Tag: earring

PlayStation Vita

On By Michel McDonaldIn GamesLeave a comment


I have a Nintendo Game Boy that my partner bought for me in 1994 or 1995, I honestly can’t recall when. I was so bored because we didn’t have much in the way of entertainment, other than the TV with 7 channels of course. He used a Sears credit card to buy the Game Boy and he would buy me games every now and then. It took me months to play one game, and if I knew we couldn’t afford a new game, I would just play the game multiple times. Occasionally we needed the money for food, so we had to sell the games to game stores. We only got a fraction of what the games were worth, but desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s sad too because I still have my Game Boy, but I only have 1 game; Tetris.

In 2007 I bought myself a PlayStation Portable Slim aka PSP -2000. I bought many games, and didn’t have to sell any for the money. I played the heck out of that game system, and now it’s tricky just to turn it on. The power button is glitchy, so it’s difficult to turn it on or off. It still works, but it doesn’t connect to our WiFi because the security is different from when I first bought it, so I can’t buy and download games. If I want to buy a new game, it has to be on the UMD format which I can only buy on Amazon and eBay.

Last Christmas my partner bought me a PlayStation 4. My PSP-2000 talks with a PS3, but not a PS4. If I want to play my PS4 games in the living room, I need a PlayStation Vita. I can also download tons of PS Vita games that I have gotten for free over the last year with my PlayStation Plus account.

I know that I don’t deserve to buy a PlayStation Vita because I haven’t worked for it. I know that I would prefer to play the games I own on my HDTV instead of a smaller screen in my hands, but I feel like there are times when I can’t play games on my PS4 because I’m watching tv in the living room with my partner. He stares at his iPad the entire time, that is if he’s awake, and I sit and stare at either my Nook HD+ or my phone. Sometimes I’d prefer playing Minecraft or whatever game I have instead of staring at Facebook. I have Minecraft PE on my phone, but it’s harder to play on a touchscreen because the screen gets too hot, that’s why I prefer to just stare at Facebook on my phone.

I know I’m coming off as the most spoiled brat in the world, and it’s true, I am. That’s why I haven’t bought the PlayStation Vitayet, because I know I don’t need, nor deserve it. I just want it, and that’s not a reason to spend the money I don’t have to buy it. I could put it on a credit card and pay it off over time, but it’s just not right for me to do that. I have this stupid need before greed thing, and I honestly don’t need it, but I would really love to have it lol.

When my hands heal from the recent order of 200 mini DNA keychains that I recently finished, I will start making different kinds of earrings and keychains to put on Amazon Handmade, that is if they approve me. I recently applied, and they don’t have a category for “Accessories” which is what I classified my craft as. I can’t really call keychains jewelry. My earrings and chokers are considered jewelry, but since they don’t actually have jewels in them, are they really jewelry? The earrings are plastic stems with plastic lanyard. The chokers are hemp with wood beads. Not exactly jewelry. I also make the friendship bracelets, which I really need to make more of. They sent me an email telling me I can change my category to jewelry, so I did. I can’t sell keychains as jewelry, but I can sell earrings, chokers and bracelets.

I’m sure I will need a huge inventory for Amazon Homemade, so when I can start working again, I will make a bunch of things and put them in a drawer to have them ready to ship if anyone orders them. If I make any money, I will keep the money in Amazon so I can buy a PS Vita. I could also start buying Amazon gift cards every month and put them in my account. I’m also playing around with Swag Bucks, so I’ll do surveys and watch videos and install useless apps for SB’s so I can get a Amazon gift card. If I do all those things, then I can say I deserve a PlayStation Vita.

By the way, all these links for PlayStation Vita will earn me money if YOU, the reader click them and buy one for yourself.

Rings on Etsy

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, Etsy, gay pride, Hobby, JewelryLeave a comment

gold ring

I bought a ring mandrel specifically so I could make hemp rings.  I wondered if I could make them with the plastic lace, aka gimp, and I was successful as you can see in the image above, but the success didn’t last too long because I discovered today after wearing my gold ring for 3 days that it wasn’t as strong as I thought.  Well, to be fair I couldn’t stop playing with it.  I was constantly taking it off my finger and squeezing it.  I guess I squeezed it to the point that it broke at the seam.

Someone asked me to make some rings and hoop earrings and I thought how awesome would it be to make and sell rings on Etsy?  Since I had a bad experience, I decided against it.

I bought some steel tigertail beading wire specifically so that I could make candy cane earrings.  My idea was to use the wire to bend the boondoggle into a crook to look like a candy cane, but this wire wasn’t the right wire; it’s too thin and doesn’t hold it’s shape if bent.  I knew that even if it didn’t work, I could still use it for some other project.  Perhaps I could have used it to make a beaded ring, or perhaps make a beaded earring… the possibilities are endless.

As I was deciding against making the rings, I looked at the steel tigertail beading wire and I had an epiphany.  I could weave the wire into the gimp rings so they can’t come apart.  It just might work, or will it?

glow in the dark

One of the rings I was asked to make was with the glow in the dark gimp, so I took that opportunity to use the wire knowing it could be seen through the gimp.  Here it is.  You can clearly see the wire inside the ring.  The wire holds its shape which is a good thing to know because the hoop earrings I made didn’t exactly keep their round shape.  I mean, they are still round, they just aren’t perfectly round like this ring is.

It will probably be awhile before I make the rings and hoop earrings for sale if I do decide to make and sell them.  I want to test them out on myself first.  I am my only beta tester lol.  If I play with it, I am sure someone else will and I would much rather find out if it is going to be worth the price if someone buys it or not.  I would hate to know that someone had paid money for one of these only to have to toss it in the bin.  I like to know I am selling a quality product.

I will make another gold ring for myself because I really liked that color.  It will look exactly like the image at the top, but the only difference is it will have some wire inside which you won’t see because the gold gimp is not translucent.  I am really hoping this works because I got myself excited to wear a new ring, but I also got other people excited.  I also think it would make a cool pride ring necklace to have 6 rainbow colored rings like my own pride ring necklace.  Our gay pride is coming in October so that will be perfect to wear then.

Well I better get started with my new experiment.

New Hypoallergenic Hooks from Uncommon Artistry on Amazon

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, Daily BlogLeave a comment

michaels hooks vs uncommon artistry hooks

I ordered these “Hypoallergenic” Surgical Steel Ball & Coil Earring Hooks (X100) from Amazon on July 3rd, 2013.  When I bought them, I didn’t realize they were coming from China.  If I had known that, I wouldn’t have bought them.  In fact, I tried to cancel my order right away, but they wouldn’t let me.  I was able to click the link to cancel, but the drop down menu for the reason for returning didn’t have any options, so without a reason to choose from, it was impossible to cancel.  My other reason for wanting to cancel was because of the reviews saying these aren’t actually hypoallergenic which I did not read until after I bought them.

So what I did on July 4th was I went to Michael’s and bought some hooks because I was so excited about making earrings and I wanted to buy the hooks because the sooner I could make them, the sooner I could sell them.  But I found out that they weren’t actually hypoallergenic.  I wore a pair for a couple of days to test them out and my right ear lobe started to get infected.  I decided to just keep making earrings and when I finally got some hypoallergenic hooks from Etsy, I took all the Michael’s hooks out and replaced them with hypoallergenic hooks.

The earrings in the image above are the Michael’s earrings on the left and the “hypoallergenic” surgical steel ball & coil earrings from Uncommon Artistry on the right.  When you are looking at the 2 bags next to each other, you can tell there is a huge difference in the colors.  The Michael’s is like a silver, while the Uncommon Artistry is more of a gray or like a blue gray color.  They actually look exactly alike in the image above with the exception of the curvature of the 2 earrings.

I am testing a pair out on my own ears just like I tested the Michael’s earrings because before I write a review on Amazon, I want to make absolutely sure they are hypoallergenic.  If they aren’t then I can say that they aren’t, but if they are then I can say they are.  If they are hypoallergenic then I can use them and say without a shadow of a doubt in my description that they are indeed hypoallergenic.  Otherwise, I have to note that they aren’t and indeed mention that if you have allergies, don’t buy these, buy the hypoallergenic ones.

So I’ve only been wearing them for like a minute and my right ear is already starting to pulse lol.  It’s like I can feel my heartbeat in my ear lobe.  I’m not quite sure if my ear is still recovering from the infection from the Michael’s earrings.  I haven’t worn anything in my ears for weeks, or since that first test that I did.  I started wearing plastic earrings in those holes yesterday.  When I put the plastic earrings in yesterday, both ears were a bit sore and they were hard to put in at first because I think the holes started closing up or perhaps they were closing because of the (for the lack of a better word) infection juices were causing the holes to close.  LOL I didn’t know how else to say that.  Anyway, I had to clean my ears yesterday because the earring was a little red from forcing it through the back.  They are still sore, so if something is going to happen, it’s probably going to happen fast.

For reference, I finished typing this out at 2:25 p.m. on July 17, 2013.  Will update on my findings…

bent hooksQuality:  I have been reading the reviews and more than a few said there were some that were bent and the coil and ball were missing or whatever.  Well, I was curious to see if there were any like that and as I was putting the normal ones back in the bag, I was counting them.  I counted 112 hooks and there were only supposed to be 100.  But, I think that makes up for the fact that 4 earrings were bent, well, 1 of those wasn’t too badly bent, but well, you see in the picture.  And 2 of them were hooked together and as you can see 1 is missing the ball and coil.  I think I can deal with the loss of 4 earrings and I can unhook those 2 good ones and replace the ball and coil from one of the bad ones.  I still come out on top with 108 good hooks, well 2 of which I am wearing for testing that I cannot actually sell, so 106 good hooks lol.

Update 8:39 p.m.: I had to take them out.  I’m in agony right now.  My head feels tight and my jaw is in a lot of pain, more pain on the right, but in pain on both sides.  These are worse than the Michael’s earrings lol.  At least with the Michael’s earrings I was able to wear them for 40 hours, I couldn’t wear these for more than 6 1/2 hours.  Heck, I was ready to take them out after the first minute because the pain started immediately.  I will not be using these earrings, not even for people who don’t have allergies.  These are going in the trash.  At least it was only $2.32.  Next time I will make sure I read the reviews first.

Michael’s Earring Hooks

On By Michel McDonaldIn Jewelry1 Comment

all 3 rainbow earrings

I bought earring hooks from Michael’s to use in the earrings that I make to sell on Etsy.  I was worried that because the package didn’t say what type of metal they were and they didn’t say they were hypoallergenic, that perhaps maybe I shouldn’t use them at all because I would hate to go through all that trouble to make earrings that people will have to throw or give away because they irritate their skin.  I decided to still make these earrings because there are people out there who can tolerate any metal earring.

I did buy some hypoallergenic hooks on Amazon, but I didn’t read the reviews until after I paid for them, and I tried to cancel the order right away, but they wouldn’t let me choose a reason for canceling, so I’m stuck with them.   The reviews were basically saying they took too long to ship because they ship from Honk Kong, which I didn’t see when I bought them.  They also said that some of the hooks were bent and that they ended up throwing most of them in the trash and that despite saying they were hypoallergenic, they weren’t.  So when I get those in the mail in August, I will have to say they are not hypoallergenic, but I will test them on myself before I use them.

Of course I will be buying some known hypoallergenic hooks, but they are incredibly expensive.  So unless I actually sell earrings or keychains, I won’t be able to afford to buy the expensive hypoallergenic hooks.

So the earring hooks I bought from Michael’s aren’t doing so bad.  I decided to put in a pair at Midnight on the night of July the 5th 2013 and have had them in my ears for nearly 11 hours and this is how they look in my ears.  The package had 2 different types of hooks, half of each, these aren’t the same type of hooks in the earrings you see in the image at the top.  I have a really bad sensitivity to certain metals and believe me, I will get a reaction after just a few minutes, so if I’ve had these in my ears for 11 hours, then I’m sure they should be okay for anyone else.

earrings 10 hours

As you can see, the hooks haven’t made any impact on my ears.  They are the ones in the 2nd hole in both ears.  Keep in mind that those holes haven’t had an earring in them for years and I had to push them in a bit because they felt like they had closed up in the back.  So if there is some redness, that’s probably why.  They do look a little red in the picture, especially the left ear, but there isn’t any irritation and they aren’t red when I look at them in the mirror.  They seem fine to me.

Of course, 11 hours isn’t hardly enough time to judge whether these earrings from Michael’s are going to cause a bad reaction, so I will keep taking pictures every day for a week and keep updating this post.

Update:  After 16 hours of wearing these Michael’s earrings, I suddenly felt a pressure in my head accompanied by ringing in both ears and slight dizziness.  I Googled my symptoms and found out that a lot of people have asked about earrings causing that and the condition is called Tinnitus.  I took the earrings out and within half an hour my symptoms eased up, but they are still there after another half an hour.  I thought that perhaps it was not caused by the earrings because when I took them out I took a picture and they didn’t look that bad.  There wasn’t any redness, swelling or pain.  I would think that if my ears were having an allergic reaction to the metal they would at least be red.  I didn’t see any redness in the mirror, but I do see it in the pictures.

earrings 16 hours

After having them out for 45 minutes, I decided to put them in Claire’s Ear Wash Antiseptic and put them back in.  The dizziness, tightness and buzzing or ringing is still there, but it’s not as bad as it was, so I don’t know what caused it or why, but I’m going to leave the earrings in and see what happens next.  I really want these earrings to work for me, because if I can wear them, then I will sleep better knowing that I am not selling earrings that people are going to have issues with.  Of course, if you know you have an allergy to certain metals, you know not to buy unless it says it is hypoallergenic, so naturally buyer beware.  I will keep them in for as long as I can.  See how dedicated I am to my customers that I am willing to risk getting an infection lol.

24 hour update:  I have had these earrings in my ears for 24 hours.  Well, minus about 45 minutes from earlier today when I got dizzy and had a constant ringing in my ears.  The dizziness and ringing didn’t come back, so I’m wondering if that was something else.  I have been having dizzy spells, so perhaps that wasn’t related to the earrings.  At any rate, I seem to be doing fine.  Pictures to come tomorrow afternoon.

40 hour update:  I had to take the earrings out of my ears because my right ear was starting to get infected.  That sucks.  I knew these earrings wouldn’t be hypoallergenic, but I was kind of hoping they would still be okay.  Oh well.  Here is the final picture.

earrings 40 hours

I forgot to write right ear and left ear, but you can figure that out lol.  As you can see, the left ear is fine, it didn’t get affected at all, but the right ear is infected.  What’s funny is that neither one of them hurt, even the infected one, so I didn’t even know it was infected until I took the picture.

I will be buying some actual hypoallergenic earring hooks called Niobium as well as plastic earring studs for another type of earring for men.  I actually just bought the plastic earring studs so when they come I can figure out what I will make.  Whatever it is will be made with gimp like the keychains.

Earrings and Keychains Galore

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, Jewelry, Patriotic1 Comment

etsy dna earrings

You know the story of when I first learned how to make keychains right?  Do I have to go back down memory lane again?  Oh alright, you twisted my arm.

When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I could be wrong on the particular age, my parents would buy us kids crafts to keep us busy.  We learned latch hook so we would make rugs that would end up on the wall for a very brief moment before they disappeared and nobody ever wondered where they went, or at least I didn’t anyway.  I went into the Cub Scouts at age 9 and that was when I learned to make the keychains, but the very simple box one.  I couldn’t even make the circular ones yet.  I certainly didn’t know how to finish them because we would end up lighting the ends on fire and they would turn black.  That was a hazard for a 9 year old to play with fire and to squash the burning plastic with their fingers lol.

I also learned plastic canvas crafts while in the Cub Scouts and I learned how to tie dye a t-shirt at Salvation Army band camp when I was 12.  When I was 17 I learned to make friendship bracelets and when I was 18 I learned to crochet, knit and embroider.

Since then my craft has certainly evolved, unfortunately so has the pain which caused carpal tunnel syndrome.  I have my good days and bad days, but mainly I just work on the keychains and earrings whenever I get the chance.

I started making the Rainbow DNA plastic lanyard earrings recently based on the actual keychains of which I have even made several different styles and color combinations.  I was looking at a keychain and thinking, this would look great on an earring, but on a smaller scale, and here I am now.  The 2nd pair of earrings that I made are a bit more patriotic to match the patriotic DNA lanyard keychain that I have made.

So I’m having fun making them and really, isn’t that what life is all about?  Doing what you love and having fun doing it.  I think it is.  I love the keychains, and I just adore the earrings to match and I think you will too.  So check them out and let me know how you like them.

The keychains are $3.50, the earrings are $5 and the shipping is $2.00 and .25 cents for each additional item in your order.  My Etsy shop is called GayNerd.