LIVE in the shop- Mini Mixed Sets!

Hello friends!

Just got done listing all of those wonderful Mini Mixed Sets! I will try to be quick with this post in case this is the first time you are hearing about them. They are already flying out of the shop!

Here is the entire collection.

"Carnival" SOLD OUT!

"Ancient Sands"

"Cosmic Plum"

"Jubilee"- SOLD OUT!

"Kaleidoscope"

"Peach Tea Rose"

"Tidal"

"Tuxedo"

"Late Frost"

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you find something you love!

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

xo Genea

2 in one day! Jewelry update.

Hello friends!

Who knew!  I had no idea I would just decide to list in the jewelry shop today. So I will keep it short and sweet. Jewelry listings sap all of my energy. They take FOREVER to list. I will just let the photos do the talking ;)  Enjoy!

Bright Earth "Geometric Bubble Dings"

"Lagoon Pie"

"Serenhippity"

"Happiness Spirals"

Thanks for stopping by!

xo Genea

SNEAK PEEK- Mini Mixed sets $23-$28!

Hello friends!

It always seems to take me more days to get there than I planned, but I am still early! In case you didn't see the sneak peek on Monday on my facebook page you get to see it here and now. So really what I am saying is that by seeing it here first you only have to wait one day instead of 4 like everyone else ;) You're welcome :D

Here is what I have in store for you in the shop for tomorrow! A sweet little sampling of "little bits". The awesome thing about these mini sets is that you get a fun little mix and they are easy on the budget too! Sets range from $23-$28! Yay! I thought it might be fun to give these mini sets a try since spring is right around the corner. 

New ideas for a new time of year. The snow is melting and we are supposed to hit 62 by the weekend. Is spring really coming? No one really knows, but we will take it ;) I have been busily working on some "busy" projects in the studio over the last 2 days. I am even contemplating doing a tutorial on them. It felt really good to just make stuff. They were quick, beautiful, practical, and fun to make. You can't beat that when making new things! Well that is all of the hint I will give you for now. 

See you tomorrow!

xo Genea

SEA URCHINS! Etsy Shop Update and a re-cap on my week.

Hello friends!

Man have my days been all over the place. My sleep schedule SUCKS.. I awoke at 5am and didn't get to sleep before the "6am wake-up call. Just as I was drifting back to sleep my husband started snoring. I had to nudge him 3 times before he finally gave up and got up out of bed to go crash in the other room. I finally arose at 11:30. WTF?! I HATE waking up that late, but when you lose 3 hours of sleep being woken up and trying to fall back asleep that is what happens. I was EXHAUSTED after the week of work outs we have had thus far. We are contemplating moving the bed into the master bedroom instead of the spare room where we are now to see if maybe it will be less noisy. Then I will be back to having my room and studi oall in the same room again. I guess it doesn't matter since I'm not doing "you know what".  I can't wait to move to a 3rd floor. I pray to God that I can catch some rest there and get on a more normal sleep schedule. Ok enough of my wa wa's about sleeping...

It's snowing, again. It doesn't really bother me. I just wish this was the weather in December or January instead of March. It's nice to be inside watching the snow fall outside of the windows.

I decided to work on jewelry for my shop. I ended up making 3 bracelets to match my necklaces I already have in the shop. It seems my necklace category is the least full one so I figured I would spend my efforts there.

This was my first bracelet. I LOVE how it turned out. Pretty busy and detailed for a bracelet, but I guess that's just how I roll. I made this to match "Happiness". These beads are actually from almost 3 years ago if you can believe that! 

Here is the second bracelet I made to match "Serenhippity".

Here was the 3rd bracelet I made to match my "Recycled Wine" necklace. I am taking it apart cause I am not totally happy with it. Oh well..

On to the beads....

Here was my teaser pic. I don't know if you saw it pop up on facebook yesterday, but it's awfully pretty all together :D

Ocean Urchin Egg "Sea Foam Shore"- The first bead in this series. I LOVE this glass base color! One of my favorite odd lot glasses. I just love the variance of aqua, to sea foam to yellowish. So pretty.

Ocean Urchin Egg "Cocoa Beach"- I tried a bunch of different base colors for this series of beads. This deep dark chocolate brown's was one of my past favorites. I love the darkness of the base against the silver and rainbow.

Urchin Coins "Cream Rainbows" Now these were really difficult to photograph to show all of the details. If you could get one detailed shot of one of the beads in the set the others were really hard to see. I put each bead in the front of the pile and photographed them to help show more detail. These are actually more detailed than they appear.

Urchin Coins "Cream Silver Threads"- These were also difficult to photograph, but the details are more apparent in this set. I love the webbing of silver and ivory with the impressions. So pretty! Again, these are more deeply impressioned than they appear. The details are so intricate and fine it's hard to capture them all.

"Ocean Urchin Eye Egg"-O... M... G... I always love editing pics of these beads. They are just SOOOOOO PRETTY! This one was my first design before the Ocean Urchin Egg beads so its a teeny bit more simple. I have a special place in my heart for this one since it was my first. They say you never forget your first ;) 

**OOps! I forgot to add that a few of your favorite headpins are back in stock! I missed that in the first draft on this post!**

Beach Stone Droplets "Pale Aqua"- A few more pairs back in the shop for now. These were really popular so grab them while they are here or it will be a bit before I can re-stock them.

"Teal Tide Starfish" - A few more pairs back in the shop for now. These were really popular so grab them while they are here or it will be a bit before I can re-stock them.

Well now it's about time for a late lunch. I am going to go in the kitchen and figure out what I will be making today. I should make some soup. It's cold and it's been a long time since I have made some ;)

See you soon!

xo Genea

The End is the Beginning is the End- More Changes

Hello friends!

My blog post title is a song by the Smashing Pumpkins("The End is the Beginning is the End"), one of my very favorite bands in my high school years. When I was thinking about my post today this was what came to mind as the title. My brain associates everything to music. I am not sure why, but music has been my therapy so many times in life so it's no surprise it comes to me now. 

So just when I thought maybe things would settle down and my new changes would start becoming a new schedule, the balance is again disrupted. I feel like my whole life has been flipped upside down.  So we officially got moved, I had pretty much unpacked everything, we got some new things like book cases and stands and got them assembled.  Well when we had signed our lease there were only a few apartments available so we chose a ground level squished in the middle. I prefer corners as it gives you one more open wall not attached to other units. So we were going to put in for a transfer for a corner unit when one opened up. Well as we settled in we found out that we were again under a family with multiple kids. As you know if you have lived in an apartment that living under a family with kids can get really loud. So we are looking to transfer into a 3rd floor unit. It turns out that one will be opening up on April 9th. So while we wait for further details we may very well be moving AGAIN to a 3rd floor in the same complex. 

So that is the first bit of news. The second part of the news is that this will also put my glass making on hold. So you know how in Harry Potter they refer to Voldemort as "you know who," well we will refer to my glass making as "you know what". So when I say that you will get what I mean ;) So "you know what" will be put on hold until the relocation. I was pretty devastated at first and had  a good cry. I just want to get settled into a new schedule and get things "back to normal". I hate change. I really do. With all of these changes I realize just what a creature of habit I am. It's been really difficult...  

So what will I do with that time that I would have been doing "you know what"? Well, good question...

I guess this next 25 days will allow me to dedicate time to other neglected areas of my business and life. So as far as the business side goes, I will have new things to list. So I am happy to announce that you will still continue to see new beads offered up. I have decided to get into my "bead reserve" I had been stashing away for Bead Fest. I might also maybe make up some random sets with some loose beads I keep on hand. I guess we will see. So I am really bummed to tell you that the urchin beads you just fell in love with will be put on hold for a little while longer. 

I also decided that with this "extra" time I could make some more jewelry and update that shop a little bit more. I focus mostly on my beads because so many people make jewelry. I really do like to make and wear jewelry thought, and people like to know what to make with the beads so that is excuse enough to keep making things ;) I guess this also gives me some time to make myself some new jewelry since I sent most of my newest jewelry to Belle Armoire for Staci and my collaboration article. We will keep you posted on more details of that when we get them. I believe that article will post late summer or early fall, but don't quote me on that. 

This extra time will also allow me to update my blog more! Ha, we will see if that is true, but I will try for sure. I will have no excuse, right? 

I will also be spending more time at the gym, which was in our plans now that I am across the street from the gym instead of miles away with no vehicle to get me there. It will be nice to work out with Ricky again :) 

So that is my new news for today. It's rainy and Ricky is working. We don't really have any plans for today. We may get a visit from some friends, but the weather is kind of crappy so not too sure. I am tired of the unpacking/repacking. I haven't been sleeping well due to my "6am wake-up call" from the upstairs noise. I may just sit down and assemble some jewelry for a zen moment. I am also enjoying listening to some music from my past that brought me a great deal of comfort when I did my first big move from my home town to Kansas City, "Siamese Dream" from The Smashing Pumpkins. 

See you soon.

xo Genea

Moving, Unpacking, Organizing and Mail!

Hello friends!

It's been an interesting week for sure. So rewind back to 2 weeks ago, I got a new tattoo! I had been wanting this symbol for a LONG TIME! I couldn't have gotten it tattooed at a better time. This is the African Adinkra Symbol called "Wawa Aba".  Here is it's meaning: 

"seed of the wawa tree"

symbol of hardiness, toughness and perseverance

The seed of the wawa tree is extremely hard. In Akan culture, it is a symbol of someone who is strong and tough. It inspires the individual to persevere through hardship.

Perfect, right?! We had a friend do the inking. I was really excited to have him do this tattoo since he is an amazing artist and learning to do ink. The tattoo is on my right arm just below "the ditch"(my elbow crease). It's nice to have a tattoo that I can see all the time and it reminds me to be strong and persevere :)

I have been busily moving, unpacking, and organizing everything. I feel like all I am doing is shuffling around boxes. 

Here was the living room when I first started.

Here is the start of the studio.

This week I have been getting new things for the apartment to organize. I started with a book shelf. This along with many other things this week has been a total PITA. I went to 3 different Walmarts looking for a white book shelf before I found one. The Walmarts in Kansas suck horrible  compared to the ones "up north" in KC, MO. So weird. It's literally only like 20 minutes to Missouri so you wouldn't think there would be a difference. So I get my white book case and this is what I find when I empty the box. A cracked corner! Grrr. So off to Target for a new bookcase.

So I follow the instructions for the bookcase and as you know nailing the cardboard on the back is the last step. The instructions even warn you to NOT stand up the book case until the backing has been secured so the shelf doesn't fall apart. So much for that! Look at that gap! Grrrr! So I had to undo about 7 nails from the cardboard. The seam from the top to bottom part of the book case needs to lay flat, but the stupid cardboard was too long. The cardboard backings were pushing up against each other causing the gap in the shelf.

After undoing the nails and hammering and pushing down on the shelf. I got the gap as close as it was going to go. Thank God! It is now heavily weighed down with my zillions of bead boxes and 3 drawer organizers :D

My darling husband left me sweet notes and breakfast :) It was such a wonderful surprise to wake up to. He knew I would see the note if it was on my coffee pot. It's my first stop in the morning! 

I also got this "sweet nothing" on the fridge! :)

I got my first "fun mail" at the new address! It was a wonderful package from Staci! She left me this sweet note with little bundles of Sari silk and a box FULL of beads! 

Some of stacis hammered metal connectors and star toggle. Love these!

Staci's "bones and fossils" pieces. I love the different colors and textures! Love that crackle!

Beautiful disc from Marsha Neal Studio, and bumble bee bead from Lisa Peters Art!

Staci's amazing urchin printed hearts, eye heart, eye bead and donut.

Beautiful patinated beads. I love them all, but especially love the verdigris wings with the big hole! So cool! 

A nice sampling of semi-precious stones including a large rough ruby!

Now to get back to setting up and organizing. I still have a ways to go.

See you soon!

xo Genea

New Sea Urchin Designs & News!

Hello friends!

Geez, was today crazy. Originally I was going to share my craft store finds with you, but that went in a different direction!  Ok well I will tell you the news first before I show you the beads.... 

The news!...

Well we are MOVING again. Lol. This time we are moving just over the state border from Missouri to Olathe, Kansas. We will be 45 minutes from where we are now and right across the street from Ricky's work! We ended up getting an apartment cause finding a house this time of a year is almost impossible for the areas in which we wanted to live. We have been looking for months and just decided to go with an apartment. This move will save us literally hundreds of dollars in gas and it will give Ricky another 2 hours worth of time per night! Woo hoo! We will even be walking distance from just about everything we could want and only a short drive to things like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods! We got a place at Wyncroft Hill. You can check out the gallery there. Here is our floor plan. We are moving on Saturday morning so we will be down for a few days. My shops will remain open, but there will be a slight delay while we unpack and get the internet up. So just a little "heads up" on that. So super exciting! So that is the news.

Now for the BEADS!....

So maybe you saw Staci's posts awhile back on Facebook. She had posted the progress photos of the stamps she was creating for me. Well I received them and I couldn't wait to try them out. I am totally in LOVE with the urchin imprints. They are SO pretty! I love the little snakey texture and the bumpies. Those are the technical terms ;)

You guys, I literally made PILES of beads trying to figure out the designs!

Some of the first attempts. I didn't even put these in the kiln. I only made them quickly and let them cool on my table. I did the "Quick and Dirty" method of just slopping some glass on a mandrel and trying a few things to see what works.

I tried shiny.

Same bead etched. 

Black etched.

Different base colors, different stamps.....

This is a pile of smaller beads form the 3rd run I tried. I was finally getting somewhere, but still, I want the impressions to be deep and  pronounced. I could get some good impressions, but then one side of my coin beads would be flatter and one side would be rounder. Damn it!

These were the best coins I got made. They are more organic in shape with nice textured prints and amazing color variance. This was my vision for them using this color of glass. These were snagged by Karen before I even listed them ;) 

Here were some different focal designs I tried. I wanted to get a feel for what worked. 

Here is a close-up of the pile of focals. I finally NAILED the design! I was getting so pissed. I spent DAYS trying to get something to really show off the impressions. Using focals you can really get a nice impression and it's ok to the the bead shape flatten out. I am really pleased with the beads in this pile!

Here are some close-ups on opaque glasses. You can see the very fine details of the stamps on the glass surface.

They are really apparent here! Look at all of that texture and color! Wow!

Here is a close-up of the black. Dreamy huh?

Well I only had a few to list today as I should have been getting stuff packed, but I already just about SOLD  OUT! I have ONE focal left for sale!

Here is the gorgeous Ivory one that sold. I love the look of the impression with the rainbow underneath. It looks like a watery ripple relfection. So amazing! This one is SOLD.

Here you can see that same wonderful variance of color in tehe coral with great texture. This one is also SOLD. 

Ocean Urchin Egg "Midnight Rainbow Reflection"  The ONLY one left for sale! Wow, gorgeous! I love the contrast of the rainbows and black so mesmerizing! 

Well I have waiting way too long to EAT so I need to go make some food. 

I will see you all tomorrow and then not until after we are unpacked. Purchases made through tomorrow will go out tomorrow. Any others will be a day or two.  See you soon! Have a great weekend!

xo Genea