A Lot of Stuff

Our kitchen remodel is very nearly done. The granite was installed last Friday so now I am beginning the process of putting things back in the kitchen...including my jewelry making supplies.

Hubby isn't thrilled, but I cannot create in the garage. Sorry. Just ain't gonna happen.

I have my own little desk tucked away in the kitchen and my goal is to keep everything put away and organized. We have plenty of drawers and cabinets now so I should have no real excuses...except I have a LOT of stuff.

Starting Saturday I began going through things...first wire and chain. I have a lot of wire. Thankfully I bought it all way back when silver was under $20 an ounce. I shudder to think about buying silver or gold now. I'll have to sell a lot more jewelry to even be able to afford new stuff.

I may be able to send in a shipment to Midwest Refineries* though...that may pay for a couple ounces of new silver. My scrap pile has gotten pretty large. Mostly because all those little tiny scraps that have been lying around for years were swept up into one pile together when we moved everything into the garage. Now that I can go through things I can let go of the little pieces that I know I'll never actually use for anything.

Oh, and screw up pieces. *sigh* I hate giving those up, but there's really no way to save any of them. Might as well get some cash for them.

Anyhoo...it's going to be a multi-day, possibly multi-week, process to go through all of my supplies. It's good to get a feel for what I have, but I really want to be able to start creating again. One step at a time I suppose.

* I've used Midwest Refineries several times...long before all these crazy "buy your gold" companies popped up. They have been fair and honest in every encounter I've had. If you want to sell some gold or silver I highly recommend them. And I was not reimbursed for this opinion. :)

How Long Could It Take?

If I cleaned my jewelry work space every day for five minutes, I wonder how long it would take me to finish.

I'm very rarely embarrassed, and to be honest I'm not entirely embarrassed even now. But I'm definitely not thrilled with how trashed my work space (really, it's spaces...I'm spread out all over the place) for my jewelry has gotten. Hubby keeps getting on my case because as soon as the little man starts to crawl he'll be getting into everything...including my beads and supplies!

Yes, this is where I "work"...*hangs head in shame*... I like chaos but even this is a bit much for me. You can see the partially completed necklace, which is now finished, as I worked on it.

The last thing I want is my pumpkin head to choke on a bead that has fallen on the floor. I'd love a new system that allows me to stay organized and creates a work environment conducive to creativity.

Hubby wants to move me into the garage. I say that's not exactly conducive to creating. Especially since the garage is pretty much as trashed as my current space.

Above is my secondary space where all my shipping supplies and other beading / supply things are stored. I have a LOT of stuff. *sigh*

Right now I have these tool organizers with little drawers that I bought at Home Depot ages and ages ago. It works okay but I have three of them and I'm still overflowing with supplies!

And yes, those are dog leashes/collars hanging there. We have four dogs, and more leashes, harnesses, and collars than we need. And yes, the garbage can is sitting up high because one of those dogs (actually I suspect more than one, but I've only ever caught one) likes to get into it and eat things. Not okay with jewelry making supplies being discarded.
Maybe for Christmas I should ask for something like this...


If anyone has any recommendations I'd love to hear them! =) And if you can spare some time ... I'd love to take it off your hands!!!

Learn a New Skill

Have you always wanted to create your own jewelry? Or have you created jewelry but want to try something new?

My good friend Jennifer Casady has created a tutorial for her signature freshwater pearl teardrops bracelet and is offering them up for sale in her Etsy supply store.


You can order the tutorial by itself for only $10 or you can order the full kit with all the materials included for only $49. You should have a basic understanding of how to work with jump rings and the tools needed for this design.


She's so great and I think you'll really enjoy her tutorials.

You know you need more beads.

Continuing to go through my bead stash is sometimes a fun project but it makes me a little sad to see how many beads I have that I will just never get to use. I have SO many!

And I've started updating my Etsy Gemstone shop with new offerings - some of which are very cool and unique (if I do say so myself). I was so inspired when I bought some of these pieces but now my mind goes blank when I look at them. Except that they are so beautiful! It is very hard to let some of these go. Like this fossilized wood pendant. I absolutely adore these (I have a couple) but can't think of what to do with them. My mind completely blanks. And they are too lovely to keep hidden away in my supply drawers.


Not everything has made it to my Etsy shop yet so if you're interested in anything you see in my latest Flickr folder let me know. I'll try to get it posted right away. Most items have 4 pictures, one of which has a small description of the item, and if it is posted in Etsy it says "POSTED".

I also started creating findings of Fine Silver for people to enjoy - I love fusing and sometimes if I don't feel like actually making jewelry I find that it's relaxing to just sit and fuse or melt metal. :) I know, it's weird, but it's cheaper than therapy. So I decided to start offering some of these findings for sale as well.



So far they are all fine silver but I may experiment with 14k gold and sterling one of these days. Maybe.

In the interest of getting rid of AS MANY beads as I possibly can - if you spend $25 I will send along extra beads for free! No extra shipping cost or anything. And they won't be crappy plastic beads. Uh huh. Depending on what you buy I'll send along something complimentary from my stash of unphotographed beads that I would otherwise sell. PLEASE, pretty please with sugar on top, mention this when you check out...because I guarantee you that I will forget in my excitement to get your order ready to ship.


Oh...and any Swarovski Crystal fans? I've broken down and started going through my huge stash. *sigh* I adore crystal but I rarely use it in my work any longer. I'm also adding some gorgeous faceted teardrop CZs that I bought ages ago but haven't managed to work with yet. They are so beautiful and I know someone out there will be inspired by them.

I feel like shopping in my own store...maybe I should just keep some of these. *grin*

Pretty Beads

I have so many beads - it really isn't even funny. I mean, seriously...I could practically open up an entire store just with the beads I have now. It's kind of pathetic. Selling them on Etsy has been good because I know that designers are going to actually use these poor lonely beads! I am unnaturally attached to these inanimate objects.

Plus, it helps fund my metal and wire purchases. I'm really low on thicker wire but because our roof started leaking (can you believe that!!! As if we needed one more thing to go wrong the roof starts to leak on Friday. Grrrr!) I can't justify buying more unless I sell a lot more supplies.

So I'm pimping my supplies here again. I really do have some neat beads...ones that I hate letting go of, but realistically know that I'll never use because there are only so many hours in a day. Aren't they pretty?!?!

I'm seriously tempted to keep this round Carnelian stone set in sterling silver. It's heavy duty and gorgeous.

And these Apatite nuggets are stunning...deep blue color. Apatite is not a cheap stone so I don't even know if these will sell...if not, I guess I'll just have to keep them. Bummer. :)

The latest batch that I'm going to start adding to my Etsy shop are now in my Flickr account - it's the third batch of photos I've taken this month already. And I haven't even gotten around to posting all of the other ones. Looking at the photos makes me want to keep them. But I have to be strong. *sigh*

Anyone want some??? It'll help fund a doggy surgery and roof repair. :)