Books, books, and more books!

I love books. Love them! If I had a million dollars, the room next to my perfectly laid out jewelry studio would be a huge library with a fireplace and rolling ladders and hidden doorways in the shelves.

One of these, please! Do you see the hidden door?!!
(Bibliothek St. Florian, photo from Wikimedia Commons)

But as much as I love the look and feel and smell of paper books, I have slowly been drawn to the 'dark side' of e-books. They have their drawbacks - dangerous/expensive to read in the tub, can't write notes in the margins, the possibility that the format of your whole library will become obsolete in 5 years when new formats have been created (they would be like e-book 8-tracks... how sad!). But they are undeniably convenient! Instead of devoting a whole suitcase to reading material on a long vacation, you can fit it all in one e-reader that fits in your purse (and if you have a tablet, you can even take Angry Birds breaks if the book gets boring.) They are also decidedly superior if you have a hidden trashy romance novel obsession that you don't want to share with the world.

So while I have my misgivings about actually buying and owning e-books (see the obsolete factor above...), I have found that e-books from the library are the absolute best solution. They appeal to my lazy side (don't have to drive to the library to pick them up or return them) and the selection through my library is quite good.  Since getting an iPad as a gift last Christmas, I have read way more books than before and a wider variety of genres as well.

So here are a handful of the great e-books that I've found from my library this year (just a handful - if you look at my Goodreads shelves, you can see that this is just a drop in the bucket. When I'm not playing with beads and wire or sleeping, I have my nose in a book (...or in my iPad? See, idioms haven't caught up with e-book technology yet, either!) -

Horns, by Joe Hill - I imagine he is tired of the inevitable comparisons to his dad (Joe Hill is the pen name for Joe King, Stephen King's son), but his writing style is so similar to Stephen King's that his books are great for times when you have already read and re-read all of King's books and are waiting for a new one to come out (*raises hand*). Horns tells the story of Ig, who, after being falsely accused of the murder of his girlfriend, wakes up one morning to find that he has grown devil horns and has the power to make people confess to and act on their most darkest desires. I liked this one - if you enjoy dark fantasy and Stephen King's books, you should like Horns. Joe Hill's first novel Heart Shaped Box is also quite good as well.

Angelmaker and Gone Away World, by Nick Harkaway - I actually read Gone Away World last year, but I liked it a little better than Angelmaker, so I felt like I should mention it. Both are excellent books. I would like to describe their genres, but I honestly can't! They both have a sci-fi/fantasy base. Gone Away World is a little post apocalypse, with ninjas and mimes and a huge twist at the end. I love this book - can't recommend it enough. Angelmaker was a little harder for me to get into but I still enjoyed it. It has a smattering of steampunk, a little bit of crime fiction, some spy intrigue and lots of British humor.

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, by Candice Millard - This was an excellent nonfiction book. I should hang my head in shame as a history major, but I didn't actually know that much about President James Garfield before I read this. I knew he had been assassinated, but that was about it. This is not only a great biography of Garfield before his reluctant nomination and election as president, but also touches on Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the metal detector (to try to find the bullet in Garfield's body), the first air conditioner installed in the White House (to cool Garfield's sick room in D.C.'s sweltering summer heat), the deranged mind of the man who shot Garfield, and the deplorable medical conditions of the late 1800s. I highly recommend this - even people who don't care for nonfiction or history should find this interesting.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing - Another great nonfiction book. This is quite a bit older, as it was published in the 1950s, but it is a great story and well written. It chronicles the experiences of Ernest Shackleton's failed trans-Antarctic expedition in 1914. His ship was caught in pack ice, was crushed, and sank off the coast of Antarctica and he and his whole crew were stranded on the ice for over a year. They eventually made it to an island, where half of the crew made camp while Shackleton and five others sailed in a 20-something foot open boat over 800 miles through the most violent seas on earth, then hiked across the uncharted interior of South Georgia island to reach a whaling depot. Shackleton then turned around and sailed back in a larger whaling boat to rescue the rest of his crew. The most amazing part of this was that the whole crew survived! Dog lovers may find some parts a bit distressing (the dog teams became dinner, sorry...) but this is such a great tale - fast paced, and very exciting.

This is just a smattering of the books that I have read lately - check out my Goodreads profile to see what else is on my shelves (or in my iPad...)! And support your local libraries!

Seattle...

No real reason for this... and actually from earlier this summer. I just managed to find the memory card these pictures were on. From out latest jaunt into the big city to do the tourist thing with an out of town guest - harbor cruise, Pike Place Market, the Needle... the works! It was actually the first time I had been up in the Space Needle at night, though. I think I'm just posting them for those rainy winter (spring, fall... hell, summer...) days when I need to remind myself why I like Seattle.

These are actually from my phone. Not too bad.

From the harbor cruise. Mount Rainier was even hazily visible off to the south.

Space Needle at dusk. (I almost said twilight and tried to make a joke, but I restrained myself. You're welcome.)

Can you see Mount Rainier?

And a bonus - right outside our front door earlier this spring.

I'll be back to cling to these images in February...

Necklace Length Guide

Opera? Matinee? Princess? Rope? Collar? Choker?! No, this isn't a random list of words taken from Fifty Shades of Grey, these are terms for necklace lengths. Here's a guide to show you the lengths of most necklaces available:

• Collar length necklaces are 12-13 inches long and hug the middle of your neck. They are often multi-stranded and are best for formal occasions. People who don't like the feeling of something snug around their neck should avoid collars. 

• Choker length necklaces are 14-16 inches long and fit close to the base of your neck. They can be found in single or multi-strand styles.

• Princess length necklaces are 17-19 inches long and are the most popular length of necklace. Many necklaces you see for sale will fall within the princess style lengths. Princess length necklaces go great with many necklines, just make sure the collar of your top is higher (so the necklace sits above your shirt) or lower (so the necklace does not catch in your collar) than the length of you necklace.

• Matinee length necklaces are 20-24 inches. They are perfect for low necklines, or to wear above your top.

• Opera length necklaces are 28-34 inches long and are great for elegant outfits. Anything from ball gowns to t-shirts look classier with an opera length necklace.

• Rope necklaces are 45 inches long or longer and are the longest style of necklace available. They can be worn as one long strand, wrapped numerous times around your neck, or knotted. Think 1920s flappers and long strands of pearls.
• A lariat necklace is similar to a rope necklace in length, but is a straight, unconnected strand with no clasp, often with tassels on each end, and can be knotted or looped together.

Finally a space of my own!

So for the past 6 years, due to lack of space, all of my jewelry creation have been confined to either the dining room table or the couch. And while I kind of like lounging on the couch, it has a few drawbacks to jewelry crafting (losing beads in the couch cushions, losing beading needles in the couch cushions, sitting on lost beading needles days later...). And being on the dining room table meant that I had to pack up all of my beads and wire whenever we wanted to have guests over for dinner. So instead of rescinding all dinner invitations and becoming a hermit, I decided that I needed to figure out a way to create a permanent home for my jewelry studio.

Being cheap thrifty, I didn't want to pay a lot of money for a desk or table that I was going to possibly destroy with gouges and scratches from wire. But since, alas, I don't have a dedicated crafting room (on my list of things I want when I win the lotto...) also I wanted some sort of desk or table that could close to cover my mess when company might be around. Off to Craigslist I went. Living in the Seattle area means pretty good pickings for inexpensive decent quality furniture being offered for good bargains by people who just want it out of their house. Luckily after a few tries, I stumbled over a good candidate.

Sure, it's a little blue...

At only $25 this was kind of a must buy, even though it had some issues. I sort of liked the blue/green/teal paint with the contrasting wood, but it clashed horribly with the moss green and brown color scheme in the room I was going to put it in and on top of that, the roll top itself was pretty much non-functional and barely being held together with duct tape in some sort of haphazard fix-it job. But $25! So half a day's work with two coats of brown paint and a cloth ribbon backing for the roll top and voila! A new home for my jewelry work!

I kept the slightly contrasting wood color for the desktop and roll top

Now just to find a more comfortable chair and possibly another table or shelf to go along the wall to the side of the desk to put my laptop on. Back to Craigslist and I'll keep my paintbrush ready!

How to determine your ring size

Will this fit you? Find out here...

I have just started making wire wrapped rings and I have realized that ring sizing is rather complicated! Large jewelry stores have ring sizing tools (usually looks like a large keyring full of little brass or plastic rings that you try on until you find your size - kind of like Cinderella's glass slipper... only backwards... and not glass...) but buying a ring online if you aren't sure of your size? Dangerous! So as a reference, here is how to find out your ring size at home with just a scrap of paper.


To find your ring size:


1. Cut a half inch wide and 4 to five inch long strip of paper.

2. Wrap the paper strip around the base of your finger and mark the point on the paper where the end of the paper strip overlaps.

3. With a ruler, measure the length from the outside end to the mark on the paper to the nearest 1/16" of an inch or millimeter, rounding up if necessary.

5. Find the closest circumference measurement on the size chart in inches or millimeters and look to the far left column to determine your ring size.

My high tech photography studio - or not... Create your own DIY photography lightbox

Here's a secret - I'm a little bit... (how should I put this...)... thrifty. That's a nice way to word it. Unless it's electronics or pretty shiny things to make jewelry out of, I try to save my pennies as much as possible. So when it comes to photographing my jewelry for my shop, I had to get creative.

Photographing jewelry is a little tricky. It can't be too sunny or all you get from your photo is flashes and shine. But taking pictures indoors with either incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs gives you funny colored light and lots of shadows. Professional photographers use high powered spot lights and light reflectors to get even light and artistic shadows.

I'm not a professional photographer... and I'm cheap thrifty. Even portable tabletop lightboxes cost upwards of $50 and then you have to buy the right lighting. I would rather spend that money on beads, so I cobbled together my own DIY lightbox.

My high tech photography studio.

Supplies for my homemade DIY lightbox: cardboard box (we just moved, so we had a bunch of these still floating around. If I made another one, I would use a slightly less beat up box.), white tissue paper, white scrapbook paper (12x12 fit the bottom and back of my small box almost perfectly).

Cost: practically free! After people move, most of them are eager to get the boxes out of their garages so if you know the right people, the box is free (or less than $2 at Home Depot or Lowe's). You can get white tissue paper for a dollar, or if you are me, you have it lying around from Christmas wrapping.

The instructions for the box are simple. Turn the box on its side, cut a rectangular hole out of the left side, right side, and top with a box cutter, leaving around a 1 inch border around each side. I left the flaps alone so I could use them direct light at the front of the box. Then just tape the white tissue paper over each hole. It doesn't have to be overly neat. Then use the white (or any colored paper) as a backdrop. And done!

Now that the monsoon season here in Seattle seems to be lessening, I take my box outside on my south facing deck on sunny days. I just angle the box so that the item inside gets indirect light with fewer shadows and no additional light sources are needed.

On rainy days, I set up on my dining room table and just drag a whole bunch of lamps over to shine on the sides and top of the box. It is a little harder to get good color with the indoor method but with a little tweaking in photo software, the results aren't too bad.

You don't even need a high tech camera to get decent photos with this lightbox. I have a DSLR because I like to take photos of other things, but point-and-shoot cameras have great macro/close-up features and most have white balance settings as well. I have even gotten decent pictures from steadying my iPhone on the table in front of the box.

So there it is - my high tech DIY cardboard box photography lightbox. There are probably other ways to take good pictures of small objects, but this seems to be the easiest, cheapest way for me to get good photographs of my jewelry.

This is before I cropped and tweaked the white balance in my photo editing software. Not too bad!

(The bracelet in the photo above is available for sale in my Etsy shop: Braided Copper Bangle Bracelet
Or my storefront: Miscellanea Etcetera on Etsy)

Welcome!

Welcome to Miscellanea Etcetera's page for handmade jewelry and crafts. My name is Andrea, and I created Miscellanea Etcetera to share my hobby (obsession) with the world. I got into creating hand crafted jewelry 6 years ago when a friend in art school took a jewelry course and shared her projects with me. I got hooked on wire wrapping and eventually branched out to chainmaille and beadweaving among other things. I like to try new techniques and I dream of having a big studio where I can pound on metal and play with shiny gemstones and beads to my heart's content. But until then, I'm happy with my dining table "design studio" and hope to share my work in my little online shop.

Check out my Etsy shop: http://MiscellaneaEtcetera.etsy.com