New Jewelry Video

I put together this little slideshow of my new and improved steampunk jewelry.

Change to Steampunk Jewelry

Left: Ice Resin. Right: Diamond Glaze.

If you've been by my shop the past few weeks you've probably noticed I didn't have many of my steampunk jewelry pieces. The reason for this is I've been trying to find a new material to seal the gears under. I had been using diamond glaze but in thicker applications or if it's humid it gets cloudy. You can see this in the photo of the new version next to the old (right).

The new version is made with Ice Resin which is a jewelry grade non-toxic resin. It's been getting a lot of press in the crafty blogosphere recently and so I decided to give it a try. As you can see the result is crystal clear and also very hard and waterproof (I also use an indoor/outdoor gloss on the creature body that is water resistant, so they can get damp but don't submerge in water or scrub with cleaners). The downside of it though is that it is expensive, messy, and time consuming to use. Because of this I had to increase the price of all my steampunk jewelry

Brass Steampunk Horseshoe Crab

Steampunk Octopus

Molding Cthulhu Cameo Videos

Working on a new jewelry line of Cthulhu cameos. I recorded video of the process of making the press mold I'm using for them. Photos of the finished jewelry coming soon, I'm waiting on a supply delivery so I can finish them.

New Years News

So 2009 is almost over. This has been a real whirlwind year for me, the business has grown far faster and further than I ever expected. At the beginning of the year I had only a single line of cephalopod jewelry, the cuttlefish, and that has expanded to octopus, squid, and the nautilus. I've scrapped the old trilobite design for a new one and added horseshoe crabs and the specimen jars. My monthly sales have gone from around $300 a month to over $1000 monthly before the holidays and exceeded $2000 in both November and December.

Looking ahead to 2010 there's a load of stuff coming up. I just bought a new camera and I'll be redoing a lot of photos with it. I'll also be shooting with the intent of putting together an art book later this year that will be self-published (probably with Lulu.com) and hopefully a lot of fun.

Speaking of books, the Regretsy book is looking like it's coming together really fast and I'm probably going to be featured in it.

I have some new jewelry planned. One is a Cthulhu cameo pendant that will be press molded from polymer clay, fairly inexpensive and fast to produce. The other will be on the higher end. I've had some precious metal clay for a while and I'm hoping to get the silver cephalopods coming along soon.

In personal news, I'm looking for an apartment right now so I'm really excited about finally getting out on my own. Just me and my dog.

Merry Squidmas!

So it is finally Squidmas/Cephalopodmas/Cthulhumas take your pick of the tentacled one you prefer. In celebration I will have 1/2 off shipping for all cephalopod items in my Etsy shop along with a free surprise goodie with each order.

To get you all in the mood, here's a wonderful video of the song "It's Begginning to Look a Lot like Fishmen" from the A Very Scary Solstice CD.

Last Chance to Order for Xmas

Sunday, December 20, is the last day to order in time for Christmas. USPS says that the 21st is the last day for shipping Priority in time to arrive by the 25th.

For those wanting to buy something for themselves and don't care to have it arrive by Xmas, the 22nd is the solstice and more importantly Cephalopodmas! I'll be discounting shipping to half-off and including free goodies with all orders for the day.

Noadi's Art on Etsy

It's Black Friday

So it's the craziest shopping day of the year. I will be spending it at home, nice and comfy on my couch shopping online.

Of course Noadi's Art isn't going to be without a deal this weekend. I have free US shipping (and reduced shipping for international orders) from today through Monday night in my Etsy shop. This is the last time I'll be offering free shipping this year. I'll also be including stamped Giving Octopus cards that you can use to send cephalopod holiday wishes.

Oh yeah, I also have some new jewelry. Finally the cephalopod family tree is complete and I have Nautilus Jewelry! My brand new trilobite jewelry is also slowly being added to the shop as well.

New Jewelry Subject and Super Cuteness

My original plan had been to make a holiday horseshoe crab ornament but once I had sculpted it I realized it would make a fantastic necklace instead. I really like how it turned out and plan to make more.

I was also thinking of doing other ancient animals both living and extinct in a more realistic form like this. Say trilobites, scorpions, etc.

Since I'm not doign the holiday horseshoe crab ornament I needed to come up with a new idea. I'll be making a Christmas Coelocanth ornament in the next few days.

So now for the cuteness. My brother and his wife have welcomed their very first child into the world. Little Joshua was born on October 17 and is a healthy little guy weighing in at 6lbs 4 oz (not bad for 2 weeks early).

Help Me with Some Research

I just put together a quick little survey to find out a little more about who is visiting Noadi's Art and to help me do a little informal market research. The survey is totally anonymous, I'm not collecting any top secret information.

Noadi's Art Survey

Lots of Updates

I have a lot going on lately so here are some updates:

• International Cephalopod Awareness Days have ended. The giveaway and shipping special was a success. Jae has claimed her octopus and hopefully she loves it when it arrives.
  
• To make room for a new trilobite design I'm planning I've dropped the prices on the current design to $15. You can find them on Etsy and eCrater
• I've also lowered the prices on my gargoyle jewelry. I'm going to be completely discontinuing the line since it no longer really fits Noadi's Art very well. On Etsy and eCrater
• I'm working on a commission of 20 pins for a member of a Mardi Gras Krewe, very cool and fun.
• I sometimes have crazy ideas that I really want to make happen and one from this weekend is the Holiday Horseshoe Crab ornament so keep an eye out for that. It continues the theme from the Xmas Platypus of strange animal ornaments.
  
•  I created a new squidoo lens for my steampunk jewelry. It's been pretty popular lately so trying to get it a little more attention and making more multiples than I usually do.
• Made a dinosaur specimen jar. Might make more, haven't decided yet.