Back From Vacation

Hey y'all! Just got back last night from my trip to Alabama and I am tired. But lot's to do: unpacking, blogging, tweeting, advertising, listing new items on etsy, etc...

My grandmother, bless her heart, fell in love with a couple of pair of copper earrings that I made while I was down there. SO, I gave them to her, knowing she would wear them when they went out to eat, and knowing how much she would tell everyone about them. Family advertising is great!

I scoped out a local craft fair while I was there. Lots of jewelry talent there, but only one who had my style. She wasn't into the wire wrap as much as I, but she did lovely bead work with gemstones beads and pendants. Gorgeous! Here is her info...

Lilah Broxton Designs - B'ham, AL
lilahbroxton@hotmail.com

I am lovin' working with sterling silver now. Just posted some in my etsy shop, so y'all come on ever and check them out!

Stay shiny!

All's Well That Ends Well

I set up my booth at the Tinley Park Recreation Center Craft Fair last weekend. It was my first time selling there and I wasn't sure what to expect from them.

As soon as I walked in, I noticed that there were a LOT of other jewelry crafters there.

At first, I thought they had put us all together in one room ( we were spread out into six or seven smaller rooms), but then word trickled in from the other rooms that they had just as many jewelry folk set up in there as well.

Tinley obviously did not limit the types of crafts who signed up.

Regardless, I did pretty well and they show was very fun to do. I think I was one of the only ones there who did copper wirework and I had lots of customers tell me that my jewelry was unique.

That's what I wanted to hear! :)

Sold a lot of copper rings and had requests for sterling silver. So the other day, I ordered 30 feet of silver wire and have a lot of projects planned for it.

Stay tuned!

I Found a New Ceramic Artist

I received my Beading Daily newsletter the other day and saw an article about a necklace inspired by a ceramic pendant made by Melissa at Chinook Jewelry.

You know how it is. You see a focal bead or an unusual pendant and just have to make something with it.

That's what I did.

I immediately went over to her website and ordered two pendants from her Botanical collection. Not only did I receive what I ordered, she also sent me a free pendant. Bless her heart. Now that's what I call customer appreciation.

Here is what I made with the square pendant.

I thought it turned out rather well with the unakite beads.

Etsy Team Member of the Week

I want to start featuring a team member from my etsy team, The Big Damn Crafters, every week. I will start out with OmShanti Handcrafts.

Her Minty Footy Spray is awesome for your feet. I bought some a few months ago and love it! Sometimes at night, I can't sleep because my feet are hot. So I spray a little of the footie spray and it cools them off.

Check omshanti and the other BDC team members for some great handcrafted items!

This Week's Sale Items

This week you can get the copper chain necklace PLUS matching earrings for only $25.00 and FREE SHIPPING! Just click on the Paypal button on the sidebar!

Finished Product

I ended up not using the rose bead. Here is the finished product. It is only a one decade rosary.

And...I made earrings out of the rose beads.

A Rosary for my Sister-in-Law

My SIL wanted a rosary for her mom and since they are Irish, I wanted to make an Irish rosary, so I bought shamrock beads and a shamrock crucifix and center.

At first I was very excited about it, but now I am having doubts as to how it looks.

I want it to be special, so I thought of adding a cherry quartz rose bead for the pater instead of another shamrock bead.

What do you think?

Wishes

I am really wanting to go to Bead Fest Wire in Pennsylvania this year.

There are lots of wonderful classes that will be offered, such as Asymmetric Woven Wire Ring, and Two-Tone Woven Wire Bangle.

Unfortunately, most of the classes that I'd love to take are closed already. I guess this is one of the events in life that you have to make reservations for a year in advance. Kind of like a big wedding.

Y'all Love Bargains, Right?

UPDATE: This necklace has already sold to one of my fellow tweets on Twitter.com! Thanks Brian! Y'all check back next week for a new bargain!

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I have decided to start offering a weekly bargain in my etsy shop and I'll feature it here on the blog.

This week, I am offering the Walk in the Woods Necklace. It is made of jasper beads and has a silver tree pendant and a silver plated "s" hook clasp. The colors of the beads are just beautiful and remind me of a summers day in the woods.

Just click on the Buy Now button on my side bar and be looking out for more weekly bargains every Saturday.

Etsy Teams

Over on Etsy, we have teams that we can join. The teams are not only for socializing, but for support. We promote each other's shops and get to know each other.

The first group that I joined was the Big Damn Crafters.

They got the name from an episode of Firefly, which is the common thread that binds us in this group. We are all Browncoats...fans of the cancelled show Firefly and the movie Serenity. So we have contests to make the best Firefly-themed items each month and we post promotions in Etsy Promotions that sometimes are themed to Firefly.

If you are fans of this series or just looking for something different, check out the BDCers on Etsy. Just type in TeamBDC on Etsy's search box. There are some very talented crafters/designers on there.