Missed The Trend ?

above ... Swarovski Crystal Aurora Borealis Eternity Circle

There are times when I create something and think it is beautiful and will sell in a heartbeat, it is always a a rude awakening when I find obviously that no one else feels the same way.

I meticulously wove these Swarovski crystal Eternity Circle together and loved the depth and dimension of the piece in general.  When I took them out into the sunlight the sparkling effects were beyond amazing ... especially with the Crystal aurora borealis pendant. 

above and below ... Sapphire Blue Swarovski Crystal pendant on handcrafted kumihimo braided cord.

However they seem to gather little attention and I don't understand why.  I think most of you beaders and jewelry makers are all aware of the price of Swarovski Crystals (these are 6 mm) so making a piece that uses over 80 crystals is not cheap.  I priced it about as low as I could but maybe I'm underpricing them and people expect these true Swarovskis to cost more ?  Or maybe they're passe, unhip and outdated ... though I thought circles, representing eternal love, was in ... I somehow missed when they went out. 

Have any of you jewelry maker - beaders created pieces that you thought would go like hot-fresh baked bread and instead sat around your inventory like old, stale biscuits ?

A New Comer to the Neighborhood

Our neighbors have a man-made pond in their front yard that tends to attract water loving birds.  We've seen lots of ducks and egrets enjoying the water along with an occasional snack of fresh fish.  There have also been Canadian geese and tall, gray Sandhill Cranes.  Recently we've noticed a pair of gray herons enjoying the pond (and the fish within it).  How long the herons will stay is hard to guess as it seems this pond attracts transient  water fowl.

Photo below ... The large gray heron is hunkered down so it looks quite short however it has remarkably long legs and when it stands it reachs a rather impressive height.

Photo above ... I had hoped to get up really close since the heron was right beside our fence-line but this was as close as I got before he or she took flight and found the safety of the tiny island at the center of the pond.

Photo above ... One heron is on the island the other is across the water in the back-ground, both are a safe distance away ... now if they could only get rid of the annoying paparazzi !!!

These photos were taken yesterday Oct 20th, 2011.  Today has turned a bit chilly in the low 70's at noon, was in the low 60's when I got this morning and was 58 degrees outside when I went to bed last night.  However the heron have returned today so perhaps they'll stick around for a bit longer in spite of the cooler weather.  They are lovely creatures and John and I enjoy watching them, though I'm sure the herons would prefer that we weren't such snoopy neighbors. lol

I would love to have a camera with a real zoom lens and I keep saying to myself that when my etsy shop starts really selling I'll be able to buy one.  I better not hold my breath on that one. :D

Snarkiness is Alive and Well ...

Change is inevitable, or so they say, and one either learns to accept it, suffer in silence or make a big fuss about it ...  the latter of which is ignored by everyone and so basically you're suffering aloud but no one is listening to you.  
In my viewpoint the Etsy teams are not working all that well, some of them go hours if not days without any activity.   The  Promotions Teams are certainly not as active as other teams nor are they accomplishing the goal that they had been created for.  A far cry from the days when promotions was a part of the Etsy forums and postings changed faster than greased lightening.   
Yes, without promotions the new, scaled down Etsy forums has lost its spark but not its snarkiness. 
At first this move made no sense but now that Etsy has initiated its "Search Ads", it became perfectly clear, at least to me it did.   I doubt that Etsy  wanted the promotion threads to compete with their new form of on-site advertisements, what better way of doing this than to relegate promo to teams and then tell everyone that the forums is closed for any and all promo threads.

Certainly Etsy has gone through a lot of changes lately and though I miss some of the old Etsy I realize that, like toothpaste squeezed from a tube, there is no putting it back.  Eventually the dust will settle and memories of the old Etsy will become little more than a faded memory.  And so we move on.

Recently I opened a second Etsy shop in order to separate my handcrafted jewelry from my beading supplies shop (unfortunately my supply shop has been woefully neglected in this process).  The new shop has been fairly quiet with only 1 sale.  For the past couple of days I've been beading and photographing and today I listed a couple of new items in my shop DellaMessina ... both items are priced under $10 each and I'm hoping that this will generate some attention and possibly sales.

Photos below ... seed beaded Snowflake earrings in white, crystal and silver.

Photos below ... seed beaded Snowflake earrings in white, crystal and gold.

One thing I have noticed about the new, scaled down Etsy forum is that snarkiness is still alive a well. lol   Have any of you visited or participated in the forums recently?  If so what is your opinion of it?  Also if any of you have tried out the Etsy Search Ads, please give us your review and if you think they will eventually turn into a lucrative source of advertising for Etsians?

CHANCE TO WIN A $100 MARY KAY GIFT PACK ...

If you're a Mary Kay fan like I am, you'll be excited to hear that there's a contest/giveaway going on at RaisingColorado .  The winner will receive a Mary Kay Gift Pack worth $100.  For me it's an opportunity too good to pass up as I've been a faithful user of Mary Kay products for ... well let's say a very long time and I wouldn't use anything else.
So hurry on over to see how to enter as the giveaway is only good until the 16th of this month ... 10/16/2011.

No Views - Low Views - Relevancy - What's Up With Etsy ?

Above ... from the side you can see how thick and substantial the sterling bail and Awareness Ribbon is. It came from a high end jewelers' supply source and is no cheap pendant.

Etsy has been a strange bag of beans lately.  Views are way down and it is hard to believe that a big site such as Etsy can't generate a healthy flow of traffic for it's many shops.  A few days ago I listed a lovely pendant and after several days it has had only 5 views.  I don't know exactly how Etsy defines it's new "relevancy" system but it does not seem to be working, at least not for a vast majority of Etsians myself included.

Since October is breast cancer awareness month I made up a very special necklace using a beautiful, genuine rose quartz and sterling silver pendant. 

Above ... pretty in pink.

With so much sterling in the necklace, from the heavy sterling pendant, to sterling silver clasp, crimp beads, crimp bead covers, and even jumprings there was a small fortune invested in supplies.

I decided the heart pendant would look lovely on a jet black necklace but instead of going with a simple cord I strung 3 strands of 11/0 Delica jet black, hex cut seed beads and attached them via sterling crimps (and 49 strand 14 weight AccuFlex beading cable). All in all what I'm saying is I tried so hard to make this a truly special piece for a very special cause and I feel so defeated when I see that it has sat there completely invisible to the public.

Photo below ... the back of necklace with solid sterling silver heart clasp.  This clasp is solid, not hollow or concave on one side, it is flanked on both sides by my handcrafted links featuring Czech firepolished faceted beads ... in pale pink of course.

Above ... I forgot about the translucency of the rose quartz and should not have laid the pendant across the jet black seed bead strands as it tends to show through this translucent stone.

I realize that there are a ton of jewelry makers out there and that Etsy has more than it's share of them on their website but still the Internet has a huge audience, millions of people world-wide.  So only 5 views in several days ? What's going on with that ?

LAST DAY TO ENTER The Hairy Peach BIG GIVEAWAY !!!

4 fabulous prizes will be giveaway on The Hairy Peach blogsite.  All are amazing and September 30th is the last day and final day to enter.  If you haven't entered then please Run, don't walk, over to The Hairy Peach and enter - tomorrow will be too late. 

click on any of the highlited links or copy and paste :
http://thehairypeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/birthday-celebration.html      
in your browser.

An Extracting Problem

Today is going to be one of those days when I get very little accomplished.  John had to have a molar extracted as it had fractured and there was no way to save it.  Having a tooth extracted is not easy at any age but seems to affect us more adversely as we get older.  John's been trying to deal with the pain and has been taking a mild pain killer plus antibiotics ... which unfortunately makes him feel dizzy and nauseous.  So given the fact that for a couple of days his diet is supposed to be restricted to soft foods this means a constant preparation of small meals ... oatmeal ... scrambled eggs ... cream of chicken soup ... mashed potatoes ... cream of tomato soup ... soup ... soup and more soup !  None of it is very filling and my hubby has always had a hearty appetite that required stick to the rib meals.
So this project that I'm working on and trying to figure out how to bring it all together has been put on the back burner ... for now.

Photos above and below ... I call them Starflowers, they're a beaded flower and it took me a while to figure out how I could use them. I had already fabricated the beaded spiral rope (which is a pattern I love to make) and I wanted to make a second strand to compliment it but wanted something very different.  The Starflower came to mind and after some manipulation I figured out how to connect three of them for a focal point 

Photo above and below ... The one wonderful thing about these Starflowers is that they are reversible, if you use different beads for the backside.  I think it should be a nice contrast and yet still compliment the basic spiral rope. 

Now I just need some time to figure out what I wish to do about the necklace sides for the Starflower strand.  I think I would like it to be a little smaller (thinner) than the spiral rope.  Hopefully I will be able to work on it more tomorrow, if John is feeling better. 

Most of us know that when it comes to opinions and suggestions regarding jewelry designs, husbands are NO help at all,  at least mine isn't.  I show him a piece that I just made and he gets this blank expression on his face like he's thinking; "What am I supposed to do with that?"   Then he usually says something like; "That's nice dear."
So if you have any suggestions regarding the sides of the Starflower necklace I would love to hear them as right now I am so undecided that I feel confused.

Just Beading Around

What have I been up to?  Well I must admit it certainly hasn't been blogging. Since opening my 2nd etsy shop I've spent lots of time trying to promote it and also trying to stock it , which means beading and creating.  So here are few of the items I've created and I still have more yet to photo (let's not even think about writing up descriptions for etsy's listings ... ugh!)

Above ... Long beaded spiral rope necklace with a side of hand linked chains.

Above ... back of long necklace,  showing the vintage Czech glass Ivy leaf button that I used for a button clasp.

Above ... close up of a beaded bead, can you imagine that it takes over 100 beads to create this one beaded bead?  Thought the bead caps looked cute on it.

Above ... close up of one of the genuine yellow quartz beads.  It is incredibly faceted (impossible to see that in the photo) and is gem quality yellow quartz (my check book can vouch for that as it took a chunk of money to purchase a strand of them!)

Above ... I like the fact that it can be worn multiple ways and even doubled to look like 2 strands.

Above ... another, but different combo of beaded rope with chains.  This one is a multi-strand necklace.

Above ... love the colors of the russet red with the topaz aurora borealis

 beads, and the combination of gold and brass chains.

Above ... October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and in honor of this I used a very special rose quartz and sterling silver pendant that features the awareness ribbon.

Above ... I fashioned the necklace out of Delica 11/0 Jet Black, hex-cut seed beads.  Made it a triple strand using AccuFlex 49 strand cable, sterling silver crimp beads, sterling crimp bead covers, sterling jumprings and sterling silver heart shaped clasp.

Above ... close up of clasp ... it is solid sterling, not hollow, not concave on one side.  It is one lovely little clasp. I used tiny 3mm Czech glass faceted beads on both sides of clasp as I didn't have any rose quartz beads that were small enough (I wanted the necklace to be easily removable so that pendant could be worn on different chains, cords, ribbons etc. so the beads had to be small enough to slip through the bail opening).

Above ... this side photo gives you an idea of the how thick the sterling is on the bail and the ribbon decoration that cradles the rose quartz heart.  It's substantial and would take a lot of force to bend that chunk of sterling.

Above ... Since I contributed my first pair of beaded cube earrings (lovingly called Monte Carlo) to a giveaway in hopes of attracting some traffic to my new shop, I decided to make another pair.  These are in aqua blue and silver.  Earring wires are sterling silver and handcrafted by me.

Above ... trying to create two identical wire teardrop hoops was the hardest part of making these earrings.

Above ... And they are nice and long and flirty and swingy, which I adore.

Above ... close up of beaded cube beads.

Plus I have a necklace and 2 pairs of earrings yet to photo ... and then there's that dreaded description to write up on each and every one of them.  So that's what I've been up to (in between doing laundry, cooking, cleaning house etc.).  How about you?  Any new products that you've made?  Trips that you've taken?  Songs that you've sang ? :)

And The Winner Is ....

These earrings are an adorable pair of beaded cube beads that swing from golden teardrop shaped hoops (which are handmade by me). They fall from 14 karat gold filled ear wires that I've embellished with peridot green Swarovski Crystals. These really are so much prettier in person.

Sara, of the blog Red Pine Mountain, has graciously hosted a giveaway for my new etsy shop this past week.  Today she has drawn a winning name for the Monte Carlo earrings. 

A random number generator at random.org  was used to choose the winning number and that number belongs to Rick Kratzke ...  Congratulations Rick.   Rick says these will make a nice Christmas gift for his wife.  Indeed they will.

I wish to thank each and everyone that took the time to visit Sara's blog "Red Pine Mountain" and enter the giveaway  ... but most of all I wish to thank Sara for giving of her time to do this for me.
I'm not sure where she hides them but she must have a pair of gorgeous wings as she is truly an angel.

Wishing you all a lovely week-end.  :)

Pigs in a Pen

Not in a million years did I think my fashionista daughter, Kathi, would become a country bumpkin.  Odd how people can and do change.   Kathi, her husband and children have sown a garden for a couple of years now; their menagerie of animals have grown from the standard dogs, cats and guinea pigs to include horses, rabbits and chickens.  And now their youngest daughter, Haley, has joined the local 4 H club, her project is to raise an animal for next local fair.  Her animal is a nice pink, porky pig. 

photo above...Haley's pig, trying to burrow under the lush, grassy weeds.

Haley is in a 4 H partnership with two other children, each has a pig, the pigs are being housed at Haley's as she has the space for them.  Of course the other two children must do their share of caring for, cleaning, and nurturing these future fair animals. 

photo above ... Haley in the shelter of the pig pen shade along with her charge of piggies.  At the moment they would be considered young pigs but should grow and actually triple their weight and size before the day of the fair ... in just 3 short months!

photo above ... It's hard to keep the 3 young pigs together.  Haley's pink pig wandered off to play in the deep grass and now the brown piggy is thinking about do the same.

photo above ... Ah alone at last.  The black and white piggy now enjoys the luxuary of the shade and the cool, moist soil without the other two.

No, never in a million years did I think I'd see the day that my daughter would have pigs in her back yard.

In Respect and Memory

It's strange how we can share thoughts.  For years both John and I "thought" about getting a flag but neither one spoke the thought out loud.  It was just before Memorial Day that I mentioned to John how it would be nice to fly the flag on our national holidays and days of special recognition.  John had been having those same thoughts.  Unfortunately our local home improvement centers were all out of the flag kits which included mounting brackets but they assured us they would be getting more in.

This past week John was able to purchase the flag kit he had wanted and it is now attached to the front of our humble home. Old Glory will wave proudly on this 11th day of Sept. 2011 in honor of all our heroes of 9-11-2001 , their memory will be eternal (which is more than I can say for the terrorist who, filled with such vile hatred, slaughtered so many beautiful and innocent souls).

Long may Freedom Reign ... Long may Justice and Liberty stand.

God bless us all!