Friday, May 29, 2009

wedding jewelry, custom order

At long last, here are the pictures of the jewelry that I made for my cousin's wedding to coordinate with my bridesmaid dress. I got a lot of compliments on them, especially the triangle.




Angel helped me take those pictures. :)

I have to show off one picture from the wedding here.

And here's the custom ordered that I completed and delivered last weekend.

I had never made a blue button charm bracelet without any navy/dark shades before, and I love how it turned out!

I just set up a trade with a fellow Etsy seller this week. I will be making something new for it. I'm not sure what yet! (She wants to be surprised.) I most likely won't start on it until after this weekend because we have some more family events. She won't have a chance to mail her part of the trade until next week so it works out well. Today was the last student day of school which means much more free time in the very near future. :)

Monday, May 18, 2009

May EBW Challenge Winner

Congratulations to CieloDesign who won the May EBW May Hollywood Red Carpet Challenge with her Suprastellar Red Carpet necklace! The June challenge theme is Humor. I will be sitting this one out as well. I may try for one of the other summer challenges.

I finally took and will be taking more pictures of my newest items today. I have the new bracelet that I mentioned in my last post that uses the same colors as the triangle, two remakes of older original designs (that are currently listed as made to order in my Etsy shop but I feel I need to keep in stock because they've proven to be popular designs), and the jewelry that I made for my cousin's wedding (that is this coming weekend!). I am pretty sure that I'll be listing the wedding jewelry as made to order.

Friday, May 15, 2009

new triangle, non-bead woven jewelry favorites

I listed a new triangle tonight.


I made a bracelet in the same colors a while back. I still haven't photographed it, but I will get around to doing that and listing it at some point in the hopefully not too distant future.

Most of the browsing that I do on Etsy is bead woven, button, triangle, or charm bracelet related. However, I have still managed to acquire a number of favorites that are other sorts of jewelry favorites. Here are a few of them for you to admire. :)

Scrabble Tile Pendant - Colorful Circles in Red, Yellow, and Blue by SquaresofFlair

Modern Bubbles on Blue Pendant by LegionCreative

Tape Measure Bracelet in Bright Yellow by undoneclothing

Belt Bracelet - Autumn by remade

Candy Sequin Bold Hand Cast Resin Bangle by cherriesrockmysocks

Special Edition Oval - Starry Night by ImagesUnderGlass

Wildflower Necklace by Kecky

Black and White Polka-dot Cuff by starandthimble

Hot Air Ballooning - TTV Pendant by bethtastic

Monday, May 11, 2009

EBW May Challenge

The next EBW Challenge is up and running! I apologize for not posting about this sooner. Voting did start on the 9th, but it goes until the 15th so you still have lots of time to vote. The May theme is Hollywood Red Carpet Creations. As always, the entries are stunning! I haven't decided which one I'm going to vote for myself. You can vote at the EBW blog. :)

Saturday, May 9, 2009

tagged

I don't usually post things like this, especially in this blog, but I was tagged by Lisa of Alterity Art so here it goes! Hopefully you'll learn a little more about me from reading this. :)

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1) Finishing the school year in 3 weeks.
2) Being a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding over Memorial Day weekend.
3) Hopefully getting to visit some of my husband's family in Des Moines at the end of the month for one of his cousin's graduation parties.
4) Celebrating my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary this summer.
5) Attending my college friend Vanessa's wedding this summer.
6) Having more time to make jewelry now that it's almost summer.
7) Having more time to read now that it's almost summer.
8) Baking something this weekend! I haven't decided what yet.

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1) Only worked with one of my students the majority of the day because the others were on field trips or at doctor's appointments.
2) Got my reading curriculum planned for the next week and a half or so.
3) Ate some of the treats that Julie and Alicia brought in for Julie's birthday at work.
4) Finished the second piece for my custom jewelry order.
5) Ate leftover Italian sausage stir fry for dinner with Jake.
6) Watched some episodes of The Office on DVD.
7) Read a lot of The Song is You by Arthur Phillips because it's due back at the library soon (I actually finished and returned it today).
8) Exchanged backrubs with Jake before we went to sleep.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1) Have more time around the house during the week to clean and do laundry and whatnot so there isn't so much to deal with on the weekends when I do have more time.
2) Live a little closer to both of our parents, without living too close to Chicago haha.
3) Finish my master's degree...hopefully I really will make that happen over the next couple years.
4) Work for a Catholic school or private preschool.
5) Visit California and the Grand Canyon, two places in the United States that I've never been but would really like to see.
6) Visit Disney World with my kids someday when we have kids and the money for a trip like that.
7) Pursue creative writing and attempting to get published again at some point. There's really nothing stopping me from that, it just isn't where my creative interest is focused right now.
8) Take an anniversary trip to New York City with Jake someday.

8 Things or Shows I Have Watched:
1) The Office (my current favorite)
2) Frasier
3) Scrubs
4) Family Guy
5) Seinfeld
6) The Simpsons
7) Mythbusters
8) What Not to Wear

I'm not tagging anyone. If you haven't already done this and are interested, please feel free to consider yourself tagged! :)

Friday, May 8, 2009

continued blue

I finally got the other two items from my blue kick listed.



My non-Etsy custom order is coming along nicely. I think that I will have it done by Memorial Day, as long as the customer gets back to me with her color selections for two of the pieces sooner rather than later.

Monday, May 4, 2009

April Top Droppers, non-Etsy sales

Thank you as always to those of you who drop on my blog regularly, especially those of you who have continued to do so over the last week or so even though I've been dropping infrequently due to being out of town. Your support means so much to me!

This has been another month with a lot of flux in the Top 10. Here's the current line up:
1) Silver Sachet
2) my review
3) BeadedTail
4) My Gypsygoods
5) A Rose By Name
6) Split Rock Ranch
7) Betty Mae Artistry
8) Zero
9) Unique You
10) I Learn Online Marketing

Even without any more traveling for a couple more weeks, things are still more crazy than usual with the end of the school year in sight. I did get my leafy spring bracelet remade for the third time. It certainly is more sturdy than the first two versions. Hopefully it will hold and I can finally start making some other variations of it!

When I was back in Chicago this past weekend, I brought my jewelry with me to my mom's sewing group at their request. I ended up selling six pieces and getting an order from one woman for five more! I'm hoping to get the order put together before I head back that way over Memorial Day weekend so I can deliver it in person then.

The five pieces that I'll be making for her are variations or duplicates of pre-existing designs so new listings will continue to be limited over the next couple weeks. I am VERY excited for all this business, though, and will continue to jot down new ideas as they come to me, as summer is quickly approaching which means lots more time for jewelry making. :)

Finally, check out some awesomeness from the Top Droppers who are also Etsy sellers:
Green Jewel Tone Bead Bracelet by Silver Sachet

Panther Silver Necklace by BeadedTail

Elemental Summer Cuff by arosebyname

Save Our Soap eco bags by gypsygoods

Peaches and Cream -bead woven necklace by beaderjojo

(this is actually on ArtFire...Betty Mae isn't selling anything on Etsy right now) Marionberry Spiral C by bmae514