Crafty Things!

Hello all!

This isn't bath/body product related, but I just thought I would share a little snippet of my life because I have been super hyped up about this! But little background info about me... I am a bit of an artist at heart and I studied Northwest Coast art for my undergraduate degree. I love weaving and have tried my hand at a bit of carving. And I love to create things in general. There are so many things I want to learn how to do! I want to learn how to knit/crochet. I want to learn how to work with various types of metal. I want to learn how to bead. And a bunch of other things that are less reasonable with all of my other interests!

But one thing I do make time to do every week is to make earrings. I don't do anything too fancy - just make combinations that I think would work. But it still allows me to be creative and make beautiful pieces of jewelry. And creating things is so rewarding and has been good for my soul. I also love looking for new beads and materials that I often find in old pieces of jewelry at yard sales or thrift stores that I deconstruct for crafting. It makes everything an adventure and often my pieces are one of a kind.

Here's a few pairs that I made yesterday. Sorry that they're not the most professional looking photos - I took these on my iPhone and posted to my Facebook account.

The thing is, I think my skills are getting better in this process. And this is where the excitement comes in. I want to move on to the next level and start using more technique. I have reached a point where I am starting to feel limited on what I can do because I have all of these ideas, but do not have the skills or tools to bring my ideas to life. And so, I have decided to take the time and money and invest in what I want to do next: wire work!

I am really excited about this next stage. I have already bought a book on weaving and wrapping coil and look forward to actually testing it out. I need to wait a bit before I can buy the other tools and wire I would need. But in the meantime, my mind is racing with a bunch of different ideas and I am super excited! I absolutely love when I am feeling inspired!

And more exciting stuff... I don't just make earrings. I sell the earrings I make. So far it has all been locally and I have made enough money to cover the cost of supplies with a little bit of profit. My problem is that I keep on wanting to buy more and more beads even if I already have quite a bit! It's really just to feed my crafting addiction!

Anyway, I have been posting photos of my creations on Facebook and quite a few people have been interested in my work. I am thrilled that people are liking what I have been creating. I already sold the two pairs above within hours of posting photos! And I have a lot of people asking if I have an online shop, so that is also going to be my next step. I am going to work towards opening on online shop to sell my earrings.

And I am super hyped up about these next steps! Getting into wire work and improving my skills AND opening a shop to sell my work. I got less than 5 hours of sleep last night because I kept having dreams about earrings and waking up with great ideas. And I just had to share with you all because I can't stop thinking about it. I tend to gush about things when I'm excited! :)

I have also been wanting a drill that I can use for drilling glass. I have access to a ton of beach glass and that would be super cool to incorporate that into my pieces. But I have to do things one at a time here! But soon, I will have that drill in my hands! :D

I hope you all have been enjoying the weekend! I need to stop thinking about crafting and focus some of my energy on homework! But I will keep you posted on when I have that shop open!

<3 Alyssa

Darling Clandestine's Morderteile Kelah Perfume {review}

It's finally review time and guess what! It's another Darling Clandestine perfume review! Really, how could I not? Evonne's masterfully beautiful creations are my new obsession and I would be content using no other perfumes for the rest of my life. They are really that good! They are also quite complex so forgive me if I have difficulty in trying to interpret all the goodness!

But anyway, let's move onto the review part!

{the perfume: Morderteile Kelah}

"This is a fragrance I've created in honor of a magnificent lady with magnificent knockers. Amber, hyacinth, milk and strawberry jam are just a few of the elements that capture Kelah. As if anyone ever could capture her completely. You need a butterfly net, I bet. It's sweet and sultry and spicy and summery, and I'm so very happy with it."

I will be honest here and say I do not like this perfume when first applied. It opens with a warm and slightly salty green fragrance and the sweet strawberry. It kind of reminds me of... weed. Ahem. 

But after dry down, it loses that salty/savory herbaceous warmth. It becomes a lightly fruity sweet that is warmed by a bit of spiciness. The strawberry is very well done in this fragrance. It's not too sickly sweet or childish. It offers just the right amount of sweetness to be feminine, but not girly. The other elements lend a more mature hand to the fragrance, with a floral bite and some spice. 

I think Evonne's description is spot-on. It very much is sweet and sultry and spicy and summery. When I wear this, I feel a warm summer evening that might be getting a little sweaty. It is such a warm and inviting scent, it makes me think of soft, sweet kisses. And while I wouldn't describe this as a cuddly scent, it does make me want to cuddle up with my special someone and have a few of those sweet kisses. It is a romantic scent. In a casual sort of way.

As for wear, it lasts a few hours on my skin. The sillage is low - it sticks nice and close, right where I want it to be for a scent that makes me want cuddles and kisses. It really does add to the feelings of sweetness.

And I am loving this perfume. It is soft and sweet and makes me feel all kinds of good. I see myself wearing this often. It already is one that I reach for a lot. It is very easy to wear. And love!

{ingredients}

Ingredients include pure sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, rice brain oil, and grapeseed oil. 

{final thoughts}

And once again, I am left swooning by an original scent from Darling Clandestine! Try any and all of Darling Clandestine perfumes and I promise that you will not be disappointed! Really, that's all I can say. Tis perfection and all must try.

Another Update

Hey all!

I just wanted to check in for a minute here and let you all know that I haven't forgotten about my blog! I have been sick a lot lately since my last post. In fact, I have been sick every week since then. I'll start feeling better for a few days, then I'll start feeling sick again. I even had the flu for awhile there and that was the sickest I have been in a very long time! And for the past few days I've had some sort of stomach bug. I am so tired of being sick all the time! And with me being sick all the time, on the days I have been feeling well, I have been using the time to get caught up on homework. Just a few more weeks in this semester!

But I am hoping, crossing my fingers, and really really hoping that I am getting to the end of all of this and can get back to doing the fun stuff, like writing more reviews! I have been thinking about the posts I want to write next and might work in a little giveaway. I am hoping I can have a new review up within the next few days. 

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I am doing my best to try to get back to working on this blog. I *will* return!

Hope you all are enjoying this lovely spring! And have been enjoying good health! :)

<3 Alyssa