Newbies for GalleriE CHIZ

A few new bracelets for GalleriE CHIZ in Shadyside!

More Eye Candy

Lampwork in blues and greens wire wrapped in sterling silver with fresh water pearls

And I promised more simplistic styles, right?  Rough cut amethyst on sterling silver chain.

Both in Bei Mondi shop shortly!

More Goodies to Show Off

More goodies for the Bei Mondi shop and the I Made It! Mine show in February.

 Lampwork from Java Bead and Norma Brink with lots of Bali silver.  This one has the color changing Swarovski crystals that go from soft pink to gray to light green which are all colors that compliment the bracelet.

Amber onyx rounds with lots of oxidized copper

More lampwork with Swarovski crystals.  Are you seeing a pattern here?  I guess it's what I love to do.  Mostly blues in this one with just a touch of purple.

Ok, I'm spending the day with the kiddo and working on some artsy stuff.  I hope to have a little tutorial for you by tomorrow.  You girls enjoy your Friday!

Pity Party Train has left town

Hey gals!  No negativity and self pity today.  I'm dusting myself off and getting down to business.  You girls have set me straight and I thank you for it.  Seriously though, I appreciate all of your kind words and advice.  I'm so glad we can all help each other out when it's needed.  You girls ROCK!

Did you know there is only 16 days left until Christmas?  I hope you're on track with your gift buying and merriment.  I've seen lots of beautiful trees on everyone's blogs and such creative decorations.  Does anyone celebrate Chanukkah or Kwanzaa?  Let's see those decorations too.  We've got our tree and decorations up so I'll try to take a picture soon.

And speaking of Christmas, I finally saw the animated "Christmas Carol" in 3D.  I really enjoyed it although it is a very dark movie.  The story was the same as the original but this one was quite spooky.  The little kid sitting behind me in the theater kept saying, "Daddy, this is scary."  A bit different for a Christmas movie but the message was there.  And the 3D effects were great.  I felt like the snow was actually coming down on my head.

I'll wrap this up with what I've been working on.  Here goes!

Oh yes, if you are a Sharilyn Miller fan then you recognize this bracelet.  Which, by the way, she has a new book out that Mary Jane and I are totally stoked about.  Although I could never do wirework like the Queen (she is the best), this bracelet is just for me and serves as more wirework practice.  I wanted something lightweight (used 16 gauge rather than 14) with that beautiful copper glow to it.  This definitely fits my personality and we all need to give ourselves something every now and then, right?

 

Trying to get creative with the use of copper with lampwork beads.  This is Norma Brink's lampwork once again and the details are amazing.  I didn't have any copper headpins so I made my own with a little swirl at the end.  Oh, and look at the light bulb clasp.  I learned how to make that from Miss Cindy at Sweet Bead Studios.  The tutorial was in the recent Easy Wire magazine.  Thanks, Cindy!

More Norma Brink lampwork with sterling silver beads and wire this time.  I didn't oxidize this piece.  I like the bright silver with these colors.  I tried to bring out the purple and greens in the lampwork with all the Swarovski.  I hope I didn't over do it.

And last but not least is a sweet little pair of lampwork and sterling silver swirly earrings.  Do you recognize these beads?  These are from the wonderful Miss Sue from Sue Beads.  Love the tiny silver specks trailing around each bead.  Oh, and I do believe Sue is having another sale.  She's had a different sale like every couple of days.  If you need lampwork check her out.

Pins Make Me Happy

Oh yeah, the crazy pin lady is at it again!  They are just so easy and each one has it's own unique style.  They don't have to be a certain length like bracelets and you can add as much or as little as you please.  And use just about anything to pin them on.  It doesn't have to be a scarf.  At least no one knows you used curtains or a blanket in photos.  :)

 

 

So yes, here is more.  I do have to say that the last set I made sold quick so hopefully I will have the same luck with some of these.  Except for the music notes of course, those I made just for fun.

Happy Labor Day!!!

Goodness! I have so many blog posts to get caught up on today. I might have to spend the day at the computer to get them all read. I hope you all had a great weekend and Happy Labor Day to everyone!

I have been busy, busy, busy. I was working on several wire projects over the course of the past few days and my poor hands are feeling the results. I have areas on my hands split open from pulling the wire, chunks taken out of my knuckles, and numbs for fingertips left from the steel wool. Yeah, I try to use gloves with the steel wool but they usually get in my way and I end up doing without. I know, that's bad. So, needless to say, I won't be doing any hand modeling any time soon. And what do I have to show for my beat-up hands? Three bracelets, two necklaces, and five pair of earrings. All the pieces have been oxidized and some polished. Some already called for and will be shipped out soon.

Here's what I'm showing off today.

Monet's Water Lilies Lampwork Bracelet
Lampwork beads from Norma Brink again in a wide range of colors. This bracelet is very simple but I think those beads have such depth to them and I didn't want to take away from that in any way. All wrapped in sterling silver that's been hammered to flatten the loops then oxidized and polished.

I also made these free form swirl earrings to match which have the same bead as one on the bracelet. These might go in the Etsy shop or they just might get put on my website. More info on that to come.

Ok, so I think I have five people so far for the Thanksgiving earring swap. I'll continue to mention it every now and then to see if we can get a few more in the group. Also, if you gals have any jewelry making friends that you want to mention it to please go ahead. The more the merrier!

The Many Roles of a Jewelry Artist

As I was taking my pictures this morning I started to think about this jewelry making career and what all it entails. No one told me I'd have to be a photographer when I decided to sell jewelry. But the more I look at photos of others, the more I realize it's not an option - it's a requirement. And what else is required of someone who'd like to make an occasional bracelet or two to sell. Well, accounting experience would be a plus, along with customer service skills (although we hope we'll never have to use those). Shipping and recieving skills and you must keep up with your inventory for all supplies including packaging. Oh, and what about style? That's a biggie! Keeping up with the latest trends and trying to accomidate the newest styles while still being an individual with your own flair. And what about the blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr? I guess being a little tech savy helps as well along with having something to say each time you post something so should we add in journalist as well? hehe Of course, attention to detail and the ability to work with tools, metals, and sometimes even chemicals. This "job" does require a lot from you but the thing is... I'm happy. So, for me it's definitely worth all of it. Agree???

So, here's my pictures from this morning while I was deep in thought.

French Lavender
I didn't add any items to my shop yesterday so I'm adding two today. The first is lampwork from Norma Brink once again. Her work is amazing! Love the depth within each piece. Lots of blues, purples, and a tad bit of yellow and burgundy. All wrapped in oxidized sterling silver wire and hand polished.

Second one has a porcelian button focal from BeadFreaky. She's on Etsy so check out her stuff! It also has ocean jaspers, blue coral, and a few tiny Swarovski crystals thrown in for bling, bling. All held together with sterling wire.

Ok, I guess I'm off to do some inventory because you know that's part of the job. You girls enjoy your Tuesday!

Yesterday's Mistake

Hm... Yesterday's Mistake. Sounds like a title to a song or something. Any-hoo, here are the results after shining these guys up.

I'm pretty happy with the first one so it will go into the shop today. I think I'll name it Palau Lagoon. The only problem I really had with it was the clasp so I just remade that part of it. This one has lots of squiggles and wiggles around the lampwork beads. These are made by Norma Brink who is excellent. I've bought several of her lampwork sets and they have all been incredible. Plus, she's extremely nice which is always a plus. Please check out her site. She also sells on Etsy.

Ok, now that second one. I'm thinking I might just change out the focal bead or maybe use the same stone but I won't wrap it in copper this time. I like the colors in the stone with the copper so I'll probably stick with it. Although the whole piece didn't work out the way I planned, I really like the style of the rest of the bracelet. I was inspired by Sharilyn Miller's Contemporary Copper Jewelry. In the book she uses these great copper washers from Harbor Freight. Unfortunately, I couldn't find them in my town so I ordered off of Amazon. About $10 for a box of over 100 in various sizes. I used them in both these pieces. I got the washer idea from the book and I added my own swirls between each to attach them to each other. Let me know what you think! I love the comments!

It's kinda sad. Lauren only has a few days left until the dreaded fourth grade. We've been trying to enjoy the last few days of freedom together as much as we can. She loves doing crafts of all kinds so here's her projects that she has done this week.

This is a stepping stone. Lauren's dog is named Emily and we call her Em for short (although it should be hurricane with legs but that's too long to say). So she made this stone with Em's pawprint and designed with pebbles.

Ok, so we like stepping stones. I guess you can tell that. We made this one together with our footprints. Man, that cement was cold and my feet are big!

Ok, ladies, I hope you all have a restful weekend! Enjoy what's left of August!

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!

New Items

Here's some new items for the Etsy shop. Please let me know what you think!

Many blues, yellows, and browns in this piece. The name is Assateague Wild Ponies which is fitting because my first thought when I was making it was ponies running along the beach. Vintaj chain with yellow jade, blue howlite, tiger's eye chips, smokey quartz, and a lampwork focal that ties all the color together.

The other one listed today is Cliffs of Moher. Lots and lots of freshwater pearls with a sliding silver clasp with a celtic feel. Simple but elegant! I'll be listing items throughout the week so I'll be back tomorrow with some new pieces. Have a great Thursday! The weekend is almost here!