actually climbed up a staircase to get a better angle for this photo.  And the staircase was frightening because it was one of those metal grating ones where you could see right through it.  And if you recall, I am terrified of heights.  And once I got to the top of the staircase instead of some sort of an un-see-through landing there was more metal grating stuff.  By the time I got back down I was shaking, but I got some good pictures up there, so it was worth it.

I couldn't read this because there was a dumpster in the way, but it looks like maybe it said mantis?  I liked the use of white space and the cemetery art on the letters.

I shared this one before but I have a lot of new readers since then and I seriously love it, so I'm sharing it again.