::swoon::

is it wrong that i practically melt when i see pictures like this? i guess my thing for trent reznor of nine inch nails will never die! ::sigh:: ;p

and take a look at this little pretty!:



'grant me wings that i might fly', a lyric from a vnv nation song, 'beloved'. thanks to lea for introducing me to that awesome band! (although, lea, i've already thanked you like a million times, haha). anyway, i thought that name was fitting for this precious piece.

♥,
melissa

new and improved!

introducing: my new magnet sets! after lots of problems (which my friend lea was kind enough to listen to, haha) with my slide-top tin circle magnet sets, i decided to completely reinvent my magnet line. i am very, very happy with the results :). the end product makes for a much more pretty, thoughtful, and original gift than the previous magnet sets.



what do you think? here's the direct link to this ^ magnet set, 'asian garden'. i have 6 more magnet sets ready to be listed, but they will have to take their turn behind the rest of the washi-scape pendant necklaces i have yet to list. whew, i have been really busy creating this past week!

talking about my washi-scape line, here's the newest:



'good day, sunshine'. so bright and cheery!

♥,
melissa

ah ha!

much better! it turns out that the problem was that i didn't seal the back of the wood before using the epoxy. when you do that first, then apply the epoxy, it doesn't stain the wood, and you get a clear dry. also, as you can see, i did a much better job of not making a mess :p. i saved the pieces from the last batch that turned out really bad by painting them black, and i'll use them when i make darker pendants, which probably won't be until the fall (unless i have a special order). now is the time for bright and beautiful, not dark and gloomy! :)

also, i'm thrilled to tell you that i made my goal for the month already! perhaps i can reach 100 total sales by the end of the month?...

here's to optimism!

happy friday the 13th, everyone! it just so happens that i was born on a friday the 13th (of january), so these rare days are usually good luck days for me :).

♥,
melissa

ohm

this is my tattoo. well, this is the tattoo i want; i just painted this on myself with tempura paint :p. and actually, brandon doesn't like tattooing on hands, so it's going to be on my right shoulderblade instead of my thumb :pp.

i've wanted 'ohm' tattooed on me for a really long time now, so i think that after the wedding, i should go ahead with it.

brandon and i had a very eventful day today! he took the day off as a vacation day so we could get a bunch of wedding stuff done, and i'm happy to say that we survived, got everything wedding-related accomplished, and he didn't die of boredom (always a plus!).

first, we woke up early and drove towards austin. we ate breakfast at 'chick-fil-a' (mmm...), then headed for 'unbridaled', the dress place. i just placed my wedding dress order 2 weeks ago, but nicole miller had it in stock in my size (for a trunk show, i think), so it got shipped the next day after i put down my deposit. 2 weeks and $1732 later (ugh... but it's worth it! i swear!), i now have my dress hanging up in a nicole miller garment bag in my closet ♥. i will try very hard to resist putting it on and walking around the house in it for fun :p. no promises, though.

so anyway, next we went to the social security administration office to get brandon a replacement card (his has been lost since... he can't remember when. his mom lost it when he was a teenager or something). we waited for -maybe- 30 minutes, and got everything taken care of. easy!

after that, we attempted to run some other little errands (to no avail, but that's okay), and since we were near my parents' house, we stopped by to show my mom the dress (i think she wanted to cry, and she was grateful we thought to come see her).

it was then lunchtime, so we ate at 'outback steakhouse' really quick before going to our appointment of the day: cake tasting!



i found this picture in some magazine. it looks sooooo good, and it's our colours! the only thing we're changing is the shape; it's going to be a square cake instead of a round one, and it will have 3 tiers. the cake is going to be red velvet (::drools::) with cream cheese filling alternated with raspberry puree filling, and the icing is chocolate buttercream. are you drooling yet? :p. the samples the ladies that own the patisserie brought for us were absolutely delicious, and we're going for a second tasting in a week and a half, at which point we'll place our order. yay! i think everyone we work with is astounded by my preparation and i-know-exactly-what-i-want attitude. i guess most brides are kinda floopy about things and don't really know what it is they want, but i sure do. all that time recovering from surgeries last year was spent wedding planning, and it has really paid off! i'm not stressed or pressed for time at all :).

i've also been busy making new things for my shop. i've been really focusing on my washi-scape line (i need to beef it up in my shop... those few pendants in that category are looking lonely!). i have over a dozen new pendant necklaces to list, plus a new star magnet set, many pendant boxes, and a brand new gift set. exciting times in 'washi by maoiliosa' land! i'm also just 1 sale away from meeting my monthly goal (!) of 25 items sold this month, which is just incredible! my little shop is really taking off :).

here's a new piece, 'blushing':



whew. what a day! i'm gonna go curl up in bed with a good book :).

♥,
melissa

i hate epoxy

all you crafty etsy friends of mine, how in the world do you use 2-part epoxy without making a huge mess?

here's what i did today:



note that some of these are very... gluey. take this one for example:



it got this way because i wear gloves when i work with epoxy (i thought i was being smart!), and when i press the bail down after applying the epoxy, the goop gets on my gloves, which gets all over everything else, as you can see. what do my fellow etsians do to prevent this? and furthermore, how do you keep the goopidge under control when squirting it out? if i use a little, it looks good but doesn't stick, and when i use this amount, it sticks but looks like crap. or am i the only one who cares what the back of a pendant looks like?

as if my epoxy woes weren't enough, i'm also having magnet problems. it turns out that sometimes i use too little glue when attaching the magnet to my wood pieces for my magnet sets, so the magnet pops off when attached to the fridge or wherever. i feel really bad about this, as i have sold a few of these sets. i hope if my customers have a problem, they'll let me know so i can fix the situation. but also, i've given sets as gifts! ugh. i gave a set to my mom for mother's day, and she was the one who told me that one of her magnets popped off. i feel really bad :(. i guess i will try using epoxy to attach them in the future, and i'm also going to try using smaller magnets. until then, i've removed all circle magnet sets from my shop. the star magnet set is fine, so that's good, at least.

hmph. what a day!

but i did manage to get this pretty little thing listed:



'kyoto'. see, i was able to make a few bails attach with epoxy with no problems (ahem, last week).

maybe today just isn't my day?

by the way, i only have 4 more tile pendant necklaces left in stock! if you love 'ginkgo in green', 'ginkgo in chai', 'chiyo', or 'scribble scrabble', grab 'em while you can!

alright, time for me to remake a gift set i sold today (to a fellow austinite! how cool!).

♥,
melissa

eddie izzard, new items, and the day i was bombarded with sales

i've just added this cutie to my shop! this is the first piece of my new collection of aanraku bail pendant necklaces, which i am calling washi-scape pendants. the piece above, 'sugar blossom', is a "portrait scape" pendant necklace (being more tall than it is wide), and i have also made another style, which are "horizon scape" pendant necklaces (which are wide).

these little ones are about the size of a scrabble tile, at 1" x 3/4", but in no way am i going the scrabble tile route! that market is way oversaturated, and i always try to find ways to do something different. brandon cut each piece of wood for me, and i filed them all down, one at a time, to make them perfect. also, this is the line i was refering to when i was talking about my epoxy problems. i think i've got it all under control now :p.

i really like the aanraku bail style. at first i was hesitant, but they do look really nice, and i was able to inflict my own style on these so they stand out from all those scrabble tile pendants on etsy. it's my hope that these are a big hit :).

and oh! my sale is going really well so far, too! i've sold 10 tile pendant necklaces so far this month, which is great! i've gotta make room for all the new stuff i'm planning, in addition to my washi-scape line ;). if you have your eye on one of those tile pendants, grab it while you can! and if you see one in my "sold" section that you want, let me know and i'll make one specially for you and it will still be just $4 throughout this month :).

i also listed this pretty piece:



this is 'peace crane', part of another, small line i am doing call "deluxe pendant necklaces". let me tell you, you wouldn't think so maybe, but a lot of work went into this little guy! i am very proud of it :). it's got a glossy sealer on top, giving it a very shiny look that is different from the other items i sell. also, the washi paper (such a cute crane!) is mounted on a stainless steel pendant plate, making it heavier than my other necklaces. it comes on a pretty white organza ribbon and it neatly tucked inside a matching pendant box, all for $17 :).

okay, now i've got to tell you about my saturday! saturday was eddie izzard day, and he was amazingly hysterical as always :). like i said in a previous blog, no cameras were allowed, but i took a picture of the shirt i bought and my ticket stubs for you to see:



the only disappointing aspect of the show was that he didn't dress up in his normal garb (he jokingly refered to himself as "an off-duty transvestite", haha). but his act was very funny :).

eddie wasn't the only good thing to happen on saturday, however. by the time i got home, i had accumulated 3 orders from my shop! woohoo! i sold 9 things in all, just on saturday! this means that i am only 10 sales away from my goal for the month. i think i can make it ;).

well i suppose now i'd better get off the computer and play around with some washi paper. cheers!

♥,
melissa