10 Things I Love on Etsy November 2018

It has, unfortunately, been a bit of a while (uh, since May, guys) since I've done one of these posts cataloging some of my favorite Etsy finds from the prior month. This has not been by choice, mind you, but more due to principle: Your girl Nau has been way, waaaaaay too busy working on making that money to worry about the idle ways in which to spend it... I know, a shame, but I'm back at it with this post and happy to share some of my sexiest finds from the Etsy-sphere!

Let's get started!

1. ROSE QUARTZ moon ring size Us, made to ORDER, raw jewelry, copper electroformed, crescent moon, knuckle ring, midi stacking, moon phases

Um, have we ever talked about how much I love gemstones? I can prattle on for a ridiculously long time about how much I adore the sunny shades of citrine or the soothing purple of amethyst, but who can resist pretty-in-pink Rose Quartz?! It's such a feminine, gorgeous shade of pink and the stone itself is symbolic of love, both that ever-rare love of self-acceptance or unconditional external love, rose quartz is all about the warm and fuzzy feelings.  Anything lunar is a guaranteed win in my book, too, so, naturally, I can't resist this gorgeous hand-made moon ring! 

2. CRYSTAL PIPE - Lunar Blue Goldstone gemstone pipe, boho smoking pipe, psychedelic smoking bowl, rainbow galaxy pipe, gift

Yoooo, get your chakras right with this gem-stone pipe! The shop is currently on break, but you might be able to catch them again soon so if you dig this piece give it a favorite and Etsy should notify you when they're back online! 

3. Mandarin Mimosa 9oz Soy Candle - Classic Collection

This Mandarin mimosa soy candle is right up my alley this winter. I've been burning so many candles, and luxuriating in their fragrances to the best of my ability. As a partial anosmiac, I don't have a very strong sense of smell to cull from, but working with essential oils and mindfulness I've been able to bring a little more depth to a sense I normally never noticed. This has given me the ability to appreciate a whiff of vanilla from a candle where before I might have simply gotten a headache, so this new appreciation for all this scentsual has brought on a strong desire to sniff ALL the candles! And this particular candle fuses many of my favorites, "like mandarin oranges, pineapple, and peaches blended with mimosa blossoms, soft lavender and vanilla." Ohhhh yes. Doesn't that sound delightful?!

4.Get Lost Hard Enamel Pin, Mountain Pin, Adventure Pin, Explore Pin, Hiking Pin, Cute Funny Pin, Nature Pin, Let's Get Lost, Stocking Filler

OMG! Is this pin not the cutest?! It's got one of those goofy silhouette birds we all learned to draw as kids, trees, mountains, and that wanderlust spirit we all know and love. 

5. Dark Blue Hair Dye

This hair dye has long been on varying wishlists of mine, and now that I know the shop and I share a city, I'm all the more inclined to buy it! The hardest part is trying to decide which of their gorgeous shades I want to try, but luckily they do offer multipacks, either in the form of their astronomy-themed lines like the Moon pack (shades of grey) or the Split Dye packs for people who want to try the edgy half and half look. 

6. Magenta Pink Angel Aura Healing Crystal Necklace -Turquoise Gold Dipped Rainbow Bullet Pastel Boho-Galaxy Natural Quartz Jewellery -Stone

Is this necklace magical or what?! I'm a total sucker for gemstones, and pendants, and necklaces, so this is a natural fit. I love how irridescent and refractive the stones are!

7. Watermelon Crossbody Bag

This watermelon crossbody bag is ridiculously cute. Not only does it fuse the fruity fresh and cute flavor of summer into any damn season you want it to, but it's practical! Carry your phone, your chapstick, and other goodies in this fresh and fun tote! 

8. Raw crystal necklace Healing crystal necklace Angel Aura Quartz Necklace Opal crystal necklace Rainbow quartz point Unicorn crystal gold

WOW! So, obviously I'm a fan of crystals, right? Isn't the blue-reflect on this stone GORGEOUS?! With that pretty gold chain it's all the more classy. These would make a wonderful gift for that crystal loving boho-spirit in your life!

9.  Crescent Moon Ring, Half Moon Ring, Zodiac Ring HSRMOON

Ok, so not only is this crescent moon ring ridiculously lovely, but you get to choose what metal you want it made with! So if you're more into silver, or rose gold, never fear, this shop has got you covered, in style, naturally. 

10.

Handcrafted Exfoliating Sugar Scrub - Japanese Kumquat/ Body Scrub / Natural Body Scrub / Vegan / Soothing/ Smoothing/ Inspirational/Citrus

And last but not least, this beauty rounds out the round-up. I'm obviously going hard on that winter citrus theme, with Japanese kumquat scented sugar scrub helping freshen up our senses during the long-grey season. 

What do you think? Did you find any new favorites among my round-up of this season's favorites? Hope you enjoyed this list! Cheers!

💖

XOXO,

NAU

Behind the Scenes: Tie-dye Photoshoot in Valley of Fire

It had been one heck of a whirlwind weekend... We drove out to Mesquite and explored the area, checked out a new fishing park they had, scoped out some of their local casinos, then gone out to St. George, Utah, and played in the beautiful Historic Downtown park and water facilities, checked out a crystal and gem shop while discovering where Vanticore won't fit (the hard way), climbed upon a giant rock, driven through so many little off-freeway towns and rural areas... and now, at the end of our second day road tripping (yes, it's only been two days!), we found ourselves at Valley of Fire state park trying to squeeze in that damn photo shoot I'd been angling towards all day. Not to say I didn't enjoy the rest of our day- I absolutely did! It was so much fun exploring the new towns and areas, seeing a side of our state and the Southwest I don't normally get out and see. Absolutely awesome! But all play and no work makes Nau go cray. So despite the odds, and the waning sunlight, and the packed campsites and scenic areas, we found a place to pull over and guerilla-style shot the shirts. It went pretty well, and we made a point of it to be well out of the road long before any cars came close- which was exceptionally easy to manage because the place we stopped had excellent views (and acoustics) so we not only heard the cars long before they approached but were able to spot them, too. It's not unusual to come around a bend in the park and find a family posing for a shot in the middle of the road, and we did NOT want to be those people. Like, I get it- the photos in the road look cool. But you've got to plan for them, and plan for the fact that roads are primarily intended for cars to travel upon. Don't stand around a bend, where cars won't be able to see you until it's too late. Keep your ears and eyes open and be hyper aware of your surroundings. Not only are there cars, but rattle snakes, scorpions, random places you could trip or hurt yourself. It's wild out there, so be smart, my friends. 

We didn't have long to work, and the moon was bright long before we were even halfway through our quick shoot. Antho was able to get some photos of the big pearl in the sky which aren't half bad considering he didn't use a tripod and it was taken with my little point-and-shoot digicam. Someday I'll invest in one of those fancy, expensive, cameras, but this trusty little Casio has been through the ringer with me and keeps on clicking so I've got no complaints. If you like what you see, the shirts are available in our Etsy shop!

10 Things I love on Etsy 5/12/2018

Abso-fuckin-lutely!!

In case you've been living under a rock and hadn't heard, Etsy is a community of crafts makers, artisans, and vintage fashion fanatics who share their wares on the Etsy platform, allowing consumers (like you and me, baby) to find their goods and support their dreams. Pretty cool, man, pret-ty cool. Antho and I have had our own humble little shop on the site for a couple years now, and as a way of giving back to the community I like to share some of the sweet stuff I've found perusing it in my downtime. All items can be shopped with the links provided!

1. Magical AF Glitter Pin 

Antho and I have been collecting pins and patches with the intention of creating a custom jacket for me in the near-ish future. As a result, I've found myself oogling a wide array of pins and patches from all over the place. We find ourselves in a mall? Pop in to Hot Topic to see if they've got any fun patches! We've found several of the Sailor Senshi symbols in patch form (so far I've got Mars and Venus), so I'm on a quest to complete my collection. This pretty pastel pin would fit right in with that theme! Love it! There's plenty more where this came from in their shop, if you'd rather not get your F-bomb on. 

02. Rose Gold Pineapple with Opal necklace 

Don't get it twisted- I love love LOVE pineapple, not Spongebob. Pineapples are like the taste of summer to me, and I'm never unhappy to find pineapple chunks available on a fruit tray. It's such a sweet, tangy fruit! I'm absolutely okay with the pineapple trend. Rose gold will forever be stunning, and opal is one of my favorite stones so this is an all around win! If pineapple isn't your thing, there's a ton of other cute items over in their shop!

03. Holographic tapes 4 pack

Second time now that the shop Lunarbay has popped up on this list. I guess maybe I was creeping their shop or something? They have a ridiculous amount of cute stuff, though! And I'm absolutely addicted to planners, and all the accessories to go along with them. I have a convoluted system of sticky tabs and tapes I use to mark things in my (pastel pink) May Designs for Blue Sky 2018 Daily & Monthly planner I got at Target last year, and I'm already eyeballing options for next year. I've had my eye on a Ban.do planner for awhile now... but this tape!! OH MY HOLO-LLUYAH!!! I love all things holographic, whether it's makeup, nail polish, bags, folders, what-have-you. I'm living for this whole Lisa-frank 90's nostalgia revival thing. 

04. Sailor Moon Crisis Compact Pin - Limited Edition - 

That's right babes, this gorgeous Sailor Moon pin is limited edition so that means you better get on it sooner rather than later if, like me, you need it in your life. My love for Sailor Moon is, like the meatball head herself, eternal. TheLanternGirl shop has a ton of other super cute pins, though, so definitely check them out! They're not all Sailor Moon themed, though a lot of them definitely are. 

05. Victorian Barf Abstract Art print knee length pencil skirt

How could I not love the name of this? And it harkens to my love of fluid painting, so that's a win. And pastels? Duh. This skirt would look super sexy~! In the description they mention it has four way stretch, which is a total win because a body-con skirt like this could feel like a sausage casing without appropriate stretchability. My biggest issue is that I like to take long strides and flounce about like a failed ballerina so this would be a smidge outside my comfort range for day to day but absolutely perfect for a date night! There are definitely some options to be found in the Abstractionist Shop, though, if you're not feeling the barf here. 

06. Dwight Mug

I've spoken before about my love of the Office, and Dwight is a character I'm especially fond of. I would have already bought this if not for the fact it's over $20 with shipping and everything... I'm not really at a place in my life where I can justify that just yet, especially since I already have an overabundance of perfectly good coffee cups in my crowded little cabinet. But hey, accidents do happen, and there's bound to be a day when this majestic mug will make it look like I have a mustache to give Stanley envy. NoahLovesIssy has a ton of cute stuff, so even if you're not a fan of the Office they've got something you'll enjoy!

07. Pink Bat Plush Purse 

Isn't this little purse from Uglyplants absolutely adorable?! He's just so fluffy and sweet! I think bats are darling to begin with, such underrated little cuties, so maybe I'm biased... but they have a ton of other super cute (or kawaii) stuff in their shop if you're not into flying squeaks, even when they're pretty in pink. 

08. Holographic Backpack 

This sexy ass space bag is by Yingliwong and they've got a pretty wide array of shiny bags to blind the poor folks who got stuck walking behind you on a sunny day. Hell to the yeah.  If you're not into the blinding bags, they've got some other fun stuff like a cute Panda shirt or this slick phone case. 

09. White Unicorn Brush Set + Holographic bag

Another holographic bag, but this one is for your brushes, and it comes with brushes! Double whammy! It's almost sold out, with only 2 left in stock at the time of this writing. Don't worry, though, they've got a bunch of other super cute stuff in their shop you can still get!

10. Virgo - Cactus + Sea Salt - Astrology Series candle

My sense of smell is, unfortunately, more or less non-existent... so, for me, candles are among some of the most flippant of fripperies. Most of the time I can't get their scent, and the few times I -have- been able to smell one it ended up giving me a headache... but I'm a sucker for anything that caters to my vanity about being a Virgo. It's silly, and I don't put a lot of weight into horoscope predictions, but I like the description of my signs characteristics and like to imagine that if I could smell I'd be appreciative of this candle. Also, I love the color they chose, so at least it would look pretty on my shelf and maybe it would impress guests with my classy sensibilities.  If you're not a Virgo, or simply not sold on the scent of salty cactus, don't worry- FIPcandles has plenty for everyone. 

That's it for this round!

Cheers!

💖

XOXO,

NAU

Tie-Dye Throwback

There haven't been too many tie-dye related posts on the blog in a few weeks now, and unfortunately that's due to our being in a bit of a creation-slump. We started to run low on blanks and with my job situation rapidly evolving and changing over the past few months I've been hesitant to put any money towards the hobby when I had more pressing adult matters to worry about (like keeping a roof over my head and food in our bellies)... Things should be changing for the better here soon, and we've gotten some good news and a couple of checks coming in, but we're certainly not rich by any stretch of the imagination. This is part of why I'm so passionate about getting our tie-dye off the ground, though, while it can be a challenging balance to find. We need a day job (for now) to keep afloat but the desire to invest heavily in our own business is strong, too. I can't go crazy and buy all the blanks I would like to, though, because I need to be sure we stay out of the red each month. So far 710Visuals has been a mainly self-sustaining project, but to grow it further I need to bump it up a notch or two out of my comfort zone. Not the easiest thing to do. But I digress.

Since we haven't been making much these past few weeks, please enjoy the photos of a previous batch I don't think I've ever shared here yet. These shirts were all made by Antho while I was over in Korea, so that makes them extra special. Typically we make all the shirts as a team, sometimes one will fold and the other will apply the dye, but when it comes to rinsing and processing them it's a team effort every time... except for this batch, because I was so geographically distant there was just no feasible way I could help outside of texting him instructions and motivation/support. He had to fold, dye, rinse, untie, wash, photograph, process and post all of these all by his lonesome, which isn't the easiest of tasks. I'm proud that he did this, though, and I think it helped him understand more how much work actually goes into the back end of running our shop. I usually handle the processing and listing for everything because I have the desktop computer and have more familiarity with it. It's a team effort here, at 710Visuals! 

Art: March Tie-dye

While I haven't been posting about tie-dye as much this month, we are still certainly creating away! Recently we've been applying the dye directly to the shirts and then putting the ice on top so that we have a bit more control over the dye placement with the design of the folds. It's worked out pretty well so far, though I don't know that we use any less dye in the process... in fact, this might actually use more dye! Previously we would apply the ice first, then sprinkle the dye over the top and you get a very strong visual guide as to when you might want to stop as the dye immediately begins to hydrate and spread. One of the best things about tie-dye, though, is that you can't really do it incorrectly so long as you're having fun. It's such an abstract process that you can take all sorts of creative liberties- feel more traditional and want to do a single-color indigo shibori? Go for it! Want to make a prismatic rainbow alien smoking a joint? If you've got the skills to fold it, you can make it. 

Personally, I tend to stray away from overly intentional designs, like the aforementioned prismatic alien with a joint, because I get too stressed out and anxious in the process. I'm something of a perfectionist and from the point of choosing a particular image and trying to create it to the final unveil, it cranks my anxiety up high...and I don't want that. Tie-dye is supposed to be fun, relaxing, enjoyable craft-time. Doing the ice dyes is soothing, an exercise in patience that's rewarded with colors galore... I'm sure I'll try again and again in the future, to create that particular image I had in mind, but given the nature of the tie-dye it's better (for me, at least) to go in with some flexibility. Even if the design doesn't turn out the exact way I had envisioned or hoped, there's still someone out there who might love it for exactly what it is! Each shirt is unique, after all, just like people, and there's something kind of cool about that, don't you think?

We HAVE started to dabble in techniques for creating images on the shirts separate from the tie-dye, and we might experiment with screen-printing in the not-too-distant future, too. There's always something new to try, after all, and even if you use the exact same colors on the exact same size shirt with the same folds it might not be a perfect carbon copy, so the options are quite truly endless.

More photos below!

Art: February 2018 Round up and ice dye round four

With February coming to a close, we'll wrap with another batch of tie-dye rinsing photos to try to take us out on an upbeat colourful note. It's been a busy month despite being a brief 28 days! We set up our first pop-up retail tie-dye spot at the Bubblegum Gallery here in Las Vegas's own Art's District, we've processed several photoshoots and posted lots of new items on the Etsy shop, so very much tie-dye was made, had a commitment ceremony performed by Batman, lost our little buddy Zinni to natural causes, discovered our new favourite neighbourhood pizza joint (they have anchovies! Not every place has anchovies, and one of our first big relationship realisations was when Antho and I both confessed to liking anchovies on our pizza), my hours at my day-job were cut tremendously, threatening our financial stability some and causing me to have to refocus my energies elsewhere after being dedicated to the job for the nearly a year... Overall, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster of a month! In a lot of ways I have to say I'm not terribly worried about having the hours of my day-job cut, as I was able to spend a lot of time with Zinni while he was struggling in his final days and that means a lot to me. We've had most of our pet rats for their entire lives, from their very first squeak to their very last, and while it still hurts so badly to lose any of them I have to say that I'm grateful to have been able to be there for them from start to finish like that. Having a pet is a large responsibility, and whenever I take in an animal I truly hope to be there for them throughout our lives together. Humans typically outlive our animal friends, after all, and I don't think it's fair to shuffle them around from home to home where they might not lead such happy lives...and with rats, there's always that chance someone's going to use them as food for a predatory animal, a fate I'd hate to consider being possible for any of the docile little goofs we've raised. And to think, it all started when we spontaneously agreed to adopt an old rat boy named Pendleton. Anyhow, this post isn't about rats or day-jobs or any of that nonsense, we're here for the PRETTIES!

For the colour!

FOR THE TIE-DYE!

Hoo-RAH!

💖

Until next time, catch you next month!

💕

XOXO,

NAU