It's That Christmas Craft Show Time of Year Again!

Oh my it's been a reeeally long time since I've posted in here!  Lots of crazy things have been going on and I guess I kind of put this on the back burner!  Hubby got a new job at Schwan's as a Route Sales Rep and he just loves it!  I'm very happy for him for landing this job, especially with how young of a family we are.  No more job hopping!  I've been busy with Kaylie's preschooling since she didn't get into the early preschool class I wanted her in this year.  She's only 3 so it's ok, there's always next year but with all the requirements for schooling now I want to make sure she's well prepared!

Sasha

We also added a new furry addition to our house.  In no way did I want to have four cats in our house, three was more than plenty but my mom mentioned to me that she saw a cat at the pound that looked just like our cat, Sasha, we had to give away when Kaylie was a baby.  For whatever reason after we moved into our new house and Kaylie was just starting to walk Sasha decided to pee on everything Kaylie owned.  We tried everything in the book to correct this bad behavior but nothing worked so we were forced to take her to the shelter.  Now I explicitly told the shelter she should be placed in a home without young children.  Long story short, she ended up back in that same shelter because she doesn't get along with children.  Ugh, how can people be so dumb!  I felt sooooo bad for poor Sasha and went to visit her to see if it really was her.  She had no tail, lime green eyes, and a brown patch by her ear, yup this was indeed Sasha!  Sushi, as the shelter had named her (seriously? Sushi?) remembered me and the lady said I was the first person she saw "Sushi" come out from under her blanket for.  How could I leave her there right?  So I brought her home and crossed my fingers that the peeing would not happen again.  It's been about a month and she's actually been perfectly fine to my amazement.  Kaylie is older now so she does listen when I tell her to leave Sasha alone so Sasha isn't stressed out like she was when Kaylie was too little to know better.  I never wanted to give her up in the first place but we're happy to have our Sashie Bear back :)

Wire wrapped tree branches

Cute little dress form necklace displays I made

I knew that old crate would come in handy

Well now for what I came here to write about!  It's that busy time of year again for Christmas shopping and craft shows!  I just had my first Christmas craft show on Saturday at the local high school and it was great!  I was really reserved about it at first since I seemed to have a string of bad luck for the past few private shows and a horrible craft show that wasn't even advertised this past spring that I did.  But, I got very close to my sales goal for the day and had a great time meeting tons of new people!  I got tons and tons of compliments on my jewelry and my displays!  A few people even wanted to buy some of my handmade displays!  I was really hoping to sell out of some clearance items and to sell some more mini paintings but oh well, I still have another show coming up in a few weeks!  As I expected my Scrabble pendants were quite a hit!  I'm super stoked that I made enough to pay myself back for the folding banquet tables I bought (those are sooooo nice to have) and to replace all my black velvet displays with oak, natural hemp and cream leatherette displays.  They were a bit pricy but I think the new displays will look so much better on my tables than the black ones!  Now I get to take a little break between shows and get a chance to list some new items.  I've got one more show on December 3rd at the American Legion in Rapid River from 9-3pm!

One of four tables, this one with Scrabble pendants and earrings

I also wanted to point out recent treasuries I was featured in for the NNNTeam and Etsy Hearts Beads Team!  Take a peek!

New Briolette Necklaces and Cute Owl Pendants!

Honey Drop

I finally got to use some gemstone briolettes I purchased what seems like forever ago.  I don't know why I just stuck these little sparkly gems away in my beading box to never again see the sunlight for several months, especially since I knew what I wanted to do when I bought them.  However late is better than never right?

Nightfall

I have a few more briolettes in misty green chalcedony, icy blue quartz, and some chalk turquoise waiting to made into necklaces but I wanted to test the waters if you will with the first four I have available in my shop now.  Each briolette has been wire warpped in copper wire with a little swirl design and oxidized, shined and sealed with Renaissance Wax to preserve the finish.  Along with the briolette are pretty Czech glass beaded charms for added detail.  The sparkly pendants are each on 22" brass plated chains with lobster clasp closures.

Olivine

Almond Coffee

I have Honey Drop, a warm honey yellow citrine briolette perfect for showing off nature's fiery autumn colors.  Next up is my personal favorite, Olivine, a gorgeous earthy olive colored quartz briolette that reminds me of long walks in the mossy woods as a kid.  Almond Coffee is a coffee quartz briolette with swirls of mocha just like your favorite coffee house latte on a brisk morning.  Nightfall is a jet black onyx briolette just as dark as a moonless night for an ultra chic look for just about any occasion!

Boy Meets Girl

Hoot at the Moon

Whoo

Last but not least are the four new owl pendants in my shop!  I'm pretty excited about these little guys and they're just so darn cute!   My favorite of the four is Boy Meets Girl, it was love at first sight when little green boy owl met pretty in purple girl owl!  Adorable for Halloween is Hoot at the Moon with a little brown owl with golden eyes looking up at the moon in a star filled sky.  Whoo is up close and personal with a sweet little owl in a warm sienna color peeking at you with a sliver of retro teal behind him.  Lastly, he may be a little nerdy but he's oh so loveable as Smarty Owl with his little glasses on sitting on a branch with a red background.  Who can say no to that?  :)

Smarty Owl

 Coming soon I'll be offering a great new gift option for my jewelry with the holidays coming up right around the corner!  I'll be making custom hand stamped jewelry kraft boxes tied with natural twine cord!  They're eco-freindly, sturdy, inexpensive, reusable, time saving and did I mention that they're CUTE?  I'm keeping my general theme of "nature inspired" just like most of my jewelry using flowers, leaves, birds, dragonflies, etc for stamping options.  I should have the listings up and ready soon, keep an eye out and I'll also announce them on my blog and my Facebook Page!

Hand stamped kraft boxes, will be available in 3 sizes!

New Copper Wire Wrapped Designs

Enchanted Dragonfly Necklace

Fall is right around the corner with lots of warm color, cool breezes and time to harvest the season's bounty in the garden.  As much as I hate to see sweet summer fade away I do appreciate the cooler weather and the inspiration it gives me for new designs!  I recently listed a few new pieces that I wanted to share with you all as well!

Copper Leaf Earrings

Copper Leaf Necklace

I promised to get some new autumn designs and here's two just in time!  Copper Leaf Necklace and Copper Leaf  Earrings are just as pretty as the falling leaves that inspire them.  I shaped and wire wrapped each leaf and coil by hand to perfection.  I wanted to try something different in addition to the oxidation and since I sometimes use a patina solution on my copper leafing in my artwork I thought I'd try it on copper wire and look how lovely it turned out!  I gave each piece a light verdigris patina and then shined them up a little before sealing them with a special preservative wax to protect the finish.  The green patina is a genuine finish and not painted on using a special procedure that speeds up the natural chemical process.  The necklace is 22" long on a beautiful copper mother and son chain and the earrings hang from my very own hand forged copper French hooks.

Enchanted Dragonfly

Dragonfly Wing

Next up are my Enchanted Dragonfly Necklace and Dragonfly Wing Earrings.  I must admit  they aren't exactly "fall designs", but I am very pleased with how these turned out!  I designed the entire dragonfly pendant with solid copper wire and recreated the delicate webbing in the wings with a smaller gauge copper.  I added little swirls on the head and body for extra detail and it turned out just wonderful!  The entire idea started from a little damselfly, a smaller cousin to the dragonfly, that liked to hang around my water garden over the summer.  One day I did a quick sketch of the dainty little creature and thought it would be wonderful to turn into a full sized project!  I recreated the delicate structure of the wings in teh wings using a small gauge copper wire and hammered the tear drop frames for extra rigidity.  Little coil charms hang with the wings from my own hand forged copper French hooks.  I oxidized and shined up each piece to create stunning right-from-nature designs!

That's it for right now, but I have many more ideas for the upcoming autumn season!  I have some gorgeous honey colored citrine briolettes and goldstone beads that are calling my name!  Also, take a peek at the sale section in my shop, I have lots of new items I've recently put in there at awesome discounts to make room for new items!

New Treasury

I just wanted to show you a treasury I just made today!  There were so many awesome items to choose from for my theme but here's what I came up with!  Thanks for taking a peek!

As Summer Draws to a Close...

Kaylie playing at the park

Hello everyone, I know I've been a little MIA for most of the summer (ok, ok pretty much the whole summer) but now that the go, go, go of summer is pretty much over and my life isn't quite so chaotic, now I can find more time to dedicate to my poor neglected blog.  It's been a lovely summer here and I'm looking forward to fall (minus the allergies) and working on some cute new designs with that in mind.

I wanted to mention that I was featured in a great blog post at the Alla Prima Art Mall!  It's a great site to find lots of handmade goods and services and if you're an Etsy seller, it's a wonderful (and inexpensive) way to get your shop out there!  You can also find my shop listed in the Jewelry Boutique section!  I've also got a profile and have been busy submitting my jewelry and art to be shown at weloveindie.com, which is another awesome site to drool over lovely handmade goodies.  I'm happy to say I've been on their front page several times!

Turquoise Flowers Bracelet and Earrings

I'll be listing more fall themed items but I just wanted to introduce some of my most recently listed item.  I've been big into turquoise magnesite, I just love the crackled look of it and it's much less expensive than real turquoise while looking very much like it.  My favorite piece so far is the Turquoise Flowers Bracelet featuring wire wrapped magnesite, a Picasso Czech glass flower, Swarovski crystals and my own hand forged copper wire chain and toggle clasp!  I love it's rustic look and the beautiful earthy colors.  I also have an equally lovely pair of earrings using the same Picasso Czech glass flowers and hand forged french hoops!

Robin's Egg

Next up is my new Robin's Egg Necklace featuring large and lovely magnesite round beads attached by cute brass plated branches.  I gave the piece a bit of a modern touch with ring links and added two little wire wrapped magnesite rounds in the 22" chain.

Turquoise Dream

The last of the magnesite piece is Turquoise Dream, a wire wrapped bracelet with three oval magnesite beads that are quite eye-catching with the hand forged chain.  The warm color of the oxidized copper with the earthy turquoise magnesite compliment each other beautifully.

Falling Leaves

One of my newer fall designs is Falling Leaves, which also has a matching pair of earrings, is a woody blend of leaf charms, chain, and metal beads to give the necklace a sweet vintage charm.  Although I put it out as a fall design, this would be a great piece any time of year!

I'm also trying to make room for new designs so I've added several items to my SALE section in my shop, make sure to give it a look before they're all gone!