there go three months! woooooosh

I'm alive, but the blog will be moving to my website so I won't be updating until further notice. :)

My website will have an archive of sea glass photos, all my urban exploration photos which used to be posted on insanebunkers.com, and more stuff. And I'll even take a shot at selling stuff that I don't feel like selling on ebay/etsy. lol

Meanwhile, I've been working on launching a couple of new product lines on etsy and all but closed my artfire shop. The sales just weren't there even though Artfire has great potential.

I've gotten some fabulous sea glass finds. I mean, even better than Canada, if you can imagine such a thing. Speaking of Canada, I'm going back at the end of October. yay!

Can you say BUSY 3 times fast?

Between work and catching up on a month's worth of journaling, I haven't really had time to devote to the blog too.


I do have a big announcement. No, I'm not pregnant. But I did launch my website, meganmcgory.com FINALLY. And so now it's official that once Geocities disappears for good, my old "Nutmeg's Realm" website is going with it, only to remain archived somewhere in the depths of a CD binder full of burned backup CDs.


At the same time I was launching my website, if you follow me on my shop twitter (also newly launched) you'll see that I've been working hard on the 2nd Annual Etsy Yart Sale, sponsored by the Etsy Supplies Street Team. YART = Yard + Art! And there are some great deals to be found there. I was surprised to find out I got a tiny blurb honorable mention in this blog: Dirty Pretty Things.


So, what's my yart sale specials? First off, I have a discounted Yart Sale section in my shop. Then, my 150th sale gets FREE SHIPPING. Next, I've been running specials of the day and TODAY'S SPECIAL is Free Shipping on orders over $30! My first special of the day was BUY ONE VINTAGE ITEM, GET ONE 1/2 OFF, and that's been extended indefinitely because I really need to move the vintage stock. That's a BIG hint!

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY MOM

I love my mom. This is one of my favorite pics taken of her ever, from 1998. The scan is from 2000 so it's not the best quality, but this is my mom. Do the math; she was still climbing trees at 39. lol Actually she'd still climb trees today.

Love you Mom! We're totally going to play In Da Club for you later LOL. I need to go pick up her birthday cake soon. Check out the necklace I made for her! She wears a lot of the natural woodsy-colors like forest green and brown, and she loves birds of prey, especially owls and hawks.


And this is what's waiting for her in the newspaper when she wakes up, courtesy of my grandparents.

You know, I am alive here. lol

Ever since I found a great outlet for my sea glass photos, I haven't had the need to show them off here......HOWEVER, if you know anything about sea glass, check out the finds I had while I was in Canada! No, I'm not disclosing the location on this one, sorry folks.

I've been really busy lately buying new stock for the vintage section of my Etsy shop. You would not believe the dresses I've had the pleasure of buying...I'll hopefully be listing more today but I also have to get ready for my mother's 50th birthday this coming Sunday!

Hey, it's Follow Friday for Twitter, if you don't follow me yet, feel free! I have two twitters as of yesterday, one for my shop and one for me.

http://twitter.com/meganmcgory
http://twitter.com/mannequinreject

Peace out girl scouts!

The importance of having a really good camera for product photos.

Today I decided to share a little before/after session with you to show the importance of having a good camera vs. a GOOD camera. Now, because my Kodak DX7590 was my BABY and I couldn't afford a new camera despite the fact my Kodak was broken since Sept. 2007, I shot all my Etsy product photos with my "good" camera.

Here's Number 128 - Electric Key Steampunk Skeleton Key Pendant as it was shot in September with the Kodak. Note that my camera always had problems with low light, and for some reason it seemed there was NEVER enough light. This was edited to be brighter / more colorful in photoshop, which is pretty common for all product photos.
And here's the same item shot last week with my Canon Rebel XS. It needed minimal post-processing compared to the other.
Now, don't tell me you get good photos with your camera phone. Your camera phones almost always lack DEPTH, are pixelated, etc etc etc. It matters to have a good camera and good lighting. Trust me.

Now...it's true that I've decided to move most of my steampunk pieces back to Etsy from Artfire. This includes all my OOAK clock hand earrings and many other things I can't reproduce...however, my Artfire shop will continue to remain open with different items from my Etsy shop. In the best interest of my business, I'm returning to Etsy. I love Artfire's features and locked in one of those $7 monthly accounts...but it's going to be a while before it has the built-in customer base that Etsy has. I miss the sales and I do believe my Etsy shop will bounce back from my 5-month hiatus rather quickly.

In other news, I'm going to Canada in 2 days and my shop will remain open. I find it interesting that my Etsy hiatus began almost as a direct result of my last trip to Canada.

I've already started stepping up my game in my Etsy shop...I listed 8 new GORGEOUS vintage dresses and re-shot all my existing Vintage clothing photos. I've got a long ways to go but the vintage dresses and new jewelry shots took priority over supplies and will continue to. Many of my supplies are going to end up as huge lots on ebay, I think.

By the way, another shoutout to Cuteable.com! My Art Deco earrings that were featured on their site last week SOLD!

Spring has sprung!

A quick post:

I can hear these babies right now getting fed, though this picture was taken two days ago in the afternoon. This bird house is about 3 feet behind the chair I'm currently sitting in and was also shot through a screen window. I tried taking the photo outside but had to stand so far away that I had to shoot with a telephoto lens and stand still for over 20 minutes or else the mother wouldn't come around...so as soon as I went in the house and got back behind the glass, this happened!

If I forgot to link back anyone who's commented in the past, I apologize. I'll soon be combing through entries to link back to people I missed. Speaking of links, Cuteable.com featured my clock hand earrings the other day!
:) Happy Spring, everyone!

Introducing...

Could......not...
...resist!
NUMBER 141-A WOMAN'S 1ST EXPLORATION OF THE WORLD STEAMPUNK NECKLACE

So while I've been out having fun with my new camera, going to the beaches as much as I can before I'd have to start paying for parking, and working my butt off for USPS, I've neglected the poor blog. But...let's not lie, my blog was mainly a promotions blog for my Etsy/Artfire/Ebay shops. And I've been letting my shops go for months. I found a great sea glass community (Seaglass Lovers on Ning) so I'll stop pestering my readers (what... all of 3) and post most of my sea glass photos over there from now on. So, if you like sea glass, get your butt over there.

I finally started making jewelry again and am trying to revive my Etsy/Artfire shops. Ebay can wait a bit because Ebay just doesn't take so much maintenence. Here's some of my new creations!Number 140 - Art Deco Clock Hand Earrings II

Because I won't be going to the beach as often soon... Number 139 - Seahorse Earrings!

And almost too late for Prom season - Number 138- Party Time Clock Hand Earrings

And I was going to use the rest of this post to talk about how I can now fit into a shirt I bought from Caldor in the Norwichtown Mall in 1997, not to mention pull off horizontal stripes even though I'm still apparently obese according to BMI, but I'm not happy with many of those pictures except this one. LOL.

I really miss Caldor. haha.

In other news, my friend, the CrabbyOlBastard just opened his Etsy shop to sell his photography, including photos of his urban exploration adventures. Check it out! 

Speaking of Etsy, I started posting my clock hand earrings there again too, just to see if I can boost my sales. I'm also going to be listing some new vintage & supplies items in the near future, so stay tuned! And I posted a brand new vintage pendant that I just got from an antique store.

PS: I'm having a spring cleaning sale in my Etsy shop, you can find it here!

Camera closeups and experiments

No time for words since I have to get ready for work soon, but I wanted to update.Amberina, found 3/17/09
Canon Rebel XS
10x magnified lens filter
18-55mm lens
Shutter speed: 1/1000sec.
F-Stop: f/5.6
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 55mm

Close up experiment
Canon Rebel XS
10x magnified lens filter
18-55mm lens
Shutter speed: 1/86sec.
F-Stop: f/5.6
ISO: 320
Focal Length: 46mm

Nightshot experiment, Jamestown RI
Streetlights on water
70-300mm lens
Shutter speed: 1/4 sec.
F-Stop: f/4.0
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 70mm

Newport Bridge as seen from Jamestown
70-300mm lens
Shutter speed: 1/10 sec.
F-Stop: f/5.6
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 300mm

American Flag in Jamestown
70-300mm lens
Shutter speed: 1/10 sec.
F-Stop: f/4.0
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 70mm

So I think my experiments are going well and I'm getting to know the camera better. That's all!

Getting back into the swing just in time for spring!

I am SO READY for this winter to be over. I wanted it gone sometime after I had to work through the second snowstorm. And...if you live in New England, that was a few months ago. HA.

Anyway, on Wednesday I got a phone call from the store I had some of my clock hand earrings in consignment in. They're going out of business, and they wanted me to come down and pick up what I had left. Come to find out, the two pairs I sold in August were the ONLY pairs I ever sold in that shop. I'm glad to have the remaining eight pairs back home and just finished editing the photos of them so I can get them up in my Artfire Studio. Here's a little tease of what's going up once I measure them and get them listed sometime this weekend:

Number 94


Number 104

Well, since I was heading out to Rhode Island to pick up the remaining earrings, I couldn't pass up a trip down to my favorite sea glass beach! I found two items I've never found on a beach before, a blue glass bead and the stem from a clay pipe!

And now for something a little old, but got missed because I was so incredibly sick. On my birthday, I went a little crazy and drove all the way out to the tip of Cape Cod. I was on a strict schedule, so as soon as I got there, I had to turn right around and come back home. Leave it to me to NOT realize that I had embarked on a 320-mile round trip that was entirely pointless, but an amusing adventure.

I also got the Lowepro Slingshot 100 camera backpack for my birthday. Having two different camera cases, one for the camera, and one for the lenses, was a huge pain...and I couldn't have actually afforded this for myself so thankfully my birthday was right around the corner from when I got the Canon! I don't really know how I would ever get along without it, and I've thought that ever since I realized I can utilize it as almost a portable workspace. So here it is next to my new purse and some new orange shoes that cost $5 and some really cute socks that I got some months ago that just match this whole hot mess really well. lol.

The socks really don't make any sense (cloud & crossbones?) , but they're so cute!

Ugly new messenger bag!

I'll spare you the rest of the stuff for the next update, but I've been having a lot of fun with the Canon experimenting with night shots and the rest. :)

Anyway, over the past couple of days I've been hard at work listing new things on ebay and getting my artfire shop up to speed. Surprisingly, I had a sale on Etsy today...first time since Feb. 1! I still haven't really decided where I'm going to list the whole truckload of fabric I picked up at auction just about a month ago. I can't believe how fast time flew this month, especially after I got sick. Now my mom is sick too, but it's with something different. Hopefully it will pass soon, and we'll all be enjoying spring and not getting sick, and all that fun stuff.

Now...off to Google Analytics to see if I can actually learn anything. lol

Getting settled in on Artfire

I haven't had a post about my shops lately either on Artfire or on Etsy. Both aren't selling well at all but I'll blame that on working as much as I can at the post office, and the economy. Ebay has always required less effort to sell if all you care about is sales numbers and not profit, and even ebay is doing poorly for me at the moment. (Look ma, no listings!)

Anyway! I moved all my steampunk jewelry over to my Artfire studio, and got kicked out of the Steamteam on Etsy, but that's okay. I'm part of the new Steampunk Guild on Artfire which is not so high-maintenance. I was never one of those high-maintenance girlfriends and wasn't interested in people who were high-maintenance either. If I faked interest, it was because he owed me money. (And still does! At least he finally took down that picture of him sitting in the driver's seat of my Grand Am on Myspace, because he was such a dirtbag he wanted to look good but he could never afford a car as hot looking as my Grand Am from HELL. That picture was still up long after the car got totaled, too. LOL) Sorry about that. Just had to rant for a bit because I'm so glad that picture is down. hahaha. SAAAAAAAAAB. Much better.

My etsy shop is looking rather bare-bones. I just don't know what to do with it. I deleted a bunch of listings because as Etsy is now, they will never sell and I just don't care. I made my money so I won't feel so bad sending some boxes of stuff off to Salvation Army, but first I'm going to have a big yardsale in the spring. SPRING IS COMING! YARDSALES! My business cards still point to Etsy, which I need to fix pronto because I'm focusing more on the affordable and efficient Artfire. Etsy had its chance, and they will never care about their sellers. My sales were awesome last year until September 1, and then tanked. Artfire hasn't picked up yet, but I didn't jump all in like I did with Etsy at this time last year.

Hell, I haven't even made any jewelry since October 30, and that's SAD.

Recipe! and deciding to go mostly vegetarian.

I'm feeling much better now, and my birthday is tomorrow. (25!) So here's a recipe of something I made last night.

Edamame and Corn salad

You'll need
1 pkg. frozen edamame (can be found in the frozen vegetarian section).
1 can Mexican style corn
1 can whole kernel sweet corn
1 can black beans
1/2 jar mixed vegetable bruschetta
some olive oil, to make the bruschetta stretch since it's quite expensive.

Prepare frozen edamame according to the package directions in the biggest pot you own, since you're just going to mix all the rest of the stuff in with it once the edamame is ready. Can be served cold or warm. Makes like 8 servings, or 4 if you like to eat. The bruschetta costs like $7 but it you make it stretch, it's really not that bad. Total cost for all 8 servings is not much, especially if you get the edamame on sale. Some weeks you can get 2 packages for $5, so buy a lot then and leave it in your freezer.

Eating on a budget...weeeeee!

I have decided to go mostly vegetarian. Of course I still have meat in the house but once that's gone I've pretty much decided not to buy it anymore. It's so darn expensive! Having food poisoning 4 times in the past year really makes you re-think what you eat. Even I am cutting down on pasta, since I have a sinking suspicion that my stomach really can't digest it and it's doing more harm than good.

So here's to getting sick LESS in 2009!

My stomach hates me

I was sick, again, with gastroenteritis. All I know was that there was a lot of throwing up involved with a fever too. And I had to work yesterday, which was hell on earth, but I did it anyway. As many of you have heard, the Postmaster General has gone before Congress to propose eliminating one delivery day. Well, what does that mean for me? It means I'll be out of a job when it happens, because I'm a sub. It seems many people of the public actually think their carriers work 6 days a week. Are you kidding? They're union! lol. So I work on the 6th day, and any day I'm needed. Currently I usually work two days a week--Saturdays I work on a route with a mail truck and Monday's I work on a route with my own jeep. That's just how the relief days work. I usually work more than 2 days per week, too. But...if I'm not guaranteed at least one day per week, well who knows how long it would be when I'm working! Yikes!

So I picked up an entire truckload of fabric to sell on artfire/ebay/etsy. And some bottles too. But getting sick this weekend put all my projects on the back burner.

Anyway, about a week or so ago I finally made it to the beach.

and again!And here's a picture of the ice at Indian Leap in Norwich, CT.

Meanwhile, I'm still not really over that awful bug I had this weekend and can't figure out what I should tackle first...bottles or fabric? My etsy to artfire shop conversion is still coming along. I'm also cleaning out shop and donating some things that aren't selling and are taking too much space to Salvation Army, mainly craft magazines and vintage decor that doesn't fit in flat rate boxes, or worthless plain bottles that aren't worth the effort on ebay.

NOTE: I totally forgot to mention that I got an ID on that green piece of sea glass I love. It's the Lacy Medallion pattern which dates from 1898-1920 or so. Check it out!

Sea glass obsession!

Hey, if you love sea glass as much as I do, I know I'm forgiven already for the length of this post and the amount of pictures. LOL. All of the pictures in this post were shot with my brand new Canon Rebel XS, and I've been experimenting as well so now all of you are my guinea pigs! mwahahaha!

Anyway, it's been snowing and I've been working too much to head to the beach at all this year, which makes me a sad pumpkin. Tide times have been working against me too, so seeing it's been over 3 weeks since I've gone actually makes me rather miserable. And I've been sick to boot. LOL

Anyway, last trip's finds! Not much of note until I found another marble at the same beach I found two others! This one was partially buried in the sand, so it made the day. :) Also found my first piece of vibrant lavender.

I like this marble.

Right after this trip, I was poking around the bottle forum at antique-bottles.net and then there was this topic about someone selling a sea glass marble on ebay for $66 recently. So...I posted a picture of one of my marbles that I had handy. It got me thinking...now that almost a year has passed since I started collecting sea glass, maybe I should do a "best finds so far" type entry. I also wanted to re-shoot some of my better pieces since my Kodak had some problems with detail sometimes.
Some of my bottle necks and other special pieces that I keep separate (otherwise I keep them in clear jars by color).

Sea pottery, milk glass, and my lone piece of opaque black glass.
As it turns out, last night I discovered that the two patterned pieces are from the Greenwood China company in Trenton, NJ (the back of the larger piece is marked Greenwood / Trent). They are from the same pattern but two different sized plates! A whole plate in this pattern is currently for sale here. The best part was that these two patterned pieces were found well over 6 months apart at the same beach, but they didn't quite match up until I found the picture of that plate. Greenwood China was only in business from around 1862 or 1868 until 1933, and the particular stamp used on these plates was first implemented in 1886. These plates were more than likely manufatured for a hotel. A part of me wonders if they came from the Narragansett Casino (built in 1886, destroyed by fire in 1900) or the Rockingham Hotel (where the fire started which burned the Narragansett Casino.) If you know of the Narragansett Towers, they were originally part of the Narragansett Casino. (More information can be found on this site!)


My two favorite bottle neck pieces, found at the same beach!

Anyone who can identify some of these patterns or embossing, feel free!

This piece (above) isn't so worn (found in the driveway of a house at Pleasure Beach along with other bits of sea glass (I'm guessing that the person who lived at the house collected sea glass and kept it in a jar, which was smashed in the driveway because we found significant amounts of sea glass in that location.)

My best pieces, cobalt blues (lousy quality wear/frosting on the cobalts for the most part...) vaseline/uranium glass, and my marbles. :)

My red piece shaped like the lower 48 of the good ol' USA :D. Maybe after global warming though...because naturally Cape Cod and Florida are missing. lol

And the marbles too.