Isabel's Rose- amazing lampwork beads & jewelry

Sometimes you see an add and click, expecting to take a quick glance and go on about your business. Other times, you find yourself fascinated, clicking and clicking, looking for hours, drooling and adding to your wishlist. The other night was definitely one of those nights.

Enter Isabel's Rose, by Lori Flanders. I spotted a tiny ad at the bottom of a webcomic I read, and was drawn in... those look like polymer clay bone beads, I thought to myself. I clicked, and was suddenly blown away... these were not clay, but glass- lampwork beads, handmade with rods of glass and a torch, each one a tiny work of art.

I spent hours over the next couple of days, clicking through her various shops and her flickr stream, amazed and awed and absolutely speechless over these tiny jewels. I love the colors, I love the textures, I love the whimsicality... this stuff is absolutely amazing! So, I decided I needed to share some of my favorites with you!

Encrusted lampwork heart, $28 at Etsy

First, look at this amazing sterling-silver encrusted heart necklace. Made of ivory-colored glass, it has sterling silver embedded into it. It's suspended on an oxidized sterling silver ring, and comes on a 20" gunmetal chain.

I am so, so in love with this necklace. It looks like there's enough weight there to feel substantial without looking childish. The colors are so intriguing, and I love the cool tones of the chain and the silver contrasting with the warmth of the ivory glass. It looks equally perfect for dressing up jeans and a tee shirt or for wearing with your favorite little black dress.

Necklace photo from the artist's Flickr stream.

Then there's this necklace made of glass branch beads and glass acorns. I absolutely love the lime green on the acorns, and I think this would be stunning paired with a simple top and jeans. There's something utterly fall-like about this piece, making me think of crisp autumn breezes and that utterly blue sky. I love it!

Don't think she only works in earth tones, though. This poison cupcake showcases Lori's whimsical side, using almost-neon colors to create a charming cupcake and crossbones.

Again, this piece is substantial without being too big. Do I even have to tell you how adorable I find this? Bright colors, cupcakes, and gunmetal all make me smile. This could well be a favorite necklace if it lived in my jewelry collection!

Although I could keep pulling photos and posting them to rave about, I'll end with this stunning bracelet. Those beads aren't metal, but instead are made of glass. I'm assuming there's silver leaf on them, but I honestly don't know for sure.

Aren't they gorgeous? They're so chunky and bold, and all so radically different while still looking harmonious together. I also love the patterns of swirls and dots, the sparkle of the silver, and the deep glossiness of the black. This is truly my kind of bracelet!


So, what do you think of these? Is this something you would wear? How would you wear them. Do you have a favorite piece of hers? Leave me a comment and let me know!

P.S. If you buy something from her, note in your order that I sent you there!  :D

Someone take my internet away, I've gone down the rabbit hole!

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Fun DIY project!

Here's another quick post because I found something adorable I want to share...

I was looking at Studs and Pearls (a fun DIY blog I read sometimes) and found the absolute cutest how-to! Kirsten showed how to use simple things lots of us have around our house to make this rockin' ring! I love it so much... and I'm now looking at all my crafty stash, wondering what I could combine to make pretties!

I don't wear rings, but I can totally see this as a pendant. Simply add a bail and thread onto a chain, or a leather cord. GORGEOUS!! Adding a layer of epoxy resin over the beads would make for a gorgeous glass-like top, as well.

You could also add in glitter... I know, I know, glitter is the herpes of crafting, but I LOVE GLITTER! Glitter makes EVERYTHING more fun!!

... I think it's time for me to go to sleep now. What do you think of this DIY idea? Would you wear it? How would you change it up? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Someone needs to take my internet away... but I won't let them! :D

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Crafty Things To Keep My Brain Happy!

When I first made this blog, I thought for a long time about what to call it. I love nail polish, and at the time that's what I was focused on, 100%. However, I also wanted to leave room to write about other things I love, so I wanted the name to be flexible. I decided Layniefingers was perfect, because not only would it cover what was on my fingers, it also covered things I've made with my fingers. I haven't done a crafty post in a while, so I'll just share a few pictures of things I've been working on lately.

First, the crochet. I'd talked about the blanket I was making for a friend- I've finished it and am now working on a second one. I love the way it turned out. I giggled the entire time I was stitching the little face onto the hood. It's just so sweet, and I can envision a baby wrapped in it... a toddler throwing the hood over her head and running through the house at full toddler speed... or that same toddler clutching it close as she drifts off to sleep.

I'm hoping this one turns out to be the child's favorite, and it could even be passed down to her own kids, many years from now. Keep in mind, you can click the pictures to make them larger.

The next blanket I'm working on is a simple granny square blanket in alternating colors. Pretty, soft, and fluffy- how can you go wrong? :D

I've also done some amigurumi¹  recently. I'd bought this yarn simply because I loved the colors, but I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with it. I thought about knitting something, but I don't really know how to knit. Also, it's Red Heart yarn, and that stuff is super rough. I wouldn't want to wear it anywhere close to my skin.

But toys? It's perfect for this! First is the little girl figure I made. At first I didn't know what I was making, really... only that I was making it. I didn't use a pattern, I just sort of made it up as I went along, taking a few notes to help the arms and legs match up.

Once I got to the hair, I realized this was a girl. She's got a punky mohawk, and it can be styled in several ways. I rooted each individual strand of hair so that I could decide how I wanted it styled. Then I spent about an hour playing with the hair, pushing it to one side or the other, making tiny updos or funky mohawks. Seriously, even I was stunned at how long I played with this thing!

I set out to make another one, only with longer legs and arms. Only, as I was crocheting the first leg, it didn't want to be a leg. No, it was very clear- it wanted to be an octopus.² Who am I to argue with an inanimate object? So, an octopus it was...

I haven't named either of these, and I still haven't come up with an idea of what to do with them. I suppose there's always Esty...


I've also been making jewelry off and on. While we were at my friend's house the last two weekends, I made some necklaces for her. First off, I wore a wire-wrapped pendant I'd made on a leather cord. She took that one and had me shorten it for her!³ It's fun to see someone so excited to wear something that they take it from your hands and immediately put it on!
 

 

So yea, that's been my last few weeks. Every time I tried to paint my nails, it was a disaster, but I was able to make a few goodies. Go fibro, yea? :D

So tell me, what have you been doing the last few weeks? Do you have any hobbies you really enjoy? Share with me!

¹ Amigurumi is Japanese for "knitted stuffed toy." I don't know why people called crocheted toys amigurumi, but hey, I didn't make the name up. I just make the stuff!

² Seriously. What do you do when your yarn starts telling you what to do? I wasn't up for fighting my yarn, so I said sure, why not... and made an octopus. I didn't want to wake up with a mouth full of yarn, suffocating because I didn't listen!
³ Not really. I told her it was for her, and she didn't want to take it because I was wearing it to see if it was comfortable or not. Still, she did take it off my neck and have me resize the cord for her!

 

What I wouldn't give for an evil monkey sidekick...

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Is it too late to ask Santa for goodies? I've been good, I swear!

I know this is primarily a nail art blog, but now and then I see something that I feel the need to share. I was watching a makeup video on YouTube by NikkieTutorials this morning, and at the end of her video she showed the jewelry she was wearing. She had the cutest cobra ring that wraps around several fingers and looks as if it's biting her index finger! It was so cute that I had to look at the website just to see what else they had.

It is so cool, y'all! Ydeltuyt (pronounced Idol-tight) isn't your typical shop. The about link describes how the shop came to be.

The YDELTUYT office is a home-based company created by a 20 year old student named Simone Zuurveld, and is located int he north of the Netherlands (Groningen). The idea started during (where else) a shopping spree where she could not find what her heart desired. She decided to get to work immediately and a new fashion dream was born.


YDELTUYT has been selling high fashion accessories since April 2010 and has been growing ever since. At first, the items sold on our website were only available for Dutch customers, but because of the huge international interest we decided to make this an international online shop and we now ship worldwide!

Isn't that cool? I love the idea of supporting small independent shops, especially if they have interesting merchandise, and OMG, is there cool stuff here! I had to pull a few favorite items to share with y'all!

First is the cobra ring that drew my attention in Nikkie's video. This ring is so darn cute! It's not your typical snake ring in that it not only wraps around two fingers, its head also projects forward to "bite" your pointer finger! I love that... it's weird and kind of edgy, which I adore.

Also fun is that it comes in your choice of finish- gold, silver, or black! I tend to gravitate toward silver for my jewelry choices. I especially like things that aren't typical, that you wouldn't find fourteen other people wearing at the same party. I think this qualifies! It sells for € 9,95.

Next is an absolutely adorable skull ring covered in an elaborate floral pattern with dark red gems set into the eye sockets in a pavé pattern. This reminds me of the Día de los Muertos skulls for some reason, and I really like the stones set into the eyes. It's dark and creepy but also fun and funky. It's really, really my sort of thing!

Again, this ring comes in your choice of finish, either in gold with clear rhinestones or silver with dark red rhinestones and an antiqued finish. Best of all, it sells for a whopping € 8,95.

Then there's this flower ring. Isn't it too adorable? I love the bright color, and it's so whimsical! I can see wearing this with a fun summer outfit, maybe for going to a picnic or going to the zoo. It just screams fun to me!

Like the other pieces, you have choices with this ring as well. Although they're all silver-toned, you get your choice of flower color- pink, yellow, or this gorgeous blue. They're all bright and summery and happy. Since they sell for € 6,95 you could get them all!

I have to be honest, though... I think this robot necklace may be my favorite thing on the whole site. I love robots so much, and this little girl robot makes me smile! I love the pavé rhinestones on the body, and the little bow is the perfect finishing touch!


Once again, it comes in your choice metals, only instead of gold you get to choose from silver or bronze. The bronze robot has little amber-toned rhinestones on the body, and it's so cute! And hey, it's only € 9,95, so maybe Santa could tuck this one into my Christmas stocking!


I hope you've enjoyed this peek into the sort of accessories I'm drawn to. I know I spent entirely too long just digging through the site, looking at all the different goodies that are available. I have a feeling I may be shopping soon!


Merry Christmas, everyone!