Paper Clay Birds & Beads

Because I can't stay focused on one new project without getting detoured by another new project, I have temporarily abandoned the bead caps for paper clay. I read about it a few weeks ago on another blog, and decided I'd finally found what I'd been looking for. Or at least a starting point for what I'd been looking for. I wish, oh how I wish I could do actual ceramics, but that's not feasible right now. Then there's polymer clay - which is loads of fun, and I used to work with it in college. But I didn't want to invest in 10 colors just to find out that I wasn't into it or my fingers aren't capable of what they once were. Paper clay works pretty much the same, in terms of sculptability, but the bonus is that it air dries, and can even be filed and carved after it's dry. Since it's white, all the painting is up to me - instead of working with a bunch of various colors of clay. I certainly have a ton of paint and brushes at my disposal. So I decided it was time to give it a shot. I really had fun with it, and it has potential to be even more fun once I work with it more. I'll definitely be more careful and detailed with practice. I also want to (new project alert!) make my own molds - not just from found objects, but from little carvings I want to create! I am really looking forward to my Christmas staycation!!!

So here are some of the results from my initial Paper Clay session!

I made the robin and the clasp.

I only made the owl. The gray beads are seeds.

I love brown and aqua together. I made the brown beads.

And the green ones.

Future jewelry parts.

Pink is Soooo Last Month

I know October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and that's when you're overloaded with pink, but what can I say. I'm always either a little behind the times or WAY ahead of the times. I prefer to think it's the latter! So I've been working with pink lately. It's not my preferred color scheme, but sometimes something pink will really capture my attention, like the crazy lace agate beads I bought earlier this summer. They reminded me of a pink marble decorative jar my grandmother had in her formal living room. That thing fascinated me as a child, and when we were helping her downsize from a house to a smaller condo - I made sure to snatch it before it wound up in the Goodwill pile.

 My grandmother's pink jar.

I recently bought a beautiful Fleur de Lis charm from Martha Eason's Menagerie Studio. I discovered her after reading about her work over at Marie Cramp's blog. I was particularly drawn to a piece that strongly featured pink, and it was the perfect match for the crazy lace agate beads I'd been jealously hoarding since summer! I made a necklace, which also includes some pearl chips recycled from my grandmother's vintage jewelry collection. It's funny how things come together that way. Not to mention, the Fleur de Lis is pretty much New Orleans' identity (for those who aren't aware, I live in New Orleans). Plus, my mom (whose mother is the grandmother I always talk about) is named Martha and was born in Dallas - and that's where Martha Eason lives. I love all the little coincidences. 

Make sure to click on the photo so you can see the detail!

A Good Problem to Have

I couldn't wait to make a pair of earrings with my latest batch of bead caps. It's another part of the same tea tin as before. I need to work on getting some more tins! Anyway, I finished this pair last night using some of the supplies I recently ordered to satisfy the Particular Sister's birthday jewelry specifications. Ordinarily, I don't work with gold tones, but it really worked with my bead caps. I was so excited that I had to bring the earrings to work with me this morning to show a couple of my friends. While I was at it, I showed them to the coworker who's my best customer -- the one who made me stash a dozen pairs in my drawer last month so she could buy a few every paycheck. I told her that I was by no means trying to sell them to her, I just wanted to show her because I was so proud of my efforts. Wouldn't you know she told me to throw them in the drawer with the rest of her earrings. She loved them, and she just has to have them!

Now, I can't tell her NO! You buy TOO MUCH of my jewelry! Save some for other people! We're not talking about free cookies here. She loves it. She's buying it. That's the point! But between her and my hair salon, I can't seem to replenish my stock.

Like I said, it's a good problem to have. Here they are in all their glory:

Aren't they so much fun? 

In other news, I just got back from my massage and I gave my therapist the shoddy booklet I discussed in my previous post here. As she flipped through it she commented that she loved this, and that, oh and this one too, and... so on. Hopefully she'll have some things picked out soon, and she'll call or text me like she promised.

Yay!


Please don't forget about the necklace I'm auctioning right here. It's for a very worthy cause, and you have until Sunday, Nov 21 to get your bids in!

Just Made a Booklet

I'm panicking because I don't have enough stock right now to show my masseuse tomorrow night. She's been asking all about my stuff, but is rarely online and hasn't been able to visit my jewelry page. Last time she suggested printing pictures and putting them in a binder. Since my best customer and my hairdresser have vastly depleted my reserves, I don't have much really good stuff to show off! I've been trying to do a couple of things a night, but plans and life and housework often get in the way. The last two nights were spent working on a new batch of homemade bead caps, and tonight I must fill a custom order for an upcoming birthday gift. I know I know! I'm busy and selling a lot. I can't complain! If only I could afford to work part time. If only I had a studio. If only I won the lottery.

So I did the only thing I could do and quickly made a little booklet of everything I have for sale (including what's at my hair salon), and a few things that have sold recently that I could either duplicate or that could serve as inspiration for a custom order. It's 56 pages total -- double sided letter sized paper folded in half and stapled down the middle. Most of the photos look pretty crappy, but it's a starting point. It will fit in my purse, and I can whip it out as needed in case I want to show someone some of my jewelry, and they don't want to stand around awkwardly while I wait for my slow 3G phone to load up my Flickr page. That might be just the kick in the pants someone would need to actually look me up when I give them my card. We'll see how that works out.

In the mean time, have a look at a couple of pairs of earrings I made this week.

These look like they're about to fly away!

My best customer immediately snapped up the first pair of these.

Homemade Bead Caps in Action

Last weekend, I was finally able to finish the necklace I'd begun with my first batch of homemade bead caps! I also made the S-shaped clasp. If anyone is interested in purchasing it, check out my jewelry page for details.

Also this weekend, I dropped off a big batch of jewelry at my hair salon. So many things sold the first week, she was eager to get some more to display. I'm not complaining by any means, but my stock has been severely diminished, so I need to get cracking! I made a couple of pairs of earrings last weekend, as well as the above-pictured necklace and the one being auctioned, but that's not enough. Last night, I was useless. I'd had a bad day and just needed to take a break, so I have high hopes for my production levels tonight!

Please don't forget about the necklace I'm auctioning right here. It's for a very worthy cause, and you have until Sunday, Nov 21 to get your bids in!

A Very Special Blog

I mentioned in a recent blog that I was working on a necklace to be auctioned off, and it's finally ready. A dear friend and fellow blogger, Sister Wolf, is in need of some help. During the last couple years, she has suffered more personal tragedy than anyone should ever have to withstand. I don't want to get into the details here - if you're here because you clicked on a link from her blog, then you already know what she's been through. And if you don't know her, you have a link to her blog should you wish to explore it. You should check out her blog anyway because she's hilarious.

100% of the proceeds of this auction will be going to the Sister Wolf Relief Fund. Bidding should take place in the comments. I'll give it a week, and next Sunday (Nov. 21) the winner will be determined. I'll send the winner a PayPal invoice, and then the necklace will be shipped out on Monday morning. Shipping is free - worldwide! Please bid high - it's for a very good cause!!!

The necklace is 25" long plus a 6" dangle. It's wrapped with antique bronze 20 gauge wire, with antique bronze findings, quartz, apatite, and ceramic beads, and a carved dark red Buddha.

Very Exciting!

I awoke this morning to a call from my hairdresser. Some of you might remember that last week when I got my hair done, I left her with a dozen earrings and a handful of necklaces to display for sale in her salon. This morning, she was wondering if I could fit it into my schedule today to stop by with some more jewelry, and to pick up some money I'd made this week. And also, do I think I could make a little sugar skull necklace - just a pendant on a chain - for one of her clients who's buying some earrings and would love a necklace to match!

Of COURSE I could do that!

And I better get to it. She's waiting for me.

Random Websurfing Led to My First Blog-Related Sale!

Very exciting news! My blog has barely gotten off the ground, and as of today only has 9 followers, but already a complete stranger stumbled across it and purchased the butterfly necklace from the previous post. The guy said he was planning to give it to his wife for Christmas. How fun that my necklace will be wrapped up in a little box under some Christmas tree somewhere. I've sold plenty to friends and friends of friends in person and through my Facebook page, and of course I've sold things at the two art market/craft fairs I've done. But this was a first for my blog, and I'm very happy and proud of myself. Yay!

Meanwhile, I've had quite a social event-packed week, so I've only made one pair of earrings and started a new necklace. I'm pretty excited about the necklace though. When it's done, I'll post a blog about it. I'm planning to auction it off here, and the proceeds will be donated to a dear friend and brilliant blogger who has had a very tragic and traumatic year (or more). More info in that blog. But the necklace is beautiful so far, and I can't wait to show it to you.

Other than that, I'm waiting on some supplies to arrive so I can begin the November Birthday Sisters jewelry projects. 2/3 of my sisters have birthdays within a few days of each other this month. As if that's not enough, one shares the day with my Dad (who has no use for jewelry), and a week prior is one of my niece's birthdays. She's a creative girl (just like her cool aunt), so instead of getting jewelry, she'll be getting a Michael's gift card. Those two sisters though, they're pretty particular (especially one of them, and she knows which one she is), so I had to order a whole batch of supplies. Hopefully it will all arrive in time for everyone to receive their gifts at the November Birthday Party.

I have no new jewelry pics to post, so you'll have to make do with this photo showcasing my fab new haircut and modeling some of my own designs!

Weekend Update

Happy Monday everyone. I had a very busy weekend, so I didn't get to make much jewelry. I've been working on a necklace with the purple bead caps from last post; however, it's been assembled and reworked several times already and I'm just not happy with it yet. Sometimes, it's good to put things on the side for a while and finish them when the proper inspiration strikes. I try to avoid forcing myself to finish something I'm unhappy with just for the sake of finishing it. Case in point, the brass & yellow tiger eye bead portion of this necklace had been sitting on my jewelry table for 6 months waiting for the perfect focal bead(s) to present themselves. Over the months I've tried different things; but it wasn't until this weekend that these recently acquired vintage/recycled Cloisonné round and Cinnabar butterfly beads solved the problem. Ta da! I will shortly list it for sale on my Facebook page.

In other news, one of my sisters and I got our hair cut & colored on Saturday. I chopped off about 8 inches! It looks really cute, but that's irrelevant. I finally brought in a bunch of my jewelry to show my stylist. She runs her own salon, and caters to a very cool & tasteful clientele. She picked out a dozen pairs of earrings and a handful of necklaces to display for sale. If they wind up selling, she said she'll take more! I know some of her clients own funky little stores, and they may like my jewelry and want to sell it too. Who knows where this could lead?

And if that's not enough, my massage therapist wanted to see some of my things, so I pulled up my Flickr account on my phone. She said she saw at least 6 pairs of earrings she wants, and said she'd call to remind me to bring them to my next appointment. She also suggested that I print out pictures of everything, and carry them in a binder everywhere I go. That way, instead of just giving people a card, they can actually see the jewelry, which will inspire them to go to my site, or even work out some sort of deal on the spot. That's not a bad idea, actually. I'm trying to figure out ways to reach a larger audience, and until this blog gets a bigger following, I have to be creative.

Does anyone else have any other ideas? In what ways do you market yourselves?

New project underway!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few days - the weather's been awful, which meant no natural light for photos 'til this morning. And I didn't want to just post old pictures. So here's a pair of earrings I made a few days ago.

There's nothing vintage and there are no handmade elements, other than that my hands assembled them. And while I would have thought they were pretty fun several months ago, I now feel like I'm cheating. That's definitely a good thing, because I really want my stuff to be unique. And these could have been easily made by any handy 12 year old with access to a decently stocked craft store. Someone, somewhere might love them and need to have them, and that's great for me. But things like this will be ending soon. 

And things like this will be starting:

This is the early stages of my first attempt at homemade bead caps. All I had time for last night was punching and sanding. It didn't really take too long, I just had many other things to do before I could play with my new toys. This was the lid of a Hedley's Tea tin (Black Currant). I was saving the part where there are pretty paintings of berries and scrolly bits for once I had the technique down, but honestly I think it looks pretty cool with all the chopped up text. It makes you wonder what the words might have said. (Hint: it's all in French) Tonight, I'll punch center holes in them and pound them into nice little domes. I can't wait!

Earlier this week, on Facebook and IRL, I put out a call for tins. All the tins you can't throw away, ('cos they're perfectly good tins!) but that you don't really want to keep. My call was answered in the form of 9 big silver tins and several big white tins. At first, I was mildly bummed that no one had any crazy floradelic tins or zoo-themed tins, but then I realized silver and white will be perfect blank canvases for me to paint whatever I want! Then with a nice varnish over it, it should be okay, right? That way I'm not being as derivative as I fear and I'm being even more homemade than I originally planned! Now, that doesn't mean I'm turning down any crazy floradelic tins. And I'm still pretty excited about the text pieces as well. But I'm looking forward to exploring this brand new concept (painting on the bead caps) on top of the less brand new, but still really new concept (making the bead caps in the first place). Go me!!!

And for those of you who may have been hoping I'd be getting that craft desk I mentioned last post, it's not going to happen. There's no way to feasibly make it work without just sticking it in the middle of the way. One day in the future I really hope I will have my own room to turn into a studio. For now, I'll just have to make do.