Etsy Item of the Day

I want to start featuring other artists on Etsy, and I wanted to promote Canadians, but I also have so many items in my favourites that I want to talk a bit about... So I decided to take the easy way out for today, and choose one of my favourite favourites.
I stumbled across these egg candles a while back, and I can't get over how cute and original they are! They're made by Lisa Jordan at lilfishstudios, who's from Minnesota. She uses quite a bit of recycled material and draws much inspiration from nature, so these are great gifts for the green people in your life! These candles are actually made in real egg shells and come with pretty wooden egg holders. She has a bunch of different styles, and they're all very classy.

There's more unique and amazing items in Lisa's shop, so browse around! You'll come across these one of a kind, wonderfully creative nest pins: Each nest is perched on a small branch, and there's a pin on the back so you can wear it (I love her idea of pinning it on a purse) or pin it onto a gift. You can also request it without a pin, making a beautiful home decoration ~ and could easily be turned into a magnet.

Lisa also has a blog at lilfishstudios.blogspot.com ~ I recommend you check that and her shop out!!

Finished my book... now what?

I just finished the most amazing book this morning!! I just devoured River God by Wilbur Smith, it was incredible. It was so well told, you felt like you were there, witnessing the events told. This was the first book to make me sob, more than once!!! Now that I'm done, I'm at a loss... I was so enraptured and enthralled by this book that I don't know what to do anymore. It's all I can think about, grieve over. And the most incredible part, once finished, there's an author's note saying... the entire book is real!!!! The book is set in Ancient Egypt (around 1700 BC) and apparently, a tomb was opened in 1988 and some scrolls were found behind the beautiful murals - Wilbur Smith was asked to translate the scrolls and write a story for the public. I was just blown away that it was all true (or as much as we can believe from an ancient story teller... some embellishments might have been added)!! I'm such a sucker for ancient history and true, human stories.

But reading this book made me realize why I love Anne Rice and her vampire series so much ~ vampires are immortal. Her main character, Lestat, won't die, it's almost a guarantee. But this story was true and most human ... I've never felt so much joy, frustration and sorrow from a single story (and I read a lot)! River God is now most definitely my favourite novel of all time (until I read another astounding book, hehe).

Anyway, other than raving about my favourite book, I've also posted a few new items today. Two simple and elegant button bracelets and a cute notebook. Check them out:

First Set

So I took the weekend off from my shop. I was really itching to get on here, but I wanted to recover from my cold and seriously work on my nserc application. It's coming along... I also went for a bike ride with my boyfriend ~ we went to the waterfront (on Lake Ontario) and sat in the sun, watching all the sail boats. It was lovely. I finished my new and first set ~ a gorgeous watery blue and green necklace and bracelet. I especially love the green glass tube beads I used ~ they glisten with a blue sheen. The large faceted clear blue plastic beads are gorgeous as well ~ the blue colour is darkest in the wells of the facets, so they look like rippling water. The small round green beads are hand-painted (not by me) with gilded pink flowers and darker green leaves. The way these pieces catch the light is amazing!
I'm really excited to have posted these ~ I hope they sell! I'd love to have them adorning someone's neck and wrist.

I also posted some new bracelets. I'm particularly fond of the lime sorbet:
The pictures really don't do the colours justice: the green buttons are a delicious celery and the creamy yellow buttons look like whipped butter! Together, I'm not sure why, but they just remind me of lime sorbet ~ a light and delicious treat any time of year!

I've posted a few more, so head on over to ulixis.etsy.com and check them out!

Sore all over...

I don't know what the heck is wrong with me... Well, my boy friend Pat was sick last week, so maybe I've caught it. But the past two days have been pretty crappy. My body is aching all over, I stuffed up, my throat is sore and I'm extremely tired. I even went to bed early last night, so I don't know.. Ugh, I hate to complain, complain, complain, but I hate feeling so out of it.

The good news is, I'm working on a necklace and have an idea for a matching bracelet. I'm really quite excited about it, but apprehensive as well. This is my first beaded piece (that wasn't made for myself or family) and I don't know that it's actually good enough.. I think it's turning out to be quite pretty, but... Maybe it's just that my general not feeling good is helping to shatter my confidence as well.

I wish I didn't have to be at work today. I want to craft (and sleep)! But I also really need to start working seriously on my thesis, NSERC application and grad school application. I also have my first class (introduction to modeling - mathematical modeling, that is) tonight. I hope it's good, otherwise, I might just drop it since I don't really need to take it and it will be time consuming. I was just longing for a math course, and thought it might be useful for analysis of my thesis project.

Anyway, this blogging isn't helping me get any work done! I was supposed to devote this morning to NSERC, and then have a celebratory lunch is on campus (I work downtown at the hospital) - one of our PhD's Peter had his defense today, and is leaving for another lab to do his post doc real soon. On to work... ... maybe.

New Items!!

I just bought some new buttons, and they are in the juiciest colours!! I was making bracelets like crazy tonight! Here are four new ones that I just listed:
Check them out and the rest of my shop at ulixis.etsy.com!

New notebooks!

Two new notebooks just posted!! These ones are so cute, I was very tempted to keep them or give them to my mom! I'm selling them as a pair, since they match so nicely together. These ones are the smallest notebooks I've made, and so they fit even better into a pocket or small purse. Take a look:

Good night everyone!

Posted item

I just wanted to say that I posted yet another new item! I couldn't help it, I just love these button bracelets!!! Here is the latest ~ I was inspired to make this one by the vintage buttons I used: namely, the royal blue button in the centre and the gray-blue buttons between the black and clear blue ones. It turned out very pretty, if I do say so myself (and I just did)!

And here is the other one I posted earlier today (at the ungodly hour of 7am). The wire is copper, but coated (in something) so that it's red. I'm not too sure what the coating is... my dad gave me the wire from his collection of heavy duty electrical wire.
Check them out and my cute and handy notebooks at: ulixis.etsy.com.

FIRST SALE!!!

I'm so excited!! I just listed three new items this morning, and I've already sold one!!! This is my first sale, and I'm ecstatic!! Thank you to calliereneau for purchasing this cloudy blue sky button bracelet!!