An Eclectic Collection

Are you ready for some fun summer pieces? I have taken a combination of metals, ( silver plate, gold plate, and brass) some fantastic vintage beads,  fabulous artisan glass lampwork,  lots of chain for texture and  a sprinkle of Swarovski crystals for sparkle , and come up with some very eclectic pieces.   Make no mistake.......these are statement pieces!

This one is very long, and  reminds me of  warm summer sunsets, or it could be a tequila sunrise! Golds, apricot and coral tones with lots of texture.

This necklace is done in cool  watery colors,  reminiscent of  blue gray ocean waves on a Pacific Northwest, rainy day!

 

The last one is a frivolous, bohemian, gypsy style necklace, with a mix of stone, shell, glass, metal and wooden beads.

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The holiday weekend was fabulous! It was so nice to spend some time with family and friends, enjoy some great meals and celebrate with good wine. On another note, I have  a couple of wholesale projects for my jewelry in the works, that I hope will pan out for me, as well as a booking to do a summer evening street market,  out on Vancouver Island. The street market is held every Tuesday evening, and I have secured 4 Tuesdays in July. It will be a different type of customer than I have here, where I live, and I hope to experiment with some new designs from my lower priced line, that I am currently working on. So my vacation this summer will be mixed with a little business, but I am looking forward to it.

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Victoria Day long weekend.

The Victoria Day long weekend is almost upon us, and mine is one big party! This weekend, we are celebrating two of our daughters birthdays,  belated Mothers Day with my two out of town children, and one of my best friends birthdays......all at my house! I have a household of family and friends gathering here for the festivities, and when there is celebrating to do, everyone arranges ahead of time to spend the night at our home, as we are out in the country. So the weekend will be filled with loved ones, dinners on the barbeque, lots of good old fashioned board games,  great music and fabulous red wine! I love to have these types of gatherings! The grandkids will be here as well, so there is never a dull moment. I am sure I will need a week to recuperate after the festivities are over. I hope you all have a great , and safe weekend as well, whatever you may be doing. Pin It

Recent designs for your neck

These are some of my recent necklace designs, created with sterling silver,  and semi precious stones.

                            Striated quartz, onyx and  freshwater pearl.

 

Amethyst

 

lemon quartz, smoky quartz and  freshwater pearl

I also received my first small shipment of silver plated chain last week, which means that I will soon be able to offer some more affordable pieces to my collection! Pin It

Sure signs of Spring

One of the sure signs of Spring having arrived around here, is the setting out  of my deck/patio furniture. That is what I accomplished yesterday. The weather is wonderful, sunny and warm, and now the time has finally come to enjoy some quality time outside. The robins are building their nests, and tender green shoots are sprouting out of the ground. Now the gardening!  Ahhhh....I love the warm weather! Pin It

Ch..Ch..ch..changes!

I hope all you Moms out there had a great Mothers Day...I certainly did! Check out this very cool, fruit bouquet that my daughter made for me. (More on Moms Day at the end of this post) 

 First of all I wanted to thank all of you that took the time to comment on my previous post in response to my questions regarding jewelry and accessories, I really appreciate you all taking the time, they were all so detailed and chock full of wonderful information, that I have definitely considered in reevaluating my line of jewels! I have decided to add some designs in silver plate and rhodium plate, and yet I will keep a selection in sterling silver. The silver and rhodium plate will be simpler in design, using less expensive beads and will allow me to offer those pieces at more affordable prices. I will aim at the necklace and bracelets to be in the $25.00 to $60.00 price range. I don't really want to use a lot  of cheap  mass produced beads even in these pieces, so I will  be looking for some reasonably priced, fun, fab, vintage beads, and handcrafted glass beads to keep the pieces unique and eye catching! I will still have the sterling pieces, but these will be higher end, and of course a bit higher in price. For now, I have my Etsy shop closed, and plan on reopening it towards the end of Summer. Two of my girlfriends, are taking my jewelry over the next few weeks, and selling on my behalf. One is a teacher and will be taking it to the school staff room....this has worked out really well in the past. The other is a regional supervisor of an international makeup line, who has some friends interested in my designs, and plans on doing a jewelry party in another city. Of course they too benefit from helping sell the jewelry, so  they are more than happy to help out! I am also taking my jewelry on the road with me this summer, and have some summer festivals and street markets lined up out on the west coast, where we have our summer house. This will be a great way to test out the market with the new designs. 
  Speaking of changes, since Christmas I have been eating extremely healthy foods, and exercising 5 times a week, I have managed to lose almost 20 lbs!  Taking  my lifestyle change into consideration, yesterday, on Mothers Day, my family cooked me a healthy, nutritious brunch and dinner, and one of my daughters did the 4 mile power walking video with me! I couldn't have been more touched! 


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Picking your brains!

These last few days have had me in deep thought about the future of my little jewelry business. The weekend show was a bit of a bust, and the online sales have really been almost none existent for several months now. Etsy just is not what it used to be for me, and to be honest I am not sure it is worth all the work, keeping that shop open. I am considering some changes in the product that I sell, and would love to get feedback from my readers!  Other artists and crafters have also mentioned lately, that they are re evaluating their product or making changes to their  business.  I too, have many thoughts and possibilities swirling around my head! As you may know, I currently use sterling silver (.925) in my jewelry designs. One change that I may make, is to add some designs using silver plated metals...not for everything, but to have  a selection that will  feature simpler designs of bracelets and necklaces, that will be a more affordable line of jewelry for the budget conscious shopper. I would keep earrings in sterling silver, due to the fact that many people have metal sensitivities, and still have a smaller, higher end selection of designs in sterling silver as well. I still love to incorporate vintage beads into my creations, but may opt for more lucite and less expensive vintage finds. These are just a couple of ideas in my brain, now I need to pick your brains for your help with the following questions!

1. When selecting a piece of jewelry, how important  to you, are the quality of materials used in the design?

( ex. handmade glass beads versus mass produced glass beads...or would you even notice?)

2. What about the metal used in the piece...sterling, silver plate, brass, copper, pewter etc.?

3. What amount of money would you typically feel comfortable spending on a necklace or bracelet for yourself, ... for a gift?

4. Does "one of a kind" matter to you,... or not really?

5. Have you, or would you purchase jewelry online, or is that something that you prefer to do in person?

6. What specifically gets your attention when you are out shopping for jewelry and accessories?

7. What other accessories, other than jewelry, do you regularly shop for ?

Any other input that you may have is certainly greatly appreciated! Thanks, in advance for your help and suggestions.

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Eventful week

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last week. I had a lot on my plate getting ready for the show that I was doing this past weekend. Daughter #3 returned home from university last Sunday. As well, we had a massive dump of snow......yes SNOW, which resulted in Thursday April 29th being a snow day!  AND,I also managed to come down with some flu/cold thing, which left me flat out on the couch for almost 2 days. So overall an eventful week. The show turned out to be a bit disappointing,  a  great bunch of artists, but not the buying crowd this time around. We were hoping to attract the Mothers Day shoppers, but apparently they must have all been at the malls buying Mom mass produced gifts made in China! So now I hope to get back to normal this week. Enjoy the pics.

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