Etsy (& FireBird) on Sale

Earlier today I had a play with the "Etsy on Sale" app & put my entire Etsy Store on 20% off.

The app itself is great & makes things incredibly quick & simple to do. However there is nothing that shows on your Etsy Store to indicate that prices have in fact been reduced, people have to visit the Etsy on Sale website to see that.
Still, it makes life a little easier than manually adjusting prices on Etsy, or having to adjust invoices or refund via Paypal.

A Beautiful Idea

A while ago I was invited by Evie Shaffer, an artist & fellow Etsy seller to take a look at her beautiful idea.

Evie's idea is a way for artists to get involved in making a difference in the world by connecting artists to charity.

This caught my eye & was certainly food for thought. Of course, given that the current charity is World Vision's Haiti Earthquake Relief, I just couldn't resist.

It's simple:
Sign Up & design one item for A Beautiful Idea
Sell your item
Donate 100% to A Beautiful Idea's donation centre.

This can be a one time, once a month or one item continually participation. The choice is yours.

If you are not an artist you can always help by having a look through the shop on the A Beautiful Idea website.

This is what I like to see

Chromatic Maelstrom

Like? - did I say 'like'? I love to see how my beads end up being used. It's not very often that I get to see this, & certainly most beads that I decide I must keep & make something out of, dont end up being used by me but rather being listed a little later when I start getting overrun by the beads I thought I couldn't part with & the newer 'fresh from the fire' creations that I feel the same way about.

I especially love to see it when the beads have been used with sterling & fine silvers.

This is all the work of a talented Australian jewelry designer, Sam. Her Etsy store goes under the name "SterlingCrystal" & is well worth a visit.

Midnight Garden

Sam has the ability to mix Chalcedony lampwork beads in with silver, crystals & Swarovski pearls & somehow make them look like they were all made just to go together

Chasing Rainbows

Illryia

Etsy Treasury

In keeping with the post below, about keeping awareness up, I managed to grab an Etsy Treasury yesterday - two guesses what the focus was.

All of the wonderful Etsy Artists featured in this treasury are either donating a good chunk of each sale to one of the various relief organizations in Haiti - or they have listed specific items which are designated for 100% of the proceeds will go to Haiti.

Check it out if you get a chance - there are some stunning pieces.

Have a Heart for Haiti - Direct Link

I Think I'm Falling In Love

with tumble etching!
What fabulous soft satiny results. Just right for some of the more muted colours that I seem drawn too. This set I left tumbling just long enough to knock some of the shine off, without leaving a completely matte finish. I think the effect suits the warm earthy tones of ochre, ivory & brown.

Aramac Ramble Set

Gaffer 109 - Chalcedony

There is nothing like having a new glass to play with - to chase away the "uh oh almost winter, yuk I loathe that season" blues.

Having bought a kilo of the lovely stuff I am more than happy just to play & see what it does. Usually, in the case of any striking glass, for me it is comparitively little compared to what others can get it to do. Not so with this glass!



When I first saw it I suspected that it would do work very well as shards. Unfortunately I am not much good at blowing shards.
Upon playing with it the first time I noticed that it struck extremely well where my covering was thinner. Wanting to prove my theory, I attempted making some shards with it - two words spring to mind "abysmal failure"!

None the less I layered on my "far too thin to be safe" bit's of shard. Actually I had to roll the bead in them to pick the stuff up - it was that thin that it broke if touched.

Fortunately for those of us that cant blow shards, "Knatty Dreadz" one of the members at Seraphim FlameWorks had already got it into his head to make & sell some Gaffer 109-Chalcedony shards & some pretty darn fine Murrini as well.

If you are like me & don't have any shard blowing technique to speak of, or perhaps haven't been able to get hold of any of this glass through GafferUSA or your local supplier yet, be sure to visit "KnattyDreadz Etsy Store"

Countdown to Christmas - 5 More Sleeps

Found on Etsy ~ Today it's Jewelry

Just imagine for a moment that money wasn't an issue, price was no object & you could buy anything that took your fancy....anything at all! I somehow suspect that after a very short while it would become a hollow form of fulfillment, but in the meantime a girl can dream...can't she?
I'm not talking the big things like cars, luxury holidays or the lastest electronics & gadgets (although no doubt I could compile a list of those in no time flat!). More like the smaller stuff - something that you can put on, or immerse yourself in & just for a wee while be somewhere or someone else, items that enable one to imagine a different time or culture just by looking at it or touching it.

Jewelry, books, clothes, artwork, decor items, soaps, lotions & potions ...those sorts of things.

I've always had a taste for the exotic or tribal & have always liked things that are just a tad different from the 'norm' - here in conservative New Zealand, it doesn't take so very much to fall into that catagory, so Etsy provides me the eye candy with which to fuel my daydreams. I don't 'drip' with jewelry on a daily basis - but I do love the stuff. So I'm starting with that!

The hardest part is narrowing down the choices - there is still so much on Etsy I haven't discovered, & for fear of you all wearing out your scroll buttons with my picks I am limiting myself to 7 items from stores I've been watching & want to share. Be warned I tend to look for my favorite stones & metals when it comes to Jewelry - topping that list would have to be silver, turquoise, silver, carnelian, silver, coral, amber, silver, onyx...oh & did I mention silver?

Dragon Elements Necklace

#1. First up a store I discovered a few days ago. Instant love at first sight on my part I'm afraid. Designer Liz Hall's Store "Lizards Jewelry" on Etsy is a showcase of her incredible talent & obviously an inherant eye for putting just the right elements together. Also take a look at her website at www.lizardsjewelry.com - everything is absolutely stunning. A quick tour of some of her pieces can also be found on Youtube.

The Ultimate Stacker Set - 8 Rings in Sterling Silver

#2. Yum! Hand forged & shaped silver. Isn't this set of rings just divine? Imagine the combinations & possibilities - I love concepts like this. Jen's bio states "A Blond And A Torch offers artisan crafted metal jewelry that is simple and organic, yet elegant" & that pretty much sum's it up perfectly. More enticing combinations can be found at Jen Nixons Etsy Store A Blonde and a Torch .

Big Copper Carnelian Pendant

#3. This wonderful pendant was discovered (& added to my favorites whilst looking for something entirely different) in Jeannie Wray's Etsy store "JW Style" was this superb copper & carnelian pendant. Jeannie lives in Missouri & is a multi talented artist. Her store is well worth a visit.

Decorative Dangling Earrings

#4. These artists don't give a name, but I like their work & in particular some of the mixed metals showcased in their earrings. Years ago I figured the secret to being able to mix metals in other jewelry was to have a central piece like these. Check out the items in "NorthWest Goods" store.

Tibetan Ghau with Coral

#5. Anne Singer of Silk Road Jewelry obtains focal pieces from all over the globe to use in her creations. Some are new & some are vintage pieces, irregardless it seems that she has a great talent for finding just the right accent beads to go with them to create a wonderful timeless piece & is able to showcase many fabulous items in her etsy store, including this fabulous Moroccan Tuareg Pendant.

On A Turquoise Cloud Bracelet

#6. I can't find out a whole lot about this seller, but could not bring myself to leave out this fabulous Tuquoise & Silver bracelet....simply because I love the less structured effect of naturally shaped chunks of turquoise combined with the wire wrapping. Take a peek at the Etsy store SirensDesigns.

Lhasa Mens' Necklace

#7. Linda creates some very cool, very tribal pieces. Happily mixing old & new she comes up with some great results. Even though this is a males necklace - I'd wear it, & quite happily.
This & many other tantalizing creations can be found in Linda Lou's Etsy Store Glasspondstudio.
There are also many more collections on her website at www.glasspondstudio.com.

I just wanted to mention that Patty Larkinsmith has a poll for her next tutorial on her blog. Personally I love Patty's beads...& her blog.

Now I don't 'know' Patty apart from having occasionally seen her posts on LE, & more recently following her blog, but to me she seems a sweety.
She has fabulous beads in her Etsy Store & it is well worth a visit. Recently she had a number of beads in her "Tortuga" series listed, 100% of the profit of those beads was to donated to Wildcoast.net.

Patty Larkinsmith - Tortuga Verde

This was in aid of their fight to help preserve marine life along the California & Latin America Coast - in particular the sea turtles.

Now I love turtles, but have never seen one in reality .... even though we share that same ocean, it is way too cold for those wonderful creatures this far south! Whilst I would have loved to have pounced on one of Patty's beads when they were listed - at the time I just couldn't do it.

Back to her poll - it is taking a vote for the bead style in her next tutorial. It saddens me that so far I am the only voter & it has been up for 10 days. Of course I am biased because I would love for her to choose to do her next tutorial on the Tortuga series beads. If she does, I fully intend to donate the proceeds of the sale of my first successful bead from this tutorial to the same sort of organization that Patty did. Turtle have been around for millions of years ....& I want some turtles to still be around if I ever get anywhere to see some!

There is some great information here:

Sea Turtles

Shameless Self Promotion

I've been working my (not so little) butt off getting my Etsy Store filled. I had fun dying a new batch of silk ribbons, & also on the process dying my left hand.

I am really pleased with the latest batch of silk ribbons, but learned a valuable lesson when playing with some new dyes. These dyes are specifically developed in New Zealand by Hands Ashford for silks & wools.
I have just discovered they are exported world wide because they are so good, however they are also a lot more potent than what I used for my last lot of silk ribbons! Guess who was inattentive with her colourshift ribbons & ended up with almost a whole batch of dark muddy brown silk.

I did say almost!

I asked the maille man for some chainmalle earrings to go with the bracelets in my store - & voila there they were!

A few bead 'specials' complete the current new additions.

A sampling of my new listings on Etsy.

These are a sampling of the listing's I put on our local auction site - most of which had sold by today.

Tomorrow I hope to finish loading goodies onto my website, then it will be time to start all over again!

Treasuries

Imagine my surprise upon looking at the Etsy Treasuries to see when it was next going to be open so I could try & snag one, to discover a yellow star next to one! That meant I was freatured in it!! YaY! Such a pity that it was only a few minutes away from closing when I realised - but I quickly commented & clicked anyway.

Who ....me??

A wee while back I was approached by a lovely lady named Linda Lawrence, saying that she would like to spolight me as a Feature Artist on her Blog. WoW!
I was blown away - yes you guessed it my first thought was 'are you sure you have got the right person?'.

Linda aka Bella Bead Jewelry had contacted me via LEST, (LampworkEtc Etsy Street Team) a forum where we are both members. I have to admit to feeling a little apprehensive - as I am still such a comparative newbie to all of this & do tend to see my work with a rather critical eye, I also wondered what on earth I could offer that would be in the slightest bit interesting to anyone who should read her blog.

I looked at Linda's LEST Profile, her blog & Etsy Store. I was blown away by the beautiful disks, fun flowers, & wonderful clean crisp designs she makes - in a multitude of bright colours....everything I set out wanting to do, but for some reason just can't quite get there.
It's funny when you think that one of the reasons Linda contacted me was that we had the same likes & interests in a lot of things!

Of course Linda made it easy for me, there was no pressure or rush & she provided me with a list of 7 questions to answer - & I answered them. She chose one of my beads to show along with what she had posted & also provided links to my Etsy store.

I was, & still am, incredibly flattered... not to mention still somewhat incredulous that someone noticed me out of all the incredible talent in the lampworking community.

Thank you Linda :o)

Hundertwasser - the bead Linda chose to use in her blog.

Two Lovely Ladies have led me astray!

In the Pink + Green of Perfection Treasury

I managed to snag a Treasury on Etsy a day or so ago – Shock Horror – it’s Pink & Green! It’s bright ….very bright!

I’ve been converted…kind of, & I’m blaming it on Ang & Mallory! Not particularly sure I can justify the placing of blame – but hey it feels good to do so. Maybe I should have blamed it on the person who wants a pink & green bead for his girlfriend for getting me started – but is so much more inspirational, not to mention fun, to place it on a person who is known for her love of pink & another who provides us with photographs of a certain Green "Dragon Energy Goddess "against such “unnaturally” pink flora.

What started as a single little green & pink bead has turned into something more – oh so much more.

It has snowballed into a “pink-and-green-athon” - & I’m left sitting here wondering what happened to my “orange” gene. We shall see about that ;o)