I've been featured!

Kayla, at The Eclectic Element, offered to do a feature and critique on my shop. She's a fellow jewelry designer, and you can visit her shop, TheEclecticElement, here.

Now, I have a pretty thick skin, but even so an artist is so connected with their work that it can be pretty scary asking for a critique, at least for me. But Kayla was thrilled! (I was thrilled that she was thrilled, too! Read her review on her blog.

Here a photo of a beautiful bracelet from her shop. She's a Lyme disease survivor, and jewelry is one place where she finds strength and purpose. I'm posting a few of her Lyme disease-themed pieces, because they are for a good cause, and because they are beautiful. Her pieces have a simple beauty that is both gorgeous and calming. Her pieces exude a feeling of peace and tranquility, in the midst of her storm.

Thanks for the feature, Kayla! I'm glad you liked my work! I hope that your pay-it-forward was a great investment for you, and that it will come back to you multiplied.

Two more treasuries! I'm so excited!

Two more Treasuries! Wow! I'm so pleased!

First, I forgot to properly thank monogrammingbytammy for featuring me in the "pretty in pink" FEST treasury in my previous post. Thanks, Tammy. My first treasury! That was awesome!

The first of two new treasuries with my items another FEST team Treasury, this time by PickMePaperDesigns. FEST is a street team that represents Florida Etsy Artisans. Their blog and other information on their members is here.

The second is a BNR by CraftedFromTheHeart. BNR means Buy and Replace, where an Etsy seller can purchase an item from the Treasury and have one of their items placed in the vacant spot. I was carried forward in this one from a purchase I made in the previous treasury. What a great way to see some items that you didn't know you needed!;)

It's a Pretty Pink Treasury! AND a great BNR!!

I'm in TWO treasuries! Check them out. Just click, and the photo will bring you to the real thing.

The first, on the left, features Pink items from the

Florida Etsy Street Team, or FEST. FEST is a group of Florida Etsy Artisans who join together to promote each other, and themselves. What a great group! I've really enjoyed my membership. The treasury on the left is a BNR treasury run by Etsy member

Crafted from the Heart. When you purchase an item from her BNR, one of your items can take it's place. I bought a lovely plantable card for my mom. I couldn't wait until Mother's Day, so I sent it to her this week.

I'm so pleased to be included in these treasuries! Check them out! many lovely items for sale!

We have a WINNER!!

A few days ago I announced a contest to name this necklace that I'm submitting to the Blockhead Radio Live Artisan's Challenge, which begins again on March 23. Check out the comments on the post to see all of the GREAT name suggestions that people offered. It was a hard choice, but I have picked the one that resonates most with me, and what I was thinking about the necklace when I made it.

(DRUM ROLL PLEASE...)

I chose "Indian Summer" by Susan, of Hot Rocks Glass Jewels.

Susan said...
The first thing that struck me were the warm tones that this necklace evokes, with the reds and copper. So what came to mind was "Indian Summer", which is the warm Autumn weather that occurs after the first frost, usually September or early October up here in my neck of the woods. Good luck with the contest, it is a beautiful necklace!

Thanks, Susan! Movement, texture and color are all very important to me when I design a set, and when everything comes together as I think it should, the result is a pleasant feeling of confidence and satisfaction.

In appreciation for her excellent name for my necklace set, I'm giving her a pair of earrings similar to the ones in the set.

Help me name this necklace for a contest...

I'm scratching my head trying to name this necklace for a contest that I would like to enter. Could you help? This necklace features hand-made copper wire swirls, with Leopardskin and Poppy Jasper. I'm entering it in the Blockhead Radio Artisan's Challenge, that I heard about on RoseWorks Jewelry's blog. I've decided to get my mind off of the economy, and on to having fun with my craft, so I'll be entering contests and playing around, getting to know other crafters and enjoying myself. Personally, I've been a little blue due to lack of sales, and I know this is almost a universal feeling out there in the handcrafted arena. I also know that a little positive energy transfused into my business will stimulate my creativity and my spirits.

That's where YOU come in. I thought I'd have a contest to name this necklace, the first I've entered into any public contest. I will post when it's up for vote. The winning name will be posted on my Etsy site, my blog, and will receive a free pair of earrings made with the same materials as the necklace set you are naming, complete with the handmade ear wires and copper swirls!

I'll look through the entries on Tuesday after noon US Eastern time and choose a winner. I'd like to get the contest entry in by Tuesday evening. Thanks in advance for your participation!

Interview and Perspective by Youniquely Chic...

Recently I won a contest for Valentine's Day by Youniquely Chic, an Etsy seller specializing in uniquely-designed Swarovski crystal jewelry. I was impressed by the quality of the necklace set, and after browsing her shop, I struck up a conversation with her about her jewelry. The jewelry market is slow right now, with so many people cautious about the economy, and reluctant to buy jewelry for themselves. Mother's Day is coming up, so I thought I'd do a feature on her jewelry, which is very different from my personal style, and though I didn't think I was really into crystal myself, I'm finding it's growing on me! Check out her shop. You'll love what you find!

Youniquely Chic is having a giveaway in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Check it out! not much time left! You could win the Emerald green set below, if you visit her blog and follow the instructions.

1. How when and where did you "get into" jewelry? About a year and a 1/2 ago a friend of mine decided to make jewelry and try to sell it, and she would come to my house to hang out and make it. Well it wasn't long before I couldn't stand it and decided to give it a try myself, I started out making items for myself, because I am a person that believes you can NEVER have too much jewelry! Then I started giving it as gifts and had a pretty favorable reception, but it all changed when I went to a family reunion last summer and everyone in my family was going nuts over my stuff, I made just about everyone there earrings or necklaces... for FREE! They kept telling me I was crazy to just give it away and I should sell it (they would say this as they were taking the set I made for them for free!! lol) When I got home I started doing some research, and decided yeah, I should give it a try. I signed up for an EBay store, then Etsy and now Artfire as well.

2. Do you have any other hobbies or interests? I love to read and watch movies but my business has pretty much become a full time thing so finding time to do anything other than make jewelry or promote my jewelry is pretty hard... I do try though!

3. How are your designs inspired? That is a tough question! I'll admit it I am inspired by other jewelry designers, of course I would never steal someone else's design but sometimes looking at the overall layout of a design will inspire me to make something... I think mostly my inspiration comes from my own imagination... I can sit for hours with a bunch of findings and crystals spread out in front of me and just stare at them, building different designs in my head until I come up with something I love.. And I only make jewelry that I love; I simply cannot make myself create jewelry that I would not be happy wearing myself.

4. Do you have any advice for other crafters, jewelery or not, for selling "in these difficult times?" any success tips? Promote yourself everywhere! That is the single best tip I can give, I am far from an expert in the subject but my sales have greatly increased since I joined social networks... As far as jewelry designers go, we are all very small fish in a very very large pond and if we aren't constantly getting our name and brand out there for people to see it doesn't take long for us to be lost.

5. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first got started? That Sterling Silver wasn't as expensive as I thought it was... also that it is a LOT easier to work with then the cheaper stuff.

6. What's on your horizon -- what skills would you like to acquire, goals that you'd like to accomplish? I plan to take some metal smith classes. I would also love to make the front page on Etsy! My main goal is to just continue to push myself to learn new things!

7. Do you sell to boutiques? Craft fairs? Online Exclusively? Where do you get most of your sales? Yes I do, I sell at just about any craft fair that I can afford to get into and there are a couple of stores here locally that sell my items. Just recently I was put in touch with a great Etsy seller who is opening a boutique at the end of March in downtown Colorado Springs and she has graciously allowed me to sell my items there, it is a great gig because she just charges a monthly space fee for a certain number of items and then when things sell she will send me the money and she takes zero out of sells, can't get any better than that! I'm not sure if she is accepting any more people or not but if anyone is interested you can find her on Etsy at http://kabibimei.etsy.com/

8. Tell me about your giveaway... I am giving away an emerald Swarovski necklace and earring set on my blog.. All you have to do to enter is post a story of good luck in your life. The contest runs until midnight March 9th and I will choose the winner the morning of the 10th and I will ship the item to the winner at no cost.. Everyone is welcome to enter, even those won don't live in the U.S., and I ship worldwide!http://youniquelychic.blogspot.com/

Spring Cleaning Sale!!

Spring has sprung here in Sunny Florida, and I'm itching to renew my inventory with some fancy new items I've been wanting to make for a long time. SO...in the interest of fiscal responsibility, yours and mine, I've decided to have a Spring Cleaning Sale! For the ENTIRE month of March, I will take 20% off of every item in my shop. When you browse, if the headline says "SALE" in it, you'll know that the price reflects the 20% savings you'll receive when you purchase any item in my shop. AND, if you'll take a look in the right-hand side bar on my blog, here, you'll see links to Dr. Weiman's Marketing Jewelry.com, and if you're a little slow on the selling side, he can give you tips on how to turn that around. People are still buying jewelry. We just have to place ourselves where they can find us. I find the greatest satisfaction when people want to make my jewelry creations their own, and wear them. Dr. Weiman shows you how to accomplish this! Let's have a successful and profitable spring!