some of my favorite colors

My most recent listings on Etsy have two of my favorite colors.

This one is available here. The pictures really don't do justice to the turquoise tint in this blue.  Trust me that in person, the turquoise is stunning.  I made a bunch of these shell bracelets a while back when I couldn't keep enough purple shells in stock.  I got out of the habit of listing them, though.  I have matching earrings for this piece that I'll get up at some point.  If you're interested now, let me know.

This bracelet is available here.  I sold a button charm bracelet with this color palette a couple years ago.  It's taken me a while to collect enough lime green buttons to make another one.  I know that this is not everyone's favorite color, but I haven't gotten sick of it yet.  Usually I use slightly smaller seed beads as the embellishment for my button charm bracelets.  Amazingly, I don't have any of that size in lime right now so I went with the next size up.  I like the slightly chunkier look.

I also have a couple new projects in the works with more all-time favorite colors.  I'm one of Kristie's (artisanclay) guest design team members.  I don't participate every month like the regular members, but I get to participate once or twice a year.  I'm doing my first piece for the team in August.

I picked the middle purple donut in the bottom row.  I'm planning to make a beaded bail for it and then a beaded rope for the necklace.  Personally I would pair it with a simple chain because I don't like heavy necklaces.  But I'm going to challenge myself on this and try something new with the rope.

 

 I was able to find delicas that fit with the donut from my personal collection so I don't have to order anything.  You'll have to trust me that the beads on the top right have a purple hint in person and will compliment the other purple beads and the donut perfectly.  I'm planning to use the champagne beads for the rope.

In other news, I started this lovely piece last week.

I made a glitch in the dagger fringe.  I screwed something up with the side fringe, and it threw everything off.  I didn't realize it until much later, so I scrapped it and am starting over.  I still love the overall look of the piece.  The final result will be very similar.

Finally, my strawberry challenge piece is in the works.

turquoise and red is back and a lesson learned

As you know, I've been working on a bunch of new button charm bracelet designs the last couple weeks.  I listed one yesterday.

I'm sure that by now many of you already know how much I love the turquoise/red color combination.  This is the third time I've mixed these button colors together, and I'm still not tired of it.  I'm making two of many of my new button designs, so I can re-list more quickly in the future.  I didn't for this one, but I did make another turquoise and red bracelet while I had my turquoise and red beads out so I'll have that up soon, too.  This new button charm bracelet is available here.

While I was photographing some newer pieces this past week, I learned a little lesson.  Typically I store all of my jewelry in closed Tupperware containers.  I've been storing my waiting to be photographed pieces from the past few months in an open Tupperware container.  Most of them are fine, but the open air really discolored some of my earring wires and jump rings.

Is there any way to clean this wire?  It's silver plated, not sterling silver.  I have made two sets of all of my shell earrings from the past few months and I do have safely stored pairs of these new designs in with some of my older pieces.  The bracelets are ready to go so I will be hunting down and photographing the other sets soon so I can continue to list these shell bead sets in a somewhat timely manner.

Let me know what you think of the pale blue against the gray background, too.  I feel like the blue disappears against both light and dark backgrounds, but maybe I'm just being too critical.

why I love my customers

Happy Easter!  I've been working on a custom order this week.  The woman loved my Beaded Bracelet - Double Linked - Chocolate and Cream and wanted coordinating earrings and pendant to go with it.  She had a pretty clear idea what she wanted.  Together we finalized the details.  The bracelet was made to order so she got a brand new version of it in a custom length.

The customer also wanted me to take a picture of the whole set together.

I love my customers because I never would have conceptualized the earrings and pendant on my own.  I have made lots of shell earrings, but I wouldn't have thought to use two shell beads and to use the beads that I used in the bracelet.  And I've never made a shell pendant before.  I love the final result, though!

The design for this bracelet is something that came about with a little idea that I had to rework several times to create this final result.  It drove me up the wall the first and the second time that I made it.  This third time went so much more smoothly.  Third time's the charm, right?  I felt like I finally got into the rhythm of this pattern and didn't have to spend much time going back and adding or redoing anything.

So...I might make a couple more sets of these in other colors.  I love having the earrings and pendant that coordinate now.  I love the idea of doing a set in turquoise.  I haven't thought much past that yet.  Any thoughts, let me know.

600 Hearts and some sneak peaks

I reached a new milestone in my Etsy shop yesterday.

I am really excited about this because it took me 6 months to get to 400 and another 6 months to get to 500.  I reached 600 in just 4 months.  Even though hearts don't necessarily equal sales, my views and item hearts have been way up the last couple months.  I've also had consistent sales in my shop for 11 straight months now.  Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me get this far!

I finished working with purple this week and put together a few new charm bracelet mixes yesterday.

I got these shell beads back at Christmas.  I've known for quite a while that I wanted to use some of them to make a charm bracelet, but I'm finally getting around to putting that together.  I want to layer some of the beads like I did here.

I also have a new green mix, which is what I'll actually be making before the shell bracelet.  I never get tired of these colors!

While I was sifting through my greens, I found enough light sea green and spring/lime green to make button charm bracelets with each of these colors, too.

the other black shell earrings and more buttons in the works

I listed black shell earrings last night that coordinate with this black shell bead bracelet.

These earrings are available here, and you can check out all of the black/white shell bracelets and coordinating earrings here.  I love these sets.  The larger shell bracelet has done really well.  Hopefully these will continue to sell.  Pale blue, turquoise, and sea green are all coming up on Etsy over the next couple months.

I'm also continuing to work on my button charm bracelets.  I finished blue over the weekend and started purple.

I made my first purple button charm bracelet a couple years ago.  I'm really looking forward to working with this color palette again.

One of my goals after I finish this school year is to start gifting more jewelry.  I'm making extras of all of my new button charm bracelets.  If you have a favorite color or color combination, don't be shy about letting me know what it is.  One of these new pieces just might show up your mailbox for your next birthday or at Christmas.

Also, I put up another crafty-related hub this past week that I didn't post here yet.  If you haven't checked this out already, here's the link:  Tips for Taking Stunning Jewelry and Other Small Product Item Photos.

newest shell bead earrings and button bracelets in the works

I promised quite a while back that I would make earrings to coordinate with my black shell bead bracelets.  I finally listed one of the pairs of earrings this week.

These earrings are available here.  I'll list the smaller version of these earrings soon.  The vote for the coordinating earrings was black so that's what I decided to make.  But if you prefer white, just let me know.  I still have some white shells.

I have sea green and pale blue bracelet and earring sets ready to photograph, too.

I sold five button charm bracelets on Etsy last month.  I've started restocking my stash.  I know that my shop is still plenty full, but my button bracelet supply has diminished.  It's been one of my few designs that has sold consistently on Etsy so I'm not going to stop making them any time soon.  I have blue in the works right now.

All of my new button charm bracelets will have beads like this recently sold button charm bracelet has.  They have been popular and are something that sets my button charm bracelets apart from others that are available on Etsy.  The turquoise/red combination will be back as well as green and purple.

the latest shell design

I listed another shell design this week.  I liked the larger black and white version so much (and it's done so well) that I decided to make one with smaller shells, too.  Here it is.  And here's the link for the Etsy listing.

I have not made coordinating black and white earrings in either size yet, but that idea is still on my to do list.  I'm pretty sure that I'm going with black and will make it in both shell sizes.  Let me know what you think.

getting ready for Valentine's Day

I listed two more items in my shell series this week, which would work perfectly for Valentine's Day.  Of course they work perfectly for lots of other occasions, too.

The bracelet is available here, and the earrings are available here.  I blogged about my shell designs pretty recently so I won't go into that again too much right now.  The small black/white shell design is up next and then I'll be working with blues and greens (as well as some black earrings).

Also on the subject of Valentine's Day, Christina (AnnasAdornments) included my Beaded Bracelet - Heart Fringed Raspberry in her Valentine hearts in jewelry, soap, slippers, and buttons treasury.  Thank you Christina!

Christina also included my brand new pink shell earrings in her Pretty pinks treasury!

classic colors for and other thoughts related to my shell design

I don't have a lot of shop goals for 2011 because as I'm sure a lot of you already know, this is going to be a very crazy year for me and Jake.  Once we've settled into the next stage of our lives, I'll be a little more focused about my shop.  But one thing that I am doing this year is phasing out some of my designs that I don't really want to do anything with anymore and focusing on the lines that have become my signature style.  I know that this kind of contrary to the nature of "randomcreative," but I think that it will help the overall feel of my shop with more concentrated product lines with the occasional OOAK pieces thrown into the mix.  It still won't change the fact that "randomcreative" is who I am through and through with creative projects/endeavors in my life.

One of the lines that I'm continuing to develop in my shell bead line.  I've made a few black and white versions before, but they were either for gifts or they sold before they ever got up on Etsy.  There's now one available there.  You can view the listing here.

There will be a small version available like this but with black and white soon, too.  The purple earrings have done well so I'm offering coordinating earrings with my other new shell designs, too.  I'm undecided about which color to go with for this version (and the smaller version), though.  My gut feeling is that people would like not go for one white/one black and would prefer black over white.  But let me know what you think.

I have pink and light blue in the works, too, and I just received these lovely colors in the mail this week.

first lanyard

I had a custom order before Christmas for a purple shell bead lanyard.  As I mentioned earlier this week, my shell bead design continues to be very popular, particularly in purple.  At the time, I only had the earrings available for purple.  The OT that I work with at my school liked them so much that she ordered a bracelet and a lanyard with the same beads.  I got the bracelet together pretty quickly but this took a little longer with all of the other Christmas orders.  I was supposed to get it to her today, which got delayed.  But she's seen the pictures already so I'm still posting this today.

I know that the colors look a little washed out in this first picture.

They look better in the light box.

This is honestly the first lanyard that I have ever made.  I'm pretty pleased with the result.

I've had a difficult enough time keeping my shell bracelets and earrings stocked without adding lanyards to my inventory.  So I'm not planning to make more of these in the near future.  But as always, if you'd like a custom one in any color, please let me know.  They're $40.  Also, if you missed this earlier this week, the bracelet in this color is back in stock now.

back in stock

I did a ton of jewelry making during my time off over the holidays.  I made a bunch of new items, but I also restocked some designs.  I will continue to unroll these as a take new pictures and/or update the listings, but here's what's available now.

My shell designs have done well, but the purple in particular continues to be extremely popular.  I had to track down more of these beads over break before I could re-list the bracelet.

I actually have two pairs of the earrings ready now.  If you're interested in more than one quantity, please let me know.

 I know that Christmas is over, but this button charm bracelet will be ready for Etsy's Christmas in July sale.

I'm so happy to have this piece back in stock.  I got lots of compliments on the original version, which I sold over the summer.  As you may remember, I had a request for it last month from a co-worker so I went ahead and made an extra one after I'd finished hers.  And now it's up.  This listing was in desperate need of some better pictures.

olive green

I made a new version of my shell bead design, this time in olive green.  Simple, elegant, and coordinates with any neutral!  My purple shell bead bracelet and earrings have done really well.  I have been pretty content to continue to making purple ones exclusively for the last couple years.  I will continue to make them, but I've decided to branch out, too.  I'll have a black and white version available at some point, too, but for now, here it is in olive green.

Let me know what you think and, as always, if you'd like to see this in other color combinations.  You can purchase the bracelet here and the earrings here.  If you purchase both, I'll take 10% off your entire order (refund via PayPal).

new listing, new goodies

I sold and re-listed my Beaded Bracelet - Purple Shell design today.  It will be made to order (until I make another one at some point) and will still be 15% off for the rest of month.

I love this design!  I'm glad that it continues to do well.  I'm also still planning to make one in green.  For now, though, you can get coordinating Sterling Silver Dangle Earrings - Purple Shell, which I just listed tonight.

I know that the bracelet and earring shades of purple don't look perfectly matched, but they are very close in color in person.

I had several in person sales while I was in Chicago, too, as well as another Etsy sale.  I have really had a fabulous summer for sales, and I'm so excited that Etsy is finally picking up.  Hopefully this will continue!  While I was in Chicago, I got some new goodies, too.  I got lots of vintage buttons in bulk for $2.00 at Vogue Fabrics.  I will take a picture of them at some point.  I did not make it to Caravan in the city because Jake's test ended earlier than we originally thought so I made a short trip to Briolette instead.  Instead of splurging on lots of new Czech pressed glass (like leaves), I got a few glass pieces and some filler seed beads, which is just fine.  As I'm sure you can imagine, I'm far from out of Czech glass. :)

The first day of work went pretty well today.  It's nice to have one day of work and then a weekend to ease back into the regular routine.  Have a great weekend everyone!