Lets Go To Funky Town

For the Month of July get 10% off all Funky Bracelets with the Coupon Code: SoFunky  capitalization dose count so I recommend you just cut and past (it just makes life so much easier).

Below are a few of my favorite Funky Bracelets....

Actually that last statement is a little bit of a lie or maybe not fully truthful... since all the Funky Bracelets that make it onto my web-sight are some of my favorites. 

Green Dragon, Button

I have to admit that I love dragons, I just think the are to cool.  So of course I had to make a dragon button, well actually I have made several of them, but so far this is the only one that I have added to my website.  To create the background I used a shimmery green paint for the bottom layer then dropped several successive layers of varying shades of green pant on top to create this spotted dragon egg effect.  All in all it turned out pretty cool. 

Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness I am totally fangirling right now!

Presenting: Susan And Clay Griffith

I found and fell in love with this writing duo all because of Spike.    OK that sounds a little strange let me explain.   I listen to a LOT of audio books because I can work and enjoy a story at the same time.   James Marsters  just happens to be one of my favorite audio book readers.   One day I was looking at other things he read and found "The Grayfriar" by Susan & Clay Griffith and thought I would give it a try, because I love Steampunk and vampires and when they are together all the better.   In two long day's I had made a lot of new product and finished the first 2 books because I could not stop listening.   Then I had to wait 3 whole months before the next one came out (I know, know I'm whining, but it was that good). 

From the moment the story's started I was completely captivated.  The sounds, smells and textures of their world is so real I could almost reach out and touch them, I defiantly got lost for a while.  Their characters are so real that they became part of my life and I missed them when the story ended.

So far there are 3 books in  the Vampire Empire Series.  The Grayfriar, The Rift Walker, and The Kingmakers.

       

There is a forth book coming out later this year called The Geomancer and they have a different series The Crown & Key trilogy. 

A very quick bio.  They live in North Carolina, have been writing as a married couple for almost 2 decades and have scripted comics like The Tick and The Simpsons.   See told you they where cool.

I could go on and on about them and their works because I just love their work, but I have something even better.  An Interview!  I ran into Susan and Clay at ConCarolinas back in May and they where nice enough to do an interview with me, not at the con though that would have been cool.  However not so nice to the other people wanting their attention.   Below are my hard hitting questions and their thoughtful responses.

Q&A with Susan and Clay Griffith,

1)  What is your favorite color?

Susan: Green. The color of the earth and of life. It’s a very soothing color.

Clay: I used to say green, but I can’t wear green. So maybe dark blue or dark red. I don’t know. Is beige a color?

2)  I know you have a cat.  Would you tell me about him?

Marlowe is a beast. He’s a big grey monster of a cat. He’s really your typical boy. He sprawls about when he sleeps. For some reason, he has a terrible drinking problem; water sloshes everywhere. He likes to rummage in junk drawers for who knows what. And he loves to chase things like a dog and occasionally he will fetch.

3)  What household chore do you absolutely hate doing and do you try and fob it off onto Clay/Susan?

Susan: Vacuuming. It’s killer on my back. I’m always trying to get Clay to do it for me. And he usually does.

Clay: Paying the bills. Not so much because I hate paying for stuff, but I just dislike the whole process. On the other hand, I like washing dishes.

4)  What is your favorite body part?

Susan: Probably my hair. It’s thick and curly and has a mind of its own. There’s little I can do to tame it. So I’ve learned to embrace it.

Clay: Once my eyes; I was a prodigious glarer. But probably now hands.

5)  If you could paint a picture of any scenery you’ve seen before, what would you paint?

Susan: A tree lined dirt road leading away to a new adventure.

Clay: I like ruins. All kinds of ruins.

6)  What do you want to be when you grow up?

Susan: A writer. It’s true. Though if not that, then an archaeologist.

Clay: I want to be a zookeeper. Big animals are awesome and I want to be their friend. I guess I want to be a writer too.

7)  What got you into the most trouble when you where a kid?

Susan: Exploring. I was always going places I shouldn’t or climbing things that were dangerous. My mom got me a dog as a bodyguard (okay, babysitter) because she couldn't keep up with me or keep me in sight.

Clay: Nothing. I was good. Way too good. I don’t ever remember getting in trouble. Maybe once or twice for being mouthy.

8)  Is a picture worth a thousand words? Elaborate.

No. Ultimately words are better. Now this is coming from people who wrote comic books, so we like words and pictures together. But when push comes to shove, words over pictures. The best words are better than the best pictures. That’s why you’ll learn more from Shakespeare than from Van Gogh. Although Van Gogh is pretty.

9)  If you where given the option to have a super power, but you could only choose between Plant Growth & Control or Telekinesis, witch would you choose if either and why?

Susan: Telekinesis. It’s handy and it’s easy to conceal in case I have a secret identity. Plus I’d get a lot of extra work done with it, and I can get the remote from across the room without having to go get it.

Clay: Fine, I’ll take plant control. And the fact is, when you look at the Swamp Thing comic book, that guy had godlike powers. Plus he did well with the ladies.

10) Now you are both very talented people, but do you have any hidden talents?  For instance can you play chopsticks on the piano with your toes, Or are you crazy good at Parcheesi?

Susan: I can look at anything and draw a pretty accurate copy so long as it is in front of me. Sadly though, I can’t draw anything without a reference.

Clay: Not really. I used to fence (you know, sword fighting, not building fences). I wasn’t good but I was tall and left-handed, so that gave me an advantage.

Susan, Clay Thank you so much for your time.   It was an absolute hoot working with you and good luck on your future endeavors.

You can Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, visit them on Their Blog, YouTube, or Their Website

They where also nice enough to give me permission to make a Grayfriar Bracelet and Earrings so check them out.

 Warning If you have not read the Vampire Empire Series by Susan and Clay Griffith yet... First you really should and second this description may have some spoilers in it.

Oh Steampunk how I love you.  Below are the new products this week  made in honor of one of my favorite steampunk series it is technically the Vampire Empire series, but I always call it the Grayfriar after the first book and one of the main charters.  The colors of the bracelet are meant to invoke the cover art as well as some of the main colors in the book i.e. Grayfriar's cloak (gray) Adele's hair (red (red hair can have so many hues)) and of course the metallic for the steampunk elements (Iron and Bronze).   For the Charms I picked 5 elements that can be found in all 3 of the books.  The airship Edinboro, A book because they are all over the story in may ways, The Bloody Mouth with fangs covers all the vampires both good and bad, Lady with sword (the sword I drew was a Katana, but Adele uses many kinds of swords), and of course the all important cat Pet.  There is a cat in the story how could I leave him out!

The Earrings are Elements out of the books.  The book is meant to represent both Gareth's library in Scotland and Adele's library in Alexandra.  The Swards Woman and Vampire lips are meant to represent to lovers and there differences or maybe their similarity's.

Of course you don't have to be a fan of Susan and Clay Griffith to love the bracelet and earrings after all it is still very Steampunky, but it dose help.

Reminder of Junes Special

Spend $30.00 or more on your order and receive a Grab Bag FREE!

If I have any grab bags left at the end of the month I'll update the quantity in each Grab Bag section, but since they are flying out the door I'm going to hold off on that.  All this being said place your order soon before I run out of grab bags to give away. : )  

The best part of this promotion is you don't have to do anything other than order what you want.  The gift will just show up in your package like magic.

Beautiful Kanji, Earrings

I have been picking up bits and pieces of Kanji (one form of Japaneses writing) for years.  I could of course blame my brother for this, as the younger sibling I have had years of practice doing this and it would have the advantage of being partly true, it's a hobby of his.  Or I could blame the vast quantity of Anime  and Manga I have absorbed (Japaneses entertainment), and this would also be true.  Maybe I can fob this off on one of my many friends that took Japaneses in collage, witch sounds cool so it's a fun one to go with.  However I'm guessing it's a combination of all 3.  For what ever reason I have been making a lot of charms with Kanji on them with English translations (very small) underneath.

This pair of earrings has the Kanji for Beautiful, witch is lovely to look at as just a shape.  The English translation is at the bottom. I used one of my favorite colors as the top bead.   I was going with the logic of a lovely bead for a lovely word. 

Just a little bit ago I got an order in the mail.  This is not unusual I get a lot of things in the mail mostly business related, but somethings are just for me.  In this case it was something just for me.  It was not anything amazing just a T-shirt, but the packaging really wowed me.  It also made me realize that I was not giving you anything like a cool experience in unpacking your order.  Oh wow a brown padded envelope how cool.  Not.  So I put my brain to work (yes there was smoke, it's been a while so the gears where rusty) and thought what I could do to wow you.  I'm cheep so this meant nothing in the way of expensive packaging, but surely I could do something.   So I pulled out my sharpies, stamps, and permanent inks and got to work.

The front I did not do to much to since the Post Office dose not like that and I do want the packages to get safely to you.   Most of my crazy went on the back.

After I dressed up the boring brown padded envelop to something that was eye catching.  I thought about some of the cool things I had seen in packages I had received and looked online for some neat ideas. 

The first and easiest thing was to wrap your order up in some colorful tissue paper.  That was simple enough and it really did make it just a little bit more fun.  However I wanted more

Next I found cards of varying kinds (at yard sales, I did say I was cheep).  I usually would add a note to the invoice because I always enjoy the personal touch so I figured you would also, but now I have cards to put my notes on.  So much more fun.  Yet I still was not happy I wanted even more WOW or perhaps fun.

So online surcharging happened and I found a great idea that was fun, silly, and cheep all things that are up my ally.  Yes, yes I know gift with purchase is an old idea, but this was a twist on that old idea.  Instead of giving you something that makes scene how about small and random?

So now when you place an order you will get an envelope stuffed with strange but fun goodies.  You might get a bookmark made from a pasta box, and some googly eyes, a trivial pursuit card, and fake money from a Star Wars Monopoly game.  Or you might get a balloon, a button, a postcard made from a 12 pack soda case, and a playing card from Star Wars Monopoly game  (I found the game at a yard sale thinking "cool looks like fun", but to much was missing so now I'm sharing the love with you.  Who knows you might get the Millennium Falcon or a Stormtrooper.).  Or there might be something completely different in there.  Like Candy, Stickers, and a Hand-Made note pad.  It's all a bit random, but hopefully fun.

If you like what you get let me know or Better yet share the experience with your friends on Facebook, Twitter,  Pintrest, or what ever social media you like best.

Right now the gifts are in envelopes with a hand written saying on the front "A Gift For You Because Your Awesome!" and a sticker on the back, this will most likely change after I get some feedback. 

---- Your Awesome gift was funny. The green button and get out of jail card are definitely two things everyone should have.   Helen from CA.

       Customer comment.....

How cool! I love the randomness of your gift-with purchase stuff. I’m curious, what is that pink thing in the picture with the “5” and foreign writing on it?  -Viv                                          Answer: Star Wars Monopoly Money

Day one Greenie rise and shine.

By Popular Demand I now have Maze Runner Jewelry.  Actually it has been on my to-make list for a while now, but you know me I have like 400 items on my to make list and I'm always adding more.  So sometimes it takes a customer shaking me like a rag doll and saying "make it, make it NOW!" for me to get around to it, and this was one of those cases. 

I like to read the books or at least watch the movie before I make a fandom Funky Bracelet, but in this case I had a wonderful customer help me figure out the charms and colors I needed to make for this one.  So it was not until this past Monday night that I watched the movie; ... sorry I only work 90 hours a week so I have not read the books yet, they are on the ever growing pile of to read though.   I have to ask is it just me ... when Minho came onto screen I thought good lord it's Levi.  Then when they cut back to Newt I thought oh there's Arman.   Guess that would make Thomas the ever hopeful Eren.   I know it cant just be me, there has to be other people out there that thought the same thing.  Oh casting and costume isn't it fun.  After watching the movie I had to change the order of my to read pile so on my next day off (only the lord knows when that will be) I will be curling up with Maze Runner.  I know that I will need to have an whole 8 hours free, because with the exceptions of necessary's I will not want to put the book down.   Or I guess I could buy the Auto-Book version then I would not need to wait... hummm.   

Anyway back to the Jewelry.  I could not decide on witch earrings to make, so I made 2 different pairs.   YEA! more Jewelry.  The maze on one side and "Float, Catch, Blood, Death, Stiff, and Push" on the other represents the book so well (or at least that's what I was told),  But for me "Wicked Is Good" was just perfect.   I mean really could you make only one or the other?  Because I could not.

Now the hard part is witch pair will you choose?  I was tempted to make a "Great We're All Bloody Inspired" pair as well, but I had to stop somewhere.    I had already made the earrings below so they are technically not Maze Runner Earrings, but they fit so well I had to put them in this post too.  "Don't Talk To Me.  My Favorite Character Just Died".

The 4th of July will be here before you know it.  That means fireworks, picnic's, Friends and family, A day off work, and of course the need for some fun patriotic jewelry.  To make it easy on everyone I have assembled a collection of Red, White, and or Blue Jewelry. 

Happy 4th!

Wish-Ball Button

According to legend you only need 7 dragon eggs to get a wish.  Cool! I have no idea what I would wish for, but a wish granted could be awesome.  Unlike most of the buttons you will find on my website this one dose not have a copper band around it.  This makes for a somewhat thinner button.  Orange* and Yellow paint swirls together for the background color while 3 stars float above.  I could have put more stars on (in?), but I liked the way 3 looked.

*Note* the paint is a little sparkly witch seamed appropriate to me since the Ball has it's own life.  The sparkles help bring the color to life.