The Birds and the Beads

Oberon Design has been one of my favorite suppliers, almost since the beginning of Lytha Studios. One evening, over 12 years ago, Eric and I were browsing the Virginia Tech Bookstore when we came across a beautiful Celtic leather journal which we promptly purchased. The next day, I put on my detective hat, and tracked down the manufacturer. Two weeks later, we had our opening selection of journals in our shop!

Years later, and we can’t help but look back and say that Oberon was one of our luckiest finds. Of course we still carry their journals, and their beautifully worked (and made in America) pewter jewelry has been a customer favorite for years. To top it off, we have new hair clips and pendants just in time for the holidays.

• NEW Hair Clips, Hair Jewelry & Necklaces by Oberon
• All Oberon Celtic Hair Jewlery
• All Oberon Nature Inspired Hair Jewelry
• All Oberon Celtic & Nature Inspired Necklaces

The last of the Sweet Potato casserole has been eaten, the left-overs containers are mostly empty, and our tummies are starting to return to normal – but it was a goooood Thanksgiving!

I’m back in the office today – getting geared up for the last big push of 2009. This month is always so exciting – between the crazy busy work schedule, and the fun of getting ready for Christmas – this month has no down time until we sit down for Christmas dinner! I joke about how much I dread the December rush for pretty much the other eleven months of the year, but the truth is – I love the non-stop excitement that this month holds.

But to get back to the point of the post… in lieu of “beast blogging” – I wanted to share instead a few gorgeous photos that Eric took this week of the setting sun over White House Creek (a little tributary off of the Rappahannock a few miles away from the shop). As a bead person, I love color, and the beautiful shades and hues of the sunset in these photos speaks to something deep in my heart. I hope you enjoy them, too!

More photos after the jump…

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The Celts perceived the presence of divine forces in all aspects of nature. Patterns of harmony and balance, dark and light, winter and summer, female and male, are woven throughout Celtic tradition. Celtic knots and patterning reflect their belief in the continuity of life, the interconnection of all things: plants, animals and otherworldly divinities.

Our Celtic Mandala 2010 wall calendars and datebook present the magical weavings of Welsh artist Jen Delyth in calendar form. Jen’s work is founded in her deep connection to her Celtic heritage. She creates intricate drawings then collages them with her nature photography, further symbolizing the connection to the natural world.

• 2010 Celtic Calendars & Datebook

Our beautiful TierraCast® earrings are made of FDA certified lead-free pewter, with nickle-free titanium posts, and are made in the United States. These lovely, ornate posts add flair and polish to your earring designs, and most are available in silver, gold and copper finishes.

Our TierraCast® earring posts are currently 15% off – prices good through December 9th, 2009.

• TierraCast Earring Posts

The Year of the Hound
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This coming Monday will mark the one year anniversary of “the finding of the hound” – a story chronicled in previous newsletters and on our blog. In the past year, Mouse has gone from a starving, sad creature we found at the local dump to a sleek, happy, and healthy pup. There is nothing he likes better than snuggling up on the sofa with one of us for a little TeeVee, or playing with his best buddy Sunny (our other dog). Mouse is the most incredibly loving and demonstrative dog – I can’t believe how lucky we were to find him. For some really sweet pictures of Mouse and Izzy the Kitten, click on over to the blog:
http://lythastudios.com/blog/?p=638

Best wishes for a safe and happy Thanksgiving! – — Erin
http://www.123bead.com

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This coming Monday will mark the one year anniversary of the finding of the hound – a story chronicled here. In the past year, Mouse has gone from the starving, sad creature we found at the local dump to a sleek, happy, and healthy pup. There is nothing he likes better than snuggling up on the sofa with one of us for a little TeeVee, or playing with his best buddy – our other dog, Sunny. Mouse is the most incredibly loving and demonstrative dog – I can’t believe how lucky we were to find him.

Here’s a little picture of Mouse and his pal Izzy the kitten.

And a few more pictures after the jump….
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In addition to selling on the Lytha Studios website, I also have an Etsy store with a limited selection of some of my favorite beads. As my Etsy store has grown, I have became more and more frustrated at how difficult it is to find and edit an item through the “My Etsy” system. Fortunately for me – I’m married to a genius! Eric has made me a “bookmarklet” (a small application that runs from a browser bookmark) that allows me to directly edit my listing if I am viewing it. That is to say – I can use the excellent “shop search” feature to find my listing, open it, and then just click a bookmark to edit my listing. If you have an Etsy store and this sounds useful to you, then read on…

Here is how to use it:

Step 1: Click and drag the following link into your browser bookmarks (either in your browser toolbar, or up into the bookmark folder): Edit This Etsy Listing

Step 2: Browse to your Etsy store, and view one of your listings.

Step 3: Once you are viewing a listing you would like to edit (it should have “listing_id=NNNN” in the URL), click in your new “Edit This Etsy Listing” bookmark.

Step 4: Make your edits and click “Finish”! Don’t forget to click “Finish”, or it will move the listing to your “inactive items” list (even if you didn’t actually make any changes).

For the geeks in the audience, Eric has more information about this on his business blog at New Rivers Digital

I fell in love with these Czech glass ovals after seeing them in the Jablonex® catalog.  After placing my order, I was on pins and needles waiting for them to be delivered!  I could not  wait to see them, and actually dreamed about them several nights in a row! Would they be as lovely in reality as they were in the photos?

Fortunately for my bead loving soul, they turned out to be just as beautiful than the picture made them look (if not more so).  They are perfectly smooth and polished, and glow with warm, vibrant color. Measuring 16mm long and 11mm wide, these beads are ideal for bracelets, earrings and necklaces. They’re made in the Czech republic, by Jablonex® – the premiere manufacturer of Czech glass.

• Jablonex® 16mm x 11mm Smooth Glass Ovals
• Glass Ovals Jewelry Project & Kit

Since the “Solutions for Large Hole Beads” collection was introduced by TierraCast in January of 2008, the innovative components from that collection have been among my favorite pieces to work with. So it goes without saying that I am delighted with TierraCast’s latest collection – “More Solutions for Large Hole Beads”.

This new collection includes more of the fabulous “Bead Bars” and cunning “BeadAligners™” – designed to firmly hold lampwork, cane glass, and other large hole beads. But the crowning glory of this new collection is the incredible additions to the line of large hole spacers and bead caps. In addition to being gorgeous in bracelets, necklaces and the like, these large hole caps and beads are designed for use with TierraCast’s bead bars, and are also perfect for stringing directly onto rattail, leather, ribbon, and other larger stringing materials.

• More Solutions for Large Hole Beads