A New Heather Box!!!

My long time readers will know just what that title means, and how very exciting it is. But for the uninitiated, let me break it down for you. My friend Heather gets vintage jewelry lots from ebay and from garage sales, thrift stores, etc., because she wants a few pieces in the lot. And there are always plenty of things she doesn't want, or that are broken, or not quite her style so she saves them up in a medium sized Priority Mail Box until it's full and then mails it off to me for salvage!

I'm so glad she didn't tell me this one was coming. It made it all the more exciting when I got home and there it was waiting for me. I've sorted through it all, and picked apart most of what I'm saving but there's still some work to be done. It takes a couple of weeks before I'm ever through.

Oooh just look at how much fun this is gonna be!!!

I see some good stuff in here...

Plenty of glass pearls. And vintage rhinestone rondelles!

Old 50s plastic pearls, some sparkly stuff, lavender and white glass!

I adore the hand painted heart shaped piece of shell. It's one of my favorite things from the box. It's sitting next to the Deco rhinestone leaf buckle, which shall one day meet some sari ribbon and become something beautiful. Any ideas?

Strange plastic mummies - perhaps next Halloween I'll make an orange and black king cake and tuck the mummies inside? (If you're not from New Orleans or around here, you have no idea what I'm talking about.) Another fab rhinestone buckle. A great enameled butterfly bracelet, a cool stacked gold bell pendant and some other fun stuff...

There was so much more than this, including a dark gunmetal shoe-clip that is going to make a gorgeous bracelet some day.

I love Heather boxes!!!

Artists Helping Artists Silent Auction

Several artists in the blog community have decided to band together to help a fellow artist in need. 

I am offering the necklace I recently completed for Erin Prais-Hintz' Color Challenge, as well as a pair of earrings that don't match - but they coordinate pretty well. I do love working with sari fabric, it provides such a fun texture.

I'll start the bid on these pieces at $20 and I will be more than happy to ship anywhere in the universe!

Would you like to be the winning bidder?

Please leave a comment along with your bid. If you are the winning bidder, you will receive an invoice after the close of the auction, which ends Sunday the 11th at midnight est. There must be a way to contact you. If you have email preferences turned off in your profile, please leave your email.

Many people are auctioning items to help out! Please visit these the other artists below and place your bid!

List of participants:

Heidi Post http://expostfactojewelry.blogspot.com/
Marie Cramp & Lori Anderson http://skyejewels.blogspot.com/
Barbara Bechtel & Staci Smith  http://secondsurf.com/
Erin Fickert-Rowland http://elysianstudiosart.com/
Keirsten Giles http://www.cerebraldilettante.blogspot.com/
Andrew Thornton http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/
Karen Totten http://starryroadstudio.blogspot.com/
Kristi Bowman-Gruel http://dreamsomedesigns.blogspot.com/
Nan Emmett http://spiritrattles.blogspot.com/
Maire Dodd http://mairedodd.blogspot.com/
Amanda Cargill Austin http://www.seashoreglassgirl.com/
Janice Everett http://jlynnjewels.blogspot.com/
Rebecca Anderson http://songbeads.blogspot.com/
Shannon Iko Chomanczuk http://formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Justman http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/
Erin Prais-Hintz http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/
Kerry Bogert http://kabsconcepts.blogspot.com
Patricia Gasparino http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com/
Erin Seigel http://erinsiegeljewelry.blogspot.com/
Courtney Breul http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/

Other Fundraisers:
MaryAnne Carroll at LMAJ http://lovemyartjewelry.blogspot.com/2011/12/5-huge-giveaway.html

Holiday Shop Hop!

Welcome to the Holiday Shop Hop! Michelle from MiShel Designs has organized this big online shop hop! Thanks Michelle! Please click on her link to see the full list of participants.

Starting today and lasting until December 20th, I'm offering 15% off in my etsy shop! The coupon code is HOLIDAY15. Please stop by and see what I have to offer, and then check on all the other participants' pages! I'll be adding even more items over the next few days.

Happy Holidays and thanks for stopping by!

Challenge of Color Blog Hop!

Hi everyone, and welcome to the 2nd Challenge of Color Blog Hop hosted by the lovely & hard-working Erin Prais-Hintz of Treasures Found!

She chose each one of us our very own color palette from Design Seeds based on the main color of our choice. I chose teal (not a big stretch), but as you can see - my palette included pinks (which is a much bigger stretch). Here it is:

The first thing I thought when I saw it was: I already made this necklace! But of course I couldn't use something I had already done. But here it is, just so you can see. 

Okay, so the blue's a little blue, and there's no olive or dark dark red, but it was pretty darn close.

I had a wealth of teal sari ribbon lying around though, so I set about knotting it over and over, which has been a new thing I've been doing lately. But then, I was stuck! I didn't have any focals that matched. The only large beads I had in those colors were boring and wouldn't make good focals. I pulled out more of the same cherry quartz you see above. Pearls. Serpentine. Mookaite. Czech glass. I tried a million things -- failed attempts at making a grapes-like cluster of different sizes of cherry quartz. Individual dangles on the sari ribbon. Chain and sari ribbon with dangles on the chain. It was all just horrible. I'm not a dangles kinda girl. Other people do beautiful work like that. Not me.

I opened the pink & purple box one more time, hoping I'd see something new (much like looking in an empty refrigerator 10 times hoping there'll be a forgotten pie somewhere). And there it was! That pink fossil bead! It's just a cheap thing from Michael's, but I'd gotten it and never used it for a reason. It was just the right shades of pink. Suddenly I remembered some olive serpentine chips I'd forgotten, and whipped up this little dangley focal. So it's not my favorite thing I've ever done, but I was finally satisfied with the result. Plus it is the first piece to feature one of my new highly prized faceted pearls in dark dark red. 

Make sure to check out all the other participants' blogs! And thanks for stopping by.

1 Norma Turvey ~ Teal ~ Color Crave

2 Jeannie Dukic ~ Green ~ Mineral Tones

3 Mary McGraw ~ Teal ~ Embellished Hues

4 Jo Tinley ~ Red ~ Decadent Tones

5 Rebecca Anderson ~ Pink ~ Tulip Tones

6 Kristi Jaro ~ Red ~ Temple Entrance

7 Stephani Gorman ~ Green ~ Dew Tones

8 Melissa Meman ~ Green ~ Fruit Star

9 Kathleen Lange Klik ~ Teal ~ Silk Hues

10 Cynthia Riggs ~ Red ~ Autumn Comfort

11 Heidi Post ~ Teal ~ Flora Bright

12 Cece Cormier ~ Teal ~ Merino Teal

13 Amy Freeland ~ Gray ~ Cultured Tones

14 Alice Peterson ~ Blue ~ Island Play

15 Rose Noble ~ Gray ~ Autumn Stacked

16 Kristina Johansson ~ Yellow ~ Sunny Flower

17 Kirsi Luostarinen ~ Teal ~ Dragon Hues

18 Tari Kahrs ~ Orange ~ Citrus Tones

19 Mallory Hoffman ~ Purple ~ Petaled Dark

20 Molly Alexander ~ Brown ~ Peppered Tones

21 Regina Santerre ~ Red ~ Frosted Berry

22 Emanda Johnson ~ Teal ~ Color Purl

23 Amy Severino ~ Orange ~ Winged Tones

24 Bobbie Rafferty ~ Teal ~ Lime Hues

25 Tanya Goodwin ~ Gray ~ Pecked Tones

26 Lisa Lodge ~ Blue ~ Nocturnal Tones

27 Hope Smitherman ~ Blue ~ Bloom Tones

28 Linda Landig ~ Green ~ Cacti Dark

29 Ambra Gostoli ~ Teal ~ Perched Autumn

30 Lori Bowring-Michaud ~ Blue ~ Sharpened Blue

31 Pippa Chandler ~ Teal ~ Hungarian Hues

32 Keirsten Giles ~ Purple ~ Mineral Brights

33 Jennifer Justman ~ Blue ~ Autumn Rays

34 Sandy Richardson ~ Purple ~ Moroccan Brights

35 CJ Bauschka ~ Teal ~ Teal Air

36 Shaiha Williams ~ Teal ~ Sushi Hues

37 Kay Thomerson ~ Purple ~ Autumn Spectrum

38 Sally Russick ~ Purple ~ Golden Gate Tones

39 Cilla Watkins ~ Purple ~ Autumn Infused

40 Shirley Moore ~ Purple ~ Frozen Heather

41 Jenni Connolly ~ Gray ~ Paw Tones

42 Tamara Soper ~ Green ~ Field Tones

43 Sharyl McMillian-Nelson ~ Blue ~ Nested Blues

44 Jen Velasquez ~ Pink ~ Sweetened Tints

45 Maria Grimes ~ Red ~ Bright Bloom

46 Elisabeth Auld ~ Gray ~ Petaled Tints

47 Susan Kennedy ~ Pink ~ Zinnia Tones

48 Shannon Chomanczuk ~ Gray ~ Autumn Leaf

49 Holly Westfall ~ Yellow ~ Sprinkled Tones

50 Patty Gasparino ~ Red ~ Color Carton

51 Angela Little ~ Pink ~ Singapore Brights

52 Lizzie Zawinski ~ Green ~ Budding Hues

53 Kristen Stevens ~ Pink ~ Scooped Tones

54 Dawn Doucette ~ Brown ~ Jarred Tones

My Par-tay!

So a lot of people didn't show up. Aside from my sister, mom, niece, my friend who came with, and the Scentsy woman (who was also hawking her wares), there were 5 guests. So considering all that, I did pretty well. I was surprised I sold anything at all. Plus, I now have some Christmas present ideas in mind for my sister, niece, and friend :) The most valuable thing I think I gained is the knowledge that my display kicks major derriere, and that I can manage to set up on one 6-ft table. I really loved hanging things off the chandelier, and I know that won't happen again. But it worked today! I'm very happy with my necklace display, and now I am way more confident about doing craft shows in the future. Also, I totally bought a Scentsy thinger, and some wax blocks. Hope I like the fragrances when they burn! Here are the photos from today. As always, click to enlarge...

This is me (right) with my friend Ashley who was a massive help today. Thanks Ash!

500 Coats of Paint Later...

The knobs for my display arrived Thursday, and after many failed attempts at geometry, I just gave up and eyeballed their placement. I decided it would probably be a smart move to prime the thing first. The cheapo 2/$1 craft paint I got at Michael's (mainly because it was called Robin's Egg Blue) was never going to cover all that stained brown wood. I got some primer at Lowe's, and gave it 3-4 coats before most of the brown was covered. Then it got at least the same number of coats of the blue. It was flat and hideous but yee haw, I remembered I had almost a full thing of Mod Podge somewhere in my art supply closet. A few coats of that, and at last! I'm pleased enough. I still have to clean up the edges where the primer/blue/Mod Podge accidentally landed. Here's a photo of the nearly end result.

 

I also priced all the jewelry that wasn't priced yet, and put 20 or more pairs of earrings on their cards and labeled & bagged them. And in the meantime, I tried to make more necklaces. Only one bracelet (after my vow last blog to make more, but I discovered I had more than I realized). 

The white beads are vintage, everything else is new - I've only got one more of these flowers left. I bought 4 a few years ago. I'm glad I didn't use them all up at once. I originally made this necklace with a different pendant, but decided it was a bad match. The necklace has been hanging around for a month until I finally made the connection that this flower would work. A friend of mine pointed out that the other black beads on the necklace sort of looked like they may be closed buds of more flowers. Never would have seen that, but I like it!

Another beautiful Lynn Davis connector, various pearls, rhinestone, glass beads, wire & sari ribbon. I started it, got frustrated, slept on it. Kept going, got frustrated again, slept on it once more and finally finished it on the third try. Guess the 3rd time really is a charm!

Another gorgeous raku pendant by Jessi of Ecclectic Trinkets, some knotted sari, sparkly crystals which perfectly complement the pendant, and annealed steel wire. That wire is SO hard to bend, and my right thumb/hand joint is crying today.

I usually try not to make things like this: pearls all around and a silver pendant. It's so common around here, though the pendant is usually some New Orleans themed item, but I had the (Hill Tribe) pendant and I had the pearls, and I can guarantee that it will go over well with my sister and her friends next week. They may be weirded out by all my sari and copper, but they'll at least like this.

I've had these black rhinestone balls for awhile, but haven't been able to figure out what to do with them until last night. They're pretty heavy, so I have 3 strands of stretch cord through them. And it is for someone with a very thin wrist. I made this one a few times over before I found the right combo to make it wearable for someone!

Some New Earrings

Seems like all my posts lately are about new earrings. Oh well, that's what I'm making these days. Tonight, I vow I will do a couple of bracelets! I am trying to prepare for the Jewelry Party at my sister's, as well as an online Christmas Shop Hop (more on that soon).

And the pictures are courtesy of a paper towel and my cell phone. Sorry for the quality!

Yay! My new fancy amethyst brios plus some amazonite, LoSed copper wire and coppery settings I got at the show last week.

New rose quartz, little fw pearls, and some antique silver settings I recently got. And ever since, I've been seeing them around. Haha, oh well.

The new turquoise and long wooden rectangles. I keep repeating this general design, but I love these wooden rectangles for earrings. I wear mine all the time.

More turquoise and wood plus quartz & brushed silver potato chips. Plus my First Ever Made From My Hoarded Stash of Sterling Wire earwires. Go me! Usually, I'll just bend an eye pin, but I LOVE these earrings and I thought they deserved better.

Party Time!

As I requested a few blogs back, I'm going to have a jewelry party! One of my sisters, who has lots of female friends (due to being a teacher, a mom, and someone who lives in a neighborhood where neighbors actually know each other) has graciously agreed to host, so long as I don't mind her making it a twofer party where she'll also be promoting some sort of home fragrance line. That might turn out to be a great combo! In any case, it's in two weeks and I've got to get busy.  I intend to make as much jewelry as I can, but I also have to get my display together.

After fretting about it for months, but putting it off due to no real need, I finally have it! Clever BF pointed out to me that I already had what I was trying to describe to him. It just needs some revamping. When I was 14 or 15, my dad thoughtfully built me a drawing table, so I wouldn't have to draw on a pad on my lap sitting in my bed. He designed it so that the top would open up like a box, and I could keep my art supplies inside. Later in life, it became detached from its legs, and served as the surface on which I dyed satin shoes for weddings (which was my job for a year or so in college -- you can see dye stains in the picture on the edges). Ultimately, it became the giant heavy wood box I stored my art in and kept under my bed. Now 25 years later, it's going to have a new job!!! And again, it has to do with my creative efforts. It's been a good box.

Each interior panel measures 22.5 in (57 cm) x 41 in (104 cm), and because it is heavy and sturdy and hinged it stands up without any help!

So I immediately searched ebay for some knobs and found these!

They're 1.5 in (3.81 cm), and there were 40 of them for under $12 (and that includes shipping!) I'm planning to glue them on with some E6000, which, if you're unfamiliar, is glue strong enough to adhere a cow to an elephant. I'll have them in 3 rows, staggered 7-6-7, so necklace length won't be an issue.

Then, I'm going to get this super cheap paint sample from Lowe's (maybe I'll get 2 just in case).

And paint the whole thing turquoise!!!!! If I think it needs it, I might take some gesso and do a light wash over it. But I'll see when I get there. 

I don't have many bracelets, so I think I'll display them on a raised bowl I have, that's pretty shallow and totally decorative. It's made of a dark jaspery looking stone. Maybe I should put some of my river rocks in it. I have a bunch.

As for earrings, I'm going to leave them on their cards (which already have their ingredients and prices on the back), and just get a couple of cheap trays - maybe I should also paint them with the leftover turquoise paint? And organize the earrings in the trays. Sound good? My sister has a huge formal dining room table with a pretty white on white floral table cloth -- oh and of course I'll have my trusty dress form to model a necklace or two, and provide some more height on the opposite side of the table to balance the tall box. 

So all in all, I think I'm going to have a pretty cool display for very little cost! I can't wait!

Earrings Earrings Earrings!

I used some of my new things to make some earrings last night! It took me hours to sort and reorganize my containers to make room for the new stuff, so by the time I made two pairs I was ready to crash. The other two are from Friday night.


Golem Studio heart beads. Lampwork clear beads from yukidesigns.

 

Mostly treasures from Heather's Boxes. Only the aqua Czech glass is new, and from Beadaholique.

 

Kristi Bowman's gorgeous ammonite copper charms, pearls from yesterday's spree, & carnelian.

More pearl sticks from yesterday's spree, some purple AB crystals, and purple Czech glass drops from Lima Beads. It's hard to photograph, but the pearl sticks are the darkest inky teal color.

Broke the Bank at the Gem Show

I went there with ONE specific thing in mind: fancy, sparkly, faceted, briolettes. No pearls. No stones that I had to get just cos they were so pretty. No dollar strands of bling. But then I was lucky enough to win a $20 discount from one of my favorite vendors, just for responding "I'm Attending!" to the Facebook Event. Only 4 people bothered to respond, but still, I got that discount! So that was pretty exciting. And that vendor is my favorite seller of pearls, so.


So here's what I intended to buy: L-R, Labradorite, Moonstone (thinking of you Malin!), Chalcedony, Amethyst, Rose Quartz. All faceted and sparkly and beautiful. Yay!!!

The obligatory, but undeniably awesome pearls. Plus some turquoise from another vendor that snuck into this photo.

 Dollar Bling. Sometimes, you just need the dollar bling.

People want their sugar skulls. I depleted my stash last week, so I had to restock. Plus carved jade in red (I have larger green like this), and faceted pearls! I was so excited to find them!

Six feet of copper rolo chain, which will someday meet Liver of Sulfur. Carved butterflies and some lovely rutilated quartz.

There were also a couple of findings & jewelry settings that weren't worth the photos. But overall, I think I scored!

On a Vintage Rhinestone Rondelle Kick, It Would Seem

I'm loving the cooler weather we've had here lately -- for those of you who are dealing with snow and freezing temps, it's just been in the 60s here, which makes me very happy. But with the change in the weather came strong gusty winds which means all the crap gets blown around and I've spent the last two days sneezing my head off. I didn't make much this weekend -- just a few Day of the Dead skulls which are always requested this time of year, and a pair of really cute earrings I've yet to photograph. The pieces below I made during the week.

Verdigrised medallion from dimestoreemporium, rutilated quartz, freshwater pearl, vintage rhinestone rondelle, little turquoise bead, knotted sari silk.

Carved jade, vintage rhinestone rondelles, vintage glass pearls.

In other exciting news, I got a special order from someone at the hair salon for one of my molded birds-on-a-wire pendants. Two friends saw the one that was there, but only one could buy it. So now the other one wants one too. Yay!

Anyone Want to Have a Party?

I'm on a spree, and I'm not going to stop until my wrists break! The carpal tunnel has been killing me for days. It's easy to let my lack of sales get me down, but then only so many people go to my hair salon. Etsy is a gigantic sea with kajillions of other fabulous items, though I have plenty of folks favoriting my jewelry. I really don't have everything I need (tables, tent, displays, big vehicle to haul it all around in) to participate in art/craft shows, so I've only done that twice (with shared tables). So I've been thinking it would be a good idea to have some sort of open house type thing, but it has to be someone else's house (living on the 3rd floor of a gated condo complex makes things complicated) and someone else's friends (mine are all pretty much tapped out). So I'm busy busy busy creating for the eventual explosion, once all the planets are properly aligned, etc. Anyone local interested in hosting an event for me? I'll bring food & drinks, and clean up, etc. Plus, I'll give you some jewelry for your troubles!

Anyway, here's some new stuff I've done this week.

Old & New: Czech glass, Czech crystal, turquoise, copper chain, spacers and bird.

Julsbeads lampwork pendant, copper chain & wire, hemp cord, and sari silk.

Copper wire, coral, and magnasite.