New Earthy Bracelets

I've got two new bracelets that are a bit different than my usual look. Organic and natural looking with lots of character using Vintaj brass. Hope you like these!

Newfound Gap in Autumn

Appalachian River Birch

These little darlings have seashells, beach stones, and lots of Vintaj brass. The first includes a large wooden bead, olive green fossil briolettes, and tiny rhyolite rondelles. The second has a large crazy lace agate bead with swirling yellows and grays, flat wooden beads, jade rondelles, and a little sea glass dangle with a filigree brass leaf. These will both go in the shop today once I figure out some names and prices. I also forgot to add the pieces yesterday to the shop and I think I have a buyer for one of the pieces. Hooray!

Ok, this has absolutely nothing to do with jewelry but I discovered a new treat. A friend of my husband's told him about mixing greek yogurt with honey. How simple is that! The first time I tried it I wasn't sure if I could eat it because the yogurt is quite sour but it grew on me. Now I love it! You've gotta try it! Yummy yummy!

Giveaway at Judith B Designs

Hey gals! Judy over at Judith B Designs is hosting a give away good until 8/22. She's offering these beautiful Letterpress Stationary note cards with artwork of a horse. Perfect for the equine lover! Just post a message on your blog, twitter, or facebook to enter. Also, check out Judy's wonderful designs. She has a couple intriguing bracelets with old time typewriter keys. They are so unique!

Oxidized Pieces Up for Show

The Etsy advertising was... well... not the greatest. No sales but I did get a few more people that heart my shop. The item I used was a bracelet that had been listed for a week. I had 7 views starting yesterday and by the end of the night I was up to 44. That part is nice but nothing ground breaking. I signed up for another one in Sept. This one is in the jewelry section so maybe it will get more traffic. The one I did yesterday was in the bracelet section. I'll let you know what happens.

So, do any of you sell at 1000 markets or Ruby? Do any of you sell to local shops? Once again, advice is greatly appreciated.

Here's the pieces that were oxidized. I only left them in the LOS for a minute or two so the patina was kinda light. I scrubbed them with steel wool and then hand polished them. This is definitely a trial and error procedure. I would like to create a deeper patina next time and try to figure out the best way to situate the lighting when taking pictures to bring out the shine. They will go in the Etsy shop today and you're likely to see more of this type of work from me since these were so much fun to make.

Before and After LOS

I'm currently working on my entry for the Art Bead Scene August challenge. It should be done by tomorrow so I'll show you what I came up with. Please check out Ester's creation on the Mes illusions baroques blog. This lady is amazing! Check out her fiber bracelets on her blog as well. I am in love with these!

Well, on a personal note, my friend is on her cruise and there is a hurricane headed that way. I'm a bit worried for her but I'm sure those big cruise ships know how to handle crazy weather. I hope she's safe and still having a marvelous time!

It's Monday already! Yikes!

Happy Monday! All of us here worked really hard on the yard yesterday. We had 4 yards of top soil delivered and spent the day spreading it around the yard to fill in the tire tracks from having the walkway poured. I spent so long making sure it was all even and this morning I woke up to footprints all in the dirt. It just so happens that right next to where we were working there is a crab apple tree and deer love crab apples. Enough said! Ugh!

Frozen Lake Tilicho Bracelet
Well, I'm adding one to the shop today. This bracelet has several different elements to it. I just love the spiky silver ball. That's my favorite part. It also includes a lampwork bead by Java Bead, a Swarovski square crystal ring, apatite, yellow turquoise, rhyolite, and lots of silver. It's a bit delicate since this is made with 24 gauge half hard wire but I like the look.

I'm trying out something new. I paid to promote an item on Etsy on their bracelet page for today. I would be astonished if it created a sale but I would at least hope for looky-loos. I'll let you know the results. It was $7 to promote which seems pretty steep but if it adds more traffic to my Etsy page then it was well worth it. Mama needs to bring home the bacon! hehe I'm also on Facebook now but I'll be posting the same thing each day as my blog. Where do you gals sell your jewelry? Anyone do anything other than Etsy? And what has worked best for you? I'm new to this so I love advice!

Oh, and here are some photos of last weeks "girl day". They are a bit on the blurry side but it's pretty hard to take pictures in a place that's so dark. We had sushi for lunch (yum) and then headed over to Monster Golf! This place is so cool. The whole place is dark when you walk in but soon you see why. Everything is painted to glow in the black lights and there are monsters that move and make noise throughout. It's a bit distracting when you are trying to get a hole in one. Enjoy your morning!

And the vote is in...

Patina wins! Gonna oxidize today! I have a few other pieces to throw in as well. I have only oxidized once before and it didn't turn out so great. So...you'll either see pictures later of everything oxidized or a picture of a huge frown on my face. Here's another wire wrapped "experiment" I made recently. It will go into my huge witch's brew this afternoon as well. TGIF! Have a rockin' weekend!!!