Not Just Ordinary Incense

I was looking for candles when I came across this shop on ETSY http://craftysteph.etsy.com/ . She has the most awesome selection of incense I just had to share them! Just look at the pictures that descibe her scents!!

Craftysteph says; These lovely-scented incense sticks are made to order, fresh just for you - so you know they haven't been sitting on a shelf somewhere!!

Black Pepper and Rose Beautiful! Buttercream Oh so sweet!!

Citrus and Sage (my favorite) Caramel Apple, just look at this presentation!!

White Sage (another favorite) China Rain

Here is a little about craftysteph process;

Stephanie hand dips all incense sticks, beginning with the high-quality charcoal incense sticks which burn cleaner than "regular" incense sticks (the punk type), which burn with a more "woodsy" smell. Because she uses charcoal, all you get is pure fragrance! She then soaks the incense sticks for 24 hours in an aromatherapy blend of highly-scented oils. Once completely soaked, they are then set out to dry for 2-3 days, until mostly dry. Finally they are packaged in re-closable ziplock bags, and labeled for you!!

After the Show

Just a quick post to show 3 of the items I made after the bead show!!

BLISS... I mixed Bronze Keishi Petal Pearls and lilac Potato Pearls for a small compact cluster earring. These are a great color scheme for fall! EARTH WIND and FIRE... Faceted Ruby quartz teardrop dangles from a stack of sterling silver rope rings and a African Opal. I am happy to say these sold right after I posted them!! OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN...On the strand of Green Opal teardrops I purchased there were so many different color blends. This stone just happened to match perfectly with the African Opal. So I combined the 2 to make this beautiful casual and earthy necklace!

I Went to the Bead Extravaganza!!

This past Saturday I went to the Bead Expo show in Marlboro Ma. I have to say I've been to a few shows and I still get so over whelmed. I usually take someone with me and we make a day out of it have lunch or stop for a drink, but this time I went alone. It's an hours ride one way and I really enjoyed the quiet time alone. I bought these beautiful "Green Opal" teardrops. I thought they would make a nice simple drop necklace on a sterling chain.

I picked up these "African Opal" in 2 sizes a 6mm and 10mm. I just loved the blend of soft cream an teal combination. Haven't really decided what to do with these I think maybe a necklace and earring set.

Not really sure what these round pale green beads are but I really liked them for a bracelet and the mixed colored strand is different Jasper's.


I was very excited to find these white and bronze Keishi center drilled pearls. I have to say the price was excellent!! They had a lot to choose from different shapes, size and colors. But I chose these as they work best with just about any color beads.

I found these multi colored strands of pearls in olive green, slate and a cranberry color and right next to them was this beautiful strand of ruby colored faceted quartz teardrops. I think I am going to combined them together in a necklace and cluster earring set.

Last but not least on a whim I bought these 7 inch strands of beads Ocean Jasper, Picture Jasper, Amazonite and Rhodonite and a mix of square semi precious stones.

Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for new pieces of jewelry using these new beads and as I very rarely use a full strand of beads I'm sure to be destashing in the near future!!

Do you know what Shibori is?

Last week I went to Oaks Bluff on Martha's Vineyard and saw a shop called Shibori and was a little curious because I recently met Kate Tracton through Etsy forums and blogging and who just happens to have a blog called, http://shiborigirl.blogspot.com/ . I was so disappointed when I found out it was closed. So when I got home I contacted Kate and she told me a little about Shibori....

Shibori is the ancient Japanese art of dyeing fabric - it's about 2000 years old. It could TECHNICALLY be called tie-dye, but most Shibori artists will bristle at that. The term calls up images of Grateful Dead t-shirts dyed using rubber bands. Anyway, the fabric is folded, stitched, twisted around a pole, or generally tortured into a 3-D shape before being popped into the dye bucket. After being dyed, the stitching and folding is undone to reveal fantastic pattern.

The process can be repeated many times to create a complex and lovely piece of cloth. This is a scarf in Kate's shop and you can see more of her Shibori pieces at http://ktracton.etsy.com/ Kate also has on her blog how she goes about dieing her materials... To see and read more about Shibori please visit her blog at http://shiborigirl.blogspot.com/ . Kate also makes beautiful jewelry so please visit her Etsy Shop to see more of her items!