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.