26 April 2006

Midweek Munchies & *Jewelry*

This is a preview for what is yet to come. First you all have to sit through Midweek Munchies. I have 33 minutes until I am "late" for munchie day and who knows what time it'll be by the time I'm done. (edit to add: finished post, I have 12 minutes until the "deadline") For now, I have a grocery list to contribute. No code, but "here's what Leslie's contributing for the week"...

Trader Joes: Yep, I live super-close and I'm happy about that. For some reason I don't go there as often as I end up wanting to. It was a good random change and here's what we (Ray and I) got.
Nature's Path Optimum Cereal- the best powerhouse next to my treats
apple granola*
frozen broccoli*
frozen cherries (Ray's, as I don't care for these)
brown rice*
trail mix cookies, Trader's brand (supposed to be like Uncle Eddies but not even close to as good, sorry people at TJ's)
light coconut milk
peach white tea
cheese for Ray
hot jalepeno sauce
roasted cashew butter (not organic, but $3.99 and I am super-happy about that price)
baked teriyaki tofu*

From Whole Foods (random days)
horchata
2 huge rosemary bread loafs (last post)
garlic*
onion*
purple kale*
carrots*

And now for the stuff that you all have been buggin' me about. It makes me a bit shy to show all of this (especially without a price tag, usually I am strictly business, not *showing off*, although I am open to orders as always). I am not shy about eating, talking about food, expressing passion about something, being silly, or many other things, but showing my jewelry is taking some guts. I am very shy in this department! It all started as a hobby that turned into an LLC. I have already been sharing food, recipes, ideas, kitchens, etc with so many great people that I am ready to show *some* jewelry. Enjoy.
This bracelet above is three types of wood, painted with a toggle clasp. Oh, and all of these were taken at least a year ago and before I discovered the macro-mode on my camera (thanks Miriam!).
Above: Chinese turquoise bracelet and earring set. Sterling silver clasps and hooks.
Above: Peridot and quartz necklace with tri-amber/sterling silver pendant. Sterling silver clasp.
Above: I can't remember what the first keychain with the peace sign is beaded with. Most likely rose quartz dyed. The second from the left is my favorite of these. It's flourite and the blues and purples blend together. Third we have just a simple glass with plated silver beads and a pewter frog pendant. The final keychain is made with handblown glass and a few other beads that I can't place. The pendant is a Chinese symbol (correct me if I'm wrong). All of these keychains are on my lower-end of products.
Above: Carnelian necklace with sterling silver clasp and carnelian turtle pendant.
Above: Large serpentine stones with labradorite square fillers. Toggle clasp.
Above: Jasper earrings that took me forever to make because they have three dangly layers. Sterling silver hooks and they're about four inches long.
Above: Agate stones with glass and sterling silver fillers. Sterling silver and labradorite pendant.
Sorry this is so cut-and-dry. It is a slim selection, as I have made hundreds over the last 6 years and always come up with something different (and each one is unique, no two the same- ever). I can give more information about these such as size, sales price, types of stones, etc, but please comment and ask. I would much rather "type" about food, but I am happy to share all this. I hope you have enjoyed looking at all this and I have no idea why the computer is not letting me un-italicize these words!

33 comments:

Isil Simsek said...

Leslie,
These look so nice. Btw. don't tell anyone that I learned the macro mode from Miriam,too ;)

primaryconsumer said...

Wow, your jewelry is beautiful!

My Inner Geek said...

Beautiful work. I love the labradorite pendant!

Shawn Powers said...

Your jewelery is beautiful. I wish I were better at picking out jewelery, because Donna *LOVES* getting it as a gift. I just have poor taste. What I think is gawdy turns out to be "bold", and what I think is classy tends to be "boring"

I usually end up going with the cliche gold earings or some such thing.

Maybe some day I'll get better -- but fashion is certainly not one of my strengths!

Alexandra said...

The jewellery is amazing. Do you have a website where you sell it or anything like that?

Isil Simsek said...

Leslie,
Today's post is for you ;)

Eat Peace Please said...

Isil, thanks for the dedicated post by request, that was so nice of you and I enjoyed the views. It's very different than anywhere I've ever seen before. Thanks for the comments!

Johanna, thank you for your kind comments as always. I am looking forward to hearing the results of her bloodwork. I hope everything went ok at the doctor. Needles are scary!!!

Primary Consumer, thanks!

Inner Geek, thanks. I love labradorite how it reflects in sunlight.

Shawn, you crack me up. If your wife likes anything along the lines of the slim selection I have shown, let me know someday. I also do custom orders but it can be difficult to plan. I had to read your comment to my boyfriend!

Alex, thank you and welcome to the comments! I used to sell on eBay but jewelry is hard. People either want fake stones, cheap stuff, or super-expensive stuff, and I do none of the above. I started a website but when I was in school I was too busy. I am thinking about it now. I sell aromatherapy pillows too. I sell locally at the co-op and a few other small places around town. Right now I'm working on selling food more than jewelry but I am never *not* selling.

Becky, thanks for your comments as always!

Crunchy Domestic Goddess said...

wow! those are beautiful. :) you are very talented.

Julie said...

yay! I am sooo glad you posted pics of your jewelery making! Quite beautiful!

Flo @ Yielded Heart said...

Really beautiful, Leslie!

I hope you'd get to restarting a website soon. So many people visit your blog. Hey, they could be your best customers! (winks)

What are you doing with the purple kale?

Here's the site with coupons that you were asking for:
http://mambosprouts.com/

Dreena said...

omg, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!! I LOVE the peridot necklace and the serpentine stone bracelet. Can you e-mail me with the sizes and prices? I have a small neck and wrists (in fact my wrists are freakishly small!), so I usually need necklaces that are almost choker-length, and very small bracelets. I love bead necklaces, and all of your jewelry here is stunning!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Wow, Leslie, thanks for sharing your jewelry with us! It's all very beautiful. I'm all about brown & earth tones with jewelry. Do you have a website where I could browse? Where do you usually sell?

Guinnah said...

Leslie - such beautiful work. That peridot and quartz necklace is stunning - truly. Thank you for sharing :-)

Andrea said...

Gorgeous! You really are talented! I love reading about your recipes. I'm currently a vegetarian striving to have more vegan days and eventually hoping to be 100% vegan. You're lucky to have such great ressources around you (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc.). We seem to have nothing .

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Leslie, I am very serious about ordering jewelry from you in the coming months if you are interested! This is very much along the lines of what I'd like to wear. Let me know what you have going on!

Patty said...

what beautiful jewelry Leslie ! You have such talent for putting the right things together.

Dori said...

Leslie, the jewelry is great I'm glad you shared it. I wish you the best on the food selling thing, I have enjoyed it and the connections with people it has brought me locally where I live.

I am a natural colors (browns, ivories and olives) hempy kinda jewlery lover. Summer ankle bracelet time is coming soon.

There is a jewelery selling gal at the market I attend... she makes jewelry while she is sitting at her booth. She also decorates the tips of hair sticks with beads, etc(using chop sticks)... I love these because I have very long hair and these actually work for me.

Dori said...

Oh one more thing....any background on the meaning of the the Carnelian turtle necklace? I like it.

Catherine Weber said...

Neat stuff! Did you take classes on how to make jewelry, or did you just pick it up somehow?

Eat Peace Please said...

Wow, so many comments! So many of my favorite *blogging* people too, thanks!

Amy(geekgirl), thanks, and I make children's too!

Julie, thanks!

Kai, stay tuned, I have more purple kale photos. Just no more purple kale!

Dreena, I'm diggin' out the stash and measuring for you. Give me through the weekend. I'm small too and many people used to complain that I didn't make large enough ones. Lucky you! And for the rest of you, I have a variety of sizes, no worries.

Vicki, I'm about the earth tones too. Brown is my favorite color. I used to have a website but it's down for now. I do mail-order and I'm *thinking* about posting a site. I sell at the co-op and a few other local stores. Thanks for your comments as always.

Nancy, thanks!

Andrea, thanks for your comments. I do feel *lucky* to live near TJs, WFM, the co-op, Sprouts and Sunflower Market. Now I feel like I'm bragging.

Jess, why did I have a feeling about you!? We can work out anything. I always have jewelry going on.

Patty, thanks! You made me smile.

Dori, thanks for your comments. I used to sit out at shows (music) for a long time in grassy hills and hippie skirts but I can't make enough for my time and efforts, although its fun. I'd love to work at some food markets though, great idea. About the carnelian necklace, nope, no background. Maybe the background is that I had that turtle for sooo long and finally had a nice stone to match it up with! I tend to be pretty random.

Catherine, when I first moved to AZ my grandfather (who makes fancier jewelry, not beads) took me to the store and I was hooked! He bought me some wire, a few beads and gave me a bunch of his own tools to start with. He showed me how to loop and hook ends and all that, but basically I just did it for fun and it turned into a business over the years. I actually haven't made much in a really long time (I go through phases) and I can't force myself to make anything, it usually ends up crappy. I would love to learn how to weave, although I can make layered jewelry (multi-strands).

Thanks everyone for your kind comments.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Leslie - excellent! I have a few thrifted necklaces from a the past couple that I wear too regularly, and I'd like to add some lovely flair besides them - I'm bored with em.

I have a trip I'm saving money for in June, but come summer I am very fair game to be tempted with those beautiful pieces!

Flo @ Yielded Heart said...

Hi again, Leslie. I'm back for more of your lovely jewelry. I'm serious about hoping you'd restart a website.

Keep me in mind also. (I am tiny like you!) I'm glad to know you make children's too. Hope you'd include samples and $ next time:)

Eat Peace Please said...

Jess, sounds great! Where ya going? Just let me know when you're ready to see some stuff. I have been seriously thinking about starting a website and straying away from eBay. Thanks for all the encouragements!

Kai, I can email you examples if you'd like. Like I said to Jess, I am most likely going to start a site. I just have to learn what to do.

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Hi Leslie, I just came back to look again. You are certainly racking up the comments on this, and no wonder...your jewelry is sooo beautiful. I also want a Leslie original for myself. Brown is my favorite color....yours also?!

Eat Peace Please said...

Vicki, yep, brown is my favorite color. I love it and next would be green and blue tied equally, just depending on my mood. Thanks for coming back again. If you want to send me a comment with your email and tell me approx. size (length), what type of item, etc I can work with you. Also, I don't publish my comments without moderation, so I would never publish ANYONE'S email, don't worry.

Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful comments!

Dori said...

Here's a website thought. I used to operate mine using fortune city as a host. For a basic site and all of their web publishing tools it was only $9 something a month. It did bring me in a considerable amount of business at Christmas time from all over the US (I sold kitchen equipment too as well as vegan whole grain organic bakehouse goods). I accepted payment via paypal and found a site that allowed me to have BUY NOW buttons. I think you should try selling this way! I'd love to visit your site for shopping!

Dori said...

I thought you might find this interesting and since it is as easy as a click of the mouse I decided to share it with you.

A site I found after googling the history of carnelian culture.

http://www.jewelrysupplier.com/2_carnelian/carnelian_history.htm

Eat Peace Please said...

Dori, that link to the site is great! Thank you so much and I plan on taking the time to research the stones even more. I have a few books but this website is extensive with info.

As for the website idea, thank you for taking the time to go through this and give me info and care about me. I really appreciate it. My struggle is how to accept payment (I like PayPal) and know when something has sold plus website maitnence, like when something has sold. I have a lot of learning to do and it's making me crazy because I don't understand but I am willing to give it a try. I agree with Xmas time sales!

Thanks so much again Dori!

Harmonia said...

The jewelry pics are super cool!

Question: what is horchata

Eat Peace Please said...

Harmonia, thanks for the comments! Horchata is a Mexican rice milk drink usually flavored with coconut and or cinnamon. I just got mine at Whole Foods,(not authentic even though I'm so close to Mexico). You should try it, even if it's at a non-vegan/vegetarian Mexican place, ask around because most times their horchatas are vegan anyway. Also in case you didn't know and you ask about it, you don't pronounce the "h". More like 'orchata.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Hi Leslie, just an fyi to your questions, I'm going home to New York for a week or so in early June to see my brother & sister, grandparents and dear friends.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Beautiful jewelry. I'm amazed. Other people's talent at craftiness always amazes me. ;)

Regina said...

Your jewelry is amazing!!! How do you sell your stuff? Have you checked out Etsy? They sell handmade stuff by independent artists. I haven't tried it but have heard a lot of great things about it.

Anyway, I know what you mean about being shy to share stuff you've made. It's so personal to share something that you've created with your own hands! I'm pretty much over being shy about showing my stuff- but when it comes to selling my stuff I get really self conscious and freaked out about it all!