free shipping, sneak peak

I'm offering free shipping in my Etsy shop through Sunday October 31 11:59PM EST.  All refunds will be issued through PayPal.  It does include custom orders.  You have one more day to enter my blog giveaway, too.

I finished my newest Natural Sparkle piece today (as well as a pair of earrings) so I cleared out my box and started laying out on my newest winter leafy pieces.

I know that some of those leaves look green or purple, but they're really blue or clear in better lighting.  I'm excited about all of the gray and silver leaves that I'll have in the mix this time.  It should add a really nice dimension to the final look.

custom order completed, newest leafy designs

I added the final detail for my most recent custom last night.  She wanted a single pearl right near her charm initials.  Thankfully I still had a little wire left over from my pearl earrings so I wire wrapped a single pearl right before the K.  She's very pleased with the result so this piece will be on its way tomorrow.

I uploaded pictures and edited the listing for my newest leafy design.  This is the smaller version of my October EBW challenge piece.  You can check it out here.

I redid my version of this design while I had the seed bead mix together from the two newest pieces.  I liked the shorter one above that I almost switched and kept that one.  But I love the long dagger and metal leaf beads so much that this one won out in the end.

I really wish that I could find more of both of those kinds of beads.  The original site that I got them from no longer carries them.  The closest thing that I've found is these bronze leaf beads from Shannon, which I did get and use for all of my recent fall designs.  The search continues I guess!

I don't have any other custom orders at the moment so my next goal is to finish my fall blogging piece.  I'm halfway there so I'm hoping to get that finished before my show next weekend.  I'll have at least one other new listing this week, too, so stay tuned.

weekend happenings

I spent a lot of time this weekend going through more old books that I want to list on Amazon or Ebay.  Just when I think I'm nearing the end of what I want to list, I find a whole new shelf or box that I haven't gone through.  This is a picture that I took in the middle of my progress today.

I linked my Amazon and Ebay shops above.  I have a lot on Amazon.  I only have a few listings up on Ebay right now, but I'll be listing more over the next month.  It's a lot of work, but every book we sell is one less book that we'll have to move again.

I've been working some more leafy pieces this weekend.  I'm going to list my EBW October challenge piece tomorrow.  Here's a sneak peak of it.

I'm going to use the longer leafy piece pictured above for the challenge.  I'll have a shorter one available for sale within the next week, too.

Finally, here's a picture of Angel that I took yesterday.  She's been spending a lot of time sleeping on the couch recently.

As you can probably tell by the scissors that I left there, that is exactly where I usually sit on the couch. :)

Busy Friday!

Lots going on!  The biggest thing this weekend is that the EtsyBloggers are having a team wide sale for our 3rd anniversary as a team.  You can view all of the sales here.  Approximately 50 shops are participating.  I'm offering FREE SHIPPING in my entire Etsy shop, include sale and custom items, today through Sunday.  I will do a few single day free shipping offers before the holidays, but this will be the longest free shipping sale for randomcreative for 2010.  So take advantage of it while you can!

I published my second beading PDF pattern yesterday.  This one is for my Button Embellished Beadwoven Bracelet design.  Check it out here.

You can view all of the button embellished beadwoven bracelets that are currently available for sale here.

As promised, I have a couple new leafy developments.  I reworked my Indian Summer design and updated the listing yesterday.

I want to mention that I normally use Aleene's Jewelry and Metal Glue for the knots on my leafy designs.  I don't normally glue my knots, but because this design is fairly weighty, I like to give it a little extra security.  The glue itself works pretty well, but the bottle is a bad design.  I always end up getting glue everywhere, and it's about as strong as super glue so it doesn't create a good situation.  Jake always keeps super glue around for his models so I tried Loctite super glue for this bracelet instead, which was much better.  Their bottle designs are amazing.  If any of you who bead weave need a glue for your weightier designers, I highly recommend it.

I'm working on a couple purple/pink leafy designs next.  Here's a sneak peak at the first one.

I haven't mentioned any non fiction books that I've been reading in quite a while.  I recently checked out Camera Creative: Professional Photography Techniques for Innovative Images by Chris Gatcum from the library.  For those of you who use a light box and/or enjoy experimenting with photo editing/lens/etc., this is a great resource.  I have gotten some excellent advice from it about my light box, as well as confirmation that some of the things that I'm already doing are good.

Finally, I found out that my pieces are featured in two new treasuries yesterday.  jessypatterson included my new Tortoiseshell Cat Button Charm Bracelet in her Steeped Tea treasury.

Fellow EtsyBlogger DevineDesignsJewelry included my Beaded Bracelet - Double Linked - Chocolate and Cream in her Etsy Bloggers 3rd Anniversary treasury.

Have a great weekend everyone!

at last - remake photos uploaded, green leafy sale completed

I finally upload the photos of my remade versions of the purple diamonds right angle bangle and double stranded purple ice right angle bracelet. I've been really into purple lately, but as many of you know, it's not the easiest color to photograph. I'm pretty pleased with the purple quality of both of these photos. I know that the background is overexposed on the first photo. I'm still learning how to create a nice light balance with my new camera. I am pleased with the clarity of the bangle in the photo, though.



I also completed my green leafy bracelet sale today. It was a custom order from one of my co-workers for her niece. Hopefully it will be well received. Here are a couple shots of it. The exposure is a little better in these shots. I may list it as a made to order piece on Etsy at some point.



It is not too late to vote for my Indian Summer piece! Thank you so much to those of you have already voted. If you haven't, please go over to the EBW blog and check out the challenge. http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com. Voting is on the right side of the page. I'm #14. :)

congrats and recent happenings

Congratulations to StudioAnnieVeillette who won the August EBW Challenge First Ladies of Style with her Royal Blue - Marie-Antoinette piece! I know that everyone probably gets tired of me saying this but all of the entries were gorgeous as always. The September entries are already coming in and have not disappointed yet. I haven't started mine yet, but hopefully I will get that done in time for the challenge.

I also encourage everyone to check out the winners of Use the Muse II. Use the Muse III is already underway. Information about that can be found on the same site if anyone is interested in entering.

I realized that I actually sold 16 pieces over my vacation if you count the piece that my grandma bought. I hadn't thought about that because I completed it sometime last month and actually never posted a picture of the larger version here until now.


I got a custom order this week from my co-worker who bought my turquoise leafy bracelet last month. Apparently her niece loves it and would like a green version. I am excited to use the large green leaves I have that match the large turquoise ones in Cindy's bracelet. I'm also just really happy that my leafy bracelets are continuing to do so well!

I'm back!

I got back to Iowa this evening. I sold 15 pieces off Etsy while I was out of town! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was hoping to sell a few, but 15 was WAY more than I ever expected. Three of them were from the new leafy series, including this pink and purple one that I hadn't listed on Etsy yet.


I am still updating all of the sold listings on Etsy so that they are now made to order items. I am really glad that I bought so many leaf beads at Caravan. I thought that it was a little crazy at the time, but now I am thankful that I replenished my stash so I can create new leafy pieces. I only have 2 in stock currently!

I did do a little bead work while I was on the road. I am looking forward to getting back into a normal creative routine now that I'm back at home. Things will be crazy this next week with school starting up again, but when things settle down a little, there will be time for some jewelry making.

The deadline for both the next EBW Challenge and the Awesome Chicks of Etsy Midsummer Challenge is Sept. 5. I'm pretty committed to entering both so if nothing else, I will be working on both of those projects the remainder of August.

Thank you so much to everyone who continued to drop Entrecards and visit my Etsy site and blog while I was on vacation! I did approve new ads as I could while traveling and will be back in that regular routine now. I still have a few new items that I did not sell on my trip and will be listing over the next week or so.

new leafy listing

I listed the winter leafy piece in my series today. I made this one right after the turquoise piece that sold earlier this week.


I have also finished a dark blue one and a pink/purple one that I will be listing later this week. I actually made two versions of the pink/purple, one to sell and one to keep. I now have three leafy bracelets in my personal collection.

I am thinking about making a leafy bracelet for the September EBW Challenge Indian Summer Dream. I also have plans for a Christmas one, another fall one that's very orange, and a multicolored one. Yeah, I'm definitely not over my leaf bead obsession yet. :)

leaf jewelry and supplies feature

As you probably already know, I am still not over my leaf bead obsession that started sometime in early 2009. I haven't done a feature on here in a while so I decided to feature some leaf jewelry pieces and supplies from fellow Etsy sellers.

BEADWOVEN FLORAL BRACELET by fashionsfrome

Pink Glass, Antique Gold - Charm Bracelet - Pink Spring Garden by Balanced

HANDMADE PORCELAIN MAPLE LEAF BUTTONS - RUSTY ORANGE by LisaPetersArt

HANDMADE RAKU FIRED CERAMIC LEAF BUTTON IN GREEN by LisaPetersArt

Large Green Leaf Earrings by FancifulForm

Brass Leaf Bracelet by Greenerica

EcleCtic Leafy Goodness Fiesta Charm Bracelet by LifeTravelsDesigns

Pretty Birds garden charm bracelet Summerpoint studios by poetsummer

sunkist bracelet by oceanhouse

Rose Garden Bracelet by Mandyshaner