November Featured Etsy Blogger

This month's featured Etsy Blogger is Cindy of Devine Designs Jewelry. Her beautiful handcrafted jewelry is made from wire that has been twisted, shaped and coiled into some truly unique pieces. Cindy uses different metal, beads and stones so that no matter what your taste you will be sure to find something to fit your style.

I am in love with the bracelet shown below. The beads she used are very unique in that they are made of glass, but look like real stone. I also love the silver and the chunkiness in general of this bangle. Click here to learn more (and possibly purchase) this great bracelet.






How great would these sterling and lapis earrings look with a pair of jeans on the weekend? Take a closer look, I bet you'll fall in love with them.

Nice Things Come In Small Packages

I added these tiny earrings to my Artistry Arts shop last week. Earrings are my must wear piece of jewelry. I don't know about you, but there are times when I want an earring that I even feel in my ear. I want a small, very light earrings on days when I don't feel good, it's very hot, my allergies are bothering me, etc. It might seem strange, but that is how I feel.



Do you have days that you want a small earring? These look large in the photo, but they are less then an inch long.

Featured Etsy Blogger For March

This month's featured Etsy Blogger is DesignByNora.

She has these cute polymer clay stud earrings in her shop and is offering free shipping. That can't be beat.



You will also find a great selection of handbags by her Uncle Naz. Cindy's purse, shown below, is just one of the many that Nora has to offer.



Right now Nora is offering $1.00 purchases as a way to celebrate her 100th blog post. What a great time to visit her shop and make a purchase.

Wonderful Wednesday

This week I went way back to one of the first shops that I hearted as a favorite when I joined Etsy. Arny Designs has an eco-friendly shop where I found these great earrings made from plastic grocery bags.

Simplicity

Sometimes I like the simple things the best. I made 2 pairs of these earrings - one pair for my shop and one pair for me to wear. I wear mine all the time.

Copper - Shiny or Oxidized - You Choose

Whenever I make a new piece of copper jewelry I love how bright and shiny it looks when I take it out of the tumbler. I admire it for awhile and then decide if I am going to add a patina or not. Here are a few pairs of earrings that I made both ways so you, the buyer, can decide which they prefer.

All are available in my shop.

Competition For The Sunny Window

I like to photograph my jewelry in natural light. After a lot of hit and miss with the lighting and the time of day, I finally found what works the best for me. I use the window in our family room in the mid-morning for the best photographs with the least amount of photo editing needed. Well, as you can see from the photo to the right, that is also Emma's favorite morning sunny spot. It's not so bad sharing when I'm trying to get a good shot of a bracelet or a necklace, but it can be quite the pain when she joins me when I am shooting earrings. I use a picture frame without glass to dangle my earrings from. Some days it seems that they take forever to stop swaying. And most days it seems that the moment they are done swaying is the exact moment that Emma decides she needs to be in the window. I guess it could be worse - she could be in the box with the earrings.

Rustic Earrings

I love how these earrings turned out. I made simple hoops out of copper wire and then hammered it to give them some texture. I decided to oxidize them instead of leaving the copper shiny. I gave them a quick dunk in liver of sulphur and this is how they came out. They remind me of something rustic that you might find in an old barn. I'm going to make myself a pair and I am hoping to duplicate the patina exactly.

These are available in my Etsy store

Photographing Earrings Saga

I have been making earrings lately, but having a heck of a time getting good photographs of them. I like the look of the earrings hanging so that the person looking at them gets a good idea of how they hang. So, I have what I thought was a good system. I have my light box with my blue sky and clouds background. I have a wrought iron picture frame from which I removed the glass to have a place to hang the earrings. And, of course, I have the earrings.

I take most of my pictures with my light box on one of two windowsills in my house at the same time of day when it is bright outside. I either take the pictures in our family room or in the kitchen.

Day One - I set up my light box and picture frame and hung the earrings. Then I go about my business while waiting for the earrings to stop swaying so I can get a nice clear picture. Here is where things get complicated. Here in Northern NJ it is starting to get cold out, which means that the heat comes on. We have forced hot air heat with a blower located, you guessed it, right under the window. So now I have to wait for the earring to stop swaying all over again and quickly get the pictures done.

Day Two – I don’t want to worry about the heat again so this time I set up in the kitchen. There is a small piece of counter which folds down that I can fold up and use as a table that is right in front of the window and I don’t have to worry about the heat blowing. So, I set up my light box and earrings and go about my business while waiting for the earrings to stop swaying only to come back to find Emma, the cat, curled up in the light box with the earrings!

I finally have my photos all done and ready to list in the next few days in my shop.

There has to be an easier way, but I haven’t found it yet – any and all suggestions are welcome

Lifesaver Earrings

I made these earrings from copper wire and some small glass green donuts that I found at a bead shop. I thought they looked like green Lifesavers - they're about the same size. After the earrings were made I added a patina to the copper so the green glass would stand out even more.

Welcome

Hi. Welcome to my blog. I will spend most of my time here talking about jewelry making - beading, bead crochet and chainmaille and also about my adventures of trying to get a shop going on Etsy. I am in the process of getting together some of my favorite links - the places where I learned most of the techniques I use.

The earrings below were listed in my shop a few days ago. They really are a lot of fun. I have a pair myself that I wear at least 3-4 times a weak. They are nice and lightweight and go with almost anything. These are made from a chainmaille weave known as Shaggy Loops or Flip Flop weave - How can they not be fun with names like that?


Morning Sky Jewlery