Black Friday to Cyber Monday Sale!

I am having a special holiday sale in my Etsy store from Thanksgiving day through Cyber Monday!  Please check my shop here and you can use code holiday2012sale for 20% off at checkout. 

This sale is only for regular priced items not sale items.
I have some really cute jewelry right now in my etsy store so check it out and maybe pick up a gift  or 2 for yourself,  a loved one or a friend.

Post for Items I love That Are in My Shop

I thought i'd post some of the items in my Etsy shop that don't seem to be getting any love.  I really like some of them but seems i'm the only one.  So i'd just like to post several of these unloved items.  Maybe someone here will take an interest.

 For instance, this little asymetrical necklace above.  I love it and am very proud of it.  It's made of green freshwater pearls, prehnite briolettes and peach colored coral.  The pendant is unakite which is a beautiful green and peach color.  What's not to love?  It needs a good home! Check it out here.

The bracelet above is very modern yet romantic.  The color reminds me of the deep blue of the ocean and the turquoise sea just off of a Jamaican beach.  I don't get it.  I think it's lovely and very unique.  You can see it here.

The beachy bracelet above is a stunner and the colors mimic the coral of the seas.  It's very dainty yet makes a statement.  It's double stranded with freshwater pearls and a strand of coral discs.  Then we have the pewter charms which are ocean inspired.  See it here.

And finally this purple and red necklace that is so colorful and fun.  The pendant has reds, oranges, purples and the purple jade beads are a beautiful purple.  Help it find a home.  You can see it here.




So i've decided to see if giving a discount off of these items might spur someone here to take a look and fall in love with an item.  If anyone is interested in purchasing any of these beauties you can go to my Etsy shop and purchase away!  Enter code Fall2012 for a 15% discount off of any of the above items.  Just enter the code for the discount upon checkout. You can go to my Etsy store here.



And by the way if anyone passes through please feel free to post any comments.  Even if you aren't in the market to buy anything.

Doing Your Best And Not Giving Up

I was perusing the Internet today and came across something that an author named Ira Glass wrote.  It's about creativity and it gives me a little hope that I can continue on my quest to be more creative.  We are our own worst critics and I am definitely my own.  Anyway, I made a copy and then decided that I'd put it here too.  Here goes:




Nobody tells this to people who are beginners.  I wish someone had told me.  All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste.  But there is this gap.  For the first couple of years you make stuff, it's just not that good.  It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not.  But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer.  And your taste is why your work disappoints you. 

 A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit.  Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.  We know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have.  We all go through this.  And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know that it's normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. 

 Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you finish one piece.  It's only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.  And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met.  It's gonna take a while.  It's normal to take awhile.  You just gotta fight your way through.       --Ira Glass



I really needed that today.  And he's right it sure would be nice if "they" told you that.  I really hope these words will find somebody else who needs to read them.

Until next time.

So----I'm Back Today

I was thinking today about what to say--if anything--and I had the idea of talking about my evolving style.  I've really noticed from the jewelry blogs i've been pouring over that a lot of jewelry designers evolve over time into their own style.  I don't feel so bad now because I was beginning to think that  I was just a wanderer among jewelry processes.  I have dipped my hands into wire wrapping and stringing .  Now i'm playing with colors and inks and stamps.  There is so much that you can learn in the process of making jewelry.

Anyway I thought i'd show some early designs and some recent ones to see if i've changed at all.  I've gotten a lot of inspiration from other bloggers.   Some of these are  available  Here


                               So take a look and see if my"style" is changing.  Here they are.

                  Please pardon the draping on the necklace above.  Hideous!  Never meant to be seen.

                                 The necklace above is so colorful which is not always me.

                                                                    Statement!

                        I was into making all of my own clasps.  Love to hammer and sand wire.

                                I love the assymetry of this piece and I LUUUUUUUV bling!

Bohemian anyone?  I'm really loving the longer length necklaces.  Trying to find different way of connecting.  All of the links in the above necklace were hand made by me.  And I used handmade jump rings to connect everything.  I;m proud of that.

I love religious icons and decided to use one on this cute little colorful bracelet.  I used an acrylic "crystal" to hang in back of the little angel.

Well, that was an interesting trip down memory lane.  I think i've gotten brave enough to try using mixed metals and more colors and I really like the look of more casual jewelry such as the boho style. Think i'll stick here for awhile.


Here are some blogs that I like:


livewirejewelry.blogspot.com

abeadaday.blogspot.com

blog.beaducation.com

sewmanyways.blogspot.com    This lady is a whiz at organization.  Found on pinterest.com



Well, until next time.

I Forgot Something

Since I knew i'd be out of commission for awhile I made this bracelet last week.  I've never cared for acrylic but I bought some awhile ago to experiment with.  This hot pink color just caught my eye.  I used another light shade of pink and a bright blue faceted agate bead with it as complementary colors.  I really like religious icons so I used that and an acrylic "crystal" bead as the charms.  I wired the beads together with steel wire and used brass for the jump rings and the clasp.    I really like it.  So here it is----ta daaaaaaaa!

Well, this left handed, one-finger typing is getting old so until we meet again.

So--Surgery Completed

Had trigger finger release on my right pinky yesterday.  It is painful but not as bad as I thought.  Unfortunately could not go to work cause have to take a pain med to stay on top of the pain. (typing going really slowly. Wish I had someone to type for me).  anyway, since I can't make jewelry just thought thought i'd put up what i'm working on and then when it's finished i'll show what the completed piece looks like.  So here goes!

So the pic above is how far I got on stringing this bracelet.  I used pink vintage beads that are a little worse for wear but that is why I like using vintage beads.  They are not perfect.  Just like us.  They little beatings from life while they are here.  It builds character. (So they say)   I am really into the verdegris patina and i'm trying to use it more in my designs.  I really like the 2 briolettes I used to give it some more color.  One is called calcedony(the blue one) and the other is a brown glass briolette.  Between each bead is a bronze colored seed bead.  Let's see if there will be any changes.

I love that little crystal studded owl.  He is a bronze color and looks very wise.  That leaf is a copper/bronze color and I'm trying to figure out how I want to use it in this piece.  We shall see!