More Pretty Jewelry

For someone who doesn't really wear jewelry, I sure do blog about it a lot. Here are some more pretties I came across on Etsy.

These are from the Etsy shop SusansJewelryDesigns, and are not only beautiful, but appear to be very well made. They're also quite affordable; most of the items in Susan's shop are around $16, with some earrings priced as low as $11 a pair.

These would be lovely to add just a bit of sparkle to an outfit.

I think these Tuscan sun earrings would look especially nice on someone with dark hair. There is also a ring in Susan's shop with this same design here.


Striking, while still being simple and classy


These look good enough to eat!


As usual, I've really focused on earrings in this post, because in any jewelry shop those are what tends to most catch my eye, but Susan also many lovely handmade rings, necklaces, and bracelets. You can take a browse by clicking here.

Bought these gorgeous handmade earrings for $5!

I rarely buy things on Etsy. Not because I don't want to. Far from it! Mostly because there are just so many things I'd like to buy, I can never narrow it down to actually making a purchase.

So last week, when I was taking a look through the beFreedesigns shop, I had no intention of actually buying anything. Again, not because I didn't want to. I had hearted a number of items in the shop before and was coming back to pick some out for a blog feature. But, lo and behold, one of the sets that I had hearted had been put on sale... on sale for only $5! I couldn't resist!


The earrings arrived yesterday, and I just love them! I actually bought them with my sister-in-law in mind, because she has these beautiful bright blue eyes, and I do not. But when I saw them I just had to try them on, and you can't give away earrings once they've been worn, right? Like, it's some kind of rule, right?


These earrings are actually much prettier in person... for some reason neither my photos or the shop listing photos really do them justice. I especially love the way they swing; and that the inside stone swings completely independently from the outer hoop, which also swings nicely from the hook. So all in all, very swingy! This was an unbelievable deal and one that I am very happy with.

Here are a few more of my very favorite items from the beFreedesign shop. Be sure and check out the actual shop; there are lots more beauties, at excellent prices too!

Essence of Seas Earrings... just $15!


A Night in Bombay Earrings... only $10, and free shipping too!

Thanks for reading!

Being My Own Model

With cold weather and Christmas just around the corner, I finally decided it's time to get serious about photographing and listing all the scarves I've been making all year long (yes, I make scarves year round). Since I don't have a model or a dressmaker's dummy, I've tried photographing them lots of different ways (on tables, on trees, etc), but often they just look like something unidentifiable, or, in many cases, like a colorful roll of toilet-paper. Which is interesting, but not exactly what I was going for. Observe; my tree-model and toilet-paper roll pose:










So I finally decided it was time to bite the bullet and be my own model. My sister happens to be a really good photographer (unlike me) with a kind of fancy camera (also unlike me). So the other day, when the lighting seemed just right, we went out to the yard to take some photos.


I put on what I deemed a nice, but un-distracting top, surprisingly free from the bleach spots, stains, and holes that adorn so many of my tops, and what I thought were my nicest jeans. After seeing said jeans in photos, I think maybe I need some new jeans. Luckily, my top half was really all that was needed for most of the photos.


So then we got down to it, and just "standing" is actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. Because you have to stand without looking strange, or awkward, or like you're missing a limb... all these things. And my sister the whole time giving me helpful tips, like "you look really weird when you do that" and "get rid of that hand." Get rid of it?


Amazingly, a lot of the photos turned out pretty decent (after some photoshop magic to remove some "skin imperfections" that my sister's fancy camera picked up in superb and unforgiving detail).


By the way, did you know you can edit your photos for free on Photoshop. com? I just discovered this little miracle. I know there are a lot of free editing programs out there (I usually use Picasa) but none of the ones I've used so far have the touch-up tool that I found so helpful in evening out my skin tone. It was actually really therapeutic. Zap, zap, zap, zap! I wish smooth, clear skin were so easy in real life!