Pizza, Pendants and Pictures...

"When the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pie, that's amore...."

Last night I made pizza, and my husband was thoughtful enough to snag a few pictures. And yes, I believe making a funny face while hurling a lump of dough towards your kitchen ceiling is inevitable.



Yesterday, in a rare frenzy of organized industriousness, I made a ton of "well-traveled" atlas pendants. I love the beautiful colors found in my vintage atlas, and the pendants are becoming more and more popular in my Etsy shop.



I offer custom orders so buyers can choose whichever city they like, but how great it would be if what they wanted was already made and ready to ship...




Believe it or not, making them was the easy part. For me, the harder challenge is taking photos then listing the items. I had been taking my photos outside (indirect sunlight looks great), but with the change in weather, I just cannot compel myself to stand outside snapping pictures in the cold. So...





I am staying inside and forced to make do with my rather crude photo station. I don't think my photos come out too badly, but they could definitely be better. Soon, I plan to invest in a professional light box, or make my own (there are some great do-it-yourself instructions to be found online).

In the meantime I'll be working from my window sill, with my little helper:






Yes, I have my own staff. He helps by rearranging the necklaces, ripping my white paper backdrop from the wall, and running away with the tape measure.

I couldn't do it without him!





"Hey mom, how long is this going to take?"

New Year, New Hope, New Ideas

How interesting that the beginning of a new year comes during the season's coldest moments, and yet the excitement of change and a fresh start can bring to one's soul all the warmth and promise of Spring.

This year has already brought some good news for me. After spending nearly the whole of last year feeling constantly sick, weak, and losing an alarming amount of weight, I finally visited a naturopathic doctor who was able to discover quite a few medical issues, but more importantly, offer real solutions. Now, while starting an extensive regime of medications and supplements, I look ahead with real excitement. Truly, after a year of feeling lousy and run-down, I see on the horizon a whole new life: feeling good, having energy, being happy and vivacious and full of life.

This new found optimism has already recharged my spirit, it seems, and I'm ready to start anew in my aspirations as a mother, wife, and artist. With more energy, I can't wait to do more with my boys; to go more places, explore, do crafts and projects at home, and just have fun.

At home, I would love to finally get organized and scheduled. Laundry will always be the bane of my domestic life, but this year I am determined to get it under control and not a looming pile of doom. Then, for one of my favorite things: cooking. Yes, I love cooking, experimenting with new recipes, and finding something absolutely delicious to add to the dinner repertoire.

For my shop, and jewelry designing, I have a lot of big plans for the new year. I have been writing down ideas for new designs, and also want to experiment with completely new (new for me) techniques in resin. I've got my first batch of some new resin items curing right now, so stay tuned for some pics in the coming days.

December Little Black Box

Yesterday, I mailed off nearly 80 items to be in December's Little Black Box. This will be my first time participating, so I'm very curious to see how well it works at promoting my shop and reaching new customers.

Here's a picture of my wonderful hubby helping with packaging:

I was hard at work the last few days, making about 40 of my Butterfly Baby necklaces:

And about 40 more of these Mini Glass Pebble Earrings in various prints:

Special Delivery!

Don't you just love getting something special in the mail?

My packaging has gone through several changes over the past few months, but I think I've finally settled on something I like.

I want my packaging to present a professional image, while still maintaining a certain charm

that contributes to the style I'm trying to establish with my designs.

I hope you receive something special in the mail soon...

Botanicals In Frosted Resin

I am so pleased to introduce my new line of resin jewelry! These miniature cherry blossom branches were made from real twigs and polymer clay flowers.

These pieces take quite a bit of time to make, and in an effort to maintain the quality of this style I will only be offering them with Italian sterling silver chains. Yes, box chain - my favorite!

Encased in clear resin, you can fully enjoy the multi-dimensional elements. I love working with paper, but it is so...well, flat...

I will always prefer embedding 3-D objects, and am especially inspired by flowers or other natural elements. Life is so hectic now, sometimes we don't even get out of the house or office, let alone be able to slow down and actually enjoy the outdoors. So it's nice to be able to carry a bit of nature with you.

The back and sides are sanded with a fine grit paper to produce a soft frosted look. The result reminds me of ice - with tiny treasures frozen inside, of course!

New variations will be coming soon, including different blossom colors and fun beaded chains.

Resin Casting Supplies

I've received a couple inquiries about where to find various resin supplies, and I am happy to share. My local craft store, Michael's, has a very limited selection but it is where I buy my resin. I get a weekly coupon in the mail for 40% off any item, so that is a fabulous deal! Everything else I buy online. Of course, you can do a search for anything and pull up countless pages of stores. I've done a lot of comparison shopping and these are my favorites:

Deep Flex:
http://www.yaley.com/molds/Jewel_Cabachon_Molds.htm
They have the best prices I have found for jewelry molds. Just a note: Do Not buy their mixing cups - not only are they wax, but the measuring lines are not accurate! (Resulted in a few bad batches before I figured out what was going on.)

Resin Obsession on Ebay:
http://stores.ebay.com/RESINOBSESSION
Here you can find almost everything you will need including several items I have not seen anywhere else. She also has several video tutorials demonstrating the basics of working with resin.

Resin Obsession is also on Etsy!
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5886916
The selection here is not as great as in her Ebay store, but you can find some other unique items.

Delphi Glass:
http://www.delphiglass.com/index.cfm?page=itemList&viewcat=2413
Their prices seem a bit higher, but they gave a lot of interesting items.

Dick Blick:
http://www.dickblick.com/categories/jewelrymaking/

Remember when ordering resin online to take the shipping charges into consideration as part of the cost.

When I'm ready to buy, I always check all the above sites to see if anyone is having a sale or offering shipping discounts.

My First Little Black Box - What's Inside?

A few days ago, I received my first Little Black Box in the mail. Basically, of number of artists of various handmade items submit their work (for free) and usually sample sizes, as a way of promoting their shop. So, when you purchase the Box, you get an array of little goodies, and get to see and try things you might not have otherwise heard about.

I purchased the September box for $23 and received 18 items. Some I would never use or wear, but others were really wonderful and I was pleased to discover them.

So, what's in the Box?

3 sets of earrings, 1 beaded zipper pull, 1 copper wire-wrapped charm, 1 beaded bookmark, 5 soap samples, 1 resin ring, 1 paper gift tag, 1 necklace with 5 mini note cards, 1 pocket mirror, a tube of vitamin C serum, 1 magnet, and 1 facial scrubbie. Most items also came with coupons of 10-25% off for your next purchase.

Here are my favorites:

Soap, soap, soap! These are great because for me, fancy soaps are sort of a luxury that I'd hesitate to buy for myself. Also, it's hard to know how something smells if you're trying to order online, so these are a perfect item for the Little Black Box. I was able to see the wonderful quality and delicious scents and will definitely be going back to some of these shops to purchase soap in the future.

Look at that - yes, a full-sized bar of soap from The Gourmet Bath Shop, now that's an awesome "sample"! The scent is 'Strawberry Musk' - sweet, but subtle, and just wonderful.

Next, 3 sample soaps from S.V. Soaps, KaressKrafters, and Soap Sushi. They all smell yum, yum, yummy! My favorite things about all these soaps is that they are made from quality ingredients like Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Soy. And the delightful scents are of Spa quality, not the fake perfumy stuff you find at the drugstore.

My favorite though is the Bathtub Candy from Bodyluxe. Something about this scent, 'Orange Pomander' - I just can't stop sniffing it!

Next is this unusual bookmark from Kitty Hawke. It's very pretty, and something I will be able to use. That is, of course, assuming I might someday have a chance to actually do some reading!

BeeDazzles really stands above the rest with her offering. Not only did she provide a lovely necklace with a nice satin cord, but she included 5 mini note cards with envelopes all in a cute little box.

Finally, this Vitamin C Serum from Mainly Naturals was an awesome sample to find in my Box. It is something I would probably not otherwise have ever tried.

I purchased this Little Black Box this time because I will be participating myself in December. So I wanted to get a feel for what sort of items were included and how they were packaged. It gave me some good ideas, but was also a lot of fun! I will probably be ordering more Black Boxes in the future. Who doesn't like surprises? And really, it was like receiving 18 surprise gifts all at once - pretty cool!