yay team!

I am now an official member of the JET team on Etsy. They have all welcomed me as an official hatchling. It feels good to be part of a nurturing group like this one! In future posts I will be mentioning the talented team members and their Etsy shops.

more Maine photos

Just got back from a second trip to Maine - here are photos!

new pieces

Here are some new pieces I just created- they are part of my made-to -order hammered sterling collection. Let me know what you think!

I have a new account on twitter : http://www.twitter.com/fuchsiabloom

Maine

I just returned from week long trip to Maine - here are some photos I took on a nature walk...

on a trip!

Yesterday I was at the Bow St Fair in Portsmouth,NH. A great time! I put my card in with a few shops and did some networking. I met a fellow Etsy jewelry artist - Megan Stelzer who was selling her wares there. Her work is beautiful and she was a great help and inspiration to me! Check out her shop at http://www.meganstelzer.etsy.com. I will be doing a little interview on her at a later post!
Now I am in the beautiful Maine countryside practicing taking nature photos and I would love to start doing some little pastels or paintings of them at some point. ( in my spare time!) i will be posting some of these photos upon my return home.

boring to exciting!

I recently made a new and kind of crazy piece that reminded me of something possibly Egyptian or maybe Byzantine out of some gold stick pearls that I had that I didn't like too much and wanted to use up and I was pretty pleased with the results! Another piece I made was all around a shell pendant that I had sitting around for awhile and it hadn't particularly inspired me. Both pieces have hammered sterling wire in them and I think that is what made the difference between boring and exciting. Let me know what you think!

more work

I haven't been around much to update lately - I've been working on some wholesale orders and that has been keeping me busy! And summer vacation has started - so even though we have had tonsof rain I have been out and about trying to keep the kids busy! Here are some pictures of some new pieces I have added to my shop recently -

more new photos

I finally redid most of the photos in my shop today- it took probably close to 4 hours total. My daughter told me that I should stop working at the computer for so long because it was bad for me! After looking through all the photos in my shop there is still more work to be done but at least it is basically finished! I went to the beach in Potowomut yesterday and collected more "props". So you can see how I used them. I would love any thoughts and comments you may have!

new jewelry account

I just got a new account at Spa Shanti In Johnston, RIwhere I will be selling my wares among other handcrafters including a fellow Etsian. if you are in the area check it out- the owner,Charity, has done a beautiful job restoring the old family home and making it into a luxurious and restful place. The website for the spa is http://www.spashanti.com/ and check out http://www.mywickedgarden.etsy.com/ for handmade soaps and beauty products.

working on photos

I've been reworking some photos on my website as well as adding new items and my current theme is the seashore. I am using shells and seaglass that I have been collecting over the years and it feels good to finally have a use for these things instead of them just sitting on a shelf and getting dusty!

Earth Day

In honor of earth day and beyond I have been trying to join the reduce/reuse/recycle philosophy by taking apart old pieces of jewelry and making new ones from them. I have been doing this for years, but it seems especially pertinent now. Here are some recent examples of re-worked pieces.

New Designs

I have been working on some new designs based on my earlier blog with hammered sterling wire. I bought a chasing hammer to use on a steel block I already had and I am pleased with the results! I am pairing the wire designs with pearl, glass and gemstone beads... Some have ended up simple and some complex but overall I am trying to achieve a style that is easy to wear but also interesting and eye catching. Let me know what you think!

recent work

I made these bracelet /earring sets for a shop recently and was pleased with how they came out- Let me know what you think! They are made of mostly vintage and Swarovski crystals and the earrings are about 2 inches long.

new styles

I have a grand plan to add more hammered sterling styles to my shop inventory- after visiting a friend over the weekend I got inspired- here are a couple of pairs of earrings I made for myself, and I have a few other styles in the planning stage ( I'll take pix as soon as they are made!) I am thinking I might add some hammered copper components as well. Let me know what you think! ( sorry the pix are a little dark)

This is an illustration from my all time fave book "Fairies" by Brian Froud. He is the most amazing illustrator. I will be adding other photos from his book at a later date. His work inspires me in my work.

should I

This is a chain maille choker and earring set that I made a few years ago- I am wondering should I start making these again and add them to my site? Are they cost effective to make?

very exciting!

I finally figured out how to add elements to my site! I feel like an old woman sometimes when I am trying to learn all this stuff- to some people it comes easily and with me it makes my brain hurt!

geisha

This is a linoleum print I did for a friend's holiday card a few years back- the original image came from a vintage Japanese photo.

juststarted

well this is all very confusing but we will see how my very first post goes!