Discount Vials

I kind of already went over this on my DeviantArt journal, but I figured I would repeat myself as the two blogs probably have two different readerships with very little overlap.

So, I've done posts before about "why buy Izile" over some of the other "magic bottle jewelry" that has popped up over the past couple of years (besides the fact that Izile's Oddities is the home of the original Magic Vial Pendant, and the first such item to show up on etsy or ebay or Deviantart - hell, when I had the original concept idea, I searched for any similar idea on not only those three, but google itself, and never came back with a single hit. . . . but I digress, they say mimicry is the most sincere form of flattery, so I suppose I should be flattered by all the mimics that popped up in the past 2-3 years.) One of the reasons was my gemstone quality, that I go to gem providers and buy, whenever possible, raw, untreated, uncut gems, and I break them down myself. Well, obviously it wasn't so. When I first started playing with this concept in '05 (etsy launch in '06) I didn't have access or funds to the "good stuff," so I did start off with some strands of chipped gemstone beads from the craft store - something that I got away from as soon as I could!

The other day, I was going through my gemstone supply and found some of those old gemstone strands from years back. They just sit at the bottom; and I thought, "I really should get rid of these." So, I've started making a small line of discount Magic Vials using some of the older supplies from when I first started out (the herbs are all still fresh, of course ;-). ) There won't be any sterling silver wire, or fancy designs, and the gemstones are as stated above, not my best, but that's why they're also starting at about $6.00, like "Like and Dark" shown here.

I'll still be making all my usual, higher quality vials, but until I can clear out some of these old bead strands, I will occasionally be putting up a couple of discounted vials like this here and there.

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For a completely random plug today, taken from my list of favorite shops, is Jennifer Carson The Dragon Charmer. She has some of the most adorable fantasy based plushie toys I've seen in a long time. Obviously, with her name, there are plenty of soft dragons as well as dragon prints for as little as $2.00! However, it was her floppy soft unicorns that I found so charming. Pictured here is "Balthazar" a child-friendly jointed unicorn that was a custom order for an etsy buyer. All her unicorns seem to be custom orders, but at least we know that means she takes customs! She also has soft fairies, and lots of PDF sewing patterns for those who'd like to make their own. Definitely worth taking a peek!