Friday Features - Druzy Beauty

One section on Etsy I could spend hours browsing is the jewelry section. I love all the unique designs and beautiful colors! And druzies are always one to catch my eye. Today I've put together some of my favorite druzy beauties. Enjoy :)

Clockwise from top left:

Silver Druzy Quartz in Rose Gold Ring - 18k Rose Gold Vermeil - Bezel Set

Raw Stone Jewelry - Pink Druzy Necklace

 Druzy Earrings, Silver Druzy Earrings

 Moon rocks silver plated post faux druzy stud earrings, fake plugs

Which is your favorite?

Bonzer Beads Birthday Surprise

A couple weeks ago I posted a birthday wish list of great items I'd love to have from Etsy. I was both surprised and elated when one of the featured sellers offered to send me one of the items from my wish list!

Duane of Bonzer Beads sent me this beautiful Hammered Aluminum Ring in my size. And it arrived so quickly too! I received it last Monday and I've been wearing it all week!

I love that it fits both my index finger as well as my thumb. I've never worn a thumb ring before, but really like this one on my thumb. It's so comfortable and light weight.

 Bonzer Beads also has many other beautiful item in their shop. Here are a few of my favorites:

Wide Purple Pearl Memory Wire Cuff Bracelet

Gray Pearl Beaded Cross Necklace with Charms

Hammered Copper Spiral Earrings with Wire Wrap Turquoise Beads

I can't express my gratitude enough to Duane for sending me such a beautiful gift!

The Magical 100

I've had an unwritten goal for quite some time to get 100 items listed in my shop. I've been in the 80s and 90s for a few months now and finally reached the "magical 100"!

The theory behind the "magical 100" is that the more items you have in your store, the more you're getting your product seen and the more exposure you'll have. Then, if everything goes as planned, more listings will equal more sales :)

Since I've started thinking of more and more ways to to use the wood I have on hand, I've come up with TONS of new ideas for listings! You've seen my new jewelry (with lots more to come!) and my wine charms.

Next on the list will be magnets, key chains and hair pins! I also have cuff links and buttons in the works!

Thanks to everyone who has made suggestions for new items! I have several of them in the works and plan to do a post dedicated to your awesome ideas!

Have you hit the "magical 100"? Or do you have a different goal for your shop listings?

 Did you see an increase in sales when you hit your "magical number"?

Playing with Fabrics

About a month ago I was the lucky winner at Duni's blog! She was so kind to offer a 20euro gift certificate to her Fabric Shoppe! As most of my readers know, I'm no seamstress. But even for someone who works mainly with wood, glass and paper, these fabrics were such a delight! I had such a hard time deciding which fabrics to choose!

Duni wrapped my fabrics up like a pretty package complete with a sweet note and even a surprise...the pretty pink pencil :) What was inside was even better! Fabrics in pink, teal and aqua...some of my favorite colors!

I waited a while to blog about my winnings because I wanted the chance to make some fun projects with the fabrics first. The first thing that came to mind was jewelry! I made a matching necklace and earring set out of the pretty pink fabric. I cut a small piece of fabric and glued it too some wood with Mod Podge. I then cut the circles with my laser. Next I tried a couple different techniques to finish the pieces. I first tried a gel medium, but wasn't happy with the results since I wanted just the top and sides coated...turned into a bit of a mess! So I went with another coat of Mod Podge. Sealed them well and gave them a nice finish. The back side still has a wood finish.

I went to a bridal shower over the weekend and needed a card to go with my gift. I remembered this really cool technique that Nancy had shown on her blog with fabric and paper. Of course Nancy's tags turned out way better than mine, but I still had fun making this tag :) I decided to hand stitch this one since it would be quicker to do it by hand than relearn how to use my sewing machine! But if I ever make more...I'll use the machine! It was a couple flaws, but it's still "sew cute"!

(I'll show you the cool gifts I made for the shower tomorrow!)

 Thanks so much Duni for the lovely fabrics! I'm having fun with them and can't wait to find more projects to use them for!!!

More Jewelry Questions

First I want to say Thank You to everyone who gave great input and feedback about my earring photos I posted a couple weeks ago. I still haven't gotten any of my jewelry listed as I'm still stumped on a few things.

*I'm debating whether to sell things in earring/necklace sets or separately.

*And I'm rethinking the chains I've been using for my pendants.

Here are two current pendants I have in stock. One has a colored cord and the other has a suede-like brown cord. They're very basic (and kind of cheap) cords. They allow me to keep my prices affordable, but I also don't want to sell cheap crap!

When I wear one of my own butterfly pendants, I usually put it on a silver chain like this. I really like how the butterfly looks on here and am thinking about selling all of my pendants this way. This would raise the cost, but probably not too much.

I'd love your thoughts on this. Do you think the colored and brown cords look okay, or would I be better off to list them with the nicer silver cords? I know I could offer both, but I'd rather have a consistent look.

I don't want to take a bunch of photos with the cheaper cords and change my mind and have to redo them all!

Thanks again for your help :)

Finding Time to Play

I've been having a lot of fun lately learning new techniques and looking for new items and ideas to add to my shop. One thing I've been playing with is jewelry. So far I've just been making samples and keeping them for myself :)

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My challenge piece for the month of February was one of my first jewelry pieces...and it made me want to create more! I bought a few basic jewelry-making items like jump rings, chain and pliers and got my creative juices flowing.

This banner-style necklace was the next item I made. I thought it was fun and can be customized in so many ways! I've even thought of using hearts instead of triangle pendants.

I've seen other pieces similar to this made out of metal and stamped and I thought...why can't I make this out of wood! It took a few tries to get the circles the size I liked, but I love how it turned out! I thought I could make these in both a premade option as well as a made to order option.

And my next attempt is to make one out of colored acrylic!

I also made a pair of earrings to match one of my pendants. I like how the set looks together!

The only problem is, the jewelry category on Etsy is SO saturated! So I'm trying to decide if I should list these or sell them in sets or what. I'd love to take them to shows with me, but the friend I share a booth with makes jewelry, so I don't want to step on her toes too much either. But I sure am having fun coming up with new designs :)

Featured EtsyBlogger-MysticWynd

Congratulations to Karen of MysticWynd for being our Featured EtsyBlogger for March! Karen's shop is full of beautiful jewelry in every color you can imagine. I purchased a gorgeous Pink Ring from MysticWynd a while back and wear it all the time. I get so many complements each time I have it on! Here are a few other items I have on my wish list: ON SALE Blue Earrings - Czech Glass w Antiqued Brass - Grace Purple Rose Necklace w Pearl, and Glass Beads - Reverie in Indigo Pink Faux Pearls, Roses on Brass Necklace - Rosalyn

Diamonds-EtsyBloggers Carnival

This week's Blog Carnival is brought to us by Cindy of Devine Designs Jewelry and our topics are:

1. April birthstone: diamond- write about it's history, gem info, whether or not you like them, or if this is your birthstone! 2. April Fool's Day: Do you participate? Tell us about a joke you played on someone, or if one has been played on you. What do you think about this "day"? 3. What is your favorite gemstone and why?

Since my birthday is just around the corner in April, I decided to write about Diamonds :) I do love colored gemstones as I'm drawn to color! But my favorite piece of jewelry is the diamond ring Jesse got me over 10 years ago :)

On our first Christmas together, Jesse gave me the ring pictured above :) It was such a special gift and meant so much to me and our relationship! I put the ring on that night and I've worn it everyday since :) The ring means just as much to me today as it did on that Christmas night.

What is your most prized piece of jewelry?

Scrapbooking + Jewelry = Cute

What could be cuter than using scrapbook supplies to make jewelry? I was so excited when I saw that Prima had come out with these super cute necklaces! Prima is a scrapbook supply company, but saw how popular the jewelry market is and jumped in! Making Memories also offers some cute jewelry options as well. Theirs even come in kits so you can create your own! After making my paper flower bobbi pins last summer, I've thought about using my scrapbook supplies to make some other accessories as well. I even came up with a cute name and slogan if I decide to sell them. (But you'll have to wait...I don't want anyone stealing my idea!)

Featured EtsyBlogger-BeadedTail

I recently showed you the awesome earrings I got from Sharla of Beaded Tail as part of an Etsy trade we did in this post here.

Today I want to tell you a little more about Sharla, her shop, her blog and her beautiful furbabies :)

Sharla and her mom, Sheri, make both jewelry and collar covers for their BeadedTail shop and donate a portion of every sale to pet charities. Here are some of the charities they support:

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Senior Dog Rescue of Oregon Dogs for the Deaf Alley Cat Allies Chintimini Wildlife Rescue Kitty Angel Team

In 2008 they donated a total of $407 and in 2009 they donated $686.50. I hope 2010 is an even better year for them yet!!!

Sharla also runs a blog...or should I say that her furbabies run the blog :) Each day Sadie, Isabella and Angel take turns blogging for their mommy :)

Aren't they just adorable :)

Make sure you stop by Sharla's shop and blog to say hi and check out her awesome items. And help out pet charities in the process :)

Craft Show Dangers!!!

I told you how successful my show was this weekend, but I didn't warn you about how dangerous they can be! Dangerous to your checkbook that is!!! When you're surrounded by awesome artists and crafters...one can be in trouble! And when you have an awesome jewelry maker in your own booth...I guess I was just asking for trouble!

I had bought some beads the other day that I wanted made into a necklace. And since there were plenty of beads, I thought why not get a matching pair of earrings out of them. I was going to attempt this by myself, but knew I didn't have the time for a new and addicting hobby right now. And I knew Dawn would do an awesome job.

I gave her the beads and went to browse around the rest of the booths. When I came back, she was even working on a ring for me!!! How awesome is this ring!!! I love all the colors and the fun, one-of-a-kind look of this!!!

I'm sure I'll be showing you lots of her work in the near future. I gave her some other beads that I want used in some other pieces and can't wait to see them!!!

Dawn is also working on getting an Etsy shop up and running. With 3 kids who are involved in tons of activities, she stays super busy! But look for great things to come :)

And just be aware next time you're at a craft show...danger can be lurking in every corner :)

Silver Elegance

And the winnings keep rolling in!!! Yup...I won another blog giveaway!!!

This time the giveaway was hosted at JOT Giveaways with Beads Story providing the awesome prize! I was able to choose my favorite item from her shop and I chose this lovely Elegance Necklace in Silver!

I love that it can be worn with so many things! The color and design make it great for the day or a night on the town!

Choosing just one item was super hard! Stop by Beads Story and you'll know what I mean! Her designs are absolutely beautiful!

Thanks Anca for the lovely necklace :)

Friday Features-Tax Break

My friend Sharla at BeadedTail is an awesome jewelry designer as well as a CPA. Her cats, Isabella and Angel, seem to think this means Cats Personal Assistant :)

During the last few months, Sharla has been working her tail off (no pun intended...LOL) and we at the EtsyBloggers have been missing her around the forums. So in honor of the passing of April 15th...I give you Friday Features from BeadedTail :)

Touch of the Desert - Turquoise Beaded Sterling Silver Earrings

Fusion - Purple Pearlescent and Dichroic Glass Beaded Sterling Silver Earrings

Summertime - Pink Polymer Clay Flowers and Swarovski Crystal Sterling Silver Earrings

In the Pink - Rose Quartz and Swarovski Crystal Sterling Silver Necklace THINK PINK

So glad to have you back Sharla :)

Jewelry Oranization

A while back you might remember me showing you this photo in a Wordless Wednesday post:

Many of you thought it was strings of beads for jewelry making or something similar to that. Unfortunately this was my jewelry collection!!! I've amassed such a large collection in such a small time that my current jewelry storage just couldn't keep up! I only had a small space to work with and wasn't sure how best to organize everything...so it became a huge mess...FAST!!!

I recently saw the idea to use a small coat/key rack to hang necklaces on and thought that was a nice idea. Of course my local WalMart didn't have one, so I improvised :) I found these really simple stick on hangers in the bathroom section for under $1.50!

And this bead organizer holds my earrings, rings and pendants nicely too! It was only $3 or $4!

So in a short time I went from disaster to organized...and on the cheap!

How do you organize your jewelry?

Some Girls Have All The Luck

And lately it's been me!!! Well...with blog giveaways anyway :)

Yup...I won another one!

This time it was a $25 gift certificate to Future Heirloom Designs!!! I love gift certificates because then you get to choose your prize! I chose this lovely Blue Acrylic Cabochon Gunmetal Adjustable Ring!

And of course I have to show you her packaging :) This is always a biggie for me...the presentation. And this one is great :)

I also recently received a $20 credit to NextDirect for voting for their next model. I am fairly happy with the necklace I chose, but wouldn't be had I paid full price. One of the yarn wrapped beads is already coming undone. And the package had a huge tear in it that the box the necklace was in could have easily fallen out of!

This is why I always show how lovely Etsians package their items :) It shows that small businesses take the extra step to make sure each detail is seen to. And the extras they add aren't too bad either :) I received a 15% off coupon for my next purchase with Future Heirloom Designs...now that's customer service!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful everyday for my EtsyBloggers Team and teammates :) And today I want to send out an extra special Thank You to my teammate Ruthie :)

Each month Ruthie hosts a contest on her blog to see who leaves the most comments. She gives away gift certificates to her Etsy Shop and I've gotten so many awesome pieces of jewelry there!

I won a gift certificate back in December and hadn't used it yet. I knew Ruthie was going to be adding new rings to her shop and I just had to have one! In the meantime, I also won a gift certificate in February! (Previous winners aren't eligible for one month.) WooHoo...this meant I got a cool new ring and a pair of pink earrings :)

The minute I opened the package I put on the ring...and it fit like a dream! I worked in it all day making scrapbooks and never even noticed it was there. It so comfy and lays flat on my finger! And it's the perfect thickness too...not too tall I can't close my finger, but large enough you see lots of color :)

This Thursday I am thankful for a friend like Ruthie :)

Who are you thankful for?