Boo!







Did I scare you?

Happy Halloween!


(Countdown to Tuesday....)

And the Winner Is....

.....Some guy.
I didn't get a picture of him but he had awesome 80's wig hair. But Allen still should of won because his hair is real. Best bike award went to a stage. Yes, you read that right.
It was quite a crowd! One of my buddies said that there were over 200 bicycles there - more than normal. But who doesn't enjoy a rowdy Halloween party?
Here's as best a picture as I could get of the mob. All those lights are bicycle lights.
I have some video, too, but it takes too long to upload so I'll try it again sometime I don't have a hangover :P

Bicycles Bicycles

I'm not a bike rider. I don't own one and they frighten me. I know it sounds absurd, but bikes are a minor fear of mine.
SO tonight is a big night, as I am attending the Chopper Night ride through West Palm with Allen and the gang. The theme is 80's metal / hair bands (or something like that) so I'm trying to get my hair crimped. I tried to tease my hair for the 80's prom last month and it just wasn't happening; my hair kept falling flat. Ah, well.

In other news: Check out this new cuff!
I actually made it a while ago but I just listed it on Coriandr!

It's *cold*

Boy did I get a shock when I woke up this morning - It's 60 degrees outside! In South Florida - that's a really big deal. That means sweaters, long pants and shivering! I know anyone who lives in a northern state will laugh at this, but it's all relative. Even when I lived in KC and was knee-deep in snow I knew there were people in Maine, Michigan and Alaska who were neck-deep in snow. Which reminds me - I'm not a big fan of snow. Which is why I came back down to Florida.

60 degrees. *ppfft! I've got a jacket on right now and I'm inside. (Floridians don't typically use heaters.)

And in other amazing news, here's my new treasury that I made!
And here's one with Allen's Beer Holster! By taragilchrist.

Amazing Saturday Funtime

Saturday is day two of the weekend-long bike build-off in Lake Park today with Jack the Bike Man!
Allen will be busy fixing bicycles to sell today and tomorrow so I'm determined to list things in between my own work.
Yesterday I made some wicked new cuffs:

From left to right - Red ostrich, purple ostrich, and blue fish.

I have a couple more, too, and I'm designing a pair of alligator sandals. But first I'm doing a fish mock-up.
We'll see how it goes.

Enjoy your weekends!

Time to Work

Hey, check out my Melon -

-treasury.
Melon Treasury by yellowlux.

Happy Birthday Ethel!

Today is my grandmother's birthday!
I'll always remember her fist-shaking and funny sayings, her laugh and her smile.
She would be 93 today.
If you didn't know, Etrelle's was named after her. It's been her nickname (or at least what my father called her) for as long as I can remember.
She saw her 90th birthday and passed away in Nov 2005.
Happy birthday Grandma ~ we love you!

Leather Time

Yesterday I created like a madwoman - I made several cuffs, a cosmetic case, even an ostrich card wallet! And Allen's working on a sweet caterpillar cuff!I was in a couple more treasuries, too, but I seem to have lost my screen shots. Lame.
Today I have much more I need to work on, much more to do. Maybe I should order a custom leather stamp on Etsy?

doodle time

I'm making a lot of progress on my comic book, considering my attention span, and I'm actually pretty pleased with my results so far.

Today I'm going to work on some leather goodies before movie night (i wonder what we're watching?). Then it's back to work on the comic tomorrow. I'd really like to have it done by the end of the week, but - we'll see how that goes.

Monday Madness

I'm in a treasury by aclairejewelry! I don't check the treasuries often, but lately I haven't seen myself in any when I do. But today I'm in TWO! Awesome way to start the week!

Plus, check out this bug video. These little beasts keep taking a swim in my pool and I keep having to rescue them. I have pictures posted in my photo blog.

cold weather

*Brrrrrrr*

Last night was cool. Literally. I'm actually looking forward to some winter weather this year. Last year, it didn't really cool down that much and I didn't get the chance to use any of my sweaters or hoodies (yes, it's that warm down here).

I'm a little excited. I may have to knit a little scarf with the new yarn I just got! All right, it won't really get cold enough for a scarf. Maybe cocoa, though.

And.... today is my little sister's birthday! She turns the big 15!
Don't tell her..... but I got her these earrings:
Happy Birthday Peck!

Fancy New Bags

Allen and I each made a bag yesterday and I'm so proud I need to show them off:

Allen's is a soft green leather bag in the style of a miniature messenger. He hand-tooled a celtic loop design and hand-sewn it to the front flap.
Mine is a small wristlet with black pebbled (faux stingray) texture and a drippy flap of blue kidskin. I added two diamond embellishments.

Awesome! Now I just need to get them listed.....

Ornament Exchange

Fun stuff!
I just signed up for the 2008 Ornament Exchange!

click on the link for more details or if you'd like to participate.

.

my book my book

So I finished reading my book: Corelli's Mandolin. To be honest, I was a little disappointed about the way the story ends. I suppose that because I haven't read a fiction book in so long that I was looking forward to a happy ending. Maybe it seemed like such a bummer because the book was so full of vibrant and amusing stories, only to end with sorrow and regret. Now I will have to see if I can find the movie version and see how well the story represents the book.

New things!

Awesome.
I made a little card case out of some croc-print lambskin and yellow coach leather. It turned out really well, aside from a stitching mistake. But that just means I get to keep it :D

Now I need to make another for a custom order AND I want to start on a new wristlet design today. So hopefully I'll be able to show you results tomorrow!

Sunday SALE

Today and today only:

This cuff bracelet is on SALE!

50% off! - It's now $13

Soft exotic Pear and Turquoise cuff!

Happy Sunday!

television!

I don't watch that much television - but I do allow myself two shows to attempt to make a weekly viewing of. Unfortunately one of them I've been missing because of my night job. Smallville! Let me use this opportunity to push my imaginary glasses back up my nose. As much as I love comic books, I was never a fan of the typical 'superhero' comics. I veered off towards more obscure and dark story lines: Sandman, Groo, Ranma 1/2, Tank Girl, etc-...

However, when Smallville first came out I was mesmerized by the notion of a Super hero's backstory and their journey to become themselves.
That's probably why I like my other favorite show so much. Heroes!
Save the world, Hiro!

venues

So, I've been putting some research into other online venues for our leather goods - I have an account on ecrater and opened one on DaWanda a while ago, just getting around to adding items, now.

I'm going to start building up items for the holiday season and hopefully Allen can get a few more spec beer holsters completed. I'd actually like to see one with some rhinestones and rivets, but we'll see.....

And I want to remind everyone about the Diary 2009 project:
All the pages are designed by artists and crafters from around the world (including me!) !
Get yours today!!

Bugs!

I've had this idea in my head for a while - an insect coin purse. Yesterday I drew out a pattern, cut it out, and made myself a tiny leather bug. I even stuffed him full of change to make sure he'd hold up to Tara's test of endurance.

AND I made a new belt. This awesome pink and purple number is made with some deep sueded fish hide.

And I will be back at the night job today, although we've been so slow on Thursdays I really don't even see any point in me being there. Ho-hum.

beer beer beer

Beer!
bleh.

too much, too much.
Tuesday Night Movie Night is always an occasion for indulgence- and hangovers in the morning. So while I try to get my head on straight, here are some things I love:the STEAK ring by paigehenderson. (There's steak cuff links, too!)

The Great White Shark feltidermy by Girlsavage! I want to get this for my little sister - the great shark hunter.

sometimes it rains

I need to start writing in my dream journal again. Even if the only thing I can remember from my dream was "polar bear ate a daffodil". I was tossing and turning last night and usually my dreams are the cause - having fuzzy memories of my dreams is almost more tiring than having full recollection of my brain running at warp speed. On a side not I would LOVE to get one of these nightmare snatcher journals by Spiderbite for Allen's niece this Christmas. (maybe one for me, too)

spoooooky

Halloween is coming!
I haven't really done anything for Halloween in years. This year I'm going to try to get out (at least for a bit). Then maybe camp out on the couch with Allen and some horror movies. Or cheese horror (like Leprechaun IV). Ha!Here's one of Allen's latest tooled cuffs.

Fun on Fridays?

Welcome to October!
I had the BEST night at my restaurant job last night. Starting off, I met two wonderful ladies who seemed enamored with my work (I wear one of my cuffs as flair) and we talked for nearly a half hour; I even gave out our Etsy store URL and B&M business card. Not only did both ladies discuss throwing some part-time work my way, but one of them was named Ethel! In case you didn't already know, Etrelle was my grandmother Ethel's nickname. On top of that they had just moved from the same suburb of Kansas City that I moved from!

And then some guy gave me $50.

Awesome!!

Now back to the drawing board....

Spiked Hat

Last week a teenage friend of my little sister came into our shop with his dad. They were looking to have a spiked strip made to attach to a top hat. I immediately thought of Slash, even though Slash's hat had these big silver southwestern buckle-things, not spikes. However, the kid had the curly hair to pull it off.
I ordered the spikes and went to work:


Come to think of it, Slash looks a lot like a kid I knew in high school named Diego Montoya. We used to make him threaten the six-fingered man's life as often as possible. (Get it? Get it?)

short and sweet

I must list things today - so much so that I should not be blogging, I should be listing. And then it's off to work. And then tonight...... the VP debates! Or I could watch something more interesting like Smallville or It's always Sunny in Philadelphia. Actually, I think I'll have Allen tape them for me.

Woot! Woot!

So.... I've been blogged: http://moxiephotoanddesign.blogspot.com/
Thank you moxiethrift!

Allen's been working on some more tooling. He's made a few cuffs and yesterday finished this celtic loop tooling which will be added to a messenger bag.
And here's a cuff that I've been working on. Hopefully I'll get it listed today (among other things). I just cannot seem to get motivated today! Argh!