first annual killer pop rocks sale!

Welcome, welcome, step right up to the First Annual urban legend Killer Pop Rocks sale! A huge section of my shop is marked down 25% - earrings, bracelets and necklaces. Sale prices are listed, so there's no need to wait for an adjusted invoice. Have fun, but don't mix pop rocks and pepsi, and please, please - don't eat the jewelry.

Etsy Buy Handmade urbanlegend

the Other Mother diaries

I'm living with my poodle friend Archy for a week while his mom is on vacation. Archy and I have been friends since he moved into the neighborhood a little over a year ago, and he's always happy to see me, but he's really, really attached to Leslie. If she's around, he adores me and gets all jumpy and frolicksome, but if she's not he isn't so sure about things. Generally, if I'm the one who shows up at the door to take him for a walk, there's some wagging when I open the crate, but then his tail droops and he follows me listlessly down the block.

Treats and toys can't coax him out of it - he only eats treats if he's already happy. It's like he's showing off. He sits on the floor facing you and wedges the carrot or the rawhide or the cookie or whatever between his paws and gnaws on it, looking up every now and then to be sure you're watching. I worried that he'd be really depressed all week, but after a day and a half of gazing at the door and moping down the sidewalk, he suddenly settled in and got comfortable with me. He's dashing down the block and then back at me, he's eating his food, he's prancing around and biting my clothes (it's a thing; he likes to dance), and he's playing with his toys.

This gruesome fellow is Archy's favorite toy - he's had Long Dog in several different colors (and a couple of holiday-specific variations), but pink Long Dog has lasted the longest. The green tape is to keep the stuffing in where he's been punctured, but it's appropriate that he wears it like a blindfold. It must be horrifying to be Long Dog, being squeezed and shaken all day long; still, he grins and bears it.

I'm enjoying the time away from my apartment. I only go home for a couple of hours a day to work - using my studio apartment like an actual studio. The rest of the time, I'm out on walks, going to the dog park, or watching movies and reading. It's refreshing, and giving me a glimpse into the far-away future when I can keep a workspace separate from my home. I love the creative breathing room it's giving me. And the cuddles aren't bad, either.

is there a way to put this on just the american part?

So I'm two days late with this, but it's the muppets and I'm pretty sure they're appropriate anytime. I hope your 4th of July was magnificent!

trial & error

I've been experimenting with making jewelry using coated wire instead of sterling silver wire. For the most part, I prefer sterling: I like how it feels, the line it creates and I enjoy wirewrapping. I do have a stash of heavier beads, though, and as I'm starting to think about using some of them, a sturdier material is indicated.

I've used soft flex or similar coated wires a couple of times before - mainly when I'm making chokers. It creates a nice shape for a close-fitting piece and is very durable. The chokers have worked out beautifully, but I'm practicing bracelets right now and turning out some goofy work. So far, I'm finding it difficult to get the strand tight enough to look good while keeping it loose enough to curve properly and still be able to finish the ends nicely.

For example, this piece. I love the melon colors of these beads together, but the large size and irregular shapes are giving me a very hard time. I also decided (once I had this all put together, of course) that I didn't like the lineup and preferred the colors in chunks - green on one side, melon on the other. And in any case, the strand isn't tight enough. So back to the practice board I go.

Keep an eye out for some new pieces in my Urban Seaweed line in Leaves of Glass. Once I'm comfortable that I've mastered my techniques, I have some chunky recycled glass beads that I'm planning to pair with loops of chain in some heavier, messy-looking pieces. Because debris is sexy.

destroying angel: dark gardens glossary con't.

For this week's episode of my Dark Gardens glossary, I chose the Destroying Angel mushroom, the inspiration for my earrings of the same name. It's a gloriously tempting name for a plant, but one that warns in no uncertain terms of the mushroom's deadly properties. This elegant mushroom was first brought to my attention through (surprise, surprise) a starring role as a murder weapon in a British mystery series.

From the Cornell Mushroom Blog: "The nightmare of inexperienced mushroom hunters everywhere, the Destroying Angel occupies the coveted position of one of the most deadly poisonous mushrooms known to mycologists. The mushroom gets its common name from its infamously pure white fruiting body. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to identify in its mature and button stages, with a little effort. It is equipped with most of the features that a mushroom can have, including a skirt on the stem (annulus) and round cup-like base (volva). It displays a beautiful white cap, stalk, and gills, and deposits a white spore print. These white spores can be the crucial factor between life and death for someone who is trying to distinguish a Destroying Angel in its button stage from an edible, brown-spored, white button mushroom (Agaricus campestris)....

[Destroying Angel] will cause gastrointestinal distress (diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain) after five to twelve hours. However, symptoms typically remit after that, and one might assume that the worst has passed without going to the hospital. By the time the symptoms get worse again, after a day or two, it will probably be too late for the victim, who will likely suffer liver and kidney failure and enter a hepatic coma, ending in death. ...

The best way to avoid amatoxins is to learn to identify mushrooms like A. bisporigera, and not to rely on old wives’ tales. Don’t rely on single characteristics like color or shape in isolation. Instead, look for a combination of features including the white spore print, the skirt-like ring (annulus) around the stalk, the white gills that stop just shy of the stalk, and the cup-like volva at the bottom of the stalk (often underground). Fear of destroying angels should not prevent you from mushroom hunting, as any responsible mushroom hunter can learn to identify and avoid them. The destroying angels and their deadly sister the death cap (Amanita phalloides) are awfully good mushrooms to learn first." Mushrooms are seductive, but mind your P's & Q's, and know exactly what you're looking at before you eat it!

My Destroying Angel Earrings are harmless to the liver and digestive system, and their most severe side effect is a tendency to cause temporary swoons due to extreme sparkle. Vintage Swarovski emerald crystal beadballs hang from tiny bright sterling silver hoops, and a double length of delicate chain stands in as a symbolic mushroom stem. Lightweight, shiny and devastating on a dance floor.