I'm Featured on this Blog!

I've very excited to be a part of this blog for the Pure Handmade team on Etsy!  I wanted to share it with you all since Maria Palito did such a nice job!  Please check it out here!  As a part of this team, members have the opportunity to be a part of this blog to help gain more exposure for our Etsy shop, and I'm very happy to be a part of this team!

Treasuries!

I see my new tile pendants have been very popular for treasuries since listing them!  I'm really excited about that!  Here's a list of treasuries I've been in and ones I've made!  Thanks everyone for clicking and thanks so much to those who have featured me!

Entwined With Vines by AngelicaV

Earthy Tones, Spring Accents by leebweeb

Red Poppies Scrabble Tile Pendant

Mother Earth by heversonart 

Tree of Life by HookedOnLaura

Spring is in the Air by PZDesigns

After Every Storm, Bluebirds Sing by tacomacustomjewelry

Feel the Fresh Spring Breeze by AnartIsland

Gift For Yourself by Ebruk

Hand Painted Vintage Scrabble Tile Pendants!

Apple Tree on Copper

Cafe

Many of you have already seen the first batch of my pendants, and they seem to be getting great feedback so far!  I've never had anything get hearts so quickly or been featured so quickly in treasuries!  I think I've done well by choosing to make these!  As you know, I love to paint and of course I make jewelry, so why not do both at the same time?  They are super fun to create and I've had years and years of experience in painting small with microscopic round brushes back when I used to recreate scenes from my favorite graphic novels by Jhonen Vasquez.  If anyone knows who this unique artist is, I was a very, very weird kid in my early teens and I had a borderline OBSESSION (yes it needs to be bold) with Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Squee and also Invader Zim, ok anything Jhonen Vasquez, lets leave it at that.  Come on, GIR is AWESOME is he not?  Ok now that I'm sure many of you think I'm nuts, I will move on :)

Happy Bluebird

I won't get into details on every tile I've done since I don't want this post to be a mile long!  For the most part I am recreating versions of some of my favorite paintings and adding lots of cutesy designs I came up with on the spot.  My all time favorite painting subjects are flowers and apple trees along with earthy abstracts, so expect lots of those as well as bright cheery images and landscapes since spring is coming!  I'll be making more tiles with copper leaf as well, the 3D glaze looks awesome with the bright copper leaf, making it almost glow.  I like the cute look of folk art designs, things like coffee shop art, curly designs, birds, and fat cat art too.  Speaking of fat cat art, I did do a tile with a fat cat using my cow spotted Maine Coon, Jasper, as my muse and he turned out just adorable!  I'll have him listed soon enough once it cures and I get photos done along with several other designs.

Red Poppies

I've seen tons of Scrabble tile pendants using printed images, which look very nice, but I feel they can lack personality and that handmade feel vs a painted image.  So by personally hand painting mine, they are truly unique and you know a ton of love went into making them.  I do plan on repainting any that sell, but of course no two will ever be exactly the same, making each one one of a kind as well.  they'd make wonderful gifts for that hard to shop for someone or art lover!  They aren't just for adults either, they'd be cute as gifts for children (ages 6 and up due to choking hazard) and teens too!  I plan on painting a few to save for my daughter when she gets older too, right now she'd probably just squirrel them away with the pair of angora hair gloves that I still cannot find! Don't forget I also have a listing in my shop for a matching ball chain in antique copper for a couple bucks in the same section as the tiles!

Sweet Birdie's Nest and Coming Soon: Scrabble Tile Art Pendants!

Sweet Birdie's Nest

I've haven't stopped for much of anything lately and I've been quite productive lately!  The first item I'd like to introduce is my Sweet Birdie's Nest copper wire necklace.  This little sweetheart features a hand crafted bird nest with three little frosted blue glass "eggs" awaiting for mama birds return.  I really enjoyed making these cute little nests out of 24g solid copper wire that I wrapped and twisted by hand to make it look like twigs and vines and then finished it with a lovely warm patina.  To protect it I used Renaissance Wax, a clear museum quality preservative, meant to protect to patina finish (among a thousand other uses) and also shields sensitive skin from metal reactions without wearing off.  Due to it's unique properties, you can gently wash it with soap and water and the wax will be unaffected.  I made myself a pendant too and since I am very sensitive to copper myself (how ironic right?), I thought I'd test the wax's claim.  I've been wearing it for two days now and not a single itch nor yucky green mark on my skin.  You can't even tell the wax is there-no oily residue, no build up, and no overly glossy shine.  Just natural and beautiful copper!

Wild Things Bracelet

Sand and Sea Charm Necklace

The next two items I recently listed are Wild Things bracelet and Sand and Sea charm necklace.  The bracelet is made with these awesome leopard print wooden beads and dark brown wooden beads.  I made each link myself and used pretty antique finish copper glass beads in between.  The Sand and Sea necklace features a beautiful brass plated sand dollar and a dainty copper plated sea horse charm on a bronze plated mother and son chain.  I made six beaded links using gold finish glass beads to add a unique touch to the 18" chain.  It's a simple and elegant addition to my Ocean Inspirations jewelry line!

I've decided to jump on the Scrabble tile trend bandwagon by starting to make my very own hand painted Scrabble tiles!  None of these are prints or designer paper, they are 100% original painted artworks done personally by me!  I really love to paint and I've seen domino tile hand painted pendants but thought they were just too heavy and clunky to wear so I thought Scrabble tiles would be a lighter and easier alternative.  I have put a use to the vintage Scrabble game collecting dust in the closet (I made sure it wasn't worth anything first)!  They have been a real joy to paint on and I will be putting out my first batch once the glaze completely dries and I get the bails glued on.  The bails I chose are, you guessed it, copper!  They were rather hard to find, but I found some lovely antiqued heart shaped ones and some matching dainty antique copper plated ball chain that I will sell separately for a low price.

Check out my Etsy Store for the new items I've mentioned and keep a look out for the Scrabble tiles coming soon!  I will have an entire section in my shop for them!

Treasury List!

I wanted to put out my treasury list for the week!  Thanks everyone who has included me in their awesome treasuries!  I really appreciate all the exposure I get from them!  Please take a moment to check these out!

Hearts For You

To the Garden by Jewelrybynala

Love and Kisses by efratjewelry

Seaside Fun by heversonart

Swirl Power by geehandmade

Fishing With Fisherman Bob! by FishermanBob

New Artwork and Nifty Extra Long Necklaces!

I've been super busy over the past few days making the most of the two days a week my mom ever so generously takes my little darling daughter so I can actually work!  Let me tell you it is not easy working a pair of jewelry pliers when you have peanut butter smeared all over your hand because some little toddler thought it was hilarious!

Anyway, I wanted to get some more artwork out, mainly because I swore I would and I also fear I may get rusty if I don't!  My absolute favorite art series hanging in my home that I painted is my Flower Series, a mixed media collection of large floral closeups in a rainbow of bright colors.  Since I absolutely loved making the bigger ones I thought why not incorporate them into my mini paintings?  The first one I've done so far is "Orchid", one of my favorite flowers done in a beautiful rich plum.  As with most of my art, I have created my artwork using a handmade deep cradled wooden panel that I plastered for a smooth drawing surface.  I like to leave a few imperfections in the plaster for added texture and to give it a worn appearance.  For this mixed media, I used graphite to draw out the orchid and then used an acrylic glaze to fill in the petal's color which allows the drawing to show through perfectly.  I really do love creating art using the beauty of nature, nothing really compares!  To finish the piece, I stained the wooden cradle using an antique walnut stain and added a sawtooth hanger to make it wall ready.  However, because of its cute small 4"x3" size it would look perfect on an accent table, bookcase, shelf or anywhere as a part of your home decor!  I'll be doing more and more of these darling little artworks so keep your eye out!

Next item here is Copper and Bronze Elegance.  I like the look of layered necklaces, but don't like the tangled mess they can get into by the end of the day (especially when a 2 year old must personally inspect and choke me with every item of jewelry I'm wearing!).  I created this extra long 42" necklace which can be worn as one long strand or you can double it for a two necklace layered effect!  It would work well too if you have any of those necklace shorteners (those kind used for long pearl strands) if you don't want to wrap it.  I designed this with alternating bronze and copper plated chains using both mother and son and cable chain to make it truly unique!  I really do like how the warmth of the copper and bronze metals match so perfectly!  The beads are just lovely in both Czech and lampwork glass, several I have topped with ornate bead caps to add a vintage touch.  This necklace comes in two playful colors: Cherry Red and Aqua Blue.

Lastly, I added another anklet to my Ocean Inspirations jewelry line!  This one I did in a playful lime green and brown!  It has a simplistic design using dyed mother of pearl, shell heishi, and deep stained wooden beads all strung on Stretch Magic elastic cord to make it super easy to take on and off.  It's also one of a kind!

To see any of these new additions, check them out in my Etsy Shop!

New Jewelry Line: Ocean Inspirations

I wanted to introduce my new jewelry line called Ocean Inspirations!  As you can tell by its name it's jewelry that  is beach and sea inspired using genuine sea shells, freshwater pearls, frosted glass, heishi, mother of pearl, and other natural materials!  With people headed off to tropical escapes and with spring and summer coming up, this is a good time to launch my new line!  My line will include necklaces, bracelets, earrings and also anklets too!  This summer I plan on making some special trips to Lake Superior to hunt for sea glass pieces along the beach to incorporate into my jewelry!  I wish I'd of thought of that when my husband and I spent our third anniversary in Copper Harbor but I hadn't started my business yet!  Next time :)

This first piece is Ocean Treasures, a romantic shell necklace in smooth champagne and bronze colors featuring a genuine Dripa shell slice!  Many beautiful handmade charms make up this unique pendant including a genuine freshwater pearl, a smoky topaz faceted Czech glass bead, a natural wooden bead and some dainty lengths of copper chain adorn the shell slice. The 18" bronze plated chain is also adorned with several hand made links: a genuine mother of pearl nugget, ornate bronze metal beads, a natural wooden bead, and two gorgeous faced Czech glass beads in champagne and smoky topaz.


The next item is the matching Ocean Treasures Anklet.  Like the necklace, this bronze plated anklet also features a genuine Dripa shell slice among several other handmade charms!  I created this to be adjustable from 9"-10" which comfortably fits most small to medium sized ankles.  Each of the charms are made from natural materials and include: Dripa shell slice, wooden beads, shell heishi, mother of pearl chips, a bronze metal bead on the end, and some glass seed beads too.  This would look wonderful with a pretty sundress or even some casual capris or shorts!  Perfect to bring along for that tropical getaway you've been looking forward to all winter!

The third item in this line are my Sea Breeze Earrings.  I made these pretty treasures with genuine shell chips and some gorgeous capri blue frosted glass beads that resemble ocean tumbled sea glass!  I hand wired the shells so they hang nicely and attached them to handmade links with the frosted glass beads on bronze plated earring wires.  I used matching blue seed beads with a glint of Aurora Borealis finish for an added touch.  The bright capri blue and crisp white go together so perfect!  What a great way to bring the beach to you!


Lastly, I created a new charm bracelet called Swirls and Green (I've been rather busy!) featuring my very own hand forged copper wire charms in adorable swirly shapes!  I used Czech glass and lampwork beads of all shapes in beautiful crisp spring green colors!  There are seven handmade copper charms and 26 beaded charms, which I also made, in various shapes including hearts, leaves, rounds, disks, bicones and more!  Several of the beaded charms are adorned with beautiful bronze and copper plated bead caps  and to tie it all together, it closes with a wonderfully detailed copper toggle clasp with swirled heart designs.

I have more designs coming and also more artwork!  Keep an eye out!  To see these new creations, stop on over to my Etsy Store!

Etsy Shop Makeover-Tagging

I have FINALLY finished going over all my descriptions and titles so now I'll tackle my item tags!  I haven't done every makeover in the series but if anyone else is following Etsy's Shop Makeover series, I'm finishing up the Titles, Tags, and Descriptions part, finally :)  To revisit my very first item listing when I opened my shop, I'll use that for my example for fixing tags just like I did for fixing descriptions.

For my Spearmint Candy necklace listing I already started off on the right foot by using all 14 allotted tags, however they need work.  In order my tags are: jewelry, necklace, pendant, copper, wire wrapped, green, metal, toggle clasp, blue, white, red, glass, beaded, cotton cord.

I can cross out the ones that shoppers are less likely to enter as a search keyword or tags that could be replaced with better terms:
jewelry, necklace, pendant, copper, wire wrapped, green, metal, toggle clasp, blue, white, red, glass, beaded, cotton cord

I have six tags to fill and I now belong to three Etsy teams that use tags to find member's items so I need those plus three additional tags which are in bold and my notes are in italic below:
jewelry, necklace, pendant, copper, wire wrapped, lime green, green, metal, toggle clasp, aqua blue, blue, white, red, glass, beaded, cotton cord, playful, etsyheartsbeads, treasure lover, crafty housewives

I added "lime" to green as well as "aqua" to blue so that lime, green, aqua, and blue could all be used as search keywords since the green and blue colors in the necklace fits all four terms and then I get four keywords out of two tags.  The necklace has a playful style so I chose that keyword for a style tag.  The last three tags of every item I list will be reserved for the three teams I'm a part of that use team item tags.

It's good to use tags that represent style, patterns or motifs, colors, and textures.  To get you started, think about what kind of terms you would type when searching Etsy or on Google.  I also find Etsy's Tag-O-Rama blog post to be infinitely valuable when I'm stumped for good tag words, make sure to bookmark it!

Treasuries

A Mother's Heart Necklace

I wanted to make note of a handful of wonderful and beautiful treasuries I've been in over the past few days!  Thanks so much for including me!  Please take a moment to check them out!

One Thing Leads to Another by ArtbyKC

Somethings Golden by BizimSupplies

A Touch of Cream by DragonflyExpression

Thank You Punxsutawney Phil Spring Is Here by naturallymephotos

Love Never Rusts by AnartIsland

Fashion Week by catesemporium

Peace-Love-Not-War by jmjcreations

Again, thanks so much to those who featured me in these gorgeous treasuries!

New Items and My First Etsy Sale of the Year!

Key To My Heart
Necklace: SOLD and
relisted!

Whoo hoo I made my first sale of 2011!  I'm SUPER happy since I was really hoping to make a sale before Valentine's Day!  I sold and relisted my Key To My Heart Necklace, one of my favorite charm necklaces!  I really hope whoever it is given to loves it as much as I do, I wear mine all the time!  I wanted also to make sure everyone knows that I'm having a Valentine Sale in my shop going on through Valentine's Day!  Every item marked SALE in the title has been marked down-no need to enter a coupon code (unless you're a Facebook fan, then use your 10% off fan coupon code too, it's in the notes tab!), you can find the sale items and other cute V-Day gift ideas in the Valentine Gifts section in my shop!

Hoot Hoot Owl Necklace

Now I'd like to mention my two new items I listed last night!  I took a break from preparing for the upcoming show to make two new items that turned out super cute!  The first is Hoot Hoot Owl Necklace, a darling owl and Czech glass flower necklace with a wonderful vintage flair!  I recently received a new shipment of glass flowers (I just LOVE them) and I fell in love with the creamy vanilla color of the flower I used for this particular design!  It has a bit of a brown patina rubbed into the crevices that makes it appear aged as well, very lovely!  The design is simple, yet elegant, and come on, that owl is just awesome!

Star Gazer Earrings

The next item I made just for fun!  I've had a stash of bronze plated star charms and had no idea what to do with them for some time till I remembered a favorite pair of earrings I had in my late teens!  I made these Star Gazer Earrings using antique finish bronze plated cable chain with matching star charms hanging throughout the lengths of chain.  They turned out really cute!  Each earring is loaded with 7 star charms too!  These aren't just for teens either, they'd look cute for a night out or a day at the mall with friends!


This just in: COMING SOON!  Anklets!  I know it's still February, but if you're like me then you're seriously sick of staring at snow unless you're lucky enough to live in some remote tropical paradise (don't even THINK of rubbing it in either)!  What better way to think of warm breezes and sunshine than a fun, brightly colored anklet?  Well I'm sure there's other ways of remembering that but think spring with anklets!  I'll be making some within the next week and will (hopefully) have them listed then too!  My evil husband has given me his cold I think (spraying him with Lysol apparently didn't do the trick) so I want to get as much done as I can before I go into a cold medicine delirium!  I promise not to infect any of my creations :)  I also would like to get out a few more paintings and/or mixed media pieces as well by the end of the month, keep an eye out!

To see any of the above mentioned items (except anklets, they're not out yet) please visit my Shop!

Announcing the WINNERS of the Stylish Blogger Award!

I'd like to take a moment to announce the 15 winners of the Stylish Blogger Award!  I did some hunting and although I'd like to award this to everyone, I can only pass this on to 15 lucky bloggers of note!  Please take a moment to congratulate these wonderful and creative people!

1. sweetsincerityjewelry.blogspot.com
2. daydreamingescape.blogspot.com
3. blog.kaliahdesigns.com
4. workshop.mariapalitousa.com
5. pzdesigns.blogspot.com
6. belovedbijou.blogspot.com
7. 0chaosbydesign0.blogspot.com
8. givegreetingswithlove.blogspot.com
9. theknottyknits.blogspot.com
10. jewelrybynala.blogspot.com
11. thecareerscrapper.blogspot.com
12. handmadecrafts-ange.blogspot.com
13. metaladornments.blogspot.com
14. alisasjewelrybox.blogspot.com
15. charmeddesign1012.blogspot.com

In order to accept this award please do the following:

1. Put a picture of the Stylish Blogger Award in your blog.
2. Thank and link back to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Share 7 things about yourself (see my blog post for examples!).
4. Pass this award to 15 other creative bloggers!

Have a great day everyone and happy blogging!

I Won An Award!

I am so happy to announce that I won the Stylish Blogger Award!  I want to give a big thank you to Brittany who awarded it to me of Mountain Creek Gifts who sells wonderful organic and natural bath and beauty products at her Etsy Shop!  Thank you so much!

Now to share 7 things about myself:

1.I love art: painting, drawing, art history, jewelry (if you haven't figured that out, lol!)

2. I love cooking Italian dishes

3. I love critters especially cats

4. I've lived all over the USA but for the most part I'm a small town gal

5. My ultimate dream would be to own my own storefront on main street here in town

6. I cannot wait to get to work on my garden this spring, I have big plans!

7. Although I don't get around to reading books too much I do love reading my Smithsonian magazine (I'm a big geek I know)

Now I have to pass this award onto 15 additional people with creative blogs and I will do so on a later date!