Jewelry Findings and Components...in a sea of "Stuff"...

above Hills Tribe Fine Silver Full Rose Pendant component

Help ! I'm being taken over by all my "stuff". It is perfectly okay to have stuff, but when you begin to feel like "stuff" owns you then it's time to dig out the shovel and literally dig yourself out.
For years I've crafted jewelry and participated in local arts and crafts shows. Was a lot of fun, but now the fad that became a rage has grown into Godzilla proportions and so has my inventory of jewelry findings, beads and components. At this moment in my life I'm not sure just which direction I wish to turn but this fact is undeniably clear; "My life is in dire need of decluttering" ! What better place to begin than in my hobby(slash)studio(slash)catch all(slash)storage room ?

above is photo of a lovely sterling silver box clasp handcrafted by Pacific Silver Co.
So for those of you who love to create fantastic pieces of jewelry I am beginning to list some of my supplies on my etsy shop. Though a bit of my findings and components are silver plate or gold plate, the bulk of my supplies are either sterling silver or gold filled ( 14 k gold filled). I had always attempted to create pieces that would be used, treasured and, hopefully, passed down like a family heirloom, therefore I shied away from base metal findings that could be bought in packages of 100 or 1,000 pieces, they may be economical but not very precious.

above is photo of same box clasp showing back side and sterling stamp.

In this post are photos of some of my newly listed items if you dabble in jewelry making or are a full fledged professional jewelry designer please check out my esty store website for more information and prices.

Latching mechanism on this clasp works as smooth as warm butter. Latches and opens easily unlike some of the cheaply made and less expensive clasps. This beauty has a lot of silver in it !

above box clasp is one of my favorites. Beautiful feather pattern. Both square and feather clasps feature a safety catch and are heavy weight sterling. Matching feather pattern stud earrings will be listed in my etsy shop soon. Earrings have bottom ring/loop for attaching dangles. All are exquisitely make.

above feather clasp shown open. This clasp would cost at least $30 in a bead store or most catalogs...that is if it were even available in a catalog.

above small rose drops in Fine silver by The Hills Tribe, beautiful for earrings or charms

All these item are in my Etsy Shop Almost Precious if you make jewelry please take a moment to visit my shop, if you have friends that make jewelry I'd appreciate it if you'd be so kind as to rely this information on to them. : )

Destashing Beading Supplies

I’m contemplating changing the direction of my etsy shop...sure I’ll have my handcrafted jewelry listed (right now everything’s on sale). But I’ve been thinking about offering more of my beading supplies, also known as "destashing, doing this mainly because I wish to retire as a jewelry maker and return to being, once more, simply a wife, mother and grandmother...without all the hoopla and distractions of trying to promote, promote and promote a business. This is consuming most of my time and my life...all for so little rewards.

This blog however, I enjoy doing immensely and will most likely keep it up, perhaps even devote more time to taking photos for it...though I may wish to rename it, time will tell if I do or not.
So please feel free to leave comments on what you think of my idea to sell off my supplies of beads and findings, I would love to hear your opinions, viewpoints and suggestions. Also should you be at all interested in my stash keep an eye on my shop as I'll be adding things little by little (it takes so much time to take several photos of items...from different angles and different perspectives, up close and at a distance etc.) Above and below are piles of tiny 3mm Czech glass beads (200 beads per strand). I have these in a myriad of colors; periwinkle blue, turquoise blue, pale green, pale pink, garnet, amethyst, hot pink, yellow, alexandrite, lavender, crystal clear, milk glass, white opal and red...some have an aurora borealis finish some have an opalized finish.