Freeform Beaded Pendants

My beadweaving continues. I can't stop creating my freeform peyote beaded jewelry. From my bracelets, to rings and now pendants.

And some exciting news - Bead Jewelry by Shopgirl jewelry are now available at The Waygoose, a Fine American Crafts gallery in Bethesda, Maryland! Woo-hoo!

Such a Cutie!

It pays to have a good model for your product shot and even better when the product itself is well made that customers just flock to your store in droves. Such is the case with The Portland Beanie Company. Since they opened their etsy shop last October 2006, they have sold 400 of these cutie beanies (adult sizes also available). Check them out!

Scarfguy Extraordinaire

Surfing through the stores in etsy one day, my jaw dropped when I landed into Scarfguy's shop. Handweaver, Fred Ullom of Ohio, weaves unbelievably beautiful scarves and shawls using luxurious natual fibers like superfine merino wool, mongolian cashmere, fine chinese silk, quviut and even yak! Each scarf is his own design and can take him 2 1/2 to 3 days to make. I am in awe.

A Trail of Hearts!

I found a novel idea for Valentine's Day! Dottyral of Dyed in the Wool Designs has these adorable crocheted hearts to romance your love on Valentine's Day:

"Here's [Dotty's] idea...On the night before Valentine's Day, hide these hearts everywhere...next to the coffee-maker, on the bathroom counter, in a pocket, in the car, in a briefcase. Your guy or girl will be finding them throughout the day. How about if you snail mail a heart to the office so they open it up on V day? Then, when your loved one comes home, the trail of hearts begins. Place a trail leading to a romantic dinner, a special gift, or straight to you."

That and more ideas on how to celebrate Valentine's Day. So visit Dyed in the Wool Designs etsy store for more heart ideas!

Rings!

I just had to share that I've started to make freeform peyote rings and this is the first one I've listed on my store called Mermaid Ring. Each ring will be one of a kind due to the nature of how these are made -- freeform, improvisational with no pattern. Even I don't know how these rings will end up. Where the beads, needle and thread take me, I will go!

Eclectic Jewelry Artisans

I've joined an incredible group of jewelry artisans --Eclectic Jewelry Artisans (eeja.org) who create just about the most fabulous pieces of wearable art you can find! Take for example this Chaos Ring with Rhodolite Garnet handcrafted by Ahna of Shattered Glass. Ahna's bold and original designs are not for the faint-hearted!

Pamper Yourself - Victorian Style

After a hectic rat race day, there's nothing like relaxing in a nice warm bath infused with bath salts like this Lavender Violet Bath Salts from Mishutka Design Studio, another inventive etsy artist. Their slogan "Vintage elegance. Modern comfort." says it all.

Starry Designs and Birds Nests

Another top Etsy store is Starry Designs from Singapore. Talented jewelry designer, Cindy, creates bold yet simple contemporary designs. My favorite is her signature piece, Birds Nest Rings. Clean, expert and uncluttered wire wrapping I so envy!

Etsy is the Place To Be!

My second home is Etsy - an online marketplace for buying and selling all things handmade. It's a great community of artists and crafters featuring all their awesome work and craft. I'll be featuring interesting pieces as often as I can starting with one of my favorite sellers, Art by TR.

Art by TR features an awesome collection of home decor pieces made from metal. This Brass Light Switch Cover Plate is embossed with a colorful leaf and flower design. Light switch covers comprise the majority of their collection but also includes picture frames, garden stakes, night lights, welcome signs and gift boxes. The craftsmanship is just first rate!

Happy New Year!

Just wanted to say Happy New Year! So it's another one but I'd like to say it always a good feeling to start fresh so here's to new beginning!

You can purchase this slinky bracelet directly from my Etsy store!

Estate Treasures!

Till I started selling my jewelry I could care less for going to estate sales, craft shows or bazaars. Now I go like I'm on a treasure hunt. I recently went to an estate sale and found a valuable loot! I've taken the metal components from these treasure finds and re-made them into interesting pieces, like the necklace above, which you can find in my etsy store.

They like me! They really like me!

I'm thrilled and excited! I participated in a jewelry design challenge at CraftRevolution.com and came out the winner in 2 categories: Best in Show and Best Product Photography. Each jewelry designer was given the same set of beads (2 colors to choose from and I chose the seafoam set) to create their own designs for the challenge. I almost choked on my coffee this morning when I checked out the CraftRevolution web site and there was the necklace I submitted. Not just winning in the overall level but with the additional photography award to boot! Check out the article on the Fall Beading Challenge in CraftRevolution.com web site for the winners.

Success!

Well, I had a craft show today selling my paper goods including the Angel Christmas Card below. All the Angel cards sold out! Even sweeter is that my son, the origami artist, joined me in my table and sold his origami stuff! So we both had a good day. Tomorrow, I need to list more stuff at my etsy store and prepare for the holiday spending spree! Are you ready for the holidays?

She's An Angel in the Sky

The one lesson I have learned now that I've started to sell my wares is I need to think one season ahead. I'm hitting myself in the head for not planning way ahead enough for this season. As it is, I should line up more craft shows and thought of more seasonal promotions, etc. Also, I got into another line - paper craft. And to take advantage of the holiday season, what better way to launch but with a line of Christmas cards. Of course, my jewelry skills spilled over into my paper crafting as you can see with the holiday cards above. Wire work angels that design this card AND serves as a christmas ornament, too!

Confession!

Drat! I need to post more often. My only excuse is preparations for craft shows have kept me busy. It's a wonderful experience to face your customers and talk directly to them. I've attached a picture of my very very first craft show set up. Still has room for improvement in terms of display but I'm getting there. See you around town!

Fully loaded!

Fully loaded is the best description I can give to these 2 fringe bracelets. Loaded with pearls or an assortment of beads. It took me hours to load up these fun, fun bracelets butit was worth the effort. Now more stuff to load into my etsy store!

Fall Beading Challenge

I joined in a bead challenge organized by fellow etsy jeweler and craftrevolution.com editor, Beads4You. Each participant gets the same set of beads (in seafoam or topaz color scheme) and is free to create one or as many pieces they can create from the bead set. Here's my first entry:

I used 100% of the beads from the seafoam set and added about a dozen of the seafoam 11/0 glass seed beads of my own to complete the peyote tube in this necklace. The less outside beads you use the better chances of winning.

This is an asymetrical necklace featuring all the techniques I like to use in creating my jewelry - wirework, stringing and beadweaving. All metal is sterling silver. The single strand of 8mm crystals is connected to the wirework and the green focal bead. The tubular peyote slides back to cover/reveal the handmade hook and eye that serves as closure for this necklace. Overall, the effect is a continuous circle since the clasp is hidden. I made the three strands from the bulkier beads in the group. The shell pieces are in one strand together with the freshwater pearls in between each shell piece, the smaller crystals are all in the second strand with the seafoam seed beads. Finally, the glass leaf beads are in the third strand with the rough stone seed beads in a peyote stitch between each leaf bead to give the strand a leafy branch look.

I can't wait to see what the other participants have create! We have until October 31 for all entries.

Who said only comedy could do improv?

Yes, there is such as thing as improvisational beadwork. For the novice, this is a freeform, bead as you can, how you want to, with whatever you want to kind of hand beading. The possibilities are endless. It could lead to artisitc satisfaction or frustration. It's so organic in that the work comes to life in your hands as you add to it, bead by bead. It's a never ending process, constant work in progress. But like painting, one can over paint and leave the artist in a state of limbo or mental block--where am I going with this?

Sneak Preview

I need to make more earrings. I tend to make more of bracelets and necklaces that I neglect the earrings department. So this weekend, I made more than the usual number and here they are. An assembly of jasper, carnelian quartz, smoky quartz, pearls. I'm also expanding my metals - other than sterling silver, I've found brass and sterling silver pewter pieces -- really cool! I'll be listing them in my etsy shop in the next few days so this is a sneak preview!

All In Stitches!

Ugh!!! I picked up my needle and can't stop stitching beads and here is one of the latest creations. I just love love love handstitching/handweaving beads. I guess because it gives me full control with how I want the work to go. I have 2 samples here: the gold one is square stitch -- very orderly and rhythmic. While the other bracelet is improvisational beading with some wire work to it and very abstract and chaotic.