New Year, New Treasuries!

Starry Night Bracelet

Another quick collection of treasuries I've had the honor of being featured in and ones I've made as well.  Please share the love and give them a click!  They're worth checking out!

Merry Re-Gifting by naturallymephotos

GOODBYE 2010 WELCOME 2011 by gazellejewelry

Just Earrings! by aloper33

Bracelets For Everyone by aloper33

Pink Color of 2011...Happy New Years Etsy! by SnobbishDesign

Last Wishes From 2010 by BizimSupplies

Golden Christmas by efraitjewelry

A Little Sparkle For The New Year by heversonart

Green With Envy by Pixieval

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to include me in their treasuries and who appreciate my work!  Without you I would not be able to continue doing what I love!

Pretty New Danglies

Mint Candy Earrings in
Wintermint Kiss

Mint Candy Earrings in
Spearmint Candy

I have a few new pairs of dangling copper earrings that I'd like to share with everyone!  First is my Mint Candy Earrings that come in two choices: Wintermint Kiss and Spearmint Candy.  They both feature beautiful and delightfully colorful foil lamp work glass beads with matching seed beads.  The earrings and findings are all antique finish copper plated wire.  Of course they are also nickel and lead free.

Snow White Copper
Chain Earrings

My second new item, Snow White Copper Chain Earrings, are simple, yet elegant, copper chain chandelier earrings in a beautiful frosted glass color.  They feature clear frosted lamp work beads dangling among dainty copper plated cable chain fringe.  Earrings and findings are nickel and lead free copper plated wire in a lovely antique finish.

To see these lovely new items please visit my shop here or click on the Etsy badge in the column on your right!

New Fur Baby in the Zoo!

Zoe

My hubby gave me the best Christmas present!  A fluffy little 11 wk old kitten!  I wanted to share her and the rest of our critters with everyone!  New little one is Zoe, a long hair grey with faint tabby stripes on her face and legs.  She almost looks like she has leopard spots on her side since the stripes are broken up!  Kaylie just adores her and calls her, "baby kitty".  She's learning the rules here quickly: don't scratch this, we don't belong on the desk, and stop jumping in the plant!  The other kitties are getting used to her, no major confrontations, just some fur puffing and growling.  I had been thinking of getting a kitten for some time now since Sophie is leaving soon to go back home with my sister-in-law (we were cat sitting while she was in college) and Jasper will miss his wrestling partner!  Giz plays with him but only for a few minutes before she's had enough.

Jasper

Jasper at 9 mo

Our other fur baby is Jasper, a big overly fluffy and cow spotted Maine Coon.  We've had him since he was 10 wks old and 20 pounds lighter!  He's three now and such a lover boy.  I named him after Jasper on Family Guy, Brian's gay cousin since he acts like such a girl!  He may be a little wussy (he's afraid of everything new) but he's my sweet hairy boy and he loves his cuddles and glitter pom poms.

Gizmo at 6 wks

Gizmo

Gizmo is our three year old pretty tortoise shell who looked just like the gremlin when she was a kitten.  She had huge ears and was a bit of an ugly duckling (so ugly she was cute though!)  She's grown to be quite the pretty girl though!  She's a bit on the timid side but she loves her cuddles too and will befriend you so long as you let her come to you.

Sophie Lounging

Sophie

Sophie is just visiting and will be going back home at the end of the month.  She's a pretty 1 year old Russian Blue with a touch of tabby (she's got stripes at the end of her tail).  She's got a bit of a chip on her shoulder and thinks she's top cat but her and Jasper are buds.  They love to wrestle in the living room and get hair everywhere!  She's also got the most unique way of lounging!

In addition to the kitties we also have two huge albino oscars, a plecostomous (algae eater) that's just as huge and a freckled catfish that's growing like a weed.  Kaylie has a fish tank too, two angels, a pleco, a red platy, and a weather loach.  When she's older we plan on getting her a pet rat.  They're supposed to be very good with kids since they don't bite much like hamsters and guinea pigs can.  Yeah, we have a zoo!

Our Oscars and Catfish

Recent Treasuries

Here's another list of recent treasuries I've made and been featured in!  Take a minute to check them out, they're all worth it!

First Frost II Necklace

Sweet Treasures by ZurDesigns

Keep it Classy by crobinson

My Gift Ideas by Ebruk

A Little New Year's Sparkle by Pixieval

You Look Lovely in Blue by heversonart

EtsyLovesBeads-ChristmasCheer by PZDesigns

Beaded--Only the Best by RagstoRiches

Handmade Home by UnityWorks

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas by heversonart

I'm so happy to be included in these great treasuries and love making them myself too!

Funky Chunky Bracelets!

Funky Chunky Bracelet in Snow White

Funky Chunky Bracelet
in Pretty in Pink

I made these awesome one of a kind bracelet series called "Funky Chunky Bracelets".  I had a bag of big chunky Czech glass beads that I really didn't quite know what to do with.  After some thinking I came up with these great bracelet ideas!  They are completely handmade down to the jump rings and the clasp!  The beads are genuine Czech glass beads with solid copper hand made findings and a few beads per bracelet are wire wrapped as well.  Each bracelet is unique and features beads of different sizes and shapes including squares, ovals, hearts, abstract, faceted, rounds, and even a black cat!  Each one is very unique and come in five different colors: snow white, jet black, pretty in pink, ocean blue, and cherry red!

Sweet Heart Set

I also have a new necklace and earring set called "Sweet Heart" that I just listed.  It features solid copper wire hearts that have been hand forged and hammered flat.  The middle where the coils meet is wrapped with a small gauge copper wire to give them a finished and elegant look.  The necklace is 18" long on a dainty copper plated figure eight chain in an antique finish.  The fish hook style ear wires are also an antique finish.  The light and dark copper adds a beautiful contrast to this set!  As with all my jewelry, they are nickel and lead free.

Coming soon!  I just placed an order online for charm bracelet supplies!  Do I ever love Etsy suppliers!  I don't think I'll ever buy from wholesalers again :).  I will be making unique antique finish copper and bronze charm bracelets!  I'm very excited to start making these!  I'm thinking of doing charm necklaces as well!  Check back soon to see them!

To see my Funky Chunky Bracelets click here or click the Etsy badge in the column to your right!

Cute new Earrings and a Bracelet!

I had a wonderful time at the craft show Wednesday!  I sold lots of goodies and lots of my trees (in time I'll get the trees on Etsy too!) and it was wonderful going out for celebratory drinks with the art gals after the show!  Now that the craft show is over, I have time to put up a few new listings!  The deadline has passed for guaranteed Christmas delivery, but of course if you are local you are more than welcome to stop by my home to purchase something!  I have up a few new things and there will be more coming too as I get them priced and photographed!

Caged Heart Earrings

My Caged Heart Earrings are darling little danglies featuring my signature caged design!  They look adorable with just about anything and come in blue, red and black!  The two little Czech glass beads are able to wiggle freely inside the hand wired copper heart, but don't worry, they won't fall out!  The heart frame is hand forged, hammered flat and then delicately wire wrapped by hand.  The cute little Czech glass hearts match the beads inside the copper heart and hang from lead and nickel-free copper plated ear wires in an antique finish.  As with all my copper jewelry they are tarnish resistant and sprayed with a clear fixative to prevent metal allergies!

Hammered Heart Bracelet

The Hammered Heart Bracelet features a beautiful handmade copper heart charm!  The cute little charm has copper finished glass beads and a glass bead color of your choice.  The charm is hand forged, coil hammered flat, finished with a lovely patina, and then wire wrapped by hand.  The genuine Czech glass beads on the stretchy bracelet coordinate with the charm's bead color.  This lovely little bracelet looks wonderful when paired with it's matching Hammered Heart Earrings which can be color customized to match!

Hammered Copper Coil Bracelet

I've also sold and relisted my Hammered Copper Coil Bracelet!  I'm so happy my Etsy shop is getting more traffic and I'm being featured in several treasuries on a regular basis!  Thanks everyone for your wonderful support and appreciation for my hand made jewelry!

To see my shop with the items mentioned above please click here or click the Etsy badge in the column to your right.  If you're local and you'd like to stop on over to my home to browse my items please email me at heversonart@gmail.com.

Copper and Gemstone Earrings

Copper and Gemstone Earrings
Green Adventurine

New listing!  I took a break from working on items for the upcoming craft show to put up a new listing with these darling little dangly earrings I made!  They're made of copper plated earring findings (nickel and lead free) and beautful genuine gemstones.  I made up three different types for my Etsy listing but I will happily welcome custom orders and have lots of other gemstones available.  I have green adventurine in cool melon greens, amethyst in bright royal purples, and rose quartz in pale shades of pink.  They are simplistic yet elegant enough to wear for day or night.  They come on an adorable handmade earring card and are ready to gift!

Amethyst on Handmade
Earring Card

If you are interested in the other gemstones I can use for a custom order I have the following genuine gemstones: garnet, amazonite (similar to aquamarine), crystal quartz, malachite, fluorite, red jasper, peridot, lapis lazuli, citrine, turquoise, picture jasper, and hematite.  You are welcome to mix stone choices as well.  To see them in my shop, please visit this link or click the Etsy badge in the column to your right.

More Treasuries and Craft Show!

Hammered Copper Coils Bracelet

I've been featured in a few more treasuries and made some as well that are worth checking out for sure!  Here's the links!

Girls Just Want To Have Fun by aloper33

Girly Goodies by UnityWorks

For the Love of Beautiful Things by StoneStuff

Housewives of Etsy by RosaMariasKitchen

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That by heversonart

Oh Wonderful Things! by heversonart

To Food and Good Wine! Bon Appetit! by DragonflyExpression

Little Somethings by UnityWorks 

I'm very excited to be included in such wonderful treasuries and look forwards to being in and creating many more!

Also don't forget for you locals out there I'll be at a craft and art sale for the Art Club at Bay College on Wednesday, December 8th from 3:30 to 7pm by the Hartwig Gallery for the opening of the Student Art Show!  there'll be wonderful food and drinks and also for every sale I make $2 goes to help fund the Art Club's trip to Chicago!  Come support a wonderful group of artists at Bay!  If anyone would like more info email me at: heversonart@gmail.com.

Happy beading everyone :)

Clearance Sale!

Autumn Splendor Bracelet

I am having a clearance sale in my Etsy shop for all my autumn themed jewelry!  They are marked down 25-30% from their original price.  They would make great gifts and reds, ambers, and browns look wonderful all year round!

I also have a new section in my shop titled "Gifts 20 and Under" for the holiday season to help make gift shopping easier and less expensive!

To visit my shop visit this link or click on the Etsy badge in the column to your right.

Peace and Quiet!

Mommy's lil stinkpot

All is quiet throughout the house, no pitter patter of toddler feet or squeals so loud.  No grenades launching from the Xbox or whining about empty tummies.  Finally this mommy has peace and quiet while hubby and toddler are away :)

I get to have something magical for a few days before Thanksgiving: ME time!  Hubby is out hunting for the rest of the week and my mom has offered to take Kaylie till I see her for Thanksgiving.  Thank goodness for grandmas!  It seems like the possibilities are endless with the amount of things I can accomplish without a kid hanging off my leg or a husband pestering me about dinner!  Maybe I'll even have time for a book!  Most of all, I'm looking forward to lots of uninterrupted time to finish up the last items I need for the craft show at the college!  So with my hot cup of pomegranate tea off I go to create, relax, and all around enjoy the peace and quiet for a few days!

Etsy Treasury Lists!

Hammered Heart

I'm very excited about being featured in several treasuries recently and I wanted to share the links with you all!

I Heart You: Great Beaded Gifts For Her by the EtsyHeartBeads Team

The First Crafty Housewives Team Treasury by DragonflyExpression

Little Worlds Inside Glass Bubbles by brienna

For The Love Of It All Part 2 by earthmothermosaics

There's lots of good work out there and I'm so glad to be included in them!

Having an Etsy Sale and the Debut of A Mother's Heart Personalized Set!

A Mother's Heart Necklace

A Mother's Heart Earrings

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be having a Black Friday sale in my Etsy shop!  Type in code 10OFF when checking out to receive 10% off your order!  This sale is only good for my Esty store and starts 12AM EST Friday November 26th and will end Monday November 29th at 10PM. Coupon codes are a new feature by Etsy so if anyone encounters any problems using it, please let me know right away.

I'd also like to announce the arrival of my NEW necklace and earrings, "A Mother's Heart"!  They feature genuine Swarovski crystals available in all twelve birthstone months for that special woman in your life!  Use the crystals to signify children's, grandchildren's, spouse's, or any loved one's birthdays!  See it in my Etsy store for more information!

Art and Craft Sale Coming Up!

 Copper Coil Bracelet

First off I have a few new Etsy items (I’m really cranking them out lately!) that you see pictured here to add with the Hammered Copper Coil Earrings I posted earlier!  Along with those and many more items will be available for sale locally at Bay College for the student art sale!  I was invited to sell my jewelry and wire wrapped trees since I’m a Painting I, II, and III alumnus and $2 from each item sold will go towards the Art Club’s annual trip to Chicago!  So come on out on Wednesday December 8th from 3:30-7pm at the Hartwig Gallery (the gallery by the art department) at Bay College!  Hope to see you there and remember, each purchase helps the art students fund their Chicago trip in the spring!

 Copper Coil Necklace

I'm happy to say my painting demonstration for the painting class at Bay College went well!  I'm hoping the students learned something new and I had a pretty good time!  After several years, it was nice to be back and to catch up with the instructor.  Many of the students wanted to know how I've worked on my career and how I make my living as an artist and I hope they can use any advice I gave to help further their own career!  It's hard starting out as an artist and you may hit many a dead end, but it's so worth it if it's something you really love.  I work harder now than I have at any other payroll job I've had, but I love it so much and wouldn't trade it for anything!

Visit my Etsy store by clicking here or the link in the column to your right!

New! Hammered Copper Wire!

Hammered Heart

I’m very excited to announce the debut of my Hammered Heart series along with more hammered copper designs!  I’m really enjoying working with copper wire and I’m very happy to do even more with it than before!  The hammered hearts turned out marvelous and just in time for the Christmas shopping season!  I kept my signature caged design and applied it to many of my new designs!

Hammered Coil Earrings

I’m also happy to announce the introduction of earrings as well.  The little hammered copper charms on them look awesome with a rich patina finish and I’m going to be expanding to make matching earrings, bracelets, and necklaces coming soon!  So far I have a matching necklace and earring set: Hammered Heart necklace and earrings.  I have a sketchbook full of new heart and other doodles for designs so keep checking back as I get them out in my Etsy store!  Lastly, I’d like to add that I’m very proud to have one of my raku necklaces included in an Etsy treasury by EarthMotherMosaics, click here to see it!  To see my new Hammered Heart designs and other new merchandise please visit this link or click on the Etsy badge in the column on the right.

Hammered Heart Earrings

Career is Moving Up!

Purple Orchid

I got a call recently from my painting/art history instructor, Joann,  from when I was attending college for my AA a few years ago asking if I would be willing to come in and be a paid speaker for this semester’s painting class next week!  She wants me to give a demonstration of my technique used for my mixed media Flower Series.  She liked my use of glazing for the color accenting and the fact that I use a sable hair paintbrush and powdered graphite in lieu of a pencil for the drawing.  I couldn’t be more excited!  Art has always been a passion of mine and for the longest time it wasn’t much more than a serious hobby.  I’m just glad that I’m beginning to make a career of it!  Between this and my jewelry (I just started my hammered heart series and they’re coming along beautifully, once they‘re done to Etsy the go!) my fledgling career seems to be going up and up!  Next year I’m planning to enter holiday craft shows and I’d also like to enter the Northern Exposure art show at the Bonifas as well.

Now I just have to make up a  plastered canvas and get all my materials together for next Wednesday!  I hope the students are as enthusiastic and excited as Joann says they are!  I’m certainly looking forward to it but I must say, it’s going to feel a little weird being the one talking instead of being the one paying attention.  Last time I was there, I was just a student and teacher’s aid!

A Few New Things on Etsy

Winter Maple

Winter's Frost II

Got up a few new listings on Etsy recently!  I have plenty more that will be trickling in over the next few days as well.  I have now my Wintermint Kiss bracelet and necklace available on Etsy that were seen at my recent show.  Also listed my Winter Maple and Winter's Frost II raku necklaces (pictured).  I really love the vibrant metallic hues in the raku leaves, they really pop and the dark brown copper wire accents them so beautifully!  The silk ribbon on Winter Maple is personally hand dyed using an organic dye, the soft grey color matches perfectly and of course smooth silk feels so nice on the skin :)  The Winter's Frost II features my classic caged copper wire pendant with a small raku leaf inside and has matching glass copper and brown accents on the waxed cotton cord.  The dark wire provides a wonderful foreground for the metallic sheen of the raku!  To see them and the rest of my shop visit this link or the Etsy link in the column on the right.

A Great Start and Future Thoughts

Jade Calla

First off I want to thank all of those who attended my jewelry party and I am exceptionally happy about the great turnout!  I had a wonderful time meeting new people and seeing my own friends as well.  I am very happy to say that my jewelry and trees were quite a hit!  I have plenty of custom orders to keep my busy!  Taking this into consideration I think it’s a wonderful idea for me to branch out and become a vendor in craft shows next year!  I received exceptional compliments over my craftsmanship and quality of each piece, so I am confident that I would do well in them!  I think I finally found my happy niche in art.  I will always love to paint, draw and work with mixed media, but I think I can really have fun going the jewelry route.  The creative ideas are endless and the sky’s the limit (well actually my budget is the limit, ha ha!).  I will be working with hammered copper wire very soon, once my order gets here (hurry up Mr. UPS man!) for my hammer and block.  I will be adding earrings soon and I’m thinking of adding anklets when spring gets closer.  I’m absolutely loving the wire wrapped look and will continue to incorporate that into my future works.  Keep a look out for new designs in my Etsy shop!

First Etsy Sale!

Copper Swirls Bracelet SOLD on Etsy!

I am beyond stoked that I made my first Etsy sale today!  I sold my Copper Swirls Bracelet and after I make my next order for supplies I'll be re-listing it :) I'd read some tips on how to describe, photograph and price your items more attractively and thought I'd try these tips out since my store just wasn't getting much traffic and no sales yet.  Happy to report that it worked!  Now crossing my fingers that my buyer gives me great feedback (there's no reason I should get anything less) so I can be on the start to more regular sales!  I thought I'd share a few tips I used to help my store out to boost item views and lead to more sales.  Most are common sense ideals but these simple things are easy to overlook sometimes and can be applied to just about any online storefront you may be using.

1. Use all 14 tags.  Use descriptive search terms like "handmade", specific materials, colors, shapes, season, and use your username every so often for those who type your name and forget to select search by seller.  helpful blog with tons of descriptive words if you're stuck: Seller How-To: Tag-o-Rama With Descriptive Keywords
2. Use stellar photos.  This is common sense but take good quality photos of your items, closeups, perhaps people using or wearing your item, or use simple yet neutral props: driftwood, some pretty but not too busy scrapbook paper, a solid colored mug, etc.  Use interesting angles that flatter your item, and don't be afraid to use simple editors to enhance the brightness and contrast (being careful not to alter the colors or making it look different than in real life).  I use Windows Live Photo Gallery, super simple and free program to do simple enhancements since I am not photo shop savvy in any way!  Use your best photo as the first photo to catch the viewer's eye.  People only have a description and 5 photos to look at so make them count!  Look at your list of favorites: what made you favorite them? Look at their pictures, why did they attract you?  Apply some of their ideas into your photographs.  Just make sure your backgrounds aren't too busy or your colors too bold (Sometimes I break this rule myself, tisk tisk!).
3. Make your potential buyer NEED your item.  Chances are your item can be bought in some form at a retailer at a discounted price whether it be jewelry, knitted/crocheted items, handbags, etc.  People are looking at your shop to buy handmade items so make your items sound more appealing than discounted, mass produced merchandise.  We've all seen those catalog ads with flowing, colorful descriptions of their merchandise so borrow that idea and apply it to your items.  Make sure to apply this idea to your item title to make an eye catching first impression.  Really helpful blog: Seller How-To: 5 Tips for Item Descriptions
4. Set attractive prices.  Lots of views but little sales?  Chances are your prices are too low.  This sounds obvious, but look at your prices from the view of the consumer.  If your prices are cheap, chances are people will assume your merchandise is cheap.  Price too high and you'll also turn people away.  Look at your competition, what are their prices?  How do your prices compare?  Also think of WHO you are targeting, are you trying to attract low budget, middle class or affluent buyers?  Do your prices fit the audience you're targeting?  This forum thread helped me: Are Your Prices TOO Low?  Helpful blogs: Art of Pricing: Three Helpful Pricing Exercises and Etsy Success: Reevaluating Your Prices
5. Use and Comment in Etsy blogs and forums.  There's tons of advice out there!  Read some posts that interest you and leave a heartfelt comment stating your opinion or simply thanking the writer for the information.  People see your comment and perhaps they want to click on your name to check out your shop.  Don't get all spammy in your comment though.  Nobody gets more turned off than a "look at me" spam comment with your link plastered all over it.  Only share items in your shop IF they pertain to the blog/forum thread.  If you're really struggling or have any questions don't be afraid to post a new topic, there are tons of people who are willing to help a fellow artisan!
6. JOIN AN ETSY TEAM!  There are tons of super awesome teams out there who can help you succeed!  Join one that encourages treasuries, they're free advertising!  It's wonderful when you can get advice from people who have been there done that and also to know you're not the only one having troubles!  Etsy has some fierce competition, and with the help of a good team, you can get found too!

These simple tips doubled and even tripled most of my item page views almost overnight, so if they worked for me, chances are they'll work for you!  I hope this helps, and if anyone has more tips and tricks please feel free to comment!  If you'd like to see some of these tips first hand, visit my Etsy Shop.

A Few New Trees

Green Adventurine Gem Tree

These "new" gemstone trees are trees I hadn't photographed yet, so I figured I'd get a couple of shots in before I sell them!  The green adventurine is a cool melon green similar in color to Jade, which tends to be more opaque.  Hematite I'm sure most of you are already familiar with is a gunmetal grey with a silvery sheen  in the sunlight.  Picture jasper is a unique mottled brown with a stippling of dark brown and blacks, almost looking painted.  These three genuine gemstones are available along with twelve other gemstones that complete my Birthstone Tree series.  They are as follows:

Hematite Gem Tree

• January: genuine garnet
• February: genuine amethyst
• March: genuine amazonite
• April: genuine crystal quartz
• May: genuine malachite
• June: genuine fluorite
• July: genuine red jasper
• August: genuine peridot
• September: genuine lapis lazuli
• October: genuine rose quartz
• Novemeber: genuine citrine



Picture Jasper Gem Tree 

• December: genuine turquoise dyed howlite (a turquoise substitute)

I have several types of trees including Basic Trees and Photo Charm Trees in addition to my Gemstone and Birthstone Trees.  All trees are available in copper, silver tone and brass plated and in small and medium sizes.  These trees make excellent and unique gifts, especially with Christmas just around the corner!  Both the Basic and Gem Trees would make great jewelry trees as well for your dangling earrings and bracelets that you'd love to show off!  Please visit my personal artist website here or the link is also in the column to your right.  I'm also selling trees at my upcoming Jewelry Party on November 5th at a discounted rate for those who attend.  Email or comment me if you'd like information regarding my party.

Free Kid-Comes With One Month's Supply of Diapers

Portion of the back of her crib

With having a two year old, it’s become a daily power struggle between me and her and the fear of becoming institutionalized before she‘s three constantly looms over my head (maybe padded rooms are comfy, who knows).  Just when I think I’m on top of it and have drilled it in her head that we do not stomp on the cat or throw toys in people’s faces, she goes and finds some other bad behavior equally infuriating to taunt me with.  Yesterday I discovered that the back of her fairly expensive cherry finish 4 in 1 crib was covered in scrapes and scratches.  I mean covered, down to the bare wood.  Figuring she had snuck some hard toy contraband into the stuffed animal bin next to her crib, I searched to find no such things.  What the heck could have done this?  I even checked her stuffed animals eyes, thinking maybe she was scraping their hard eyeballs on the wood (as disturbing as an image that is) and nothing.  Today I put her down for her nap, she has her usual dramatic temper tantrum just in case I’ve forgotten that she hates nap time, and I hear a scratching noise soon after I close the door.  I creep up to the door, listening intently to this strange sound coming from her room.  I pop the door just a bit and peer inside.  What is the little turd up to?  She scraping at the wood with her bare fingernails!  How she hasn’t torn off every nail she has is beyond me, but now I’ve also solved why her nails are so dirty lately.  I figured she was in the planter in the living room again.  Solution?  I guess we keep her nails as short as absolutely possible just like we do to the cats to keep them from tearing up furniture when then run like savages through the living room.  I’m so ready for these terrible twos to be over.  She’s not always bad of course but I could really do without the drama.  So does anyone want to permanently baby sit my kid?

The culprit

Trying New Things

Winter's Frost

Being the do-it-yourself kind of person I am, I thought I’d try my hand at dying my own silk ribbon to use for my jewelry.  I had found these absolutely gorgeous raku leaves on Etsy and I knew I had to use them for my wire wrapped jewelry.  After making the pendants I wanted to find the perfect cording to accent the metallic hues on the leaves and the dark brown copper wire I had used.  I couldn’t for the life of me find what I wanted in any store (who knew grey dyed silk ribbon would be so elusive?) and didn’t really have the time to scour the internet for the perfect price and then wait by the mailbox.  So I had five yards of white silk ribbon and a pack of black powdered dye.  “Do not screw this up,” was the only thing going through my head since I have never dyed fabric before.  Two applications (water wasn’t hot enough the first time so the dye didn’t take well) and very black fingertips later, I had my grey ribbon!  Yay!  I didn’t even slop dye water all over my kitchen like I thought I was doomed to do since I have white cabinets!  It matches beautifully with the pendants as well.  Perhaps next time I can try mixing my own colors, but I won’t get ahead of myself just yet!

The necklace in the photograph is available at my Etsy store.  Click the Etsy badge in the column to the right or click this link to go to my store and check it out!  I will also have several other styles of this necklace (and tons more jewelry) available at my jewelry party coming up on November 5th at 7pm, if there are any left they will be listed on Etsy afterwards.  If you’d like to attend, please email me at heversonart@gmail.com for details.

A Couple of 360 Junkies

Starting her brain rotting early!  I couldn't pass up this cute picture though!  The really funny part is that whenever Ty's character dies or falls off something etc, she goes "oh shit".  Judge us all you want, it's cute in a way. At least for the most part we have convinced her that "oh poop" is a much better phrase :)

Kind of Best Friends

Kaylie with Jasper, he looks soooo happy!

Kaylie’s new favorite thing to do in the world for this week is to give our obscenely hairy maine coon, Jasper, hugs.  Granted it sounds adorable (and it is) and Jasper, the trooper that he is, deals with it with nothing more than an annoyed sigh and a “here we go again“ look in his eye, but you see my daughter‘s “hugs” consist of her dragging him by the neck and saying “awww” while shaking him back and forth like a ragdoll.  Granted she’s too little to understand he has feelings and bear hugs around the neck are not his idea of a good time, but as far as she’s concerned Jasper is nothing more than a really cool interactive hairy toy.  Why he puts up with it without much of a fight other than a whine here or there is totally beyond me.  He is a saint if you ask me with all the things she’s done to him!  She’s sat on him, laid on him, played on him, kicked him, hit him, pulled his fur, pulled his tail and the list goes on.  Gizmo, our torti won’t let her within five feet of her.

There’s also the fights over my lap.  Jasper will be purring to his heart’s content in my lap and Kaylie seems to think only she is allowed in my lap.  She sits on him, pushes him, kicks him if she has to in order to get in my lap.  Then Jasper, who doesn’t give up a fight easily, crams himself in the inconceivable space between her and me and purrs, rejoicing over his victory.  Then he and Kaylie’s eyes meet and it’s the look of death between the two of them.  Is it possible that Jasper is just a hairier toddler and this is cat/child sibling rivalry?  It’s rather comical the way those two fight like little kids over who gets my lap, heaven forbid they share!

Holding a kitten at the corn maze

Cats are by far her favorite animal at this point in life.  While at the Hayes Corn Maze, holding the barn kittens was about the only thing she wanted to do and was even trying to put them in her stroller to take home!  So far I think I have got it through to her that if she’s going to drag the poor cat around the living room, at least hold him under his arms so he can still breathe.  The funny part?  The dummy now purrs the whole time she’s dragging him around.  I guess I did well when I picked him out at the shelter three years ago.  If it was Gizmo (assuming she could catch her), she’d of packed her bags and left by now!  I’m hoping to talk hubby into us adopting a kitten this spring, maybe Jasper will get a bit of a break then :)!

Getting There!

Well I am feeling much better about the upcoming jewelry party.  I have at least a general idea how to go about it, and it was basically what I had figured.  Let people mingle for a bit then talk about my jewelry and trees and what I use, tell everyone my deal for coming (25% off any one item you order),  etc without yabbering too much.    It should turn out to be a great night!  I have everything labeled and pretty much ready to go, just have another new item or two I would like to come up with and I'm all ready!  I'm anxiously awaiting my shipment of these gorgeous handmade raku leaf pendants I found on Etsy a few days ago.  Oh Etsy, I love you so!  They will make wonderful wire wrapped necklaces!

Now to cross my fingers and hope that Kaylie is in a happy mood and doesn't feel the need to terrorize everyone there.  Kidzilla is not welcome.  Why can't kids come with a remote, preferably DVR?  It would be much more convenient.  I'd abuse the heck out of it ;)  Or at least a troubleshooting guide with an 24/7 customer service number not based out of India?  I guess unpredictability makes my life all that more interesting!

Temper Temper!

The drama of being two... I have no clue, and pretty sure she doesn't either, what set this off. She continues to roll around in a hilarious fit of random anger and I cannot stop laughing at how ridiculous she's being!  I couldn't resist snapping a pic with my BlackBerry, wait till her boyfriend sees this someday when she's 16....muh ha ha ha!

Coming Events

Photo Charm Tree

With fingers crossed and hopes high, I have my jewelry show coming up November 5th.  I must admit I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing.  I'm not really afraid of the whole talking to a bunch of complete strangers thing (most of the people there my hostess knows, not me), but more the fact that I don't know how to go about it.  The whole event was a wonderful idea proposed by my mom's hairdresser, Lisa, a bubbly gal I met once or twice before.  She even offered to host it for me and serve snacks and wine.  It is indeed a wonderful idea to have a party for my jewelry similar to parties for Partylite and Arbonne to sell their products.  Here's the catch: I've never in my life been to such a party, let alone been the star of one!  Yikes!

I've been in many an art show, and other than smiling and nodding at people and perhaps answering an inquisitive question or two about your entry, you don't really need to participate much. Heck, you don't even need to show up if you don't want to! I've also never been one to enjoy the spotlight and to top things off I'm not much of a talker either. I've really got myself into something haven't I? But I shall fear not and enjoy myself (a few glasses of wine later) and sell, sell, sell :). I'm sure my daughter will serve as quite the little ice breaker. Lisa insists I bring her, and since my mom is coming too, I at least have someone to stop her from wreaking havoc on her home. If we can make it through the event without her picking her nose or yelling "oh sh*t" (her new catch phrase which I am not to blame, *cough* Daddy *cough*) I will be just delighted!

Hopefully I can gain a bit of insight from my best friend coming to help me soon to label and price each item I'll have there. I still have three weeks to get ready so I've no reason to be totally in the dark, but wish me luck!

If anyone is interested in attending send me an email: heversonart@gmail.com and I'll send you the info. If you'd like to see what will be there please click the facebook badge in the column on the right or this link to go to my facebook page. I have photos of my trees (Photo Charm Tree pictured above) and jewelry that will be there in my Jewelry and Copper Sculpture photo albums.

A Little Something About Me

Starry Night Bracelet

I have been involved in art since I was a finger painting little kid and now that I have a daughter of my own I have a new appreciation for my mother and the messes she's had to clean up after my art disasters. Let me tell you off the bat that a two year old, a wet brush, a tub of water, watercolor paper, and a tray of watercolors are not a good combination. I'm pretty sure there's still paint in places I will never be able to reach on my ceiling! Anyway, I'm hoping to instill a love for the arts in my daughter as early as possible, and preferably in a less messy manner.

As for myself, I enjoy various forms of art: painting, drawing, mixed media, photography, and I've recently started working with copper wire making both wire trees and wire wrapped jewelry. Working in 3-D is something entirely new on my end, I've always been more of a mixed media girl most of my art career. Granted I've had my share of pottery and sculpture classes in high school but I don't think I can count making atrocious blobs of clay that vaguely resemble "pottery" or "sculpture" to be works of art.

While I was in college obtaining my AA, I could never find my artistic niche if you will and I considered painting, photography, jewelry making, and art history all to be potential majors in my quest to get my BFA (I liked to keep my options open and I'm terribly indecisive at times, it's an artists' curse really) which ended rather abruptly when my husband and I saw that little pink plus sign one October morning. I do have to thank my daughter, Kaylie, for saving me potentially $40k+ in student loans for a degree I couldn't make up my mind for. Several hated retail jobs later, I found my happy place in art. I will probably never become rich, nor would I really want to (well ok, I guess I wouldn't complain if I did) but I've discovered I really enjoy making and selling jewelry (such as the bracelet above)! Thanks to my husband who works very hard and is a great provider, I can continue to stay home with our daughter and pursue this new endeavor of mine (if only he knew how much I've spent...) instead of going back to the old grind after Kaylie starts kindergarten. Of course I have not forgotten my old friend mixed media, but I only have so many walls, which are all full now, to cover with my artwork. I will visit that friend again when Kaylie is older and in school so I have more time to start entering local art shows again.

I hope to keep everyone updated with my life as a mommy artist (and blogger now) and will definitely keep everyone in the loop about new items I've made and yadda yadda. Ciao for now :)