Aahhh!
Just putting that out there.
Since you are probably curious, Skittle cheesecake turned out alright, but not the mouthwatering treat I was looking for. I blame it on the cheesecake recipe I was using, which just didn't work well and ended up heavy/bland. I have another base recipe I like better and I have learned a great many things about the properties of Skittles when mashed or melted so when I have time to attempt it again I think I can come up with something really yummy.
However, I just noticed that the raging snow has stopped and the sun has reappeared so I really need to lay off the cheesecake. I'm supposed to go to Vegas with my boyfriend in the beginning of June and that is going to require a bathing suit. Yep, no more dessert experimentation for me.
As for the Etsy business, I really need to get my butt in gear. I'm transitioning between the two jobs and the lack of schedule is throwing me off. Also, not working 8:30-5:30 in the day time has allowed me to see what a mess my house really is, and cleaning has taken over my creative time somewhat. Oh! On top of that, I just got over the worst stomach bug I've ever had in my life... so there you go, I've supplied you with a solid paragraph of excuses, errr, I mean REASONS why I have not kept to my promise of making something every day.
It's funny, because I actually have been making things, but not anything I really plan to sell. I'm doing another giveaway blog and I decided to make two different necklaces for it so the winner has a choice. In addition, it was a friend's birthday recently and she mentioned how much she likes keys on jewelry so I made her a really nifty necklace too. Then I repaired some jewelry for my mother which I had made her three or four years ago but I'd used sewing thread (I had no clue about materials) and it had broken. I also have another friend I wanted to make something for as well and so all of my creative efforts recently were given away for free. Sometimes, I am not the best business woman.
I did manage to complete and post one new necklace last week and I'm really in love with it because it's so outside what I normally do.
Check it out here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/71680706/black-and-white-blossom-necklace
When I got those flowers in, I was reminded of the beautiful classy black and white dresses both of my younger sisters wore to prom. I just ended up designing a necklace to match those dresses and I'm really happy with the result. The boyfriend says it's his favorite so far, but that's what he usually says when I get him to look away from the video games or books long enough to show him what's new.
Anyway, I just got a great shipment of gemstone beads in and I'm excitedly waiting for enough time free to bead up a storm. My new love is Green Goldstone: Fun facts, it's not actually a natural stone at all. Goldstone in all colors is formed by melting copper salts into colored glass. It was a process originally developed by Italian monks attempting to create gold through alchemy and while brown goldstone and blue goldstone are beautiful, green goldstone is the rarest and most eye catching. It contains both the glints of sparkle like the other two varieties but green goldstone also contains fiery flakes of glowing green (like an opal). I have been ordering it like crazy, just because it's so unique and incredible looking. As soon as I figure out how, I'll post some pictures of the supplies I have but in the meantime:
http://www.samsilverhawk.com/428cabs/green3.jpg
http://www.rocksandcreations.com/graphics/cndlhldrs/greengldstncndl.jpg
Super cool stuff. I think that about covers things for now, I apologize for not having anything fascinating or funny to say but at least I shared!
Yours,
the little miss milyssabeth
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Skittle Cheesecake
Have you heard of it?
I bet not! I googled it and I couldn't find a single recipe, but I had the idea the other day and I've decided to attempt it.
Now I know, it's not beading or jewelry related, but trust me on this one. It's the same basic thing. I am just a person with this weird need to make other people happy. I'm a notorious door holder, even if I am standing there for a good five minutes before that person gets to the door. I say "thank you" to everyone. I tell store clerks to enjoy their day before they can tell me. I just really love doing little nice things. So what does this have to do with cheesecake? Or beading?
Super simple. It makes people feel pretty to wear jewelry and happy to eat cheesecake. This in turn fills that little need of mine... it's actually sort of selfish because it boils down to me feeling good when they do. Also, when I discovered that I can actually make a decent cheesecake, it was like finding the lost city of Atlantis! My first attempt was a key lime, and I followed my instincts as opposed to my better judgement. I messed with ingredients, I added extras, I removed others and next thing you know-- delicious cheesecake. I didn't even know that there are supposedly all these rules for cheesecake, like don't blend too long or be careful how you pour it, or that it can crack and brown too much. It just came out smooth and delicious. Also, since I don't have an electric mixer, I tried to do it in the blender. And when that didn't work, I mixed it by hand. I also juiced the limes without a little twirly juicer and I had no grater so I minced lime peel. Despite all this mess, it worked. Suddenly I knew that I now had the power to make my favorite dessert ANY WAY I WANTED. So now, I want it with Skittles.
All the nonsense aside, I wanted to share my plan. Aka, my super secret recipe. I am not sure this will work, but I've been thinking about it for a solid day now and I have faith. Anyone out there who wants to play along can definitely try it for themselves, because this is going to be fun!
The Invention of Skittle Cheesecake
Recipe, Take One.
Basic Recipe for NY Style Cheesecake (Minus Skittle Alterations)
4 (8oz) packages of cream cheese
1.5 cups of white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix sugar and cream cheese until smooth
Blend in milk, then mix in eggs one at a time
Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth
Pour into crust
Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes then turn off oven, leave door closed and let cool for 5-6 hours
Chill before serving.
Skittle Related Alterations!
*Add another tablespoon of vanilla extract. Or two more. Seriously, you can never have enough Vanilla Extract and I'm not even joking.
*Add a tablespoon of the following: lime juice, lemon juice, orange juice. Fresh squeezed! Or else.
*Add a dash of grated lime peel, lemon peel, and orange peel. If you squeeze the fruits, you'll have the peels left over anyway. Also, there is no way I am actually going to measure out those tablespoons of juice. *Honestly, just squeeze an orange, lemon and lime and add however much comes out. Trust me.
*Add 1/4 cup of pureed stawberries. They better not be frozen or I will personally come to your house and yell at you.
* I'm not sure exactly how this part works because I don't know how to melt skittles but I have a backup plan as well.
*Skittles Plan A: Melt 1/2 a cup of skittles. Try the microwave but keep an eye on them in case they explode. Or maybe try a sauce pan on low heat? I think I'm going to try aluminum foil in a sauce pan because I don't know if Teflon can handle melted, sticky skittles. Start pouring cheesecake batter into a premade graham cracker crust and swirl in the skittle mix as well as green, purple, orange, yellow and red food coloring.
*Skittles Plan B: If you can't figure out how to melt them, put 1/2 a cup of Skittles in a sandwich bag. Drive through rush hour traffic and build a decent amount of road rage. Come home and take it out on the skittles with a blunt object. Seriously, smash the hell out of those offensive little drivers who just can't be bothered to use blinkers, or get off your tail or go above 20 miles per hour... wait. No. I mean smash the Skittles. Yep. Skittles. I am not sure what blunt object will work best, feel free to get creative. Layer the cheesecake batter into your crust and add the food coloring from Plan A, but sprinkle the smooshed Skittle crumbs in between the layers.
* Bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven and then realize that you have friends coming over in about 2 hours to try your invention. Decide that 5-6 hours is for suckers who do things properly. Turn off the oven after 60 minutes and leave the cheesecake for 1 extra hour. Maybe 1/2 an hour. Put cheesecake in fridge and resist the urge to stick your finger in it and try it. Maybe sprinkle more squished Skittles on top?
* Take cheesecake out of the fridge when you can't resist any more. This will vary from person to person.
*Enjoy!...hopefully?
So there's my 2 cents for today. Next post I'll put up some pictures and let you know how it went and then I'll get back to all the business-y beading stuff. For now? Wish me luck!!
Yours-
the little miss milyssabeth.
I bet not! I googled it and I couldn't find a single recipe, but I had the idea the other day and I've decided to attempt it.
Now I know, it's not beading or jewelry related, but trust me on this one. It's the same basic thing. I am just a person with this weird need to make other people happy. I'm a notorious door holder, even if I am standing there for a good five minutes before that person gets to the door. I say "thank you" to everyone. I tell store clerks to enjoy their day before they can tell me. I just really love doing little nice things. So what does this have to do with cheesecake? Or beading?
Super simple. It makes people feel pretty to wear jewelry and happy to eat cheesecake. This in turn fills that little need of mine... it's actually sort of selfish because it boils down to me feeling good when they do. Also, when I discovered that I can actually make a decent cheesecake, it was like finding the lost city of Atlantis! My first attempt was a key lime, and I followed my instincts as opposed to my better judgement. I messed with ingredients, I added extras, I removed others and next thing you know-- delicious cheesecake. I didn't even know that there are supposedly all these rules for cheesecake, like don't blend too long or be careful how you pour it, or that it can crack and brown too much. It just came out smooth and delicious. Also, since I don't have an electric mixer, I tried to do it in the blender. And when that didn't work, I mixed it by hand. I also juiced the limes without a little twirly juicer and I had no grater so I minced lime peel. Despite all this mess, it worked. Suddenly I knew that I now had the power to make my favorite dessert ANY WAY I WANTED. So now, I want it with Skittles.
All the nonsense aside, I wanted to share my plan. Aka, my super secret recipe. I am not sure this will work, but I've been thinking about it for a solid day now and I have faith. Anyone out there who wants to play along can definitely try it for themselves, because this is going to be fun!
The Invention of Skittle Cheesecake
Recipe, Take One.
Basic Recipe for NY Style Cheesecake (Minus Skittle Alterations)
4 (8oz) packages of cream cheese
1.5 cups of white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix sugar and cream cheese until smooth
Blend in milk, then mix in eggs one at a time
Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth
Pour into crust
Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes then turn off oven, leave door closed and let cool for 5-6 hours
Chill before serving.
Skittle Related Alterations!
*Add another tablespoon of vanilla extract. Or two more. Seriously, you can never have enough Vanilla Extract and I'm not even joking.
*Add a tablespoon of the following: lime juice, lemon juice, orange juice. Fresh squeezed! Or else.
*Add a dash of grated lime peel, lemon peel, and orange peel. If you squeeze the fruits, you'll have the peels left over anyway. Also, there is no way I am actually going to measure out those tablespoons of juice. *Honestly, just squeeze an orange, lemon and lime and add however much comes out. Trust me.
*Add 1/4 cup of pureed stawberries. They better not be frozen or I will personally come to your house and yell at you.
* I'm not sure exactly how this part works because I don't know how to melt skittles but I have a backup plan as well.
*Skittles Plan A: Melt 1/2 a cup of skittles. Try the microwave but keep an eye on them in case they explode. Or maybe try a sauce pan on low heat? I think I'm going to try aluminum foil in a sauce pan because I don't know if Teflon can handle melted, sticky skittles. Start pouring cheesecake batter into a premade graham cracker crust and swirl in the skittle mix as well as green, purple, orange, yellow and red food coloring.
*Skittles Plan B: If you can't figure out how to melt them, put 1/2 a cup of Skittles in a sandwich bag. Drive through rush hour traffic and build a decent amount of road rage. Come home and take it out on the skittles with a blunt object. Seriously, smash the hell out of those offensive little drivers who just can't be bothered to use blinkers, or get off your tail or go above 20 miles per hour... wait. No. I mean smash the Skittles. Yep. Skittles. I am not sure what blunt object will work best, feel free to get creative. Layer the cheesecake batter into your crust and add the food coloring from Plan A, but sprinkle the smooshed Skittle crumbs in between the layers.
* Bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven and then realize that you have friends coming over in about 2 hours to try your invention. Decide that 5-6 hours is for suckers who do things properly. Turn off the oven after 60 minutes and leave the cheesecake for 1 extra hour. Maybe 1/2 an hour. Put cheesecake in fridge and resist the urge to stick your finger in it and try it. Maybe sprinkle more squished Skittles on top?
* Take cheesecake out of the fridge when you can't resist any more. This will vary from person to person.
*Enjoy!...hopefully?
So there's my 2 cents for today. Next post I'll put up some pictures and let you know how it went and then I'll get back to all the business-y beading stuff. For now? Wish me luck!!
Yours-
the little miss milyssabeth.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The Bead Boxes....
... are taking over.
I've been ordering, shopping and ordering again for about two weeks now at an almost frantic pace. Every time I see a certain pendant or bead, I decide I have a brilliant idea for it and I MUST have it immediately. Unfortunately, I think I decide I have brilliant ideas way too often for my bank account and it's gotten a little out of control. The money is not really the issue as much as the space, though and I have no idea when it will slow or stop- I can't remember how many orders I have that are still in transit!!
I decided a few days ago that the giant red bag stuffed full of misc. beads and findings and such is not a suitable storage container for my beads. Now, I don't mean that all of my beads are in there, on top of that I have two giant 24 space boxes, one smaller 18 space box and two smaller 24 space boxes. I headed out to Walmart (please forgive me, it's close and I know it's evil but if there's anywhere that makes me feel classy, it's Walmart.) to try and find enough containers so that I can empty my giant red bag and feel organized. So, 3 more giant boxes and 1 smaller box. I get home and start organizing only to find that now I have 9 boxes of beads and I STILL have the giant red bag, it's half full. To give you a good idea on how many supplies that is, imagine the size of a four year old child standing in your living room. Now imagine that the child is made entirely of boxes with a giant red bag for a head. Got it? Well, that's about what I've got. It's bad. More boxes came yesterday and I'm starting to feel a little afraid of the mailman.
Anyway, the whole point to me sharing this pointlessness is that I am going to make a sincere vow to do something about it. I have no lack of beads or ideas, I just have a lack of focus so I need a goal.
5 items a day. That's the rule. I'll take today off because I am working the office job 12p-5p and working the cocktail waitress gig 5p-2am so I think I can take a break but after that? It's 5 a day. Or else. I need to reduce my bead stash (or reorganize it?) drastically so here we go. Let's see how this works out!!
Yours
the little miss milyssabeth
I've been ordering, shopping and ordering again for about two weeks now at an almost frantic pace. Every time I see a certain pendant or bead, I decide I have a brilliant idea for it and I MUST have it immediately. Unfortunately, I think I decide I have brilliant ideas way too often for my bank account and it's gotten a little out of control. The money is not really the issue as much as the space, though and I have no idea when it will slow or stop- I can't remember how many orders I have that are still in transit!!
I decided a few days ago that the giant red bag stuffed full of misc. beads and findings and such is not a suitable storage container for my beads. Now, I don't mean that all of my beads are in there, on top of that I have two giant 24 space boxes, one smaller 18 space box and two smaller 24 space boxes. I headed out to Walmart (please forgive me, it's close and I know it's evil but if there's anywhere that makes me feel classy, it's Walmart.) to try and find enough containers so that I can empty my giant red bag and feel organized. So, 3 more giant boxes and 1 smaller box. I get home and start organizing only to find that now I have 9 boxes of beads and I STILL have the giant red bag, it's half full. To give you a good idea on how many supplies that is, imagine the size of a four year old child standing in your living room. Now imagine that the child is made entirely of boxes with a giant red bag for a head. Got it? Well, that's about what I've got. It's bad. More boxes came yesterday and I'm starting to feel a little afraid of the mailman.
Anyway, the whole point to me sharing this pointlessness is that I am going to make a sincere vow to do something about it. I have no lack of beads or ideas, I just have a lack of focus so I need a goal.
5 items a day. That's the rule. I'll take today off because I am working the office job 12p-5p and working the cocktail waitress gig 5p-2am so I think I can take a break but after that? It's 5 a day. Or else. I need to reduce my bead stash (or reorganize it?) drastically so here we go. Let's see how this works out!!
Yours
the little miss milyssabeth
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Less Teeth. More Stress
Good Morning!
So the tooth is gone and has only left a mild ache after the fog from all those lovely tylenol 3s dissipated. The time drugged up and beading was like a little slice of heaven and I feel as though I was decently productive. In the vein of that persephone necklace I made this fun piece with sparrows flying down three strands of brass and garnet. I really did almost keep that one, but I was too proud of it to keep it to myself. So, beading is going well and selling is not bad at the moment after a little 8 sale rush.
But even though the hobby is going well, I should probably follow that old adage of "Don't quit your day job"
Oh... wait... that's EXACTLY what I am about to do.
You see, I had an epiphany. Like, a real, honest to God epiphany. It was a thunderous moment of realization that parted the clouds of confusion and let the sunshine of truth and realization into my soul. It went a little something like this:
So the boyfriend and I are sitting at home and I've just returned from a perfectly horrific day at the office. One of those days where you just feel souless and crushed by everyone around you because you just DON'T want to be where you are. I'm crying just a little on the couch, explaining the horrors of inter office politics and passive aggressive jabs from ego maniacal coworkers as well as expounding on how I really hate that button up dress shirts completely restrict your shoulders. Seriously! Try to lay down in one!
He's tilting his head sympathetically and I'm full on ranting: I'm lost! What do I do? Leave this office job and go to another? I don't love it! Why am I doing it? Do I just hope that if I go somewhere with more potential for earning I can deal better because I will just think of that paycheck? Will I ever get anywhere? Does anyone make a truly comfortable button up shirt???
My boyfriend at this very moment sits up almost angrily and shakes his head, looking over at me with his eyes flashing (most likely in indignant defense of my plight) and says the phrase that is about to change my world forever.
"How about you JUST DON'T DO ANYTHING??"
I am stunned. The silence is deafening. The world stops spinning. The cliches are boundless.
Just. Don't. Do. Anything.
Really?
I could do that. (Or I could not do that? Not sure on the grammar on that one kiddos!) I could leave the pressure of my day job. I could go back to waitressing and go to grad school. I could stop trying to fit into those shirts, I could sling drinks and bury myself in school books. I happen to love school, I would be truly free. There would be no more pointless pressure about stacks of paperwork and being nice wouldn't make me such a good target for people to take advantage of.
Just don't do anything? I could bead ALL DAY! I could waitress at night and BEAD ALL DAY!! It would be like Heaven- but with beads! It would be like summer camp! I could create during the day, then go to class for a few hours and do homework and then go make a little cash... I could just let life take me by following the things that actually make me happy. It's like every poster from middle school- it's FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS!
Holy Crap! JUST DON'T DO ANYTHING!!!
All of this is bursting out of my mouth like dawn breaking over the darkest part of the night and I am so swept up in feeling an incredibly calling to "just don't do anything" that I almost miss my boyfriend shaking his head slowly.
I look to him, my soft supportive, sensitive listener. His real concern for me and my plight has brought him to give me the answer I needed. I gaze lovingly at my prophet and ask why he's shaking his head. He answers:
"Baby, I was talking about the commercial. The Neosporin one. It's just an ad meant to terrify parents into thinking that they need a product when the human body will really just take care of itself. People don't need to use Neosporin, they can just as easily not do anything and end up with the same result."
Aaaah. Neosporin. My epiphany is the aftermath of my boyfriend's indignity at consumerism. And hey, wait, I LIKE Neosporin.
The deflating setback was temporary, I'm a ridiculous sort of optimist and quickly decided that it was some sort of higher power that caused that commercial to inspire that world changing idea and save me from my life of drudgery.
So I've written up my two weeks notice and it's sitting in the corner of my desk. It's waiting for tuesday when the manager will be back from leave and I can make this whole dream chasing nonsense an impractical and wonderful reality. It's terrifying. I hate having people mad at me, and though I know the office will continue swimmingly without me, I am afraid of not only the moment when that letter transitions from my desk to the manager's desk but also the two weeks that I will have to sit and absorb the reactions and wrath.
Needless to say, I'm a giant ball of twitching tweakiness, but I'm trying to convince myself that it is like a giant adventure. I am just keeping my eyes on the prize and the glorious idea of returning all my damn button up shirts.
So, in the absense of my troublesome tooth, a new evil fear has risen and I must face it. I can only focus on the end result though, I can only focus on all those beads, just waiting to be arranged and strung. I can't wait to post the more recent ones, I've started playing with shapes and adding weird dangly parts. It's way more appealing than I just made it sound. So here's to major changes and hopefully so much good to come.
Wish me luck and then wish that I won't need it!!!
Yours-
the little miss milyssabeth
So the tooth is gone and has only left a mild ache after the fog from all those lovely tylenol 3s dissipated. The time drugged up and beading was like a little slice of heaven and I feel as though I was decently productive. In the vein of that persephone necklace I made this fun piece with sparrows flying down three strands of brass and garnet. I really did almost keep that one, but I was too proud of it to keep it to myself. So, beading is going well and selling is not bad at the moment after a little 8 sale rush.
But even though the hobby is going well, I should probably follow that old adage of "Don't quit your day job"
Oh... wait... that's EXACTLY what I am about to do.
You see, I had an epiphany. Like, a real, honest to God epiphany. It was a thunderous moment of realization that parted the clouds of confusion and let the sunshine of truth and realization into my soul. It went a little something like this:
So the boyfriend and I are sitting at home and I've just returned from a perfectly horrific day at the office. One of those days where you just feel souless and crushed by everyone around you because you just DON'T want to be where you are. I'm crying just a little on the couch, explaining the horrors of inter office politics and passive aggressive jabs from ego maniacal coworkers as well as expounding on how I really hate that button up dress shirts completely restrict your shoulders. Seriously! Try to lay down in one!
He's tilting his head sympathetically and I'm full on ranting: I'm lost! What do I do? Leave this office job and go to another? I don't love it! Why am I doing it? Do I just hope that if I go somewhere with more potential for earning I can deal better because I will just think of that paycheck? Will I ever get anywhere? Does anyone make a truly comfortable button up shirt???
My boyfriend at this very moment sits up almost angrily and shakes his head, looking over at me with his eyes flashing (most likely in indignant defense of my plight) and says the phrase that is about to change my world forever.
"How about you JUST DON'T DO ANYTHING??"
I am stunned. The silence is deafening. The world stops spinning. The cliches are boundless.
Just. Don't. Do. Anything.
Really?
I could do that. (Or I could not do that? Not sure on the grammar on that one kiddos!) I could leave the pressure of my day job. I could go back to waitressing and go to grad school. I could stop trying to fit into those shirts, I could sling drinks and bury myself in school books. I happen to love school, I would be truly free. There would be no more pointless pressure about stacks of paperwork and being nice wouldn't make me such a good target for people to take advantage of.
Just don't do anything? I could bead ALL DAY! I could waitress at night and BEAD ALL DAY!! It would be like Heaven- but with beads! It would be like summer camp! I could create during the day, then go to class for a few hours and do homework and then go make a little cash... I could just let life take me by following the things that actually make me happy. It's like every poster from middle school- it's FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS!
Holy Crap! JUST DON'T DO ANYTHING!!!
All of this is bursting out of my mouth like dawn breaking over the darkest part of the night and I am so swept up in feeling an incredibly calling to "just don't do anything" that I almost miss my boyfriend shaking his head slowly.
I look to him, my soft supportive, sensitive listener. His real concern for me and my plight has brought him to give me the answer I needed. I gaze lovingly at my prophet and ask why he's shaking his head. He answers:
"Baby, I was talking about the commercial. The Neosporin one. It's just an ad meant to terrify parents into thinking that they need a product when the human body will really just take care of itself. People don't need to use Neosporin, they can just as easily not do anything and end up with the same result."
Aaaah. Neosporin. My epiphany is the aftermath of my boyfriend's indignity at consumerism. And hey, wait, I LIKE Neosporin.
The deflating setback was temporary, I'm a ridiculous sort of optimist and quickly decided that it was some sort of higher power that caused that commercial to inspire that world changing idea and save me from my life of drudgery.
So I've written up my two weeks notice and it's sitting in the corner of my desk. It's waiting for tuesday when the manager will be back from leave and I can make this whole dream chasing nonsense an impractical and wonderful reality. It's terrifying. I hate having people mad at me, and though I know the office will continue swimmingly without me, I am afraid of not only the moment when that letter transitions from my desk to the manager's desk but also the two weeks that I will have to sit and absorb the reactions and wrath.
Needless to say, I'm a giant ball of twitching tweakiness, but I'm trying to convince myself that it is like a giant adventure. I am just keeping my eyes on the prize and the glorious idea of returning all my damn button up shirts.
So, in the absense of my troublesome tooth, a new evil fear has risen and I must face it. I can only focus on the end result though, I can only focus on all those beads, just waiting to be arranged and strung. I can't wait to post the more recent ones, I've started playing with shapes and adding weird dangly parts. It's way more appealing than I just made it sound. So here's to major changes and hopefully so much good to come.
Wish me luck and then wish that I won't need it!!!
Yours-
the little miss milyssabeth
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
D-Day
As in Dentist Day....
dun dun dun dun.....
I fell asleep on the couch last night and slept through until this morning, operating on the idea that if I don't get up and go to bed, then I won't have to wake up and get teeth pulled. Unfortunately, the whole time space continuum thing does not make allowances for couches and now I am about 3 hours away from going under the pliers.
On the bright side of life, sales picked up a little when I least expected it in the ol' Etsy Shop. It's strange how amazingly happy it makes me to get an order and be able to wrap up those items like little birthday gifts and send them happily on their way. It really isn't about money, it's this special sort of sharing. Also, it makes you feel somehow loved by the people who are ordering. It's like someone is undoing all the damage done by years of living and telling you, "I like this thing you did. And I like you. Now go be happy for 20 minutes before reality comes crashing in."
Making things that someone else will love and then selling them is a really special kind of sharing. It's a weird connection to a stranger for just a bit. Maybe I'm a little too Mr. Rodgers about it, but it's definitely a warm and fuzzy sweater kind of feeling...
So anyway, I'd better go get ready for my torture session and also take pictures of the two most recent pieces before I go so that I can attempt to post them tonight.
Wish me luck!
-the little miss milyssabeth
dun dun dun dun.....
I fell asleep on the couch last night and slept through until this morning, operating on the idea that if I don't get up and go to bed, then I won't have to wake up and get teeth pulled. Unfortunately, the whole time space continuum thing does not make allowances for couches and now I am about 3 hours away from going under the pliers.
On the bright side of life, sales picked up a little when I least expected it in the ol' Etsy Shop. It's strange how amazingly happy it makes me to get an order and be able to wrap up those items like little birthday gifts and send them happily on their way. It really isn't about money, it's this special sort of sharing. Also, it makes you feel somehow loved by the people who are ordering. It's like someone is undoing all the damage done by years of living and telling you, "I like this thing you did. And I like you. Now go be happy for 20 minutes before reality comes crashing in."
Making things that someone else will love and then selling them is a really special kind of sharing. It's a weird connection to a stranger for just a bit. Maybe I'm a little too Mr. Rodgers about it, but it's definitely a warm and fuzzy sweater kind of feeling...
So anyway, I'd better go get ready for my torture session and also take pictures of the two most recent pieces before I go so that I can attempt to post them tonight.
Wish me luck!
-the little miss milyssabeth
Sunday, February 27, 2011
La-dee-da, What's a girl to do?
The wisdom tooth misery persists...
The pain meds have run out and I'm ready to injure someone.
But the thought of having them gone for good on Wednesday and then all of my doped up creating things time for about 5 days makes me smile again. Briefly. Then I am reminded that my tooth makes it hurt to smile.
Back to the grimace!
I suppose I don't have much else to say, except that this fantastic surgery is going to wipe out my bank account so I dropped a lot of my prices today, plus dropped my shipping cost. FREE US SHIPPING ON ALL EARRINGS! Seriously, unless you offer a deal in ALL CAPS, it doesn't count. It might be just a foolish dream that I can defray the cost of yanking these damn chompers with my beading, but a girl can dream, can't she?
Plus, I had a lot of time on my hands because of all the important things I've been dodging, so it made sense for me to experiment with pricing. I think I might actually end up losing money on the earrings, but it might be worth it just to feel useful.
So, off to all the errands I am avoiding!
Yours-
the little miss milyssabeth
The pain meds have run out and I'm ready to injure someone.
But the thought of having them gone for good on Wednesday and then all of my doped up creating things time for about 5 days makes me smile again. Briefly. Then I am reminded that my tooth makes it hurt to smile.
Back to the grimace!
I suppose I don't have much else to say, except that this fantastic surgery is going to wipe out my bank account so I dropped a lot of my prices today, plus dropped my shipping cost. FREE US SHIPPING ON ALL EARRINGS! Seriously, unless you offer a deal in ALL CAPS, it doesn't count. It might be just a foolish dream that I can defray the cost of yanking these damn chompers with my beading, but a girl can dream, can't she?
Plus, I had a lot of time on my hands because of all the important things I've been dodging, so it made sense for me to experiment with pricing. I think I might actually end up losing money on the earrings, but it might be worth it just to feel useful.
So, off to all the errands I am avoiding!
Yours-
the little miss milyssabeth
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Wisdom Teeth are STUPID
Hello World-
(I'm your wild girl, I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-Cherry Bomb!) Can you tell I watched "The Runaways" recently?
Joan Jett aside, I have to share that I am one super grumpy lady lately. My back left bottom wisdom tooth has decided that it is an ideal time in my life for it to begin poking it's little toothy head through my gums and get impacted. My dentist decided to give me enough pain medication only to cover me through Saturday and my tooth removal surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. I'm grouchy and puffy. Worst of all, my boyfriend has this bizzare Munchausen by proxy thing going on and thinks I am absolutely adorable when in pain. The worse the pain, the more love and affection I get. I'll be sitting on the couch, silently weeping a little with an ice pack to my cheek and I look across the room to see him making lovely dovey eyes at me. It's slightly unnerving because I am afraid it will give him ideas like "Oh, she's be so much cuter if she was just a little sick all the time... now where is that rat poison?"
On the bright side, my passion for beading has returned, sales aside. I've been a busy lady at every chance I get, with a new obsession for all things brass and gold. I just finished a necklace that I am actually going to have difficulty selling because I want to keep it so badly.
Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/listing/68842193/persephone-pomegranate-necklace
The pain medication has caused a most unusual change in the way I bead. It's becoming like art to me, in that every necklace has a story, albeit an odd rationale to the tale.
This necklace started with my love for those awesome antiqued brass patina cone beads that just remind me of when I was obsessed with Greek Mythology (I'm 1/2 Greek) and my sister and I played "Greek Goddesses". I was always Aphodite and I told her she could be Hera because Hera was the Queen of the Gods. In actuality, I let her be Hera because Hera was a b*tch. Don't tell my sister I said so, and especially don't tell Hera.
So back to the necklace. I just fell in love with deep red lately and decided to use all of these pomegranate colors with it, which of course reminded me of the myth of Persephone and Hades. If you are unfamiliar, I'd look it up; in my current state I am libel to muck the entire story up through pure ditzyness. So here I am, beading away and making artistic choices based solely on the myth.
"Oh! So these deep red beads can represent the pomegranate seeds that she ate..I need to do them in lots of five and seven because I can't remember how many she ate... oh! and now I need the frosted glass because those seeds were more dangerous than she thought! They trapped her in Hades so the jaggedy edges represent that they are baaaad... and, umm, a heart and arrow toggle! Hades had been struck by the arrow of Cupid when he fell in love so that means that... and that awesome feather I've been meaning to use to represent how badly Persephone wanted to escape..."
Next thing you know, I have the entire story written out in necklace form. Now, it's only decipherable to me, I am sure, but there's this hope that someone else will just see the art aspect on some subconscious level because it's there! It's art!
See what pain and pain meds do to the other wise rational? I'm having fun with it though and hoping that it will show in what I create, so there's a silver lining to my chipmunk face and out of control sherbet habit.
Also, I'm getting involved again in trying to advertise in giveaways and blogs so if anyone is reading this I'm going to keep you up to date on what's being given away and where. Hopefully it will spark some interest and some sales so I can actually pay for my wisdom tooth surgery!
Alright folks, until then, "put another dime in the jukebox, baby"
That made no sense. I'm leaving it.
Yours,
the little miss milyssabeth
(I'm your wild girl, I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-Cherry Bomb!) Can you tell I watched "The Runaways" recently?
Joan Jett aside, I have to share that I am one super grumpy lady lately. My back left bottom wisdom tooth has decided that it is an ideal time in my life for it to begin poking it's little toothy head through my gums and get impacted. My dentist decided to give me enough pain medication only to cover me through Saturday and my tooth removal surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. I'm grouchy and puffy. Worst of all, my boyfriend has this bizzare Munchausen by proxy thing going on and thinks I am absolutely adorable when in pain. The worse the pain, the more love and affection I get. I'll be sitting on the couch, silently weeping a little with an ice pack to my cheek and I look across the room to see him making lovely dovey eyes at me. It's slightly unnerving because I am afraid it will give him ideas like "Oh, she's be so much cuter if she was just a little sick all the time... now where is that rat poison?"
On the bright side, my passion for beading has returned, sales aside. I've been a busy lady at every chance I get, with a new obsession for all things brass and gold. I just finished a necklace that I am actually going to have difficulty selling because I want to keep it so badly.
Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/listing/68842193/persephone-pomegranate-necklace
The pain medication has caused a most unusual change in the way I bead. It's becoming like art to me, in that every necklace has a story, albeit an odd rationale to the tale.
This necklace started with my love for those awesome antiqued brass patina cone beads that just remind me of when I was obsessed with Greek Mythology (I'm 1/2 Greek) and my sister and I played "Greek Goddesses". I was always Aphodite and I told her she could be Hera because Hera was the Queen of the Gods. In actuality, I let her be Hera because Hera was a b*tch. Don't tell my sister I said so, and especially don't tell Hera.
So back to the necklace. I just fell in love with deep red lately and decided to use all of these pomegranate colors with it, which of course reminded me of the myth of Persephone and Hades. If you are unfamiliar, I'd look it up; in my current state I am libel to muck the entire story up through pure ditzyness. So here I am, beading away and making artistic choices based solely on the myth.
"Oh! So these deep red beads can represent the pomegranate seeds that she ate..I need to do them in lots of five and seven because I can't remember how many she ate... oh! and now I need the frosted glass because those seeds were more dangerous than she thought! They trapped her in Hades so the jaggedy edges represent that they are baaaad... and, umm, a heart and arrow toggle! Hades had been struck by the arrow of Cupid when he fell in love so that means that... and that awesome feather I've been meaning to use to represent how badly Persephone wanted to escape..."
Next thing you know, I have the entire story written out in necklace form. Now, it's only decipherable to me, I am sure, but there's this hope that someone else will just see the art aspect on some subconscious level because it's there! It's art!
See what pain and pain meds do to the other wise rational? I'm having fun with it though and hoping that it will show in what I create, so there's a silver lining to my chipmunk face and out of control sherbet habit.
Also, I'm getting involved again in trying to advertise in giveaways and blogs so if anyone is reading this I'm going to keep you up to date on what's being given away and where. Hopefully it will spark some interest and some sales so I can actually pay for my wisdom tooth surgery!
Alright folks, until then, "put another dime in the jukebox, baby"
That made no sense. I'm leaving it.
Yours,
the little miss milyssabeth
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Where are you, traffic?
Dear Anyone,
So, it's been quiet around the Etsy shop. I'm not going to lie, it's a little discouraging. I've got 40 items up and 1 sale. Now, I will say that I've only been at this for exactly one month and ten days but I am an incredibly impatient lady!
Sometimes it's hard to hear, "Oh your shop is so beautiful! Oh, I love all your items!" but it just seems like no one is buying at the moment. So I'm making ego-excuses for the slow sales. "Oh no, it's just that everyone is still post holiday broke!" and "My colors are really suited to spring and summer, maybe people are waiting for the jewelry to really be in season?"
Simon Cowell is chiming in too, "It's crap. It doesn't even warrant the time it would take me to mock it properly. It mocks itself with it's very existence."
I'm going to keep at it, though. I'm going to re-edit all my short and lazy descriptions and get around to making more items, and then actually posting them. I've just got to get the damn beading bug back!
I think it might all turn out alright if I just smile and wait.
So I'm going to smile, think happy thoughts and do some more stress relieving yoga.
Wish me luck!
Yours,
the little miss milyssabeth
So, it's been quiet around the Etsy shop. I'm not going to lie, it's a little discouraging. I've got 40 items up and 1 sale. Now, I will say that I've only been at this for exactly one month and ten days but I am an incredibly impatient lady!
Sometimes it's hard to hear, "Oh your shop is so beautiful! Oh, I love all your items!" but it just seems like no one is buying at the moment. So I'm making ego-excuses for the slow sales. "Oh no, it's just that everyone is still post holiday broke!" and "My colors are really suited to spring and summer, maybe people are waiting for the jewelry to really be in season?"
Simon Cowell is chiming in too, "It's crap. It doesn't even warrant the time it would take me to mock it properly. It mocks itself with it's very existence."
I'm going to keep at it, though. I'm going to re-edit all my short and lazy descriptions and get around to making more items, and then actually posting them. I've just got to get the damn beading bug back!
I think it might all turn out alright if I just smile and wait.
So I'm going to smile, think happy thoughts and do some more stress relieving yoga.
Wish me luck!
Yours,
the little miss milyssabeth
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Marketing... oh the horrors!
So, back to the battle of the beads v. me!
At this point, I have about 100 pictures. I'm not exaggerating. Flipping through them is like flipping through your grandparent's scrapbook of their Aruba trip. "Oh look, a beach. Oh look, another beach. Oh look, my grandfather in a funny hat. Oh look, a beach..." only this times it's "Oh look, that necklace I made 20 minutes ago. Oh look, that necklace I made 20 minutes ago. Oh look, the other necklace I made..."
I have to weed through the pictures to find the absolute best ones of each item and I'm really splitting hairs at this point. I have to get 20-30 down to five. It's like American Idol, but I have no Ryan Seacrest to announce which ones to vote off. Delete, Delete. I do, however, have an internal Simon Cowell who chimes in around now.
"Seriously, that necklace is bloody awful. What were you thinking? No one will ever love that piece. It's like the red headed step child of the jewelry world. Why did you think it was great? Why on earth did you like that? To be frank, that bracelet reminds me of armpits. Unwashed armpits. You have no taste. You are NOT going to Hollywood."
I muscle through and start editing anyways. It gets tedious to go through each picture, it's an endless cycle of:
Crop. Resize. Lighten. Change saturation. Change brightness. Change contrast. Sharpen. Hold item up to computer screen. Does the picture match the actual color? If the answer is no, please turn to page one and start over. If the answer is yes, please turn to page one and start over with the next picture. This is most definitely not an adventure I would have chosen.
The worst part is yet to come! Oh... the posting... (dun, dun, dunnnnn)
Here's where I have to do the fantastic math to price the items. Ok- material cost + overhead (10%-15% of material cost) + my "hourly wage" ($15 an hour) TIMES 2-3.
Whhaaaat?? No way. Too much. I can't price it that high!
Math re-do. Material cost + Overhead (5%) + Hourly wage ($9 an hour) TIMES 2.
Nu-uh. No way. Still too much.
Math re-do. Material cost + Hourly wage ($4 an hour) TIMES 1.5
Um... Minus $5.00....
Okay, I've reached a price where I think people will buy and I'm working for half of minimum wage. I post that and click next. Oh, the description. Etsy advice from veterans:
"Keep it simple, don't overwhelm the buyer"
"Describe the item in detail, as though there were no picture"
"Be as thorough as you can! Short desciptions don't sell"
Alright. So I post what I hope is a dreamy and fun description of the item with Simon Cowell ranting in my head, calling me a cheeseball and telling me that I have to remember to include centimeters in the dimensions because the British are people too. He's also mocking the fact that I cannot get a single description written without the words "mix", blend", delicious", and "beautiful". I am no longer describing a necklace, I've drifted into a recipe for angel food cake. I cut myself off before I start to type "add two cups of flour".
Upload the pictures, click the blue FINISH and then the waiting begins.
I click over to my public shop and stare at the views. Click Refresh. Still at 0 views. 30 seconds pass. Click Refresh. 0. 30 seconds. Refresh. 0. 30 seconds. Refresh. 0. Crap. Refresh. 0.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Endlessly.
The first view is a little victory dance of joy. It's after about half an hour after this that I share it on facebook, twitter and stumbleupon.
There is a lot more clicking, refreshing, and a little bit of the pook face. My boyfriend looks annoyed, my soul mate (my cat Loki) tries to sit on the laptop because I have been ignoring him for a full day. I remove him and continue to click until roughly midnight.
Then I get up the next day and the process starts anew.
I look forward to beading time more than I can express. I love picking the colors, I love the act of creating something that is going to make someone feel a little more beautiful. I go through all the posting and clicking of both my camera and my laptop for the peace of little beads sliding down a silverplated wire. I risk the trip to the nuthouse courtesy of my befuddled neighbors so I can have the chance to make you something. Because I like you. Really, I know we don't know each other but I really am a cheeseball just like internal Simon Cowell says. So I guess this is farewell for now and I hope to be back soon.
Yours-
-the little miss milyssabeth
PS. To avoid all confusion: The shop's name is La Femme D'Esprit. My official name is Melissa. My nickname or nom de plume in all things creative is the little miss milyssabeth. People do occasionally call me this. People also occasionally call me Michelle as well, but that's just because they are bad with names and I usually tell them that I will answer to most "M" related names. So there you go.
At this point, I have about 100 pictures. I'm not exaggerating. Flipping through them is like flipping through your grandparent's scrapbook of their Aruba trip. "Oh look, a beach. Oh look, another beach. Oh look, my grandfather in a funny hat. Oh look, a beach..." only this times it's "Oh look, that necklace I made 20 minutes ago. Oh look, that necklace I made 20 minutes ago. Oh look, the other necklace I made..."
I have to weed through the pictures to find the absolute best ones of each item and I'm really splitting hairs at this point. I have to get 20-30 down to five. It's like American Idol, but I have no Ryan Seacrest to announce which ones to vote off. Delete, Delete. I do, however, have an internal Simon Cowell who chimes in around now.
"Seriously, that necklace is bloody awful. What were you thinking? No one will ever love that piece. It's like the red headed step child of the jewelry world. Why did you think it was great? Why on earth did you like that? To be frank, that bracelet reminds me of armpits. Unwashed armpits. You have no taste. You are NOT going to Hollywood."
I muscle through and start editing anyways. It gets tedious to go through each picture, it's an endless cycle of:
Crop. Resize. Lighten. Change saturation. Change brightness. Change contrast. Sharpen. Hold item up to computer screen. Does the picture match the actual color? If the answer is no, please turn to page one and start over. If the answer is yes, please turn to page one and start over with the next picture. This is most definitely not an adventure I would have chosen.
The worst part is yet to come! Oh... the posting... (dun, dun, dunnnnn)
Here's where I have to do the fantastic math to price the items. Ok- material cost + overhead (10%-15% of material cost) + my "hourly wage" ($15 an hour) TIMES 2-3.
Whhaaaat?? No way. Too much. I can't price it that high!
Math re-do. Material cost + Overhead (5%) + Hourly wage ($9 an hour) TIMES 2.
Nu-uh. No way. Still too much.
Math re-do. Material cost + Hourly wage ($4 an hour) TIMES 1.5
Um... Minus $5.00....
Okay, I've reached a price where I think people will buy and I'm working for half of minimum wage. I post that and click next. Oh, the description. Etsy advice from veterans:
"Keep it simple, don't overwhelm the buyer"
"Describe the item in detail, as though there were no picture"
"Be as thorough as you can! Short desciptions don't sell"
Alright. So I post what I hope is a dreamy and fun description of the item with Simon Cowell ranting in my head, calling me a cheeseball and telling me that I have to remember to include centimeters in the dimensions because the British are people too. He's also mocking the fact that I cannot get a single description written without the words "mix", blend", delicious", and "beautiful". I am no longer describing a necklace, I've drifted into a recipe for angel food cake. I cut myself off before I start to type "add two cups of flour".
Upload the pictures, click the blue FINISH and then the waiting begins.
I click over to my public shop and stare at the views. Click Refresh. Still at 0 views. 30 seconds pass. Click Refresh. 0. 30 seconds. Refresh. 0. 30 seconds. Refresh. 0. Crap. Refresh. 0.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Endlessly.
The first view is a little victory dance of joy. It's after about half an hour after this that I share it on facebook, twitter and stumbleupon.
There is a lot more clicking, refreshing, and a little bit of the pook face. My boyfriend looks annoyed, my soul mate (my cat Loki) tries to sit on the laptop because I have been ignoring him for a full day. I remove him and continue to click until roughly midnight.
Then I get up the next day and the process starts anew.
I look forward to beading time more than I can express. I love picking the colors, I love the act of creating something that is going to make someone feel a little more beautiful. I go through all the posting and clicking of both my camera and my laptop for the peace of little beads sliding down a silverplated wire. I risk the trip to the nuthouse courtesy of my befuddled neighbors so I can have the chance to make you something. Because I like you. Really, I know we don't know each other but I really am a cheeseball just like internal Simon Cowell says. So I guess this is farewell for now and I hope to be back soon.
Yours-
-the little miss milyssabeth
PS. To avoid all confusion: The shop's name is La Femme D'Esprit. My official name is Melissa. My nickname or nom de plume in all things creative is the little miss milyssabeth. People do occasionally call me this. People also occasionally call me Michelle as well, but that's just because they are bad with names and I usually tell them that I will answer to most "M" related names. So there you go.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Making v. Marketing.
Hello Folks!
So I'm struggling with the dual nature of this beading business beast...
It seems like a constant struggle between the creative process and the selling half of things; it's like being two people at once!
Making: So here I am, back on the bead eating couch, happy as a clam with my three tackle boxes and one tin full of beads surrounding me. I've graduated from dinner plates to a beading board (Oh sweet heavenly piece of plastic with fuzzyness on the top to hold all those beads in place and in order! Oh miracle of design.. Oh savior of my sanity and supplies. I love this thing!) and I'm balancing that on my lap while ignoring this horrible crick in my back while mixing those colors and sizes and textures. I'm perfectly at peace and pooking my face so hard that I may actually turn into a duck.
This is my bliss. This is my creative process at it's finest and sometimes the only happy point of my stressful days. When I decided to make jewelry for the purpose of selling it instead of giving it away, this is exactly what I envisioned. I spend my days off on wild bead hunts, both online and in stores, pawing through everything I can find for that just right color and size before I scamper home to make something pretty. This, in short, is a heck of a lot of fun.
But what they never tell you is that there is a dark side. Oh yes, a dark side.
Marketing: So over the course of a day I churn out a whole bunch of stuff I love while wearing my favorite piece of the day around my neck and sometimes tiara style around my head. Don't you dare judge, you know you'd do it too! Then the sun comes out. It's picture time.
The picture process is probably the most amusing part of the day for my neighbors. I know they've watched me, I know they think I'm batsh*t crazy. I have the perfect outfit for setting off the necklaces, I wrap a white scarf I have from Paris around my midsection and put on a cute little white twill-ish spring jacket I bought on a whim and never wear. Side note- the jacket is so inappropriate for winter and the scarf covers my ta's and that's about it. So here I go, running out into the snow and stand squarely halfway up my walk, turning at the right angle to face my neighbor's house which is where the sun is. Click, turn, click, turn, click, zoom, click. All they can see is that I'm wearing pajama pants, a belly shirt with fringe and a little white blazer, photographing myself roughly at noon each day. Did I mention the heels? I live in black heels. It keeps those pesky pj pants out of the snow.
Click. Run into the house, freezing. Change necklaces. Back outside. Click, turn, click, turn, click, zoom, click. Try not to imagine what the man next door who is shoveling thinks. I repeat this process for roughly 20 minutes until I see the neighbors calling the local mental health clinic. Next comes the pictures of the pieces on their own. I use an old cream colored sweater and a cutting board as my background and I tromp out, not fully in pajamas and heels and bend over the three foot high snow bank with my behind squarely pointed at the neighbor's house I was just facing. There are plows up the street. I pretend not to notice that they are watching. They look seriously amused but I can't be bothered, I'm working!
Click, arrange. Click, angle myself and my rump differently, step on pj pants with heels, pull down pj pants slightly and moon the street. Yank up the waist band and pretend I don't hear the plow guys. Click, arrange, zoom, click. Roughly 20 pictures per piece later, it's back in the house. I'm snow blind but ready for the next part... now the fun really begins.
Stay tuned for the rest of the dark side of beading.
I've got to stop for now.
-the little miss milyssabeth
So I'm struggling with the dual nature of this beading business beast...
It seems like a constant struggle between the creative process and the selling half of things; it's like being two people at once!
Making: So here I am, back on the bead eating couch, happy as a clam with my three tackle boxes and one tin full of beads surrounding me. I've graduated from dinner plates to a beading board (Oh sweet heavenly piece of plastic with fuzzyness on the top to hold all those beads in place and in order! Oh miracle of design.. Oh savior of my sanity and supplies. I love this thing!) and I'm balancing that on my lap while ignoring this horrible crick in my back while mixing those colors and sizes and textures. I'm perfectly at peace and pooking my face so hard that I may actually turn into a duck.
This is my bliss. This is my creative process at it's finest and sometimes the only happy point of my stressful days. When I decided to make jewelry for the purpose of selling it instead of giving it away, this is exactly what I envisioned. I spend my days off on wild bead hunts, both online and in stores, pawing through everything I can find for that just right color and size before I scamper home to make something pretty. This, in short, is a heck of a lot of fun.
But what they never tell you is that there is a dark side. Oh yes, a dark side.
Marketing: So over the course of a day I churn out a whole bunch of stuff I love while wearing my favorite piece of the day around my neck and sometimes tiara style around my head. Don't you dare judge, you know you'd do it too! Then the sun comes out. It's picture time.
The picture process is probably the most amusing part of the day for my neighbors. I know they've watched me, I know they think I'm batsh*t crazy. I have the perfect outfit for setting off the necklaces, I wrap a white scarf I have from Paris around my midsection and put on a cute little white twill-ish spring jacket I bought on a whim and never wear. Side note- the jacket is so inappropriate for winter and the scarf covers my ta's and that's about it. So here I go, running out into the snow and stand squarely halfway up my walk, turning at the right angle to face my neighbor's house which is where the sun is. Click, turn, click, turn, click, zoom, click. All they can see is that I'm wearing pajama pants, a belly shirt with fringe and a little white blazer, photographing myself roughly at noon each day. Did I mention the heels? I live in black heels. It keeps those pesky pj pants out of the snow.
Click. Run into the house, freezing. Change necklaces. Back outside. Click, turn, click, turn, click, zoom, click. Try not to imagine what the man next door who is shoveling thinks. I repeat this process for roughly 20 minutes until I see the neighbors calling the local mental health clinic. Next comes the pictures of the pieces on their own. I use an old cream colored sweater and a cutting board as my background and I tromp out, not fully in pajamas and heels and bend over the three foot high snow bank with my behind squarely pointed at the neighbor's house I was just facing. There are plows up the street. I pretend not to notice that they are watching. They look seriously amused but I can't be bothered, I'm working!
Click, arrange. Click, angle myself and my rump differently, step on pj pants with heels, pull down pj pants slightly and moon the street. Yank up the waist band and pretend I don't hear the plow guys. Click, arrange, zoom, click. Roughly 20 pictures per piece later, it's back in the house. I'm snow blind but ready for the next part... now the fun really begins.
Stay tuned for the rest of the dark side of beading.
I've got to stop for now.
-the little miss milyssabeth
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
So this is how you blog?
Good Morning!
So here I am starting up the necessary blog for my current beading venture.
It's funny, this whole thing started years ago as Christmas presents and being broke. My mother loves necklaces and has kept every little thing I've ever made to an absurd point. I can remember being 6 or so and absolutely furious with her because I discovered the "house" I'd made for Santa out of taped together striped drinking straws tucked away in a closet. I could not believe that she would actually steal and keep something I had made for Santa! Obviously there was going to be some sadness at the North Pole because the Big Guy in red was lacking a stripey straw house made with love and scotch tape. What I didn't realize is that my mother was not a covetous thief but rather a staunch supporter of anything I put together. This went on through all of my life so far, I am sure somewhere she can dig up the hat and beard Abraham Lincoln costume I made out of folded together notebook paper (I'd forgotten I had a "dress-up report" and decided that I could fake it by playing Arts and Crafts during Math) or my Clara Barton puppet which was fashioned from an eyelash curler. My mother's love of whatever I make has led to endless handmade Christmas gifts, moving up from the straw house for Santa to the past three years worth of necklaces.
It's the same process every time. I pick out a pendant that I think she will love and then I head to the nearest craft store with that pendant in hand. I stand in the beading aisle for roughly an hour, holding the pendant up to every bead there, debating what I am supposed to use for wire (the year I used sewing thread made for a very short lived gift) and trying to figure out what clasp to use (because seriously, how are you supposed to get the clasp attached if you can't tie wire?). Store employees begin to circle like tiger sharks, eyeballing me as I pick up every strand of beads and smoosh them together trying to get a feel from how they go. The longer I stay and mutter to myself, the closer to me the employees wander to "clean" and I just want to turn and say "Yes, yes, I know you think I'm shoplifting because I've picked up everything and put it down twice but I'm not. I'm creating. Or I'm trying. I think. Wait, does this color go with this one?"
I will finally carefully make my way to the register with my purchases spurting through my fingers. I never remember to get a basket because I always think "Oh, I'm just going to grab a few little beads". Unfortunately, it is never a few beads, it's everything I think will look great together and a few things I'm not sure about, but better safe than sorry! I play the same game with every cashier; I say "Oh, wait, wait... I think I may have gone overboard! Can we just ring up these few things first because these are the ones I really need and then we can go from there?" This is simply my way of reassuring myself, and the poor cashier, that I am going to be choosy and frugal about this whole purchase. This is also a complete joke because I have NEVER put anything back, even when the total soared way above what I expected. If I walk one of those sparkling strands of potential up to the register, it is coming home with me. I can't help thinking how much I might regret not having kept that small pack of nifty little blue beads with the metallic swirlies that don't go with anything. Who am I to judge? I might find a spot for them someday!
So out the door I go with a very small bag and a very long receipt, leaving the annoyed and usually smocked cashier to snap her gum while make faces at the back of my head. The other employees can now stop circling that possible robber/crazy lady in the bead section and swarm upon whatever other hobbyist is taking just a little too long making choice. At stop lights on the ride home, I will pull out some of the beads or charms and hold them up to my windshield to get a really good idea of how they look. I will also draw really confused stares from other cars.
So, at home and ready to go is when I realize that I have nothing to actually put the beads in. Meaning that I should have probably picked up one of those fantastically useful looking organizers but I really just couldn't carry anymore and I thought that the girl making sure I wasn't stealing was going to have an aneurysm if I didn't move it along. So all the beads go splashing around on one of my biggest dinner plates and I go from there. Now, glass beads on ceramic dinner plates have some fairly interesting properties. Number one, they slide constantly. Mostly the direction they slide in is toward the floor or inbetween the couch cushions. Number two, they fascinate cats. I have two cats. When something fascinates a cat, the cat likes to bat the item with its paw until the item slides. Usually onto the floor or inbetween the couch cushions. Lastly, beads on dinner plates are actually invisible to boyfriends. If your boyfriend approaches the couch and there is a dinner plate full of beads, he will be physically unable to see it and will sit on top of it. When this happens, the plate will tips and those fun-loving beads will slide off. Oh, you guessed it! Onto the floor and inbetween the couch cushions. By the time I finish any project, I have lost approximately one third of the beads I started with to my carnivorous carpet and couch. If I ever run really low on supplies, I'm just going to tip the couch upside down and shake it.
There is the actual beading process, but I am not even going to get into that part. Just imagine Sisyphus and his rock, only I have many beads and a piece of wire to push them onto instead of a hill to push them up. Don't get me wrong, I really do love every minute of it but there is a lot of stringing and re-stringing and swearing and I start to feel like my fingers are covered in Crisco when I'm dealing with seed beads after an hour or so. I also have the most ridiculous habit of making what my boyfriend calls the "pook face" when I'm in deep concentration. If you'd like to get a good idea of what my creative process looks like, please imagine a 28 year old woman hunched over a dinner plate full of beads with her lips puckered and curled up in a sort of snarl so that it touches the underside of her nose poking with a wire at a bead that keeps slipping out of her fingers while two cats watch in amusement. This is how the magic happens.
After all of this, I am left with a lovely creation that makes me infinitely happy. I put it on, pop over to the mirror and twirl... until I realize that I missed a bead in the pattern. Yep, there it is, right in the middle. One little bead that no one would notice. Seriously. Who would stare at the necklace and spot that there are only five aqua blue seed beads where there should be six? I should just leave it. It's fine. And I do leave it, until it gnaws away at my brain at one in the morning and I get up to restring it. So after all of THIS, now I am left with a lovely creation that makes me infinitely happy and I can go back to bed.
It's all worth it, it's a small price to pay for seeing my mother hold up something I spent so much time on and put so much love (and aggravation) into and look over at me with pride. It's one of the best moments of the entire year. I try to bask as much in it's glow as I can before it pops two seconds later when she sighs deeply and invariably says, "Oh Melissa, it's so beautiful. You are wasting so much talent. Why don't you sell these?!". She puts it on and calls me every time she gets a compliment on her jewelry to repeat that same phrase over and over. This year, I finally felt like I'd beaten the system because when she turned to me and utted that deflating phrase I just smiled and said, "I am, Mom."
It does make me happy, because I get to treat everyone like they are family and make jewelry with as much attention and care as I would give if it was for my mother. Every time something is sold, I get that happy Christmas morning glow because I can imagine seeing someone getting their mail and opening something beautiful. Granted, it's a mailbox and not a Christmsas tree, but let's not spoil the mood. This opporunity is worth the slippery dinner plates, the suspicious employees and the grumpy clerks. It's worth the curious cats and the Crisco fingers. It's even worth battling my hungry couch, because I have the chance to make someone happy. Let's hope this works out!
- the little miss milyssabeth!
So here I am starting up the necessary blog for my current beading venture.
It's funny, this whole thing started years ago as Christmas presents and being broke. My mother loves necklaces and has kept every little thing I've ever made to an absurd point. I can remember being 6 or so and absolutely furious with her because I discovered the "house" I'd made for Santa out of taped together striped drinking straws tucked away in a closet. I could not believe that she would actually steal and keep something I had made for Santa! Obviously there was going to be some sadness at the North Pole because the Big Guy in red was lacking a stripey straw house made with love and scotch tape. What I didn't realize is that my mother was not a covetous thief but rather a staunch supporter of anything I put together. This went on through all of my life so far, I am sure somewhere she can dig up the hat and beard Abraham Lincoln costume I made out of folded together notebook paper (I'd forgotten I had a "dress-up report" and decided that I could fake it by playing Arts and Crafts during Math) or my Clara Barton puppet which was fashioned from an eyelash curler. My mother's love of whatever I make has led to endless handmade Christmas gifts, moving up from the straw house for Santa to the past three years worth of necklaces.
It's the same process every time. I pick out a pendant that I think she will love and then I head to the nearest craft store with that pendant in hand. I stand in the beading aisle for roughly an hour, holding the pendant up to every bead there, debating what I am supposed to use for wire (the year I used sewing thread made for a very short lived gift) and trying to figure out what clasp to use (because seriously, how are you supposed to get the clasp attached if you can't tie wire?). Store employees begin to circle like tiger sharks, eyeballing me as I pick up every strand of beads and smoosh them together trying to get a feel from how they go. The longer I stay and mutter to myself, the closer to me the employees wander to "clean" and I just want to turn and say "Yes, yes, I know you think I'm shoplifting because I've picked up everything and put it down twice but I'm not. I'm creating. Or I'm trying. I think. Wait, does this color go with this one?"
I will finally carefully make my way to the register with my purchases spurting through my fingers. I never remember to get a basket because I always think "Oh, I'm just going to grab a few little beads". Unfortunately, it is never a few beads, it's everything I think will look great together and a few things I'm not sure about, but better safe than sorry! I play the same game with every cashier; I say "Oh, wait, wait... I think I may have gone overboard! Can we just ring up these few things first because these are the ones I really need and then we can go from there?" This is simply my way of reassuring myself, and the poor cashier, that I am going to be choosy and frugal about this whole purchase. This is also a complete joke because I have NEVER put anything back, even when the total soared way above what I expected. If I walk one of those sparkling strands of potential up to the register, it is coming home with me. I can't help thinking how much I might regret not having kept that small pack of nifty little blue beads with the metallic swirlies that don't go with anything. Who am I to judge? I might find a spot for them someday!
So out the door I go with a very small bag and a very long receipt, leaving the annoyed and usually smocked cashier to snap her gum while make faces at the back of my head. The other employees can now stop circling that possible robber/crazy lady in the bead section and swarm upon whatever other hobbyist is taking just a little too long making choice. At stop lights on the ride home, I will pull out some of the beads or charms and hold them up to my windshield to get a really good idea of how they look. I will also draw really confused stares from other cars.
So, at home and ready to go is when I realize that I have nothing to actually put the beads in. Meaning that I should have probably picked up one of those fantastically useful looking organizers but I really just couldn't carry anymore and I thought that the girl making sure I wasn't stealing was going to have an aneurysm if I didn't move it along. So all the beads go splashing around on one of my biggest dinner plates and I go from there. Now, glass beads on ceramic dinner plates have some fairly interesting properties. Number one, they slide constantly. Mostly the direction they slide in is toward the floor or inbetween the couch cushions. Number two, they fascinate cats. I have two cats. When something fascinates a cat, the cat likes to bat the item with its paw until the item slides. Usually onto the floor or inbetween the couch cushions. Lastly, beads on dinner plates are actually invisible to boyfriends. If your boyfriend approaches the couch and there is a dinner plate full of beads, he will be physically unable to see it and will sit on top of it. When this happens, the plate will tips and those fun-loving beads will slide off. Oh, you guessed it! Onto the floor and inbetween the couch cushions. By the time I finish any project, I have lost approximately one third of the beads I started with to my carnivorous carpet and couch. If I ever run really low on supplies, I'm just going to tip the couch upside down and shake it.
There is the actual beading process, but I am not even going to get into that part. Just imagine Sisyphus and his rock, only I have many beads and a piece of wire to push them onto instead of a hill to push them up. Don't get me wrong, I really do love every minute of it but there is a lot of stringing and re-stringing and swearing and I start to feel like my fingers are covered in Crisco when I'm dealing with seed beads after an hour or so. I also have the most ridiculous habit of making what my boyfriend calls the "pook face" when I'm in deep concentration. If you'd like to get a good idea of what my creative process looks like, please imagine a 28 year old woman hunched over a dinner plate full of beads with her lips puckered and curled up in a sort of snarl so that it touches the underside of her nose poking with a wire at a bead that keeps slipping out of her fingers while two cats watch in amusement. This is how the magic happens.
After all of this, I am left with a lovely creation that makes me infinitely happy. I put it on, pop over to the mirror and twirl... until I realize that I missed a bead in the pattern. Yep, there it is, right in the middle. One little bead that no one would notice. Seriously. Who would stare at the necklace and spot that there are only five aqua blue seed beads where there should be six? I should just leave it. It's fine. And I do leave it, until it gnaws away at my brain at one in the morning and I get up to restring it. So after all of THIS, now I am left with a lovely creation that makes me infinitely happy and I can go back to bed.
It's all worth it, it's a small price to pay for seeing my mother hold up something I spent so much time on and put so much love (and aggravation) into and look over at me with pride. It's one of the best moments of the entire year. I try to bask as much in it's glow as I can before it pops two seconds later when she sighs deeply and invariably says, "Oh Melissa, it's so beautiful. You are wasting so much talent. Why don't you sell these?!". She puts it on and calls me every time she gets a compliment on her jewelry to repeat that same phrase over and over. This year, I finally felt like I'd beaten the system because when she turned to me and utted that deflating phrase I just smiled and said, "I am, Mom."
It does make me happy, because I get to treat everyone like they are family and make jewelry with as much attention and care as I would give if it was for my mother. Every time something is sold, I get that happy Christmas morning glow because I can imagine seeing someone getting their mail and opening something beautiful. Granted, it's a mailbox and not a Christmsas tree, but let's not spoil the mood. This opporunity is worth the slippery dinner plates, the suspicious employees and the grumpy clerks. It's worth the curious cats and the Crisco fingers. It's even worth battling my hungry couch, because I have the chance to make someone happy. Let's hope this works out!
- the little miss milyssabeth!
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