Great Information For Etsians

If you want a wealth of information about any question you ever had about using Etsy, you must check out this blog from Loose Wire Studio. And while you're at it, why don't you check out her shop too!

I Love Etsy

I listed this new bookmark on my Morning Sky Creations Etsy shop yesterday. It's made from decoupaging onto a painted 1 inch square wooden tile and then adding a cotton cord and glass beads. Both sides of the tile are the same.

I thought of using patterned papers like I use for my Bible verse bookmarks, but I was afraid that the heart would get lost in a pattern.

I have it priced at $7.50 since the decoupaging takes time. I wait 2 hours between each coat and I do both sides, so even though it's only a few minutes of work, it actually takes all day.

I would love to hear any opinions about paper choice and my price. Thanks for any input.

Plugboard

I have added a Plugboard to my blog. Do you plug? A plugboard is a place where other websites can add a plug. A plug is a small banner (in my case 88x31 pixels) advertising your blog, website, Etsy shop, etc. When all the spaces are filled up and a new plug is added, one of the older plugs drops off. You can then come back and add your plug back in.

You can find plugboards to add your plug to by doing a Google search. I only add mine to ones that are family friendly and don't require a link on my website back to their site. Since my plug is for my Etsy shop that would be impossible for me to do.

You can make your own plug using a photo editing program or you can search Etsy for sellers that will make a plug for you.

If you would like to add a plugboard to your blog or website you can create one at http://www.plugme.net .

Have fun!

Lunar Eclipse - Northern NJ 9:45 PM

Last night, at about 9:45, my phone rang. This is very unusual for my house. It was my neighbor that saw our lights on and gave us a call to tell us to go outside and check out the lunar eclipse. I'm glad she did - it was awesome to see. Sorry that the photos aren't great, but it's the best I could do with my little digital camera.

A Byzantine Variation

Byzantine is one of the most well known chainmaille weaves. It is the first one that a lot of people learn when they decide to give chainmaille a try. Byzantine is used for necklaces, bracelets, earrings and even key fobs. It is also easy to make variations of byzantine. You can do as I have done and add small byzantine sections to the main weave. You can also weave 2 seperate lengths and then join them together with smaller sections. Byzantine is one of those weaves that you can take wherever your imagination leads you.

Ice Day

No school for my kids today. What started as snow yesterday turned to freezing rain overnight. This is how it looks out my window at 1:00 in the afternoon.

The teenager slept until 11:30 AM and the 12 year old has been watching TV and playing video games. I’ve been on the computer adding a Plugboard to my blog. Feel free to add a plug.

It’s getting warmer so once it gets slushy enough I’ll have to get everyone out in the rain shoveling and see if I can free my car.

I HATE WINTER!

My Drilling Jig

When I started making my Bible Verse Bookmarks I drilled a hole through the top of the wood tile to have a place to attach the cord. It looked nice, but I thought that it would look even nicer if I could drill through the length of the tile. This would allow me to add beads to the ends as well as not having to worry about the type placement.
So, I put my tile in a vice and got out my Dremel. I tried to drill straight through, but being as the tiles are only ¼ inch thick I didn’t have much success.





This is what my husband came up with for me. It allows me to hold the tile flat and position the Dremel in just the right place. Now I am able to get a nice hole through the length and be more creative with my bookmarks!

New Etsy Store

I decided to open a second Etsy shop. There are other crafts that I enjoy doing in addition to making jewelry. After a lot of thought and reading the opinions of others on the forums I decided that a second store was the only way to go. Since the name of my first store is Morning Sky Jewelry I thought that is was only logical to keep that store solely jewelry. I didn’t want it to look cluttered and a buyer probably wouldn’t come to a store with jewelry in the name if they were looking for something else. So I would like to introduce Morning Sky Creations.

Morning Sky Creations is the home of other crafts I enjoy and ideas that I want to try out. I had learned to make reversible drawstring pouches out of bandanas years ago and wanted to give them a try on Etsy, so this is where you will find them. They are a lot of fun, especially since there are so many interesting bandanas to choose from as compared to years ago.






I have moved my beaded bookmarks from my jewelry store to the new one and have also added Bible Verse Bookmarks. If the response from these is good, perhaps I will make some into pendants.






I’m excited about my new shop, but also a bit nervous. Okay, maybe more then a bit. It’s scary starting from scratch again, but now I know that it takes patience and for the right type of buyer to find my shop.

If you have a minute, please stop in and browse and leave a comment. I welcome any suggestions you may have.

Christmas Purchases From Etsy

This year I decided to buy some of my Christmas presents from Etsy to support some fellow artists and crafters. I must say that I was not disappointed and neither were the recepients of my gifts.

For my son I purchased a vintage tie that was made into a guitar strap from kacey's space .

From Valerie's Gallery I bought my sister-in-law a beautiful felted bowl for her to use as a candy dish on her desk.

And for my friend who cuts my hair, some things from Cozy Moments so she can pamper herself.

Birthstones

After I made some birthstone bracelets for my friend's daughters it got me thinking. Is birthstone jewelry as popular as it was when I was growing up? I remember being in High School and everyone had birthstone earrings, necklaces or rings. Maybe it was easier back then to recognize birthstone jewelry. My birth month is July so my birthstone was Ruby. Now July sometimes uses Carnelian.

I was thinking of making my Mother-In-Law a grandmother's bracelet for her birthday in January. Do I use all traditional stones or do I use modern? Or, perhaps, I use a combination to make it more visually appealing.

January - Garnet or Rose Quartz

February - Amethyst or Onyx

March - Aquamarine or Bloodstone

April - Diamond or Rock Crystal

May - Emerald or Agate or Chrysoprase

June - Pearl, Moonstone or Alexandrite

July - Ruby or Carnelian

August - Peridot or Sardonyx

September - Sapphire or Lapis

October - Opal or Tourmaline

November - Topaz or Citrine

December - Blue Topaz, Turquoise, Zircon or Tanzanite

I made this sterling silver and Swarovski crystal chainmaille bracelet for my shop for all the January birthdays. Hmmm, should I have used Rose Quartz instead?