I couldn’t help myself

In my spare time I moonlight as a nanny. 🙂 This is Sasha and she is 2. I have been taking care of her since she was born, so we have a bond. I want to eat her up in these pictures. I got her to “help” me put together the “Emma” necklace and then get really excited about putting them on and taking pictures in them both. She was soooo cute. I got most of these shots after she’d finished saying cheese, cocking her little hip and pulling up the corner of her dress. I got a taste of how hard it is to photograph little ones because she could NOT stand still. But it was well worth it for these vogue-worthy shots. What a little beauty in the making!

August 1, 2009 0

Meet Lori from Miss Ruby Sue

Hi again,

Yesterday I featured four of my favorite jewelry sellers on etsy, as I will continue to do. I’m finding it’s actually an awesome way to connect with other sellers – especially ones who know what they’re doing and have been at this a little longer than I have. Whenever I have featured someone I send them a quick convo to let them know I have and to introduce myself a little bit.

I didn’t expect to hear from the creator of and behind Miss Ruby Sue, actually. I don’t know why! I was just talking to Sarah about this last night: how we build people up in our minds because of something they can do really well. When I saw that her things had been on t.v. (gasp!) and in magazines, I just figured a tiny feature on my piddly little blog wouldn’t phase her at all. Much to the contrary!

I got really kind responses from all of the ladies I featured yesterday, but Lori, of Miss Ruby Sue, was exceptionally nice and helpful. She sent me a link to her blog where I could find an interview she’d posted. I had asked each of them if they’d like to write or send me something about their work. Lori’s story and work ethic are really inspiring to me. I love meeting women who are raising families and finding time for art – not to mention being savvy businesswomen! I hope when I have a family I will be able to do this with as much grace as Lori. Thanks so much, Lori!!

I copied the interview and pasted below, but you can find the whole thing on Lori’s blog, “6wardsride” here.

Happy reading!

If you see an offbeat botanical babe dressed in a hint of tulle, pom poms or feathers in her cool doo or around her neck, she might be wearing a creation ofhttp://www.missrubysue.etsy.com/, an independant vintage inspired accessory company founded by Lori Ward from Rexburg Idaho. – (might I add a very conservative and difficult place for such original creations to be born.)”Every woman “, says lori, “I don’t care how old she is or whatever her circumstances may be. She still loves little girly things. So many chics out there use the excuse- “I’m too old” or, “It doesn’t look good on me” There is a little girl inside each woman that loves Ballerina tu-tu’s, pom pom trim and flowers. I center my work and my heart around this theory.”http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21563793

FROM WHAT SOURCE DOES YOUR INSPIRATION AND GOOD KARMA ORIGINATE?

First I’d have to say the little girl inside of me: I used to be a disctructive kid and tear things up for fun. I don’t know why! It was just fun. So that’s why I enjoy ripping fabric into shredds for my rosettes. Color also inspires me-color from clothing, nature, and magazines. I decided to embrace the fact that I loved bright colors. Blacks and earth tones just don’t excite me. -I got pretty good at matching colors from doing scrapbooks since I was 12 years old. My two daughters, Rilee and Madison are good Karma catchers. I love to see them wear my work more than anything. It makes me feel like a cool mom. I know a hit from a dud from their replies. “OH MOMMY-IT’S SOOOOO CUTE-CAN I WEAR IT? ” verses,- “oh. that’s cute.”http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21363805I used to make them ballerina outfits made from odles of tulle and later made curtains out of fur and pom poms for their bedrooms. Exotic dancing girls in feathers from Vegas always got my attention! I guess I never outgrew those little girly things that made me so happy. You’ll notice most pieces always have a little bit of everything I love.

AREN’T YOU EMBARRASED TO WEAR THIS KIND OF STUFF AT YOUR AGE?

Who me? Are you kidding? I think they make me look hot and sexy! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21367364

ARE YOU AFRAID THAT PEOPLE WON’T LIKE YOUR WORK?

I focus on my own work, and not on others. I trust in myself and intuition and do what I want. Odds are, someone will like it!http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21309979

YOU LIVE IN A VERY CONSERVATIVE TOWN- WHAT DOES THAT DO TO YOUR BUSINESS?

That has been a challenge for me- that’s why I’m so in love with the internet- I can reach a worldwide audience and not just locals. My work is a little excentric for my town, but I have found people who do like that sort of look and will find me. I had a friend tell me “you’ll never sell that here- it’s too expensive and excentric” I just smiled becauseI know women want to feel and look beautfiul no matter what the ecomy is like.http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21013313

DO YOU HAVE SUPPORT FROM YOUR FAMILY?

YES! My husband is amazed I am doing so well. I showed him I could make a goal and achieve it, even in retail. My children think it’s awesome that I can design and sell. They tend to look at me a little different now. Maybe I look at myself a little differently. I think I surprised myself!

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY?

I believe in following your heart! Oh do I ever! You must believe in yourself. Don’t let anyone discourage you from accomplishing your dreams – you’re never too old. Not ever! And don’t forget to Pray,Pray,Pray

Thank you, Lori!

July 29, 2009 0

This week’s eye candy – other jewelry sellers on Etsy

These first two pictures are from emunique’s shop on etsy. I have this ring in my favorites because it’s so cool. All of her stuff is so sumptuous and colorful. I want all of it!

These fern earrings are from blissiful’s shop on etsy. I wasn’t going to post more than three shops, but I saw these and gasped in my head. I just couldn’t resist. They are incredible.

These next two really unique pieces are from sofiamasri’s shop on etsy. They are all handmade porcelain. I love her colors and patterns.

The last seller today is missrubysue. Judging by her store, she’s doing really well. It looks like everything she has on there was featured on some famous venue. Way to go Missrubysue! I love her stuff, of course. She makes headpieces and other things, but I just love these bib necklaces. They are truly huge, but the proportions are great so they aren’t overpowering. It looks like she includes some vintage finds as well. So yummy!

July 28, 2009 0

Upcoming Back-to-School promotion

My friend Samantha Campen, who is an experienced blogger and who, incidentally, wore some of my jewelry at the Blogher convention in Chicago this weekend and handed out business cards for me (very nice of her I know), gave me some ideas for getting word of my new business out to the public. She gave me several suggestions for review/giveaway blogs where I could get some exposure by sending in a sample for review. That is how I “met” Angie of myfourmonkeys.com who is going to be receiving three necklaces in the mail soon.

This is Angie’s necklace “before” and I don’t have a picture of the after. I will be making a duplicate to put in my store – whenever I can get the company to send me the right color button.

I’m really excited about this one and the next. My first little girls’ necklaces! They will come in several colors. Her girls’ favorite colors were, of course, pink and purple. 🙂 So this necklace has a pink button (so cute) with fuschia glass beads.

This one has a purple button with two different colors of purple seed beads. I strung all three on this great elastic string material to make it easier to take on and off. I think it will also make the necklaces more durable and “play friendly.” I know Angie has a very young son, so hopefully it will survive being pulled a few times, unlike the delicate metal pins.

So, starting August 1st, my necklaces are going to be reviewed by Angie, on her blog as part of a back to school kickoff she’s doing with a few other bloggers. My designs will be feature on Wednesday Aug. 12th. And again, that’s myfourmonkeys.com. I’m so excited! I hope to get plenty of traffic through my etsy site. Even if someone doesn’t buy something the first time around, I know from experience that I keep going back to my favorites.

Thank you Angie!

July 28, 2009 0

How I do it

Hooray! I made it to another Tuesday ready to post. I have to say that after last week, I enjoyed this so much I wanted to do it every day. Alas! if I did that I’d have to stop making jewelry and if I stopped making jewelry there would be no reason whatsoever for me to have a blog.

I decided to do a little segment on the little technique I use to make most of my jewelry or at least parts of most of my jewelry. I get this question a lot. So I took a series of photos depicting each step as nearly as I could. It’s not as good as a video, but I truly did not want to mess with video at this point. I hope ya’ll understand.

You start with what is known as an eye pin. Interstingly, this little piece of wire is what adds a significant amount of expense to some of my jewelry. At the cheapest, I’ve found them for $.11 each which doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you add it up it is not insignificant. Second and maybe most obviously, you need a bead. However, not all wire fits into all beads. You have to make sure you have the right gauge eye pin. I have found this out the hard way. My tiny freshwater pearls won’t fit on a 21 gauge pin. And the gauge numbers go up as the size of the wire goes down. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know.

These are round nose pliers. I use them so much some days that I get a little blister on the palm of my hand. With the pliers, I grasp the wire about 1-2mm up from the bead and bend it away from my thumb. This will create a nice little divot at the bottom of the loop – making it look more professional. Oh, the details!

Then I move the pliers up just past the bend and pull the wire back the other way, forming the back part of the loop. At this point, I have to take out the pliers and change positions so I can wrap the wire all the way around the nose. I leave the tail. Usually, at this point, I will simply go on to do this step 200-300 times, depending how big the necklace is. I find it is much faster if I get all elements of the same step finished before I move on to the next step. If I am making a necklace with clusters, I have to string some beads with a head pin instead of an eye pin as there will be nothing attached to the bottom of these and I wouldn’t want a bunch of stray loops.

For the purpose of this post, I wanted to show why I leave the tail on the pin. Once I have them all strung, I will often construct a strand at a time, leaving all the tails on and cutting them when I’m finished. I’ve started to use only fine gauge wire, so most of the time each pin needs to be readjusted after they are strung together so that the whole necklace won’t fall apart when I finish it. Often, when I get the pins, the eye part hasn’t been closed tightly enough in the manufacturing process in order to keep the find gauge of the next wire from slipping out. Anyway, I slide the loop I’ve just made, tail first, into the eye of the next pin until it’s all the way past the part where the metal overlaps. Then I take the round nose pliers again and adjust both loops so they are tight enough. Then, when everything is tightened, I take my wire-cutters and clip all of the tails.

Ideally, there is a nice, clean, professional finish and you can’t tell which eye was manufactured and which was created by me. As you can guess, this method is very time-consuming. It looks very nice, which is why I like it, but I have already started experimenting with some other methods that are a little faster.

July 28, 2009 3

Awesome Etsy sellers in Wheaton

As a new Etsy seller, I am often overwhelmed by how much this site has to offer. The Storque, of course, is an invaluable resource and they are kind enough to send a weekly email with featured articles. I have a backlog of those to read! 🙂

Today is a technology day for me so I am checking out some of these sites I use more thoroughly and it’s amazing how much I overlook when I go on etsy. I figured out how to find my favorites’ favorites right away. That’s been a great way to find cool new stores and I could spend a few hours every week doing this if I wanted. I just noticed today, however, that you can search for stores in your area. Here are some of my favorites from Wheaton:

I had to limit myself to only three images from MelissaSue. This is just a taste of her cuteness. Next up is calligraphy from BellesLettresDesigns:

So talented!

Last but not least, a great purse from lessileigh:

There are so many more great stores in Wheaton. I’ll definitely do this again!

July 21, 2009 0

I’m blogging?!

Hi everyone!

This makes me laugh since as I write this I am the only person who knows about my new blog. But oh! – to quote “Newsies” – “the World will know…and the Journal too.”

I’m making it my goal to post once a week about my jewelry-making process, what is inspiring me right now, my favorite etsy sellers and whatever else pertains to jewelry making.

Thanks for reading!

Jenn

July 21, 2009 4

Hello World!

This is a necklace I made on Saturday. It doesn’t have a name yet. These are white quartz beads, swarovski crystal rivoli stones and tiny translucent green glass beads with mustard velvet ribbon. It’s the same structure (and colors!) as my very popular Aubrey necklace – which went to my good friend Julie. I made another in green Jade with the same structure. Look for these soon in my etsy store!

July 21, 2009 0