my helpers

Today I'm sharing a little peak at my jewelry making helpers and a couple of the pieces that they've been helping me with lately.

I often end up moving everything out of the way so that this can happen.

 

Among other things, I've had this rainbow meets neutral idea in my head for a while, and it's been a lot of fun finally putting it together.

These pieces are part of the same line as this bracelet.

While I've been working with the rainbow mix, I've restocked my best selling rainbow button charm bracelet and earrings. Get them while you can because they don't stick around in the shop for long.

I know that I'm not the only jewelry maker who has some little helpers. Feel free to share your stories and/or links to your helper photos in the comments!

new for spring 2013

I have a couple shows coming up in the next few weeks and have been working on a bunch of new items for them as well as a couple display / show specific projects.

I designed my banner with the intention of switching out the photos on a regular basis. My original set of photos was very reflective of my 2012 shop, and it really needed an update. This was a big undertaking to redo the whole set at once, but I love the final result. The banner will look even more amazing when I have it hanging in my booth.

I've been expanding the color combinations for this design as well as the quantity of multicolored pieces, as they continue to be one of my best sellers. I have the transparent button option available on Etsy here and may get the opaque version listed at some point, too.

I realized during my March show that the one area of my booth that was lacking in button and/or music items was necklaces. I have made a handful of button necklaces as gifts and custom orders but have never offered them as a standard shop item. It was way past time to change that. I'm starting with the two most popular color palettes: multicolored and blue and will go from there.

I like to be prepared with lots of smaller button items (magnets, rings, etc.) at all of my shows.

I'm bringing back the most popular version of this button design: multicolored. I have a new take on it for 2013 and can't wait to see how it goes over.

I did not have enough of this button design at my March show and will have a new handful of options for the late spring, including the very popular fall autumn palette (top left).

Finally, I've started scouring eBay and Etsy lately for bulk deals on vintage button cards, as I've run through most of my current stash. I have a couple good resources for wholesale new buttons, but I need unique older buttons for many of my styles. Check out all of these new goodies! I can't wait to share projects with them.

The next couple weeks I'm working on dagger bracelet designs and glass music magnets and getting everything reorganized and packed up for the upcoming shows.

What have you been working on for your shop lately?

New articles:
Washi Tape Craft Project Ideas for Mother's Day
Summer Themes and Units for Preschool, Pre K, and Kindergarten: Lesson Plans, Activities, and Crafts

experimenting with new background colors

As promised, here's a first look at the new felt colors that I got last week.  One thing that I've struggled with and that the darker gray background hasn't worked so well against is black and white pieces.  So I pulled out one that I needed to rephotograph and shot it with all three backgrounds.

Even though the light box poster board is white, I wanted to get a white felt, especially for my modeling shots.  The poster board has gotten a few little scratches and whatnot over time that don't look so great in photos.  Obviously I still haven't mastered the lighting for white backgrounds, which is why I started using gray a while back.  But the white will still serve its purpose for a few particular types of shots.

I've been wanting to try a lighter gray for a while and am really pleased with this result.  It works wonderfully with the black and white.  I think it has potential for a lot of other color combinations, too.  The light settings were very easy to manage, even more so than the darker gray.  I ended up doing most of the re-shoot for this piece against this background.

I still have to play with this light balance, but I think that this has some potential, too, especially for black and white.  I wouldn't use it for a first listing photo.  However, it would work well for one or two photos further down in a listing.

While I'm sharing my new backgrounds, I'll share one of my not so successful attempts with the new light gray.

This is one of my new herringbone bracelets.  I have several more in the works and am going to launch the line for 2012, so there isn't any hurry on these photos.  It doesn't look too bad against the gray as a larger photo, but the gray thumbnail is terrible.  The white and dark gray wash the colors out completely, and the blue blends right in with the blue in the bracelet so I'm at a loss.

I had the same problem with this pastel blue bracelet back in the spring (which as a result, I still haven't listed).

Some colors are just really really tough to photograph.  Regardless, I'm still happy with my new felt squares.  You'll be seeing the light gray frequently in the near future.

continued leaves and rock gardens

I finished two new rock garden designs this weekend and updated the listings for both of them.

Beadwoven Bracelet - Purple Rock Garden

The colors are more vivid in person.  The button looks a little bit garish with the beads in the pictures, but everything really does balance out well.

Beadwoven Bracelet - Blue/Purple Rock Garden

I started my newest autumn designs, too.  Here's a sneak peak picture as I started laying out the beads.

I hope that this week gets off to a good start for everyone!

red and purple feature post

My new favorite color combination is red and purple. You got to see a sneak peak over the weekend of one of several pieces that I've made recently in this color combination. While I'm waiting for a sunny day so I can photograph my other new pieces outside, here are some of my favorite jewelry pieces from fellow Etsy sellers that also use this color combination.

Delightful Daisy Bangle by taylorgal

Violet Borosilicate Heart Necklace by DesertRainJewelry

Beaded Fabric and Peyote Cuff by SandFibers

Completely Puzzled - Beadwoven Peyote Cuff by time2cre8

Red Hat Society Bracelet by dreambeadweaver

Summer Berry - Charm Bracelet by Kim Smith SRAJD by KIMMSMITH

remakes, leafy satisfaction

I made new versions of two of my designs. I have listed them as "made to order" for the last couple weeks, but they are both bracelets that I've sold/given (as presents) multiples of so I want to have them on hand for in person viewing as well. I also wanted to have some new, better pictures because my ability to photograph jewelry (and edit pictures of jewelry) has improved significantly since I made the original bracelets.

This one is identical to the original.

This one is a slightly different shade of purple, as exact shade I used previously wasn't available any more.

I remade my leaf bracelet again over the weekend. I know that I said that the third time would be the charm...but then I dropped it at work and one of the large glass leaves broke. I really wasn't going to be happy with the leaf missing so I took it apart and made it again with my one remaining large clear glass leaf. I am now very satisfied with how my bracelet fits and am 99% confident that the design will hold. I will also be more carefully about how I hold it when I'm not wearing it. So I finally went ahead and made another leaf bracelet last night. It's very similar to my original and will be listed as soon as I get it photographed. I have a few other newly finished pieces to photograph and list as well. :)