New Products in the Geekphoria Shop!

Hey everyone! A new type of product just premiered at the Geekphoria Etsy store--just in time for holiday shopping! It's jewelry!

I'm particularly proud of these K-9 necklaces (he had adorable ears and a tail, d'awww), and these pictures don't NEARLY do him justice. Seriously. I need a better camera. But K-9 isn't the only new thing at the store! I have already put up Avatar: The Last Airbender, Harry Potter, Pokemon and more Doctor Who themed necklaces. I'm currently working on even more necklaces from even more geeky franchises!

Here are some pictures to get you excited. Look for all the new products on the Etsy store page. You can follow this link, or click on the link on the side bar.

Also, guess what? I've created a coupon code to celebrate the new jewelry items! It's good for anything in the store, though--including any custom orders (contact me with your order either through the Etsy store or by e-mail at geekphoriaone@gmail.com). Use the code GeekphoriaJewelry to get 20% off until this Friday!

Some Shinies to Share

I was so distracted by International TableTop Day that I almost forgot to post this blog entry! I've been having a great time today--I spent a good five plus hours at my favorite local game store (the excellent and amazingly wonderful The Wandering Dragon. Everyone's so great there, I love it!). Luckily, I came home for dinner and Doctor Who, so I remembered to post this! 

I’m currently home for Easter, and my mom needed some help fixing a few earrings yesterday, so we went to Michael’s to buy some supplies. While I was there, I saw some cute clock and birdcage charms so, naturally, I snatched those up. I will take some better pictures when I get back to my apartment (and my camera), but here’s a taste of the steampucky jewelry that I made.

Birdcage Necklace

I began by selecting two different chains, and laying them so that one was longer than the other. I added the clasp, and then the charms. The heart clock is attached by a smaller section of chain, while the birdcage and the oval gear charm are attached with rings. The beads and clock in the center are attached on a pin and ring. The cell phone pictures don’t adequately represent the detail in the charms, but you get the idea.

Here, you can see the two different chains I chose.

Here's a close-up of the necklace!

Here's a (blurry) picture of the necklace on.

Clock Earrings

These earrings are pretty simple, but I like them a lot. I used a brass clock charm and each of the colors of beads (brass, bronze, and silver). I attached the charm directly to the earring, and then attached the beads to two pins. I then bent the end of the pin around some brass chain, and attached the chains with the beads to the earrings. If you look really closely, you can also see me wearing these earrings on the Wandering Dragon Facebook page!

For some reason, Blogger keeps rotating this and I can't fix it! Aurgh!

Hope everyone else is having a great International Tabletop Day (or just day)! If anyone has any idea how to keep Blogger from rotating my photos, let me know!

DIY: Hunger Games Bracelet

     The Hunger Games is one of my favorite book trilogies. I also enjoyed the movie, but not as much as I enjoyed the novels (you can read my review of it here). My boyfriend often tells me that I'm just like Katniss (though, weirdly enough, it's not always a compliment). When I bought the DVD the first day it was released, I also received a free mockingjay necklace. However, it was strung on one of those plastic-y leather cords, so I never wore it. It was uncomfortable, and not really made for a 24-year-old. So I set the necklace aside, thinking I'd do something with it later.
      Then, for Christmas, my aunt gave me a beginner's jewelry-making kit (specifically, this one). Yesterday, I went to Jo-Ann Fabric and bought a few more colors of chain and a leather cord I thought would work well. When I got home, though, I realized it was the same type of cord that came with the necklace. I made it work for now, though I might replace it in the future with a suede cord.
     In case you've never seen Katniss's mockingjay pin, here is the pendant I started out with.

   
       From here, I measured out three links of chain for each side, along with one long cord of leather to string through the pendant (when I change to the suede I will probably add another cord). I used jump rings to attach the chains to the pendant, and then added clasps to the end of the leather. Here is a picture of the bracelet arranged after these steps.

     From here, I used jump ring at each end to connect the chain and cord to the bracelet clasp (do you call these types of closures clasps? Someone should let me know in the comments.) And that was the last step--I know! It was that easy. The whole project took me about an hour and a half, and that's only because I measured my wrist incorrectly and the chains were initially way too long. I cut them down, and re-attached the closure. Here's the final product!

     I really like the mixture of metals and the combination of metal and leather (and I'm looking forward to improving that aspect). I feel like the different colors and textures really make it look like something that could come from District 12. 

     Here is is on. The leather cord sits a little strangely, but that should be fixed when it's replaced by the suede.

    Let me know what you think in the comments! Also, go back to last week's edition of Gamer Drama and vote on which game I should play and review next!
    Look at me! I'm updating with some frequency! Yay!
 
    Edit: I updated the bracelet late last week. Here are a couple pictures! I did end up switching the leather out for suede. Here's a link to the blog entry--I also updated the silver doe Harry Potter plaque.