new listings, sneak peak, other random happenings

I listed two new items in my Etsy shop tonight.  The first one is Tortoiseshell Cat Button Charm Bracelet.  I think that the name is fitting for these neutral shades.  Some of you may remember that I created a custom bracelet like this for someone I met at the Arts Festival earlier this summer.  I liked the result so much that I decided to create another version to sell.

Also, continuing with my red theme for this week, I finished and listed my newest red earrings: Red Striped Beadwoven Peyote Triangle Earrings.  If anyone missed the red items earlier, these earrings coordinate with this peyote cuff and this peyote triangle pendant.

I finally set up the beads for my next Turquoise and Red Fringed Peyote Cuff Bracelet.  I sold the original last summer!  How has it taken me this long to make my next version of this awesome design?

This version will have more variety in the shades/colors for the cube beads and a little different fringe combination.

Finally, here are a couple other random pictures from this week.

My latest baking project: oatmeal chocolate/peanut butter chip cookies.  It's the Quaker Oats recipe (which I can't find online, believe it or not) with chocolate chips and peanut butter chips instead of raisins.  I also used half whole wheat flour/half white flour.  They're pretty awesome.

I know that this picture is dark, but Jake thought it would be cute to take a picture of Angel in her towel for medicine time.  She was diagnosed with a hypothyroid back in February and has to take a liquid dose of medicine twice a day.  Living up to her name, she's about the most well behaved cat ever when she has to take them.  It's taken some training, but she'll sit like that in the towel with me for a minute after the medicine (before she jumps down to get a treat).

voting for the August EBW Challenge and my newest red piece

Before I get to red, I want to mention that voting started for the August EBW Challenge Gold and Silver today!  Voting is August 9th-15th on the Etsy Beadweavers blog: http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com.  Voting is on the right side of the page.  You can view all of the entries in the most recent blog post.  My entry is number 5: Gold and Silver Wrapped Skinny Peyote Cuff Bracelet.  Thank you so much to everyone who has already voted for it!

For those who are bead weavers, you can purchase the pattern for this cuff here.

And now the other topic for this post: red. :) I know that I've written this before here, but I still believe that red is one of the most underrated colors.  I remade my Red Striped Beadwoven Peyote Triangle Pendant design this week.  Because it took me so long to finish the coordinating cuff after the pendant, I never did photograph both pieces together.  I figured that now would be a good a time as any to do that.  I shot some new pictures of the cuff as well.  The originals weren't bad, but these are better.

Because the ribbons were such a big hit at the Arts Festival, I'm photographing all of my pendants with ribbons now.

Here's one of my shots of the two pieces together.  You can see the other shot in the triangle listing.

In an effort to show more modeling poses, I took a few pictures of myself wearing the pendant.  This was the best one.  I don't know if I'm going to use something like this for all of my listings now, but I think that's worth continuing to experiment with the idea.

Also, at everyone's urging, I experimented with some different arm/hand model poses for the cuff.  Let me know what you think.

I still love how the coordinating cuff turned out.  It was a lot of work coming up with this design, but it was well worth it!

DIY, recent random happenings, need an opinion on a new picture idea

I decided to break things up tonight and post a few pictures of recent happenings (particularly of non-jewelry DIY projects) before I post about one jewelry picture idea that I would like some feedback on.

I've been perfecting the art of the self French manicure for the last few months.  Yes, those are my real nails.

As I've mentioned before, I started making my own thank you cards this summer for my Etsy package.  I put a few of them in my light box today while I taking some other pictures.  Pink is not my favorite color, but I made a pink/green baby card for someone (who loves both of those colors) and decided to make this set with the scraps from that little project.

Jake and I started watching Man v. Food this summer.  We saw a few episodes on cable while we were in the Dells and now watch it on Netflix.  For those who have seen the show, we got inspired by the Minneapolis episode and decided to make our own Juicy Lucy burgers.  They turned out pretty well.  Yes, each burger does consist of two 1/3 pound burger patties, and no, I did not eat the entire thing in one sitting.

Also on the subject of food, I'm sure that many of you already know this, but I like to bake even more than I like to cook.  I made pumpkin muffins last week.  I got the recipe from this cookbook which is written by Billy Joel's wife.  That cookbook is still one of the most random things I've found in the new nonfiction section of the library since I started browsing there regularly last year so I wanted to share that.

A picture of Angel that I took while Jake was setting up some of his Warhammer models in the light box.

I took a few dozen pictures of some of Jake's newest models yesterday.  I won't post all of them here, but I'm pretty happy with the way that they turned out.

And finally, while I was taking jewelry pictures today, I experimented with a new idea.  Jake doesn't like the way that it looks because he thinks that my hand ends up looking distorted. I think that a lot of people have trouble determining how a piece of jewelry is proportioned without a human model or a mannequin.  I don't provide any sort of model in my pictures currently so I thought a shot like this might help my shop viewers.  I have pretty small hands, but they will still provide a clear visual for how wide the bracelet is, how large the embellishment is, is it a long or short bracelet, etc.  I like the first shot better than the second.  I did not shoot any with a white background, but I could experiment with that if you think it would work better.  Let me know what you think.  Please be honest.  I am open to the possibility of using a plastic hand mannequin, too.  I just don't own one currently.  Thanks in advance!

redo, back in stock, treasury feature

I had to redo the clasp on one of the bracelets that my grandma purchased from me earlier this summer.  I used cube beads for the clasp originally, and it didn't hold very well.  So I took it out and put in a button and seed bead loop instead.

I played around with the white balance in the light box today.  The tripod photos have considerably less blue tint than the ones that I've shot thus far.  I'm still struggling to get close up shots on custom settings that don't blur.  It's a work in progress.  My shots are still improving.  Hopefully this button clasp will work better for her.  Trial and error!  My other cube cuffs with cube clasps are wider so I think they'll hold better, but I'm not planning to use that design again.  If anyone is interested in the above design, you can purchase it as made to order in my Etsy shop here (or click on the photo of it).

I made a new version of my Two-Hole Button Explosion Earrings and updated the listing today.

I have one more multicolored explosion version planned as well as an all blue version.  After that, I'm not sure yet, but as always, I'm open to suggestions.

Patch (patchfirstshop) included my Beadwoven Bracelet - The Leafy Series - Winter in her EtsyBloggers weekly treasury: Favorite BLUE!!  Patch is the one who came up with the weekly treasury idea for the team.  It's been a big hit so far.

You can view this treasury by CLICKING HERE.

I finished the first draft of my next beading PDF pattern tonight.  Having completed one pattern already, I feel much more confident about this second one.  I think that my photos are better for it, too.  I used all white backgrounds (except for a couple of the completed bracelet shots) and black thread so the clarity is good.  I'll proofread it and make the final edits in Word tomorrow.  I should have it for sale within the next week.

Thank you to everyone who promoted my Christmas Button Charm Bracelet during the Christmas in July sale, especially through the Christmas treasuries, because it sold today!

I'm participating in my first SNS tonight.  My sale will hold through 6AM EST Sunday so there's still plenty of time to check it out if you haven't already.

new listing, back in stock, treasury feature

I listed a new pair of earrings tonight: Red/Blue Button Dangle Sterling Silver Earrings.

I sold a pair like these at the Arts Festival back in June.  I have another similar pair finished and yet another similar pair in the works.  I don't know if I'll have any luck with them on Etsy, but they were a huge hit at the Arts Festival.  I could have sold more if I'd had more available.  If I had pierced ears, I would wear earrings like these.  They're simple, fun, and very lightweight.

I restocked one of my best selling designs yesterday: Purple Shell Beaded Bracelet.  I actually gave the last version to one of my Iowa friends who helped me with the tear down process after the Arts Festival.

There will be matching earrings for it on Etsy at some point.  You can preview them here.  One of my aunts bought the first pair last week, but there is a second pair ready for someone else.  I would like to make a green version of this bracelet with matching earrings eventually, too.  I have the shell beads already.  They're a great subtle olive tone.  I just need to get around to making the bracelet.

Finally, Chris Maj (beadn4fun) included my Sunshine Gold Accented Skinny Peyote Cuff Bracelet in her Over the Rainbow treasury.  16 EBW pieces in all different colors!  I just took new pictures of this cuff this afternoon before I knew about the treasury.  Sometimes timing works out really well. :) I made sure to get a screen shot after I'd updated the listing.

You can view this treasury live by CLICKING HERE.