Artisan Originals: Adventures in Beadland

Now for Something Different!

2012-01-30T20:10:00.004-06:00

This is my blog post for my Aspiring Metalsmiths Team on Etsy's blogroll this week. My team members' blog links are at the bottom of this post. Check them out for awesome tutorials!

I decided to try my hand at video tutorials. It was, to me, a disaster, lol! Most of my video scenes are out of focus and overexposed but you can see the general idea of what I'm making. So, without further ado, here is my tutorial broken into two videos:

And part 2:

I hope you enjoy these videos. :)

Here is a list of some of the tools (and links) I used in this video:

Fretz F6 Shell Stake
Fretz number 3 mini narrow raising hammer
Nylon wedge mallet
The hammer used for the ruffles in video 2 is just a standard riveting hammer or chisel hammer. :) I also used a standard big rubber mallet for flattening.

Also files and sandpaper, sanding disc on my flexshaft, and a nail file toward the end and steel wool. Oh and a standard rubber bench block and a wooden/steel bench block.

Check out my beloved teammates' blog links! There will be tons of great tutorials!

Sylvia Anderson
Metals Addict
Lilian Ginebra
Esmeralda
Amy Estelle
Stacy
Mary Anne Karren
Shannon of Gifted Designs
Pennee- All Wired Up Jewelry Designs
Jessica @ Abella Blue
Elizabeth Brown - resurrectionsilver.blogspot.com

Basket Setting Video by Andrew Berry

2012-01-26T17:13:00.000-06:00

Hi all! I just wanted to post really quickly to share a new video by Andrew Berry Jewelry. I subscribe to his videos on You Tube and he has some nice ones on metalsmithing and jewelry. He also teaches more in depth through his website.

This video is part 3 of a series. The other 2 are 'paid only' videos but you can basically figure most of it out by watching this one. EZPZ!

Enjoy! :)

Too Late for Acorns? Nah!

2012-01-15T18:19:00.000-06:00

Hand Crafted Acorn Earrings in my Etsy Shop

"I made these hand forged, stylized acorn earrings featuring deep red, Swarovski crystal beads and hand hammered, pure copper bead caps. The beads are faceted round shaped and are assembled on my own hand-balled, copper headpins. I have also made the hoop-shaped, copper ear wires. They have been oxidized, hand polished and tumbled for strength and shine. I actually created my own, specialized tools to make these tiny bead caps!"

* Hand cut, filed, shaped and hammered bead caps.
* Deep Siam red, 8mm faceted round crystals
* Hand formed and hammered ear hoops
* Earrings measure 1.5 inches long from the top of the hoop to the bottom of the beads.
* Smooth and polished ear wires for comfort

So what do you think? Is it too late in the season for acorns? It sure isn't down here in Florida. :)

Unisex Rustic Square Copper Pendant

2012-01-14T18:10:00.001-06:00

Hi all! I'm going to follow some good advice I've recently received and start blogging new listings in my Etsy shop.

Rustic Rose Unisex Necklace in my Etsy Shop

"This unisex pendant necklace has a modern flair with a rustic, urban edge. The copper pendant is rectangular and features a square, rose quartz cabochon. The texture is gritty and wonderful! I've cut two holes for a bail and threaded black-dyed, natural hemp rope through for that 'something different' look. This pendant would be suitable for men or women with its cloudy white stone with the faintest hint of pink. Hip, modern, one of a kind, edgy with rustic notes."

* Unisex style
* Soft, black-dyed hemp necklace
* Pure, 100% copper
* Copper tone lobster clasp
* Pendant measures 3/4 inch long by 1/2 inch wide
* Necklace measures 20 inches long
* Hand crafted, hand textured, hand patina'd and hand polished
* One of a kind

This would be my first foray into unisex pieces. Even though this is a rose quartz stone, it's the very faintest pink and is mostly opaque white. I think the style would suit men or women. What do you think? Is it too pink?

Updates in the World of AO

2012-01-09T17:11:00.000-06:00

Hi all! It's been a while since I've posted. Holiday hectic-ness, woo! Things got so busy around the holidays! A few custom orders, pickup in my day job, getting ready for the big holiday, kids home from school, the usual.

I had the benefit of meeting an awesome client in Australia who ordered a custom bracelet with stamping on the INSIDE and I was so pleased with the way it came out! I've since heard from her and she loved it and left very sweet feedback and I'm so happy for having met her and for the entire experience. Nothing better than learning how to do something for the first time!

See how pretty it turned out? I hand hammered this and left no hammer marks. So proud. :) Here's a peak of the inside:

"Find your happy thought and you will fly." ~Peter Pan

Most of you have already seen these photos. :) It was a great experience.

Oh! For my 20th anniversary the hubby got us another kitten! Her name is Koi and she is my sweet Cabby's sister. They have the same daddy, different moms. Koi is the only survivor of her litter and was eyedropper fed. She's my special baby. She has an issue with one eye- a cloudy eye that may be a cataract or she's going blind in it. She's so spunky and lovable and she purrs all the time! She's getting quite fat because she loves food. Cabby likes her now (she didn't at first) and they play and tumble and roll around on the floor and play chase. It's so cute! Koi was around 8 weeks when we got her on Dec. 1.

She was playing with my photo studio here. Here is a photo of her and Cabby snuggled up in my arms while I was trying to work. They will literally sleep any old way and Koi has been known to sleep propped on my chair arm with her legs extended to the table below (standing).

Look at my beautiful Cabby (left, 6 months old) and Koi (right, 3 months old)! Koi's momma was tortoise shell so her 'points' are splotchy but they really look similar otherwise. Both have the gorgeous blue eyes and the cream fur on their bodies. Here they're snuggling a catnip pillow.

One of my proudest pieces this holiday season was my first pierced project! It was a gift and I know everyone on FB has seen it already but I have to show it off!

I found a video with helpful hints and tips after this was done, lol so my next one should be even better!

Oh! and I got some new tools for the holiday too! I was able to use sales revenue and my Christmas bonus to buy a new Fretz shell stake (for anticlastic forming--my new 'want-to-learn-must-have' ) and a shiny new Fretz narrow faced raising hammer. I also was able to get an oval bracelet forming mandrel (wow it's heavy!!!) and both Fretz metal forming videos and a soldering video. Hopefully I'll learn lots of new skills for a great 2012!

Thanks for sticking with my long post! Time just gets away from me lately so it's hard to juggle everything at once. How was your holiday?

Celebrations Pendant Tutorial

2011-12-07T20:02:00.000-06:00

Hi all! I've created my very first tutorial for sale in my Etsy shop! It's a design I created for my beadweaving class and my students loved it so much! They did a fantastic job with it too! This tutorial is by request and it's been tested by expert beaders. I hope you all like it!

Celebration Tutorial in VCArtisanOriginals shop on Etsy

I've created step by step instructions with detailed photos. This is a great last minute gift idea! You can purchase this pattern and whip up the pendant in less than 2 hours and delight your friends and family with wonderful, custom color pendants using 6mm and 4mm Swarovski crystal bicones.

This is a wonderful mother's or grandmother's gift idea! You can include up to 3 colors in this design. Clear crystals and opal or light blue crystals create lovely snowflake pendants. I've deliberately left this rounded so it's up to interpretation: Snowflake, wreath, circle depending on the time of year.

You will receive compliments! I've managed to sell a custom pendant nearly every time I wear one in public.

***This is an intermediate beginner level pattern. It is preferable that you are familiar with double needle RAW (crossweave) stitch before trying this project.***

Here are some examples of colorways I've done with this design:

Custom Birthstone Crystal Pendant

My own pendant with my kids' birthstone colors

So, what do you think?

The AO Studio Tour

2011-11-28T15:08:00.000-06:00

My studio. It's ever changing, evolving and growing every day! It started out small, cloistered on tables around my recliner in the living room. Then I decided to move our bookshelves in the library (they're still to the side or behind my tables) and create a studio in there. I began with two little tables and it's grown to 'centers'. I have a beading table, a hammering/anvil station, a soldering station and a photo studio area.

My studio is a hodgepodge of thrift store furniture. Nothing is very matchy, nothing is fancy in the least. There's crayon on the walls from my kids' toddler days when it was a playroom. The floor is bare concrete. It doesn't matter in the least! It's functional and I use it frequently, and it's ok if it's messy and it's ok if it's not fancy because I'm a simple type of girl and it suits me.

I frequently post messy studio photos on my facebook page and it's obvious to me how much my space has filled up and evolved over this year. I 'clean out' my albums and delete older photos but I have one or two early ones in there still. At some point this month a friend mentioned a 'bomb went off' look and I had to laugh! It was so very messy but I always say that chaos breeds creativity. I can clean up, though! It doesn't stay that way for long but eh... So here's a 'before' of my recent beading table with the 'bomb went off' look. :)

My beading table ends up being a repository for beads that I've 'dropped off' after finishing my projects. I typically bead in the living room in my recliner for comfort. I have a table in there that houses my bead trays. I created a shelf out of postal boxes and an old shelf that was collecting junk. I turned the shelf on its side, drilled some holes, stuck some nails in the holes and folded postal boxes 4 ply and taped them together. Et voila! It's about 3 feet long and holds my largest trays (cookie sheets even- long story but they're magnetic to hold patterns with magnetic strips)

So without further ado, here are some photos of my post-cleanup studio (and my studio helpers):

Cabby helps to sort chains!

This is a wide shot of most of my studio. I'm missing the photo studio and most of the soldering table but you get the idea. Not perfect but functional. Sorry about the confusion to the right; I have a huge mirror set there and it ruins photos. If you look below the table you'll see my foot warmer and studio helper: my dog, Sugar.

So here is a closer shot of some of my beading organizers. My mom bought me the larger one for my birthday and I finally got to fill it with crystals and gemstones and glass beads, yay! The smaller one holds jump rings, wire things and metal findings. The pliers rack was made by me. The green and blue baskets hold DVDs and smaller organizers full of copper findings.

My beading shelf holds chains, seed beads and gemstone chips (most of them. Some chips are in organizers--I have a lot). It's also Cabby's fav place to play. I had to move my organizer drawer bins to the shelf to make room for the new organizer containers.

The shelf is a runover for seeds that wouldn't fit in the new system. The big white organizer holds yet more seed beads in irregular sizes or bugle beads. The small drawer caddy holds all my threads and lines on spools.

This is my very favorite corner! Here I do all my metalworking: filing, sawing, etc. The jump ringer I made is attached to the little dresser there. The drawers are full of sanding blocks and mandrels, etc. You can't quite see it but to the far right is my anvil bench where I hammer. To the right of that is my soldering station. I just roll my chair around to the tools I need!

Ok, so it's not very pretty, but this is my soldering station. It also holds my hammers (in the purple basket) and various soldering goodies. Its drawers are full of saw blades and small tools.

So, that's it in a nutshell! Nothing fancy and it's far from elegant, but I didn't have to spend any money on the area itself. I just gathered furniture from around the house. :) Now tools? Phew! I definitely have to resolve to not buy anything else next year.

I'd love to see photos of your work spaces. Do you have a dedicated studio space or do you go from room to room to create? Is your home like mine, where beads are in every room despite having a studio?

Cabby Photos!

2011-11-15T15:50:00.001-06:00

Hi all! It's been a while since I updated so I thought I'd show some photos of my sweet Cabbage. <3

Cabby's First Halloween!

What a treat!!!

This is what she thinks of ghosties! Arrrr!

My sweetie, asleep in her pumpkin. <3

Cuddle time!

Cabby with 'Momma Angel"

Cabbage with her toy, Angel and Ariel

Cabby and her "Momma Ariel"

Cabby playing 'pillow' with Momma Ariel

I swear, she's the most spoiled kitten! We spoil her and between the two mommas, she is bathed like 5 times per day! She's so rotten but we love her so! I know the last photo is blurred but it's so sweet!

All photos courtesy of my son Thomas, our resident cat photographer. :)

Ingenuity Rocks! Homemade Knitting Needles

2011-10-31T00:43:00.001-05:00

Hi all! Woot! I'm off on another crafty adventure this weekend! I'm revisiting fiber crafts because, I swear, I have too many interests in all things creative.

I was inspired by a blog post I read this week on The Hive, a blogging community I adore. The post was about creating yarn from recycled T-shirts. I viewed the video that the blog post linked to, got inspired, and spent an evening cutting up a large, long-sleeved T-shirt. My goal is to make a scarf.

I got two balls of yarn from my T-shirt; one that is seamless and one that is comprised of pieced together bits from the sleeves and yoke of the shirt. I used the whole thing except for the collar and cuffs. :)

Alas, when I began to knit, the largest needles I had weren't large enough! They were OK but the knit was too tight for my tastes. It made the swatch sort of stiff and I felt it would be uncomfortable to wear.

My test swatch

What to do? What to do? Well, I had to make a Walmart run anyway and as that's the closest thing to a 'craft' store we have around here, I ran there and straight to the yarn section. Shoot, the needles I had were larger than any they had. Phoey. :( Directly across the aisle from the needles as a bin full of wooden dowels. Yay! :)

I knew what to do with those! I chose a 1/2 inch diameter dowel (which was 1/4 the price of the knitting needles anyways) and took it home, cut it to a suitable length for me, drew a line with a sharpie for a reference point for the point, like so:

I just happen to have a lovely metalsmithing studio full of files, etc. I bought a large set of files from Home Depot months ago and had no real use for several of the very large rasps and coarse files. I'm glad I saved them! When chiseling the tip didn't work I resorted to using the coarsest rasp files to 'whittle' a point from the marker end to a fine tapered point. Granted, it's not as sharp of a point as a traditional needle, but my yarn is large so it's ok! I progressed to finer files and then sandpapers of various grits. Eventually I used steel wool to smooth them prettily. I oiled them with mineral oil and... ta~da! Handmade knitting needles!

See? They're much larger than my largest ones (size 13) and I think they will work well!

My hands hurt from the filing. It was sort of labor intensive to remove so much material. However, I'm tickled that I was able to solve my problem by myself. I'll be knitting in the next few days and I'll keep you updated on my progress! At some point I may need to screw a washer on each blunt end to make sure my knitting doesn't slide off. However, for a small scarf I don't foresee a problem.

So, what do you think? :) Oh, and Happy Halloween!!!

Beadland Revisited

2011-10-24T22:13:00.001-05:00

Hi all! As most of you know, my new 'thing' is metalsmithing so that's mainly what I've been up to lately. However, I've been designing for my beadweaving classes and recently I've revisited the land of all things beaded and rediscovered my love for beading.

My October class project was a huge hit with my beloved ladies! They adored the simple, understated elegance of my modified flat spiral stitch bracelets and were so enthusiastic! As always, I forgot to take my camera but they did a fabulous job and their colorways were so nice! We each did different color paths and had lots to choose from since I brought a picnic basket full of beads to the class. I do, however, have photos of mine and of my mom's bracelet. My mom takes the classes also and she's a very quick study! Here are our pretties:

Ours together, mine uses sapphire and silver lined, clear, square hole Czech beads.

Hers uses purple AB and metallic dark gold, Czech beads.

Mom's by itself. Isn't it pretty? I made the toggle bar. :)

Mine worn so you can see how dainty it is compared to other flat spiral bracelets.

We aren't holding a November class due to our busy, busy schedules but we are holding one December 3rd so they can have time to craft more gifts for loved ones! We generally use a lot of seed beads with our projects (and rightly so) but for this one I wanted to introduce a lot of holiday glitz. Nothing says glitz like Swarovski crystals so I designed these lovely pendants! I'm sure lots of people will think they know how they're made--are they netted? Are they triangle woven? Nope! :) It's my secret.

This is my Tanzanite AB version, soon to be listed in my Etsy shop.

This is my Aquamarine and Diamond version, also soon to be listed.

This is my own one, with my kids' birthstones. <3

I will be offering these as mother's/grandmother's pendants. I can use up to 3 colors with these. They can also just be for sparkly holiday prettiness! Some see snowflakes when they look at them, especially the pearl and clear versions. I wore one to the bank last Friday and sold a clear version to my lovely bank teller! I plan to bring loads of clear AB Swarovskis to my class so my ladies can make sparkly snowflakes. They don't have to represent snowflakes though! They can be 7 pointed stars or just ornate circles. I'm leaving it to the wearer to interpret. I think they can be worn year round. I'm excited about these pretties and I hope they're a hit!

Oh, these come with a silver plated, 20 inch or 24 inch long necklace. What do you think? Do you have any holiday gift plans in the works? Any new designs?

New Name, New Look!

2011-10-22T03:29:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Wow, it's been a while since I posted! Did you miss me?

I wanted to give a brief update on some things: I've finally managed to change my Etsy shop name to my business name, yay!!! You see, I created my shop before I decided to turn this into a business. As a result, I had a less-than-desirable name. Not a bad name, no! Just something that was inconsistent with my social networking and marketing identity. Now, things are more cohesive. My former Etsy shop URL still works with no problems, so don't worry. You can use Elderarc.etsy.com or my new URL, VCArtisanOriginals.etsy.com . :)

I'm working a lot lately, both with my "day job" and my jewelry! My last class was a huge success and my ladies loved our project! I still need to post photos of our project! Photos are taken but not edited yet. Stay tuned!

I have already designed the December class project and it's pretty glitzy! I hope to photo that this weekend. I wore it to the bank today and sold one to my bank teller! :) I love custom order requests!

I have a few custom orders in the works, for fall weddings and other things. Offline sales are pretty good lately!

I'm having a few dismal attempts with my latest metalsmithing adventures, but practice makes perfect! :) Getting LOTS of practice....

Cabbage is growing faster than we can keep up with her! She's so precious, new photos of her to come soon also!

Kids are doing great, hubby too! My hubby just celebrated his 40th birthday! My baby is about to turn 14 in November (cries). My 20th wedding anniversary is Dec. 1st, yay!!!! My son turns 16 this next January (cries again), all in all, life is good! We aren't rich but we have a rich life nonetheless, and that's what's important: family and love.

The kids are doing fantastic in school! Both are getting honor roll again, my son is gathering college papers for dual enrollment next year, and they're both active in their Beta Clubs (one HS level and one MS level) and apparently really enjoying it! I'm busier than ever lately (the highschool just had Homecoming) and I'm really glad I work from home. It seems one or the other always has a club meeting or a sale to do or some sort of thing going on.

Did I say 'brief update'? Hah! That's about it...I think. For now, I'll post just one photo of a gift I made for my sweet friend. I have it listed now as a made-to-order, custom item in my shop, but the original resides with her now. :)

My Custom Stamped Bangle on Etsy

Did I say just one? :) Ok, one more. I made these awareness toggle clasps and, of course, I haven't managed to list them yet. I will soon! One is pink, one is purple for Epilepsy Awareness.

Oh! I changed my blog design/layout/fonts, etc. What do you think?

I'm still standing! (yeah, yeah, yeah)

2011-09-24T13:51:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Catchy title, eh? :) Sorry I haven't posted in so long. So many things to do, so little time. I'm alive and still here!

My 'day job' has picked up in pace a bit so I'm working a lot more. I had an influx of custom orders (believe it or not) and I'm nearly done with those. I have 3 more custom projects to finish!

With the proceeds from the sales I managed to pick up some more metalsmithing tools, yay!!! I found an awesome, large hammer for $6 at an antique store but it's quite heavy and I have to wear a hand brace to use it. I wanted the large, rather dull cross peen edge for spreading metal with fold forming. So many ideas, so little time.

I also received as a gift an antique anvil that was labelled a 'cobbler's anvil'. I have no idea how a cobbler would use it but it's cool! It looks like a railroad tie except that it's cast iron and each side has a different degree of curvature. I hope to use it much like an anticlastic stake! So far I love the bulbous side of it for making paddle shapes with wire. It works fantastically and I love the way it absorbs the hammer blows! I don't get as much 'bounce back' as I do with my steel anvil. Anyways, here's a photo of some of my new tools:

With the rash of sales, I also purchased a flex shaft stand, yay! No more fighting it out of my way (like in the above photo). I also got a new font set of letters for a very good price and it's in the 'handwritten' style. Oh, and you can probably find my set of spoon stakes. I got them thinking I could use them for metal forming (not for spoons!) but the curvature is very slight. I've asked a jeweler to make a video tutorial on using them for things other than spoons but so far, nothing. Ah well, they're nice if I decide to make a spoon. :) Here's a better look at one of the sides of the anvil. You can turn it all around and some sides are flat and some aren't.

Hmm let's see what else....Oh! I came up with some tongue-in-cheek vampire themed earrings and they sold within 2 days of listing, yay! I now have them as 'made to order' in my Etsy shop:

My 'bite me' earrings on Etsy

Sorry for the ramble; I've missed a few posts and I'm trying to fit them all in. Let's see: I'm working on being happy with my fluffy self, I recently got a cold so I'm semi miserable today, and my kitty, Cabbage, is adorable as ever and growing like a furry weed! Oh and I'm working on a primitive type necklace but I don't know how primitive it will look when all is said and done. :) Ok, I think that's it!

As a final happy thought to leave you with, here's a more recent photo of my spokeskitty, Cabbage, my model for my pet ID tag listing on Etsy:

Isn't she just so precious? She's captured my heart! So, what's new with you lately? Any new projects? Getting ready for the holidays?

Adventures in Bezel Land (and other stuff)

2011-08-27T01:22:00.000-05:00

Some of you know that I'm teaching myself metalsmithing lately. It's becoming an obsession!!! I decided to finally bite the bullet and try to bezel set my first cabochon. :) It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I had issues with the solder flowing, which is odd since I've successfully soldered things plenty of times before! I finally figured it out after nearly melting the poor bezel, lol!

This is my first attempt, my 'try piece' if you will. It's not perfect but I kept it for myself so that's ok. Still, I'm proud of it. My mom particularly likes it. She saw the original design sketched onto the copper with a Sharpie and didn't think it would turn out as cute as it did. :) I think some of my problem with this was the brass bezel with the copper backing.

Ta-Daaaaaa!

I bought two types of bezel pusher but both marred my bezel. :( I ended up using one of my wooden doming punches (the blunt end) to push it down and that worked a lot better! I know what to do next time I set one. :) I didn't use a burnisher on this one but I did on my second attempt.

For my second attempt, I wanted to make my Mom a birthday pendant. Her fav gemstone is turquoise and I found some cute square ones. Setting squares and triangles is harder but I muscled through it. I think I would have done better if I had NOT followed a tutorial I found online. It suggested to file the corners at a 45 degree angle... but it didn't say how deep to do it. As a result, I have a tiny notch in two corners. Meh... I did better without filing them and I know not to do that next time. I'm hoping my metalsmithing friends can give me tips on bezeling corners. ~hint~hint~ So here's Mom's birthday pendant, again, my design and execution:

Mom loved it!!! She was very happy to finally get a bezeled piece from me. Now she wants tiny earrings to match. ~groan~ I lightly textured this with a sander and I really love the striated effect. I left portions of the patina (ammonia fumed) and I like the effect. Oh, I stamped the back!

I stamped it prior to the soldering, of course. What else have I been up to besides my day job? Well, I textured yet another fold formed leaf using...a riveting hammer!!!! Lol I bought it just for the texturing possibilities. I really love the texture I got with this stylized leaf (I know it's not a realistic one but I like it):

Textured copper leaf, soon to be listed in my Etsy shop

I also acquired a new bracelet bending tool and I LOVE it!!! Now making bracelets is a snap! I took 8 gauge copper wire, lightly flattened it with a hammer, textured it in a cross hatched pattern with my riveting hammer, and bent it into shape with my bracelet tool. If you'd like to see what I got or to get one for yourself, here's the link: I've only ever seen this tool in one shop on Etsy but that doesn't mean it's not sold elsewhere: Bracelet Bending Tool by GottaGettaDeal on Etsy

Soon to be listed in my Etsy shop

Now, if any 'rock hounds' out there can help me out, What kind of stone is in the first photo? I'm thinking it's some form of jasper but I'm not sure. People ask me all the time what stone it is and I haven't a clue. Thanks! ~Val

Cuteness overload! Meet Cabbage

2011-08-15T20:50:00.000-05:00

Be prepared for the cutest ball of fluff you've ever seen! We got a new kitten yesterday and she's so precious!!! I took some snapshots of her yesterday for my FB page but I had to edit out the red eye, making them look murky green. My son is a much better cat photographer since he's patient and follows them around. Anywho, he took most of the following photos:

He took her to my lightbox and she had a ball! She's so cute!!!

She's even cute with the picture fuzzy.

She got frisky and decided to tear up my photo props.

Hide and seek!

Chewing on my props. AWWW!

She really likes my daughter and my hubby. Well, all animals like my daughter. She's very maternal.

She's so funny! She'll be playing one minute....


And zonked the next!!!!

Thanks for enduring all my photos. :) Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to show photos of my newest pieces! :) So, what are some strange animal names that you've seen?

The Thrifty Diva Lives! Two Dollar Necklace Stand

2011-08-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I decided to show you a quick and easy display for photographing necklaces (and earrings if you want) using a fabric covered stand. I'm all about quick, easy and inexpensive props for my photos but this could be used as a display at a shop if you wanted. It can be 'fancied' up with trims too!

Before I start, I wanted to preface this with: Everyone has their own photo styles. Some like flat surfaces, some like busts and mannequins, some like those pop up light tents, and this is just an option for those out there who want something like this! No big deal, we all have our preferred ways of shooting photos. I just wanted a fabric option and frankly, my mannequin isn't life sized, I don't feel like buying a life sized one at this point in time, and for larger necklaces I dislike a flat photo surface (flat on the ground so to speak).

This has lots of photos so please bear with me. :) Here we go! I bought a .97 cents, wooden photo frame in the craft section of Walmart. I actually got it because of the pegs in the back but you'll see later. .87 cents for some natural, unbleached cotton fabric (I didn't want white or black due to ...shock value--black bounces light awfully and white is glaring, where neutral suits my tastes). I liked the little bit of texture without overdoing it. Something drastic like burlap would be distracting in my opinion, but not always! Experiment--you don't need much fabric so you can afford to play with them.

I also have a staple gun with short, 1/4 inch staples, scissors and a lil hammer in case the staples don't cooperate (and of course they didn't). As you'll see below, cut the fabric larger than the frame. Make sure you have enough to overlap the edges.

Then you'll fold the edges over and staple. Start at the middle of one side, do the opposite middle, then the other two sides, gently pulling the fabric taut. Then work your way around, alternating sides like a cross. That way your fabric won't pull to one side or distort any patterns you have going. Anywho, I didn't leave much allowance so I barely got mine wrapped. Hah! :) Oh, and if held to the light it's obvious the center is missing so I cut a piece of cardboard (using the paper from the insert as a guide--keep that paper! The white side goes in front of the cardboard so you won't see brown through the fabric) and stuck it in the middle temporarily. Oh, this frame came with a drilled hole on two ends and two dowels to use as stands. Neat!

It's not neat but that's ok. It's the back! I'll cover the nasty edges later. So below you see I've marked the center of the cardboard. I just eyeballed it, no biggie. I also took a piece of 18 gauge wire and made a spiral with a 90 degree bend in the 'stem'. Keep the stem long. You'll see why.

From the inside of the cardboard (ya, pick it up) poke the stem through the hole. We're making a swivel hook. The spiral makes it secure while freely swiveling. You'll see why soon.

This is the stem on the outside. I bent it into a simple hook. It's to hold the necklaces. :) It swivels because the frame can be either vertically or horizontally oriented.

I also made these little 'halos' for simple things to hang earwires from. For this tutorial they're simple but I found the silver color distracting so now I have pretty copper, fancier ones. Still you get the idea. A simple hook with a loop.

I covered the nastiness with some paper and glued the dowels in the holes. You don't have to glue them in but I figured that I would.

See? It's really easy and inexpensive. Below is the vertical orientation.

If you need to, you can insert thumb tacks wherever you want along the back to spread out the necklace more. They can be repositioned as needed.

Below you can see where I made an extender hook that just slides onto the other hook. From this you can hang bracelets. It's totally removable.

See? It's hard for me to photograph bracelets. This at least allows for good detail shots.

See? Not too bad. You get the idea. I could zoom in more too.

My Scottish Moss bracelet on Etsy

Here's an example of earrings hanging from the frame. You could poke them in the fabric but it would leave marks.

These aren't listed yet. Sneak peek!

The texture works well with some things and it may not with others but hey... it's just one way. Frankly, I prefer to use my old tried and true methods for earrings. I made this stand for necklaces. Still, it's an option!

These aren't listed yet. Sneak peek!

Not listed yet. :)

The texture kind of gives a beachy feel. It shows colors well though since it's neutral. What I do is take a white sticker (like the yard sale stickers) and put it somewhere in the photo that I plan to crop out later. Then when editing my picture I use the while eyedropper tool (it's in most editing programs, including Picasa, Gimp and photo shop) and click on the sticker, thereby balancing the colors correctly. Then I crop it out.

Not listed yet. Who has the time? :)

Anyways, there you have it. An inexpensive alternative if you'd like more photo props. It works well for bib style necklaces or large pendants. A few tips on fabrics: I prefer neutral colors but like I said earlier, experiment. Leathers look fantastic as displays but for photos they reflect the light something awful. Been there, done that! My gallery displays are leather but they photograph ugly. Oh and black? Ew. I can't get black backdrops to work. For example:

This is from a previous photo tutorial I did on Facebook. Same light, same setup as the above photos, but black bounces the light and magnifies it, making things just awful.

Some other things you could do with the wooden frame? Pad it with batting and then cover it with fabric! Cover it with papers! There are so many decorative papers out there. Use edgings or ribbons to dress it up. You're only limited to your creativity.

Thanks for enduring my long tutorial and I hope it's of some use to you. What types of things do you use as photo props?

Metal Mania! New Pretties.

2011-07-30T15:10:00.001-05:00

Hi all! I just wanted to share a few new things I've made lately. I still have some to photograph but so far these are my newest pieces:

My Handcrafted Copper Hook and Eye Clasp on Etsy

Clasps! I've sold out nearly all my clasps so I made some more. I especially love the hook one! I hid the hook by soldering it to the back of circles that I had cut and fused. I had a lot of fun playing with textures on it and I thought it would go over well since locally people loved it. It's still for sale though. :)

My Modern Cross-Hatch Textured Toggle Clasp on Etsy

For the above clasp, I had fun creating the texture with a fearsome looking spike hammer I found at an automotive store! It was intended for Bondo applications but the spike is awesome! It's larger than an anvil horn. I found that by rotating the piece I get cross-hatching and if I don't rotate it I get a fish scale texture that's really cool. Anyways, the photo doesn't do justice to the piece. It's shiny and beautiful in real life. Now for the jewelry:

My Modern Rustic Circle Earrings on Etsy

My hammered and verdigris bangle on Etsy

This hammered art pendant isn't listed yet. :)

These aren't listed yet. :)

My Sweet Yellow Flower Pendant (engraved by my mom!)

My Hot Fuschia Crystal and Textured Brass Disc Necklace on Etsy

I've been so busy with family, job and life that I haven't yet listed all of these but today I did list the yellow flower necklace and that gave me 100 listings in my Etsy shop! I've finally reached that magic number. :) I hope you like these; some are signed. Yes, I started stamping the back of some of my more 'artsy' pieces with an 'AO' for Artisan Originals. My mom (and biggest fan) thinks I should use "VC" and I'd like your opinion on that. Should I use my initials or my business initials? Any input at all would be greatly appreciated.

Have a great Day! ~Val~

New Things are Coming! Social Media and Blogging Partners

2011-07-28T12:16:00.003-05:00

Hi all! So much to tell; I haven't updated in a bit. Let's see....new social media outlets! I recently received my invitation to join Google + ! It seems far less busy than Facebook but eventually it will open to non-invitation-only and I expect it will fill up more. Here is my profile. It's very bland and boring so far, lol! Some things I noticed so far:

I like the 'circles' feature! You can put people in groups much easier without the hassle of others seeing who's in which circle. It's useful for business contacts that you don't categorize as friends. :)
You can edit your posts! Very handy for those who type extra fast (like me, 90+ wpm) or those who rethink their wording after the fact (again, like me. )
When you're looking at your stream, you can choose which circles to view. I think this is available on FB too but, again, 'close friends' vs. 'acquaintances' would show on your page and people could be offended (with FB). edit: I just learned that with FB you CAN choose to not have the 'lists' visible on your profile. I was unaware of this since I see the lists on my friends' pages all the time.
The privacy settings are kind of neat and each post can be directed at just one group or all.
I didn't really like the auto link to my Picassa albums because I may not want to share ugly haircut photos, etc. BUT, I was able to make the albums viewable only to me if I wished, or to my circles only or public. Also, I deleted and cleaned up said albums. :)

I also was added to a group on FB (unbeknownst to me, sigh--but it's a great group!) and one of the people within that group linked a post to Creating the Hive. (this is my profile page.) I swear sometimes I think I live under a rock because I'd never, ever heard of this community! From what I gather, they are a blogging community of like-minded artisans and craftspeople. I really think I'm going to like being a 'bee' in this hive! I've not explored much but so far I've noticed:

I love, love that you can import your RSS feed to your blog right to your profile page!
You can share as much or as little info about yourself that you want to.
My first night there, one of my blog posts here was featured on their front page! I also picked up some followers and comments on some of my blog posts.
I got such a warm welcome! The people there are really very friendly and welcoming.
I didn't notice any sniping or back biting at all with this community. Nobody tries to one-up each other there.
You earn points for participation, which, as far as I understand it, increases your ranking/exposure within the site.
More people are reading my blogs now! I have some followers here on Blogspot and I adore them all. There are more people there to read them so my posts do double duty.
You can remove any post from their site that you want to! You can also upload partial RSS or none at all! It's not required to blog there.
You can also blog directly within their site and not involve other blogs at all.
They have a large tutorials section which includes some video tuts! I love learning new things!!
If you follow someone there, you can get email notification of their posts! I love that feature because I miss a lot of blogs that I follow that don't have email feed links. I live and breathe in my email inbox and I never have time to actually hunt down my friends' blogs.

Speaking of which, today I got an email feed from someone on the Hive that I'm following and she linked to Rings and Things' application to become a blog partner! (Thanks, Pine Ridge Treasures!!!) I was so excited and joined right away! Rings and Things does drawings every month and 10 lucky people have the chance to receive free supplies and use/review them on their blogs!!! I hope they pick me, I so hope so. :)

I wanted to post new jewelry but as this post is so long already, I'll leave you with just a teaser sample of things I've been creating lately in my studio. Loving metalsmithing, exploring shapes and textures and patinas! Enjoy:

I'll add a link later, Etsy seems to be down at the moment. :)

Sooo, what's new with you all?

The wait is finally over!

2011-06-18T13:14:00.000-05:00

Hi all! As most of you know, I'm a very proud member of the Copper Wire Jewelers' Group! The group has an E magazine and it does very well! Our members are featured along with helpful tips and business advice, tutorials, and the like. I'm very proud to say that I've been featured in issues 2 and 5.

I made a pair of earrings and a ring for this latest issue (issue 5) last December and I've had to keep them out of the media since then until the magazine was published. I'm happy to say it has been published and I'm now free to post these earrings for sale in my Etsy shop! I hope you will think they were worth the wait!

Copper and Garnet earrings in my Etsy shop

Yes, I guess I should reshoot the photos but here we are! These are a nice, larger size earring for those who like drama. They measure nearly 3 inches long.

As usual, photos really don't do these justice. I also made a ring and gave it to my friend for her birthday. It was made especially for her and coincidentally was in the magazine.

Garnet and copper wire-wrapped ring by me!

If you'd like to see all the wonderful pieces in our magazine, look here!

Copper Wire Jewelers Magazine Issue 5

So, what do you think? :)

Let's go Bananas!

2011-06-15T13:28:00.002-05:00

To quote an old TV host, 'And now, here's something completely different!' :)

Photo courtesy of Akibara-Stock on Deviantart.com

I usually blog about jewelry or tips but this morning I baked my famous banana bread for my kids and thought hmmm... I really should share some of my recipes since I'm a famous baker around here. Hah! Well ok, not really famous, but my family loves my cakes and breads. You should see them fighting over my pumpkin bread during the holidays. :)

I started to bake from scratch when my daughter was born. See, she's deadly allergic to milk and nuts and I wanted her to be able to have birthday cakes and cookies, muffins, pies just like everyone else! Of course she can't eat commercially prepared ones due to butter, shortenings (some have milk) or just area contamination from other baked goods containing cream cheese, etc, etc. Her allergist hooked me up with the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and they were publishing an allergy cookbook at the time. I learned how to substitute for milk in recipes with water or fruit juice (1 cup fruit juice + 1 tbl veg. oil is actually better than milk in a muffin or cake recipe!). Anyways, if your child or loved one suffers from food allergies it's a fabulous place to start! They even have summer camps for allergic kids. Ok, I got off topic, sorry.

Sadly, many of their recipes were just bland and yucky so I developed my own. She's now 13 and is doing very well eating my cooking. :) So, the recipe! This recipe has no milk or nuts. It's very, very good. You won't notice those missing (well maybe the nuts but you can stir in a cup of nuts so there). Here you go! My own modified recipe and the kids love it!

Please feel free to download and print this recipe. I won't get you for copyright I promise! :)

***I should have mentioned in this recipe that for the 13 x 9 inch cake pan, it will be thin unless you double the recipe. Doubling the recipe makes a wonderful, 3-4 inch thick, large banana bread that seems to weigh at least 5 lbs, lol!

If you try it, please let me know what you think! Who wants banana bread???

The Way of the Leaf

2011-06-12T21:54:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I'm borrowing 'the way of the leaf' from my favorite books by Robert Jordan. :) It's a belief system that encompasses peace and serenity, doing no harm to others, never doing violence and accepting death as part of the pattern of life, much as a leaf falls when its time has come.

It comes to mind with my latest foray into my studio today! I wanted to further explore fold forming with my thinner gauge brass sheet. I had a little more luck flaring my metal but it was still hard going. I spent a few hours laboriously heating, hammering and shaping this but I'm so pleased and I hope you'll like it too! Ta-daaa~

Fold formed leaf pendant in my Etsy shop

I wanted to be old fashioned with this piece so I actually hammered the ruffles using my bench pin! I truly felt like an artist today. To me this piece is sculpture and more than the standard jewelry!

Shiny, shiny!

The piece is warm and earthy yet shiny. I tumbled it with stainless shot of course. :) I know it's better suited for fall weather but when the inspiration hits, it hits!

This leaf is accented with red tiger eye beads and copper vines. I soldered a copper bail to the back and hung it from an ultra soft suede cord. The clasp is a brass lobster clasp and it is also accented with a tiger eye bead. I hope you like it! I honestly think it's better in person than the photos show.

What do you think?

Foray into Fold-Forming

2011-06-08T15:06:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I delved into fold forming last week and made a pendant! In hindsight my metal was too thick to flare as much as I wanted it to but I think this was excellent practice for my next pieces with the thinner copper and brass sheet I bought. So, without further ado, here it is! I hope you'll like it. It's supposed to be a butterfly though the hubby thinks it's a moth. It's a 'stylistic' butterfly. :) Oh, I also made the copper bead that you see on the cording:

Fold Formed Butterfly Necklace in my Etsy Shop!

While I'm here, I'll show you a necklace I made for myself while exploring stamping. It's made with 1 inch diameter, red brass discs that I textured, stamped, patinated, buffed and tumbled. It's rather large but I like large pieces. I also added dangles with natural citrine and natural garnet gemstone chips (my kids' birthstones). I hope you like it, photos don't do either of these pieces justice!

Thanks so much, I hope you like them! So, what are you experimenting with? I'd love to see!

xoxo,

Val~

Industrial Magic? I think so!

2011-05-23T17:35:00.000-05:00

Hi all! In my endeavor to learn metalsmithing I've found a joy and a passion that I thought was satisfied with wire working and beading. No way! I am completely entranced with metalworking! There is something so satisfying about cutting a rough shape from sheet metal, shaping it, smoothing it, texturing it, aging it, burnishing it, making something wonderful out of something so mundane!

'Alien' Toggle Clasp on ArtFire

As you can tell, I'm greatly enjoying my experiments. I'm still extremely new to soldering and not very comfortable with it yet. I can't always get the solder to flow where I want it to flow. However, I'm very comfy with annealing metal and nearly all of my new creations have required annealing. I feel so primitively empowered! Rawrrr!

'Grunge' Toggle Clasp on ArtFire

So I looked around on the web and there aren't many toggle clasps out there with real designs except PMC ones. For me, maybe one day I'll try that but it seems like a shortcut. There's something positively artistic about molding and forming metal to your liking, making it do what you want it to do, you know? Anyways, both ways work well and I've seen some drop-dead gorgeous PMC pieces but I prefer the old fashioned way. :)

'Mecha' Toggle Clasp on ArtFire

I've designed some modern, industrial looking toggle clasps and people seem to like them! I'm happy to share them with you now. As you can see, I'm having a lot of fun with my new tools. I think my favorite new gadget is the helicopter looking hole punch tool. It makes holes so easily in two sizes and I love it. Of my clasp designs, I'm most proud of my 'Mecha' clasp. It's made for 3 strand necklaces or bracelets and I believe it's the only one of its kind. I had a lot of fun experimenting on designs and the little chain bit is to allow the toggle bar to float freely while still having a good, solid connection for a 3 strand piece. I'm quite proud of this one! Perhaps my most popular one is the 'Alien' clasp. Everyone seems to like it. :) I have one other so far in my modern series:

'Mod' Toggle Clasp on ArtFire

You'll notice these links are to my ArtFire shop instead of my normal links to my Etsy shop. For now I'm operating both shops but my ArtFire shop needs lots of love. :)

I hope you enjoy my clasps as much as I do! You're probably tired of seeing them by now since they're all over my Facebook page. I hope to share new designs soon! I have some beadwoven projects to finish before I delve back into metalsmithing. :)

What are some new projects and experiments you are delving into? I'd love to see or hear about them!

Mexican Sunset-cool blue waters bracelet

2011-02-20T14:21:00.000-06:00

Hi ya'll! Just a quick blurb to let you know that the March class project has been designed! We decided on Mexican Sunset themed herringbone bracelets and I chose two colorways: The hot sunset and the cool blue waters. I finished the 'cool' bracelet and listed it in my Etsy shop (I'll be making another one with my class).

It has awesome peridot green paired with cool turquoise and rich cobalt blue. They're not your typical color combination but we are artists, so why not? I adore the combination of these colors and perhaps I'd have never paired the peridot with the cobalt but they really pop each other! The turquoise helps to bring them back down to earth a little bit.

I hand hammered, pitted, blackened, pickled, tumbled these clasps from pure copper, 18 gauge wire. I wanted a rustic, handmade look for them. The pattern in the bracelet was created to resemble a woven rug. I know it's kind of non traditional to create a peasant feel with such bright colors, but the artist in me wanted loud, bold colors and who am I to deny her?

I can't wait to show you the 'hot' colorway! I have to wait until Tuesday to get my delivery because the hubby missed the post man Saturday when he came. :( I was so upset, now I have to wait longer for my wonderful bead delivery! I ordered rich, opaque red, transparent orange and transparent yellow beads and I'm sure they'll be lovely. I liked mixing opaque and transparent beads! Mixing colors and opacity is something I normally wouldn't do and with my classes I wanted to step out of my comfort zone a little bit.

I think I will also develop a written tutorial for these so that I can sell kits online in my Etsy shop. :) I for one love having all the required beads provided for me. What do you think about selling bead kits online?

My First Beadweaving Class

2011-02-12T16:28:00.002-06:00

Yay!! Today was my first class at the gallery and it went splendidly!!! I was so nervous to begin with but the ladies said they loved my presentation. I made handout sheets with diagrams and bead facts and they said they stayed interested the whole time.

One of the students was very new with a needle and thread and she made a beautiful crosswoven bracelet! It was a challenge because she kept piercing the thread with one of the needles but her bracelet was pretty and sparkly and I was so impressed! Another student- there was no difference between her bracelet and mine! I'm proud of them.

Unfortunately some of the students couldn't come due to illness and health/family issues but they will be able to make the next one hopefully. I got to 'test the waters' with two lovely, charming ladies and they were so sweet!

Both said they definitely plan to come for more classes and one is coming to my next class in two weeks to make the same bracelet for her friend. :D If she finishes early I'll make earrings with her to match the bracelet.

We had a ball and filled the entire 4 hours. We didn't even take a lunch break. :) I didn't take a lot of photos, I think I took two, because they didn't want to be on camera and that's fine. I was upset to find that the file was 'corrupted' when I got home, so only one photo came out...I didn't get to photograph the gorgeous blue bracelet my other student made but she did a great job! Here is the one photo. I've never had a corrupted file before, gah!

We discussed the colorways for next month's project and we are thinking of like a Mexican sunset with reds, oranges, cobalt and maybe turquoise and green in a herringbone bracelet. That class won't have all the theory discussion but will just focus mainly on the herringbone stitch and stuff.

Anyway, we had a blast and I'm so happy, they said I did a great job and one said she found a new hobby and one said she was going shopping when she left the gallery.

Oh, and I sold two things today, one at the gallery and one on Etsy. What a wonderful day this turned out to be! How was your day?

Professor Val?

2011-01-17T14:39:00.000-06:00

Hi all! As most of you already know from my rambling Facebook postings, I will indeed be teaching beadweaving courses in February at the SRACF Dragonfly Gallery, 5188 Escambia Street, Milton, FL 32570. For more information or to register for classes, call (850)981-1100. Classes will be held on Saturday, February 12 and Saturday, February 26 from 10 am-2 pm. For information on the gallery or the Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation visit http://www.sracf.org.

Ok, now that that's all out of the way, here is a photo of the bracelet that I will be teaching:

This is woven using the cross-woven stitch. I think it will be a perfect beginner's project. I will be providing some other color choices and different buttons or toggle clasps according to the students' preferences.

I have a student signed up already, yay! I'm so very nervous now that it's all in the works. I have big plans for this class if I can only overcome the nerves and second guessing.

Have any of you taught classes? How did you feel before your very first one? Were you unsure and nervous or confident and raring to go?

Survey Says:

2010-12-06T13:56:00.001-06:00

Hi all! My dear friend Holley Kline of Irrepressible Styles posted this 'swiped' survey in her journal today on DeviantArt and it looked like fun so I 'swiped' it from her in turn (with her permission lol!). It's a great way to get to know each other in the beading world so feel free to swipe it from me also. :)

1.How old is your oldest bead?
I tend to use vintage beads a lot! The oldest ones I have are from the 40s and 50s but I think the oldest ones came from my dear friend Cheryl of CherylsExtraBeads on ArtFire.com . These gorgeous beads look to be very, very old indeed and they hold a prized place in my collection:

2.What beads do you have that you don't know what to do with?
Tons! Mostly vintage beads. I have a lot of 'pot metal' beads and vintage plastic beads and, as much as I love them, I rarely if ever use those beads in my work....

3.What flavor is your bead work?
hmm...waffles? I waffle between ultra modern, ancient, retro, Victorian, bohemian and Eastern styles. I like too many things to pin myself to one type or style.

4.Whats the best compliment you've received about your bead work?
I've been told my work is like 'a piece of art for the neck' but my favorite compliment was again from my friend Cheryl. She once told me my work 'doesn't look handmade-that's a compliment.' :) I like that!

5.How do you create an ambiance for beading?
I usually pop a movie in my computer and bead while it plays. I don't watch it but I listen to it. My favs have to be the Harry Potter movies, much to my husband's annoyance. :) We end up in a volume war between his tv and my pc. :)

6.What is the most unusual material you have used in a beading project?
Bert's Bees beeswax lip balm? I use it to condition my Nymo thread because I didn't want to pay for Thread Heaven. My pieces made with Nymo (usually just beaded beads or embroidery) smell minty fresh.

7.Describe your most expensive bead.
I don't buy expensive beads... I'd say the most I pay for is for Swarovski crystals. Those get pricey!

8.Do you ever use plastic beads?
Very, very rarely! I don't like them... I use some 'acrylic' vintage pearls in stuff but rarely do I use plastic beads.

9.How do you feel when you finish a project?
Sometimes I'm disappointed, sometimes glad to have it over and done with, and sometimes I'm really excited.

10.How important is planning in your bead work?
I don't plan...I may dream up some idea in my head but very rarely do I plan a piece. I just start and 'go with it'.

11.Is there a figure from literature history movies or music who inspires your bead work?
I really think my beadwork is just chosen based on my mood or whim of the moment. If I see something neat in an old movie then I try to make it.

12.If you had unlimited bead resources what would you bead?
Oh that's easy! I'd actually buy materials and a studio to do metalsmithing. I want to make rings with bezels and welded jewelry! I want to cut and stamp metals!! As far as beads go, I'd get more crystals and gemstones.

13.Do your beads ever talk to you?
ahem...

14.If you did not do bead work what other form of art would you do?
Well, I paint as a hobby. Nothing fancy but I do love digital art! I make my own banners and avatars, etc. and at one point I made my friends 'signatures' (graphics for forum or website signatures similar to a banner).

15.How much of your bead work do you give away?
My Mom gets whatever she wants. Family gets some for occasions and my friends get things from time to time.

16.Are you multi or monochromatic?
Multi but I like both. My friends tell me I have a good eye for color.

17.If you were a bead what kind would you be?
An opal or a labradorite. I have an inner fire that is best seen in person. :)

18. Do you follow the trends or your visions?
Probably my own visions. I try to do the 'trend' thing but it always backfires on me.

19.Whats the wildest bead or project you have?
Well probably my Ice Queen. Gosh, I'm sick of seeing it though! It seems as if everyone defines me by the one piece. I'll have to do another large piece to grab attention away from it, lol!

20.When you shop for beads do you need a tray or a shopping cart?
an online cart. I very, very rarely shop locally for beads except at Walmart for emergency supplies. I buy nearly all my supplies online.

21.If your bead work were a game, what would it be?
I only ever play the Final Fantasy games so I guess it would be one of those.

21.Do you use a beadboard or lay out a specific project before stringing?
If I do stringing...which is rare. I use a beadboard for multistrand pieces (which is rare). I'm more into chains or beadweaving. I use my beadboard to hold beads for projects... it has lots of cubbies in it. I don't 'lay out' things, I more or less toss beads into and on it. (see photo at bottom of post).

22. How Organized is your 'creative space'?
At the moment it looks like a whirlwind hit it! I organize my beads but my table gets covered with boxes and bins and wire bits... see?

This is a shot from my garnet whirlwind last week but my table still looks that way. Oh here's a sneak peek at my new garnet cluster ring!(pre oxidization).

Of course, proper photos are to come soon! So, if you do this survey, please link me! I wanna see!!! :)

Holiday Silver and Gold

2010-11-27T22:13:00.000-06:00

Hi all! I know it's been a while. Life gets away from me sometimes and I let things slide through the cracks the same as everybody. :) I wanted to let you know that I have a new shop on ArtFire now that I'm very proud of! I've worked hard on designing things and improving my photos and SEO. I'm hoping for a busy sales season this year!

Since joining ArtFire, the best thing happened to me! I was invited to join the ArtFire Beadweaver's Guild (They have a blog and you should follow them) ! I was hesitant at first because the guild has many elite artists! They have been published in magazines, ya'll! They have studios and some are in galleries (ok, I am too lol) but I felt so out of my league with all these famous beaders. I am so glad I joined them! They are all welcoming and friendly and warm and complimentary and I totally feel at ease there! I'm deeply honored.

I took the plunge and decided to enter their Silver and Gold Challenge! I probably won't win but I need to get used to submitting work to groups and entering challenges. It's good for my morale! :)

I designed earrings and a necklace for the challenge but I ended up only submitting the necklace. I adore the earrings but they went to the art gallery so quickly that I didn't get photos of the two pieces together and just said meh..just do the necklace (which is also in the SRACF Dragonfly Gallery) . Anyways, here are the earrings which will be listed in my ArtFire and Etsy shops very soon:

They are made with crosswoven Swarovski crystals, silver plated beads and Miyuki seed beads in silver lined lt. grey and gold lined crystal clear. I love them! I may make some for a wedding listing with pearls.

Here is my necklace and the entry I chose for the Challenge:

This necklace has a very old crystal from a chandelier. The wires that held it in place were all rusty and corroded. I used the same silver and gold lined Miyukis to make a herringbone bezel and bail. The beads are woven in netting and Peyote stitches to cinch the crystal. The back is open and looks just like the front. The back of the crystal is faceted. I alternated silver and gold beads in the cross-woven chain that I stitched twice through with Fireline thread. I added faceted glass beads and a silver plated hook clasp. I can reproduce this piece but I would have to use new crystals. This will be OOAK with this vintage crystal.

Anyways, I don't know when the voting is and I don't expect to win but I'm so happy that I gave it a try! I enjoyed making something specifically for them! I'm very happy with my new guild. :)

Happy Holidays all! Do you have any special plans? Do you have any promotions for the holidays?

Tuesday Tips and Tricks: Videos yay!

2010-09-21T22:33:00.000-05:00

Today I thought I would share my browsing from this morning. I love tutorial videos and frequently troll the web for how-tos. Seeing things done is so much more informative for me than reading about things. Video tutorials are plentiful but sometimes you have to weed out the not-so-great ones.

So to start all this off, I'll tell you my story for today's web quest. Someone on Deviantart had posted a simply gorgeous necklace that she termed as 'Russian circular netting'. Please don't Google that!!! I stumbled upon several websites that had that title but had warnings posted underneath that they may be harmful to your computer. I found one on page two that didn't have the warning and clicked on it and guess what? It started trying to run a virus scan etc, etc. Bah!

So after unplugging my internet with a quickness, stopping the stupid invader and running antivirus, restarting my pc etc., I was very mad. Thus I went to my old favorite standby, You Tube! I finally managed to type in the correct wording to find a partial video but it showed me enough to understand the basics of the stitch. As I often do, I started clicking on other suggested videos and before long was dreaming up ideas for all sorts of things!

So today's treat will be a small list of video links for amusement, knowledge and inspiration.

Here is the Russian Spiral Necklace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt6bklyGCfQ&p=FB32F21DD5BBE307&playnext=1&index=17

Here is a nice tutorial on the netting stitch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAHfZMGGk2U&p=828CBEAF7C8AD2D0&playnext=1&index=62

Here is one I haven't tried yet: African Helix Stitch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4m-SXc6EcM&feature=related

Here is a nice one for Right Angle Weave (RAW): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaqMHPWAQJ4&feature=channel

This is one I'm dying to try: Triple spiral beaded rope: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vakrQYMtfco&feature=related

By the way, I subscribe to all these channels. Once you find good tutorials you want to stay with them for future updates!

There are so many more videos out there but these are some that I particularly like. :)

Bead suppliers also have nice resources! Check out these resources from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads! http://www.firemountaingems.com/video.asp

Happy watching and I hope you learn something new today! I'd love to see results if you are inspired by these videos! :)

Puppy Bliss

2010-09-19T18:59:00.000-05:00

Prepare yourself for puppy cuteness overload!!!

Hi all! I'll bet you've been wondering where my last two Tuesday Tips and Tricks posts went! Well my dog had puppies and I've been in puppy bliss ever since! I'm so in love! Her Labor Day weekend really was one! She had some Saturday and some Sunday morning for a total of 6 gorgeous babies!

This is them at 1 day old.

Puppy pile! This is at 1 week old.

2 weeks old!

Isn't it strange how they segregate like that? They do that on their own and I've seen it 3 times so far. The two tan ones stay together, the two black ones do also, and Max and Ginger are the runts and they've cuddled since they were born. The first time I thought the momma had done it lol but they all just picked their sleeping buddies. :)

Today we had their two week puppy portrait day and so I'll introduce them to you properly.

Banshee lives up to her name! She squeals and fusses a ton. I have another cute photo of her but I had to show this one. It's so her.

See? Awwww!

This is Ghostie and she is the eldest. Her markings are paler than the other ones'.

Fat Boy has husky markings and he is one of the fattest ones. He was the first to walk (today in fact) and I dunno how he got his big belly up on those little legs.

This is Bertha but I call her Bessie. She is by far the largest one and she has thicker hair than the others. It has a slight ruffly effect.

This is my precious Max! He has the most unique grey coloring and looks like a koala bear or a chipmunk. He's the runt and my very favorite. I named him as soon as he came out and he's been my baby ever since. He has the sweetest disposition and never cries or fusses. He loves to nuzzle my neck and I'm so in love!

Here's another one of my Max. <3

Ginger is our last born and she is mostly red. She lacks the stripe down her back that the other pups have. She has the softest fur! Its texture is different than any of the other pups'.

So this is what I've been doing with my time. I'll try to think up some more tips and tricks soon. Any suggestions?

Tuesday Tips and Tricks: Square Box Tutorial!

2010-08-31T21:11:00.000-05:00

It's that time again! Get comfy with the blankets and coffee because this one's gonna take a while. I came up with another box pattern and this time I plan to show you my mistakes as I tried it for the first time. So without further ado, here we go! I originally thought to make a template for a separate box and lid but then on the spur of the moment decided to make one with an attached lid. Please keep in mind that this is my first attempt. :) The end result (with a bow and business card) is thus:

As with my other tutorials, I focus more on instruction than pretty boxes. :)

I found that the best way to make a pattern is with graph paper. I begged a few sheets from my son and voila! I basically started out with the size and shape that I wanted and then built the side pieces and top from there. The thing to remember is that if you want your sides to be 1 inch tall (4 squares) then you need to allow 8 squares deep (2 inches) for each side. That way you can fold the sides in and sturdy up the box while hiding the flaps. Also to the top side you add another square (in this case 11 squares by 11 squares) and another inch (4 squares) for the fold in flap. Also for the tuck-in flaps you want them to be angled slightly. It's easier to see with this photo:

It's really not hard, trust me. If I can do it so can you. Notice the little side flaps for tucking in later. After I figured this out I cut it out and then laid it on stiff card stock and made a template. That way I only had to do all this measuring once and I have a pattern for the next boxes I want to make. :)

I traced the fold lines on my pattern just so I could remember where to score and fold later. After making the pattern it literally only takes like 10-15 minutes max to make a box. The hard part is done. So cut the box out of poster board or similar stiff paper. I used those huge shirt boxes that you can buy at department stores on clearance after Christmas! I paid .50 cents for a 3 pack. I can make 6 small boxes from one large shirt box. Again, design is up to you. You can buy decorative papers and cover the box or just wrap it with pretty gift wrap paper. How nice for your client to receive a gift wrapped item!

Ok so now we have cut out our box and flipped it over to the wrong side. (In my case, one side of my box is white and the other side a greyish paper). We want to score on the wrong side so it will fold properly. Usually I use a pair of tweezers as a stylus but for this one I am using a compass that happened to have a fountain pen tip. It is really easy to do the sides...you just line the ruler up with all the notches and score the entire length down on both sides. Easy peasy!

Next we turn the box sideways and score along all the bends. Again, you can use the pattern as a guide or just line the ruler up with all the notches again. It's very simple!

Further progress--you can faintly see the score lines.

Don't forget to score the three side flaps. It's very easy to line the ruler up with the edge of the flaps like so and score. Make sure not to puncture the cardboard!

Now we just fold in all the score lines and you can see the box shaping up.

For the side flaps you can bend them in like so but then straighten again for the assembly.

Yay, box! See those side flaps? Those little triangle shaped ones get glued to the inside of the sides of the box.

I like to use a little bit of tape for instant sticking but I also put some dabs of tacky glue to hold more permanently. You could use adhesive tabs, glue stick, hot glue would work wonders, or staples if you don't care about them showing. Use what you have--that's the whole point of my tutorials!

Here is my first side after gluing the flaps. It's hard to see because my camera was giving me hissy fits. At some point in this tutorial I had taped a piece of paper over my flash. :)

Here we see me folding in the side flap now that I've glued the tabs in. I dotted this with glue and then used binder clips to hold it in place to dry. It only really takes 10 mins or so to set up and if you use hot glue or adhesive tabs it's even faster. Here was my first mistake and I'll get to showing you later but suffice to say that clothes pins may be a gentler option for holding the sides.

Side one is done! :)

Here is me gluing the second side flaps. I know this is photo intensive but I like to be thorough.

Side two is done and here is the flap for the front side that I will fold in.

Ruh roh! Mistake number two! Sometimes the flaps may need a tiny trim up if they don't want to fit smoothly. This is like live TV... you are seeing my mishaps. All the better to give tips and tricks, in my opinion.

Here we see me trimming the edge. I also trimmed the sides just a tiny smidgen.

While we're on the subject of mishaps, the binder clips marred my box. Still, as this is my prototype it's ok. To prevent this from happening I recommend using a scrap bit of poster board or cardboard between the clip and the box.

It's hard to see but there is a scrap piece here under the clip. :)

Finally, ta~da!! Here is my box. It may not be pretty but it's really quite strong! It's perfect size for a bracelet or necklace. I plan to make smaller ones for earrings very soon. To close, simply fold in the flaps like so:

That wasn't so bad, was it? They really are super easy to make once you get the template done. You can make these all sorts of sizes to fit your need and they are cheaper than pre made boxes. I like to use tissue paper and my sis, Loren gave me an awesome tip for shredding the paper so it's pretty. I also use bubble wrap inside for extra protection.

If you want to make a separate box and lid it's really simple to modify the pattern (just don't put the lid part on) and then make another box pattern that is slightly larger (one square larger -so 12 x 12- is more than enough) and then you have a box and lid. :) Oh and remember for the lid you want it shallower so maybe 3 squares high instead of 4. Yes, I like to count by squares. It's just simpler! :)

So what do you think? I hope you like it. I'm also looking for requests for tutorials as always. :)

Tuesday Tips and Tricks- request day!

2010-08-24T17:51:00.002-05:00

Hi all! I remembered the Tuesday this week! :) This week's tips lineup is a tutorial by request: How to make a pillow box. Please pardon the plain yellow paper; you can use any fancy card stock that you wish and, once again, you can layer paper bands around the box or decorate with gift tags, etc. It's all up to your imagination! My imagination has taken a sleep-deprived dive lately. :)

Exhibit A

For this adventure you will need a nice weight cardstock OR for the green divas, you can use cereal boxes or pop tart boxes or tea boxes... whatever you want! Remember that this box is more for decorative purposes than real protection. I actually wrap my items in bubble wrap, put the item in the box, then decorate the box and wrap once with bubble wrap. That ensures protection and a pretty package once they open the bubble wrap... you can skip the outer wrap if you use a bubble mailer. I prefer to buy the same size and shape craft paper envelopes and use my own bubble wrap [I have acres thanks to my coworkers]. .75 each for bubble mailers vs. 25 envelopes for $2.... you do the math.

Yes, I'm long winded. Sorry! >< Ok so you need cardstock, scissors, a ruler, a pattern, handy tweezers or a stylus, a pencil or pen, glue or tape or both, and you're good!

Ok so first you need a pillow box template. If you Google it you will find many, many ones that all look basically the same. You'll also find prettier examples than mine. :( Anyway, I traced mine onto a plastic lid from an ice cream tub just because I use this size a bunch and wanted a sturdy template. You can also use template plastic (I have some from my quilting days). Ok so there we go. Basically two rectangles with some curves on the ends. Easy peasy!

Ok so trace around the template. I didn't put a tab side on my template so I line it up 1/4 inch from the edge of the paper to make a tab. (You'll see).

See? A tab. Just snip the ends like shown so the tabs fit in the box later on. Cut out your box blank.

Using a ruler and *ahem* stylus, score the tab line and also a center line for folding.

And here you see the two lines folded. :)

I also made a tiny plastic curving tool to run my scorer along for the flaps. You will notice my flaps aren't as rounded as the template downloads show. I prefer a shallower box. To each her own, though! Experiment and see what you like best. :)

It's kind of faint but here are the end flaps scored. My camera wasn't cooperating and the flash was too bright and urgh... anyway you get the idea.

Here I used some tacky glue on the flap. Again, it's up to your preference. You could use double stick tabs or tape or stick glue (for me glue sticks don't hold well) or whatever you prefer. I like tacky glue and it only takes a few minutes to set up and hold.

*Fanfare* so ta-da! It's a folded in half, curvy rectangle thing. :)

The ends are very easy to fold in... they just pop down like so. Close one side (you can glue if you like but I don't) and stuff the box with whatever, then pop the other flaps down. Try to make the flaps all go the same way (the openings to the back, so to speak).

So here it is in all its yellow glory! I've seen some gorgeous examples with fancy papers and ribbons, etc. You are only limited by your imagination! Oh, if you'd like the 'apple pie box' feel you can cut a little notch out of the flaps. :)

Oh do you wanna see what went in this particular mustardy box? Ta-da! Just a sneak peak. I haven't taken proper photos yet. Introducing my Summer Sky earrings! ~toots horn~

Thank you to Cheryl and Loren for requesting this guide and I hope it helps you. <3

I hope you like my second tutorial! :) I need requests again! Does anyone have a specific thing they'd like to see in my Tuesday Tips and Tricks?

Updates

2010-08-21T17:07:00.001-05:00

Wow! I've been MIA lately. I actually forgot for two consecutive Tuesdays to do my 'Tips and Tricks' posts! I'm so sorry. I'll try to remember this next Tuesday. So what have I been up to? Well, basically the house has been in an uproar getting ready for school to start. Plus work, more work, and yet more work! I've started to become more active in the Gallery and that's fun. :) So, excuses aside, I honestly didn't remember the Tuesday Tips the other week until it was Wednesday because I lost track of the days. Same with this week! Oh and you won't believe it but I had 3 sales in two days! Yay!!! I'm all of a dither.

I made some Chakra inspired jewelry and it's been a hit! I sold this recently:

Also these chakra earrings!

They haven't sold yet but they are in my Etsy shop! :)

I'm also pretty proud of this pair of earrings, also for sale in my Etsy shop:

Last but not least, this was a custom order and the client loved it so much that she called it 'a work of art!'

So, what have you all been up to?

Tuesday Tips and Tricks: Easy Earring Display

2010-08-03T20:32:00.001-05:00

Hi all! I thought I'd attempt a tutorial. This will be a long post because I'm pretty thorough. :) Apologies in advance. :)

Today we will make cute, simple earring displays that you can use at craft shows (or in my case, I recently made a bunch and used them at the SRACF Dragonfly Gallery to display my earrings). I love these because they are inexpensive, easy to make, and they are cute! To me it's a step up from the earring tree. For outdoor shows you can put a rock inside to weight it down.

Ta-da!

So all you really need is cardstock (I used a rich, cobalt blue for the gallery but for this purpose I used white), a ruler, scissors (decorative if you want), and a stylus of some sort (I use bead tweezers). Oh and a hole punch. Step 1:

Using a ruler or a previous display as a guide, draw a rectangle 8" long x 2.5" wide.

Step 2:

Mark a line approx. 3/8" from the top edge. This will be your flap for taping closed later. Also mark a line 2.5" from the TOP line. This will be your base.

Step 3:

Cut out the rectangle and using a ruler and stylus (or tweezers) score your two lines for folding later.

Step 4:

Fold up the bottom part of the rectangle to about 1/4" to 3/8" from the second line. The reason for this is that you want the front side to be longer than the back so the earring display leans back some. Otherwise once you put your earrings on it will simply topple over. Now I don't really measure these but for the tutorial I did.

Step 5:

After the fold I open it back up, and using the ruler and stylus I score the inside of the fold so it folds sharper. Don't go through the paper! :)

Step 6:

Fold the 'flap' and base lines so we have this. It's pretty obviously a triangle when folded but bear with me. :)

Step 7:

Poke holes on the top of what will be the long side. The flap side is on the right in this photo. This is wide enough that you can go all the way in the hole punch and line the straight edge of the punch on the top line so no measuring is needed. Do this on both sides.

Step 8:

I like to use my paper cutter to put a decorative edge on these just because lol. :) Think of the possibilities with the scrapbooking scissors! You can also layer different colors to add weight and a little spice to these. :)

Step 9:

Now it's time to fold! Put the back end INSIDE the flap and tape, glue or staple them together. You want it inside because then the flap acts as a door stop so to speak. Personally I prefer a staple. Tape can come undone but it's up to you. :)

Step 10 is to just pinch all three corners. See the bow? We don't want the bow effect. Make the folds nice and sharp. :)

Look how cute! Yes, it's just a simple paper triangle, but it showcases the earrings really well, each pair is displayed proudly, and the client can take it with them because hey it's just paper! I put price info on the back of the cards. A bunch together makes a nice display also.

You can use patterned paper, leave the edge plain, layer papers (which helps with weight). The possibilities are pretty much endless. You can make them taller or shorter depending on your earring size. You just extend the length to like 9" or so on the rectangle. Keep the same measurements and markings up top (for flap and base) and only the front and back flap will change for height. Just remember to leave some space when folding the bottom up (so the front is longer and it doesn't topple over).

Well I hope you enjoyed my long tutorial! I try to be thorough but I probably overdid it with the photos lol. :) Thank you for bearing with me! What did you think? Do you have any display tips?

Tuesday Tips and Tricks: More Shopping!

2010-07-27T22:05:00.002-05:00

Last week I featured some of my favorite Etsy supply shops! As promised, today we go for the big guns! Large jewelry supply websites woohoo!!

Ice Queen by ElderArc on Etsy

In the above necklace are tons and tons of 4mm Swarovski crystals in a light orchid color. My favorite place to buy crystals, hands down, is http://www.fusionbeads.com . I also get my gemstone chips there. They rock! No minimum order, qty discounts, and free shipping in the U.S. Plus, I usually get my items within 3-4 days from ordering. They don't waste time!! Their prices are pretty reasonable.

Another good site is http://www.firemountaingems.com . They have a new pricing system where you get fantastic quantity discounts and they have a very nice selection to choose from!

Another favorite shopping spot is http://www.artbeads.com . They have a clearance section at all times and I have bought some fabulous gemstone beads there for like $1 a strand no lie!!! Their shipping is free also, they also offer qty discounts, but their shipping time is super slow unless you pay to upgrade. If you have a week or two and aren't in a hurry, then it's a great site to shop!

Another great site for seed beads is http://www.foxdendesigns.com . I haven't used them yet but people swear by them!

Ok! It's time for my number one, all-time favorite, the secret to my success online shop! ~Drum roll~ It's http://www.monsterslayer.com !!! Oh how I love thee, let me count the ways....

Their prices are phenomenal!!! I can get 100 silver plated bead caps for $2! Sometimes I can get the same for copper depending on what they have in stock. Their silver plated chains are extremely inexpensive! 20 pairs of silver plated ear wires for like $1.75, omg the list goes on and on. Their gemstones are reasonable, they have a huge selection of gemstones, they sell Czech beads and seed beads and Swarovski crystals and pearls in every shape, size and color, shell beads, wood, bone, you name it! Even lapidary tools, torches, hammers, bench blocks, drills,pliers,dapping blocks, stamp kits, copper plates, copper blanks, wire and solid sheets in silver, gold, brass, copper, nickel, gold filled, their cabochons are amazing and at such incredible prices! Need I say more? They are my number one, go-to company. They ship priority only so I usually wait until I can fill one of those $4.95 boxes--and they will pack them too, lol! Basically one rate for your whole cart full! Only once did I need to go up to the $8 shipping box and that's when I bought several spools of wire.

That's probably enough sites for this post. :) Now you know all my secrets. To sum it up, my number one and number two sites are Monsterslayer.com and Fusionbeads.com. Happy shopping, guys and gals! ~dances~

How about you? What are some of your favorite sites to shop?

Tuesday Tips!

2010-07-20T15:01:00.001-05:00

Ok, somehow I keep forgetting to post on Mondays so I think I will just change my tips and tricks schedule to Tuesdays. Life has been so busy lately and I find myself easily distracted. With summer vacation here and the fact that I work from home, I lose track of the days of the week, lol! Ok, enough excuses; on with the tips!

Today I wanted to focus on shopping sites. Suppliers yay! I know that some people are loath to reveal their favorite suppliers which I think is silly.... they aren't gonna sell out unless they are small Etsy shops. I want to share with you my top favorite places to buy things on Etsy. Laziness for the win! I don't even have to leave my home! Woohoo!!! ~dances~

Acrylic beads that I sold :)

Once before in my blog I linked you to this Etsy shop. I like to buy my brass findings there. Visit Bella's Beads and More on Etsy for the coolest darned brass findings and the most elegant lucite and glass flowers! Her lucite flowers are hand dyed and I use them exclusively... if I use a flower it came from this seller! She is wonderfully friendly and her prices are great. My blush earrings are made with her goodies:

Blush floral earrings by Elderarc on Etsy

Another fav bead supplier is, of course, my friend Cheryl's shop, MyExtraBeads on Etsy . I got some wonderful beads here! My favorites are my red velvet beads that she sells. Again, wonderful prices! My Velvet beadwoven earrings were made with Cheryl's beads:

Red Velvet earrings by Elderarc on Etsy

I'd be totally insane to not mention Beadfrenz on Etsy ! Her selection of beads is amazing and I've bought tons of things from her! For instance, these lovely rock crystal quartz beads that have an AB coating:

Bubbles earrings by Elderarc on Etsy

Another fav shop is, of course, UnkamenSupplies on Etsy! I have bought some nice jump rings from these lovely people and they send great gifts along with the orders. Their prices are great and the quality of their rings is phenomenal! I made my Marrakesh bracelet using their silver and gold plated jump rings:

Marrakesh bracelet by Elderarc on Etsy

Last but not least, I have bought tools from this shop on Etsy. Really it's a spinoff from their large website that sells supplies, but their prices are great and they ship incredibly fast! Try Beadaholique on Etsy for some great finds. I bought a pin vise and bail making pliers from them.

Next time, I will reveal my favorite large websites. :D Who are some of your favorite suppliers?

Monday tips on Tuesday

2010-07-13T21:40:00.000-05:00

Hi! I can't believe I forgot to post my Magic Monday Tips and Tricks post yesterday!!! I blame illness and laziness. :) 30% summer cold, 70% laziness.

My post today is influenced by my great friend Cheryl of Cherylspurplecow on Etsy. If you noticed my last post, I was getting highly frustrated because I wanted to put an email subscription box in my blog and I couldn't figure it out, blogging newb that I am.

Cheryl emailed me links to a website, My Blogger Tricks that showed me exactly how to do what I wanted to do! The only thing the tutorial failed to mention is that you have to publicize your feed. Well not really, but in the publicize menu on www.feedburner.com there is a box to click to activate email subscriptions capability to your feed.

Hey, if I managed to do it, you can too! After installing it, I forgot to modify the code so I ended up subscribing to the My Blogger Tricks RSS feed, lol! Now I think I got it. This will be my test post.

Many, many thanks to Cheryl for helping me! <3 Check out her shop! She has awesome awareness jewelry!

So what do you think of my new feed button? Will you subscribe to email posts so you never miss another post from me (because I know you just love them ) ?

Sparkly Saturday!

2010-07-03T21:19:00.001-05:00

Yay for sparkles!! Too bad I can't show you just yet. :( You see, I just decided to enter my first ever beading contest and how fortunate that it is a beaded bead contest?!? That's my thang! ~dances~ So this last few days I have been scrambling to come up with a new design for the contest. Scrambling because I wasn't invited until the other day and the contest ends July 8! Oy! What's a girl to do? Why, make something scrumptious of course!

I spent the last two days designing, ripping out, re designing, re ripping out, and last night I came up with a nice prototype beaded pearl that I really really like! I left the prototype assembled to use as a pattern because this is a complex piece! Even knowing what I was doing, it took 2 hours to make. It features Swarovski crystals of course and Swarovski pearls also! Lovely seed beads that I bought on a hank so I think they are Czech... it's gorgeous if I do say so myself but I'm biased I guess. I made a simple necklace to go with it because I wanted my bead to be the star. Other entries made multiple beads and fancy necklaces and that's cool too. I dunno if I will win because the entries are very nice indeed! However, I am going to enter anyways. :)

I am not sure on the rules but I think I can't post photos until after the contest ends so for now, I will let you gaze upon my Loch necklace which also features a beaded bead! My friends will know which entries are mine anyway (they hide the creator info until after the contest) because I have my own style as it were. None of the entries so far look like my works. :D Here is my Loch:

Loch beaded bead, C. Artisan Originals

Here is the link to the beaded bead contest and I will post more info when it's time to vote because the public is invited to vote also! Clickie!

I hope you will vote for mine once it's up! There are some wonderful entries already and I'm intimidated but this is my first contest and I was invited to join so that's cool... and I'm excited even if I don't win because I made a new design and it's sparkly and pretty. :) Plus, I'm finally letting go of my fear and just going for it! Someone out there will like it!

So, do any of you seasoned beaders have any advice for me? Have any of you joined contests before? Did the wait for results (which takes like a month) kill you?

Tuesday, Newsday!

2010-06-29T22:02:00.000-05:00

News!! Well, you all know that yesterday I bought a torch if you read my post--and you have, right? But that's not all the news I have to share.

I decided last night to make a video presentation of my pieces for You Tube! My first ever video and I'm very excited about it! Here is the linkie: Yay first video!! <-click here.

In other news, I just noticed that while I'm still first in Google search for my name, because I've been less active online lately, my biz just takes up most of the first page. There was a time that Google-ing "Artisan Originals" brought up 4 whole pages of me! :D Ah well. C'est la vie. That's what business cards are for! :)

Oh! Tonight the gallery (Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation's Dragonfly Gallery) had our annual meet and greet plus elections night. It was a great night! I got to meet other artists and our newly elected President is inspiring with all her ideas for the gallery and for the foundation and for our city! I plan to help her with promoting our lovely gallery through twitter and possibly Facebook. We are all very positive and inspired and ready to go! You can view our gallery's website by clicking the link provided in my sidebar under "Press and Affiliations".

Well that's it for today! Tomorrow I'm going to watch Eclipse yay!!!! Who among my friends is going to watch it? I can't be the only one! Are you for team Edward or team Jacob? :)

Magic Monday Tips and Tricks: All fired up about torches!!!

2010-06-28T23:29:00.000-05:00

Yay! Today I bought a torch! The husband is shaking his head and demanding that I do 'it' outside. :D I'm so excited and yet afraid as well. I have a huge fear of aerosol gas canister-type things and this is a propane torch. I have some (probably unfounded) fear of the flame getting sucked into the canister and the whole thing exploding! My torch is simple: A nozzle that screws onto a tank.

Photo courtesy of Google Image Search

So without further ado, tonight's blog will be dedicated to soldering and torch-type thingies. :)

This is a wonderful video that my friend Jess, aka Metalsmitten has posted on you tube that shows how she makes her famous Wee Rings! It is interesting and shows her using a torch. :) Look here! There is a part two also and you can find that link at the end of her video.

That video assumes we know the basics though so let's look into some beginner tutorials. :)

This is the torch I bought so I'm happy to have found this video that shows how to light one. Look here!

This video shows some basic torch tips. Look here!

Here is a nice video that shows how to ball up the end of wire with a torch. Look here!

This video shows how to fire metal clay! Look here!

I hope you enjoy these tutorials! So... does anyone have any tips? I just read to not store this in the house but to not store it in temps over 120F and ok.. it's Florida. Where do I store this? Where do you store your tanks? Do any of you use torches? I'd love some tips!

Busy Weekend! Where's My Pocket Watch?

2010-06-26T18:21:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I'm taking the advice of friends and updating more frequently. So hard with such a busy schedule! Don't you ever wish you could slow time? Ok so what I've done this weekend:

Actually, I've been pretty lazy this weekend. Yesterday I took the day off and totally vegged out in front of the TV with the kids. We watched the Pirates of the Caribbean and 3 of the Harry Potter movies. Good times!

Ok I did a little work during some of the movies. I worked on a custom ordered pair of earrings to go with a ring my client bought! I also made a surprise but shhhh she hasn't gotten her package yet so I can't tell or show you. :) Here are the earrings:

I really like these and may make some for sale in my Etsy shop! They go with this ring:

I remade the ring in her size of course. So I spent this weekend making, oxidizing, photographing, buffing and burnishing, packaging this set for my lovely buyer. We are both excited for her to receive them! ~dances~

That's it in a nutshell! Because I put off my work all weekend, I will be busy the rest of today and tomorrow catching up my files--my inbox is full! I work pretty much 7 days per week.

What did you do this week/weekend?

Magic Monday tips and tricks: Some awesome wire resources!

2010-06-21T20:30:00.001-05:00

Today I want to give a quick shout out to a friend of mine's blog where she shows how to oxidize copper and brass with ammonia fumes! It's very exciting for me and it works wonderfully! Here is her blog: MeganEliese's blog!

I made mine a little different by poking holes along the top of a bowl, threading the string in a grid pattern and then taping the holes closed. For my bowl, I poured a little ammonia in the bottom and put the things on the grid and shut the lid. :) It was easy to rinse the bowl later after use. See?

Here are some examples of my oxidized pieces using the ammonia tricks I learned from her tutorial:

An example of a ring I oxidized, yellow brass and copper.

Another ring I oxidized. :) Before pic is below.

Oh I stumbled upon Google Books because y'know... I live under a rock! :) Anyways, there are some great previews of wire working books! I could look for hours and hours but here is a quick link and you can follow thumbnails to more goodies. Happy previewing! Look here!

I have many, many more resources to share but for today I will leave you to experiment with Megan Eiliese and to oogle lovely books with Google. Have a fabulous week and I'll see you next Monday with more!

While we're at it, I'd love it if any of you had tips to share! I'm currently trying to figure out how to burnish metal now that I know how to patina it! Any favorite methods?

Magic Monday Tips and Tricks: wonderful uses for scrap wire

2010-06-14T21:38:00.002-05:00

Hi! To start off my series of Magic Monday Tips and Tricks, I am going to share with you some of the things I do with scrap bits of wire left over from my various projects and failed attempts. :) At the end of this post are some clickable links to some tutorials! Yay tutorials! Who doesn't love those? :)

I've made it a habit to toss my scraps to the side and later, when I have time, I like to make things from them! I don't work with silver wire yet, but you definitely don't want to waste that wire! These solutions are perfect!

If you have even an inch of wire, you can re use it! Here are some examples:

For longer scraps, you can coil wire to make jump rings!

It doesn't take much wire to make components! I make little bits and save them in a container for use in future projects.

You can also make swirled bead caps or I like to make these little spiral components. They remind me of tendrils from a vine and I'm collecting them for the future.

One of my very favorite things to make with my 20 gauge scraps are earwires! It saves time when I'm making earrings if I don't have to stop and make the earwires. They only take about an inch and a half or so. If you look along the bottom, I have also made some simple clasps with bits that were too small for earwires. Again, super easy! You can leave the ends uncut and unbent for matching up pairs later.

My favorite!! Swirly goodness! I love to make wire spirals and store them in my scrap box. One day I'll make something wonderful with them! Seriously, why would you ever toss bits of wire? Look what you can do with them!

For information on ear wire creation, metal gauges and hardnesses, check out this link Here

For information on making spirals, check out this great video tutorial link here!

For information on making wire clasps, go here!

For information on making wire bead caps, check this out!

I hope you liked my first Magic Monday Tips and Tricks post! What do you do with your scraps? I'd love more ideas! :)

edit: I decided to change my 'Mad Monday' to 'Magic Monday' because we are going to make magic happen! :)

Coming soon to a blog near you!

2010-05-30T15:44:00.000-05:00

I have decided that my time is well spent helping others! Recently I have been helping people learn how to do things or find resources and I got this wild, crazy idea to start a weekly feature on my blog that will link people to resources that I've used or found to be helpful.

I even have a tutorial or two in mind once I can figure out the logistics. I hope to feature on Mondays, one of my few days off. Mad Mondays will start very soon! This is where I want your help! What kind of things do you want to know first?

1. Chainmaille resources
2. Beadweaving resources
3. Shopping resources
4. General tutorial resources
5. Tips and tricks
6. Other (please leave comment)

:)

Tales from the Mad Beader's House

2010-05-25T15:12:00.000-05:00

Hi! No, I didn't fall in a hole and stay there. I've just been so incredibly busy lately! :) I'm still here, I'm still alive, just feeling a little bit like the white rabbit lately with a huge pocketwatch.

Updates! Ok when I last posted, I was awaiting word from the art gallery. I got juried in a few weeks ago and I now have 10 pieces on display at the Santa Rosa Arts and Culture Foundation's Dragonfly Gallery. :) I worked there one day and it's a nice place. I'm hoping this holiday season will boost my sales since it's a busy time for the gallery.

My new job is going well. I'm getting into a groove now, a routine and I'm starting to enjoy life at home more and stress less. I've made a few pieces: a lot of failed attempts at wire wrapping--my new project. I had some minor successes but many more things tossed in the trash. Here is one piece that seems popular on DeviantArt:

The Basilisk

I've also been busy making custom orders for sale off Etsy. I swear I get more sales off Etsy than on! These earrings were sold immediately after I made them, lol! They feature the most exquisite tiger eye beads I've ever seen! The rest of these beads are in my private collection: It's my favorite gemstone ever! Well besides citrine, which is my birthstone.

The same client also bought 3 other pairs but I want to share these that feature the most gorgeous terra cotta beads that I got from my dear friend Meredith Tilley of Tilley Jewels on Etsy :

Sorry to be redundant: If you follow my Fanpage on FaceBook then you have already seen these pieces but this blog is an update and this is what I've been up to lately! :)

In other news, I've been working on some beadweaving. The wire working is so stressful for me and bead weaving is my therapy. I enjoy it and I plan to do much more of it! I've created a few prototype earrings, I'm working on a ndebele rope for a large pendant I'm wrapping with peyote, and I have a cuff in the works. I have so many things in my head that I've taken to writing down ideas in a notebook because, frankly, I lack the time! I'm working nearly full time, it's the end of the school year, times are so tight that stress levels are high, There is no time for twitter or face book or Etsy or blogging, yet I'm hanging in there! I'm not giving up!

How are you guys? What projects are in the works for your business? Do you miss me? :D How are you coping with work, family, stress, Etsy? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Falling down the rabbit hole of life

2010-04-12T09:13:00.002-05:00

Wow, so much has happened in such a short time!

Since my the beginning of April my life has turned upside down and now it's slowly righting itself again. It's literally like falling headfirst down a hole. Where to begin?

Hmm ok let's start chronologically. I got a wild hair (hehe) and listened to my mom who had been trying to get me to bring some of my pieces to this art gallery. I had resisted because I was sure she meant a thrift store or something... until I went there. An honest to goodness art gallery in my town! How did I not know this?

So anyways I didn't bring anything with me but went to check it out. Well I did wear my Copper Queen necklace.

Copper Queen-not for sale

One of the artists saw it and invited me to join. It's a juried gallery which means you submit 3 pieces and they meet and vote on whether to let you join and sell things there. So I did! I took 3 of my best pieces, 2 beadwoven and 1 chainmaille. I'm on tenterhooks waiting to hear from them. They said it could take several weeks So wish me luck! Oh and the gallery is run by the local Arts and Culture Foundation, which I can join, and they plan all the arts festivals/shows here in my county. I'm so excited!! It's a great opportunity and I would be unique in that they don't have a beadweaver in their gallery yet. For that matter, they don't have a maille artist neither. My submitted pieces:

Decadence Chocolate Covered Cherries Bracelet

Loch beaded bead necklace

Marrakesh European 4-1 bracelet with picot edging

In other news, I quit my job Thursday! Well I resigned in February but agreed to stay until April 15 out of courtesy and because I like my coworkers and didn't wanna leave them hanging. Thursday I got miffed, packed up my desk, and left. It was a sad time because saying bye to everyone was painful. I truly love and will miss my coworkers!! ;( So that left me wondering how to pay the bills now that I'm unemployed... it hit me like a brick...

The week before I left work, I applied for a job I found on Craigslist where you work from home typing medical reports. I didn't hear much for a while. Then this weekend they emailed me back! I start my new job today! They are in the next town over but this job will be 100% from home!! I'm very excited, I get to be home with my babies now all the time to work on my (now 2) businesses(this is subcontracted/1099 work)!

Before you ask, yes, I checked out the company, it's not any kind of get rich quick scheme, no sales, I didn't give any personal info, and I didn't pay a dime lol. It's a legitimate virtual secretary services company and I just happen to be doing the medical records part. They also do Excel formatting, PowerPoint presentations, report typing, etc etc etc.
Please wish me luck with both the job and the gallery! I think I'd be devastated if they reject me. I'll keep you guys updated on both fronts!

Do you think I have a decent shot? I'm a fledgling beadweaver and maille artist.. I've only been doing either for around 7 months. I learn as I go and I know there are more talented people out there.

Adventures in No Man's Land

2010-04-03T00:05:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I know it's been a while since my last post but it's so hard to keep the inspiration going when sales are so stagnant. Things are soooo sloooow lately! Everyone is feeling it! Not that my shop sells much YET (how's that for confidence?) but others that I know normally sell are suffering too. Anyways, on to my latest adventure... you're gonna love this!

The flea market... urgh what was I thinking? I got this crazy notion to try to sell my wares at the local flea market because I dunno... some part of me thought my things would fly off the table and net large bucks? Sigh.

It was as disastrous as it sounds... as I feared it would be.

So.. this morning I get up bright and early at 7 am... ~yawn~ The kids have been going through their DVDs and video games this week in preparation for this big event at the flea market. They've been bugging me for weeks to go because I dunno... they thought it would be fun? I warned them!

We packed the car and headed up there to grab a table. First off, the lady who owns the place was haughty and rude... not my cup of tea. Ok so moving on, we got a table and started unpacking the car. In swept the vultures. Well not really, lol! The other vendors swarmed the table and bought up a bunch of the kids' movies etc to go resell at their stalls for twice as much, if not more. But they reminded me of vultures, some nice and very sweet, and some haughty like Mrs. Owner.

I worked hard to place my handmade, one of a kind, no two pairs alike earrings on my handmade, trailer park chique display unit that I made in like an hour the other night. Exhibit A:

I know, right?

Anyways, I loaded it up and a friend gave me (no lie) a part from a lawn mower to prop it up on (hahaaaa). By the way, the wind was incredible the entire day and kept blowing stuff off the table. Anything to add to my discomfort, of course! I, in my infinite wisdom, didn't connect the fact that I'd be outside all day with my need for hair restraint. And of course the wind came from behind me so I spent much of today with my hair being blown in my face so I couldn't see. I was longing for my sis, Loren's hair bands right about then.

Add to the wind the fact that the only seating that would fit my tiny compact car were three little stools (one for me and each of my kids) so my butt was numb most of the day too yay! Oh and the kids fussing about being bored and nit-picking with each other... and my son trying to hard sell my jewelry every time someone came up saying 'high quality, handmade items here!' bless his heart. But discomfort aside, this was so not my venue!

My worst fears were realized as stream after stream of people either glanced at my things and walked off or stopped to look and then walked off. A few even stepped wide of my table like I was gonna eat them! I actually had a woman look at a pair of COPPER earrings and ask me if they were surgical steel! o.0 And a woman with like a 20 inch neck wanted to know if my chains were 18 inches long?.... at least that! I don't really do short chains. But then upon hearing a 'yes' she left! A woman told me I should go to church sales... a man told me to go to Alabama and sell my things...I think a woman was sweet on me... she ate lunch at my table... dunno.

All in all, a miserable day. The only saving grace was that it wasn't hot. I ended up bringing home the same amount of cash that I took there. See, I got the kids a soda and bought some beads from another vendor. I sold one bracelet set for like 1/3 of what I should have gotten, and nobody bought anything of mine that I worked so hard on. Can I just say now that I will NEVER do that again? Nevah!! Nevah evah!!

So that's my latest adventure. I hope it greatly amuses someone, lol! I hope sales pick up soon. I'm lost here guys and gals.. any ideas?

Adventures in Trading: Meet Cheryl of Cheryl's Purple Cow

2010-03-17T17:18:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Today I wanted to introduce you to my dear friend Cheryl of Cheryl's Purple Cow and the supply store, My Extra Beads on Etsy. She is a wonderful person who is an active campaigner for causes and awareness, particularly Epilepsy awareness. I want to share with you my latest adventure that Cheryl introduced me to:

Trading! I have never traded anything before but Cheryl does so quite often. She is in an Etsy team dedicated to trading shop items. I recently opened a supply section of my shop and Cheryl fell in love with some Green Opals that I had for sale. She offered to do a trade because her shop also has supplies and I was all for it! She walked me through the process and we set about to shopping each others' shops. What fun! To cut to the chase: she got some great beads and I got some great beads. It was really a fun event for me! I sent a lil extra something because Cheryl is a dear friend of mine and the matriarch of our Twitter Chix group of friends.

I got my package today and I was so happy! She sent me extra beads that I plan to make nice earrings with and the beads I got from her shop are so gorgeous!! You should definitely check it out! My very favorite beads are extras she sent me that she was trying to identify.

Mystery beads that I love so much!!

She had convo'd me that she had some beads from an antique necklace that she was trying to identify and wanted my input. They are so gorgeous!! I'm wondering just how old this necklace was because these beads look positively antique! At first I thought they were very tarnished silver but on second look I think they are brass. They look to be made from a composite material with turquoise chips embedded in them with inlaid brass decorations. I'm imagining a Native American or Mexican artisan creating these beads. I will treasure them always!!

Cheryl is a wonderful lady and such a sweet friend! As I mentioned before, she campaigns to raise awareness for Epilepsy and other illnesses and she sells awareness jewelry. She also makes awareness treasuries featuring other shops with similar goals.

Crystal in a box Epilepsy Awareness Bracelet by Cheryl's Purple Cow

Cheryl recently opened a supply shop and sells gemstone beads and supplies. She also sells awareness beads!

Pink Ribbon Awareness Beads 12mm round for sale by My Extra Beads

Thank you so much Cheryl for introducing me to the art of trading!! Thank you for being so sweet and for working so hard to heighten awareness for such wonderful causes! I'm so happy to know you! hugs!!

Do any of my readers know Cheryl? Now's your chance to get to know her! :)

The Thrifty Diva Strikes Again! Photo Revelations

2010-03-06T13:12:00.000-06:00

Ok so...the bane of my existence lately has been trouble with photographing my jewelry. It's kind of hard to fathom since my floral photography comes out so nice...but flowers are outside when I shoot my photos!

'Dearest Mimosa' by Artisan Originals

Herein lies the rub. I take jewelry shots indoors. Here in Florida, the sun is brutal. Anytime I tried to shoot outside there were such harsh shadows and glare and hot spots (not to mention bees, heat stroke, and large dogs who want to eat my pretties).

Long ago I constructed a light box from one of those tutorial sites out of a cardboard box and tissue paper. I never got the results the people in the tutorials got and it's been frustrating! I went so far as to tear off the tissue paper, add 5 lamps, and edit the crud out of my photos. It's worked so far but editing out the yellow tint in my photos left the beads and metals not looking quite their proper color. My last photo session turned out so badly that I plan to delete all the yucky, yellow pictures and retake them all! Example of one POST Editing! I gave up on the editing because the beads are ruined. They were a nice candy apple red jade and the editing left them blackened with still a yellow background.

This is with 5 lamps, Ya'll!

Yuck, right? Ok so, once again, my dear tweethearts helped me out of a huge bind. As is quite common lately, I was declaring my woes on twitter when my awesome, lovely, wonderful mentor, Meredith Tilley of Tilleyjewels suggested that I change my lighting! She said it made a world of difference in her photos, and she has been in this business for years. She suggested an Ott Lite and I was excited to look at them but the price was prohibitive for me. Even 30 bucks at this time is way too much to justify to the hubby, who is all about the bottom line. At least now I had a solution! This is a 'duh' moment for me here, guys. I don't have a clue why I didn't think of that! Must have fallen down the rabbit hole and hit my head.

As I continue to whine, and I so apologize for my followers who have to endure my whining (sometimes, not all the time!), my dear friend and fellow twitter chix, Piece Mama suggested that I try 'daylight' light bulbs! Ok so my butt is so far behind... I had not even heard of daylight bulbs.. I live in a magical fairy world where I never watch the news or much of anything at all... anywho, daylight bulbs! She said they had really done a good job with her photos and that I could get a pack at Home Depot for around 5 bucks.

I heart Home Depot! That's where I get some of my wire and hammers, etc! So I zoomed down to Home Depot with my momma in tow because she likes to browse there also. I had been wanting some tiles so we started there and had to fend off about 4 helpful sales people (they are very helpful there). To my surprise we found real slate tiles for under 2 dollars! Ok, I'm rambling. End result, we got three tiles in nice colors and textures. We also found the daylight bulbs in a 2 pack for 5.99, 100 watt but only uses 25 watts. Oh and I went to Walmart (conveniently right next door) and bought two sheets of white posterboard.

I gleefully tossed out my old light box after stomping it flat, draped the corner with the poster board (my photo area is in a corner of the room on a table), set the tile on the table, screwed in the light bulbs, and took my first shots. By the way, wear sunglasses because my eyes swam with spots for an hour after I was done. I am ecstatic!! The shots of my new earrings that I made just a few hours prior to shooting were so good! Absolutely no yellow!! Clear, crisper colors, barely any editing needed.. I cropped and hit the 'I feel lucky' button in Picassa (my editing program) and posted the photo gleefully on twitter for my dear tweeties to see! I can never thank my friends enough, this brightened my night quite literally, and my photos are so much prettier. Wanna see?

Bam!! 'Blush floral earrings' by Artisan Originals

So... what do you think? Aren't they great? I hope this post helps someone else with the same woes as me!

Meylah featured me in an Artist Interview!!

2010-02-28T16:07:00.000-06:00

Hi all! I am so thrilled to announce that this morning my interview with the wonderful website, Meylah.com, was posted! Their goodwill ambassador, Courtney Dirks interviewed me a week or so ago and we have been corresponding by email in the meantime. I'm so happy that I got to meet her! She is so friendly and wonderful! We are both enthusiastic about this interview. It means a lot to me!

Meylah.com is a wonderful resource for all sellers! They have tutorials, tips and tricks, artist spotlights, and a large following. I am so honored and tickled pink by this interview!

Many, many thanks, hugs, kisses, and love to my dear friend, Loren of Fruits of the Bloom who made this all possible by nominating me for the interview in the first place. I am so thankful for the friends I've made on twitter among the Etsy community! Loren is my soul sister. :)

You can view the interview here: http://meylah.com/blog/204/Interview-with-Valorie-Clifton-of-Artisan-Originals

What do you think? Aren't they a great website?

My First Artist Feature: Christine Jones Photography

2010-02-25T21:07:00.003-06:00

I am really excited to feature my friend, Christine Jones! We have been twitter friends for several months and she recently featured me in her Blueberry Bliss treasury on Etsy! I am so excited!! I've met so many wonderfully talented artists on Twitter and she was one of the first people I befriended. You simply must visit her Etsy shop ! She also has a blog that I follow here . Here is the treasury where she featured my Byzantine Chainmaille bracelet and earrings set : You can click to enlarge it. My bracelet is bottom center.

Blueberry Bliss by Christine Jones Photography

My friend Loren of Fruits of the Bloom was kind enough to screenshot the treasury for me because my browser has some issue with the Etsy Treasury lists lately, much to my annoyance. :(

Christine takes the most amazing photographs! She is truly talented. I love the rich colors and the subjects she shoots. Some of her photos are nontraditional or from unique perspectives, which I love. I think it's what sets her apart! I am a fellow flower lover and I truly appreciate her flower photographs. Here is one of my favorites in her shop:

Luminous by Christine Jones Photography

Christine has recently branched out and is producing jewelry using her photographs. I adore her pendants and my favorite one has recently sold. I picked another favorite from her shop though and it is so pretty! See for yourself!

Peeking glass tile pendant by Christine Jones Photography

I hope you'll visit her shop and enjoy her art! You can also find her on twitter at @cjonesphotog ! Drop in and tweet with us! I hope you enjoyed my first ever artist feature! Have a great day!

Thrifty Diva

2010-02-19T18:59:00.001-06:00

I like to call myself the Copper Queen. So much royalty in one package! (notice I didn't say 'little package') Why, you ask, when most of Etsy are--dare I say it?--silver snobs? Fine silver this, sterling silver that, yadda yadda. I've talked to people who will wear nothing less than sterling silver or gold! No offense intended to my silver artisan friends! Love ya! I sometimes wonder if that's why my sales are slow. I'm not with the cool kids yet. My favorite metal ever? Copper!

Copper Queen by Artisan Originals

Copper is a highly underrated medium. I have read in tutorials to start with cheap wire like copper for learning before wasting tons of silver wire. I agree but copper isn't my starting point: it's my finishing point! I love the color! I love the primitive feeling I get when working with copper wire! Somehow I feel closer to the elements, to nature, to art. I walk the stony path and love it! I love how it patinas! I love how it blackens or even turns green! It's elegant and primordial at the same time. It goes with everything! It brings out red and green and blue tones in gemstones, it is touted to help arthritis, it's in pennies! (ok I needed something!)

I love how inexpensive copper is but I also scrimp and save every scrap piece I can find! To me, it's too precious to waste. I make spiral charms out of tiny bits and store them away in a box for use later. Love, love, love it! I wish more people appreciated it like I do. Ok, so I never use sterling wire in my jewelry...I can't afford it just yet but moreover, I don't feel the need to! Who wants to be like everyone else?!? I create to please myself and one day I'll find my niche and the world will find my shop and say woohoo for copper and Walmart beads! Wanna know another secret of mine? I use bright aluminum wire for headpins and jump rings.

Guess what? Aluminum wire. :D

~Gasp!~ Say it ain't so! A base metal like aluminum? Where's the silver??? pfft... well, let's see: Bright aluminum has been widely used in the chainmaille community for years. It is popular in jewelry such as chokers and bracelets and even rings! I had previously used the wire for jump ring making and one of my sets of chainmaille is made exclusively with the aluminum. I simply adopted the usage for wire wrapping and for making headpins and eyepins. I don't use it for earwires; there I use sterling. All my earwires are indeed sterling plated (I know.... ) but that's because it's entering your skin. Aluminum is affordable, it doesn't tarnish or rust, it's pliable and so easy to work with! My only problem is that I've been unable to oxidize it like those stylish silver tarnished necklaces etc. Like I said: non-tarnish.

While we're at it, yes, I get some of my beads from Walmart.. and online retailers who are inexpensive. I don't think art has to cost a ton to be pretty! It keeps my prices affordable, too! Everyone likes that, no? Hey, my chains, bead caps, clasps, and silver beads are silver, does that count? Will I ever use silver wire? Well, sure, one day! When I can afford it and when I feel like it. I happen to think my pieces are pretty!

I've learned in life to use what you can afford and what you already have and art is art regardless. I hope you catch the copper/aluminum/Walmart beads bug! Happy crafting! :)

The Adventure Begins!

2010-02-12T17:12:00.000-06:00

This is my first foray into blogging so please bear with me! I'm excited to begin my journey into all that is blogdom. Well, let's see...

I started my internet career as ElderArc on Deviantart several years ago. I like digital painting, photo manipulations, drawing, photography, and jewelry. Some wild idea occurred to me to sell jewelry. I began my Etsy shop as ElderArc because that's what I was used to. However, when it was time for me to get my licenses, I decided on Artisan Originals instead. Hopefully this blog will unite the two personas: ElderArc is my personal persona. Artisan Originals is my business persona. You savvy? :D

I started my fledgeling business in mid-September of last year. I heard about Etsy from some of my Deviantart friends and decided to give it a go! Sales have been slow but I hear it takes a while for newbies. Patience is a virtue, no?

Some of the Etsy articles said to grab a Facebook fanpage so I did. I love it! I really get to connect to other artisans and I get to interact with my fans! I have fans, can you believe it?!? I also get to fan all sorts of artists and share their newest creations.

Another article said to try Twitter and so I did! Oh my, oh my! I adore twitter!! The social interaction is so great that most days I totally forget to promote my shop! I've met such great people there and have made some very dear friends.

We also have a twitter group called the Twitter Chix (@twtr_chix) and we have such a roaring good time! Listen late nights at your own risk because some of our chix are fun loving and hilarious!

I joined an Etsy Team called Busy Moms of Etsy and they are great! Our group leader is one of my twitter friends! Recently my dear friend and soul sister, @Fruitsothebloom joined our team and I'm so excited to work with her on promoting our shops!

So that journey takes me here: a blog. I am learning from the bottom up so hopefully you will enjoy my blog, and hopefully I'll get the hang of it soon. Welcome to my blog!!!