uninspired waiting + new birds

I've got several packages on their way to me right now, and I'm eager to get started on the projects I have planned with them, but it might be Monday before any of them arrive. I've made a few things in the last couple of days, but nothing I'm over the moon about. I tried to make a necklace the other night, but it wound up looking like the most boring, uninspired piece of crap you see by the thousands at every craft show you attend. After several attempts, I gave up and went to sleep.

I did come up with a pretty cute pair of earrings for myself to match a dress I've had for years, but rarely wear. And last night, I made another boring necklace, which I'm actually wearing today because it happened to match what I'd put on. I hate feeling so uninspired! Okay, I just got an opinion on it from a coworker, and she said it's cute. Maybe-ish, but it doesn't feel like me. And I want to LOVE everything I make! Funny though, it's the things you like the least that people go crazy over.

This whole jewelry blog community is wonderful and I'm really grateful I've found so many talented jewelry designers to get to know, and whose work I can enjoy, but I have to say - you all are setting the bar high! Of course that's a good thing. But it makes me way more critical of my work, and much less willing to accept half the stuff I put together. I didn't used to care much for focals, the clasps always went in the back, symmetry was a given. I'm so glad I'm over all that silliness!

Last night, I made some more paper clay birds like the one this necklace and this one. I also made a little monster face that's pretty cute. I still have to paint them, but I'll take pictures when I do. Would anyone be interested in buying just a bird? I don't have an online shop per se, but I do accept PayPal, and hey - why not cut out the middle man, right?

Meanwhile, my masseuse again inquired about the status of my recreating the famous butterfly necklace:

So that sent me on yet another search for a similar butterfly.  I found one even better, as well as two more that I just had to have, and they're all pretty big around 4.5 - 6 cm wide. I can't even wait until they arrive! I also ordered a few more similar Cloisonné beads like the one pictured above, but with a bright turquoise base.

In other news, tomorrow my dog Crazers has to have a mastectomy. I'm sure she'll be fine, as this will be her third surgery in as many months, but it's also the most serious. Wish her luck everyone!