Creative Feature - Always Wired Woman

Can I admit something? It's hard for me to feature other jewelry artists on my blog. *grin* Let's just say that I have an incredibly competative nature. But I do my best to put it aside because we can all help each other. :)

So I'd like to feature Joella of Always Wired Bead Lady today. I love her chainmaille pieces!

I don't have the patience for chainmaille and always admire those who do.

Her story sounds a lot like mine ... beading since she was a young girl but really starting to focus on making jewelry later in life.

Please visit her blog and her shop.

Creative Feature - Heather of Square One Beads

I'd like to introduce you to Heather of Square One Beads.


She makes more than just beads although I love this set of tan lentil beads, but she started her career making jewelry. I fear that if I pick up a torch and glass I'll get completely addicted to making glass beads. :)

Multi-talented, Heather is also a painter.

And she's a dog lover, which of course I love. Her doggy apparently needs our sympathy. *grin*

Please visit Heather's site and her blog. She's got something for everyone.

A New Necklace

I've slowly been creating some new pieces and adding them to my 1000 Markets shop, though not as quickly as I'd like. While my nausea is a lot better than it was it still seems to knock me out at night. I went to bed last night at 6:30! Sheesh.

So while I normally would have created this necklace in a few days, instead it took me a few weeks. But I'm really happy with the results.


I hand carved the pendant design so that I could mold the PMC into it ... Do you think it looks like tree bark? That is what I was going for. Hubby didn't really see it but I do. I guess it's kind of abstract. But I love it.

It's a huge chunk of PMC so very heavy and thick. I decided to bead a strand of pearls instead of putting it on a sterling chain, but the nice thing with having a mold is that I can create another pendant and do different designs.

A couple of weekends ago I also created this pretty purple freshwater pearl bracelet - blue and purple I should say. It turned out a little longer than I wanted at 8 1/2 inches but I know there are people who want that length.


Sometimes it's fun to just string together random pearls. :)

Last but not least I re-discovered these stunning beads that I had forgotten about in a drawer. I have no idea exactly what they're called (anyone?) but I'm pretty sure they're a Jasper of some sort. They don't need much in the way of accents, but I wanted to put a little sterling swirl on one side. So I did.


But it can also be worn the other way so the swirls are in back. I just love the design of the stone and each one is completely different.

I've got some other new pieces that I am working on ... but it's slow going. Plus my camera battery died ... I hate it when that happens.

1000 Finds - Ellen Morrow Arts

A new addition to the Pacific Northwest Market on 1000 Markets, I was struck by the beauty of Ellen Morrow's fabulous artwork.

Bright and vibrant colors are the main ingredient of her work, along with her natural subjects. From fogs to fish and birds to cats, she captures nature in all its wonderful spirit using watercolors.

I love it when artists create their work in other forms than pieces for the wall...our walls are full so gift card sets are much more likely to find their way into our house. I absolutely love her birds and flower cards.

Working from Eugene Oregon, Ellen is a welcome and wonderful addition to the PNW market.

Stress

I think that some stress is good. Like the stress of having a couple of orders at once. I like that stress. It inspires me to work harder and make things.

The stress I have right now though is not helpful. Next Wednesday, April 15, is not only Tax Day, it's also "D" day for associates at my work. In other words...we'll supposedly find out who is laid off and who still has a job.

It's hard to think of anything else lately...mostly because I can't plan ahead. If I lose my job my life will change drastically, but not necessarily for the worse. If I keep my job things stay pretty much the same and I can continue on as I have been for the last 9 years.

I like to plan. I'm a planner and a control freak. I admit it. :) So not knowing anything is completely stressing me to the point of not being able to create. Or write in my blogs. It's like everything else is in the back of my mind and this one event is fully up front...alone and overwhelming.

So if I seem quiet the next week and a half, you know why. And things will either become a lot more busy at home and with my jewelry (and by extension this blog) - or things will stay pretty much the same.

Do You Stumble?

I'm not a huge fan of social networking for the sake of promoting my business. I just don't have the patience or the energy to really put a true effort into doing it "right."

And apparently it would be a waste of time anyway.

This is a great article by someone I found linked through the Switchboard forums (love that place) and I found her insight to be refreshing. And comforting.

It's good to know that my efforts can be better spent actually designing jewelry than making myself crazy twittering and stumbling and pimping myself on Facebook.

I enjoy Twittering actually but not as a marketing tool...just for fun. I've also learned some great information about a variety of topics from those folks I follow. I do post sometimes about my work but mostly it's personal stuff or interesting tidbits I think others will find interesting.

So don't knock yourself trying to get the most stumbles or tweets. Everyone else is doing it and I've found that when everyone else does something I usually want to go the other way.

Tell the CR Blog They are WRONG

I am disgusted. I usually consider Consumer Reports a decent publication and company but their blog post about the recent CPSIA rally is disgusting. Their promotion of the law is pathetic and truly lazy reporting.

Head over to their blog and leave your comment about their complete lack of investigation.

Spammers Will Burn in Hell

I just spent 10 minutes deleting the dumbest spammer comments made on about 15 of my recent posts. I dread the idea of going back to even older posts to see if they spammed me there.

What is the POINT of spam?!?! Not only that, do those losers actually think that I won't delete their "comments"? Full of key words and links that are completely unrelated to anything in my blog ... and they don't even make sense.

I have zero tolerance for this kind of thing. I don't leave comments on blogs just to get link backs. I only leave a comment if I have something to say...usually because I like what someone else has written. Or I disagree. Or I at least have something to add.

These spam losers need to get a life and use their time to do something constructive. Not piss me off and clutter up my site.

Happily Handmade Giveaway

How could I have forgotten!?!?! The Happily Handmade Giveaway starts TODAY!!!!! Start visiting all the sponsors and signing up so that you might win one of the amazing prize packages. Each one is valued at over $300!!

I hope someone who signs up on my page wins. *grin*


If it weren't for Leila of Lightning Bug Designs I'd be so screwed right now. I got sick last night (this dang baby!) and totally forgot to upload any photo or anything for my site. Thank goodness she'd already created my sign up page. She rocks so completely! :) So THANK YOU Leila for getting my page up and ready for people to enter!!!

1000 Finds - Kooyman Designs

I'm loving the 1000 Markets Pacific Northwest marketplace. We have such an amazing group of artisans that I'll have plenty of fun and unique goodies to share with you.

One such amazing and talented artisan is the folks at Kooyman Designs.


A cooperative effort between husband and wife (which I think is very brave *grin*) this duo creates their amazing work out of Arlington, Washington.

In their own words:

The toys I make are heirloom quality, using the best quality materials with the highest possible craftsmanship intended to last to be enjoyed by many generations. As parents, child safety is of the highest priority. This is why we use non-toxic and food grade stains and finishes on my toy and kitchen products. For a wood toy to last even one child’s lifetime, the wood must be protected. Without protection, one cup of juice spilled on a wood toy would virtually destroy it. Causing staining, sticky nastiness that is impossible to clean.

They don't just create children's toys, though I love them and know that I must have one for my upcoming crumb cruncher. They also design kitchen gadgets like their Tortilla press. I wonder if I had a tortilla press if I'd be more inclined to make my own tortillas. :)


I'll definitely let folks know when I decide on a toy to purchase for my little peanut. :)